She took out her phone to record so audio, but soon realized that her phone would turn to ash along with Chira 17 unless she uploaded these recordings online for safekeeping.
Yet Yang Qi didn't want anyone else to hear these recordings; she wanted only one person to hear them.
"Forget it." Yang Qi resignedly put down the phone.
But just then, the intense light released by Chira 17 suddenly receded.
The cocoon, originally as bright as the sun, dimd all its light in just a few seconds, transforming into a giant rock standing over the wilderness.
"What's happening?" Song Yarong looked astonished, "Energy... energy is depleted? How can this be?"
Yang Qi quickly stood up and opened her eyes.
The residual images of those intense lights still danced on her retinas, but she could still see clearly—Chira 17 had indeed "extinguished."
"The energy reaction hasn't disappeared!" The technician responsible for monitoring Chira 17's status was dutifully working until the last mont, "The energy reaction inside Chira 17 hasn't just not disappeared, it's actually increasing! Chira 17 is rapidly shrinking in size! Cocoon density has dramatically increased!"
"Still increasing?" Song Yarong's expression froze, "I thought... I thought..."
"Detected a collapse reaction inside Chira 17!"
"Do you know the process of a supernova explosion?" Yang Qi slowly said, "When a star is near the end of its life cycle, it will exhaust all its fuel, its core will collapse, and then it will eject all its outer material, turning into the most splendid fireworks in the dark universe... And now Chira 17 should be going through this collapse process…"
"We still can't escape death after all..." Song Yarong murmured.
...
Sky City, in an old district.
The bright sky was once again overshadowed by the night. The people so joyful on the streets suddenly quieted down, all looking up at the sky, Yu included.
"Damn it, what the hell is going on..." Yu took a few deep breaths, swore, and instinctively reached out for a cigarette, only to find an empty crushed pack.
"Eternal... eternal night has returned?" Soone sat dejectedly on the ground.
"It was clearly daylight just now! It was really bright!" Soone shouted hysterically, shaking others, "You saw it too, right? Everyone saw it, right? It was daylight just now, right? We all saw it!"
"Why, why... When will this end?"
"I can't take it anymore! I can't stand this life without seeing the sun!"
When people are suppressed in hopeless environnts for a long ti and occasionally catch a glimr of hope, but this glimr quickly extinguishes. The subsequent wave of despair is often heavier and more suffocating than the initial despair.
This dramatic emotional rollercoaster nearly drives people to collapse.
...
Airborne combat platform, "Garuda".
"How much ti do we have left?" Song Yarong asked Yang Qi.
"I don't know." Yang Qi shook her head, "Maybe a few minutes, maybe a few seconds, maybe imdiately."
"Working with you was quite enjoyable." Song Yarong reached out to Yang Qi, "Rember not to stay up so late next ti, without looking after you, you might really drop dead."
"If I really dropped dead, I wouldn't have to feel this despair and helplessness now." Yang Qi said with a bitter smile.
"Tut, this is fireworks ordinary people won't see in their lifetis. To put it in Shinkata Misaki's words, it's worth the ticket price even to die!"
"Is your phone still broadcasting?"
"The live stream was blocked." Song Yarong replied, "But there were still tens of thousands of people who saw the 'little sun' just now... Logically, Dubhe Tower should already issue a disciplinary notice to by now, but I haven't received any news at all… I'm probably considered dead by them already?"
"Do you have any regrets?"
"Regrets, too many to count." Song Yarong said, "If Chira 17 allowed to finish my list of regrets before exploding, I could earn absolutely ample evacuation ti for the fathers and elders of the city."
"But unfortunately..."
Before Yang Qi finished speaking, a strong airflow suddenly swept in, Song Yarong quickly grabbed Yang Qi's arm while several mycelium pierced into the deck, pinning herself firmly on the deck.
Nearby, a logistic officer wasn't so lucky and got swept away by the airflow—fortunately, he wasn't far from the deck edge, and he wore a helt, ultimately only colliding heavily with the close-in weapon system base.
"Look quickly—Chira!" Song Yarong shouted.
Yang Qi opened her eyes, staring intensely at Chira 17 in the distance.
The top of the giant cocoon cracked open, a beam vastly stronger than before shot straight into the sky, like a sword piercing through thick clouds!
The light was spreading above the clouds, eternal night was gradually dissipating.
Rain stopped and clouds cleared, colors and regions brightened.
Song Yarong and Yang Qi were both stunned—not just them, everyone watching this battlefield was stupefied.
Chira 17 hadn't destroyed Sky City but directed the massively compressed energy completely at eternal night!
It beca dayti.
This ti, it truly beca dayti.
...
Sky City, old district.
The people on the streets watched the sky light up again; no one dared to speak.
They feared making any sound might change the sky back.
Everyone unanimously held their breath.
Yu silently counted the ti in his heart: "One second, two seconds... ten seconds... half a minute... one minute..."
"This... this ti is real, right?" A chubby lad couldn't help but speak.
"Shut up!" Yu glared at him venomously, "We're not blind!"
"It's been five minutes, already five minutes..." A young man said with a trembling voice, "Does anyone rember how long last daylight lasted?"
"Seems... seed just about dozens of seconds..." a middle-aged woman replied.
The person who had previously slumped down looked up at the clear sky, tears silently streaming down.
Yu sniffed hard, feeling his nose a bit sore and even his eyes a bit sore.
"Damn it… must be because I can't smoke…" Yu muttered softly, "Anyone got a smoke? Any good fellow can lend a puff."
"Take it!" The old man who ran the tobacco and alcohol shop tossed over a pack of cigarettes.
Yu clumsily caught the cigarettes, fingers trembling as he tore open the package and took one to clench in his mouth… He didn't even light it, just held it, looking up at the sky.
"When was the last ti we saw a sky like this?" The old man approached, "Feels like we've been through a century or sothing."
"I feel the last ti I saw the sun…" Yu mumbled, "was in a previous life…"
...
...
Airborne combat platform, "Garuda".
"Report! Eternal night's tic response has vanished! The whole Shuzhou region has returned to daylight!"
"Chira 17's tic response is rapidly weakening!"
...
"Yang Qi, I feel like I'm dreaming." Song Yarong said, "Chira 17, whom I treated as a big enemy… helped us wipe out the eternal night that shrouded Shuzhou for months? Two anomalies annihilated each other?"
Yang Qi stared dumbfounded at the giant cocoon in the distance, saying nothing.
"Yang Qi, could you smack in the face? With force. I really feel like I'm dreaming."
"Smack!" The loud sound of a slap echoed, but Yang Qi slapped her own face.
"Ouch… that hurt."
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