Since Michiko disappeared two years ago, "Monta" has been following Ronnie. This put Ronnie in a much better mood, and the relationship between man and bird became more harmonious. They often played together, and Ronnie trained Monta in the hope that it would bring him some live ducks so that he and his sister could have some duck meat to eat. Every night, he would go to the beacon to light the fire and stand there for a few moments; it was the last place he and Michiko had been apart, and it brought back memories of happy times for both of them. He remembered the words they had spoken on their first birthday, the time they had been thrown out of the Monte Carlo gambling house, the month they had spent adrift at sea, and the moment he had pulled down Michiko's pants in the small garden, all of which had become a thing of the past when she had disappeared. By now Ronnie felt much older and often lamented the relentlessness of the years. "I've got to pull myself together, my sister still needs me to take care of her," he said to himself. Shaking his head, he gathered himself and went home. Alice was busy tidying up the house and when she saw him she asked, "What do you want to eat tonight? I can have a drink with you."
"Sister, I thought you said potato wine was bad,why do you want to drink it today?"
"Today is your birthday, have you forgotten?"
"We've been living on the island for nine years, sis, do you like your life now?" Ronnie replied.
"As long as I'm with you it's the same wherever I am, besides I'm already used to living here, do you regret it?" Alice asked nervously, afraid he would get any more strange ideas.
Ronnie saw the look on her face and laughed, "Sister, don't be nervous, I haven't thought about going to sea."
"That's good!" Alice started to prepare dinner. She made two fish, a crab, two cakes and a plate of dried fruits, and carried a jar of wine. "Let's celebrate your eighteenth birthday!" she raised her glass.
"Thank you sister, I will always remember everything you have done for me!" Ronnie took it with a smile and finished it. The two siblings drank from glass to glass until midnight, and both ended up drunk. It wasn't until noon the next day that they woke up, opened their dazed eyes and realized that there were three other people in the house, thinking they were in a dream. At that moment, a tall man laughed and said, "How much have you drunk? and it took us half a day of screaming to wake you up.”
The siblings were confused and it took a while before they woke up at the same time and shouted in unison, "Who are you?”
"Do not be afraid, we are the guards of the city-state,we received a request for help that someone was trapped on this island, so we have come to rescue you," the tall man was busy explaining.
"You received a request for help from a girl?" Ronnie asked sharply.
"We don't know, we came here because we got this note," the tall man finished and handed him a note.
Ronnie took it and saw that the note said: "There are two people trapped at coordinates: 19°18′16〃N110°48′52〃W/19.30444°N110.81444°W/19.30444;-110.81444W location, go rescue them quickly.”
"It really looks like Michiko, Sis,she saved us," Ronnie said with an excited face.
Alice was also filled with excitement as she muttered, "I can't believe we have another day to get out of here." Yes, this was a day they had been looking forward to for far too long. When it actually happened, they had an unreal feeling. After a long time, their hearts calmed down. Only then did the Tall One urge, "Pack up, let's go!"
Hearing that they had to leave this place, Alice couldn't help but feel an inexplicable sense of loss in her heart. Everything here had been built by the hard work of the siblings, and now that they said they were leaving, how could she not feel sad? But she knew she had to go, she could only shake her head and sigh, "Alas, in the future, the potatoes in the little garden and the fish in the pond by the beach will have no one to look after them.”
"Sister, don't be sad, you still have me!" Ronnie patted her shoulder to comfort her.
After comforting his sister, Ronnie ran out of the house to find "Monta" and take it with him. But when the big man saw that he was taking a rare sea eagle, he stopped him immediately: "You can't take it, this species of white-headed sea eagle is a protected animal in the city-state, it belongs only to this island.”
Ronnie begged bitterly, the Tall One's heart was like an iron stone, he firmly disagreed, this was the law of the city-state, no one could change it.
Alice could only advise, "Ronnie, forget it, maybe it will be better here."
Hearing his sister say the same thing, Ronnie could only choose to give up in the end. The siblings grabbed a few belongings and left with the three city guards, heading towards the sea. They walked to the beach. "Monta” followed them all the way. When the group reached the beach, they saw a City-state ship anchored on the beach. The five people were about to board the ship, Ronnie turned his head and hugged Monta, stroking his feathers gently and whispering, "Goodbye my friend, thank you for your nine years of companionship, I hope you and I will have the chance to meet again,” he was the first to board the ship after saying this. Monta seemed to understand his words and did not follow him, just bowed its head and let out a long and sad cry. By this time on the boat, Ronnie's eyes had long been filled with tears, he turned his head and quietly wiped them away, waving his hand to say goodbye to Monta. After all five people had boarded, the boat left the island and headed southeast. The City-state's boat traveled very fast, and in seven hours it arrived at its destination - the pier of Shire Town. The two said their goodbyes to the city guards, changed into the two sets of clothes they had been given, and made their way to the Umbrella House. When they arrived at the door of the Umbrella House, they found that the door was covered with a thin layer of moss, and the door frame was also covered with green vines. Ronnie pushed the door gently and it creaked open, releasing a foul smell that made him cough. When he looked up, the house was covered in cobwebs, the floor was covered in all kinds of animal excrement, all the furniture was broken, and what had once been a home had become an animal paradise. "Ronnie, come on! this isn't our home anymore," Alice sighed.
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The siblings discussed the situation and decided to look for Michiko first. The duo went to her old house first and found that she wasn't there. Later they went to the school to look, and after nine years, things had changed, Ronnie couldn't really find anyone he knew at the school. He stood on the playground not knowing what to do. Alice suggested he just watch the entrance to the school, if Michiko was really there, she would always come out. Taking her sister's advice, the two of them sat outside the school and waited, but they didn't see Michiko come out until the school closed. Undeterred, they waited for two more days and still couldn't find her. They were so disappointed that they had no choice but to expand their search. They searched the Shire Town area until they had searched the entire town, but still no results, they had to leave. They wandered and asked for information, and so a year passed, still without luck, and after a year of running around, a tired Alice spoke up, "Ronnie, did you ever think that Michiko might have gone into the city-state, and that's why we couldn't find her outside?"
Ronnie came back from a long dream, "Sister, you're getting smarter and smarter, it's really possible, so let's find out which city-state has been recruiting in the last two years.”
The two of them went back to the Shire Town, and not long after entering the town, they met Rajeev. He was surprised to see the siblings, but didn't take the initiative to speak. Ronnie spoke first: "Brother Rajeev, do you remember me? I am Ronnie," Ronnie pointed to his nose and said. If it was just Ronnie, Rajeev probably wouldn't recognize him, he had changed so much in nine years. Now that he was following Alice, Rajeev guessed right away. He looked embarrassed and quickly looked at Alice and said, "Hi guys, long time no see!"
Alice didn't want to say hello right away, it's just that Ronnie started first, so she could only take it, nodding slightly before saying, "Rajeev, how's your mom?"
"Yeah, yeah, she's fine, she's at home right now and she talks about you a lot," Rajeev replied with an excited look on his face.
Even though Alice didn't like him, his mother Penny had been kind to herself and she thought she should pay a visit, "Rajeev, can I go to your house to see her?"
"Sure, she'll be glad to see you!" Rajeev said, leading the way as the siblings followed, "Sister, why are we going to his house?" Ronnie asked his sister beside him quietly and with some reluctance.
"We're going to see Aunt Penny, she's always been nice to us, and we can ask around about the city-state."
The siblings whispered behind them and before they knew it, they were at Rajeev's house. Aunt Penny was still very warm when she saw the siblings. She didn't even let go of Alice's hand when she pulled on it. As soon as Rajeev entered the house, a five or six year old dark-skinned boy came running, "Daddy! Daddy! you're back!"
Ronnie was surprised, he pointed to the child and asked, "Rajeev, is this your son?"
An unnatural look crossed Rajeev's face, "Yes, his name is Debbie!"
"Debbie, why did you run away without finishing your homework?" a woman's scream came from the back room, followed by a tall dark-skinned woman from the back room, Ronnie blurted out as soon as he saw her, "Mocha!"
Rajeev was busy explaining, "She's not Mocha, she's Mocha's sister Jenny."
"No wonder they look so much alike," Ronnie said as an afterthought.
Jenny saw that there were two outsiders in the room and smiled, nodding her head to greet the siblings. As soon as Rajeev saw Jenny come in, he didn't dare stare at Alice anymore and became much more honest. Alice was helped to sit down by the older woman and looked around, noticing that the place hadn't changed much from ten years ago, just a bit more dated. She spoke first and asked, "Auntie, how have you been?"
"Girl, you're very thoughtful, it's rare for young people to ask that these days," Aunt Penny replied with a smile.
Alice was about to speak, but unexpectedly Rajeev, who was standing to the side, interjected, "Alice, why haven't you joined the city-state yet?"
"I'll tell you why!" Ronnie snapped. He then briefly recounted what the duo had experienced on Strange Island. The Rajeev family couldn't help but sigh and lament as they listened, not realizing that they had gone through so much in the last ten years. "We also wanted to ask you about the city-state, has the city-state recruited in the last two years?" Alice added after Ronnie finished.
"Yes, You City 9822 has been recruiting for the past few years, it's the beginning of July now, there are still more than twenty days before you can submit your application."
It wasn't Rajeev who answered Alice's question, but Jenny.
"Jenny is a teacher at You City Preparatory School and knows more about it," Rajeev introduced.
After listening to Jenny's explanation, Ronnie had a very positive impression of her and looked at her much better, the siblings chatted for a while before saying goodbye and leaving.