After Twiggy woke up and listened to Geno recount the events of last night, her expression shifted from initial blame to worry, and finally to something complex.
"So, they turned into Ethereals..."
Twiggy's expression became very sorrowful.
She knew that the Silver forces had many subject bodies, but she didn't know the exact number.
As for the fate of those who couldn't meet the experimental standards, she hadn't thought about it, or rather, she didn't dare to think about it.
Perhaps death was the cruelest punishment she could imagine.
However, reality was crueler and more sinful than all her expectations.
Those sisters who didn't succeed ultimately faced either becoming spare parts or turning into monsters that had lost their sense of self.
Thinking of this, Twiggy wondered, did someone like her really have the right to live on?
Looking at her own palm, she felt a momentary trance.
She suddenly felt she was disgusting.
She felt it was she who had deprived those sisters of their lives, that she had taken away their qualification to survive, and she would forever bear the weight of these lost lives.
In her daze, she recalled the nightmare she had the night Geno saved her.
'Did they, in the final moments of their lives, feel that way too...'
"Twiggy, Twiggy!"
Hearing Geno's call, Twiggy realized that her fingernails had dug deeply into her palm. Fresh red blood obeyed gravity, splashing little by little onto the ground in spots of red light.
"Sorry, I'll bandage it myself."
Twiggy got up to look for bandages. Geno didn't say much; he could tell that Twiggy needed to calm down.
Afterwards, Geno went to check on the condition of the other Silver Squad members.
Regrettably, apart from Twiggy, none of the other sisters showed any signs of waking up.
It was unclear if it was because their injuries were too severe.
"Geno."
A soft call drew Geno's attention over.
Seeing Twiggy, with her hands wrapped in bandages and a serious look on her face, Geno realized that something about her seemed to have changed.
"I want to go to the Silver Base."
-----------------
In the Hollow, covered in devastation and ruins, two figures, one black and one white, one in front and one behind, walked step by step across this land that had experienced destruction.
"Twiggy, why are you..."
"It's nothing. I just want to see them."
After saying this, Twiggy offered no further explanation, and Geno didn't press further. After all, he had already understood these complex emotions when he absorbed Thanatos's memories yesterday.
These girls, from birth to death, never had a single moment of life that belonged to themselves.
At least, in this moment, she no longer needed to respond to anyone else's expectations.
Another ten minutes or so passed, and the two returned to the outside of the Silver Base.
"We're here. I set up a marker here."
"...."
On this bare little mound of earth, a broken concrete tombstone was particularly eye-catching.
There were no superfluous things—names, epitaphs, offerings—none were needed.
Twiggy just stood there quietly, looking at the stone, occasionally casting her gaze toward the Silver Base, thoughts unknown.
Just when Geno was finally getting a bit impatient and wanted to ask about Twiggy's condition, Twiggy finally spoke.
"Geno, let's move."
"Huh?"
"Move here. To the Silver Base."
These words surprised Geno greatly, but the reason for the surprise was that he had thought about this himself.
When he discovered inside the Silver Base that the military had retreated, he had considered whether he could occupy this base as a stronghold.
After all, the Silver Project had been sealed, and this place was inside a Hollow; the probability of the military returning was almost zero.
As long as he didn't cause any trouble, developing here would likely be very convenient.
It was just that when he realized this place might evoke bad memories for Twiggy and the others, he had given up on the idea. He hadn't expected Twiggy to bring it up herself.
"Is that okay? After all, this is..."
The place that gave her betrayal, gave her bad memories, and gave her compatriots death.
"It doesn't matter. This is where our sinful lives began, so it should also be where they end."
Twiggy had already made up her mind. She absolutely did not want to let her life pass by in such a cowardly manner.
She wanted to make amends for the sin she carried since birth. She wanted to carry the lives and wills of her dead compatriots and walk on, together with her sisters.
Atonement.
"Every one of us is guilty. From the moment we are born, we live in this world carrying the sin of a birth that shouldn't have happened."
Twiggy's voice trembled slightly, as if fearing something.
"But, even so, we want to live on. To see how blue the sky is, to see the distant hills, to see the world outside the Hollow that we have never experienced."
The more she spoke, the brighter the light in her eyes became, and the trembling in her voice smoothed out. Her whole being seemed like a freshly sprouted bud.
"Singing together, dancing together, shopping and playing around like normal girls... But I know that our sins won't disappear with our forgetting, so..."
At this point, Twiggy's tone became increasingly firm, a conviction welling up from the spring of her heart.
This filled her with determination.
"I want to restart the Silver Project. Not to create some super soldiers, but to wash away our sins completely. I will use my power to find a way to defeat the Hollow, so that their sacrifices won't just be meaningless deaths."
Then she turned around and looked at Geno, who was already so shocked he couldn't speak.
"Are you willing to walk with a sinner like me? Geno."
Geno snapped back to reality. He could feel that the current Twiggy was completely different from before.
As for the answer to the question, did it even need to be said?
"Of course, milady. I will become the wind and rain of this world to accompany you by your side, until the end of the world."
Saying this, he slowly bent down, took Twiggy's hand, knelt on one knee, and performed a standard hand-kissing ritual.
"Wah! Uwaaah!! You, you, you, why are you being so cheesy?!"
Feeling the warm touch on her hand, Twiggy instantly blushed red. Only now did she realize that the two of them seemed to have just done something incredible.
This, could it be, a pro-pro-pro-proposal?!
No, it shouldn't be. This is just a very ordinary acknowledgment between companions.
Right! That's it!
Twiggy, constantly trying to convince herself in her heart, feigned calmness and coughed lightly, then walked towards the Silver Base as if nothing had happened.
But no matter how an outsider looked at it, she seemed to be fleeing in defeat.
As for Geno, he wasn't doing much better. In the heat of the moment, he had mimicked a plot from a short drama he saw in his past life.
In reality, if not for feigning calm in front of Twiggy, he would have long since been awkward enough to dig out a three-bedroom apartment with his toes.
Once Twiggy couldn't hold on and left first, he covered his face and squatted on the spot in extreme embarrassment.
'Total social death!'
____
New Story: ZZZ: Mr. Ethereal Does Not Want to See a Tragedy
🔥We're handing out that '30% bonus' that makes your wallet smile. 😄
✅ Get immediate access to 40 early chapters for all stories.
✅ Enjoy exclusive material and special announcements!
Help us unlock these community rewards:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone
🚀 140 MEMBERS = +5 extra chapters across ALL STORIES!
👻 P - Walnutchan