35: Sister, when did you and Brother Mo become so close?

Lin Mo looked at Gu Zhixia's awkward expression, wanting to express gratitude but unable to bring herself to, and couldn't help but smile.

He picked up his chopsticks, took the largest chicken drumstick, and put it into his bowl, saying without raising his head, "Alright, no need for formalities."

"We're a team now, ants on the same rope. Talking about saving or not saving is too polite."

His words were light, but they immediately broke the slightly awkward atmosphere at the dinner table.

Gu Zhixia's tense shoulders unconsciously relaxed.

"Exactly! Exactly!"

Gu Nianqiu immediately chimed in, raising her small fist.

"We are family! Family doesn't speak in two tongues!"

The Little Girl picked up the serving chopsticks and, without a word, filled both Lin Mo's and her sister's bowls with food, urging, "Quick, try my cooking! This is a celebration feast after surviving a disaster, so we must eat happily!"

Perhaps it was truly because they had experienced a life-and-death ordeal, but all three of them ate with exceptional relish.

The aroma of the food, mixed with the relief of surviving, fermented in the small dining room, dispelling all the gloom that had shrouded their hearts.

After eating and drinking their fill,

the three of them, by prior agreement, went to the deck.

At this moment, the Natural Selection was quietly floating on the sea, having lost its power, gently rising and falling with the waves.

The sun had completely sunk into the sea, leaving only a magnificent and grand afterglow on the horizon, dyeing half the sky orange-red.

The sea breeze carried a hint of salty dampness, brushing their cheeks and blowing away the last trace of fatigue.

None of the three spoke; they simply leaned against the railing side by side, quietly enjoying the rare tranquility and beauty in this apocalypse.

After a long while,

Gu Zhixia's clear, cold voice sounded in the sea breeze.

"When I was in school, my favorite thing to do was go to the rooftop in the evening to watch the sunset."

She looked at the distant afterglow, a rare hint of nostalgia in her eyes.

Lin Mo turned his head to glance at her, not interrupting.

"It's just that the sky back then wasn't as clean as it is now."

Gu Zhixia chuckled self-deprecatingly.

"Lin Mo, what about you?"

She suddenly turned her head, her beautiful phoenix eyes, illuminated by the afterglow, looking especially captivating.

"What did you do before?"

Lin Mo withdrew his gaze, looked out at the boundless sea, and casually made up a reason.

"Me? Just a fitness coach."

This identity perfectly explained his extraordinary physique and calmness.

Gu Zhixia nodded, seemingly accepting this explanation.

She also spoke of her past.

"I... I'm a senior finance student. Originally, I was supposed to graduate this year."

Her voice was very soft, carrying a hint of imperceptible melancholy.

The two conversed, one asking and one answering, about the unrecoverable past, and the atmosphere was unexpectedly harmonious.

Just then, a fuzzy little head poked out between them.

It was Gu Nianqiu.

She blinked her innocent, wide eyes, looking at her sister, then at Brother Mo, her face full of curiosity.

"Sister, Brother Mo, when did you two become so close?"

"I..."

Gu Zhixia was choked speechless by a single sentence.

She opened her mouth but couldn't utter a word, her cheeks uncontrollably heating up. In her mind, the kiss she had impulsively given in the cabin flashed through her mind again.

She froze completely.

Seeing her almost 'crash,' Lin Mo calmly took over the conversation.

"We've always been very close."

He said it as if it were obvious, even turning to look at Gu Zhixia, signaling her with his eyes to cooperate.

"Ah? Really?"

Gu Nianqiu tilted her head, still a little confused.

"But... I've never seen you two chat so happily before."

The Little Girl's words were like a small knife, piercing accurately and sharply.

Gu Zhixia's face grew even redder, almost burying her head in her chest.

"That's because..."

Lin Mo explained unhurriedly,

"We weren't that familiar before."

"Now that we've experienced life and death together, our relationship has naturally grown closer. Isn't that normal?"

This explanation was simply flawless.

"Oh... it seems so!"

Gu Nianqiu nodded in sudden understanding, no longer dwelling on the question.

Beside her, Gu Zhixia also quickly nodded, like a chick pecking at rice, to cover up her guilt and panic.

As night deepened,

the last trace of afterglow on the horizon completely dispersed. The deep night sky descended, and countless stars, like scattered diamonds, covered the entire velvet-like night sky.

"Alright, everyone go rest."

Lin Mo broke the silence, his tone regaining the steady composure befitting a captain.

"I'll stand watch tonight; I've slept enough during the day and I'm not tired."

"Zhi Xia, you come relieve me at four in the morning."

"No!"

Gu Zhixia almost instinctively objected.

"Your mental energy consumption is the greatest; you should rest more! I'll stand watch!"

Her tone was firm, with an unyielding assertiveness.

Lin Mo merely looked at her calmly.

"This is an order."

"I am the captain."

These two short sentences blocked all of Gu Zhixia's rebuttals in her throat.

She looked at Lin Mo's unquestionable gaze and finally gave in, letting out a somewhat unwilling "Oh."

Having arranged everything, Lin Mo watched the two sisters return to the cabin.

Soon, he was the only one left on the entire deck.

He didn't sit but lay directly on the cold deck, hands clasped behind his head, gazing at the brilliant galaxy.

Today's experiences replayed rapidly in his mind like a movie.

The terrifying power of the World Tree that crushed everything, that feeling of powerlessness in the face of a god-like entity, was deeply etched into his soul.

He clenched his fists.

Become stronger!

He yearned to become powerful more than ever before!

The Natural Selection... its name itself represented the ultimate law of this world.

It shouldn't just be a survival ship floating on the sea.

It should have been a stellar-class battleship, traversing the star sea and looking down upon civilizations!

Lin Mo's gaze pierced through the deep night sky, looking towards the stars billions of light-years away.

He knew that these stars were no longer those seen on Earth in his previous life.

They were real, existing planets in this universe, waiting to be explored.

If one day... if one day, the Natural Selection could regain its rightful strength, powerful enough to break free from the gravitational pull of this planet,

he would go see it for himself.

To investigate what the true nature of this world was.