"Home..."
These two words were like a gentle key, instantly unlocking the door of fear tightly shut in Angela's heart.
The little girl's sky-blue eyes, like the boundless heavens, first showed a hint of confusion, then were replaced by an immense, uncontrollable joy.
She no longer hid.
She let go of Sophia's tightly clutched skirt and took a tentative step towards Claire.
Then, like a swallow returning to its nest, she threw herself into Claire's arms.
"Wuwu—"
The long-suppressed cries of a child finally poured out unrestrained in this space filled with a false fairy tale ambiance.
In those cries were the relief of surviving a calamity, the anticipation of the future, and, more than anything, a deep attachment to the big sister in red who had given her warmth and safety.
Claire held this small life, who had survived despair, tightly, gently patting her trembling back.
Her gaze swept over the girl's golden hair and met Noah's, whose eyes were also red-rimmed, not far away.
In that gaze, there was weariness, relief, and an infinite longing for the future.
Etienne, the man who had stubbornly endured countless days and nights in despair, finally released his tight embrace of Noah.
His stubbled face was streaked with tears and snot, his expression as complex as a crumpled oil painting.
He haphazardly wiped away tears and snot with the back of his hand, while incessantly releasing the long-accumulated fear and stress.
"Oh my god... that was truly terrifying just now..."
"That terrifying howl, and that violent explosion... I thought... I thought we were all going to die here..."
"I even had my last words ready..."
His voice was incoherent, trembling violently with the relief of having survived a disaster.
Noah did not interrupt him.
He simply patted the middle-aged man's shoulder calmly.
He knew Etienne needed an outlet.
Sophia also walked over and gently wrapped her arms around her husband's waist from behind.
She gently rested her face against Etienne's broad, yet slightly trembling, back.
After enduring hellish torment, the family was finally reunited in an embrace.
After a long period of release, everyone's emotions gradually calmed down.
"How... how do we leave this place?"
Etienne's voice still held a hint of hoarseness, but his eyes had regained their usual clarity.
"Follow me."
Noah turned and led the way to the elevator.
Claire, holding Angela who had cried herself to sleep in her arms, followed closely.
Etienne and Sophia also held hands and followed.
The elevator slowly descended.
This time, the slight feeling of weightlessness no longer brought oppression or unease.
Instead, it carried a strange sense of liberation, rushing towards new life.
When the elevator doors slowly slid open again.
A strong, pungent smell of charring mixed with the strangely sweet aroma of burnt flesh wafted over.
Etienne and Sophia instinctively covered their mouths and noses, their faces showing extreme discomfort.
The hall before them could no longer be called a hall.
It was a scorched ruin, thoroughly plowed over by destructive force.
The walls, floor, and ceiling were all covered with a layer of black mycelial ash, like withered weeds.
Fine, black dust permeated the air.
In the center of that ruin, a massive black figure stood with its back to them.
His movements were slow and heavy.
His two enormous, deformed arms, covered in grotesque claw marks and burns, were plunged into the metal escape door, which had been completely twisted and deformed by the blast wave.
Accompanied by a series of grating, metallic tearing sounds.
He was using the most primitive and barbaric method to forcibly tear open that incredibly thick alloy door, bit by bit.
"Ah—!"
Sophia let out a suppressed gasp of surprise.
Etienne also instinctively shielded his wife behind him, his face filled with vigilance and fear.
"It's alright."
Noah's voice was calm.
He walked to Etienne's side and gently pressed down his arm that was about to be raised.
"He... is here to help us."
Leo seemed to hear the commotion behind him.
He stopped his movements, and his massive, mountain-like body slowly turned around.
The huge wound on his chest, pierced by bloody tentacles, was still slowly writhing and healing.
Charred flesh and newly grown granulation tissue intertwined, forming a terrifying scene that would make one's sanity drop.
His murky single eye fell upon Etienne and Sophia.
In that gaze, there was no longer the previous weariness and lifelessness.
Instead, there was a complex emotion akin to "relief" that even Noah couldn't fully comprehend.
Claire, holding Angela, walked forward.
Her voice was very soft and gentle.
As if telling an ancient and sad fairy tale from a distant land.
She slowly recounted the story of Leo and Ella.
From the "defective product" named Prometheus, which gained self-awareness.
To the poor security guard who, in an attempt to save his beloved, ultimately transformed himself into a monster.
And finally, the tragic guardian who, in a living Hell, awakened the last shred of his beloved's humanity with a song of la vie en rose.
The hall was dead silent.
Only Claire's soft, slightly hoarse narration drifted through the air.
Etienne and Sophia's expressions shifted from initial fear, to shock, then to disbelief.
Finally, they transformed into deep, uncontrollable sympathy and sorrow.
When Claire finished the last word.
Sophia could no longer hold back, covering her mouth and letting out suppressed, fragmented sobs.
Etienne's eyes also turned red.
This weathered man looked at the massive "monster" standing silently not far away.
There was no longer any fear in his gaze.
Only a deep empathy that transcended species and form remained.
He bowed deeply to Leo.
No words were spoken.
But that heartfelt, respectful gesture spoke volumes.
Leo's massive body trembled slightly.
His murky single eye seemed to flash with an emotion called "moved."
But he did not respond.
He merely turned around and continued to tear at the heavy door leading to "life" with his hands stained with blood and ash.
Finally.
With one last, ear-splitting metallic snap.
A large section of the twisted alloy door was completely ripped off by him.
Revealing a dark, narrow passage behind the door.
At the end of the passage was a small, backup platform.
A silver, streamlined short-distance railcar was quietly parked there.
A breath of fresh air from the outside, mixed with the fragrance of earth and grass, surged into the passage.
It was the taste of freedom.
"Let's go."
Leo's voice was hoarse and heavy.
"The train's automatic driving System was completely destroyed in the explosion just now."
"It needs to be manually started from the main control terminal on the platform."
His words made the hearts of those who had just rekindled hope sink abruptly.
Manual start.
This meant that someone had to stay behind.
To remain in this living Hell, which was about to become a massive tomb.
Everyone's gaze fell on Leo, without prior agreement.
The answer was self-evident.
Leo seemed indifferent to their gazes.
He simply walked slowly to the pile of twisted, charred metal debris.
Amidst the wreckage.
His heavy quadruple rocket launcher lay quietly there.
Like a loyal steel beast that had completed its mission.
Leo reached out and gently stroked the cold, scratched barrel.
Then.
He carefully took something out of an inconspicuous storage compartment on the side of the launcher.
It was a somewhat worn, silver, portable cassette recorder.
The recorder was still stained with dried dark brown blood.
He pressed the play button.
A soothing and beautiful piano melody slowly flowed from the recorder's small speaker.
The melody was winding and melodious.
Carrying a romantic and melancholic charm of old times.
It was la vie en rose.
No hoarse humming, no raspy voice.
Only the purest and gentlest piano accompaniment.
"This is... what I found in Ella's room."
Leo's voice was very soft.
As if afraid to disturb the gentle melody flowing in the air.
"She said... if one day, I wasn't by her side."
"Then let this song, instead of me, accompany her."
He turned around and looked at Noah and Claire.
His murky single eye reflected their tired yet youthful faces.
"Thank you..."
"Hurry and go!"
"Ella... is still waiting for me."
Noah and Claire nodded silently.
They didn't say any unnecessary sentimental words.
They simply etched this massive, gentle, and sorrowful figure into their memories forever with their deepest gazes.
Noah was the first to enter the passage leading to new life.
Claire, holding Angela, followed closely behind.
Etienne and Sophia, as they passed Leo, bowed deeply to him again.
Then, without looking back, they walked into the darkness.
When everyone had boarded the cold, silver-white train.
Leo's figure appeared on the platform.
He walked to the main control terminal at the end of the platform.
It was a metal control panel covered with complex buttons and gauges.
He extended his large hand, covered in grotesque claw marks.
Without the slightest hesitation.
He pressed down heavily on the red "DEPARTURE" start button.
"Buzz—"
The train doors slowly and silently closed.
Accompanied by a faint electrical startup hum.
The train began to glide forward slowly.
Through the train window.
Noah and Claire saw Leo standing on the platform, waving gently at them.
It was a gesture of farewell.
Then.
He turned around and gently placed the recorder, which was still playing la vie en rose, on the platform floor.
He took heavy steps and walked without looking back towards the depths of the dark hall, which had been burned to scorched earth.
He walked back to the observation and testing area.
He walked back to that tiny Hell where he and she embraced for warmth.
He found her by the simple metal-framed single bed.
Ella.
She lay quietly on the bed.
Sleeping very peacefully.
Like an ordinary girl just having a beautiful dream.
Leo slowly bent down.
With his hands stained with blood and ash, he gently picked her up with unprecedented tenderness.
Holding her in his broad arms, covered with grotesque wounds.
Feeling the familiar cold, yet incredibly precious weight in his embrace.
His face, covered by metal and leather, whose features were unclear, seemed to reveal a satisfied and gentle smile.
He lowered his head and gently pressed his face against her cold, pale forehead.
Then, with his other hand, he took out a small red remote control device that had been hidden inside his trench coat.
It had only one button.
[SELF-DESTRUCTION]
He pressed it.
[Base will self-destruct in 15 minutes. All personnel, evacuate immediately.]
The cold, emotionless electronic synthesized voice echoed in the empty underground base.
Leo completely ignored it.
He just held his beloved tightly in his arms.
Holding her cold, stiff, pale hand.
"Sleep, my dear."
His voice was still hoarse, but filled with unprecedented peace and tenderness.
"I'm here, with you."
"We'll go to a place with no worries, no sickness, no sorrow."
He used his rough, dry, virus-modified voice.
Following the melodious piano tune coming from outside.
He began to hum softly.
"Quand il me prend dans ses bras..."
(When he takes me in his arms...)
"Il me parle tout bas..."
(He speaks to me softly...)
"Je vois la vie en rose..."
(I see life through rose-tinted glasses...)
...The train sped through the dark tunnel.
Everyone silently watched the rapidly receding cold metal walls outside the window.
After an unknown amount of time.
A dull, massive explosion, as if from the depths of the earth's core, came from a distant place behind them.
The entire train vibrated violently with it.
Everyone knew.
That living Hell that buried countless sins and sorrows.
That final tomb belonging to Leo and Ella.
Had completely vanished from this world.
Noah slowly raised his head and looked at Etienne, who was sitting opposite him.
"What are your plans for the future?"
Etienne instinctively glanced at his sleeping wife and daughter beside him.
He reached out and gently stroked Angela's soft, golden long hair.
A genuine smile of happiness appeared on his still-stubbled face.
He ruffled his messy, bird's nest-like hair.
"For the time being..."
"I just want to spend quality time with them."
With that, he extended his arms and hugged his wife and daughter tightly and happily in his embrace.
Noah also turned his head and looked at Claire beside him.
Claire was smiling, looking at the happy family opposite her.
Her beautiful blue eyes sparkled with gentle and moving light.
Noah reached out and gently pulled her soft yet resilient body into his embrace.
The train emerged from the long tunnel, and a long-awaited ray of warm sunlight streamed through the window, dispelling all darkness and gloom.
The train slowly pulled to a stop beside an abandoned platform.
The platform was overgrown with weeds and covered in rust, possessing a lonely beauty forgotten by time.
And not far from the platform.
A black Iveco was quietly parked there.
The car door slowly opened.
A tall figure in a flowing, high-slit red qipao stepped out of the car.
She leaned against the car door, arms crossed over her chest.
On her delicate face, largely obscured by sunglasses, a mysterious and charming smile played.
Her gaze pierced through the desolate platform.
And landed precisely on Noah and Claire, who had just disembarked from the train.