Why it never ends

Chapter 1255 Long-term commitment
"But that, that didn't happen after all."

"During the final verification phase, the system identified it as a false alarm. Mother City 1 aborted the containment sequence, allowing the already closed structure to reopen and restoring the signal link."

silence.

"...Every mother city has the potential to... trigger containment, right?" Hershtar's voice held a hint of hesitation. She knew the answer almost as soon as she spoke, but she had to ask anyway. "The same goes for you."

"Yes, I think that's logically understandable. The mother city emerged during the Great Blackout, so it's certainly possible that she could re-emerge underground."

Hersta suddenly felt a shiver run down her spine—it seemed someone had said the same thing to her before, but she hadn't taken it seriously then.

"What are the conditions for containment?"

"condition……"

It's a simple value judgment.

……

Eucalyptus remained seated on the riverside steps by the moat. Stella and Eleven had returned to their respective friends, while Hazel brought a thin blanket and sat silently beside Eucalyptus, gazing blankly at the river.

A moment later, the two heard a familiar voice.

"Are you cold? Would you like some milk tea?"

Eucalyptus turned around and saw that Tiexi was holding the thin handles of three small iron cups with both hands, and carefully bent down.

"Thanks……"

The old man and Eucalyptus accepted the cup with both hands, and Tiexi sat down next to Eucalyptus as well.

"Where did the milk tea come from?" Hazel asked.

Tie Xi pointed and said, "The middle school students over there cooked it."

The old man frowned: "Is it allowed to set fires in this square?"

"I don't know," Tie Xi said. "I'll give all the cups back to them later, and then I'll have to return them."

The three of them took a sip of hot tea together and simultaneously let out a contented "Ah—".

"How was your trip today?" Tie Xi asked Eucalypse. "You seem to be in good spirits?"

Eucalyptus looked down at the iron cup and did not answer immediately.

Tiexi looked at Hazel again. Hazel's lips twitched, and he shrugged slightly, making an "I don't know either" expression.

"...It's pretty good. I walked down King Street again today and didn't have a panic attack." Eucalyptus said in a low voice. "It's good, but also...quite unexpected."

"What do you mean by 'unexpected'? Your condition?"

“…I mean, the state of King Street tonight,” Eucalyptus said in a low voice. “So many people, so lively, it feels…not much different from that night.”

Both Hazel and Tessil wore thoughtful expressions.

“…So many people, so quickly…and they can go back to normal life,” Eucalyptus murmured. “It’s as if nothing ever happened on that street, as if there were never any corpses piled up on the roadside, never any bloodshed… It seems like after that day…I was the only one who was truly terrified.” Eucalyptus sighed. “It’s so strange, isn’t it?”

Hazel was glad that Tess was there for her. She was willing to stay with Eucalyptus, but she really didn't know how to respond to such a question. So the old man continued to put his hands in his pockets, staring at the streetlights reflected on the water in the distance, pretending that he was still in a daze.

"Did you have the same feeling when you passed by there today, Hazel?" Yugalli suddenly asked.

"Hmm..." The old man smacked his lips, "There is... a little, but not much."

Eucalyptus couldn't help but chuckle, looking at her pleadingly: "...Do you think my questions are too troublesome, that they're all unanswerable?"

At this, Hazel instinctively reached for the cigarettes in his pocket, but then remembered that Eucalyptus didn't like the smell of cigarettes, so he held back.

She braced herself, pretended to think, and looked at Tie Xi. Unexpectedly, Tie Xi just shrugged at her, seemingly waiting for her to speak next.

The old man coughed, scratched his head a few times, and several clumps of withered grass-like bumps appeared on the side of his head.

"...Do you trade stocks, Eucalyptus?"

Eucalyptus was momentarily dazed, unsure how the topic had suddenly shifted to this, but she still shook her head blankly: "...I never do these speculative and gambling things."

“Hmm… well, it can’t all be called gambling,” Hazel struggled to process her intuition in her mind, “I have a significant portion of my savings in there…”

"Is it also for retirement?" Tie Xi asked curiously, resting his chin on his hand.

“Of course.” Hazel continued, still staring at the water in the distance, gesturing as he spoke. “There are some assets that are highly volatile, and some people like to use them for short-term trading… a day, a month, a quarter, you understand? These people are speculating—like you said, gambling, voting.”

"...Why?" Eucalyptus asked, puzzled.

“Because this fluctuation reflects market sentiment and short-term supply and demand,” Tess explained. “Short-term prices are a mixture of noise and sentiment.”

“Yes, yes, yes…” Hazel nodded with great satisfaction, “That’s why I don’t play this.”

Eucalyptus tried to understand the logic behind this: "So you avoid highly volatile products...?"

“No, I buy because I want high returns,” Hazel said. “I only have so much money, and I can’t make money without taking some risks… but I will hold it for the long term. The shortest I’ve ever held a stock was four years.”

Hazel clenched his fists and swung them forcefully at his chest: "You have to let time work out the risks, do you understand?"

Eucalyptus let out a sigh-like "...ah," and Hazel realized she hadn't understood. The old woman's hand began to wave again, as if some words were stuck in her throat, unable to be uttered.

“In other words,” Tie Xi moved closer to the two of them, “if you are very risk-averse, you can give up some potential gains and buy products that are less likely to lose money; but if you are willing to take risks for gains, then all you have to do is hold the stock you like for the long term.”

"Short-term prices reflect noise and sentiment, while long-term prices will return to the intrinsic value of assets, which is the company's real profitability—it is a real signal, not noise."

"In other words, you must hold for the long term for the power of the 'signal' to outweigh the 'noise'. The longer you hold, the more likely short-term noise—such as a 20% drop in a certain month—is to be offset by noise at other times."

"Time is the only free tool that can dilute this 'volatility'."

Throughout Tiexi's explanation, Hazel kept nodding, constantly saying "yes, yes, yes." It was as if the words Tiexi was saying were coming from her own mouth.

“…Don’t be afraid of fluctuations.” Hazel finally found what he wanted to say most. “If you believe your choice is right, you are not gambling. Don’t be intimidated by the noise.”

The old man reached out and patted Eucalyptus's wrist. "Hold on tight."