Who says those who retire at the speed of light are not heroes?

"Then do you want to take off the mask?" The girl's eyes were cunning.

"Uh, no."

"Why is the captain wearing a mask?"

“Because it doesn’t look good.”

"Hey, the captain still has idol baggage, but... I really want to watch it, we are teammates in the same team!"

“They don’t want to watch it.”

"But I think so."

The mask wasn't that important, so Lin Cheng took it off in front of her. Shu Wan pinched his face several times and heard her say, "Hey, Captain... are you really nineteen years old?"

"some."

"So cute, hahahahahaha."

Siming put on her mask again and said, "Secret."

"Okay, okay. This is a secret between the two of us."

"But the captain is very good-looking, not ugly at all, you liar."

"You look good too."

"Of course I know I'm good-looking, hahaha." The girl in front of him was shaking with laughter.

"..."

....................................

"Captain, when will the natural disaster end?" The girl looked at the lilies by the window, her beautiful eyes revealing a hint of melancholy.

“Almost…almost…”

"Yes, I believe in you, Captain. Winter is coming soon. I have been a member of the team for two months. Thank you for protecting me during these two months."

"This is what a captain should do."

"But I'm really touched. The captain looks so cool holding a sword, like the hero in a novel. I prepared a gift for the captain."

“…No need.”

"But my scarf has already been knitted. It has bunny ears. It's super cute!" Shu Wan stuffed the gift box into his arms and looked at him expectantly. "I want to see how the captain looks when he wears it."

Lin Cheng opened the box. There were cute rabbit ears on both ends of the snow-white scarf. The corners of his eyes seemed to twitch slightly, but the girl in front of him had eyes full of expectation. Lin Cheng always felt that there seemed to be a little bit of cunning in her expectation.

"Indeed...very cute."

"I spent two hours every night knitting this for a whole month. Captain, you'll definitely want to wear it, right?"

"……meeting."

So in the alliance headquarters, one could always see Sima Ming wearing a ferocious evil ghost mask, a black exclusive uniform, and a cute rabbit scarf around his neck, with his rabbit ears jumping with his steps.

..............................

"The New Year is coming soon. It seems that there will be no natural disasters in the next few days. Captain, are you going home to be with your family?"

"I...have no family."

"Hey, Captain... I never said that before."

“No one asked.”

"Then do you want to come to my house for the New Year's Eve dinner? It's just me and my sister at home."

"let me consider it."

"Considering it means agreeing to it. The captain doesn't have much to do anyway. Does that mean he should accompany other girls?"

"……No."

"Then it's settled. You have to come to my house on New Year's Eve. I've bought some fireworks. Then you, my sister, and I can set off the fireworks together."

"……it is good."

But when they were halfway through the New Year's Eve dinner, the abyss monster arrived urgently. Lin Cheng had to put on a mask and join Shu Wan in the battle against the abyss monster. When he and Shu Wan returned home, the food was already cold, and her sister sat on the sofa and waited quietly for a long time.

Shu Wan grabbed her sister's hand and walked with her to the river downstairs, but it was raining heavily outside. The heavy rain made it impossible to set off the fireworks they bought. Shu Wan and her sister sat down on the steps in frustration, while Lin Cheng stood aside.

"We can put it off tomorrow."

"But watching fireworks in the New Year is a good omen. This is our custom. The rain will eventually stop." Shu Wan's eyes were bright.

"It's raining so hard, don't catch a cold."

This rainstorm was caused by the elemental turbulence caused by the arrival of the abyss. There was no way it would stop for a while. Shu Wan's sister almost fell asleep in her arms. Shu Wan whispered to Siming, "I promised my sister that I would take her to see the fireworks."

Lin Cheng and she were sitting on the steps under the eaves. Suddenly he thought of something and energy balls appeared in his hands. Those energy balls quickly broke away from his hands and exploded on the rain-storm sky, as brilliant as a firework display.

The girl sitting next to him had her head resting on his shoulder.

"How romantic." Her voice was light.

Lin Cheng didn't know what to say, so she said nothing. The brilliant light and shadows reflected every drop of rain that fell. Lin Cheng heard her ask softly, "Captain, after the natural disaster is over, can you still watch the fireworks with me?"

"can."

"Captain is so nice."

The girl raised her head, the bright fireworks reflected in her eyes, "The fireworks are really beautiful, Captain... but it's a little cold."

"Then let's go home and watch it."

"I mean you should hug me... idiot."

Lin Cheng hesitated for a moment, then gently held her in his arms.

"I will always remember this day. The captain had New Year's Eve dinner with me and set off fireworks for me. I will never forget it."

....................................

"Captain... this time, it's really... so cold."

"It seems that I can't wait until the end of the natural disaster... Captain, please forgive my selfishness. You are the one who deserves to live more than me. I believe that the captain will end the natural disaster one day. When the time comes, the captain must come to my grave and tell me loudly. I will hear it."

"It's a pity... I can't watch the fireworks and eat New Year's Eve dinner with the captain anymore... As expected... I'm still very scared when I'm about to die... Captain, can you hold me tighter a little bit?"

"I'll leave my sister to you to take care of from now on. She likes to eat lychees, but you have to remember to watch her for me. Eating too many lychees will cause a sore throat."

"Captain... there is one more very important thing... although it seems... it's too much to say now..."

"Actually, I don't like you. I just think... the captain is cute... He's actually very gentle, but he always pretends to be cold. It's really... too funny."

"Captain...it's so cold...hold...tighter."

When Lin Cheng was seventeen and a half years old, an SSS-level natural disaster befell the world. Siming killed an SSS-level Abyss Lord. Five members of Siming's team were seriously injured and one died.

Originally, he should have been the one to die. It was the first time that he faced an SSS-level Abyss Lord at SS level. His energy core was shattered, but Shu Wan shattered her energy core and used her energy core to heal Siming who was supposed to die.

Lin Cheng thought he had become numb, that he had gotten used to death and separation, but that day he couldn't stop crying.

At her funeral, Shu Wan's own sister punched and kicked him while crying, but he just stood there quietly without saying a word, like a broken clockwork doll.

Later, he came to the training ground again, and under the locust tree, he saw the girl who looked 70% similar to Shu Wan. She was wearing the white uniform of the alliance and looked at him with cold eyes.

"My name is Litchi."

----------

ps: I will update one chapter tonight. I haven't proofread the typos in the remaining two chapters yet. My head is too dizzy now.

119 Alchemy

"Your sister doesn't want you to be the judge."

"I will avenge my sister and I don't need your opinion."

"I promised her to take good care of you."

"What qualifications do you have? If it weren't for you, how could my sister have died?!"

The girl's eyes were red, but Lin Cheng couldn't refute her words. He hoped that the girl would continue to punch and kick him, venting all her resentment on him, but she didn't. She just said, "From now on, I will take my sister's place. If you refuse to let me join, I will join another team."

Later, Lizhi joined his team.

In every natural disaster in the future, Lin Cheng never let her get hurt. After Shu Wan's death, his abilities began to grow at a speed no one had ever imagined, and he grew to a god-like height. Until his abilities surpassed the SSS level and finally reached [Infinity], he went to the abyss alone.

The crack in the abyss was closed by him. He originally thought that he would never come back alive, as that was the price of [infinity]. However, some unexpected events happened in the abyss. Finally, he successfully left the abyss. He also had the opportunity to seal his abilities, so he chose to retire.

Lizhi also retired with him. Before retiring, Lizhi deleted all her information in the alliance and used her ability of mind dominance to make most people forget her existence. Together with Lin Cheng, she set up the original fruit shop.

..........................................

In the cemetery.

Lin Cheng and Lizhi said nothing.

Everything I wanted to say had already been said in the past. Even if I said anything more, it would be meaningless. The girl in the cemetery would not hear it anymore. She had been sleeping here for almost four years.

After a long time, Lizhi came to the tombstone, squatted down gently, and whispered, "Sister, we have lived very well these years."

"Sleep peacefully." She said softly.

Lizhi's fingertips touched the photo on the tombstone. After a long time, she raised her head slightly to prevent the tears from falling from the corners of her eyes.

....................................

At noon, Lin Cheng and Lizhi left the cemetery together, and Lizhi drove Lin Cheng to a hot pot restaurant on Rose Street.

Lizhi is only 19 years old this year. She is wearing a plain white dress today. Her short hair just falling on her shoulders is black and smooth. She and Lin Cheng sat in a small private room and ordered a lot of food. Then she asked curiously, "So Xu Wanyue and Jiang Lingxue were at your house at the same time last night. What happened?"

"Wait, why do you know that?" Lin Cheng was stunned.

"Because your phones are all within my location range, I'm curious why they all showed up at your house at the same time? Or are you just getting bigger and bigger now?"

“No.” Lin Cheng scratched his head. “I went out drinking with Xu Wanyue, and then we happened to go home together. When I got home, I found that Jiang Lingxue also came to my house…”

"And then you just let it go and start a silver party?"

"No, Xu Wanyue fell asleep as soon as she got home. Jiang Lingxue and I chatted for a while and she went back too."

"Just chatted for a while?" Lizhi tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and picked up a piece of beef roll with chopsticks. Lin Cheng's eyes were a little guilty. He usually had no ability to lie in front of Lizhi. Lizhi could read micro-expressions, and basically when she asked a question, she had guessed most of the answer.

Lin Cheng smiled helplessly and also started eating hotpot.

Speaking of which, it has been a long time since I had hotpot. There was no chili in Lizhi's dipping sauce, but Lin Cheng's was full of chili, so occasionally she would pick up her ingredients and put them in Lin Cheng's bowl to dip them.

"Xinjun should have guessed your identity. All he needs is definitive evidence."

"It doesn't matter if you guessed it. I'm in a half-useless state anyway." Lin Cheng shrugged.

"Tianyuan in the south of the city is planning to negotiate with me and Hongshao recently, and they also want to share some of the territory in the west of the city." Lizhi picked up the winter melon lemon on the table and took a big sip, "Will you come when the time comes?"

"Do you need me to come?" Lin Cheng scratched his head.

"It's up to you. The south of the city has always been very mysterious. The last time you went there, Tianyuan seemed to be just the tip of the iceberg of the south of the city."

"Behind Tianyuan is Green Hair. The Abyss Walker where Green Hair is belongs to that guy."

"What does she...want to do?"

"I don't know. Maybe she wants to become a god, or fulfill some other wish. Her ability is already SSS. I guess she has been to the abyss. I just met her a few days ago, and I smelled the scent of the abyss from her."

Lizhi frowned slightly, but was a little more curious, "Have you seen her a few days ago?"

"Yeah, didn't Lu Xiaoxiao and I go to deal with Minghe? We met a man named Ming Xiu who summoned SS-level Kurosawa and replaced his body with Kurosawa's. The woman came and dismantled him and took away Kurosawa's tailbone."

Lizhi frowned slightly, somewhat puzzled. Lin Cheng sighed helplessly, "I don't know what she is going to do, but she probably won't do anything bad. Let her be."

Lizhi hummed lightly, picked up the tripe on the table and continued to shuffle it. However, Lin Cheng lowered his head and looked at the white and tender feet that were now stepping on his knees. The feet were wearing white lace socks. He looked up at Lizhi, who was shuffling the tripe so seriously.

"What are you doing?" Lin Cheng looked strange.

"Isn't there a plot like this in the novel you read recently? Being stepped on while eating."

“…I’m just taking a look.”

"I see you seem to be enjoying it completely." Lizhi raised her toes a little more, and Lin Cheng gently clamped her feet, "Your eyes were so cruel just now."

"Why do I feel like there are more and more women around you recently? Are you dating this woman or that woman every day?"