CNS | Chapter 24

Chapter 24, Night Sea

Emerald Bay, Lyra Apartments.

This building was the tallest in the entire Emerald Bay District. In the original plan of Titan Construction, the architectural giant in the world of Wen Si, Lyra was meant to become Saint Grange’s new landmark.

Unfortunately, more than ten years ago, the five Free States led by the state of Skeland in North Cololia declared independence from the Aylan Federation and established the New Alliance. The Free War began at that point. North Cololia, caught between the two forces, wavered uncertainly and refused to submit to either side.

As one of Aylan’s pillar enterprises, Titan Construction first abandoned the half-built Lyra, withdrew its investment from Saint Grange, and left. After that, Phoenix occupied Emerald Bay. Under Sam Phoenix’s covert maneuvering, the major companies that had once withdrawn from Saint Grange ignored the Aylan government’s obstruction and returned to this prosperous night city. Lyra also became a key project in the deep cooperation between Phoenix and Titan Construction.

The top floor of Lyra overlooked not only the Emerald Bay District, but half of Saint Grange as well. It was a breathtaking sight that countless people had bled and struggled for half a lifetime just to see, yet the owner of this apartment had almost never lived here.

There were many reasons. The apartment was too big, too empty, he was not used to living here, and, for Shen Run, the community security was too thorough.

It took more than a minute to pass through the long foyer and ride the elevator to the top floor. Shen Run had already started to get impatient. The door lock collected iris patterns, fingerprints, and many other biological data points, and only after confirming the owner’s identity did it open automatically.

The living room was brightly lit.

“Mr. Shen, welcome home.”

Blue light lit up from the holographic device at the entrance, and the voice of the artificial intelligence “Athena” echoed through the room.

Shen Run did not like artificial intelligence, and ordered it, “Go offline.”

The glowing device on the ceiling immediately fell silent. Shen Run took over its work, connected to the apartment’s shared network, and the entire building came under his control.

Although Shen Run almost never came to live here, someone still came to clean this apartment every day, keeping it spotless at all times.

Joshua was probably afraid that Shen Run would take the money and run. During the years he worked at Heimdall, his pay was recorded in forms such as immovable property and equity that could not be sold.

Shen Ze stood in front of the automatically closing entry door, his expression unnatural and somewhat awkward.

“What’s wrong? Do you think this place is a little too big, and you’re not used to it?”

Shen Run took a bottle of Bailuting from the wine cabinet and twisted off the cap. “There are many rooms here, you can stay wherever you want.”

Shen Ze nodded. “Yeah, I feel like this house is, maybe a little, cold?”

After saying that, he gave another smile. “But it doesn’t matter. As long as I can be in the same place as Older Brother, I can endure any place, no matter how broken or ruined.”

Broken? Ruined?

Shen Run almost laughed at Shen Ze’s slightly aggrieved words. If Lyra counted as ruined, where did this brat want to live? Move into Phoenix Manor?

He took a sip of the wine in his glass and felt that the taste was strange. The alcohol flavor seemed too strong.

In fact, Shen Run did not like this place either. The floor was too high, like a castle in the air. He preferred the feeling of having his feet on solid ground, something that let him truly feel that he was still alive in this world.

But Eden had been targeted by the city ranger. He himself was fine, but Shen Ze only had such a tall frame. In truth, he was a weak little kid who could not take care of himself. The matter of the fall still made Shen Run feel lingering fear to this day, and he would not joke about his younger brother’s safety again.

Lyra’s community security was entirely handled by Phoenix. Aside from the ubiquitous security AI Athena, there were also heavily armed cyber guards patrolling downstairs twenty-four hours a day. This was the safest residential area in Emerald Bay besides Phoenix Manor.

Shen Run glanced at the digital clock on the wall, two in the morning.

It was this late again…

He sighed. He was used to turning day and night upside down. How could he let Shen Ze live this kind of irregular life with him as well?

“Xiaoze, it’s late. Go rest. Do you still have to work tomorrow?”

He still remembered that Shen Ze had come to Saint Grange for a business trip. But strangely enough, Saint Grange and Aylan were in an awkward period. Why would an entertainment company send employees here on a business trip at a time like this?

He had to let Mizuno check what kind of company this thing called “Spotlight” was. Shen Ze had not experienced the world deeply, and if he ran into a bad company, that would be bad.

“I’m not going.” Shen Ze shook his head. “Because of Older Brother’s illness these past few days, I already finished all the work I came here to do, and after this I don’t need to go there anymore.”

Shen Run’s heart thudded. He had finished all the work, what did that mean?

Did that not mean Shen Ze was going to return to Alicia?

“Then, then are you going back?” he asked, looking at Shen Ze.

The young man had both hands in his pockets and was leaning against the wall beside the entrance, nodding expressionlessly. “If nothing unexpected happens, I’ll be going back in the next few days.”

A huge sense of loss spread through his chest. He knew Shen Ze would eventually leave again, he just had not expected this day to come so quickly, so quickly that Shen Run had not even had time to learn about the changes that had happened to Shen Ze over these years.

Shen Run began to hate himself for why he had gone and fainted so uselessly for three days, missing the time he could have spent getting along properly with Shen Ze.

He lowered his eyelids, his tone unable to hide his regret. “This season isn’t good, it keeps raining, and still hasn’t…” He paused, then said, “What a pity.”

Shen Run looked out the floor-to-ceiling window and was surprised to find that the endless drizzle had somehow already stopped.

The black sea spread out, quiet and sacred.

Unlike Saint Grange, Alicia was an inland city, not by the sea. Shen Ze definitely had not carefully looked at this dreamlike ocean yet.

His heart moved. He put down the wine glass in his hand and smiled at the young man by the entrance. “Since you don’t have to work tomorrow, how about I take you out for a drive now?”

“A drive?” Shen Ze slightly widened his eyes.

Shen Run nodded. “To the seaside. I know a place where almost no one ever goes. Older Brother will take you to have a look, how about it?”

Before Shen Ze could answer, Shen Run made up his mind on his own. He was being unusually forceful this one time. After grabbing Shen Ze’s hand, Shen Run took his own coat and led his younger brother out of the door that had been closed for less than ten minutes.

Scene 21

Once the endless drizzle had faded away, the damp air was filled with an indescribable freshness.

Sea wind slipped in through the car window, blowing Shen Run’s bangs apart. He sat in the passenger seat and slightly turned his head to look at Shen Ze, who was focusing on driving.

This brat insisted, using the fact that Shen Run had drunk alcohol as the excuse, that he should be the one to drive. Shen Run could not argue with him, so he had no choice but to give up the driver’s seat.

Under Shen Run’s directions, Damocles followed the coastline all the way west, almost reaching the edge of Saint Grange.

On the left side of the road was the Misty Sea, and on the right side were the remains of buildings. Now and then, brightly lit advertising signs flashed past outside the window. The surroundings looked like a wasteland.

This road was wrapped all day long in dust and grit from the sky. Perhaps because it had rained, visibility was unusually good.

Far away from the city full of light pollution, even a few faint stars had appeared in the sky. Shen Run’s mood, which had turned low after hearing that his younger brother was about to leave, eased somewhat. Looking at the current situation, maybe they could even see the sunrise later.

“Here, it looks like a ruin?” Shen Ze’s voice mingled with the sound of waves.

“Yes, this was once a battlefield.”

Shen Run reached out his hand from the car window, feeling the cool sea wind kiss his fingers.

“Many years ago, the Third Fleet of the Aylan Misty Sea once dropped a small nuclear bomb here. Many half-built buildings collapsed. Later, when Emerald Bay was rebuilt, this area was excluded from the plan because of the radiation.”

The Third Fleet of the Misty Sea, which was also the Phoenix that later ruled the Emerald Bay District.

At the beginning, this fleet came to Saint Grange as a vanguard force. The capture of Emerald Bay had been the former president’s order, but no one had expected that Sam Phoenix would actually do something like betray his country and establish his own faction.

“It also counts as a blessing in disguise. There are very few people around here. Aside from some drifters who drive RVs around everywhere, you can almost never see anyone.”

Shen Ze steadily parked Damocles by the roadside. Not far away there was a place with lights on, seemingly an automobile motel.

Shen Run carefully jumped down from the steep slope, then turned around and reached out to catch Shen Ze.

“It’s slippery, be careful.”

Once Shen Ze landed steadily, he held that cold hand and walked toward the depths of the darkness.

It was very dark all around. Shen Run, who had night-vision implants, could barely make out the rough road ahead. The sound of the waves grew closer and closer, and he seemed to be able to see black waves surging in front of him.

Shen Run held Shen Ze’s hand and sat down at the front end of the breakwater. The seawater below them slowly and forcefully struck the stone wall.

The sea at night was terrifying, like a giant beast that could open its mouth at any moment and swallow the land, and the sound of the waves was its low growl.

“A little scary…”

Shen Run, as if talking to himself, unintentionally said what he was thinking.

He even felt a little regretful. He had never seriously looked at the sea at night before, and had not expected the night sea to be unlike the gentle sea during the day. It seemed he should not have brought Shen Ze here…

He heard Shen Ze’s soft laugh by his ear. “But it’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s beautiful.”

Shen Run looked at the waves crashing against the rocks with white foam rolling over them, the sky still dotted with a few faint stars, and the handsome young man sitting beside him. If this scene had been placed a week ago, he would not even have dared to dream of it.

The black sea, like a ferocious beast, also gradually grew gentler in his eyes. Shen Ze quietly took his hand. The touch of metal was very cold. Shen Run did not resist and let him interlace their fingers.

Only the sound of the waves remained around them. No one spoke, yet the atmosphere was not awkward. Shen Run could feel that the two of them were very close, closer than at any time in the past few days.

The sea wind blew him a little dazed. Shen Run could not help but sigh, “If time could always stop at this moment, that would be nice.”

Unfortunately, it could not.

After tonight, maybe in a day or two, Shen Ze would have to return to Alicia and leave Shen Run to walk alone through the darkness of Emerald Bay.

Thinking of this, the mood that had just lightened up became heavy again. He did not want to be separated from Shen Ze, not at all.

At this moment, Shen Ze spoke. He raised a hand and pointed in a distant direction. “Older Brother, look, over there is Alicia.”

Shen Run was amused by him. “What are you saying? Is Alicia in that direction? It would be a miracle if you could see it from here.”

Even though he said that, he still followed the direction Shen Ze pointed and looked over. The Misty Sea was like a transparent gem. At the point where water and sky merged, there really seemed to be a brightly lit city calling to him.

“Older Brother, come back to Alicia with me.”

Shen Ze’s voice blended with the sound of the waves, and for a moment, he thought he was hearing things.

“Come home with me.”

A clearer voice struck his heart. It was as if electricity had flashed through his brain. Shen Run’s whole body stiffened, and he felt as if even his blood were flowing backward.

Home, home, what a beautiful word.

The silhouette of the city at the end of the water and sky seemed a little clearer. Alicia was the city where he had lived for more than twenty years, his hometown that he could not help recalling over and over again in the middle of the night.

Actually, there was nothing in that city that Shen Run really had to care about. The only person he could not let go of was sitting beside him right now. Alicia carried all his and Shen Ze’s memories, the origin of the thread that bound the two of them together.

Going home with Shen Ze, returning to life as before, then, how happy would that be?

The feeling Shen Ze’s words brought him was no different from a siren’s whisper, wearing down his will.

He turned his head and met Shen Ze’s gaze, seeing expectation in the other man’s eyes.

Their hands tightened around each other, fingertips beginning to redden. Shen Run felt nervous. He opened his mouth, and in the end said the words of refusal.

“No, I, can’t go back.”

Not only could he not go back, he could not even leave Saint Grange. It would be best if he did not even leave Emerald Bay.

“Why?”

Unlike his calm tone, Shen Ze’s gaze was scorching, stabbing at him until he felt a little panicked. Shen Run turned his head away, instinctively avoiding it.

Why?

Yes, why?

He looked at the dark sea and remembered the reason that had kept him from going home, and had made him drift alone in a foreign land.