Famine 238: A String of Pearls

　　On the snowy night, the camp was encircled by bonfires.

　　The little white cat leapt from Nidhogg’s shoulder into the snow and was immediately swept up in a tight embrace by his companions. They clung tightly together, their ears and tails twitching from the force of it.

　　With Nidhogg’s assistance and a well-trained combat unit at their side, the battle ended swiftly.
　　Around the bonfire, the clash of weapons and armor echoed; doctors and guards moved back and forth, retrieving the wounded and organizing the collection of salvaged supplies.

　　Someone served them a large bowl of tomato-braised beef stew over rice—thick chunks of beef studded with sinew, stewed until the fibers were melt-in-your-mouth tender, soaking in the tangy red broth, steam rising with the aroma of tomato.

　　“Come get some! Eat up, rest tonight,” called someone, inviting all to the meal.

　　“The wounded head back; tomorrow morning, we return to the Farm. If you’re unhurt, forget about living the easy life—join the team; we’ve still got other outposts to rescue!…”

　　……

　　Whoosh.

　　As the white smoke from the campfires coiled into the night, Nidhogg had already shot off into the sky like an arrow loosed, vanishing from sight as if he were a falling star.

　　The blizzard raged on, cold winds howling high above.

　　Over the comms, Zhong Yanqing’s voice was faintly audible: “Big bro, we know you’re a hero, but could you at least get two hours of sleep?!”

　　“You just came out of an S-class world, haven’t stopped for three days, rushing from front to front—no matter how tough you think you are, you’re not made of iron. Do you really think you’re a dragon?”

　　“Hey! Answer me! Stop playing dead!…”

　　At first, Nidhogg ignored her, but when Zhong Yanqing kept at it for too long, he snapped impatiently, “You’re so noisy.”

　　“Other people’s kids are home already. Mine are still out there.”

　　Click. He pulled off the earpiece, shoved it in his pocket, leaving Zhong Yanqing to punch the wall in frustration, her tirade reduced to a faint buzzing in his clothes.

　　Off in the distance, black shapes began to cluster in the sky.

　　They shrouded the heavens, surging forward in a sweeping tide.

　　Nidhogg’s face was expressionless. Without slowing a fraction, he raised a hand mid-flight. The greatsword veined with molten lava ignited, carving a meteor-bright arc through the night as it cleaved apart the mass of shadows and charged onward.

　　He slid the earpiece back on, his cold voice interrupting Zhong Yanqing’s racket, “Two thousand meters east of the mountain peaks, airspace—new flying shadows.”

　　“They can fly. They’re flocking.”

　　Zhong Yanqing’s babble halted abruptly.
　　After a pause, she sighed, “Noted. Proceed with recon. The shadows are growing stronger again.”

　　The current communication net existed only because the Farm’s system had forcefully rebuilt it—under immense strain.

　　The final selection had come so suddenly that none of them had made all the necessary preparations.

　　On the first day of the [Preliminary Selection], all master-issued nutrient solution evaporated.

　　On the second day, all master-issued purchases—communication and remote control systems—failed. Every settlement became an island unto itself.

　　On the third day, shadow enemies saw a sharp rise in combat ability.

　　By the dawn of the fifth day, which was now, flying anomalies had appeared in the sky.
　　Even at altitudes of ten thousand meters, nowhere was truly safe, and traditional perimeter wall defenses had lost their ability to stop the shadows.

　　And…

　　Whoosh!

　　Nidhogg braked abruptly, halting in midair.

　　He took deep, shuddering breaths, head tilted back, bloodshot eyes momentarily robbed of speech.

　　Before him, an immense, jet-black curtain cut across the channel, spanning from the clouds above to the abyss below—dividing the world.

　　And on the surface of the black curtain, a line of glaring red words appeared:

　　[Second Sector Boundary]
　　[Current Sector Survivors: 1,438,721]

　　Beyond that curtain stretched hundreds of kilometers of the Farm’s influence, dotted with dozens of heavily inhabited outposts.

　　…………
　　……

　　On the fifth day of [Preliminary Selection], airborne anomalies began to appear, and jet-black sector curtains dropped, slicing the Hunger Game’s world into three great districts.

　　No known method could breach these curtains.

　　Any attack against them was instantly reflected onto the attacker at two to seven times the force.

　　According to Aiko’s analysis, only when the number of survivors in a sector dropped to double digits might a final sector merger take place.

　　Because the survivors were clustered in the core region, the Farm’s area became the Second Sector.
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　　When Si Zhiyan led Alice near the rooms, Nidhogg was propped listlessly in a corner, blood trickling from his chin.

　　He barely lifted his eyelids as Si Zhiyan entered, then let them droop again.

　　There was scarcely anything left of his limbs but splintered bone and scorched flesh.

　　Blood streamed down burned dragon wings as he tried, pointlessly, to move.

　　The shadows by the curtain’s edge were extremely powerful—every field test run, every bit of data, was the result of Nidhogg’s personal risk.

　　He had tried everything, given his all,

　　In the howling, snow-swept night, the black dragon’s fiery light burned in near-death throes—exploding, flaring—again and again—

　　Nothing worked.

　　As the first experiment of [Project Forge], a laboratory-born clone…

　　All of Nidhogg’s strength was derived from the Master.

　　No matter how wondrous or heroic he seemed fighting anomalies or players, set against his creator, Nidhogg was utterly powerless.

　　If not for Si Zhiyan and the Farm, this doomsday’s harbinger, the once top-ranked survivor of the Hunger Game, would have found only this end.

　　Bloodied and gasping in the blizzard, kneeling in the frozen snow, watching his blood soak the white ground to no avail.

　　Unable to accomplish anything, to save anyone at all.

　　Si Zhiyan drew closer and squatted down—only to feel a sudden, wet touch at his wrist.

　　Nidhogg, with a bony, skeletal hand, had gripped his arm.

　　His vocal cords were burnt. His lips quivered, barely shaping the words—

　　[Save him]
　　[Please]

　　Behind Si Zhiyan, Alice stifled a gasp, covered her mouth. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

　　“Alright.”

　　Si Zhiyan gripped Nidhogg’s hand, and though it hurt, the dragon held on, trembling. Si Zhiyan squeezed back, then released, standing to pull Alice into a comforting embrace.

　　“I know this is a hard choice for you.”

　　“But… Please, Miss.”

　　“No force can break through the curtain—we can only rely on you.”

　　“The Farm’s teleport gate is at the settlement’s center, fixed in place with a long cooldown. It can’t be shifted on demand.”

　　“To bring in survivors from other sectors, we need to use Hephaestus Castle’s portal.”

　　Si Zhiyan said:

　　“One exit on the outer outposts, one within the Farm… a transfer point, linking regions together, to bring everyone home.”

　　Alice, eyes brimming with tears, stared for a long moment.
　　Then she lowered her head, smiled, and wiped her eyes.

　　“You’re so sly, sir…”

　　“Do you know what this means for Hephaestus Castle?”

　　Si Zhiyan sighed lightly and nodded.

　　In a distant extramensional space, within Hephaestus Castle, the blue sky was bright as if freshly washed, clouds lazily drifting by.

　　The Castle’s blue sky was no true sky, but a masterpiece of spatial sorcery.
　　It offered little defense, but the utmost in concealment and camouflage.

　　On the fifth day, there were still no shadows here.

　　So long as the doors remained shut, they could keep out the world; the end of [Preliminary Selection] could not, for a time, touch the Castle.

　　This was truly “skipping class.”

　　Alice had long known—the Master would never allow such cheating. Every player ought to merge with the main world, rising and falling as fortune shifted.

　　For this reason, Hephaestus Castle had accepted few strangers over the years.

　　This was not the Farm: there were no jungle veils, no Celestial Maidens to mask their presence.

　　If too many outsiders entered and were noticed by the Master, the Castle would surely be eradicated.

　　Any danger was unknowable.

　　But—

　　Buzz!

　　Yu Yao raised a hand, flipping a switch.

　　As though a signal had been loosed, the illusory blue sky flickered.
　　Behind him, the craftsmen, maids, and gardeners of Hephaestus Castle streamed out onto the lawn, gazing upward at the shifting heavens.

　　“But… there’s no other way.”

　　At the Farm, Alice grinned, turned in a circle, hands behind her back.
　　The pink hem of her dress swirled through the blood-scented room, trailing a sweet aroma of butter.

　　“The marshmallow ice cream is just too good! Cheating, really.”

　　“If you hadn’t built such a beautiful amusement park…I would have refused outright.”

　　“But now, you want me to stand by and watch as all these wonderful things—one by one—are destroyed, leaving nothing but blood, bones, the Master’s cinders, and monsters… How could I do that?”

　　The young lady took a deep breath, tipped her face up, sparks flaring in her eyes.

　　“For you, for the Farm, for a world with an amusement park…”

　　“I’ll do everything I can.”

　　…………
　　……

　　[Reef Pier Outpost]

　　Crash!
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　　The wind and waves were mounting, rain lashing the sea into hundred-meter sheets of roaring water.

　　Countless shadows lurked in the surging waves, mountains tumbling forward to smash down.

　　Shi He knelt on the city wall, rifle raised.
　　The boy’s slender figure was dwarfed by the churning sea, looking as insubstantial as a mayfly.

　　Bang!

　　A sniper bullet tore through the air, as if blasting apart a mountain of flesh—ripping open a hole in the oncoming wave.

　　Splash!
　　The remnants of the wave crashed down, just missing the beleaguered outpost.

　　Shi He breathed a sigh of relief, his body swaying so violently he nearly collapsed.

　　“Mr. Shi!!”
　　Behind him, the young soldier Xiao Lin—one of those he and the merfolk had saved—ran forward to catch him.

　　Her voice was thick with tears as she wiped her face and insisted, “Mr. Shi, enough!”

　　“You’ve… you’ve already held out long enough. Any further and if something happens to you, the whole outpost will fall! Please—go rest!”

　　“…”
　　The boy bowed his head, panting, his expression unchanged, but sweat dripped from his chin, and his trembling fingers betrayed the exhaustion wracking him—he was at his absolute limit.

　　Shi He tried to shake his head, but he simply lacked any strength left. Yet he still rested only a moment before forcing himself up, struggling to stand. “No, if I go, you can’t handle these waves, I…”

　　A female soldier passed by his side.

　　Shi He stopped mid-sentence.

　　Then a second, a third…

　　The young women he had scoured from the waves, one by one, moved into position on the wall, bracing themselves against the sea.

　　Each wore a [C-Class World: Deep Sea Shell] Harmonic Crystal, cloaked in the glow of shells and pearls.

　　[HARMONIC: DEEP SEA SHELL]
　　Your body is transformed into a child of the ocean, becoming one with shells and pearls, and may temporarily wield the powers of shellborne anomalies:
　　Breathe underwater, fight and move as any marine creature, cling to reefs, resist the tides.
　　The more shells and pearls beside you, the greater the ocean’s bond and your strength.

　　Note: Do not be wounded in this form. The more grievous your injuries, the deeper your assimilation.
　　At the end, you will become a mindless, bloody pearl or shell, to rest forever in the deep sea.

　　……

　　These living pearls, hand in hand, arrayed themselves atop the wall in a brilliant gleaming strand—a beautiful necklace, radiating gentle, lustrous light.

　　There was one spot left on this string of pearls.

　　Xiao Lin smiled at Shi He as she helped him, then stood, walking toward the gap.

　　She took her sisters’ hands, filling the final space, completing the pure white strand.

　　She looked back at Shi He and smiled:

　　“It’s alright.”

　　“Please, go rest.”

　　“You’ve protected us for so long… Now, it’s our turn to protect you.”

　　“You’re not like us. You’re a hero, a chosen one. Our letters, trinkets, little treasures…they’re all packed in the outpost, ready for handoff when shifts change.”

　　“These things—only if we leave them with you, can we rest easy. Promise—take them back, bring them to the Farm.”

　　Shi He’s pupils trembled fiercely; he reached out, then slowly lowered his hand.

　　Behind Xiao Lin, beneath the soft light of the pearl chain, the waves crested once more, immense and towering.

　　Xiao Lin kept smiling: “Don’t lose them, please… Someone’s waiting for my letter. If it goes missing, he’ll be so sad.”

　　“Tell him, Lin Yuhan became a carefree shell, free to wander the sea.”

　　The shadows grew larger, the wave was about to break.

　　How many pearls would be swept away by this tide?

　　Shi He, drained and weak, leaned by the wall, desperately trying to stand. But his eyelids were too heavy, his legs too weak. He knew he should say something, but not a word would come.

　　He couldn’t even lift his rifle.

　　Buzz!

　　At that instant, a massive, shimmering blue portal opened directly above the sea.

　　A rush of explosive flames burst forth, detonating in front of everyone.

　　The searing light blotted out the oncoming wave, illuminating every pearl and Shi He’s face.

　　“…!”

　　Shi He stared skyward, his dark eyes blurred by the blaze, tears trailing down his cheeks—he refused to blink.

　　Countless waves, black shadows among them, boiled and evaporated in that scorching blast—bursting, scattering in clouds of vapor.

　　The sea was boiling.

　　Everyone was dumbstruck.

　　“……”

　　The wave vanished, the fire died away.

　　Nidhogg, soaked in blood, hovered over the restless waters, gasping for air.

　　His eyes shone red; a molten sword dripped from his hand, exposed muscle and bone bared, half his left wing a gory skeleton, blood streaming down to his claws.

　　Behind him, through the portal, shone the dazzling fairytale castle amid the void.

　　On the portal’s far side, a young dispatch officer pushed forward: “My girlfriend! My girlfriend’s at the Reef Outpost—her name’s Lin, have you seen her? Sir, let me go first—”

　　He was pulled back: “Wait, hold on, the dragon’s clearing the way. Once the bridge is up, you’ll go.”

　　Inside and out, people frozen in awe by that infernal burst of flame—they could hardly find words: “That’s… That’s incredible…”

　　“Unbelievable…”

　　“Did you see that? With a single blast, he lit the whole sea on fire…”

　　……

　　The hubbub behind him faded to nothing.

　　Nidhogg gazed at the boiling sea, ensuring no new wave would strike soon, then turned at last.

　　His gaze lingered over every hand-joined girl, finally settling on the exhausted form of Shi He.

　　Their eyes met across the field.
　　One was blood-soaked, half-dragon half-ghost, bone and flesh writhing by firelight; the other slumped like mud against the wall, barely able to stand.

　　Shi He stared too long, his gray eyes half-blind, tears and blood dripping onto the damp earth.

　　Head thrown back, he thought:
　　Big brother must be hurting so much.

　　“…Ha.”

　　After a moment, Nidhogg managed a tired, blood-tinged smile.

　　The dragon’s skeletal wings folded as he dropped to the wall, cut through the crowd, crouched to the exhausted youth, and reached out his hand:

　　“It’s over.”

　　“Time to go home.”