Chapter 26#
Chapter 26#
Smiling Gas · End
This was a border town belonging to Sasha—not prosperous, but untouched by war, peaceful and quietly content.
Yu Feichen was an unfamiliar face. His appearance drew attention, though his clothes were dusty from travel, and people noticed him the moment he entered the town. Fortunately, he was with a pitiful looking little girl, which greatly eased the townspeople’s wariness.
Koroshans traded everywhere, and were not hard to find. Yu Feichen asked at the nearest shop whether any Koroshan guilds were here, and the shopkeeper’s wife pointed him to an address.
The place turned out to be a medium‑sized bank. After he explained why he’d come, a middle‑aged Koroshan man in a suit received him.
Once Yu Feichen briefly recounted the massacre of prisoners at the Oak Valley Concentration Camp, the man’s expression grew heavy. He told Yu Feichen to rest for now while he informed his superiors. A day later, the little girl was taken in by guild members for care, and Yu Feichen changed into clean clothes. At noon, the man returned with an elderly gentleman whose snow‑white hair, black bow tie, and gold‑rimmed glasses gave him an air of solemn dignity.
“I’m the president of the Korosha Federation’s branch here in Sasha,” the old man said. “I came straight from the capital the moment I received the telegram.” He pointed to the gold badge on his chest, looked intently at Yu Feichen, and said, “Tell me everything you experienced, child.”
Leaving out the part where he single‑handedly fought off dozens of soldiers at the south gate, Yu Feichen described in full the killings that took place in the Oak Valley Concentration Camp.
The old president listened to the end. His hands trembled. He remained silent for a long time. “We had heard rumors that after the Black‑Badge Army conquered Korosha, they herded people into internment camps for temporary control,” he finally said. “But, child… the things you’ve described are truly… beyond belief. I can scarcely accept them.”
“It all happened,” Yu Feichen replied.
“You must provide solid proof, child,” the old president said. “Without it, few will believe this.”
Yu Feichen had documents in his briefcase, but did not take them out yet. Instead, he said, “My companions will arrive soon.”
On the third day, a group of more than a dozen people, exhausted and disheveled, appeared outside the town. Having received instructions in advance, the Koroshan guild quickly brought them in.
These were some of the first who had escaped by truck. To reduce the risk of capture, they had followed Yu Feichen’s orders and split into small teams to flee separately.
This particular group’s leader was Bai Song.
Fortunately, Bai Song had brought every person in his team safely to Sasha.
Unfortunately, two days earlier they had been attacked by a pack of mountain wolves. Bai Song had fought them off bravely with an axe to protect everyone. As the price, his thigh had been grievously injured, and his companions had carried him back with all their strength.
The doctor’s first recommendation was amputation. The guild provided Bai Song a sick room; Yu Feichen knocked and entered.
When Bai Song saw him, he tried to sit up in excitement, but the nurse swiftly held him down.
As Yu Feichen approached the bed, Bai Song called out with a quivering voice, “Brother Yu.”
(T/N : I’ll go with Brother instead of gē from here on)
Yu Feichen told him that everyone had escaped the concentration camp.
Bai Song listened—tears still on his face—and then broke into a stunned, dazed smile.
At that moment, the old president entered.
“I may offend you by saying this, but I must tell you,” he said to Yu Feichen. “We have decided to separate everyone and question them individually. Only by comparing all final testimonies can we guarantee the reliability of the information.”
Yu Feichen nodded. “That’s the right approach.”
It was an old method of inquiry—comparing details across multiple accounts to test the truth and catch any falsehoods. This also showed the old president was treating the matter with genuine seriousness, and Yu Feichen felt reassured.
After a full day of separate questioning, the old president and the guild president visited him again and sat down across from him.
“We have the testimonies. A nightmare is unfolding upon our compatriots—people are suffering. Even now, I can hardly believe it. But we will exhaust every possible means to help them and rescue them,” the old president said. He looked as though he had aged ten years overnight; his voice trembled with sincerity.
“Thank you, child.”
Yu Feichen nodded lightly. Then he took the documents from his briefcase and placed them before the two presidents. They accepted them, glanced through them, and their expressions grew solemn to the extreme.
“You are like a messenger sent by the Holy Yuryllia,” the old president said, shaking his hand.
They promised to send telegrams to trustworthy organizations and nations, to discuss countermeasures, to advocate for their compatriots. All Yu Feichen could do now was wait.
Days passed, with messages arriving one after another.
The records from Oak Valley Concentration Camp were submitted upward and also circulated secretly in many places. The unimaginable atrocities suffered by the Korosha people shocked and enraged all surviving Koroshans, and left people in other countries speechless with horror.
Meanwhile, escaped prisoners continued arriving in various border towns of Sasha. Numbers were unclear, but it was certain that the vast majority had escaped.
A month later, Blondie heard the news from another town and hurried over to find Yu Feichen and Bai Song.
He said he had found his mother, though the rest of his family who had been on other trains were still missing.
“A dozen of us have decided to join the joint guerrilla forces of the five neighboring countries to resist the Black‑Badge Army. It will be our life’s work. Big‑Nose is going to search for his family and will help us look for others along the way,” Blondie said.
(T/N : Big Nose is Waddams, not sure why Anfield can remember his cell mate’s name but this guy can’t lmao)
Bai Song embraced him, eyes shining with emotion. “Yuryllia bless you, Gann.”(T/N : I don’t know if the blonde guy was ever given a name in the earlier chapters. If yes, my bad. If no, we’ll just go with this, as his name is just one character gāngfor “strong”, which makes for a very peculiar name)
“I’ll come find you once my leg heals.”
He buried his face in Gann’s shoulder, wiping away tears he pretended he hadn’t shed—though in truth, before Blondie arrived, he had been wailing to Yu Feichen like a ghost being strangled.
—Conservative treatment had failed. His entire right leg would be amputated the next day.
Blondie was unaware of this, and kept patting his back. “You’ll get better soon.”
Yu Feichen stood by the window, silently watching these two comrades who had survived so much together.
Everything had finally settled.
Up to this point, under the identity of James Adams, he had done everything within his power for his suffering homeland.
And the system notification that day had been: “Deconstruction successful”—though the result had not entirely pleased him.
If eventhiscouldn’t complete the mission, he’ll have to join the army.
At that moment, someone knocked on the ward door.
The old president entered. “I heard you were gathered here,” he said.
He was smiling, barely able to contain his excitement, holding a telegram—while the radio beside him was broadcasting the news:
“The best news we’ve had in days.”
“The surviving cities of Korosha, the other five nations invaded by the Black‑Badge Army, and several countries willing to lend a hand—all of them had long harbored the intention of forming a joint army. After the events of Oak Valley Concentration Camp reached them, that process accelerated dramatically. Just this morning, the leader of the joint army was confirmed.”
The old president paused. Seeing the shock, followed by joy, on everyone’s faces in the ward, he continued, “If nothing unexpected happens, the first action of the joint army will be to dispatch air squadrons to destroy the cremation towers and other killing devices in every internment camp, and rescue all the people of Korosha.”
His words gradually overlapped with the broadcast coming from the radio, and then fell to silence together.
The two young nurses in the ward wiped their tears and embraced each other.
Bai Song and Blondie, already holding each other, only tightened their hug upon hearing the news.
Soon, only Yu Feichen and the old president remained in the room.
The old president looked around, cleared his throat lightly, and exchanged a traditional Koroshan gesture of celebration with Yu Feichen—fists gently touching.
Outside, on the streets inhabited by the Koroshans, the sounds of distant celebration could already be heard, and banners were being hung.
The old president gazed toward the distance. “Victory will always belong to justice,” he said quietly.
And at that moment, when everyone was filled with hope, Yu Feichen felt the familiar sensation of the world shifting around him.
The gray space appeared once more—but unlike before, the scene before him had become a massive map. When he looked closely, he realized it was the world map of this world, every shape made of tightly interwoven gray‑black lines.
The system voice echoed: “Conquest initiated.”
In the next instant, a brilliant point of light appeared where Oak Valley Concentration Camp should be. Threads of gold unfurled from that point, spreading outward in all directions, gilding everything they touched.
Moments later, an even brighter light appeared near the border of Sasha, and it too began to expand.
Yu Feichen belatedly realised.
Perhaps this scene represented the influence he had exerted upon this world.
When the expansion finally slowed, the gray‑black map now held a striking section of gold—about one‑eighth of the whole.
“Core position successfully occupied.”
“Conversion beginning.”
The map no longer seemed to change, but when Yu Feichen looked closely, he saw that the golden lines were still spreading—at an extremely slow, almost imperceptible pace—quietly eroding the rest.
Given enough time, the entire world would surely be wrapped in that gentle, radiant gold.
Then the prompt sounded again.
“Decisive victory.”
“Please select a follower.”
The scene shifted. Misty, indistinct—still the real world, but frozen in place.
Blondie, Bai Song, the nurses, the old president.
Before entering the Gate of Eternal Night, that voice had told him: “You have to bring back a person who wholeheartedly follows you, one for each adventure.”
But Yu Feichen quickly realized he could not simply choose whomever he wished.
Many people in this world had their own paths to walk—and he respected that. Anfield, for example. Blondie as well.
Blondie had already chosen to enlist, and he still had family he cared about.
Bai Song also had things he wished to do—but now, he could no longer do them.
Yu Feichen walked to his side. As a teammate, the boy was rather ordinary in many ways, yet compared to most people in this world, he was more than good enough.
Never mind, he thought.
His own past was sealed in his memories, but when he had first entered the Paradise, he had surely not been proficient at everything, either.
He looked at Bai Song. In the stillness, Bai Song suddenly moved, opening his eyes.
“Bai Song,” he said.
Bai Song stared hesitantly. “…Brother Yu?”
“What do you plan to do from now on?”
“I don’t know,” Bai Song murmured. “I have no family left, and I don’t have my leg anymore.”
After thinking a moment, he added, “After I get used to not having a leg… I’ll try to do whatever I still can.”
Yu Feichen wanted to take Bai Song with him.
But what should he say?
The unreal atmosphere made his own thoughts drift into a haze, as if his mind were dissolving into a dream.
Suddenly, he wondered:How did you first arrive at Paradise, and come to walk among us?
Where had you come from?
Who brought you?
(T/N : The thoughts are addressed to “you” rather than “I”, but he’s referring to himself)
He remembered very little of his past—not because he was good at forgetting, but because he had long grown used to not recalling.
As the questions churned inside him, a thick white fog seemed to part—
The suffocating sensation of drowning swept over him. His whole body sank in seawater. From above, sunlight pierced the surface, casting a golden radiance like dawn. A distant, ethereal voice traveled through the bright blue water, as though from beyond the mortal world:
“Will you come with me?”
The moment that voice brushed his ears, his own body moved without his control. He repeated the words to Bai Song:
“Will you come with me?”
Bai Song looked utterly lost. Then he parted his lips and asked the same question Yu Feichen had once asked:
“—Where to?”
“To… cross treacherous lands, where death follows like a shadow.”
“To return to whence I have yet to return from, save those who have yet been saved, and atone for sins yet to be atoned.”
“Until I am buried in the Eternal Night.”
“Or live on forever.”
“…Alright.”
Bai Song’s answer fell. The world spun.
Then came the familiar, soft, cheerful female voice of the guide, echoing in Yu Feichen’s mind:
“Eternal Night 49314—completed.”
“Return channel opening. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6…”
The countdown began. Yu Feichen looked around—one last glance at this world. People were smiling, celebrating. Everything brimmed with the certainty of victory.
And this world… was about to become a thing of the past.
If he had only one regret—
His gaze settled on a newspaper lying on the tea table.
It was one of the internal Black‑Badge Army papers the Federation had worked so hard to obtain.
In a seemingly insignificant corner of the paper, a short notice was printed:
Due to ill health, Captain Anfield has resigned from all positions. His condition is unclear. Further updates to follow.
“…4, 3, 2, 1.”
“Welcome back to Paradise.”
The first thing Yu Feichen saw was endless darkness.
When his eyes adjusted, he noticed faint, drifting specks of deep gray‑violet light in the air.
Someone tugged lightly at his sleeve—Bai Song.
Suddenly, a dim white light flickered on, illuminating a black iron throne wrapped in chains.
On it sat a man in a hooded black cloak, half his face hidden. Gray hair fell from beneath the hood; the beautiful line of his exposed jaw was striking, his skin pale.
“Hello,” the man said, seeming to smile, his voice low and languid. “I am Claros, the Gatekeeper.”
(T/N : Claros was first mentioned in the prologue)
Yu Feichen replied, “Hello.”
In the silence, the Gatekeeper lounged against the armrest of the black throne, pale fingers interlaced, and spoke again.
“First, for not explaining the rules to you in detail before you entered, I offer you my sincerest apologies.”
Yu Feichen said nothing, simply watching him.
“Due to an accident, the world you entered suffered a small fracture that had not been foreseen. As a result, you were forced to complete two missions that would not normally appear together—war and deconstruction—in order to return.”
When he finished, he lifted his wrist, revealing a chain wrapped tightly around it. “For this, I have already been punished.”
So that’s how it was, Yu Feichen thought.
Claros smiled faintly.
“Second, with equal sincerity, I congratulate you on completing your first expedition through the Gate of Eternal Night—and on officially reaching adulthood.”
Then he lifted his hand and pointed directly behind Yu Feichen.
“…Look.”
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Baby has grown up!
Happy reading~
-Syeki
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