How to Feed an Abyss!

Chapter 112.2 – Flowers and Alice

Three days later, the Alliance announced the candidates for the implementation of “Deep Dive”：

General Lu Tinghan, Pilot Qi Hong, Academician Ke Zhengrong, and Academician Zhou Qian.

The implementation time of the plan is October 27, 245, that is, two months later.

Shi Yuan had dinner at the food distribution office and was about to walk home. When passing by First Avenue, he smelled the fragrance of flowers.

The flower fragrance was too faint, wrapped by the breeze fleetingly, if it were others, they would not even notice it.

However, Shi Yuan liked flowers.

This was a smell he couldn’t be more familiar with.

He went around and asked a few people, and finally found the source of the flower fragrance: it was the handicraft factory next to the construction site.

There was no way to know what this small factory originally did. Now it was a good place for workers to take a lunch break, it was airy, shady, and wide.

As soon as Shi Yuan entered, his eyes were lit up by the shimmering light—

A few budding xuejian flowers stood quietly in the glass-colored flowerpots.

Shi Yuan: “Wow!”

He was very surprised, he never expected to see xuejian flowers again.

Several workers sat on the table with dinner boxes, and they all smiled when they saw him.

One person said, “Little brother, isn’t it a surprise?” He waved the chopsticks in his hand and nodded in the air, “These are the only remaining flowers.”

“Who said that?” The others immediately retorted, “Mr. Bradley just said that he would bring his potted flowers here later.”

“Oh!” The man touched his nose embarrassedly, “Did he say that? I forgot.”

Shi Yuan took two more steps forward and saw piles of gorgeous flowers of different colors.

Looking at it closely, they were all paper flowers. Some were folded with white paper, some were red, yellow, and gray, and even newspapers were folded, and they were placed on the old candlestick. Four or five people sat on the edge of the stage, laughing and chatting while folding flowers.

“What are these?” Shi Yuan asked them.

“Paper flowers, for the ‘Deep Dive’ executors.” They explained, “We were supposed to send real flowers, it’s best to send them xuejian flowers, but now there are no conditions…”

Shi Yuan looked at the sea of flowers: “Why?”

“You ask why?” They were a little surprised, “…of course, heroes have to be accompanied by flowers.”

Another person said: “Those people have always been worthy of respect, especially the general.” He looked at Shi Yuan, “We just fold it when we have time, maybe we can fold enough before the ‘Deep Dive’. Do you want to fold flowers with us?”

“Okay.” Shi Yuan smiled.

He sat down, and a young man patiently taught him how to fold.

For the first time, Shi Yuan learned that there were so many patterns in paper folding, and the different kinds of flowers were exquisite, roses, lotus, peonies, small peach blossoms… Most of it was xuejian, and the most difficult to fold was also it. The petals were too gorgeous, and it took a lot of effort to imitate 40% or 50%.

In the next half a month, as soon as he was free, he came to the handicraft factory to help fold flowers.

Lu Tinghan had always understood that the families of high-ranking people should keep a low profile. He protected Shi Yuan very well, and until now, many people still didn’t recognize Shi Yuan.

Shi Yuan sat among the people and listened to them discuss “Deep Dive”, discuss the Empire, Elton, and the mole people, and discuss inhibitors and fusion agents.

Some people said that they found it incredible that they were about to be uprooted from their homes. They hoped that everything would go well in the plan, and that the weather on Elton’s side would be better so that they could see the sun; some people said that they had never been in contact with the Empire, and they didn’t know what the temper of those people was and whether they could get along well.；

Some people eagerly discussed the enlightenment that the fusion agent might bring to the research. Someone complained that another paper flower was messed up by her. Someonse asked, ‘why hasn’t Mr. Bradley come yet?’ Someone said with emotion that he once questioned General Lu and even marched against him, and to his surprise, the general was now the person he admired the most.

Some also said that General Lu had given so much, there were ups and downs along the way, but he couldn’t even see the ending. It was a pity.

Even ordinary people knew that it was impossible for the executors of ‘Deep Dive’ to survive.

Shi Yuan listened to them silently, and folded a very beautiful xuejian flower, which was admired by everyone.

A week later, the mysterious “Mr. Bradley” finally appeared.

He was very old, walking slowly, pushing a small cart alone, with more than a dozen pots of unopened xuejian flowers on the cart.

Everyone was very surprised. They put the flower pots in a good position facing the sun, and as soon as the wind blew, the room was full of fragrance.

Sitting at the workbench, Bradley said that he had run a flower shop for more than 30 years, and he didn’t change his career as a clerk until the fall of Gleaning City.

“I left the last few pots of flowers in the shop and took them with me,” he said hoarsely, with pride in his tone, “Fortunately, they have survived to this day.”

Everyone got together for dinner, the chatterbox was opened, and they talked about the world.

Bradley said that in fact, when he was young, he wanted to open a fireworks shop the most, but the conditions did not allow it, so he had to give up his dream.

He said: “Fireworks are very beautiful. Especially the fireworks in summer, when they explode in the sky, there are all kinds of colors and everything. Children especially like them.”

Everyone here was younger than him, and they had never seen fireworks, so they could only imagine it.

Shi Yuan listened to Bradley talk about fireworks and flower shops, and slowly felt that something was wrong.

A very weird feeling rose in his heart. He looked at Bradley, took a closer look for a long time, and saw a sense of familiarity in his green eyes and old face.

When Bradley left, Shi Yuan chased after him and shouted, “Sir! Sir! Please wait a minute!”

Bradley’s hearing was weak, and it took a long time for him to react and look back at him.

Shi Yuan stood in front of him and asked, “Mr. Bradley, do you know someone named…Alice?” He added, “Alice Philippa.”

Bradley: “……”

Seeing that he didn’t respond, Shi Yuan said, “Well, maybe I admitted the wrong person. Sorry to bother you, I—!”

Bradley grasped his shoulder tightly!

The old man’s eyes widened: “You, how do you know this name?! Is she still alive?!”

“No.” Shi Yuan took a long breath, relieved, “You are Mr. Leonard, right? She has been looking for you for many years.”

Two days later, Shi Yuan and Bradley came to the supercomputer center.

After Alice’s death, the brain was taken out and placed here, connected to the optical brain for computing.

——On July 2, 170, the last day before the end of the world, Alice Philippa, an 8-year-old girl, met her brother and went to the river to watch fireworks.

She lost her footing and fell to her death on the path by the riverbank.

After more than 70 years, she had always had summer dreams. The fireworks did not dissipate, and the dream was bright and complete.

Year after year, the brain function was almost unable to hold on, and finally, it was time for her to rest.

On the way, Bradley explained the past to Shi Yuan.

After Alice died, her mother took him to remarry. Later, he changed his name and surname and has been living in Gleaning City.

“…I really can’t believe it,” he murmured, “Her consciousness is still there, if, if I had known sooner…”

His voice shook too much to continue, and he asked carefully, “Is Alice here? Will she come to see me?”

“She will,” Shi Yuan said.

He asked Lu Tinghan for a permission card, and they went to the bottom of the computer center.

There were servers in the computer room, and in the deepest part, after three access controls, they saw the brain in the container. It was connected to countless neural sensors, and the red and blue lines were all over the room, and trillions of data were jumping in it.

The girl in the white skirt stood next to the machine, holding a unicorn doll, her green eyes flashing with data.

She was waiting for them.

“Alice!” Bradley rushed over, tears streaming across his old face.

He wanted to hug the girl but only felt air. Alice was just a holographic projection, just an illusion from the past.

Bradley said incoherently that he should have held her hand firmly that day, they should not have taken that mountain trail, or perhaps in the first place, they should not have gone to see the fireworks.

“But,” Alice said, “the fireworks were really pretty that day. I loved that summer.”

Her figure flickered.

Bradley burst into tears, wiped the corners of his eyes, and stretched out his hand: “…Let’s go, let’s go, brother will take you home.”

At this moment, knowing that it was impossible for the two of them to hold hands, Alice gently put her hand on his.

She said, “Okay, let’s go.”

The old man held the little girl’s hand, as if returning to the summer of 170, the young brothers and sisters walked together on the way to watch the fireworks, chatting and waiting for the colors to bloom. They were going to watch one of the most beautiful fireworks in the world.

Shi Yuan looked at them.

Until Alice’s figure became transparent and disappeared into the void.

*

Shi Yuan continued to fold paper flowers in the handicraft factory.

He went to the wasteland many more times, staying for a whole day and seeing all kinds of monsters.

One day half a month later, he returned home from the handicraft factory, and Lu Tinghan was waiting for him.

“Lu Tinghan, touch!” Shi Yuan bounced over quickly.

After not seeing him for a day, Lu Tinghan rubbed his head frantically, and Shi Yuan purred in satisfaction.

“Shi Yuan,” Lu Tinghan said, “Come out with me tomorrow.”

“Where are we going? Purr purr…”

“Fengyang City, and then go to Gleaning City.”

“Ah, are you going to install a signal meter? Or do you do something else?”

“Neither.” Lu Tinghan replied, kissing Shi Yuan, “This time it’s it’s simply to go and have fun.”