I raised stunning young ladies, but they all wanted to possess me.

Then cracks appeared in the meeting.

The voices of the wavering faction first emerged from the mouth of a representative from a small Eastern European country.

He said that the Black Tide had encountered a calamity with intelligence, and that a human soldier who had been assimilated even spoke on the battlefield.

This means that the Kuroshio Current is not just a bunch of wild beasts; they have reason, language, and the intention to persuade others to surrender.

Perhaps humanity should stop this war that is doomed to fail, and perhaps coexistence is the only way out.

This message spread like a virus across major forums around the world within just a few hours.

Someone extracted the blurry audio clip of Ivan before his death and played it repeatedly, with the caption, "He has become a calamity, but his last words were 'Go.'"

"What does this mean? It means they aren't incommunicable monsters."

Someone posted photos of Chiyo Miya Rei's sealing array and Li Xuanzhen turning to ashes side by side, saying that this is the fate of the pro-war faction—they're all dead, what's left of humanity?

Then the pro-war faction's response came down like a knife.

The pinned posts on major forums were refreshed within a few hours.

The pinned post contained no text, only a photo.

As the last transport ship left the port behind the pass, the coastline was filled with soldiers covered in blood.

Behind them was the fading glow of the setting sun, which had stained the sea red. They raised their fists high above their shoulders, heavy and steady. There were no slogans, but their fists never went down.

The accompanying text consisted of only one line.

They held their ground.

The deck beneath our feet, the sea behind us still sailing safely, and the child still sleeping in our arms.

They risked their lives for it all.

surrender?

Go tell them, and see if they agree.

The wavering faction fell silent, but silence does not mean disappearance; it has only been temporarily suppressed.

In this global media storm, one name has begun to be repeatedly mentioned.

"Hanyu's assistant".

The mysterious superhuman who used his mental power to forcibly control several Titan-level steel golems at the Nagoya Pass, pulling the last trace of human consciousness from the assimilated Russian Federation soldiers beneath their scales.

No one knows his true identity, but his combat footage has been repeatedly played on the global internet.

A new name has appeared in the latest global power rankings top 20.

Yuzuru's second-in-command, Psychic type, SS, Battle record: Controlled three or more S-rank calamities in a single battle at Nagoya Pass and successfully awakened the consciousness of the assimilated humans.

East China Sea, deck of the aircraft carrier Akagi.

The night wind, carrying the salty smell of the sea, blew in from the bow of the ship. Gu Yan leaned against the railing at the edge of the deck.

On the distant horizon, the energy shield of the Fifth Line could be faintly seen shimmering in the night sky, like a very faint silver thread sewn between the darkness and the sea.

He kept his head down, clutching a commando armband belonging to Han Jae-hee in his hand.

The vice-captain handed it to him before boarding the ship, saying, "If the captain were still here, he would have given this to you."

Elena walked over from the direction of the ship's island.

She was still wearing that minimalist white robe, her bare feet on the cold aircraft carrier deck, her long silver hair fluttering gently behind her in the sea breeze.

She walked to his side, imitating him by leaning against the railing, her golden eyes quietly watching him in the moonlight.

"War inevitably involves sacrifice."

"I have read about many wars in your human books."

"Some were won, some were lost, but no war is without casualties."

"You are a role model for young people around the world."

That's what they say on TV, and that's what they say online.

"You can't be so discouraged."

"Those who are alive need to see that you are still standing."

Gu Yan gently shook her head.

He turned Han Jae-hee's armband over, and on the back were a few lines of words written crookedly in black marker.

It was Han Jae-hee's handwriting; it was her last message to the vice-captain before the battle.

"Take the team flag back to Busan, my mom is in Busan."

"She has trouble walking, don't let her come to see me."

"It's hard to imagine."

"The person who was talking to you one second ago may be gone the next."

"Sakamoto Shingo spoke to me before the battle, saying, 'Mr. Gu, this old man's sword hasn't tasted the blood of an S-rank in a long time.'"

He was smiling when he said that.

"Han Jae-hee sent me a message before boarding the plane, saying that she would treat me to barbecue in Seoul after this mission. She said there was a restaurant with particularly delicious pork belly, and she would go there every time she finished a battle."

"She was ranked ahead of me on the combat power list, and she was the fastest runner in the world, but in the end she couldn't make it back."

Elena remained silent for a long while.

The sea breeze ruffled a few strands of silver hair across her forehead, and the light of the Fifth Line of Defense was reflected in her golden pupils.

Her voice was very soft, as if she were talking to herself, or as if she were seriously making a suggestion that she had been thinking about for a long time.

"If all else fails, humans can try to coexist with them."

"Just like how humans have fought many wars among themselves, they eventually sat down and signed a treaty."

"Of course, I was just saying."

"I learned from books that there seem to be quite a few such precedents in your human history."

"Absolutely not."

Gu Yan looked up at the night sky illuminated by the energy shield in the distance, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the railing.

"They killed too many people."

"Not a few hundred, not a few thousand, but tens of millions."

"Each of them has a name, and there are people waiting for them to come home."

"The slowest one here was the fastest runner in the world, and she was killed by them too."

"Lying below the pass, his right leg was gone below the knee, and his last words were pointing in the direction of the defense."

"How am I supposed to coexist with them?"

"Trade her life for mine? Use her life to buy a negotiating table?"

He put her armband into his pocket very gently, as if he were putting something that might break at any moment.

Then he loosened the railing and turned to look at Elena.

"So it won't work."

"It's not that it can't be done, it's that it's not feasible."

"Some debts can't be wiped out simply by sitting down and talking."

"They owe us tens of millions of lives, and this debt must be repaid in blood."

The sea breeze blew across the deck, making the Eastern Theater Command Joint Flag above the island flutter loudly.

Elena looked at him quietly for a long time, then nodded gently.

"You make a good point."

"I read about the difference between revenge and debt collection in a book."

"Revenge is for the past, debt collection is to prevent the same thing from happening again in the future."

What you're doing now is probably the latter.

"Although I still don't quite understand why you humans can keep such clear accounts."

She paused, then looked up at the moon.

After a long silence on the deck, she spoke again, still in that extremely calm tone, as if stating a fact that had little to do with her.