About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

"But—I've already done it, haven't I?! Sasha's illness, those people who died, I can no longer pretend nothing happened... Hmm?! Oh, Mr. Orson??"

Ino was halfway through his words when Orsen suddenly grabbed his arms and lifted him up, then forcibly held him in his arms.

Orson sat cross-legged on the snow, holding the somewhat flustered Ino in his arms.

"Everyone knows that what happened cannot be undone. The guerrillas have the blood of others on their hands, to varying degrees. But even so, our longing for the future never ceases."

Orson gently stroked Ino's hair in his arms, recalling the infected girl who was also in his arms at that time but could not be saved.

The girl whose name she didn't even know was gone, and that was an unchangeable fact.

Now that I have the Originium skills, I will never let such a tragedy happen again.

"Try to help others, Ino. You have the power. Perhaps in the process of helping others, you can find peace in your heart."

"The power to save people? I don't know... And what if I still feel like I don't belong here even if I do that...? What should I do then?"

Ino raised his head and looked at Orson, his eyes as fragile as a wild cat about to be abandoned.

"Sasha and I will stay with you until you are able to break free from the constraints of the past and decide the path you want to take. Until then, I will block out any darkness for you."

Orson ruffled the Liberian boy's hair and gave him an unreserved smile.

"—"

At this moment, the panic that had been lingering in Ino's heart disappeared.

"So try to move forward, Ino. And by the way, think about what you want to do when we infected people can hold our heads high."

"Well, actually, I want to stand on the stage and sing..."

Ino stopped struggling, he buried his face in Orson's arms and whispered shyly.

After that day, Ino began to learn techniques related to medical first aid.

Although Ino was a little worried at first whether he could fulfill this crucial role, when he rescued an infected warrior from the brink of death and found himself smiling unconsciously, Ino threw himself into Orson's arms and cried out loud for the first time.

He wasn't some abnormal person who took pleasure in "taking lives," but rather a very ordinary person who felt genuinely excited for saving others.

Orson didn't say anything. He knew that the young man from Liberi had found the path he should take.

Just like other members of the guerrillas, Ino experienced persecution that ordinary people had never known about, and his hands were stained with blood that was difficult to wash away. But in the end, he did not choose revenge on the world, but tried to change this land with the power within his ability.

——You don’t need me to accompany you on the road ahead. You have grown up, Ino.

Orson looked at the white-haired boy with fatherly eyes. He could now let go with peace of mind and let the chick fly on its own.

Then, before Orson could even dream of it, the chick flew to the Big Bird Turn Bar.

69. The Agreement between Zaolu and Orson

“I really appreciate your support, which allows me to stand here and fulfill my wish.”

"Angel-chan! Angel-chan! Angel-chan! Encore! Encore! Encore!"

On a temporary stage in the commercial street, Ino was standing on the stage for some reason, singing and dancing rap like an idol. From time to time, he would lean forward slightly, posing in a super cool posture to control his Originium skills, and blowing pure white feathers to the audience to liven up the atmosphere.

"There's no weird added functionality, it's just decoration... What's going on?"

Orson caught a feather and scratched his head curiously after confirming that Ino was not doing anything strange.

Although Orson has already believed that Eno will no longer become the "performance artist Mephistopheles", he is still a little uneasy because he is still a young boy who climbs into his bed every day.

"I don't know...isn't Ino closer to you, Orson?"

Zaolu and Orson stared at each other.

"I've been helping Sister Tazi deal with the Reunion's identity issues these past couple of days, and haven't paid much attention to Ino—Uncle, what's going on? What's going on with that boy?"

Orson found an Ursus uncle who was waving his hands to the rhythm and asked Ino.

"Huh? You don't even recognize me, Angel-chan? Are you a primitive person who just crawled out of an air-raid bunker? It's been going viral these past few days!"

The uncle looked at Orson as if he had seen a caveman, then took out his mobile phone and opened a video software called "Dou Vodka".

Orson took the phone and saw that the number one video on the hot list was a scene of Ino kneeling in a ruin and helping several injured citizens of Che City to receive first aid.

In the background, there are blazing flames and occasional secondary explosions in the ruins. The pure white tone of Ino gives it a sense of angelic holiness.

When the person recording the video approached and asked who Ino was and why he wanted to save people, Ino smiled innocently:

"I'm just an ordinary person. Why would I save someone? I don't need a reason to save someone, right?"

With his innocent expression, words that go straight to the heart, and the wounds on his clothes left when he rescued people from the disaster scene, Ino instantly gained 10,000 mother fans and 100,000 male mother fans.

—Come to think of it, I think Ino did mention this to me a few days ago. He said that because Baikal's aborted backup plan hadn't been lifted, a fire and explosion occurred in a factory.

In short, after this video went viral, Yino was later asked "Is there anything you want?" Yino first shook his head to indicate no, then thought about it and said embarrassedly that he wanted to sing.

Orson glanced at the video's comments section and saw over 1 comments saying "Let him sing!"

Later, people discovered that this "Angel Sauce" had surprisingly good singing skills. Within a few days, her traffic and publicity were fully boosted, and she became the leader of Chernobyl's love of exposure.

“It feels like a dream…”

After reading the whole story, Orson rubbed his eyes. Although it was really hard not to support Ino in that video, this was still a bit too much.

"What about Sasha? He should be more calm and consider stopping Ino."

Orson looked around.

"Uh, over there, the one collecting the entrance fees."

Zaolu found a familiar face and pointed it out to Orson.

"…Sasha, what are you doing, Sasha!"

Orson looked at the young Fidiya, whom he thought was very reliable, but now he was standing next to the venue with an expressionless face, collecting ticket money with his left hand and handing out glow sticks with his right hand. He felt a sense of disillusionment.

Just then, Ino on the stage finished a song. He bowed to the audience and was about to leave, but was stopped by someone who was suspected to be the host.

"Angel-chan—wait a minute, can you tell us why you chose to become a medical worker at this age?"

"Well...it all started when Mr. Orson once told me to try to save lives. But now, it's just my humble effort to change the world."

Ino thought for a few seconds and responded with a smile. Hearing this answer, Orson in the audience suddenly felt warm in his heart.

His efforts were not all in vain. Ino had really become a great man who could stand on his own.

"Teacher Orson? Who is that teacher Orson?"

After hearing the name, the host's face instantly became gloomier, and the audience in the audience all put away their glow sticks. The fans from the previous second suddenly became like soldiers preparing to land on the beach.

"Well... maybe it's a little embarrassing to say this, but Mr. Orson is the person I've decided to follow forever and the one I love the most!"

Ino said with a blushing face, a little shy.

"I see—brothers, now you know what to do."

The host nodded with a smile, then looked at the audience.

"Everyone knows it!"

The audience raised their hands in response, and everyone was holding weapons such as machetes, maces, dildos, golf clubs, signal axes, etc.

"...I feel like something's not right. Should I just run away?"

A young man named Orson swallowed his saliva and prepared to take Zaolu and run away secretly.

But just then——

"Ah, Mr. Orson! Are you here too?"

Ino's Orson radar reacted, and he accurately noticed Orson mixed in the crowd, and waved happily to say hello.

“——” “——” “——”

Orson felt like he was thrown into a witch group and accidentally farted.

"Ino, you plotted against me—!"

Orson took Zaolu and ran away.

------

“The power of fans is terrifying…”

The two hid in a park, and the sky was slowly covered with a layer of dusk.

Zaolu sighed as she panted, while Orson pulled out the eighteen weapons stuck on his body and threw them into the trash can ()

"This is much more powerful than 'The Herd'..."

Orson sighed, then looked at Zaolu and they both smiled.

“We only visited a few places, but it felt like time flew by.”

Zaolu leaned back in her chair, looked up at the setting sun in the distance and spoke softly.

"After all, the things I encountered were so outrageous that my sense of time was probably messed up."

"There's also a saying that happy times always feel short, right?"

Zaolu looked at Orson and asked if there was such an old saying.

"Well, happy, ordinary days always pass quickly when you come to your senses."

When I think about it carefully, I have experienced so much in just over a year and a half.

Has the world changed because of my existence? Probably not.

But Reunion, Chernobog, Froststar, Patriot, Alina, Inosasha, Tallulah - their destinies should indeed have taken different trajectories.

Zaolu, who was sitting next to Orsen, looked at his profile and suddenly opened her mouth:

"Orson—can you continue to stay by my side? There's still a big gap in security personnel, and..."

Zaolu looked at Orson and said that she hoped he could stay in Chernobog, but she couldn't say the second half of the sentence.

"Well... I'm sorry, Natalia. The Reunion Movement won't stay in Che City forever. Ultimately, we're just an organization that's not subject to investigation. We can't stay in one place forever. We might even travel to other city-states."

Orson responded to Zaolu with an apologetic smile.

“…Yeah, that’s true.”

Zaolu frowned, then smiled and gave up the idea.

In fact, she knew the answer from the beginning, and she also knew that her question would only make the boy feel apologetic.

But Zaolu still asked.

"Let's go, the sun is about to set."

"Watch your step, Miss Natalia."

Although he couldn't stay in Chernobyl, he had to at least carry out his duties as a "knight" to the end.

Orson stood up, took Zaolu's hand and prepared to leave the park.

When the two arrived at the park exit, Zaolu suddenly stopped. She found that she didn't want to leave the park just like that.

Leaving the park means the end of today, and means that my little willfulness is about to come to an end.

I always feel like there's something I haven't done yet. I always feel like there's something I should say to that boy.

What he wanted to say, what he wanted to convey to this boy who looked even more immature than himself—

"Orson—I will try my best! Although the battle stage is different from yours, I will also give it my all!"

Zaolu said it out loud.

"Whether it's Qie City, the infected, or the abandoned people... I won't give up - and that includes you, Orson. I don't intend to give up just like that!"

Zaolu pointed her finger at Orson, expressing the little throbbing hidden in her heart in a way that was like declaring war.

"When this continent can make everyone smile, and when Chernobyl can continue to operate without threat, I will resign from this position and come find you. So, don't forget this promise from the new head of the Rostov family. You must remember it!"

"...Absolutely not, Lady Natalia. I pledge my allegiance to the Reunion Movement and look forward to the day when we each achieve our goals."

Orson was stunned by Zaolu's declaration, and then bowed to the female high school student.

"Then let's go back."

Zaolu held Orson's hand and left the park as the sunset completely sank into the horizon.

Next, she will no longer be "an ordinary high school student you can see everywhere", but "the youngest mayor of Chernobyl in history".