Just as Muyang was practicing on Korin Tower, something happened on a certain island on the east side of the Earth.
Tuk! Tuk! Tuk!
The sound of gunfire broke the silence on the island as a dozen speedboats cruised around the island with heavily armed teams standing on them.
All of them dressed in earth-grey uniforms, looking both like armies and bandits.
“Boss Lusha, the team that was sent out, is back, but they haven’t found Claren’s whereabout yet.” A soldier looking man removed the radio mike from his ear and reported to their officer.
The officer took a puff of his cigarette and exhaled a choking plume of white smoke, then glancing fiercely at the soldier and cursing angrily. “Shouldn’t you send more people if you can’t find them? The commander has given a death order to find Claren. Even if he dies, we must bring back what he has on him.”
The soldier shuddered and responded hurriedly, “Yes, I will immediately send more men to the island.”
“Don’t ever stop.”
Officer Lusha waved his hand impatiently, then sat there and continued to puff away.
“Commander Wyan is really nothing more than a small researcher. What exactly does he have in his possession that is worthy of such a big search… Forget it; I’m just in charge of the mission, I can’t be bothered with the business of those upperclassmen.” Lusha stubbed out the cigar in his hand, then reported the situation here to headquarters.
What I got was an order from headquarters to “search at all costs.”
“Hey, these officials only give orders. We aren’t subordinates who should do the work.” Hanging up the phone, Lusha spat with a gloomy face.
The thought that he, the frontline commander of the Snake Charmer Legion, would have to be personally responsible for such a trivial task made him unhappy.
At this time on the island, a blond-haired man with a bowed back was holding a child, as they were hiding in a small forest.
If Muyang was there, he would have recognized the blond man as one of the young couples he had met on the train journey to Maple Island a few months ago.
The child in his arms was a little girl named April.
At that moment, Claren’s chest was wounded, and scarlet blood had stained his shirt. “Cough…” Claren bowed and coughed, the small movement twitching the wound in his lungs and making him look miserable.
“Oooh, Daddy, are you okay? April misses mommy and sister.” The little girl April had tears in her eyes and sobbed quietly with her mouth flattened.
“Don’t cry, April, Mama and Sipriel will be fine.” Claren wiped April’s tears and looked at her with a hint of sadness. April raised her head, “But the boat that we took sank and mom and my sister never came up… Woah Woah… They wouldn’t make it back.”
Claren’s expression stiffened for a moment. What he wanted to say ended up in his throat, and he couldn’t get it out.
Just then, there was a sound of sweeping in the grove, and Claren hurried to cover April’s smallmouth.
He waited until the sweepers were far away before making up his mind, stuffed a thick drawing, and three inky black rocks into a small backpack behind April.
“April, save these things, they’re dad’s research materials.” A hint of sadness and anger flashed in Claren’s eyes. If it wasn’t for these things, their family might not have been in this mess.
“Dad!” April felt something and cried out uneasily.
Claren was a researcher at Synthesized Research Institute, working on robotics research. As for what exactly those three black, shadowy rocks were, he had no idea.
They had been peeled from the top of a meteorite in outer space. Claren didn’t expect his research to cause the covetousness among the high ranking officers of the Snake Charmer Legion.
Their cruise ship was attacked during the voyage. His wife and young daughter fell into the sea and were never seen again. He was afraid the worst was yet to come.
He placed his palm over April’s head, “Do as you’re told. There’s a small cave over there, go hide in there and don’t come out until I call you out.”
“Mmm.” April’s tears slid down as she murmured softly.
“Here, it’s your favorite candy, take one when you’re sad and save the rest.” Claren looked at his daughter. He peeled off candy with difficulty, shoved it into her mouth, and then shoved the candy jar where his daughter’s snacks were stored in her small backpack.
With that done, Claren dragged his frail body away gradually.
“Remember, don’t leave that cave for the next two days.”
“Yeah,” April answered with a cry.
Claren looked deeply into his daughter’s eyes one last time and turned towards the grove outside. Only if he drew all the enemies away, April would have a chance to live.
………
After Claren left, there was a tuk-tuk sound of musket fire as the sky grew dark, and a thin mist rose in the forest.
April hid in a small cave and waited for her father to come back, but after two or three days of waiting for Claren, the hungry April couldn’t stand it any longer.
Sadly, she ate a candy, carefully covered the candy jar, put it in her bag, and then dragged her thin body out of the cave.
The wind whistled, chilling with a ghostly sadness, as it gradually rolled farther into the distance. April shrank and waddled toward the people on the island.