Superhumans of the Dome City

"Is Tierlos K still alive?"

"Being a Desolate FormMage, his selling point is his robust physique, so even a direct hit to his core just seriously, seriously, seriously, seriously wounds him."

Alice yanked open the operating room door of the shore bridge, allowing Gongsun Ce to see the scene within.

Tierlos's core was a glass-like sphere.

This deep red sphere was about the size of an adult man's fist, tightly bound by several muscle tendons to the cockpit's seat, and it contracted and then expanded regularly, pulsating rhythmically, prompting the Superpower User to think of a human heart.

A short arrow was stuck in the surface of the sphere, and fine cracks could be seen at the point of entry, with fresh red blood flowing out from the wound. Gongsun Ce guessed that perhaps the "shell" on the surface of this heart played some buffering role, which allowed the man's core to not become mush like most of his bodily tissues.

Alice gripped the short arrow with her hand, "You've got nowhere to run, Tierlos."

"..."

The crimson sphere was silent, and the Superpower User issued a reminder, "I think you've noticed that he doesn't have a mouth right now."

"… I, of course, know that!"

You obviously hesitated just now.

"Does the experienced Hunter miss have a solution in mind?"

"This… that…" Alice pointed to a pile of dead flesh not far away, "First, grab some flesh from over there, just the bare minimum is fine."

"Telekinesis also has what you'd call a tactile sense, so getting queasy isn't much different from using your hands, remember to treat me to dinner tonight."

"You rich kid living alone still have the nerve to ask me out for dinner! At most, the most it can be is a convenience store bento, not a penny more!"

"Allow me to decline."

When it comes to money, he was unyielding, and one might say it's a trait of a working adult, though he hadn't seen other office workers behave like that either.

Gongsun Ce went through in his mind all the adults he knew, from his own parents to the old lady in the building next door, from the Country's female knight to Mr. Qin, Qin Qianbai's grandfather, and not one of them was stingy in front of the younger generation. He thought it probably had nothing to do with income but was purely a character issue—in the end, it was just this person being too offbeat.

Gongsun Ce used telekinesis to pull a lump of rotten flesh into the cockpit, along the way trying his best not to think about which part of the enemy's body this was. To preserve his appetite for later that night and to divert his attention, he pulled out his pocket watch to check the time.

The current time was 6:15 PM. The fight with Tierlos had lasted a little over twenty minutes, and the setting sun had already touched the edge of the distant dragon's wing. In a little while, the last rays of light would also disappear in the city's shadows, welcoming the night to the Sky Capital.

He recalled Qin Qianbai's advice.

Security was poor these evenings.

Hoping it was just a coincidence, Gongsun Ce concentrated on the lump of dead flesh.

"Speak, where is your leader!" Alice clamored fiercely, gripping the short arrow, "And what exactly is that ritual for summoning the Evil Dragon all about!"

The flesh turned into the shape of a grotesque mouth: "Didn't you idiots capture that fool Capro? Why waste time here, hurry and take the tools to interrogate him—Ah!"

The Hunter's face turned stern as she pushed the arrow further in, prompting Tierlos to let out a pig-like scream.

"Cut the crap, that green-haired man is so deranged he can hardly utter human speech, it would be odd if you could get something out of him."

"Deranged? I'm dying of laughter, we're just closer to God…" Tierlos laughed weakly in pain, "Shameless dead people, go ahead and kill me, but I won't tell you a word."

The giant dragon worshiper's words were full of resolution, and Gongsun Ce thought this commitment wasn't false. He decided to beat around the bush, to see if he could gather more information from this man.

"Then let's talk about something else, Mr. Tierlos," pushed his glasses up, "Why do you want to summon the giant dragon? Records indicate you're from the Country, born and raised in Supibia, so you should know about the Country's collapse three years ago…"

Gongsun Ce's voice unconsciously softened: "You know how terrible that disaster was."

Tierlos stopped talking, and the cockpit fell into an unsettling silence. Just as Alice was about to coerce, she noticed that the mouth formed out of the flesh paste was tightly closed, then suddenly stretched into a ludicrous smile.

"I know!" Tierlos's voice suddenly rose, "Of course, I know… Do you want to hear the details, Superpower User? I was in Supibia that day, staying in my shabby house. As soon as Capro opened the window, he yelled, saying 'Bro, look, what a big fog.'

I squeezed to the window to see, and it was indeed a great fog! Boundless and dull, I couldn't even see my own hand. Then Capro started yelling. He said 'Tierlos bro, your hand! Your hand is gone!'"

Tierlos laughed crazily, his voice cracking as if on the verge of tears.

"I thought to myself, what silly talk, but when I looked down… Hahaha! My hand really had dissolved! It dropped off like a lump of rotten meat, melted away like dry ice! Hahaha, I thought it was so ludicrous, hahaha, and then Capro dissolved too… In an instant, we all died, everyone was going to die!"

Miss Alice felt a wave of physiological discomfort in her stomach, she fought back the urge to gag and wanted to caution her companion to be careful, but noticed that Gongsun Ce's hands were trembling slightly.

This Superpower User, who had shown no fear in battle against the dragon worshippers, was now looking pale as death. His fragile appearance resembled a long-dead corpse that looked as though it would fall apart at the slightest touch.

"Gongsun Ce!" Alice patted his shoulder, and Gongsun Ce jolted as if he had been shocked by electricity. Supporting himself on the cockpit's door, he whispered, "I'm fine... don't worry about it..."

He was lying. Alice didn't need any tricks to see that.

But Tierlos had no pupils and was still crazily howling, babbling the terrible past in a jumble: "But the really interesting part is still to come... We all died, then came back to life, and then the second catastrophe happened! Those crystals, the crystals that fulfill dreams, suddenly envelop you. A living person turns into a stone sculpture, then the house collapses with a bang! Crash! That person shatters on the ground with the crystals, beyond any hope of being put back together... impossible to put back together..."

"Stop talking." Gongsun Ce pressed hard against his chest and roared, almost losing control, "Stop talking!!"

Tierlos's lips quivered, his voice shrill as a needle: "Are you scared now?! But I got used to it! I dream about that day every night! What does another catastrophe matter, I already have nothing left to lose, I'm not afraid of death! I just want to get back what I've lost!!"

Snap! Suddenly, Tierlos's body moved, and Gongsun Ce quickly sealed the window with telekinesis. But the orb didn't try to escape; instead, it smashed toward the short arrow in Alice's hand.

"––!"

Gongsun Ce was too out of it, he genuinely didn't react in time. So the demon-slaying arrow completely penetrated the core of the demon body, and after a sound as crisp as porcelain breaking, the red orb burst open, exploding into bloody pieces on the ground.

The dragon worshipper had committed suicide. This madman would rather die than give up a single piece of information. Because that would hinder his dream, impractical, like a delusional dream...

"Cack––hahaha! I'll wait for you in the star-studded hell... waiting for you and this damned city to perish together..."

The distorted lips uttered the final words and then lost all strength, reverting back to a lump of mangled flesh.

"..."

Alice let out a long sigh, picked up her short arrow from the mess, and began wiping it with a cloth. She helped the extremely sick-looking Gongsun Ce out of the cockpit and said softly, "Let's rest for a bit."

Gongsun Ce didn't respond; he propped himself up against a container, standing with his back to the Hunter. Alice thought he might vomit, or at least dry heave, but the gray-haired young man simply stood alone, as if chastising himself, showing a pitiable determination in his strength.

This sight made Alice feel unsettled; what's the point? It's their own problem how sad the dragon crazy gets; it has nothing to do with you. Why put on such a face? As if it's all your fault...

It was like a stubborn and petulant child—irritating to look at.

"... Actually, a madman always has a reason for going mad." Alice averted her gaze and started making conversation for no reason, "Tierlos used to be nothing but a thug, he turned out this way after personally experiencing the collapse of the Country... Don't take a madman's words to heart! Look, he even thought summoning the giant dragon will grant wishes, how reliable do you think such a person's words are. With such a wicked sense of humor, he probably just said those things to annoy you before dying."

"... Thank you, Miss Alice."

Gongsun Ce paused, then turned around. Smiling, he said, "Sorry about just then, I felt a bit sick, but I'm much better now!"

The Superpower User had once again returned to his previous demeanor, calm and nonchalant. But Alice knew he was lying, for human emotions cannot change so quickly, and pain cannot disappear in such a short time.

He was just acting, putting on a mask to deceive himself! But what's the use of being so convincing, does a well-spoken lie make the feelings in one's heart disappear?

Alice felt a surge of irritation, but she had always been reluctant to meddle in others' affairs or to stir up trouble. So she suppressed her thoughts, patted her companion's shoulder, and took the lead.

"Don't torment yourself with the sadness of others! The most important thing is your own happiness, it's most important to be happy while you live."

"That makes sense."

"Now that our only clue is gone, we might as well rest. Let's see if we can find a shop you like nearby, I'll splurge and take you out to dinner."

"Thanks."

Gongsun Ce took out his phone, half a step behind her, tapping the screen while following the Hunter's steps. They walked out of the dock area and stopped at a traffic light.

Hiss~! Four bio-horse-drawn antique carriages raced by, bringing a breeze mixed with the scent of sweat. The green light signaling 'go' shone, and pedestrians began to move, but Alice stood still.

The Hunter hesitated for a moment then ventured, "Back then, you..."

Gongsun Ce kept his gaze straight ahead, saying with a normal tone, "I was also in Supibia three years ago."

"... Sorry."

"It's okay."

Alice stepped onto the crosswalk. She now fully understood why Gongsun Ce was so distressed and why the Superpower User was so eager to join her cause.

This world is always like this; cruel experiences make people abnormal. Tierlos was so, and so was Gongsun Ce.