Li Ningning's words left Big-Faced Cat speechless.

He looked at Li Ningning and seemed to see Li Cheng from many years ago, the one who went against the tide of everyone else, boarding the hot air balloon to his death alone.

He had originally wanted to take care of Li Ningning and raise her into an ordinary, happy girl.

But he hadn't expected it.

The women of the Li family were always like this; they would always become like this.

Back then, Li Cheng knew that this was a path to certain death, but he still firmly boarded the hot air balloon because of what Li Ningning had just said—

"If I don't go, why should I let anyone else go?"

Including the last words of Li Ningning's mother:

"After the men are all dead, the women must continue to follow. If Li Cheng's woman doesn't go... why should any other woman go?"

Big-Faced Cat's face turned ashen.

He didn't know what to do at this moment.

...

Standing behind Big-Faced Cat, Lin Xian, who had witnessed all the arguing, sighed inwardly.

Li Ningning.

This girl was always so stubborn, so unwilling to admit defeat, so disbelieving in fate, and so unafraid of death.

In the Second Dream, she was so young, yet she dared to risk being shot in the head by a drone to steal books from the junkyard.

In the Third Dream.

She still selflessly wanted to stand in front of everyone, just like her parents.

Lin Xian didn't dislike such a girl.

On the contrary, he admired her.

Every era needed people who threw themselves into the fray to turn the tide and save history and the world.

He chuckled lightly and stepped forward.

Coming between Big-Faced Cat and Li Ningning, he stroked Li Ningning's smooth hair with his right hand, looking into her raised eyes:

"Ningning, you're still young, don't go to such places."

"But..." Li Ningning stood on tiptoe.

"You'll have a chance to go to Rhein Sky City, but not now." Lin Xian interrupted her, smiled at the confused Li Ningning:

"Don't worry, I'll blow that city up and give it to you. When the time comes... you can step on it however you want, no need for such a dangerous parachute jump, you can just walk up."

"Blow... blow it up?"

Li Ningning's eyebrows twitched, completely not understanding what this young man was saying.

"So, just wait on the ground."

Lin Xian crouched down, hooking his right little finger with Li Ningning's:

"Let's make a pinky promise. This time, I'll definitely do what I say. So... be obedient this time and watch the sky here."

Li Ningning stared, looking at their intertwined little fingers, tightly hooked together.

Could this... really be possible?

Just a pinky promise like coaxing a child, and he's going to blow up this Sky City for her?

He must be lying!

But...

Li Ningning blinked, looking at the sincerity and certainty in Lin Xian's eyes.

Why?

Even though it was such an outrageous thing.

Why did it feel like he was serious?

Come to think of it, he was going to risk his life to jump into Rhein Sky City, and he miraculously knew about the gap in the anti-aircraft net that only her mother had miraculously jumped through...

Could it be that he was also a miracle?

Could he really do it?

Li Ningning pursed her lips, and finally... nodded heavily.

She imitated her father's way of making a pinky promise with her when she was a child, flipping her thumb up and pressing it against Lin Xian's thumb, sealing it with a stamp.

Pinky promise, hang by a thread, never to change for a hundred years.

That's how it became effective.

"Don't lie to me." Li Ningning stared at Lin Xian:

"I'll be waiting for you."

Lin Xian nodded and was about to get up.

But Li Ningning grabbed his arm.

She took out a somewhat tattered, threadbare, yet mended and patched sachet from the inner pocket of her clothes.

The sachet had been deformed by repeated sewing, but it was still roughly visible that on the front of the square sachet... two words were neatly embroidered with red silk thread—

"平安" (Píng'ān - Peace/Safety).

This was...

Lin Xian looked at this strange yet familiar Píng'ān sachet.

In the Second Dream, before CC and he crossed the junkyard, Li Ningning would always put this Píng'ān sachet into his palm.

She said that her mother had embroidered it for her, and it was very effective, allowing her to steal things from the junkyard safely every time, without any accidents.

At that time, Lin Xian would also promise her every time that he would blow up the walls of New Donghai City and destroy this city that she didn't like.

But...

In the end, he still broke his promise.

It wasn't that he intentionally wanted to break his promise, but the change in time and space came so suddenly that he was unprepared, and the Second Dream disappeared, and he came to the Third Dream.

The sachets were very new so many times before.

After all, in the Second Dream, Li Ningning's mother was still alive and could help her mend it, or even replace it with a new one.

But in the current dream...

Li Ningning had been an orphan since she was a child, and might not even remember what her parents looked like.

This little sachet should have been left by her mother before she died, and those clumsy mending marks... must have been made by Li Ningning herself.

The calluses on her hands were from skydiving and sports, and she didn't seem to be very good at needlework.

But to be able to mend it to this extent... she must have put a lot of effort into it.

"This Píng'ān sachet was in my pocket when my mother boarded the hot air balloon."

Li Ningning said softly, looking at the sachet in her palm:

"At that time, I didn't understand anything. It wasn't until several days later that I knew that my mother would never come back. It turned out that my last meeting with my mother had already happened without me knowing."

"Since then, I've always carried this sachet with me. Although it's patched up and tattered... I feel like it's really effective. I've been safe and sound all these years, never been sick or had any accidents, as if my mother is really blessing me."

"So... I'll give it to you!"

Li Ningning put the tattered sachet into Lin Xian's hand, clasped his hand tightly, and looked at this miraculous man with a smile:

"Lin Xian, I wish you Píng'ān."

...

Lin Xian clenched his right fist, feeling the warmth of the sachet.

He didn't say much, just accepted it and put it in his pocket:

"This time, I won't be polite."

Lin Xian stood up, looking at Li Ningning, who was a head shorter than him:

"I'll return it to you personally...

Along with the gift I'm giving you."

Waving his hand, he turned around.

Lin Xian waved goodbye to Li Ningning and came to the helium balloon that was full of air.

He patted Big-Faced Cat's helmet and patted A'Zhuang's shoulder:

"Let's go."

...

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!

At an altitude of 20,000 meters, even though they were already in the stratosphere, the cold wind was still fierce.

The stratosphere was only relatively level in terms of wind direction, not a no-wind zone. Lin Xian gestured to A'Zhuang and Big-Faced Cat to signal that they should be prepared and follow him according to the deployment before the ascent.

The location of that anti-aircraft net gap was 10,000 meters above the Zhao Yingjun statue, and there were no visual reference objects at this distance, so Lin Xian couldn't accurately tell the two of them where to fly.

However, Lin Xian had flown so many times that he had his own unique positioning method.

This method could not be expressed in words, but was an experience derived from a combination of vision and feeling. Therefore... he had to jump first, then find the right position, and keep Big-Faced Cat, A'Zhuang, and himself on the same vertical line so that they could jump into the anti-aircraft net gap together with him.

"Let's go!"

Lin Xian shouted in his space helmet, not knowing if the two people next to him could hear him.

He jumped off the helium balloon, stretched his body in the familiar wind direction, reduced his acceleration, and waited for Big-Faced Cat and A'Zhuang to follow.

Soon, Big-Faced Cat and A'Zhuang also parachuted in turn, adjusting their posture and direction in the high altitude of tens of thousands of meters, following behind Lin Xian.

Their parachuting and gliding skills were very good, even more exquisite than Lin Xian's.

After all...

Parachuting and gliding were just Lin Xian's amateur hobby in his dreams, but for A'Zhuang and Big-Faced Cat, this was the most important skill related to their lives.

An amateur hobby could never be compared to someone else's life-risking skills.

Therefore, soon, Big-Faced Cat and A'Zhuang flew above Lin Xian, one above and one below, adjusting their direction slightly with him.

Lin Xian compared his previous flight trajectory, corresponded to all visible reference objects on the ground based on his feeling, and kept fine-tuning... He felt that this position was almost right. If they fell straight down, it should be the Zhao Yingjun statue in the square.

This was it!

Let's take a gamble!

After locking the position, Lin Xian adjusted his gliding posture again, head down, feet up, accelerating while ensuring the straightness of the falling direction and reducing the influence of the wind.

Big-Faced Cat and A'Zhuang also changed their postures one after another to stay consistent with Lin Xian.

The three of them, in a straight line, were like three bird droppings falling from a high altitude, descending from the sky with an indestructible momentum!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

The sound of the wind in their ears became more and more chaotic and whistling, which meant that the three of them had fallen from the height of the stratosphere to the troposphere!

They were already very close to an altitude of 10,000 meters!

The final success or failure depended on this one move!

Finally—

As the ground of Rhein Sky City below became closer and closer, and the terrain became clearer and clearer... they successfully crossed the invisible anti-aircraft net gap! They successfully broke into the interior of Sky City!

Big-Faced Cat and A'Zhuang excitedly spun around twice in the air, tears streaming down their faces for a moment.

Finally...

They finally got in!

This was a tragic feat accomplished by sacrificing so many lives!

The three of them tacitly widened the distance, stretched their bodies to increase air resistance to decelerate, and finally opened black parachutes one after another in the air more than 1,000 meters above the ground, landing one after another on the platform where the Zhao Yingjun statue was located.

Thump...

Thump...

Thump...

Lin Xian landed directly in front of the Zhao Yingjun statue.

Big-Faced Cat and A'Zhuang landed at the corners of the platform. They were unfastening their parachute straps, taking off their space suits, and were coming to meet Lin Xian.

Lin Xian raised his head and stared at the white jade statue that was the same as always.

He now understood why this memorial square prohibited flying.

It seemed like it was for solemnity and respect.

But in reality, it reflected Zhao Yingjun's meticulous thoughts... She was really thinking about making him safely jump into Sky City, considering all the details.

The purpose was to prevent the parachuting himself from being discovered.

Apart from this square, any other place in this Sky City was like a school of fish, with vehicles mixed and numerous, occupying all layers from close to the ground to hundreds of meters in the air, non-stop day and night.

If this square did not prohibit flying, then the three people's parachutes would definitely be noticed at the first time... and even be watched as a circus performance. Then what possibility would there be for infiltration?

Not only that.

This memorial square also prohibited traffic and honking, and there were no other entertainment facilities besides this statue, which destined that there would not be a large number of people in the square, at most just a group of quiet people walking around here.

"You thought so carefully..."

Lin Xian smiled and looked at Zhao Yingjun, who was facing the dark earth,

Gazing at Zhao Yingjun in the direction of the East Sea 600 years ago:

"It's just that your puzzle seems to be a bit too detailed. It's really hard for me to find."

At this time.

Big-Faced Cat and A'Zhuang also took off their heavy space suits, lightly armed, with only a spare parachute bag on their backs, and walked to Lin Xian's side.

The two followed Lin Xian's gaze and looked at the white jade statue tens of meters high in front of them.

"Heh! Such a tall statue! I really didn't expect... the gap in that anti-aircraft net was so coincidentally located directly above the statue!"

"This shouldn't be just a coincidence, right? It feels like it was designed that way on purpose." Big-Faced Cat turned his head and looked at Lin Xian:

"Lin Xian, what's the origin of this statue? Who is this woman?"

"Probably..."

Lin Xian paused and said with a smile:

"Probably the Goddess of Victory, you can call her that."

"Goddess of Victory, that's a good sign." Big-Faced Cat said, and instantly became respectful. He put his hands together and bowed to the statue with A'Zhuang, chanting words in his mouth, like praying.

"Alright, let's go, there's still a lot to do." Lin Xian urged.

Big-Faced Cat and A'Zhuang nodded:

"Let's go!"

Crack!

Suddenly...

A clear collision sound that was so familiar that it made one's blood pressure rise came from under his feet.

Lin Xian lowered his head.

He saw a rusty iron clip tightly clamped around his ankle!

He couldn't help but sigh.

He turned his head.

Sure enough...

Behind him, two mechanical eyes glowing green stared at Lin Xian, and a clumsy mechanical voice sounded from the loudspeaker:

"Trash! Trash! Trash detected!"