Chapter 434: Chapter 259: The Possibility of Three Generations Together, Farewell to Li Jing
It was still the morning of August 6th, in the city center, on the exhibition platform of a high tower.
Black Cocoon sat on the railing, playing with his phone while using a restraint belt to swallow various metal fragments he had scavenged from a metallurgy factory on the road. This was the effect of the Swallowing Silver superpower.
He looked down at his phone and sent a message to the grandfather he had just acknowledged.
[Black Cocoon: Grandpa, are you interested in meeting your son-in-law at some point?]
[Black Cocoon: It’s been so many years, are you still blaming him for not being able to protect your daughter?]
[Black Cocoon: After all, he was just a muggle back then, isn’t that quite unfortunate for him?]
[Su Wei: We’ll talk about it later.]
"Talk about it later, huh?"
Black Cocoon hummed the tune of "London Bridge is Falling Down" and glanced up from his phone. The sun hadn’t risen yet, and the sky was in a twilight state, blue mixed with white, like the sea at dusk.
He thought, given the current situation, when Dad wakes up, maybe he should go to the bookstore and meet Grandpa. Mom has been dead for so many years, perhaps Dad could reconcile with the father-in-law?
Thinking of this, he glanced at the restraint belt swallowing the metal fragments. Amidst the "crunching" sounds, the sharp teeth ground the metal into powder, which was then sent to the mouths to consume. Saliva seeped out, laced with the taste of rust.
"When it’s time to get rid of those four Salvation Society moles in Rainbow Wings, perhaps Grandpa and Dad can make an appearance together, a three-generation gathering?" He thought again.
Soon, passing citizens noticed Black Cocoon’s silhouette. Most were early risers rushing to catch the high-speed train to work, or housewives buying groceries; the shadows of students were less common due to vacation time.
They promptly raised their heads, pointed their fingers, and exclaimed at the stark black figure atop the high tower.
No one seemed to have thought that this enigmatic persona would appear in such a prominent place in broad daylight.
Black Cocoon took out a loudspeaker and spoke to the crowd below: "I know many of you are my fans, and many of you dislike me a lot, but the situation is this... I’m about to retire."
"Why!"
Someone in the crowd shouted, it was a tender voice.
Black Cocoon raised an eyebrow, remembering he seemed to have met this child before. Back when Green Wing had taken five hostages to threaten Blue Arc, one of the hostages was this child. It seems the psychological shadow left on this child back then wasn’t too deep.
He thought for a moment: "Good question, um... as for the reason, it might be because the skin is too dark, leading to being dispatched by the Mutants Association to Africa, helping the black version of Swallowing Silver and the black version of Blue Arc achieve greatness, they are also called ’Swallowing Black’ and ’Black Arc.’
Some laughed out loud on the street, while others remained expressionless, feeling he was just spewing nonsense.
He paused for a while, then picked up the loudspeaker and continued: "Of course, it might just be simply due to fatigue. Human beings are indeed very complex, very complex. Why do we always have to wear a mask and be two-faced? Sometimes... really, really just want to tear off my face and show it to you."
Saying this, Black Cocoon slowly peeled off the restraint belt on his face, raised his hands to cover his face, revealing a pair of pitch-black eyes through his fingers.
Through the fingers, he lowered his eyes, silently looking at each face on the street.
The streets erupted with screams, sighs flooding in, no one anticipated this lunatic suddenly tearing off his mask.
"But of course, this cannot, cannot happen... it’s absolutely forbidden, Even if you want to be a madman, you must be a rational enough madman, otherwise it will just lead to destruction, like Mr. Ghost Bell, smashed by a meteor into crispy bits."
Black Cocoon shook his head, muttering softly, he re-covered his face with the restraint belt, enclosing the pitch-black eyes within.
The crowd instantly let out disappointed sighs, but no one believed Black Cocoon would truly expose his real face.
"I know you are disappointed, and I also know members of the Mutants Association are about to arrive, so I can’t continue chatting with everyone, the big ship heading to Africa is soon docking."
"Finally... this is a gift from a certain friend of mine for you all, why on earth would anyone use technology capable of reforming a country to set off fireworks? It’s so foolish it’s laughable, do you think his intelligence is slightly lacking?"
Black Cocoon casually remarked, while looking down at his phone, raising his right arm high.
From the palm of his hand, the restraint belt surged upwards like squid tentacles, reaching towards the sun. Under the slightly dark blue sky, this scene was bizarre, as if a horde of monsters were chasing after the sun, the restraint belt rippling like water as it ascended.
Having just finished consuming metal, the restraint belt shimmered with a cold silver hue. The numerous mouths positioned on it expanded outward then contracted into a seam. Every elongated crack curled upwards, resembling numerous smiles appearing on the restraint belt.
"Alright then, honestly it’s okay even if you don’t like it... as long as I do." he murmured softly.
His eerie words dropped, and the mouths on the pitch-black restraint belt suddenly flared wide open, sending forth a blaze of firelight from countless ports that shot up to the sky, finally exploding beneath the slightly blue firmament, transforming into resplendent fireworks.
It was a magnificent fireworks show. The clock had just ticked to seven or eight in the morning, the day wasn’t fully brightened yet, the long street enveloped in a dusk-like dimness.
However, the faces of the crowd were illuminated by the sudden fireworks. The next moment, deafening booms resounded at sky level, the cold hued world turned bright then dim, dim then bright again. In their pupils reflected flower-like bursts of fireworks, vibrant and dazzling.
After a long time, when the crowd below finally snapped out of it, they looked up to find that the figure atop the high tower had disappeared. The world was silent, and a contrail stretched across half of the dusky blue sky.
.....
.....
Ten minutes later, at the old site of Gu Yima District, within a long-abandoned train station.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Miss Ke."
At Platform 7, Black Cocoon was hanging upside down beneath the eaves, flipping through "Quiet Flows the Don," while waving at the figure ahead with a restraint belt restored to its usual form.
A woman in a brown trench coat was leaning against the outer wall of the train, holding her shoulder with one hand and a pipe with the other. She leaned in close to the pipe, took a puff, and then said:
"You really are quite mischievous, stealing Swallowing Silver’s superpower to set off fireworks for others? I’m more and more convinced you’re like an underage kid, insisting on putting on a show before leaving."
Black Cocoon lifted his eyes from the book, looked at the dark red train with steam hissing from every crevice, then glanced at the fierce face of the Train Demon.
He raised a finger, "I prefer to be called a ’behavior artist.’ Sometimes artists and children are alike because only those who remain innocent and unconditioned by society can become artists after growing up."
Ke Qirui lifted her eyes from the pipe to look at him, a faint curve on her lips, "But as far as I know...neglected children are like this, because they lack attention and love, they easily develop a performative personality."
"Don’t analyze me, Miss Ke. I only heard you said you would come early to pick me up, so I bid a farewell to this city ahead of time. After all, I might never see it again, and a sense of ritual is quite important."
Black Cocoon scratched his chin, "But fireworks, indeed, are best set off at night for the real thrill."
"How come...what you said sounds as if you’re going to die in the United States?"
"Possibly."
"Xiaomai would be sad, you know. Although she talks a lot about ’big flapping moths,’ she actually quite likes you."
"I’m merely a collaborator with her, just as I am with you. Trust me, after I’m gone, she won’t feel much."
Upon hearing this, Ke Qirui fell silent for a moment, then put the pipe back into her trench coat pocket.
"I rarely encounter people I can’t understand," she sighed, "The first is you, the second is Xia Pingzhou."
"Xia Pingzhou is hard to understand too?"
"Who knows?" Ke Qirui shrugged, expressionless, "Let’s go, first to Hai Fan City for Zhengquan’s funeral, then I’ll take you to New York."
"Alright, thank you very much for your help," Black Cocoon said, closing the book. "But since I’ve helped you so many times, it’s only reasonable to occasionally use the Train Demon to give me a ride, or how else can we be called collaborators?"
He loosened the restraint belt, somersaulted down from mid-air, approached the Train Demon, and climbed up the iron ladder into the carriage.
"Su Zimai didn’t come?" He settled down.
"No, she’s still over at Hai Fan City, waiting to attend the funeral."
Ke Qirui spoke as she walked into the carriage, casually closing the door behind her before sitting across from him.
"Is it really okay for you not to stay by her side?" Black Cocoon curiously inquired.
"You’re a bit too concerned about her," Ke Qirui said, glancing at him.
"After all, she’s an important collaborator’s sister. If something happens to her, I can’t bear it."
"Rest assured, ’Lin Xingshi’ and ’Zhou Jiuya’ are also at the funeral. With them there, Salvation Society won’t dare openly make a move against the attendees."
The Train Demon began to stir as if awakened, roaring into the pitch-black tunnel, then crashing headlong into a time-space rift.
"Lin Xingshi?" Black Cocoon raised an eyebrow, breaking the silence, "The captain of Lake Hunting?"
"While it seems you’re eager to meet him, I’m also happy to connect you two, but I’d advise you to mind your manners," Ke Qirui said softly, "Lin Xingshi is kind, but Zhou Jiuya has a peculiar temperament, and if you accidentally offend him..."
Black Cocoon interrupted her, "I know what you’re trying to say."
"Trying to say what?"
"Accidentally offend him, you’ll turn into a pile of mush," Black Cocoon said meaningfully, with a serious expression.