CHAPTER 373: CHAPTER 227: EPILOGUE, LI QINGPING’S GIFT, AND THE DRAGON’S SHADOW IN THE LIBRARY

The time is late at night on August 1st, China Li Jing, Gu Yima District. Ji Minghuan, controlling Unit One Gu Wenyu, woke up in a room in an apartment building and got up from bed.

[Unit One—"Black Cocoon" has been loaded.]

[Hint: Due to the death of the target person, the main task 4 of Unit One—"Establish a cooperative relationship with the Vice Captain of the Royal Court Team ’Red Dragon’" has failed.]

[This mission route has been abandoned.]

Looking at the words on the panel, Gu Wenyu was silent for a moment. After a while, he turned his head to look out the window, quietly watching a brightly lit iron dragon crossing the viaduct.

After being in a daze for a long time, he slowly fumbled for the remote control from the side of the pillow, pressed the power button, and turned on the TV.

The host was reporting an incident that happened twenty hours ago, at 1:30 AM Norway time, near Bergen, saying that multiple islands appeared out of nowhere in the sea. Every island showed signs of human habitation, and the official Mutant organization is currently investigating this matter intensively.

Gu Wenyu lifted his head and quietly stared at the photos on the screen, where islands glowing with lonely lights floated on the sea amidst the heavy rain, rising and falling.

He got up from the bed, lowered his head to put on slippers, turned the doorknob, opened the door, and walked slowly towards the stairway with his head hanging low.

"Going out so late?"

Hearing the commotion, Gu Qiye came out of the room and turned his head to ask him.

Gu Wenyu paused his steps and didn’t turn back: "Not in a good mood, going to the beach for a walk."

"Need me to accompany you?"

"No need, I’ll be back in a while, you go sleep first."

"Alright, take care."

Gu Wenyu nodded, put on his coat, waved to his elder brother behind him, then went downstairs, put on sneakers, and stepped out the door. He walked along the quiet long street for a while, then stood at the empty bus stop.

The cicadas chirped again and again, the bus stop lights bright and dim. He stood with his hands in his pockets, lowered his head, waited for a moment, then got on the last bus, sat in the last row, and quietly turned his head to watch the neon changing, the bright lights and nightlife of the city.

Not long after, he got off at a bus stop along a coastal road.

Walking along the coastal road, Gu Wenyu arrived at the beach, stood in front of the harbor’s railing, quietly watching the sea surface under the night sky, the seawater rising and falling.

A lighthouse cast a lonely beam towards the sea, black tides crashing on the shore, breaking into white sprays. All was silent, only the sound of the tide enveloped the entire world.

Suddenly, a strange shadow flew in from the night sky, a shark wrapped in black tides. On its back sat a white-haired blue-eyed teenager wearing a sky-blue T-shirt and pants, which he bought on the way.

Gu Wenyu was stunned, lifting his head and staring dumbly at the person and shark.

"I told you, Shark Shark has sharp sight, recognized this Gu Wenyu from eight hundred miles away," Yaguba proudly said, crossing over the harbor railing, hovering mid-air.

Cezar flipped over, grabbed the fin, and stumbled down from the shark’s back onto the ground; the shark quickly shrank, transforming into a palm-sized Nobel Shark, and landed lightly on his shoulder.

About to speak, Cezar suddenly froze, turned his head to the small shark on his shoulder.

"Oh no, Yaguba... I forgot I can’t speak Chinese, and I didn’t bring a translation shard, what do we do?"

"No worries, Shark Shark’s Chinese is top-notch, I’ll be the translator."

Yaguba nodded proudly, then his gaze turned sharp, lifting his head to look at Gu Wenyu.

"You’re that Gu Wenyu?" The small shark pointed its fin viciously at Gu Wenyu, like a mobster holding a gun to a debtor’s chin.

Gu Wenyu, hands in his jacket pockets, nodded dumbly:

"What kind of demon or ghost are you?"

"I am Yaguba, and this person is Cezar." The small shark said, "We are friends of Li Qingping."

Gu Wenyu suddenly stopped talking.

"Stop dawdling, Yaguba, get to the point. I think he’s almost scared to death by you." Cezar whispered, looking at Gu Wenyu’s trembling legs, thinking that for an ordinary person in the human world, a being like Yaguba was still too advanced.

"Li Qingping wanted me to give you this."

The small shark said, then suddenly tapped its throat with its fin, and spit out a card from its belly. Both the front and back of the card were blank, completely different from other Anecdote Fragments. This was what Li Qingping wanted to leave for Gu Wenyu.

Cezar was taken aback: "Yaguba, what is this? I’ve never seen this type of shard before."

"A custom-made Anecdote Fragment."

"A custom-made fragment? Father said if someone really could do this, it would be an invention capable of overthrowing a country... Li Qingping truly is a genius." Cezar said in awe, "Can I take a look at that fragment?"

"No, that’s for Li Qingping’s friend." Saying this, Yaguba tossed the blank card to Gu Wenyu with his fin.

Gu Wenyu reached out from his pocket, caught the shard, and vigorously shook off the shark’s saliva on it.

After a moment of silence, Cezar looked up at him: "Gu Wenyu, we are about to leave now."

After a pause, Cezar suddenly said softly, "You have a very good friend."

The little shark on his shoulder was silent for a moment, then translated these words into Chinese for Gu Wenyu:

"We’re about to leave, you have a really stupid friend."

Gu Wenyu nodded.

Cezar lowered his eyes, thought for a moment, and continued, "Li Qingping won’t be coming back for a long time, he’s... gone on a world trip."

The little shark translated, "The big idiot won’t be coming back for a long time, he’s gone on a world trip."

Gu Wenyu nodded.

"Yaguba, are you really translating seriously?" Cezar turned to look at the shark on his shoulder, asking suspiciously.

"I am, an authentic translation, are you doubting Shark Shark’s character?! Though Shark Shark is a shark, not a person of character."

The little shark chided while mercilessly smacking Cezar’s head with a fin.

Then it leaped from his shoulder, transforming back into a two-meter-long shark. Cezar sighed, stepped up on the port’s barrier, jumped onto its back, and grabbed the fin.

The man and shark quickly left the port, speeding towards the brightly lit red-light district.

"Yaguba, is this China now?"

"This is China’s capital, Shark Shark will first take you to eat my favorite stinky tofu."

"But Yaguba, why have you been to China, aren’t you a sea creature?"

"Don’t worry about Shark Shark’s affairs."

"Also, why did Li Qingping never tell me about that self-made fragment?"

"Impressive, right? That’s the charm of Shark Shark’s status, in just a few days turning stray fish Red Dragon into a horse, confessing everything."

"Not personal charm?"

"Shark status charm."

In the night, their voices gradually faded away, and the sound of waves once again drowned the port.

Gu Wenyu withdrew his gaze from their backs, let out a gentle sigh, lowered his eyes to look at the blank card in his hand, and placed it in his coat pocket.

Then he sat on the port’s barrier.

Blowing the sea breeze, he looked into the distance, suddenly recalling the New Year from months ago, when the city was bustling, filled with the sound of gongs, drums, and firecrackers, yet the port here was empty, not a single person.

Li Qingping, the old crafty one, had invited him to this place alone, both sitting quietly on the port barrier, drinking beer and chatting while watching fireworks ascend into the dark night, exploding at the top of the sky, reflecting splendidly on the sea surface.

At that time, Gu Wenyu nudged him with his shoulder, jokingly saying, "Rich kid really knows how to enjoy life."

Li Qingping then sat on the barrier in silence for a long time, curled the corner of his mouth, lowered his head, drank beer without saying anything.

Gu Wenyu took out that blank card from his pocket, stared at the blank surface, suddenly realizing what Li Qingping meant back then.

Actually, only lonely people would think of hiding alone in such a secluded place to watch fireworks. Li Qingping was an orphan from a young age, even after being adopted by fishermen, no one paid much attention to him. In Box Garden World, whenever islands on the sea gathered together, bright bonfires lit up the towns, everyone sang, danced, toasted together, while he sat alone on a fishing boat in the sea, quietly watching the brightly lit island.

He didn’t want anyone to see his solitary self, it would be too pitiful.

Even in the outside world, before he met Gu Wenyu, every New Year, he’d stand alone at the port watching distant fireworks rise, feeling the bustling and noisy world yet seemingly very far away.

So to have a friend accompany him to such a desolate place to watch fireworks together and join the bustle, he must have felt quite happy, not like a stray dog abandoned by the world.

At this thought, Gu Wenyu suddenly shrugged and sighed, "Alright rich kid... only you are so sentimental, pretending to be a literary youth."

He walked to the vending machine, inserted a coin, bought a bottle of beer, then leaned on the barrier, drank while looking up at the dark sea.

The world slowly darkened, even the city’s lights dimmed down.

Gu Wenyu turned over, rested his back against the barrier, took out the card from his coat pocket, lowered his eyes to look silently. Suddenly, cracks opened up on the card’s surface.

"Come on, buddy, is this craftsmanship what it should be..." He was stunned, tried hard to cover the cracks on the card, but ultimately it shattered, breaking into fragmented blanks scattered in his palm.

Gu Wenyu felt a darkness engulfing his eyes, overcome with irritation, feeling like he’d been played. Hesitating for a moment, he grasped those blank fragments and scattered them all into the sea.

He sighed quietly, moved closer to the beer can, muttering, "Gone, yet still playing tricks on a friend, how could one be this wicked..." Just then, his voice abruptly stopped.

Stunned, Gu Wenyu slowly turned back, lifting his eyes to see the suddenly brightened sea surface, a blazing fire rising from the ocean depths, shooting straight to the sky.

Looking up, colorful fireworks instantly illuminated the empty night sky, even the sea surface was lit up. Under the dark night, there roared deafening sounds, as if someone was setting off firecrackers.

Silent for a long time, long before the fireworks went out, Gu Wenyu drained the remaining beer, tossed the can into the sea, then walked away without looking back.