"Bye-bye!"

Quinn, holding a suitcase in his left hand and clutching the large scythe "Cradle" under his arm, waved his free right hand in farewell to the departing "Future."

Beside him, Gehrman and Anderson stood shoulder to shoulder. After a moment, Gehrman asked casually, "So, Quinn, where are you headed next?"

"I...," Quinn scratched his head and thought for a moment, "I'm heading to Backlund. There are people from our church there."

Gehrman was silent for a second, then said quietly, "I'll remember how you helped me on this journey."

"What?" Quinn pretended not to hear, cupping his ear, "What did you say?"

Gehrman took a deep breath, turned his head, and ignored him.

"If you really want to repay the favor..." Quinn smiled, "Help me find a way to remove the pollution. A more advanced method, preferably."

Anderson was stunned, turning to look at Quinn in disbelief.

In the depths of those calm, pool-like green eyes, there seemed to be an unrestrained beast barely contained.

I actually... spent several days on the same ship with a semi-mad demigod, and I even provoked him! In that moment, Anderson suddenly realized the greatest danger had been right beside him all along!

"No problem!"

Anderson pounded his chest, agreeing without hesitation. At this moment, he even felt his luck wasn't so bad after all.

"Well then, see you next time?"

Quinn looked at the receding and returning waves.

"See you next time!"

Three people, three paths, three unknown futures, temporarily parted ways here.

…

A few days later, in Backlund, on Rose Street.

"Wow... this thing looks just like a bicycle!"

Stubbornly wearing his bishop's robe, with his long green hair tied up high, Quinn looked in amazement at the changes in Backlund.

In just a few short months, the ever-present gray-black smog in Backlund's sky had visibly decreased, more children were playing in the streets, and the postmen were riding light bicycles, weaving through the streets.

Rounding a few red-tiled houses, Quinn saw the golden spire of the Harvest Church.

"Quinn!"

He turned suddenly. Old Bob, dressed in worn military gear with graying whiskers on his face, was wobbling toward him.

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"Old Bob!"

Quinn's face broke into a genuine smile of joy.

Old Bob had come to Backlund from Bikini Beach to visit a friend, and Quinn hadn't expected to run into him here.

"What are you doing here?"

Quinn asked curiously.

"What do you mean!" Old Bob glared, "Just because I'm not here to borrow money from you doesn't mean I can't be here."

"Is that so?"

Quinn took out a small notebook, opened it to a page, and pointed to a line of writing:

"Old Bob, you still owe me nineteen sullars!"

"This..."

Old Bob covered his face in dismay and replied, "Next time, I'll pay it all back. This time, I'm here to buy medicine. The vampires at the Earth Mother Church here are as professional as Snow."

"Medicine?" Quinn used his spiritual vision to scan Old Bob, then sensed his life aura, "Who's the medicine for?"

"For Old Kohler, sigh..."

Old Bob sighed deeply and continued, "Ten years ago, seeing Old Kohler's happy family, I never thought his fate would turn out like this..."

"Recently, the work at the docks has gotten heavier, but the pay keeps dropping. Workers who can't keep up are being pushed out by those young men who can work like crazy."

"For a while, Old Kohler could follow a private detective and do some easy work. But unfortunately, that detective suddenly disappeared."

"He had no choice but to return to the docks, competing for work with those desperate young men. Naturally, he slowly wore himself out. Luckily, I returned just in time this time."

Quinn blinked, and the image of that patched, skinny, yet differently bright-eyed old man from the lower district immediately came to mind.

"Didn't I tell him not to stay in Backlund?" Quinn frowned lightly, "I should have had him move to Bikini Beach too, like Mrs. Leif and her family."

"He said he wanted to thank that private detective, but he never found him, so he stayed in Backlund."

"But this time, I'll tie him up if I have to and take him back!"

Old Bob's scarred face trembled with excitement.

"Since I'm here..."

Quinn reached into his robe, pulled out a gray ceramic bottle from a hidden pocket, and handed it to Old Bob:

"A Quinn product, guaranteed to be the best, absolutely effective."

Old Bob hesitated for a moment, then took the bottle, gently stroking its smooth surface with his finger, and said gratefully:

"Quinn, if there were more kids like you in this world, it would be a much better place!"

"Not just two hundred people, even more wouldn't have to live in the smog..."

Quinn's eyes darkened for a moment, his eyelids drooping.

Old Bob quickly stopped talking, waving his hand hurriedly:

"Well, I'll thank you on Old Kohler's behalf for your help!"

As Old Bob slowly walked away, Quinn closed his eyes.

Suddenly, he heard the seductive, maddening whispers in his ear again, teasing every strand of his emotions:

"Futile..."

"Futile..."

"Shut up!"

Damn, why now! Quinn clutched his head, cursing back at the whispers in his mind.

Gradually, the whispers pried open Quinn's tightly closed heart, delving into his spirit, digging up scenes painted in despair and sorrow.

"You can't do anything..."

Painful memories were uprooted, leaving Quinn helplessly watching those images:

A child futilely digging through the rubble of a house;

A boy being bullied by sneering teenagers;

A youth called "crazy" by the townspeople;

A young man wandering and weeping among corpses in the smog;

Scene after scene was unearthed, leaving Quinn no escape, until the seductive, warm whispers returned:

"Return... to the mother's embrace..."

"I... I..."

At the slightest fluctuation of his spirit, the Fallen Mother instantly acted, her pollution silently seeping in from the starry sky.

"Sigh..."

A deep sigh echoed from the nearby Harvest Church, cleansing Quinn's spirit. In an instant, he felt weightless, as if falling into a mother's embrace.

The illusory whispers dissipated unwillingly, leaving Quinn dazed on the ground, passersby looking at him with both fear and concern.

"Damn, the Fallen Mother really is insidious..."

Quinn slowly stood up, patting the dust off his pants.

He looked at the golden Harvest Church and drew a heart on his chest:

"The Earth Mother is always divine!"

Not far away, Old Bob was peeking from behind a wall, only relaxing when he saw Quinn stand up:

"This kid really has a lot of bad luck..."