January 1, 2345 AD, if all goes well, this should be the 216th year of the Wasteland Era.

However, due to many events, the timeline leading to the abyss ultimately changed.

Orion did not fall into the hands of celestial beings, nor did the entire blue planet.

Survivors of the new era defied fate and took the torch from their predecessors, using it to dispel the endless long night and usher in the dawn.

January 1, 2345 AD.

Orion heading to the Lagrange Point Space Station docked at the Star Harbor.

In addition to picking up heroes of the Burning Corps and dispatching garrison troops, it carried forty thousand standard containers — a cargo weighing nearly fifty thousand tons.

For the first time in two centuries, products from Earth's surface entered the parking orbit of Lagrange Point.

And just two years ago, the Earth's outer space orbit was still filled with dense orbital debris.

Only a small portion of these fifty thousand tons of goods are supply materials; the majority of the cargo consists of aerospace materials, intermediate products, and various components manufactured by the Dawn City Industrial Zone, Ideal City Industrial Zone, South Sea Ring Industrial Zone, as well as Lavanka Industrial Zone and Batoya Industrial Zone.

According to the contract previously signed, the Academy shared with the Alliance the starship manufacturing technology blueprints from the Era of Human Alliance, and all the logistics information from Lagrange Point Space Station it had recovered from the wasteland, as well as "supplier orders."

With these data as reference, the Alliance, together with its allies, can completely recreate the "Lagrange Point Space Station-related industrial chain" from the Era of Prosperity.

As an exchange, the Alliance will complete the first "large-scale civilian interstellar comprehensive cruise ship" order for the space station since the end of the Prosperity Epoch, based on the blueprints and technology provided by the Academy.

Although the compensation is substantial, this order is quite significant, with even just its catalog containing several gigabytes of data.

The vast related industries and numerous types of components undoubtedly represent an astronomical figure for the wasteland that has just emerged from recession.

Fortunately, the Alliance is not alone in its fight.

In addition to a large number of minor allies, there's also Ideal City, which has gradually become like a big brother helping out!

The industrial machines produced by Silver Wing Group greatly supplemented the Alliance and its allies' deficiencies in production quality, while Endpoint Group's information processing technology provided fertile ground for establishing more complex industrial chains.

It's worth noting that long, long ago, Endpoint Group was not optimistic about expanding its Endpoint Cloud business in the wasteland.

But now, with the Alliance's investment in information infrastructure and the growing demand for data centers, Endpoint Group's board of directors can only admit it was a great move.

It's been a long time since the upper society of Ideal City has seen any movement, but the channels for movement still exist.

If Endpoint Group fails to keep up with the tide of the times, it will naturally be replaced by emerging information technology companies that seize the opportunity.

Especially with the Alliance inclined towards providing more opportunities to emerging companies like "Ah Bu Aerospace" and fostering a healthy competitive atmosphere, the urgency for Endpoint Group has increased.

Many technologies in the wasteland are already available.

Not to mention that once the Academy opened its database to the Alliance, many advanced technologies no longer had obvious barriers.

If you can't keep up with the times, you'll have to wait for the times to eliminate you.

Thus, through ample competition and cooperation from various forces, the first batch of fifty thousand tons of goods bound for Lagrange Point Space Station was finally completed.

Even the Mammoth Nation, which had just experienced the baptism of war, contributed a batch of engineering exoskeletons, while the Batoya Federation, which had abandoned the Southern Legion title, received orders for more than 100 high-precision components.

Accompanying the Orion Missile Cruiser were nearly a thousand staff from various parties of the Sticky Community.

They are experts in the field of aerospace industry.

Mainly residents of the refuge, especially those from the Alliance's refuge.

Originally useless during the Wasteland Era, they finally awaited an era where they could demonstrate their skills.

These experts from the Human Alliance Era will use their expertise and technology to restart the shipbuilding facilities at the Lagrange Point Space Station and complete the first batch of standard freight starships as soon as possible, replacing the Orion Missile Cruiser in executing transportation tasks.

Chu Guang's ambition for this space station is far more than just a colony ship.

Besides the Academy's orders, he also unveiled the blueprint for the "Solar System Revival Plan" at the Sticky Community Congress.

This plan was jointly developed by the Alliance Scientific Expedition Team and the Academy's Science Committee.

According to the steps in the blueprint, the Alliance will gradually recover outer space facilities from the Human Alliance Era in three phases.

In the first phase, the Alliance will rebuild the Mars Colony and attempt to restore the mining facilities on Ceres, establishing mining stations in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

In the second phase, the Alliance will continue expanding its activity range, establishing residential stations on asteroids such as Europa, Titan, where traces of Human Alliance activities existed, while conducting archaeological work on pre-war facilities to restore production as much as possible.

In the third phase, the Alliance will return to the Kuiper Belt and complete the recovery of all assets left by the Human Alliance.

The entire plan will be implemented over a five-year cycle.

And in the process of advancement, this plan will gradually feed back into the reconstruction of the surface world.

All products and derivatives involved in the Solar System Revival Plan will enjoy the highest zero tariff reduction in the Alliance's market.

Besides the Alliance itself, the Alliance also welcomes all Sticky Community signatories to participate in the Solar System Revival Plan and share benefits, contributing to the common interests of all humanity.

With the success experience of the Sticky Community before them, survivor forces can almost foresee — this dream drawn by the Manager himself will soon take over the historical mission almost completed by the Sticky Community, becoming the cornerstone for new global cooperation frameworks and new epoch orders.

And in the time afterward, this gradually forming blueprint indeed proved this point.

To commemorate his achievements, future historians, when studying this glorious era, will ultimately name this blank memory left for the future as the "Dawn Era" based on the start and end of the "Solar System Revival Plan."

They commemorate him.

Not only him.

But those are stories for another time…

…

Just past seven in the evening, the Pirate Bay Tavern in Giant Stone City was at its liveliest.

No pirates or ships here, only a holographic TV hanging in the corner and a crowd of workers drunk to the point of stupor.

In the not-so-distant Wasteland Era, the stuff produced here was nothing more than a pile of dreamless tin cans.

Now, though many still work in the can factory, those dreamless cans are being sold to the distant Lagrange Point Space Station.

During the "Awakener Football Tournament" broadcast, an ad for a Giant Stone City canned brand was aired, and the rough content was that the wonderfully filling cans brought the taste of home to the tin soldiers executing tasks at Lagrange Point.

The humorous and witty scenes amused everyone in the tavern, and the sudden laughter made Kent, lying on the bar counter, abruptly straighten up.

The person he drank with had already gone home, but he remained stuck in a topic before he called it quits, gave a long burp, and shouted loudly.

"Actually— I've always known that the Manager is a truly good person."

The voice was so sudden, like someone coming to bet on the winner after the result of the match was already decided.

The tavern was quiet for a while, then burst into laughter as everyone couldn't hold back anymore.

"Hahaha!"

"Kent, if your second child were as hard as your mouth, maybe your wife wouldn't have divorced you."

"Who was the guy who said 'it's all the same'?"

"Take it easy, mate, you don't have to pretend to be like others; even if you don't love him, we won't force you to kiss his ass, nor will we whip your butt."

"Hahahaha!"

Kent, with his unspoken troubles, flushed red, unable to find words to refute, so he drank heavily from his glass, muttering to himself.

"If only one knew three days in advance, there would be no poor people in the world... who knows what will happen next."

Who would've thought that the towering giant tower standing for a century would suddenly collapse, and who would've imagined that a makeshift band set up by a few carpenters would turn out to be no less than the noble Elder Sid.

Who could foresee this…

Also, that guy Haus who went off to Bugra to keep farting.

Wasn't it agreed that incomplete cleaning means completely unclean, and that the Old Aristocrats will eventually return to seize the false victory of the Workers' Association and punish the traitors?

Why, instead of waiting for Giant Stone City to explode, Bugra itself started setting off fireworks!?

Kent grew more and more frustrated, truly hating that wretched guy, and downed another gulp of beer.

But speaking of which, although the beer from Potato Harbor wasn't as rich as Giant Stone City's, it had its own unique flavor.

He wasn't sure if it was an illusion or the credit of the so-called Tree of Life.

Kent couldn't help but think, maybe he'd save up a few days' vacation and live there for half a month...

...

January 1st is the statutory holiday for the Alliance.

Even though Giant Stone City hadn't celebrated the New Year for the past two centuries, Alyssa who was studying far away at Camp 101 was still caught by the festive nostalgia, eventually deciding to come home.

After all, it wasn't that far.

Today's Qingquan City is no longer the perilous hell it once was.

The previously paralyzed underground passages resumed operation shortly after the Alliance conquered the Lair.

Giant Stone City, which emerged from a debt crisis, had renovated the subway station outside the city as early as a year ago.

And since then, the express train from Dawn City to the south could reach Giant Stone City in just an hour, even skipping the transfer step.

Alyssa stood with her suitcase at the door of her home, suddenly feeling a bit apprehensive despite being close to home, but finally mustered the courage to step forward and knock on the door.

The door opened slowly.

However, to Alyssa's surprise, it was her elder brother standing at the door.

The tall, skinny man with glasses perched on his nose had a sternness between his brows that was more fatherly than their father.

Though their family had fallen on hard times, a tiger in adversity is still a tiger.

Especially the Melvin family's eldest son, even though he no longer talked about the revival of the family, he still carried a nobility and composure that the drunks of Giant Stone City lacked.

Under that sharp gaze, Alyssa instinctively shrank her neck but ultimately straightened her back.

She was no longer that little girl who couldn't do anything without help.

Now she possessed not just a group of reliable friends, but her own strength.

Noticing her growth, the sharp gaze softened slightly.

"You're back?" Wolfeitte asked in a softened tone.

"Mm…"

Alyssa cautiously nodded, discreetly moving her suitcase an inch over the doorstep, and softly greeted.

"How…have you been?"

Since that day on the square where he slapped her, the two hadn't had such a face-to-face conversation, only keeping in touch through letters.

Wolfeitte looked at her with a complex expression, filled with both relief and guilt, and many other unspeakable things.

But perhaps unsure how to start, he eventually swallowed those words back down his throat, merely saying blandly.

"I'm alright… and you? Are you getting used to it?"

"Mm! I'm doing great!"

Seeing her brother finally talking more, Alyssa's face finally revealed a genuine smile, happily opening up.

"Since going to Camp 101, I've learned lots of things I'd never heard before, and made lots and lots of friends…"

Seeing his cheerful sister, Wolfeitte also showed a genuine smile, reaching to bring in the suitcase that had snuck to the doorstep.

"Don't stand at the door… come in and talk."

"Mm!"

Vigorously nodding her head, Alyssa happily walked inside, chattering all the way about her experiences at Camp 101.

Hearing her daughter's voice, Genesis excitedly ran out from the kitchen, enveloping Alyssa in a hug.

"Alyssa! My precious daughter, I've missed you so much! You've suffered so much out there!"

That still graceful face bore some wrinkles.

Perhaps because she endured the storms of family upheaval, or perhaps because of life's trials, her originally noble and elegant demeanor gradually turned into that of an ordinary aging woman.

Seeing her much older mom, Alyssa's nose involuntarily tingled.

If she had wronged anyone, it was probably her own family.

However, she didn't have much choice… like many who stood with her that night.

Whether to adapt to the changes of the times or to be crushed under the wheel of history.

Standing at the precarious crossroads, the still young her could only make choices following her heart.

"Mom… I'm doing quite well outside… and you? Are you getting used to life here?"

Looking at her daughter's immature face, Genesis showed a contented smile, tenderly pinching her cheek.

"Mom is doing well, your dad and I got used to it a long time ago. Oh, by the way, mom learned many new dishes… why don't you and your brother wait a bit, I'll bring them out for you to try!"

"Mm!" Holding back tears that brimmed her eyes, Alyssa nodded vigorously.

Kissing her daughter's cheek, Genesis returned to the kitchen to prepare dinner dishes with her eldest daughter-in-law.

Not only did her mom emerge from past shadows, but her sister-in-law did as well.

However, it was evident she hadn't forgiven her, only restrained by familial ties from falling out.

This was something unavoidable.

"Dad will be back from the library soon, let's go to the living room." Wolfeitte gently patted his younger sister's shoulder, leading her away from the kitchen corridor.

The two went to the living room and chatted intermittently in front of the TV for a while until their father Melvin returned from the Giant Stone City Library.

Despite today being a holiday, Melvin was used to organizing documents at the library, staying there all day regardless of work hours.

Seeing his daughter suddenly back home, Melvin's reaction wasn't as intense as Genesis', merely repeating "grown-up", "taller" in surprise, his stammering and awkwardness drawing laughter from the family.

It was while sitting at the dining table that Alyssa found out from her mother, during her time away studying, that her elder brother had actually gone on a long journey, representing them to handle business far away, and ended up advancing to the deputy head of the Jinga Lun Port branch from being an accountant.

Because, during her time away, he had made quite the journey, and represented the Melvin Family in traveling far. He has been promoted from an accountant to the deputy director of the Jinga Lun Port branch.

Now, as the branch manager, he would be heading there to take his post.

What was commendable was that, during her time away for studies, her brother actually also went on a journey, representing the family on a faraway business trip, and had been made deputy director from an accountant at the Jin Galun Port branch.

Now the business over at Jinga Lun Port's branch has elevated him from an accountant to vice president.

Praiseworthy is that he, with his excellent resume, declined many offers from other banks… even with such an exceptional record.

Now, he would be going to assume the post of branch manager.

It should be mentioned that during the time Alyssa was away to study, her big brother actually went on a long trip, to represent the Giant Stone City, to manage external communications and was able to progress from being an accountant to become the assistant manager at the Jinga Lun Harbor branch.

Now, he is going to take the position of branch manager there.

Admirably, he turned down many overtures from other banks while maintaining the best outcomes with his outstanding resume... even with such an outstanding track record.

According to the good news from home, Father Melvin frequently worked in the library sorting documents, spending entire days there regardless of whether it was a working day or not.

It deserves praise that he has secured his position as the branch manager by taking on the responsibility of restructuring the debts in the process.

The citizens have finally won over the corporation dogs who once oppressed them.

Standing at the crossroads during turbulent times, young as she was, she could only follow her heart and make her own choices.

Of course, this did not concern the ordinary citizens much — the main focus was on the Firestone Group and those who profited from the chaos.

These animals and their menaces bred by the Haus were the mutual enemies of the citizens of Bugra and Giant Stone City.

No matter how eloquently these warped Haus argued their point.

Looking at her elder brother who had grown up and the energetic look reappearing on his face, Alyssa felt greatly relieved in her heart.

Although the process was full of twists and turns, at least the final result was not bad.

Seeing the sincere smiles on her family's faces, she suddenly realized that her estrangement with her family had dissolved greatly.

Even her sister-in-law, who never took a serious look at her, had a slightly softened attitude towards her.

Indeed, time is a great healer.

Unconsciously, they all felt much less guilty towards each other.

"Speaking of which... where is Kishu?" she suddenly thought of her second brother. It would be great if he were here too.

Hearing his brother's name, the originally spirited expression on Wolfeitte's face slightly dimmed, with a hint of complexity between his brows.

"I don't know, that guy seems to have vanished into thin air... I tried to ask around, but there was no news, only heard that he went east after leaving Giant Stone City."

Speaking of this, he couldn't help but mutter in a low voice with a tone of hate iron for not becoming steel.

"That cowardly fool... I don't know what's going on in his head."

Seeing their mother's shoulders gently shaking, Wolfeitte suddenly realized he had said something wrong, but he didn't want to take back his words; he just silently looked away.

"Maybe he went back to Ideal City... let him be." Melvin mumbled, seemingly not wanting to mention his youngest son's name.

That was the only shame of the Melvin family that hadn't been cleansed.

However, after all, it was his own flesh and blood, he really couldn't say anything harsh about that bastard.

If there was anyone to blame, it could only be himself for failing to teach him well.

Wolfeitte coughed lightly, turning his gaze to Alyssa and changing the topic.

"By the way, what have you been busy with lately?"

"Me..." Alyssa paused for a moment and lowered her voice subconsciously in the face of her brother's stern gaze, "Besides the management courses, I've been helping my teacher organize historical documents lately. He said I have a talent for it."

Wolfeitte raised an eyebrow gently.

"Who is your teacher?"

Alyssa answered truthfully.

"His name is Meng Jie."

"Meng Jie..."

Repeating the name, Wolfeitte felt he had heard it somewhere, yet he couldn't remember.

Whereas their father Melvin, sitting beside him, showed a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"Is it actually him?"

"You know him?" Wolfeitte looked at his father with an expression of surprise.

"Sort of, he visited me a few times and talked with me about some stories of Giant Stone City from the past..." Melvin looked at his daughter and said, "He was the former principal of Mammoth University?"

"Yes!"

Alyssa nodded, smiled a bit shyly, and said.

"He said I have the shadow of an old acquaintance he knew, someone much older and also more powerful and wise than me, almost as if I were him grown up. It might be destiny, and Mr. Meng wishes for me to organize materials about that person..."

Although Alyssa did not mention that person's name, this time Wolfeitte seemed to understand.

"Is that person named Yishel?"

"Yes! How did you know?" Alyssa looked at her brother in surprise, her eyes sparkling with joy, "Brother, do you know him?"

"Heh... sort of, when I worked at Jin Galun Harbor, I occasionally saw him in the newspapers."

Wolfeitte curled his lips and gave a light snort.

"It's purely because he died early that he wasn't torn apart and hanged on the city walls posthumously."

He had never seen someone luckier than that guy.

Survived the West Sail Port massacre, retreated unscathed from the Heavenly King rebellion, and even brought back everyone around him, engaging the experienced veterans of the Southern Legion back and forth.

His life seemed as if it was blessed by the Silver Moon Goddess.

Even at the end of life.

Compared to other subordinates of Absek, he probably left the most dignified one.

At least he died on the battlefield.

As he spoke, he looked at his sister, whose eyes were filled with bewilderment, and said word by word.

"Do you know? You were almost just like that guy."

The atmosphere at the dining table suddenly cooled down, moving from one heavy topic to another.

Seeing the sad expression on Alyssa's face, Wolfeitte's wife also showed a trace of reluctance, gripping her husband's hand under the table, reproaching him with her eyes for speaking too harshly.

Alyssa may have grown up, but she was still a child... at least to her.

Wolfeitte also realized that he had said something he shouldn't, even though he didn't believe it was wrong.

Compared to those unrealistic things, the person she should protect most is herself.

It doesn't matter if she hates him, he wouldn't take that back.

He didn't want to see her end up like that fool, burning out like a matchstick, changing nothing and just wasting herself.

"But... those things... haven't happened after all, right?" Alyssa said with her head down, somewhat sadly, "Are you still holding a grudge?"

Her biggest worry was her elder brother, who would rather sacrifice himself to revive their family.

She had already passed her own crossroads, and it was unlikely she would encounter those things from the past again.

But he was different.

He was the firstborn son of the family.

If he continued to live in the past of Giant Stone City, the meaningless sense of duty and loyalty to the old era would eventually drag him into hell...

"I'm not holding a grudge, I'm just worried about you."

Wolfeitte turned his face and said in a hoarse voice.

"You are too young, including your friends. At Jin Galun Harbor, I saw too many compatriots from Giant Stone City, filled with enthusiasm to help the locals, trying to replicate their success from Giant Stone City, and what was the result? All those intoxicated with victory were kicked in the rear and fell in different postures... Of course, those who kicked them in return got no good end either; it served them right, no one else to blame."

"I don't want to stifle your dreams, but do fewer dangerous foolish things and be cautious if you must... Remember, I am the future head of this family; I haven't gone into a coffin yet."

Melvin, the current head of the family, did not utter a word, evidently agreeing to this statement.

After a pause, Wolfeitte opened his mouth again, somewhat embarrassed.

"And... my tone wasn't good, for this matter... I apologize to you, I'm sorry."

He was not one to admit his mistakes easily, and this sentence seemed to require all his strength.

However, after hearing these words, a surprised smile bloomed on Alyssa's face.

She suddenly realized that the thorn that had been lodged in her heart never actually existed.

Her family never truly hated her.

But loved her more deeply than anyone else in this world...

…

The wind and snow howled outside the window.

Although there was no longer a roaring fireplace, the hot water pipes and radiators were not necessarily less warm than a fireplace.

And perhaps because the room was smaller, Alyssa suddenly found that their family was sitting closer together.

As the family joyfully celebrated a long-awaited reunion, the doorbell suddenly rang.

"I'll get the door!"

Alyssa jumped off the chair, her slippers making a snapping sound as she ran to the door. As she opened it, she saw a strange girl standing at the threshold.

The girl was wearing a light purple down jacket, carrying a simple travel bag, about fifteen or sixteen years old, around Alyssa's age, with fluffy blonde hair, and her youthful face held a hint of shyness.

She seemed unaccustomed to interacting with people, always evasively avoiding eye contact, fearing to meet the gaze of others... even when facing someone her own age.

Occasionally, there would be some students from the Free State at Camp 101, and most of them were like that.

Seeing the prosthetic embellishments on the side of her face, Alyssa was reasonably sure she was from the Free State; the only puzzling thing was why she was here.

She didn't remember ever seeing this face.

"Are you here to see Mr. Wolfeitte?"

After thinking about it, only her elder brother might know someone from the Free State.

After all, he was soon to take up the position as the bank manager of the Giant Stone City branch there.

The girl showed a bewildered expression, hastily shook her head, then, as if coming to her senses, suddenly bowed, and then took a black box and some crumpled letters from her coat and thrust them into Alyssa's hands.

"...I'm sorry!"

Shouting out those words desperately, she clenched her eyes shut, as if braced for a scolding.

But it wasn't just that—

Her shoulders trembled slightly, as though she was restraining her sorrow.

Alyssa looked at her in astonishment, at first puzzled by what she was up to, but she slowly understood the weight of the box in her hand as she noticed the ice crystals clinging to the girl's lashes.

Alyssa's fingers trembled slightly as she unfolded one of the letters and indeed saw familiar handwriting...

[Alyssa, my sister...]

[Please forgive your cowardly and feeble brother for not apologizing to you in person... although I did think about it, by the time you see this letter, I will probably be dead.]

[It's not that I haven't thought about atoning for the sins I've committed, but the family to whom I most wished to apologize has long since passed from this world.]

[Thinking carefully, the old man who pleaded for me to take responsibility for his daughter might have been my last chance from the gods... my final opportunity. Yet, my foolish self didn't realize the stupidity of my actions. Rather than repent, I attempted to escape my sins and stupidly set fire to kill them.]

[From that moment, I became a devil. The one who truly destroyed the Melvin family was never you but foolish me.]

[The collapse of the Giant Stone City inner city had nothing to do with those good-hearted and brave people like you, but rather was due to countless versions of me, who fell to become devils.]

[I have no face to show them, I attempted to find answers on the Wasteland but ended up just muddling along, without even the courage to end it all for myself.]

[Just like that, I repented for my sins as I headed toward Ideal City, fantasizing that if I could reach there, it would mean that the gods had forgiven my sins. And if not, then it would spare me from taking my own life.]

[Ridiculous, isn't it? I couldn't even gain the forgiveness of people, yet here I was dreaming about the gods' forgiveness. Perhaps my arrogance drew the punishment of fate, as I encountered a group of slave traders before even leaving Qingquan City, who sold me to the infamous Bugra Free State.]

[If there ever was something called hell on this earth, that place should count as one of them. I thought perhaps it was punishment from fate, and I might as well rot there.]

[However, just as I thought that, fate played another trick on me as a beam of light pierced that dark hell. A puppet, manipulated by the devils, broke free from the chains and said they would lead us in rebellion.]

[That person was the Mayor of the Free State; maybe you heard of his name in the news... but the person I want to speak about isn't him, nor am I his soldier. Instead, it is the girl standing before you named Lala.]

[We met in a temporary shelter near the warzone, both of us swept into war as civilians. At that time, her father was gasping his last breath on a stretcher, entrusting her to me, begging me to take her away from that city.]

[I don't know why he would trust someone as rotten as me, nor do I know where I found the courage to agree… but there was a moment when I suddenly realized this might be my only chance, even though it wasn't anything monumental.]

[I want to take her away from that hell, at all costs...]

[I don't pray for the gods' protection to allow me to survive to the end; I only hope that the one handing you this letter is her, and not the Home of the Refugees or any other charity organizations. Please, as my last plea to the gods, let me achieve something meaningful at the end of my worthless life.]

[—Your good-for-nothing brother, the Devil of the Giant Stone City, the eternal shame of the Melvin family, Kishu]

Alyssa read to the end of the letter, and tears fell uncontrollably, dripping onto the letter.

Perhaps it was because she had not received the expected reprimand, so the girl with her head hung down lifted her head.

Seeing Alyssa's heartbroken look, she was taken aback, and then seeing tears drip onto the paper, she couldn't help but blurt out.

"He's not a rotten person!"

She had evidently read those letters.

And she had read every single one.

Seeing Alyssa, tears at the edge of her eyes, look up in surprise, the girl quickly avoided her gaze, and continued in a hoarse voice.

"He told me he did many bad things in the past... but the him I saw was not such a person..."

Biting her lip, she continued.

"He tried very hard to live, and he could have continued living... he did it all to save me..."

She would rather it have been her that died.

After all, she had no family left, while he still had so many family members waiting for him to return...

Without bothering to wipe away her tears, Alyssa pocketed the box and the letter and hugged the sobbing girl.

Only after a long time, once her emotions had settled, did Alyssa softly ask.

"What's your name?"

"...Lala."

"Lala... thank you."

Thank you?

The girl widened her eyes, not understanding why this gentle sister in front of her would say such words.

Looking at those bewildered eyes, Alyssa tried not to rub the grit from her eyes, gazing sincerely at the girl.

"My good-for-nothing brother... perhaps he really did accomplish something remarkable. Please, in the new world, live well on behalf of that useless him."

Seeing that gentle smile, Lala suddenly broke into tears again, and for a time, she was inconsolable, throwing herself into Alyssa's arms and wailing loudly.

All the grievances from along the way fell into the snow.

"It's all right now..."

Alyssa patted her shoulder comfortingly, speaking softly in her ear.

"You haven't eaten, have you? The weather is so cold outside. Come in and talk... By the way, can you tell me about him? Consider it his sister's willful request. If you have nowhere else to go, why not stay with me until winter passes?"

"...Thank you."

Her eyes filled with grateful tears, the girl nodded firmly, timidly following her into the house.

Having lived in the iron jungles, she had never met someone so kind.

Could it be that she had actually arrived in Heaven?

Rumor had it that during the Free State civil war, the Wasteland Era had already ended.

And now, she finally somewhat believed it.

"You're welcome."

Looking at the still bashful Lala, Alyssa smiled softly and said.

"Please make yourself at home here."

"If you have no other family, you can take me as your family too."