The top-floor restaurant of the President.
The table was laden with extravagant dishes they normally wouldn't dare imagine.
S-Class deep-sea king crab, premium marbled beef sizzling on the grill, and piles of various fresh fruits stacked like small mountains.
Under normal circumstances, Qi Chun would have already lunged at the food like a starving wolf.
Li Ruobing would have eagerly opened several bottles of fine wine.
But today, no one touched their chopsticks.
The vast restaurant was eerily silent.
Only the bubbling red broth in the hot pot made a "gurgling" sound.
Qi Chun sat in the corner, silently smoking.
Five or six cigarette butts were already scattered at his feet.
Yao Qian huddled in her chair, holding a cup of cola that had long gone flat.
Her eyes were red and swollen, tears welling up and threatening to spill over.
Li Ruobing, unusually, wasn't wearing her usual revealing tank top and shorts.
Instead, she was draped in a loose jacket, head bowed, staring intently at a tactical dagger in her hand.
Yao Xue emerged from the kitchen carrying the final plate of steamed fish.
The sound of her high heels clicking against the wooden floor echoed sharply in the quiet restaurant.
She placed the plate in the center of the table.
After glancing around at everyone, her gaze finally settled on Qin Yu, who was seated at the head of the table.
Qin Yu was fiddling with a lighter.
"Click, click."
The sound of the metal lid opening and closing grated on everyone's nerves.
"What's wrong?"
Qin Yu lifted his eyelids, sweeping a glance over the group.
"Is the food poisoned today?"
"Or am I holding a gun to your heads, forcing you not to eat?"
He slammed the lighter onto the table.
A sharp "crack" rang out.
Yao Qian flinched violently.
"Brother..."
Qi Chun stubbed out his cigarette, his voice hoarse and strained.
"I can't eat."
He looked up, his eyes bloodshot.
"Have we... really reached the end?"
"We've collected all the fragments. Tomorrow, the System will reveal The Truth."
Qi Chun roughly grabbed a handful of his hair.
"That Executive Officer's last words keep replaying in my mind."
"He said The Truth is something we can't possibly bear."
"Brother, I'm scared."
Qi Chun, a fierce man who had fought his way into the top three on the leaderboards and commanded a Floating Fortress.
Now, his voice trembled with unconcealed fear.
"Scared of what?" Qin Yu asked coldly.
"Scared... that we can't go back."
Qi Chun covered his face, tears streaming through his fingers.
"I used to be just a delivery guy, running my legs off every day for a few bucks."
"But I had my dad and mom, a shabby rented room to sleep in."
"I miss my mom."
"I want to go home!"
Qi Chun's last four words were almost a roar.
That outburst completely ignited the suppressed emotions in the restaurant.
Yao Qian could no longer hold back.
She burst into tears with a loud "wah."
"Brother-in-law... I want to go back to Blue Star..."
"I want to go back to my university dorm, I want to drink the pearl milk tea from the shop downstairs..."
Yao Qian cried so hard she could barely catch her breath.
"I don't want to wake up every day to monsters and killing."
"I'm scared that tomorrow the System will tell us Blue Star is gone."
"I'm scared we'll have to drift on this sea forever like lost souls!"
Yao Xue walked over and pulled her sister into her arms.
He gently patted her back.
But Yao Xue's usually icy, stunning face was now etched with deep exhaustion.
Chen Xiaoya sat nearby, tears falling drop by drop.
"Brother Qin, can we still go back?"
"There are so many patients waiting for me at the hospital, and my mom is at home waiting for me to come back for dinner..."
Li Ruobing, who had remained silent until now.
Suddenly took a large gulp of strong liquor.
With a loud "bang," she slammed the bottle heavily on the table.
"What are you crying for!"
Li Ruobing's eyes were red as she pointed at everyone.
"Being alive right now is already a blessing from heaven!"
"Look at those corpses floating in the sea outside—they don't even have the chance to cry!"
Li Ruobing gritted her teeth, but her voice trembled.
"I've never even killed a chicken before."
"And now?"
"I can twist a monster's head off with my eyes closed!"
"I miss home too! I want to go back and sleep in my two-meter-wide soft bed!"
Li Ruobing suddenly turned her head and looked at Qin Yu.
Tears finally slid down her cheeks.
"Husband, after tomorrow, what exactly will we face?"
Elena, who had been standing at the door.
Walked in silently with two Valkyrie aides.
"Boss."
Elena wasn't crying, but her eyes were filled with the same confusion.
"From the very first day the Valkyrie Corps was established, it was meant for battle."
"We are not afraid of death."
"But we fear... dying meaninglessly."
"If this world has been a cage from the start, what does all our fighting over these months even mean?"
Oppression.
Extreme oppression.
The joy of surviving desperate situations was completely washed away by immense fear of the unknown.
Without the threat of the Executive Officer, without monsters chasing them.
As everything was about to settle.
They realized they were too afraid to face the so-called "Truth."
Qin Yu looked at the people before him who had fought alongside him through life and death.
He didn't get angry.
Nor did he sigh.
He simply stood up slowly and walked to the table.
Picked up an unopened bottle of white liquor.
With a flick of his thumb, the cap flew off with a "bang."
Qin Yu raised the bottle to his lips and gulped down half of it in one go.
The strong liquor burned his throat like a knife as it reached his stomach.
"Finished talking?"
Qin Yu placed the bottle heavily on the table.
His gaze, as tangible as a physical force, swept across each person's face.
"If you're done, then wipe your tears dry for me."
Qin Yu's voice wasn't loud, but every word struck deep in everyone's hearts.
"Qi Chun."
"Here!" Qi Chun instinctively straightened his posture.
"You were a delivery guy, but now you command over a thousand people. Your cannons can level an entire stretch of sea!"
"Yao Qian, Chen Xiaoya."
"You were ordinary students and nurses, but now you control the top-tier logistics and medical systems of the entire region!"
"Ruo Bing, Elena."
"Your hands are stained with the blood of monsters and enemies alike."
Qin Yu pointed at the dark sea outside.
"We started from a broken raft and made it to this absolutely invincible [President]."
"What did we rely on?"
"Was it because heaven pitied us?"
"Was it because the System took pity on us?"
Qin Yu slammed the table hard.
"It was because I led you, fighting tooth and nail, to carve our way out!"
Qin Yu walked up to Yao Qian and ruffled her hair firmly.
"What if we can't go back to Blue Star?"
"What if Blue Star is gone?"
An unprecedented wildness and domineering aura erupted in Qin Yu's eyes.
"As long as I'm still alive."
"As long as you're all by my side."
"I'll rebuild a Blue Star right here in this Wasteland!"
"If you want milk tea, I'll find the Blueprint and build a machine for you!"
"If you want a soft bed, I'll seize the best materials and make one for you!"
Qin Yu strode back to the head seat, tearing off his jacket.
"That damn Executive Officer said we couldn't handle The Truth."
"Well, I'm going to tear off this veil and see what monsters are hiding inside!"
"If The Truth doesn't suit me."
"I'll flip this damn world's table all over again!"
Qin Yu grabbed the wine glass in front of him.
"Crying is fucking useless!"
"Tomorrow's problems, we'll solve with guns tomorrow!"
"Now, everyone pick up your glasses!"
"Let's eat!"
Qin Yu's words were like a shot of adrenaline.
Piercing straight into everyone's arteries.
Qi Chun fiercely wiped the tears from his face and snatched up a bottle of wine.
"Brother is right! Fuck it all!"
"Who cares what trouble comes tomorrow? At worst, we die!"
Li Ruobing laughed through her tears, raising her glass.
"Husband, with those words, even dying would be worth it!"
Yao Xue adjusted her glasses, a stunning smile finally curling at the corner of her lips.
She lifted her glass and said softly,
"Wherever you go, I'll follow."
Yao Qian also dried her tears and began devouring the meat in front of her.
The atmosphere in the dining room was finally forcibly turned around by Qin Yu.
The meal was consumed like a whirlwind.
Everyone vented their pent-up frustrations through the food.
Late at night.
Full and satisfied, everyone returned to rest.
Tonight, no one stood watch.
Because it was no longer necessary.
--Enjoying the story? Want more chapters? Check out my Patreon and support me for 40+ advance chapters.
Just search for "LegendaryTL" on Patreon!"
Thanks!