Mister Zero, Her Story: Chapter 68 – Fathers
The intel from “Noah” couldn’t be wrong. Besides Mister, Dawn only had two other “Destruction” level ability users, both unavailable.
How could they be present in this war?
Moreover… if a “Destruction” level ability user were involved, this war wouldn’t even be happening.
A single “Destruction” level ability user could single-handedly breach Yan City’s defenses and destroy the entire city.
Even the “Ember’s” eruption was ineffective against a “Destruction” level ability user, at most causing injury, but never death, not even serious injury.
“No, it’s not necessarily a ‘Destruction’ level ability user…”
Lin Cheng finally regained his composure. “Li Ping, do you remember ‘Colonna,’ the mega-city in the western continent that was destroyed thirty years ago?”
“Of course I remember,” Li Ping frowned. “It was the last mega-city destroyed by ‘Dawn’… Wait, the heavy rain…?”
A seemingly insignificant detail suddenly struck him.
He quickly pulled up all the information on “Colonna,” his expression turning increasingly grim as he read through it.
Colonna, located in a remote area of the western continent, was a small mega-city.
Thirty years ago, it had been invaded and destroyed by Dawn, its citizens becoming refugees in the Endless Wasteland.
Dawn’s justification for the war had been that Colonna was capturing Dawn members and conducting human experiments on ability users, and they had attacked to rescue their family.
However, “Noah” had denied this, claiming it was just an excuse for war.
Now, it was impossible to know the truth. The result was that Colonna was now in ruins, its “Ember” destroyed by Dawn.
As Yan City now faced a similar threat from Dawn, Li Ping had, of course, thoroughly studied the records of the Colonna war.
“Indeed… Colonna was also invaded during a torrential downpour,” Li Ping stared at the screen, the chilling yet dispassionate words of the report reflecting in his eyes.
“Dawn used the rain to their advantage, breaching the defenses and reaching the core district, decapitating Colonna’s City Lord, then withstanding the ‘Ember’s’ eruption to destroy the entire city.”
“Yes… strikingly similar to Yan City’s current situation. It seems to be the work of the same high-ranking Dawn Cadre,” Lin Cheng whispered. “The only thing we’ve done better than Colonna is to temporarily halt their advance before they reached the core district.”
“But no one paid attention to the heavy rain back then. All analyses of that war ignored it, assuming it was just a coincidental opportunity exploited by Dawn…”
Li Ping closed his eyes slowly, his body trembling slightly.
Such a powerful ability… even if it wasn’t a “Destruction” level ability user, they must be close.
He hadn’t expected Colonna, and now Yan City, to face such a powerful opponent.
Colonna had likely been destroyed so quickly because they hadn’t realized this.
However, not being “Destruction” level meant there was still a chance…
“Sun Biwu… it seems… we’ll need your help,” Li Ping sighed.
“Mm.”
Sun Biwu’s voice was low and heavy.
After a moment of silence, he added, “Our Yan City… I leave it to you.”
Sun Biwu was a man of few words, even his final words… were brief.
He had been prepared to sacrifice himself and trigger the “Ember’s” eruption since the beginning of this war.
“Connect to ‘Noah’.”
Li Ping’s fingers had stopped tapping.
After a few beeps, a cold female voice came through the communication channel.
“We’ve been waiting, Mister Li of Yan City. I hope it’s good news.”
“Dawn’s Fifth Cadre, ability is weather manipulation, strength estimated to be near ‘Destruction’ level, but hasn’t reached it yet,” Li Ping said calmly.
The cold voice was silent for a moment, as if considering something.
Then she spoke again.
“…Valuable intel. It seems the Dawn Cadre attacking Yan City is the same one from thirty years ago.”
But this also meant that Yan City was facing a powerful opponent they couldn’t stop without resorting to the “Ember’s” eruption.
“Although it’s a bit late, we’re mobilizing reinforcements, and aid for Yan City after the war is also being prepared. Please hold on,” the cold voice continued. “‘Noah’ stands with Yan City… with every member of the Free Federation.”
Li Ping chuckled wryly.
“Let’s hope there will still be a Yan City…”
Dawn was about to repeat their city-destroying feat from thirty years ago…
Could Yan City stop this powerful ability user who controlled the weather?
Li Ping wasn’t sure.
He stood up slowly and looked at the slender sword hanging on the wall.
It was his sword, but it hadn’t been drawn in decades.
“Lin Cheng,” Li Ping took a deep breath and called out.
“Yes?”
Lin Cheng’s voice came through the communicator.
“Do you remember the swordsmanship Old Man Sword taught us?”
Li Ping rubbed his palms, where calluses should have been, but now, he only felt soft flesh.
He must be quite rusty…
“…Of course, I haven’t forgotten.”
“I suddenly remember… the days when we pioneered the Endless Wasteland with our fathers…” A nostalgic look appeared in Li Ping’s eyes. “Although Yan City had been established, there were still many calamity monsters attacking…”
“We fought back to back,” Lin Cheng chuckled. “And with a dozen other brothers…”
“But now… only three of us remain,” Sun Biwu added, his voice heavy.
“Thankfully, three remain,” Li Ping took down his sword. “We carry our fathers’ hopes… They pioneered this land, hoping to find a sanctuary in this world filled with disasters.”
Pioneering…
It wasn’t something everyone had the courage to do.
It meant abandoning the relative safety of established settlements and venturing into the Endless Wasteland, filled with disasters, miasma, monsters, and strange phenomena, constantly pushing forward, further and further.
The pioneers didn’t know when, or if, they would find their destination. They simply walked on, without hope, driven by desperation.
Those who found their destination weren’t necessarily the bravest, but the luckiest.
Yan City had been lucky.
After a long journey, Yan City’s first pioneers, Li Ping and Lin Cheng’s fathers, had found their destination, a lost “Ember.”
And so… they no longer had to be refugees in the Endless Wasteland; they had a home, a home called Yan City.
But now, all of this was about to be destroyed.
Looking at his sword, Li Ping recalled many scenes from the past, some heartwarming, some sorrowful, now just blurry memories.
“The youngsters have done their best, it’s time for us old geezers to step up…”
Li Ping sheathed his sword and walked towards the command center door.
At the same time, Lin Cheng also took up his sword and walked towards the western front.
The massive sandstorm in the distance was approaching, relentlessly destroying everything in its path, heading straight for the “Ember Furnace.”
“Exploration Team Six, Captain Lin Cheng.”
“Vice-Captain, Li Ping.”
“Mission Three Hundred and Sixty-One, intercept ‘Dawn Cadre’.”
“—With all our might.”
Even if it cost them their lives.
Two old figures walked side by side under the starlight, towards the approaching sandstorm, as if returning to their pioneering days.
But this time…
They were the fathers.
…
Rewinding slightly, before the unusual energy fluctuation erupted from the depths of Yan City’s core district.
On the western side of the second line of defense, Dawn’s teams were relentlessly attacking.
It was a brutal stalemate. The damaged defenses were littered with the bodies of over a hundred Yan City soldiers, and the attacking Dawn team had also lost two members.
Such scenes were common on the battlefield surrounding the second line of defense.
Although sturdy, Yan City’s second line of defense wasn’t impenetrable. Under Dawn’s relentless assault, they could only delay the inevitable.
Perhaps, in time, the defenses would crumble, and Dawn would be one step away from victory—withstanding the “Ember’s” eruption.
After surviving the eruption, victory would be theirs.
All of this had to be achieved before Yan City’s reinforcements arrived; otherwise… the situation would reverse, and Dawn would be the ones surrounded.
“Good… it seems the attack is going smoothly,” Rhine wiped the blood from his clothes, the metallic scent lingering. “Soon… we’ll breach Yan City’s core district.”
He looked up at the “Ember Furnace,” faintly visible in the rain, his expression serious.
“…But we’ve already lost over twenty brothers,” Grifres whispered. Beside him lay a dozen bodies in Dawn uniforms.
Even Myers’s body was among them; Yan City hadn’t retrieved it during their retreat.
The initial failure of their plan hadn’t just cost them a “Peril” level Cadre and several “Ruin” level members, but it had also forced them into this costly stalemate.
Every step forward now came at a heavy price.
Rhine was silent for a moment, a flicker of sadness in his eyes.
“I don’t like saying this… but these are necessary sacrifices.”
The Eldest Mister was incredibly important to Dawn; all members were willing to die for her return.
They fought with unwavering conviction, determined to retrieve her remains.
Just then, an unusual energy fluctuation erupted from the depths of Yan City’s core district.
It was so intense that even ordinary people could sense it, their hearts pounding as they instinctively looked towards the “Ember Furnace,” or rather, the “Wall of Resentment.”
The Dawn members also sensed it, and Rhine, the strongest among them, felt it most clearly.
He looked sharply towards the Wall of Resentment.
“This is… Eldest Mister…”
Unlike Yan City, Rhine was very familiar with Mister—meaning Nine.
Li Ping and Lin Cheng had assumed the energy fluctuation came from Mister within the Ember Furnace, but Rhine knew it wasn’t.
Having known Nine for over a century, he recognized his aura.
This was a different aura, both unfamiliar and familiar…
Unfamiliar because he had never sensed it before, familiar because it was incredibly similar to Nine’s.
The only possibility… was the Eldest Mister’s remains within the “Wall of Resentment.”
“Damn it, are they planning to use the ‘Eldest Mister’ as an ‘Ice Coffin Weapon’ again?”
Grifres was shocked. It was completely illogical.
“Are they crazy? This is their core district… There are tens of thousands of civilians here!”
Although the war was intense, it hadn’t affected many civilians.
Because of the heavy rain, most people were staying indoors.
Almost all the fighting was taking place at the front lines, the few skirmishes not affecting residential areas. Even the number of destroyed buildings was minimal.
Even if they reached the “Ember Furnace” and triggered its eruption, the concentrated energy release would be limited to a certain area, minimizing the impact on residential areas.
Although it might sound self-serving, Dawn was trying to avoid civilian casualties.
Their attacks were targeted, not indiscriminate slaughter.
If they simply wanted to kill, the eight districts under Dawn’s control would be rivers of blood.
But in reality, those districts were even more peaceful than the core district.
However, using the Eldest Mister’s remains was different…
Her power, “End,” was completely uncontrollable outside the “Ice Coffin.”
Even a sliver of her power, a single uncontrolled outburst… could destroy an entire district.
If she was deployed, tens of thousands of civilians in the core district would die instantly.
Within her range, only ability users above “Peril” level would have a chance of survival, and even then, they might not escape unscathed.