Chapter 145: Colorful Kites

Gu Yuan didn't seem surprised by Han Meng's reply. He placed a cup of coffee in front of Han Meng, his eyes fixed on the colorful kite-birds dancing in the sky, and slowly began to speak.

"Aurora City's kites have always been the best-selling among the nine realms. Do you know why?"

Without waiting for Han Meng to speak, he continued, as if to himself.

"The Aurora Realm is too cold. For more than half the year, it's winter here, and children spend most of their childhood indoors. Only during the one month when summer arrives do they get a chance to go outside and play freely. That is the happiest time of their year.

Because this joy is hard-won, parents do everything they can to fulfill their children's wishes. During that month, tens of thousands of kites fly into the sky above Aurora City every day, carrying the children's entire year's worth of anticipation and hope.

When summer passes, parents hang the kites in the most prominent spot in their children's rooms. This way, children will know...

Even if the bitter winter is hard to endure, summer will eventually arrive."

"...What are you trying to say?"

"No one wants to abandon the Seven Districts, but we have no choice," Gu Yuan said, looking at him calmly. "Look at this city. It is the future and hope of the Aurora Realm. As long as it stands, winter will eventually pass... Perhaps one day, we can even rebuild the Seven Districts."

Han Meng replied hoarsely, "But the children in the Seven Districts haven't even seen kites... That's not fair."

Gu Yuan was slightly taken aback.

He was silent for a long time before speaking again:

"Maximizing resource integration and utilization is a decision Aurora City made to rapidly advance its own development. I am not qualified to judge whether this decision is correct, but from the perspective of humanity as a whole, what we are doing now is undoubtedly correct."

"What does your version of 'correct' matter to me?" Han Meng asked, looking at him. "My people and my subordinates are waiting for me to return... I don't have time to listen to your grand theories here!"

"So much time has passed. District Three has long been annihilated. Even if you go back now, all you'll face is endless calamity."

Han Meng's body trembled slightly.

"Outside Aurora City, the aurora has long disappeared from other parts of the realm. The thick fog just conceals it, so it's not immediately apparent...

Within one hour of the aurora's disappearance, at least a thousand convergence points will emerge. Within three hours, these points will be large enough for calamities of Grade 3 or higher to pass through. In ten hours, the Seven Districts will theoretically be completely destroyed. Within twenty hours, the Ash Realm will completely envelop every inch of land outside the city, leaving no survivors."

Gu Yuan glanced at his wrist-watch, silver hands silently rotating on the star-and-moon dial.

"And now, since the aurora disappeared, fifteen hours have already passed.

If you leave Aurora City now, who can you save? Not only will you be unable to salvage District Three, but you will also pointlessly lose your own life there... Han Meng, you are a smart man; you should know what to do."

Han Meng's hands on his knees involuntarily clenched, veins bulging on them. He sat beneath the flock of flying kite-birds, struggling against a silent torment, like a stone sculpture.

On the icy permafrost, several figures moved slowly along the railway tracks.

"Dad... I'm hungry," the boy said, looking up. The wind and snow had turned his eyelashes white, and his eyes were full of grievance and pleading.

Mr. Xu saw this scene and his heart ached. He turned to ask his wife:

"Do we have anything left to eat?"

"Of course not," the woman sighed. "You rushed us out so fast, I didn't even have time to pack anything. If I hadn't grabbed a couple of clothes on my way out, we'd probably be frozen to death by now..."

A few hours earlier, Mr. Xu had also heard about Districts Two and Four. Sensing that things were bad, he immediately took his family and fled, planning to travel overnight to Aurora City for shelter.

He knew Aurora City might not accept them, but what if? Now, besides Aurora City, they had nowhere else to go.

They had left early and hadn't heard news of enforcers heading to the station, so they had no choice but to walk. Many people chose to flee to Aurora City during that time; there were many families from Frost Street alone. Their pace was similar, and they walked in small groups along the railway tracks, having covered less than a fifth of the journey by now.

Seeing this, Mr. Xu, after a long silence, still gritted his teeth and quickened his pace, running towards the figures walking ahead of them.

"Mr. Li, Mr. Li! Do you have anything left to eat? Can... can you spare one for us?"

Mr. Li, after all, owned a cake shop, so food was the last thing his family lacked. In the current situation, he might be the only one with supplies left.

Mr. Li also had his family with him. He originally wanted to refuse, but seeing the child behind him staggering, he still took a cup-cake from his bag and handed it to him.

"Take it," he said. "It's still a long way to Aurora City... Tell the child to eat it sparingly."

Mr. Xu was overjoyed and quickly nodded in thanks.

The child took the cake and bit off more than half in one mouthful. Before he could take a second bite, Mr. Xu took it away and put it away. "Good boy," he said, "we'll eat the rest later."

The child was obedient. He didn't clamor to keep eating; instead, he quietly asked:

"Dad... when will we reach Aurora City?"

"...A long time from now," Mr. Xu sighed. "If there were a train, we'd be there in a few hours..."

"Even if there were a train, there would surely be many people trying to get on. We might not be able to get a spot," Mr. Li, who was ahead, suddenly said.

"That's true..."

"Wait, is it just my imagination? Why do I feel the tracks vibrating?"

Just as they were speaking, a sound like a low rumble of thunder came from behind them.

Mr. Xu froze for a moment, as if something had just occurred to him.

"A train? Is it a train?!"

Many figures walking along the railway tracks simultaneously stopped. They looked back in shock, seeing two dazzling beams of light piercing through the thin fog. In the hazy distance, a massive steel beast roared towards them!

"It's really a train!!" The woman's eyes lit up. She stood by the tracks, waving frantically. "Save us!!"

"It's a train to Aurora City!"

"Wait a minute... Why does this train only have an engine car??"

Swoosh—!!

Before anyone could react, the solitary locomotive roared past them. The strong wind it kicked up whipped at their clothes, leaving them standing there bewildered.