Above the Blood Moon

Margaret loosened up too, and she and Daikiri started trash-talking each other, undermining each other, and mocking each other, but there was no malice in their tone, only a teasing tone.

Art and the priest sat quietly drinking, occasionally exchanging a few words, but mostly just watching the chaotic scene unfold before them.

After Dahuang finished drinking the bottle of Substance No. 9, the halo around its visual sensor softened, and it swayed gently on Jockley's shoulder as if it were drunk.

Time passed little by little.

Jockley didn’t know how much he had drunk; he only knew that the alcohol had overwhelmed his consciousness like a warm tide.

Then he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

When Jockley woke up the next day, he felt like his head was splitting open. He groaned and opened his eyes, only to see a blurry scene. It took him several seconds to figure out where he was.

He was still in that booth at the Power Train bar, lying on the sofa, covered with a blanket that appeared out of nowhere.

The booth was a mess, with empty bottles on the table and countless cigarette butts and needles scattered on the floor.

Art was snoring on the sofa opposite him, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Daikiri was nowhere to be seen, nor was the priest. Only Big Yellow was beside him, its visual sensor glowing dimly, as if it hadn't sobered up yet.

Jockley rubbed his temples, trying to relieve his hangover headache.

He stood up and staggered to the bathroom on the first floor. When the cold water stimulated his skin, Jockley finally became a little more awake.

As he rubbed his head and returned to his booth, he happened to see Margaret coming downstairs, followed by a handsome man.

The man walked up to Margaret, put his arm around her waist, and kissed her on the cheek. Margaret smiled in response and then gently pushed him away.

"Alright, I'll contact you again if I need anything next time."

The man nodded, kissed her again, and then turned to leave. Margaret watched him go, then turned and saw Jockley.

The two looked at each other, and Margaret raised an eyebrow before walking up to Jockley.

"woke up?"

Jockley nodded; although still a little drunk, he had indeed sobered up.

"What, haven't you ever seen a woman solicit a man?"

"Never seen it before."

"Now you've seen it."

As Margarita spoke, she sat down on the sofa opposite Jockley, took out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, lit one, took a deep drag, and then slowly exhaled the smoke.

"In the Forgotten City, women patronize men, men patronize women, women patronize women, men patronize men—anything goes, as long as you have money."

Jockley remained silent, unsure of what to say. To keep the conversation flowing, he forced himself to continue Margaret's words.

"Do you come here often?"

"Occasionally."

Margaret took another drag of her cigarette.

"I come here when I have money, and when I don't, I take jobs as a mercenary in the Ruins Town. I'm a hacker, but I also work as a prostitute occasionally. After all, the customers at Mirror Lake pay more and are cleaner."

She paused, then looked Jockley up and down with a scrutinizing gaze. Although Jockley was fairly good-looking, he wasn't her type.

"What, are you interested in me?"

Jockley shook his head.

"No, I'm just curious."

"What are you curious about?"

"I'm curious about Art and the others. You two seem to know each other quite well."

"Familiar? I'd say so. After all, we've done a few missions together, drunk a few times, and almost died a few times together. I'd guess you could call us friends?"

She took two deep drags of her cigarette and then exhaled a smoke ring.

"You want to know their origins?"

Jockley nodded; that was natural.

Besides Big Yellow, the others were practically the only people he knew in this world. Knowing some of their backgrounds would certainly be more beneficial for his survival in this place.

"think."

Margaret then extended her right hand, opened her palm, and projected the payment code.

"Transfer money, one Star Alliance coin per issue, fair and honest, no deception for young or old."

Without saying anything, Jockley immediately transferred the money.

Margaret's neural interface flashed blue light, and she closed her eyes to confirm it.

"Great," she said, then stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray. "Okay, what do you want to know?"

"Who is Atreus?"

"Atah..."

Margaret thought for a moment, then spoke.

"He came to Forgotten City two years ago by spaceship, but he never left after he got off the ship. He opened a tavern in Remains Town, worked as a doctor, and acted as a middleman to take on missions."

Margaret scratched her head.

"No one knows where he came from, nor why he stayed, but he is a good doctor and very strong, with many modifications made to his body."

Some say he used to be a corporate dog at one of the Big Six companies, but he's reliable and trustworthy, so he's a fairly well-known broker in the area.

"Where is Daikiri?"

"Daikiri is a local. He was born and raised in the Forgotten City. His father was a scavenger and his mother was a prostitute. Both of them died young. He grew up on the streets, stealing, fighting, selling organs, and doing all sorts of things. Later, he met At and became a mercenary with him."

Jockley was taken aback; he hadn't expected Daikiri to have so many experiences in the past.

"And what about the priest?"

Margaret was silent for a few seconds, then she shook her head.

"The priest is very mysterious. No one knows where he comes from, no one knows why he wears a black robe, and no one knows why he calls himself a priest. He is very powerful. You've seen him fight, right?"

Jockley nodded.

He recalled the priest's hands transforming into weapons of war, his entire body enveloped in a golden shield, as he single-handedly wiped out five mechanical dogs and his guards—that destructive, overwhelming power…

"He's very strong."

Seeing that Margaret had stopped talking, Jockley silently processed the information.

Just as he was thinking, there was a commotion nearby. The priest suddenly appeared out of nowhere, walked to the booth, stopped, looked at Margaret, and nodded slightly. Margaret nodded in response.

It seems Margaret was right; she and the priest and his companions were indeed old acquaintances.

The priest turned his gaze to Jockley.

"Go upstairs and find Daikiri. He's in room 307; he might be a little drunk."

Without hesitation, Jokley looked at the still somewhat confused Big Yellow and patted it helplessly. Seeing that Big Yellow didn't react, Jokley clicked his tongue and had no choice but to go upstairs alone.

When he went up to the third floor and found room 307, a neatly dressed prostitute pushed open the door and came out to greet him.

After repeatedly confirming that the room number was correct, Jockley called the prostitute over.

"I'm looking for Daikiri," Jockley said.

The prostitute then turned and shouted into the room.

"Daikiri! Someone's looking for you!"

A few seconds later, Dekiri came out of the room.

"Jockley? What happened? Something's wrong?"

Chokri looked at Daikiri, who seemed to have been lost in thought all night, and sized him up. He never expected that Daikiri, this guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, would like these things every day.

"It's alright, the priest sent me to find you, you should go back now."

Daikiri said "Oh," then turned around and spoke to the prostitute.

"Sweetie, I'm leaving now. I'll come back to see you next time."

The prostitute nodded and smiled, blew Daikiri a kiss, and then closed the door.

Daikiri had booked a room for the entire night, and she wanted to take a proper shower there; she couldn't let every penny spent in the Forgotten City go to waste.

Daikiri followed Jockley downstairs and walked out of the bar with Father and At. The group then rode their motorcycles back to the pub from the Mirror Lake area.

Jockley could only be thankful that Forgotten City probably didn't check for drunk driving, otherwise, they would have been caught every time.

Coincidentally, the hacker prostitute Margaret also returned with Jockley and the others, riding a pink, very feminine-looking motorcycle covered in sequins.

The three motorcycles drove back to the ruins town along the same route they had come from.

Back at the tavern, the priest tossed Art onto the floor behind the bar, then found a corner to sit in, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.

Daikiri collapsed onto the sofa and fell asleep again. Margaret didn't go in; she just waved from the doorway.

"I'm going back now. Call me next time you have a mission."

She rode away on her motorcycle, while Jockley stood at the pub entrance watching her figure disappear at the end of the street.

After losing sight of Margaret, Jockley turned to look at the group of people inside the tavern.

They had only known each other for a few days, but they seemed completely at ease with each other; perhaps this was the true nature of the Forgotten City.

Since death is the norm here, let's just enjoy the present moment.

For a moment, Qiao Keli didn't know why he suddenly wanted to eat wontons, the kind that are hot, with clear soup and fresh filling, sprinkled with scallions and sesame oil, the most ordinary and homely kind of wontons.

Chokley thought about his account balance, but still opened the External Connections system and brought up the shopping interface to search for wonton ingredients.

Some items are simply unavailable, and others are very expensive. All things considered, the total cost would be around 5 Star Alliance Coins, which is quite a high price.

But he wanted to eat it, he really wanted to eat it.

After the ingredients were delivered, Qiao Keli went into the kitchen. The kitchen was very simple, with only a simple stove, a sink, and a few pots and pans, but it was enough.

He first kneaded the dough, prepared the filling, minced the meat, added seasonings, and stirred in one direction until the meat filling became sticky and elastic.

Then comes rolling out the dough, rolling the dough into a thin sheet, and cutting it into small square pieces with a knife. The movements are very skillful, as if they have done it hundreds of times.

In fact, he had done it hundreds of times, because his mother had taught him how to do it at home on Earth.

"Yaoyao, make sure to pinch the wontons tightly when wrapping them, otherwise they will fall apart when cooking."

His mother's voice echoed in his mind, clear and warm. Jockley paused for a moment, then continued wrapping.

One, two, three...

Soon, he had wrapped a large batch, then boiled water, added the wontons to the boiling water, and the wontons rolled around in the boiling water like a group of small white fish. Jockley carried four bowls of wontons to the tavern hall, put the wontons on the table, and went over to wake up Daikiri.

"Daikiri, wake up, it's time to eat."

Daikiri opened his eyes groggily.

"What is that? Hmm? What does it smell like? It smells so good..."

He got up, walked to the table, and was stunned when he saw the four bowls of wontons.

"What is this?"

"Wontons," Jockley said.

"ravioli?"

Daikiri repeated it, then picked up a spoon, scooped one up, blew on it, put it in his mouth, and his eyes lit up.

"Holy crap, this is fucking delicious!"

He wolfed down his food. Jockley smiled and went to wake At. At was also awakened by the aroma. He got up and walked to the table, and was stunned when he saw the wontons.

"Did you do this?" he asked.

Jockley nodded.

"Um."

Art didn't say anything, but simply lowered his head, picked up the wontons, and quickly ate them.

Finally, Jockley looked at the priest, who was still sitting in the corner with his eyes closed. Jockley hesitated for a moment, then picked up a bowl of wontons and walked over to place it in front of him.

"Father, have something to eat."

The priest opened his eyes, and after realizing that what was in front of him was food, he reached out, picked up a spoon, scooped up a piece, and put it in his mouth.

"tasty."

Jockley smiled, returned to the table, picked up the last bowl of wontons, and sat down.

Daikiri had finished eating and was drinking soup from her bowl.

"Chocolate, you're a fucking genius! This stuff tastes a million times better than nutritional paste. From now on, you'll be a full-time cook, and I'll take care of you."

Ate finished eating, put down his bowl, wiped his mouth, and then looked at Jokley.

"It's really good. I haven't eaten anything this normal in a long time."

The priest finished eating, put down his bowl, and looked at Jockley.

"Thanks."

Jockley didn't say anything; he just ate his wontons, listened to their comments, and felt that inexplicable warmth.

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

"Master, you seem very happy right now. (´･ω･`)"

Are you happy? Jockley wasn't quite sure, but he felt like he was slowly integrating into this world.

At least, it's not so painful anymore.