Anime Crossover: Post-Apocalyptic Survival, My Stand is the World

Page 54

It won't be long.

Ten minutes? Five minutes?

Xiaolin no longer had the strength to calculate precisely. For the first time in her life as a programmer, she felt a physiological fear of precise countdowns.

The backup power supply here will be completely drained by those data locusts.

At that time, not only will their last line of defense against the 19 monsters outside the world collapse, but it will also completely destroy their survival.

Even Kanna, whose life was sustained only by the server's meager backup power, would have her life completely cut off!

It’s over.

This time, it's really over.

Kobayashi stared at the distorted gibberish spreading across the screen, feeling utterly terrified. He then glanced at Thor and Connor.

Thor's face was as pale as paper, and her lips were cracked, but she still used all her strength to spread her huge dragon wings and protect Kobayashi and Kanna on the sofa behind her like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

Her magic had been completely exhausted in the previous battles, and now those wings that could easily stir up storms were as fragile as paper.

But she still tried her best to stand, her face weak but still trying to straighten her body, stubbornly guarding her "Miss Kobayashi".

Behind her was a small figure lying quietly on the sofa, completely unaware of everything.

Kanna's breathing was so weak that it was almost imperceptible, her chest rose and fell only very slightly, and her usually expressionless yet incredibly cute chubby face was now only sickly pale.

An unprecedented despair, like icy, bone-chilling seawater, completely overwhelmed her.

She was just an ordinary programmer.

What was her life like before she met these two dragons?

It's a cup of instant coffee, a monitor crammed with code, a discounted convenience store bento box, and a rented room that's completely empty except for a bed and a computer desk.

Her world was gray and white, day after day, year after year.

Her dream list was pitifully empty; her biggest wish was probably that her next project wouldn't have so many damn bugs.

Until Thor and Kanna arrived.

That noisy, clumsy dragon maid who always made a mess of housework and loved making bento boxes from her own tail flesh, smashed open her long-rusted heart in an almost savage way.

And then there's that "useless" dragon loli who always has a blank expression, likes to stuff all sorts of strange things into her mouth, and plugs her tail into the socket when charging. In a soft and clingy way, she experienced a feeling similar to "mother" for the first time.

Their arrival brought a sudden ups and downs to her otherwise mundane life, and for the first time, vibrant colors appeared in her gray world.

Although the two dragons were a bit noisy, she didn't dislike it. Although she hadn't told them, she was actually quite grateful to Thor and Connor, because it was through them that her boring life became interesting.

She thought life would continue peacefully like this, and she thought her spring was about to arrive, but God used the cruelest way to ruthlessly shatter all this beauty.

The end times arrived without any warning.

Those damned monsters, emerging from the real world like a program bug, began to constantly harass the peaceful home they had finally built.

And now, it's all coming to an end.

She's going to die.

Thor is going to die.

Kanna is going to die too.

unfair

This is so unfair.

She never wanted much.

All she wanted was to quietly raise her dragon, and on a weekend when she didn't have to work overtime, she just wanted to go to the shopping street with Thor and haggle over a discounted towel.

I just wanted to enjoy an ice-cold beer after get off work while watching Kanna lying on the carpet, engrossed in watching childish children's cartoons.

She just wanted to live a life where, although it was occasionally accompanied by huge troubles on the scale of world destruction, it was generally peaceful, and she could complain, "Ah, I really want to take a long vacation," when her back ached.

Why…

Why can't even this small, humble wish be fulfilled?

Why did this damn apocalypse, like an unfixable system crash and blue screen, suddenly descend upon her after she finally managed to patch up her life with something called "happiness"?

"I just wanted to!"

She could no longer hold back, and the string called "reason" snapped completely!

With all his might, he let out a soul-stirring cry filled with blood and tears.

"Let's have a quiet holiday!"

The roar echoed in the server room, which was about to fall into darkness.

Yes, she's going to die.

250

But that doesn't mean she's going to sit here and quietly wait for the end.

She seemed to have made up her mind.

He turned around and opened the drawer next to him that contained various odds and ends.

He took out a black Colt M1911 pistol from inside.

This was the last weapon she had picked up for self-defense from a dead policeman.

The gun was cold and terrifyingly heavy.

Her hands, more accustomed to typing on a keyboard, trembled slightly when she grasped the murder weapon.

She had never fired a gun before, and she even learned how to load one from movies.

But now, that doesn't matter anymore.

She walked to the alloy exit door, whose electronic lock had been completely corrupted by the data monster.

With trembling hands, he raised the gun and aimed it at the doorway, at the corridor about to be swallowed by darkness.

His face showed an expression like that of a tragic hero.

Even death.

She will die before Thor and Kanna!

He shielded them from the final blow!

"Zi-"

The last emergency light bulb overhead emitted its final, mournful cry.

The whole world was plunged into complete darkness.

Kobayashi held his breath, his finger gripping the cold trigger.

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Divine Soldiers Descend from Heaven

Kobayashi held up a gun.

My hands were shaking terribly.

Sweat trickled down her forehead, drop by drop, through the strands of hair.

But she didn't dare to wipe it.

Behind her lies everything she wants to protect in this damned apocalypse.

Before her stood a heavy alloy door and the darkness outside, which seemed to be closing in like a drumbeat.

There is no way to retreat.

Then I won't refund it.

'Is all we can do... try our best?'

Xiaolin bit her lower lip hard, trying to use the pain to suppress the fear that was about to overflow inside her.

A flame of "determination" ignited in her usually listless, lifeless eyes.

She took a deep breath.

His finger slowly rested on the cold trigger.

Prepare for a final stand.

however--

Just as Kobayashi mustered up his courage and prepared to have a life-or-death "Mortal Kombat" match with the data monster.

That door, made of super alloy and half a meter thick, was said to be her last defensive barrier, which even rockets might not be able to break through.

Sudden.

It emitted an extremely faint yet incredibly clear "hum".

"?"

Xiaolin's movements suddenly froze.

The finger that was about to pull the trigger froze in mid-air.

Both she and Thor behind her looked at the alloy door with some confusion.

what sound?

Is it an illusion?

then.

They saw it.

I saw a scene so absurd it will never be forgotten.

I saw——