Durin's Diary

Chapter 963 Like Fleeting Clouds

Which flashback scene is this?

Alyssa stared blankly at the steel corridor outside the window. She knew that this was the lower level of the research center, an area distorted by the power of chaos in reality, where fundamental laws no longer existed and every life there would be twisted into something they never imagined.

But here, in Director Sun's memory, everything is still as new as ever.

As the tram left the tunnel, Alyssa saw a platform-like rest area, which was the transport ship docking station in the lower area. In the brightly lit rest area, Alyssa saw many people, including many children. The children with long blond hair were wearing white robes and were chattering away.

Anyway, Alyssa couldn't understand these old Japanese phrases.

Not to mention her, many ancient sages couldn't understand it either, because it was completely different from the words and language they knew.

As the car door opened, Director Sun stepped out with a smile, and Alyssa followed him out.

Suddenly, she noticed a girl in a white robe sitting on a bench in the crowd. Around her were children of various races, who gathered around her in twos and threes, singing songs that Elisa couldn't understand.

But Alyssa understood that in every node she had seen, there was always a great demon or an evil god, and sometimes even more.

Therefore, this being she just discovered... must be problematic.

There were PhDs in white coats, people Alyssa didn't recognize, but they must have been her mentors and colleagues, because they were standing in the distance smiling. Some were recording this beautiful moment with their phones, some were like holding their lovers' arms, and some were laughing and joining in the chorus.

This beauty is just like it was a thousand years ago, when everyone at this research center was as close as Alyssa saw in Director Sun's records. These children nurtured in the fifth ecosystem must have been treated very well, because they were singing along with them.

“It’s Spanish, so it’s understandable that you don’t understand. These children come from the Fifth Ecosystem, and some of them are even smarter than me.” Director Sun said to Alyssa, then turned to look at the girl.

At this moment, the beauty in Alyssa's eyes turned into a bizarre sight—everyone had turned into skeletons, and the soul of every living being was imprisoned in their skulls, with pale soul fires seemingly trying to burn everything away.

"Director Sun," the girl sitting there spoke, her voice dry and hoarse.

"Good evening, Perlen Mittel," Director Sun said, gesturing for Alyssa to extend her greeting as well.

Then Alyssa peeked out, and at that moment, the angel was gone. Sitting there was a twisted body of flesh. Her hair had fallen out completely, and her whole body was covered with horrific branding and cuts. Her extra organs were exposed through the gaps in her tattered robe.

She said timidly, "Good evening."

It was too ugly. Alyssa couldn't understand how Slaanesh could define beauty. How could these superfluous organs, like those of a wild beast, be beautiful? Of course not.

"Hmm, good evening." It grinned, seemingly quite happy.

“I’m glad to see you’re still the same as before, Perrin Mittel. Haven’t you woken up from your dream?” Director Sun asked with a smile.

She hesitated for a moment, then stood up.

At that moment, the skeletons scattered on the ground, and she ran towards the exit, muttering something as if she had gone mad.

But in Alyssa's eyes, perhaps it really is as Director Sun said: she is not crazy, but simply immersed in the dreams of the past and unwilling to wake up.

“Some might say that there’s always a reason why someone is pitiful…” Director Sun sighed and looked at Alyssa. “I don’t actually hate her. She made me realize how ugly a woman can be when she throws herself into her work. I’m not saying anything strange. I’m just lamenting that I neglected Xiao Pang’s childhood. He was so close to her, so close that I thought I was going to be a grandmother. But in the end, she chose to follow Betty Salisley, while Xiao Pang chose to believe in me. He obeyed my orders and went to the surface to rebuild Eastern civilization.”

At this point, Director Sun looked at the bones scattered on the ground: "She went down with me. She wanted to destroy Changtang, to turn all his hard work into nothing, and to make all my efforts vanish into thin air."

"Why are you telling me all this in such detail?" Alyssa asked, looking surprised. "Because I want you to become the only sage in the Western Continent who has witnessed the true ancient era. Your companions have mostly seen their embellished history, where we are the ones who did wrong, and they are the ones who shed their blood for this land. If no one knows history, then it can only be rewritten at will by future generations. I can forgive everyone, but I will not forgive some sinners who rewrite history. You can also ignore my words and go back to continue your own theories, writing one false story after another for the final battle between the Eastern and Western civilizations."

Director Sun sighed as he finished speaking.

The skeletons came to life again, and they returned to their previous appearance.

The children weren't curious at all about Perrin Mittel's disappearance; they lined up, waiting for the bus that would never come.

Some of the adults stepped forward to greet Director Sun.

Just then, the sound of a tram stopping came from behind. Alyssa turned her head and saw the long train.

The children happily got into the car, followed by the adults.

"Director, what about you?"

"I'm waiting here for an old friend."

Director Sun smiled and said goodbye to the girl in front of her. After the train started moving, she turned to look at Alyssa.

Alyssa lowered her head slightly: "I didn't know you were also..."

"Look at me, do I look like a god or a human?" Director Sun said with a smile. She didn't wait for an answer, but looked at the force field wall in the distance. That tangible wall, glowing with blue light, was the only boundary between the vacuum outside and the rest area.

Alyssa was speechless.

She felt as if she had heard a very funny joke: an ancient evil god had completed her ascension a thousand years ago, but a thousand years later, he was asking a child if he was a god.

Alyssa thought for a moment, and finally, she looked at the wall.

“You are a human being,” she said with certainty.

Then she saw the relieved look on Director Sun's face.

“I am not human, and this Western Continent has long been ravaged by death; I am not human, and your world has long been reduced to ashes; I am not human… this small space has long been devoured by a madwoman who has lost her mind.”

At this point, Director Sun smiled as he looked at the old Zhulong walking out of the portal.

He was holding a hideous head in his hand, and there was a deep, bone-revealing wound on his face.

“Mother, I… brought her back.” As the old Candle Dragon spoke, he tossed over the head of the being named Peren Mittel.

"You finally gave in," she said.

With his back to her, he paused for a few seconds in silence before finally walking into the portal without looking back.

Director Sun held the head and looked at Alyssa: "In the future, if you and Dulin have a child, remember, you must protect him. Don't let him be deceived by bad women for the rest of his life. Otherwise, my child's today will be your child's tomorrow."

Alyssa remained silent, then nodded vigorously.

(End of this chapter)