A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

The summer sun beat down, and the cicadas in the trees chirped as if their lives depended on it.

Inside the abandoned building, however, it was pitch-black, like a lightless cave.

Giovanni stood in the shadows, quietly watching the two people approach. Bai Ziling held the hem of his jacket, hiding behind his leg.

The vampire girl was clearly a little afraid of the Western cowboy and the Ninja girl.

Guchen and Sorakagehime looked over at them, then exchanged a glance.

Guchen shrugged with a smile, while Sorakagehime remained expressionless. Hugging her scabbard, she asked, "I heard you held off the leader, Cosimo, and the Magic Hand all by yourself?"

Giovanni looked at the Ninja in her black kimono.

"Otherwise I wouldn't be standing here," he said calmly. "You wouldn't even have found a corpse."

"We should spar sometime." Sorakagehime remained deadpan. "Before you arrived, I was ranked seventh in Death Crow. I hope you can take my spot."

'I'm lying...'

'Give me a few months to level up, and you'll all be nothing but hack-and-slash NPC fodder to me.'

Sorakagehime raised her gaze, staring into his eyes in silence for a moment before saying, "Playing the pig again? Another member tried that once, but he died early."

'Lady, I am a genuine pig,' Giovanni thought.

Giovanni looked at Guchen.

"Oh, little brother, my name is Vincent. But most people call me Guchen. Only my closest friends use my real name," Guchen said slowly. "As for the lady next to me, her name is Sora, but everyone calls her Sorakagehime. It just... rolls off the tongue better."

"Oh," Giovanni said quietly. "I'm Giovanni."

"Drink, kid?" Guchen grinned.

"I don't usually drink, but a little shouldn't hurt."

"Perfect. That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

Chuckling, Guchen raised a hand and whistled. Suddenly, a wave of eerie green flames surged toward them from the distance. Giovanni focused his eyes, and as the fire parted, he finally made out a black steed clad in bone armor. The horse was completely engulfed in flames, hauling an open-air carriage packed with an assortment of bartending tools and a dazzling array of liquor.

Giovanni didn't know much about liquor, so he only gave it a passing glance.

The vintages on some of those bottles were quite intimidating. It seemed the cowboy thief had a hobby of collecting famous wines from around the world. His phone buzzed lightly. He pulled it out and saw a dialog box Pop-up above the pixel-art Heimeng's head:

[This is his esper ability. He can summon a ghost horse. As for whether the liquor is real or fake, I can't say.]

'Is this genius gamer girl spying on me twenty-four hours a day?' Giovanni thought, looking at the screen. He suddenly understood why she had installed an AI on his phone.

Guchen grabbed a bottle dated 1959 and three exquisite glass tumblers from the carriage, then found a spot on the floor to sit down.

Giovanni took a seat, and Bai Ziling curiously sat down beside him.

Tossing his cowboy hat aside to reveal a mop of messy black curls, Guchen let out a breath. He unscrewed the cap, poured a glass, and handed it first to Sorakagehime, who was leaning against a pillar.

The girl in the black kimono balanced the glass on her scabbard, then took a sip.

"Neigh!"

The ghost horse, its form flickering, let out a sudden cry. It shook off its carriage reins, trotted up behind Guchen, and began to perform a bizarre tap dance.

Its hooves rose and fell, clacking rhythmically against the ground.

"When there's liquor, you need a beauty dancing to liven things up," Guchen smiled.

Giovanni stared at the ghost horse as it wildly twisted its body. "You call that a 'beauty'?" he asked.

"No, I call this Throwing a Brick to Attract Jade. Maybe our little kimono girl over there will step up and dance a—" Before Guchen could finish, the sharp edge of a katana was already pressed against his neck.

Without even looking up, he chuckled.

"No need to take it so seriously, little Sora."

Sorakagehime quietly finished her drink, then placed her glass on the flat of the blade. The glass slid down the length of the katana, dropping perfectly into Guchen's hand. "I can't offer you a dance, but I can chop off your head for a bar snack."

She sheathed her sword as she spoke.

"Whew... never mind then."

Smiling, Guchen set her empty glass on the ground, poured another drink, and handed it to Giovanni, who was sitting across from him.

Giovanni brought the glass to his lips and took a sip. A sharp, burning bitterness spread across his tongue, making him cough softly.

For him, liquor was like Japanese sashimi: some people acquired the taste, and some never did. He clearly fell into the latter camp. "First time drinking?" Guchen asked with a smile. "Liquor is a fine thing. You'll get used to it if you drink it more."

Giovanni remained silent.

The crimson liquor looked remarkably like blood. The white-haired girl gently licked her lips, her red eyes locked onto his glass.

"Want some?" Giovanni glanced at her.

Bai Ziling gave a silent nod, and Giovanni handed her the glass.

The white-haired girl took the glass and took two delicate sips. She blinked, then nearly spat the liquor out.

Bai Ziling coughed, and Giovanni patted her back, her snow-white hair swaying slightly.

"It tastes bad..." she muttered.

"Then don't drink it." Giovanni wiped the corner of her mouth with his sleeve.

"It would taste better if you mixed some blood into it. Vampires are all like that," Guchen said. "That Stroh girl actually knows how to appreciate a good vintage, though I don't know if she's just faking it."

He waved a hand. "Never mind. Since neither of you drink, there's no need to force yourselves. Little Sora and I will just have a few drinks here." Giovanni set his glass down. "We'll leave you to it, then."

"I'm hungry," Bai Ziling said suddenly.

"Let's go."

Giovanni gently hoisted her onto his back, resting the girl's fair calves over his shoulders, and headed up to the second floor of the abandoned building.

He walked midway down the corridor, entered his room, and locked the door behind him.

The room was dimly lit. He sat on the edge of the bed and loosened the tie of his train conductor uniform. The white-haired girl lay against his chest and bit down on his bare shoulder.

In the darkness, Bai Ziling's eyes stayed wide open, shining like bright rubies.

The girl stared unblinkingly at his face, biting into his shoulder with careful restraint, as if worried she might hurt him.

Giovanni's expression didn't change. He simply reached up and quietly stroked her snow-white hair.

"Don't you want to see more of the world?" Giovanni asked suddenly after a while.

Bai Ziling lifted her head slightly from his shoulder. She thought for a moment, then said, "Stroh says there are hunters outside. She told me to stay close to her. Wherever she goes, I go."

"Do you know about the North Pole?"

Bai Ziling shook her head.

"Iceland?"

Bai Ziling shook her head again.

"London?"

Bai Ziling stopped shaking her head. She pulled out her little sketchbook and flipped to a page with a drawing of Big Ben.

"Stroh took me to see Big Ben. The chimes sound nice," she said.

Giovanni looked at the clock tower on the page and fell silent for a moment. "That's only one corner of the world. I can take you to see other places later. The world you know is far too small..."

He paused. "Mine too."

He'd have to go on a global slaughter tour later anyway, killing everything in his path. He might as well treat it as taking her on a trip around the world, and then finish her off at the final stop.

So Ke Mingqing thought.

Hugging her sketchbook, Bai Ziling looked up at him.

"Really?" she asked.

Giovanni gave a silent nod. He reached out in the dark, gently wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth, and then retied his conductor uniform. Just then, a knock came at the door.

Giovanni walked over and opened it. Standing there was a young man still wearing his school uniform, even though it was summer vacation.

"Can I help you?"

Giovanni looked at Jiang Qingzi.

Jiang Qingzi thought for a moment. "My opinion of you has changed a bit. I thought you were just putting on an act, but I didn't expect you to care about her that much." Giovanni knew he was talking about the online vote from that morning.

"And?" he asked.

"I'm apologizing... I had a lot of unfair prejudices against you before," Jiang Qingzi said offhandedly, looking away.

"I don't care." 'Your prejudices were spot on,' Giovanni thought. 'I only joined Death Crow so I could slaughter every last one of you.' Just then, Bai Ziling slipped out of bed and walked over. She looked up at Jiang Qingzi and said softly, "Pedo."

Jiang Qingzi's eyelid twitched. Giovanni shrugged. "I taught her to call you that last time."

"Forget it, whatever." Jiang Qingzi sighed. "You should take her out for some fun when you have time. There's no need to stay cooped up in here every day." "I know. I'll take her to the aquarium in a few days," Giovanni replied.

"Mm."

"If you need money, just ask. I've got plenty," Jiang Qingzi said. "Just tell little Heimeng to transfer some from my account to yours."

"Oh."

"That's all. I have things to do this afternoon, so I'm off." Without looking back, Jiang Qingzi turned and left.

Bai Ziling watched him walk away, then turned back to Giovanni.

"Giovanni, what's an aquarium?"

"It's a place with lots of ocean animals. Like squids that love to dive, or whales and dolphins..."

"I want to go see," Bai Ziling said softly.

"I'll take you when I have the time."

Giovanni reached out and adjusted the strap of her nightgown as he spoke. 'Then again, I've got things to do this afternoon, too,' he thought.

July 12, 1:00 PM. The Xia-Ke residence.

After lunch, Ke Mingqing sprawled across the sofa, enjoying the breeze from the fan while idly browsing the player forum. [Poster: "Paranoid" | Title: "Thoughts on the secret romance between Blue Pigeon and the magical girl Ember? Word is that Blue Pigeon has a girlfriend, but her identity is a secret, so I can't say much."]

"You've got to be kidding me."

Stunned, Ke Mingqing clicked on the thread, only to find a single comment beneath it.

[The Family's Black Cat (1st Floor): ?]

[Paranoid (2nd Floor): Haha, just kidding! End of thread.]

[Pop-up: The poster has disabled visitor reply Clearance. You cannot leave a comment on this thread.]

Ke Mingqing let out a dry chuckle. 'That Japanese girl really runs a tight ship,' he thought. 'To think she can actually keep a psycho like him in line.'

Suddenly, a girl in a bright yellow dress walked over and pressed an ice-cold can of Sprite against his cheek.

Ke Mingqing shrank back and turned his head. A fair face greeted his eyes. Xia Zili had her hair tied up in a high ponytail, and her skin looked almost translucent in the sunlight.

The girl pulled the Sprite away and clasped her hands behind her back.

"Let's go. Weren't you coming with me to Little Red Riding Hood's house?"

"Alright, alright, let's go," Ke Mingqing said. He got up from the sofa, took the Sprite from her, and took a sip.

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