Above the Blood Moon

As the roar of motorcycles faded away at the edge of the Forgotten City ruins, the red moon had already sunk below the western horizon, leaving only a faint, dark red glow.

Two motorcycles drove into the alley behind the pub, and Jockley felt like he was about to fall apart.

The motorcycle came to a stop, and At and Daikiri got off first. Daikiri stretched and yawned, his face showing the relief of having completed his mission.

"Finally back! My butt is going to split into eight pieces if I ride any longer."

Art ignored him and turned to look at Jokley.

The priest had already parked the motorcycle, so Jockley climbed off. Art came over and reached out to support Jockley's arm.

"Can you still walk?"

Jockley nodded.

"able."

"Then let's go inside. I'll treat your wound first."

The tavern was still lit, but there were few customers left. It was late at night, or rather, early morning. The red moon was about to set, and dawn had not yet arrived. It was the quietest time in the Forgotten City.

Two drunkards sat at the bar, snoring on the table, drool dripping from their mouths and forming a small puddle on the wooden surface.

Art ignored them and helped Jockley up the stairs back to the small room of a few square meters.

Art made Jockley sit down on the bed.

"Take off your trench coat and let me see your wound."

Jockley nodded and reached out to unbutton his trench coat.

The inside of the trench coat was soaked with blood. The dark brown bloodstains were not very noticeable on the black fabric. The bandage on the abdomen was also stained red with blood, and blood was still seeping under the gauze.

Art crouched down and pulled a metal box from under the bed, which contained various medical instruments.

"Lie down."

Art removed the bandages from Chokley's abdomen, sprayed disinfectant on the wound, and then used medical instruments to perform a simple surgical procedure on Chokley. His movements were skillful, as if he had performed this kind of simple surgery countless times.

"All done," Art said, wiping the blood from his hands.

Jockley nodded, sat up, and felt some relief in his abdominal pain; at least the bleeding had stopped.

Strangely enough, although these two injuries were not fatal, they were not minor either. If he had suffered such injuries in the past, he probably would have been in so much pain that he couldn't speak.

But now, he can still speak and walk normally, which is probably a benefit of being a superhuman. Superhuman energy can accelerate wound healing and enhance the body's recovery ability.

"Give me your Covenant Coin savings account ID. Once the mission is complete, I'll take the hard drive. As agreed, you and Pilot will split 50 Covenant Coins. I'll transfer it to you first. I won't deduct the cost of the nutrient paste and water."

After Yate finished packing up the equipment, he walked towards the door. Jockley felt his heart skip a beat; that was 50 Star Alliance Coins!

"Get some rest," Art said again, then pushed open the door and went out.

The door closed, leaving only Jockley and Big Yellow in the room. Big Yellow climbed off Jockley's back, moved across the mattress with its two mechanical arms, and finally stopped beside his pillow.

"Master, your vital signs are stabilizing, the bleeding from your wound has stopped, and your heart rate has returned to normal. I suggest you rest and get some sleep immediately. (•̀ω•́)✧"

Jockley nodded. He was indeed exhausted. From the moment he set out until now, he had experienced infiltration, combat, injury, killing, and escape...

Every minute he teetered on the brink of life and death, every second he was on edge. Now that the mission was complete, the money was about to be in his hands, and his wounds had been treated, he could finally relax.

Jockley lay on the bed, and Big Yellow manipulated the robotic arm to cover him with a blanket. He closed his eyes, and as darkness engulfed him, exhaustion almost swallowed him whole.

When Lu Yao opened his eyes, he found himself sitting on the sofa in his own home.

The TV in the living room was on, playing a boring variety show. Outside the window was the evening sky, with the setting sun painting the clouds a warm orange hue.

He picked up his phone; the screen showed the time: 7:32 PM. Then the phone rang; it was his mother calling.

"Hello, Mom."

"Yaoyao, are you off work yet? When are you going to visit Mom and Dad? I made your favorite sweet and sour pork ribs, braised fish, and..."

Lu Yao felt a tightness in his throat as he listened to his mother's voice.

"I'll be right back."

Lu Yao's voice was choked with emotion.

"Hurry up, the food won't taste good if it gets cold. Also, your dad bought some watermelon today and put it in the fridge for you to eat when you get back."

"it is good."

"Be careful on your way home from get off work, don't run red lights."

"understood."

"I'll hang up now, I'll wait for you to come back."

"Um."

After hanging up the phone, Lu Yao sat on the sofa, holding his phone, looking out the window at the gradually darkening sky and the distant lights of countless homes.

Everything felt so real, so warm, so normal. There was no red moon, no metal debris, no cybernetic modifications, no superpowers, no debts, no bomb collars, and no fear of dying at any moment.

There is only home and family, only an ordinary but peaceful life.

It turns out that everything before was just a long and terrible nightmare. Now the nightmare is over, he has woken up, and he has gone home.

Lu Yao sighed deeply. This nightmare was too real, so real that it terrified him.

Ding.

A crisp notification sound rang out, particularly clear in the quiet living room, breaking Lu Yao's reverie.

Lu Yao paused for a moment, then looked down at his phone. A notification popped up on the screen, displaying distorted symbols and unfamiliar font.

Then the text began to change, like a reflection in water being disturbed, like the fog on a mirror being wiped away, like the edge of a dream beginning to collapse.

The words disappeared, replaced by a number.

50.00

There is another line of smaller text below:

[Star Alliance Coin Arrival Notification: Ate has transferred 50.00 Star Alliance Coins to your account. Current balance: 50.00 Star Alliance Coins.]

Lu Yao stared at the number, and he heard a voice.

[External Relations System Notification: Account balance has changed. Please check your balance.]

The sound echoed in the living room, and then the whole world began to collapse. The TV screen cracked, the sofa melted, the walls peeled away, and the sunset outside the window disappeared, replaced by a dark red moon.

A huge, scarlet moon hung in the shattered sky, coldly watching everything.

My mother's voice still echoes in my ears:

"Yaoyao, when are you coming back...?"

But the sound grew farther and farther away, more and more indistinct, like a dandelion seed drifting in the wind, until it finally disappeared completely.

Jockley opened his eyes. He was still lying in that small room, staring at the water stains on the ceiling.

A tear slid down his cheek.

But the next instant, Jockley jumped straight out of bed, the movement so fast that it aggravated the wound on his abdomen, making him wince in pain, but he didn't care.

Jockley opened his Star Alliance account, staring at the number on the virtual screen, feeling his heart pounding wildly in his chest, as if it were about to burst out of his ribs.

He immediately rushed to the corner and picked up Big Yellow, which was charging. Big Yellow's vision sensor flashed.

"Master? What's wrong? Did you have another nightmare?(´･ω･`)"

Jockley didn't answer; he just held Big Yellow and spun around in the small room, jumping up and down like a madman.

"Money!" he roared, his voice trembling with excitement. "The money's here! Fifty Star Alliance coins! We're rich!"

Big Yellow paused for a moment, then its visual sensor band began to flash wildly, and a golden halo bloomed like fireworks.

"Really? We can buy delicious food? We can buy new parts? We can…"

"We can pay off our debts now, we can pay off Daikiri's money, we don't have to worry about having our organs harvested anymore, we can..."

He stopped, panting, feeling tears welling up, but he didn't cry anymore; he just smiled.

Jockley laughed loudly, unrestrainedly, and wildly, as if he wanted to vent all the fear and despair he had felt during this period through laughter.

Then he put down Big Yellow and pounced back onto the bed, quickly swiping his fingers in the air to bring up the shopping interface and bought three servings of braised pork rice.

Ten minutes later, the familiar wheeled robot hovered outside the window, and its robotic arm shoved a thermal box inside.

Jockley rushed over and opened the insulated box. He wolfed down the braised pork rice until he sat down in the middle of a pile of empty lunch boxes, panting, feeling that his stomach was so full that he couldn't put anything else in it.

This is a sense of satisfaction I've never felt before.

Big Yellow crawled to his side, the halo of light from the visual sensor glowing gently.

"Master, eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you. (´･ω･`)"

Jockley didn't speak. A knock sounded on the door. He subconsciously closed his eyes and activated his superhuman mode. A pale golden aura flowed beneath his skin, and the world once again became the outline of energy in his eyes.

Outside the door was Daikiri's heat source; there were no enemies. Jockri then opened his eyes, and his energy vision faded.

He walked to the door and opened it; sure enough, Daikiri was standing outside.

He changed into a black T-shirt with exaggerated graffiti, and a band-aid was stuck to his face to cover the bloodstain on his cheek. When Daikiri saw Chokri, his eyes widened.

"Holy crap, you didn't run away?"

Jockley paused for a moment.

"Run? Run where?"

"Run away!" Daikiri said, looking Jockley up and down as if he were looking at something rare.

"Atlantis has already paid everyone the money. You received fifty Star Alliance Coins, right? You owe me twenty-two and a half Star Alliance Coins, right?"

Generally speaking, the first thing debtors do after receiving the money is run away, find a place to hide, or simply leave the Forgotten City so I can never find them again.

"But you didn't run away, you're still here."

Jockley was silent for a few seconds, then he raised his left hand, and the external mental system on his head lit up with a blue light, and a virtual screen popped up.

He made a few gestures on the screen, brought up the transfer interface, and entered Daijili's account ID, which Daijili had given him before, saying that if he wanted to repay the money, he should transfer it to this account.

On Daikiri's wrist, the neural interface flashed a blue light.

He closed his eyes, as if confirming something. A few seconds later, he opened his eyes, and the expression on his face had completely changed.

"You..." Daikiri opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't say anything.

He simply stared into Jockley's eyes, eyes that held no calculation, only a simple, almost foolish honesty.

"You actually paid it back? I never had any hope... Really, in Forgotten City, not paying back debts is the norm, paying back is the anomaly. Besides, we didn't even sign a contract, so even if you ran away, there was nothing I could do about it."

He paused.

"But you actually paid it back."

He stepped forward, put his arm around Jockley's shoulder, and spoke with a smile in his voice.

"Bro, I'm fucking starting to like you."

Jockley felt a little uncomfortable being held in his arms, but he didn't push him away. Daqili continued talking as he walked downstairs with his arm around Jockley.

"Come with me tonight, I'll take you to do some fun things."

Jockley paused for a moment.

"Play?"

Daikiri seemed to sense his suspicion and cursed.

"Damn, what are you thinking? I'm not gay, I mean I'm taking you to the Mirror Lake Wharf area in the city center to have some fun. Art and the priest will come too, and we'll all celebrate mission completion together."

"Let's go, stop dawdling."

Jockley was pulled down the stairs back to the first floor of the tavern, where Art and the priest were drinking.

Art sat on a high stool in front of the bar, holding a glass of clear liquid in his hand, slowly sipping it.

The priest stood beside the bar, his face still hidden by the hood of his black robe, and he was holding a glass of wine. The two of them turned around at the same time when they heard footsteps.

Upon seeing Jockley, At's expression instantly turned into an ugly one, like someone who had been constipated for ten days and couldn't poop.

"I knew it," he said, his voice filled with helplessness. "I knew it would turn out like this."

The priest smiled slightly, and although his face was still hidden in the shadow of his hood, Jockley could sense that a smile was indeed on his face.

Then the priest stretched out his hand, palm outstretched, toward At.

"Give me the money."

Art sighed again, took a Covenant coin out of his pocket, and slapped it into the priest's hand.

"Here you go, you win."

The priest took the coin, stuffed it into the inside pocket of his black robe without even looking at it, and, meeting the questioning look that Jokley gave him, took a sip of his drink, then glanced at At, who was sulking after losing the bet.

"I made a bet with Atreus. I bet you wouldn't run away after you got the money, and he bet you would. Looks like I won."

Jockley remained silent, unsure of what to say. Suddenly, he felt that the world might not be as bad as he had imagined.

At least, there are still people here who are willing to believe him.

At didn't succumb for long. He grabbed Daikiri and then shouted with a wild laugh.

"Alright, alright, the mission's over. Let's head to Mirror Lake. Daikiri's treating tonight!!"

The motorcycle engine started up again, its roar echoing through the silent streets. The wheels turned, rolling over the crooked streets of the Forgotten City Ruins Town towards the Mirror Lake Wharf area in the city center.

Along the way, prostitutes saw Daikiri. They stood on the street, dressed in revealing clothes, with glowing decorative prosthetics on their faces and price lists hanging on their mechanical arms.

One of them saw Daikiri, waved, and shouted.

"Daikiri! When are you coming to see me again?"

Daikiri's voice came from the motorcycle and drifted away in the night wind.

"Maybe next time! I'm going to enjoy myself at Mirror Lake today!"