Endless Debt

It was clearly daytime, but there was no sunlight falling. Dark clouds gathered together and turned into a thick barrier, in which wind, rain, thunder and lightning flashed endlessly.

The sea is rolling and roaring, and the Elysium stands in the middle, motionless. Just like its name, this is the only paradise in this apocalyptic situation.

In the howling wind and rain, melodious string music came.

The Paradise, the sea palace of the United Company and the mobile base of the Freeport Watch, was invited to the banquet. The guests boarded the deck one after another and walked into the brightly lit banquet hall. The people of Xitao were not worried about the passengers entering by mistake. , after being isolated by the virtual realm, the areas related to the extraordinary world have been strictly sealed off.

Irwin stood alone on the deck holding an umbrella, like a flower swaying in the storm. The guests had already entered the banquet hall, but he was the only one who seemed out of place, standing outside, unwilling to step forward.

Irwin has participated in similar banquets many times and is very familiar with the process. He first stands with everyone, then listens to the banquet host's nonsense, then randomly finds a woman to sing and dance with him, and when everyone is done having fun, he tears off the nonsense. The mask reveals the true intention.

Some people come here for wealth, some people want to expand their family's power, some people just want to see the world, and some people are simply forced to come here... Everyone has different purposes, but they are here together.

Irwin was different from them. He didn't have so many complicated thoughts. He just came to meet his friends. After all, his journey was nearing the end. If he didn't come to meet him now, he might never see him again in the future.

"Irwin, what are you thinking about?"

A familiar voice sounded from the side, and Irwin lowered his head. Cinderella stood closely beside him, avoiding the heavy rain on the deck.

Unlike herself who looked melancholy, Cinderella's face was full of excitement at the moment, and her wine-red eyes reflected the colorful lights.

She took Irwin's arm and gently pulled him, leaning forward slightly. Cinderella wanted to pull Irwin into the banquet hall, but she knew clearly that the decision was in Irwin's hands.

"Think of something from long ago."

Irwin took a deep breath, and the cold and moist sea breeze rushed into his nose, which reminded him of that stormy night many years ago.

"Have you lived in Freeport before?"

Cinderella asked curiously. After spending the past two days together, she found that Irwin was not unfamiliar with this city at all, as if Irwin had spent a lot of time here.

Irwin hesitated, "I lived here for a while when I was young."

Cinderella's eyes sparkled, "Tell me about it?"

"Forget it," Irwin shook his head, "those stories are boring."

Cinderella looked disappointed. She was very curious about Irvin's past, but after several days of questioning, Irvin always avoided the topic in various ways, as if there was a cordon around him, no matter it was No one can overcome it.

The same is true for Irwin. While Cinderella asked him, Irwin also tried to fight back and questioned the girl about her past.

Every time Irvin could force Cinderella into a corner of the conversation, at such times, Cinderella would look helpless, blushing, wanting to defend something, but unable to say it, and then lying on the ground. On the bed, pretending to be dead and ignoring Irwin. A child's trick.

"How can it be boring!" Cinderella said loudly, "You can actually attend such a banquet!"

Cinderella pointed to the banquet hall in front of her. Even she knew that those who could attend the Paradise Banquet must have extraordinary status. Look at Irwin again, and think about Irwin's appearance when they met.

A dusty traveler, an old guy with doubts about the past, a killer with sharp skills...

Various labels overlapped, and Cinderella realized belatedly that Irwin was not that simple.

Normally Irvin is like a good old man, always smiling and saying "hello" and "thank you" to everyone. If there is a utopia in this world, Irvin will definitely be a law-abiding citizen.

Irwin always looked harmless, and if she hadn't deliberately remembered it, Cinderella would have almost forgotten that he still had a dagger hidden under his left arm.

"Is it really okay for us to just go in like this?"

Cinderella looked at herself and then at Irvin. Cinderella herself could say that thanks to her cute appearance, even in a cheap red dress, she still looked a bit stunning in the crowd, but Irvin just It’s different.

Irwin was still wearing the same heavy coat. Even though he wiped it carefully with a wet wipe before setting off, the traces of wind and dust could still be seen at a glance. Irwin combed his hair and shaved off the stubble. He tried hard to make himself look better. He looked more decent, but the fatigue of the journey was still deeply etched on his face.

Compared with these gorgeously dressed guests, Irwin looked so out of place, like a mouse that had wandered in by mistake.

"What's wrong," Irwin said nonchalantly, "Do you care what others think of you?"

"Big...probably?"

"why?"

Irwin's question silenced Cinderella, and for a moment she didn't know how to answer.

"Isn't this normal?" Cinderella argued, "Don't you care about other people's opinions?"

"not give a damn about."

"I do not believe."

Irwin smiled. He liked chatting with Cinderella. Although this girl was mysterious and always put on a great appearance, he liked talking to such a young soul.

Putting his hand on Cinderella's shoulder, Irwin leaned down and pointed at the crowd under the light, "Think about it, Cinderella, do you know these people?"

"do not know."

"Will you two get to know each other after tonight? Probably not, right? We are not here to make friends, not to mention whether they are willing to be our friends or not."

Irwin talked about his fallacy, "The world is like a river, and we are like fish in the river. We see different fish every day, and then we all part ways on different forks."

"There are many people here who are the first and last time we meet them in this life. It is even said that after the banquet, you can treat these people as dead people and you will not have any intersection for the rest of your life.

Do you care what a dead person or a group of dead people think of you? "

Cinderella was shocked by Irwin's words. Her eyes were slightly glazed over. After a few seconds, she raised her head and responded with a complicated expression, "Irwin, your description is very dangerous."

"Don't worry about this. Think about what I said. Is this the truth?"

Irwin stepped forward, and this time it was him dragging Cinderella. Unlike the calm Irwin, Cinderella became obviously nervous. This was her first time participating in such an occasion.

The warmth in the room dissipated the damp cold of the storm. Women in bright clothes and men in black dresses on the red carpet talked to each other. As the music rose, men and women held hands and danced. On the tables and chairs outside, the guys in power whispered to each other and discussed. distribution of benefits.

Elegant and solemn, full of a sense of power and oppression, the deer running wantonly in the wild came to the steel jungle of the human world. Cinderella, who had always been arrogant, shrank down in a rare sight.

Cinderella's body felt like it was burning, as if people's gazes were burning on her body like a raging flame.

Irwin whispered, "'Cinderella' was not like you when she attended the banquet."

"She has a magic dress, glass slippers, and a pumpkin carriage," Cinderella said unyieldingly, "What do I have, a poet full of crooked ideas?"

"Huh? Well, actually, I have thought about taking you to change clothes. No matter how much I regard others as dead people, after all, I am attending a banquet, so I have to respect the host to some extent."

Irwin was still smiling, "Unfortunately, our meal in the morning spent all my last travel expenses."

"ah?"

Cinderella didn't know what to say for a moment, so she could only hesitate and say, "You are such a bad person."

"It's not that bad," Irwin said. "I also have a purpose."

Cinderella's eyes became wary, "What...what's the purpose?"

"If I can help others, I will get a kind of spiritual satisfaction. I happen to be a mentally poor person. If this kind of satisfaction can be obtained by just spending money and doing good deeds, it would be a great deal. ”

Irwin looked down at Cinderella, "Look, I'm doing this for myself."

"Do you think I'm a hypocrite?"

"I don't know," Cinderella couldn't understand what Irwin said anymore, and she hesitated for a while, "but what is certain is that hypocritical people will never say that they are hypocritical."

Irwin was amused by Cinderella's words. Not far from the two of them, many guests surrounded a man, whispering continuously and full of compliments. It seemed that he was the host of the banquet.

The master noticed Irwin and Cinderella. He walked out of the crowd and strode towards the two of them. Cinderella's heart skipped a beat. This out-of-place appearance was probably to chase her away.

She pulled Irwin hard, but could not shake him at all. The master soon came to the two of them. Cinderella closed her eyes, preparing to withstand the torture of other people's eyes.

Nolen looked at Irwin, happy and surprised, "I didn't expect to see you again."

“After staying at home for a long time, it’s inevitable that I want to go out for a walk.”

Irwin shook hands with Nolen with a smile on his face, while Cinderella looked at everything with a blank expression.

Nolen turned around and introduced to the other guests.

"Everyone, this is Mr. Irvin Fleischer."

People exchanged glances with each other. It was obvious that no one had heard of this name, but judging from Nolen's attitude, the other party was not a small person. Some people began to think carefully, wondering if they had forgotten something, and the conversation continued.

"They should be more familiar with my other name than this one."

Irwin sighed. He never liked being overly exposed to people's eyes. He took a few steps forward and re-introduced himself to the guests.

"If you feel that the name Irvin Fleischer is unfamiliar, you can call me by my pen name."

Under the blank stares, Irwin mentioned another name.

"Blue Jay."