Why it never ends

Chapter 1198 Happy
Li Ge took two steps back, a flash of anger crossing his face: "You're going to hit me again! Can't you talk properly?"

Hesta slammed on the brakes, his expression turning somewhat innocent and surprised: "...Are you still angry with me? I'd almost forgotten why you were ignoring me, why are you still—"

"You've forgotten!" Rig's voice suddenly rose. "You've forgotten—you actually—you've already forgotten, haven't you?"

“No, that’s not what I meant!” Hesta raised his hands in surrender as he ran towards Rico to block her path. “Listen to me—”

"We have nothing more to say!"

"I was wrong……"

"What did you do wrong? You're so noble—get out of the way!"

“I was really wrong—I don’t mean I shouldn’t have picked up that box, I mean I made you worry, but all this time I’ve been pretending nothing happened, not going to you, not explaining to you—”

"What's there to explain? Haven't you forgotten everything already?"

"Because...because I'm so happy today!" Hersta stammered incoherently. In her haste, she could only grab Rico's arm, and the two of them tangled together almost in a wrestling match in the deserted farm at dusk. "Rico!"

This moment suddenly felt familiar to Hershta; she realized that this wasn't the first time she had apologized in vain. She belatedly recalled her past experiences: in moments like these, any explanation or complaint seemed superfluous… but could words spoken be taken back?

“I was wrong. I shouldn’t have been here at all. I should have left District 12 when you arrived,” Rico’s voice still trembled with suppressed rage. “You didn’t come here for a vacation; you came here to die—”

“Hey, you’re absolutely right,” Hester suddenly paused, the “life or death” divination incongruously flashing through her mind. “I met a fortune teller in District 14—”

"Jane Hester!"

“Then what am I doing here?” Hester released her grip, looking even a little aggrieved. “You’ve been staying on the farm because I’m in danger here, Rico…aren’t we…aren’t we best friends? Why are we always arguing—”

"Do you still think that box should have been picked up?" Li Ge said sternly. "I know the situation wasn't extremely dangerous, but can you guarantee you'll get out safely? What if Lü Qizhen got the location wrong? What if the room suddenly collapsed while you were walking through it? What if—"

“I can’t… I can’t guarantee it.” Hesta pursed his lips, then after a moment said, “Yes, I shouldn’t risk my life, but Rico, back then—”

"No buts! Don't forget how Liz died! She thought she could do it too, she thought the odds were incredibly low, oh! A mercury needle! Could she really die from a smuggler's gun? And what happened? Do I really need to teach you some lessons?"

When Liz was mentioned, both of them suddenly fell silent.

Rigo took a deep breath and crouched down in the grass. Hersta watched her retreating figure, hesitant to speak.

After a while, she sat down next to Li Ge: "The day before yesterday, something really happened that could have killed me."

Rigo turned around, and Hersta saw her slightly reddened eyes as she whispered the whole story—the complicated series of travel restrictions, last year's possible infection, and the bizarre autopsy report… Rigo listened with a furrowed brow.

“Victoria told me that Deep Anchors had a new sample of this virus and that they were actively contacting armed groups around the world that were hostile to Mercury Needle, to provide these people with virus samples free of charge.”

"...Is the information accurate? Deep Anchor?" Rigge asked incredulously. "But they—they themselves are—"

“So, Victoria, and another scientist who also studied this virus, believe that Deep Anchor may have mastered some kind of immune mechanism.” Hesta sat down, his voice calm. “Those viruses can make mercury needles lose their barrier against chelation disease, turning ‘mercury needles’ from a reusable anti-enemy tool into a disposable one—don’t look at me, this is what that scientist said, she’s already dead.”

Li Ge processed all of this with mixed feelings, recalling her separation from Sahame and the faces of these old friends.

“Mirsotis…” Rico murmured softly.

“Yes, I thought of this when Victoria shared the information with me.” Hesta moved closer to Rico. “They call ordinary people savages and are hostile to mercury needles. So, if we can spread this new sample among mercury needles first, and then re-infect chelation disease worldwide… that would kill two birds with one stone.”

“At that time, there might not have been anywhere in the world that would have been safe,” Hester said. “Don’t hold it against me for going into the fire to retrieve the boxes—if Deep Anchor had succeeded, the whole world might not have been as safe as the fire that night.”

Li Ge didn't speak; she rested her forehead on her hands, her lips slightly pursed.

“But Li Ge, I’m really happy about my journey back today.”

Rico turned his head and looked at Hersta with a subtle gaze.

“I told you on the ship that I killed Roger, that I was the assassin Victoria and the others were tracking… Do you remember?” Hester looked at her. “At that time, I planned to spend five years to accomplish this… five years. But in the end, in less than three months, all those nobles from the Third District died at my hands.”

Lige glanced around warily. The farm was silent in the twilight; as far as the eye could see, there were only the two of them.

"Someone is helping you?" Rico asked softly.

“Yes,” Hester said, “this man forced me to shorten the time for revenge. We bargained and finally settled on three months… What would my life have been like if I had never met that man?”

"I think I'm probably still traversing various wastelands and fighting mutants. After all, that's what I do best. I'll be secretly timing myself in battle after battle, waiting for the final moment of revenge... just wasting time like this."

“Although I wasted some time later, I still ended up in District 12.” Hesta rested his chin on his hand and looked back at Rico. “It’s really good… I only now realize how lucky I was in this whole thing.”

Li Ge raised an eyebrow slightly: "...You haven't wasted any time."

“I’ve been doing too little stuff before,” Hershta shrugged. “I haven’t even been to the mother city once. When I told Victoria, she didn’t believe me—”

“What’s so great about going into the mother city?” Rig looked at her. “I’ve never been inside either, but Turan went there every day when he was in the first district.”