A steady and subtle footsteps approached from the dark corridor,
Stopped, pushed open the door,
Pale blue light spilled from the doorway onto the blood-red plush carpet, reflecting a dark purple hue.
The man slowly walked into the room and gently closed the door.
The outside light, shone in through the arched window.
Inside the room, it was a deep blue.
The man walked to the window, loosened his tie, and sat on the single sofa, exhaling a long sigh.
A small, snow-white cat quietly emerged from behind the sofa and leaped into the man's arms, curling up and closing its eyes.
"Any progress?" the little white cat asked softly.
"Found a clue to the mastermind, a big shot from Xianxia's Special Mechanical Division. I can't reach them," the man said, his voice mechanical and devoid of emotion.
The little white cat shifted into a more comfortable position, burying its head into the man's palm, and said softly, "Take me back to Xianxia tomorrow, then... hand me over to the Special Mechanical Division..."
In the man's calm eyes, not a flicker of light could be seen, they were lifeless,
Just like his voice, as if possessed,
"Yes, Master, as you wish."
Several days of rushing had left Bai Ying feeling exhausted.
This small body was never as comfortable as human form.
Now, she was like a real cat, nestled in a human's embrace, enjoying laziness and peace.
She knew this life would eventually end.
To trace the killer's origin and expose the mastermind was her mission.
Of course, she could choose to flee far away and become a true "cat," living a hidden and comfortable life.
But fear and worry prevented her from forgetting her mission.
Before dawn, the sound of the puppet's awakening stirred the sleeping Bai Ying.
After some tidying, the puppet placed Bai Ying on its shoulder, picked up the suitcase, and left the room.
The streets were bustling with traffic. The man threaded through the crowded populace, hailed an autonomous hovercar, and flew towards their destination.
Under the pale gray morning sun,
The steel jungle and the black smoke from the iron towers rendered this city devoid of any vitality.
Giant holographic news screens installed on towering buildings continuously broadcasted military news about various countries resisting Black Star, as well as the so-called Xianxia threat theory.
The endless factories, the far-reaching steel pipelines, and the perpetually crowded streets,
Gave the city an oddly desolate feeling.
Suddenly, a small mushroom cloud rose at the city's edge,
It took ten seconds for the terrifying explosion sound to faintly arrive.
Following that, in several corners of the city, multiple small mushroom clouds erupted into the sky.
The shockwaves dispersed the factory smoke,
The melodious air raid siren wafted through the air.
Bai Ying tilted her head and looked down through the car window.
On the narrow and crowded streets, crowds scattered,
Faintly, one could see those sesame-seed-sized humans, in their desperate escape, were willing to do anything, even harm their own kind.
The man said calmly, "Master, it seems we can't get out."
Suddenly, directly beneath the hovercar, a giant fiery flower bloomed,
The scorching updraft wave first lifted the hovercar's front,
The massive fiery mushroom cloud instantly engulfed the hovercar.
A few seconds later, the hovercar shot out of the mushroom cloud, its entire body ablaze.
The man, holding Bai Ying, leaped from the hovercar.
The moment they jumped out of the vehicle, the hovercar suddenly exploded in mid-air.
The oxygen content in the surrounding air was depleted by the massive mushroom cloud,
The man gradually lost consciousness, suffocating.
During his descent, in his final moments before consciousness faded, the man still tightly held Bai Ying, using his body to shield her from harm.
The semi-alloy mechanical body bounced several times on the ground, tumbling several meters before coming to a stop.
Bai Ying emerged from the man's corpse, cast a wary glance at the smoky, chaotic surroundings, then turned to look at the man and quickly ran away.
This was a city on the outermost periphery of Black Star's central urban area.
If it was Gu Ya attacking this city, she might be able to contact them.
From a woman's corpse, Bai Ying found a relatively intact communication bracelet,
She attempted to connect to Gu Ya by tampering with the data.
However, no matter how many times she tried, the communication remained unsuccessful.
"Meaning, the ones attacking this city might not be Dad."
The second wave of people crawled out from the concave explosion pits and surged forward,
Men and women, old and young, they ran madly, heads clasped, fleeing from the scythe of death.
In the sky, a black object flew rapidly, hitting the wall of a tall building directly above the crowd.
A violent explosion caused the building to fracture,
Countless fragments of stone and debris instantly rained down, burying everyone.
After the explosion, the already dilapidated streets were in a worse state. Everything in sight was covered in dust, and not a single living person could be seen.
Bai Ying quickly shook off the dust from her body, revealing her pristine white fur, and turned to walk towards the other end of the street.
The sounds of explosions grew more frequent all around,
Waves of missiles streaked through the gaps between the tall buildings,
On the ground, besides ruins, mangled giant steel pipes, industrial wastewater, and lifeless bodies, no living creatures could be seen.
It had only been thirty minutes since the attack began,
This steel city, which once teemed with humans everywhere, had now become a desolate hell.
Before long, swarms of massive golden mechs flew rapidly across the sky,
Tens of millions of propaganda leaflets were dropped from the mechs,
Like snowflakes, like paper money, they sprinkled into every corner of the city.
Covering the ruins, they gave the city a new color.
A few leaflets fluttered down to Bai Ying's feet.
One of them depicted the magnificent landmark buildings of the Golden Power Nation, with the slogan: [It is not war that destroys cities, but the rule of Black Star.]
Another leaflet bore the headline: [Join us, and collectively resist the rule of Black Star; this is your only correct choice.]
Bai Ying murmured, "By bombing the power stations and news channels, the only external information accessible to surviving Black Star citizens is the most traditional propaganda leaflet content."
Stumbling footsteps approached from behind,
Bai Ying turned to look. A little girl with two buns in her hair, covered in dust, emerged from the ruins.
The little girl held a few leaflets in her hand.
Upon seeing Bai Ying, she instinctively raised her hands as if to embrace her.
A bullet flew out, penetrating the little girl's brain through her left temple.
Her head tilted, and she fell heavily to the right, her dead eyes staring fixedly at Bai Ying.
Five armed individuals in Black Star combat suits emerged from cover across the street.
One of them ran over,
He poked the little girl's corpse with his gun, confirmed she was dead, picked up the leaflets in her hand, and said into his micro-microphone with a cold tone, "Eliminated an enemy propaganda agent. Complete." Then he quickly ran off.
How ironic.
Black Star soldiers, instead of engaging the enemy, turned their guns on their own civilians.
What wrong had this little girl committed?
She was a survivor of the great explosion, and for picking up a few leaflets, she was killed by the soldiers who should have protected her.
Bai Ying cast one last glance at the little girl's vacant eyes, slowly turned, and walked into the ruins.
After a day of warfare, it finally subsided before nightfall.
No new explosions occurred within the city.
Bai Ying sat in a mech cockpit, connected to her body with a communication cable, and piloted the mech into the sky.
The once orderly steel city was now nothing but ruins.
"This is war..."
"There is no justice, no right or wrong, only death and destruction."
"When Black Star's war machine tramples over other nations, no Black Star citizen is innocent. Not even an ignorant little girl."
"If it were me..."
Bai Ying's gaze gradually became firm as she murmured, "I too would end war with war."
Bai Ying's mech flew rapidly over the ruins, left the city, and headed in the direction of Xianxia.