At five o'clock in the morning, Luoxi woke up from a faint hangover headache, turned over and turned off the alarm, and sat up from the bed with his forehead supported.The misty twilight penetrated the gauze curtain, and the sky outside was not completely lit up, but the sound of footsteps could already be heard outside the suite, as the staff made final preparations for the upcoming ceremony.

Sitting on the bed, he felt sore everywhere, every muscle and bone seemed to be disassembled and reassembled, and it was still a little numb and weak.It seems that this is not only caused by drunkenness, but also the effect of lust. Luo Xi raised his finger and pressed it on his lips in a daze, recalling the dream last night, his face turned red a little.

Somehow he dreamed of Deng Huailing... Although he had dreamed of it before, when the other party had just passed away, he had similar dreams when he locked himself up and drank too much, but none of them were as real as this.In other dreams, Deng Huailing was always in a hazy halo, but this time the other party pushed him against the corner and kissed him deeply and recklessly, like a ferocious beast.

Did he imagine such a shameless plot?Luoxi was thinking a little panicked, his fingertips suddenly touched the cracked corner of his mouth, and his brows frowned slightly in pain.It can't be Deng Huailing's biting, the dream is just a dream after all, maybe he bumped into it somewhere after he was drunk.

Luo Xi shook his head vigorously, driving these unrealistic thoughts out of his mind.He rang the bell to call the logistics officer, and then took out the communicator to check the results of the general election announced at midnight today. He was finally elected as the mayor of Cesina with 84.46% of the votes, and "Shu" officially became the ruling party in the city.

This is expected, "Shu" has even prepared for the inauguration ceremony.The logistics officer knocked on the door and came in, and put down the dress he was going to wear today at the end of his bed. The sleeves of the tailored white suit were decorated with silver cufflinks, and the cufflinks were made into the shape of thyme.Hair rope, like a small but delicate silver jewelry.

After Luoxi washed up, he changed into his gown with the help of the logistics officer. The other party adjusted the position of his tie and cuffs for him in silence, and stepped aside after finishing his duties.The atmosphere in the bedroom was unusually quiet. Luoxi noticed that the logistics officer was avoiding his eyes guiltily, so he asked directly, "What's the matter? I remember that you usually don't talk so little."

"No, it's nothing." The logistics officer he appointed was better at lying than he was, and he hesitated to change the topic, "Mayor, let me take you to the dressing room. The makeup artist is ready. The wound on the corner of your mouth should beCover up."

"This, how did it come about?" Luoxi stroked the wound on the corner of his lips, and stared directly at the other party with sharp eyes, "Don't tell me, I broke it myself after I was drunk, and I haven't passed out yet.That level?"

——It's more than unconscious. You were sound asleep when Mr. Deng sent you here yesterday.The logistics officer had an embarrassing expression on his face, but he didn't dare to say it out loud. Mr. Deng said he would handle the matter himself, and the ceremony was about to start, so he couldn't take responsibility if something went wrong.

Luo Xi stared at the logistics officer who hesitated to speak, and an extremely bizarre conjecture that could explain doubts came to mind.He stood between the other party and the door, took a few deep breaths, suppressed the strong yearning and deep fear in his heart, and asked cautiously, "...is it Huai Ling?"

"Tell me, is it him?" His heart was pounding violently into his chest, as if he was about to jump out, his eyes were filled with heart-wrenching eagerness, like crystal shards scattered all over the ground.But before the logistics officer couldn't bear the pressure and opened his mouth, Luo Xi flinched. He turned around and walked out the door, "Forget it, don't tell me."

He was afraid of being confirmed by the other party that yesterday's dream was indeed a hallucination, a fantasy of a lonely person about another person who does not exist.The fact that Deng Huailing would never come back was too suffocating for him. Luo Xi clenched his hands tightly. He didn't want to try the cold fate with a fluke mentality. Thousands of people lost Cesina in the war.If he lost his beloved, why would he be lucky enough to be one in a million?

The logistics officer followed behind him silently, and the two took the special elevator to the studio on the lower floor.The inauguration ceremony will be held on this floor, because Luoxi has already held a welcome ceremony when he entered the main city, so this ceremony is not held in the Gold and Silver Plaza, but broadcast to the whole city in the studio.

The special elevator opened, and the dressing room and rest room were located at the back of the studio. At this moment, many staff members were already busy.The logistics officer led Luoxi through the corridor, and opened the door of the dressing room shared by the mayor and the deputy mayor. The makeup artist was applying makeup to Piper on the swivel chair. She was wearing a dark blue dress today. To match Luoxi's attire, she alsoWearing jewelry of silver thyme.

"Good morning." Luoxi raised her eyes to get rid of the lonely look just now, and sincerely praised Piper when she passed behind Piper, "You look very good today, and the dark blue suits your hair color very well."

"You're not bad." While the makeup artist was changing his brushes, Piper glanced at him with a smile, then raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Wait, what happened to the corner of your mouth? You won't be caught by some extremist again last night."Attacked?"

Luo Xi sat down next to her, and smiled helplessly: "No, I'm not an extremist... It's a long story, but I don't know what's going on, I may be going crazy, I always have some bad things.realistic fantasy."

Piper's face was turned back again by the makeup artist, so she had to look in the mirror and say, "Why, you don't look very happy? Today is the day when you are at the peak of your political career. I thought you were wearing a 'surgery'Come here, you should breathe a sigh of relief."

"Probably because I remembered what happened when the 'Art' was first established." Luo Xi didn't mention the dream last night, he himself thought it was absurd, and Piper wouldn't believe it.He just followed Piper's topic, "Have you ever heard the saying, 'In the end, you always think about the beginning'?"

"I have heard it, and I have a deep understanding." Piper sighed nostalgicly, "I have often had the same dream these days. I dreamed that in the winter when you led people out of the main city, I went to the church near the border.Meet you. At that time, there were only a few hundred of us, you, me, Victor, the killer, Parisa, and Cheng Wen, and we broke up the seats in the church to warm the fire and boil the wine on the fire."

Her eyes sighed, "More than ten years have passed so quickly, and now everyone is gone. Parisa will resign after handing over the government affairs to his deputy. Luoxi, we are the last two left in that church...Thinking about it now, that night turned out to be a bifurcation of everyone's fate, and after that night, our fate was all doomed."

"Perhaps my choice has affected your choices." The wound on Luoxi's lips was being smeared by the makeup artist, and he had to whisper, "I also thought about it, if I chose to stay in Petrov to teach, what kind of fate will the people I know have?"

Piper smiled: "I don't know about others, but I know that even without you, I would establish a rebel organization similar to 'Skill', but it may fail. Thinking about the bright side, the change of our fate trajectory will make more peopleTo avoid further suffering... Roxi, those sacrifices were not in vain, we have done a great job."

"Yeah, I also think this journey is very, very worthwhile." Luoxi's eyes became gentle. At this moment, he was not shrouded in the shadow of the death of his friends and lovers, and he was not wallowing in grief and self-blame, butA veritable mayor, "at least, for the people of Cecina."

The scars at the corners of his mouth had been covered, and Piper's makeup had just finished. The two walked out of the dressing room side by side, walked around to the front studio, stepped in amidst warm cheers and applause, and faced the dazzling flashlights.

"Skill" repaired the entire open floor into a spacious studio, which can accommodate nearly a thousand people. Magnolia-shaped semi-lamps are embedded on the white curved wall, and the floor is white with flowing gray patterns. The seats andThe color of other decorations is gray and black.Flowers have been arranged in the venue, and the reception area at the entrance is also full of gifts and bouquets from guests, but none of them are eustomas.

Today is a Monday rainy day, and it is raining heavily outside the building, but the atmosphere in the studio is very lively.The guests invited to watch the ceremony were all the leading figures of various parties, as well as important officials, well-known journalists and members of non-governmental organizations. The venue was full of voices and well-dressed guests were talking everywhere.

As soon as Roxi and Piper entered the studio, they were surrounded by crowds. They shook hands with the guests and walked slowly into the hall. They couldn't move to their seats when the ceremony was about to start.It wasn't until the host came to the front of the stage and asked the staff to guide the guests back to their seats that the studio slowly quieted down.

At seven o'clock in the morning, the inauguration ceremony officially began, and the live broadcast was broadcast to all the screens in the city.The host introduced the composition of the new government team, and briefly described the ceremony process. After the oath and speech sessions in the morning, there will be a press conference, followed by lunch and military music performances, and a more grand dinner in the eveningand celebration parades.

While the whole city was watching, all links were carried out in an orderly manner. As the deputy mayor appointed by Roche, Piper took the oath of office while pressing the gold-plated engraved tablet embedded with wisteria pattern crystals.She stood on the stage facing everyone, with a dignified and quiet expression:

"I hereby solemnly swear that I will be loyal to the city constitution, honestly perform the duties of deputy mayor, and seek the interests of the city with the greatest enthusiasm, determination and courage..."

Her voice spread to all parts of the city through the live broadcast, and people listened solemnly.After taking the oath, Piper walked off the stage, intersecting with Roxi's figure on the stage. Roxi stood in front of the gold-plated oath engraved tablet, and put his right hand on the pattern of wisteria flowers.His oath differs from Piper's only by office:

"I hereby solemnly swear that I will be faithful to the city's constitution, faithfully execute the office of mayor, and work for the good of the city with the utmost zeal, determination, and courage. I will follow the city's illustrious founder, Cecina von RieIn the footsteps of Hitterhofen, he tried his best to explore the boundaries of technology and lead the city to continue to survive in the cruel storm."

—Cecina Gesell, maybe that wasn't your intention?Luo Xi raised his head and looked into the void. He recited the same oath as previous mayors, which was said to have been drafted by Cesina himself, but he didn't agree with it in his heart.The rulers of the past have always regarded improving the level of science and technology as the highest goal, but the ensuing technological monopoly is the beginning of inequality.

Human beings should not overestimate their adherence to morality. Any individual, group or even government that has mastered the highest technology, even if it only reveals a little selfish and greedy nature, will be infinitely magnified.Luoxi stroked the cold amethyst on the stencil, and he remembered that Robert had touched this gilded stencil many times, but every time he touched it, the mood of the other party would be very different.

Maybe Robert really used to be Bob... An arrogant young man who is eager to prove himself, the dark emotions hidden in his heart are just ordinary evils in human nature.When I saw the other party for the last time, that person had become an evil spirit controlled by technology. Bob's soul in his body no longer existed, and the person talking to him was the evil spirit of technology that was entrenched in the beliefs of tens of millions of people.

That is his eternal enemy, it will not be completely killed, if it does not intervene, it may be reborn in the city.It's just that he didn't feel scared at all. Luoxi smiled frankly and continued to read the second half of the oath. The reason why he didn't cancel the oath is precisely because he liked this half of the oath:

"I will steer the ship in the storm, fight against the harsh environment and the evil in the city, even if the night is long and the future is uncertain; I will add fuel to the ship, and with enterprising enthusiasm and firm belief, I will inspire the city to sail forward; I willMake the most prudent judgment, open up a feasible path with experience and wisdom, until——Extradition of the human ark to a happy state."

After Luoxi finished his gentle and powerful oath, all the guests stood up and applauded like a tide.From then on, he officially became the new mayor of Cesina, holding the highest authority both in name and in essence. He can change the city according to his own ideas.his answer.

The next segment was the inaugural speech, Roxi walked behind the thyme-decorated podium and faced the cameras surrounding him.Before starting his speech, he glanced down the stage reflexively, but he couldn't see the figure he was thinking about day and night, and then he was shocked. Since the dream last night, his intuition seems to have determined that Deng Huailing still existswith.

But how is this possible?Luoxi retracted his gaze and reminded himself to stop fantasizing, but saw Grace at the nearby auditorium. The girl was originally sitting in the seat in the reporter area, but at this moment she was sneaking around in the corridor between the seats.something.

Luoxi didn't have time to figure out Grace's purpose. Countless cameras were still running. He looked at the camera directly in front of him and smiled skillfully: "Good morning, everyone. I'm Luoxi. Before the official speech, I willI would like to thank everyone for their trust in me, and to be honest, I was ready to be thrown out of power when I proposed the policy of disabling those two technologies."

There was a burst of friendly laughter from the auditorium, Luo Xi smiled and paused for two seconds, before returning to the subject, "But the trust of all the people in me allows me to stand here and speak again, this is my honor, and it is also the result of your choices.I will repay this trust with hard work, as I have done in the past month. In the past month, we have achieved some initial results..."

This speech did not cover sensitive topics like the previous one, so the atmosphere of the meeting was very relaxed.Roche’s speech also followed the fixed format of previous mayors. He spent more than ten minutes summarizing the changes in the city in the past month, listing various data related to the economy, social stability and urban reconstruction, andThe topic extends to future policy.

This is a typical inaugural speech summarizing the past and looking forward to the future. At first glance, there is nothing deviant.The audience didn't realize that the most deviant thing was actually Luoxi's concept itself, but he naturally made the audience think that banning the bionics and the Magic Sea system was their original desire and will continue to work on it in the future.

Having been in the political arena for many years, Roxi's speech skills have become more and more proficient, coupled with the sincerity from the heart, making his ideas easy to be recognized by the public.Even with the traditional format of the speech, people's mood was still lifted, and the whole city cheered in front of the screens.

The speech will soon come to an end, and after the speech, after a short break, a press conference will be held.In the last two minutes, Luoxi seemed to express his feelings, jumped out of the traditional framework, and concluded the speech with a few thoughts from his heart:

"... As you all know, I was born in the slums of Cecina and grew up in an orphanage. But I still don't hate this city, I like the scenery of the main city and the second district, and all the people who live here.When I was a teenager, I wanted to do something for the people I loved, so my journey began. Eighteen years have passed since then.

"I've come a long way, from naive to defensive. I've been championed and betrayed, I've been high-spirited and then left with nothing, and I've given up many times, stopped and started again and again. II have experienced the darkest moment of despair, and I have also experienced the ecstasy shrouded in light, the enemy I most want to kill was once my friend."

"I have seen love without reciprocation, and hatred without reason. I thought twice before deciding to give my love...but I lost the person I loved the most in the war." Luo Xi's eyes were filled with tears, but raised his lips in relief, "But now I understand that every journey I have experienced, every wave of fate is to push me to this position."

"This is my destiny and my responsibility. No matter what fate I am in, I should not forget the original goal. I hope my work will make you like this city even more, just like I like itThat. I want everyone to live with dignity. There are many ways to live, but there is only one definition of life, and that is dignity.”

Luoxi blinked away the tears in his eyes lightly, and there was a flame burning in the wind under the clear water, "Even if this promise is not easy to achieve, I am ready to do my best and spend the rest of my life protecting this city."The city, as it says in the oath... extradites the ark of humanity to bliss. Thank you."

Amid the warm applause that almost shook the entire studio, Luoxi lowered his eyes and bowed slightly.It was at this moment that he was truly sure that even without Deng Huailing's company, he would continue on this path, shoulder his responsibilities, and complete his life's work.

He should not give up, not only because this is what Deng Huailing wants him to do, but also because the dream he was born in his youth is his belief that affects the fate of everyone, and finally twists the threads of fate into a strong rope.In the past month, because of the death of his lover, he has doubted the cause and avoided his true heart, but it is undeniable that he is still the original him.

As long as he is still Luo Xi, he cannot but love everyone.This is different from his love for Deng Huailing, which is not so fierce, but light and distant, like the white wild flowers on the field after the rain, you can see them everywhere when you remove the grass.

It was also at this moment that Luoxi raised his eyes to look down the stage, and inadvertently caught a glimpse of Grace who quietly moved to the reception area by the door.Holding a small bag, she walked through the bouquets piled up in the reception area with her waist down, then looked around, took out a sprig of eustoma with a card from the bag, and put it in the corner.

Luo Xi's heart suddenly jumped wildly. He watched Grace slip back to the reporter's seat, and heard the host announce that the audience would take a break for a press conference.The guests present flocked over one after another, and surrounded him who had finished his speech and left the stage. Many people praised the speech just now and tried to chat with him, but Luo Xi gradually couldn't hear anything.

He just stared at the snow-white flower through the gap between the swaying crowd.Then he squeezed out obsessively, came to the corner of the reception area, picked up the eustoma flower branch, gently stroked its fragrant petals, and turned over the card tied on the flower stem.

"I'll wait for you downstairs" was written in ink on the card. There was no beginning and end of a sentence, and there was no signature, but Luo Xi recognized whose handwriting it was.He held the card in a daze, the world around him turned into a blank whiteness, and the heartbeat was the only clear sound in this world, thumping, thumping, like some kind of mysterious drum music.

Is this a prank?Luoxi pressed his heart and thought hastily, but what good is it to deceive him?Is there any connection between this and the real dream yesterday?If, if Deng Huailing survived last night instead of a dream... would he really have such good luck?

He was thinking about all kinds of possibilities in a panic, but the reminder from the staff came from behind, breaking the silent world around him: "Mayor, Mr. Mayor? The press conference is about to start, you should go to the backstage to prepare..."

The pure white around him faded in an instant, and Luo Xi turned around as if waking up from a dream, realizing that he was still in the studio.A staff member came over to guide him to the backstage, but he shook off the other party's hand, turned around and went out desperately, and ran along the corridor.

"Mayor, mayor!" There was a panicked shout in the studio, but Luo Xi didn't seem to hear it at all, and ran all the way through the chaotic dressing room and lounge, and came to the special elevator to verify the ID chip.Half a second later, the special elevator opened, and he quickly pressed "001" and the door close button, closing the elevator door, isolating the chaotic scene of the entire floor.

Luo Xi panted nervously against the wall, clenched the eustoma in his hand and waited for the elevator to go down.The elevator door on the ground floor opened quickly, and the people on the first floor looked at him in amazement. The damp wind poured in from the side door of the hall, making him shiver in a thin suit.

Without stopping, he walked through the revolving door to the outside of the building.It was pouring rain outside, and Luoxi was drenched when he stepped out of the building, his neatly tied hair was dripping wet, and there were also drops of water on his eyelashes. He wiped his face with the back of his hand and tried hard to get throughRainstorm discerned the scene outside the building, but suddenly felt that the scene in the rain was a bit familiar.

Luo Xi froze for a moment, then turned the black ring on his right ring finger, the wind field formed a transparent barrier above his head, and the rainwater flowed down the edge of the wind barrier.He remembered that there was a person who reluctantly covered his head with a windshield... This was the former research and development center of CyberRose, that is to say, it was the place where the little hunter brought Rosie home for the first time.

He knew where Deng Huailing was.Luo Xi put away the wind barrier and ran towards the corner of the building without hesitation. He remembered clearly that there was a bus platform behind the corner. Because this place became the temporary administrative point of "Shu" after the war, this important site wasIt has been used.

He turned the corner, and the platform appeared in his sight, looking very lonely in the rain.The rush hour of traffic has passed, and the platform looks empty, Luoxi's heart sinks slowly, but he still looks at the platform that is getting closer, and refuses to turn back or look away until heI saw clearly the empty seat and a few withered leaves on the seat.

How can there be such good luck...Luo Xi laughed at himself, he really was whimsical, and all this was an illusion caused by his missing Deng Huailing too much.Now that he hit the south wall and his head was bloody, it was time to go back to the press conference.

He thought so, but still came to the platform without giving up.He walked along the east side of the platform to the west side in the rain, and when he passed the softly shining stop sign screen on the westernmost side, Luoxi realized something, stopped in his tracks, and turned his head suddenly——

There was a person behind the stop sign, but he couldn't see it from the angle just now.

"What are you looking for?" The man leaned against the stop sign with his hands folded on his chest, as if he was resting, his brown eyes stared at him with a lazy smile, like the eyes of a very satiated predator, "SoIt's raining heavily, and it's not good to run around alone. I'm afraid you'll run into hooligans, so..."

... Who said that he didn't have such good luck to get it back?yao yao

Luo Xi stood under the platform and stared at Deng Huailing for a long time, the raindrops formed a line between them and fell in torrentially.His lips were trembling, and the rain kept dripping from his cheeks, but the light in his eyes seemed to be burning, scorching hot.The torrential rain drenched his long hair and clothes, so he stared at Deng Huailing with such eyes, afraid to touch his good luck as if it would be shattered.

Seeing the other party's embarrassed appearance, Deng Huailing opened the wind barrier, leaned over and stretched out his hand.The cold rain fell on the forearm, which was a bit cold, as if putting your hand into a surging river that would never return. Only with endless love and courage can you swim and swim upstream until you reach the finish line.

Now the long war has been won, and in the days of confrontation with time and death, no one has ever succumbed to begging for mercy, and finally shattered the ominous prophecy.Luo Xi looked up at him in a daze, put his right hand on his hand, and re-clasped the hands wearing the black rings, Deng Huailing smiled vigorously.

"I'll take you home," he said.

(end of text)

The author has something to say:

Xiao Deng Xiaoluo's journey has come to an end here, thank you for your company for a long time!

This is the first full-length novel I have written in my life. It took nearly two years and a million words of space. In fact, I am really reluctant to part with it. However, there are various paros randomly dropped from Fanwai and Weibo to make meWriting about them, I feel better after thinking about it (?

Formal writing thoughts should also be posted on Weibo, and the space for writing is limited, so I would like to thank all readers.When I first started writing this story, I just started it out of impulse. I am sure that without everyone’s subscription to starfish comments and rewards, I would not have finished this article at all.

I'm grateful that someone is willing to read the stories I've written, so I persevered through very difficult times, and thank you for your encouragement to keep me going.If you are interested, you can click on the advance receipt in the author's column, let's see you in the next book, or see you outside!

[More exciting and good books are available on Danmei Novel Network