Beautiful moments are as fragile as glass.
The news of their father Claude’s death came through a cold, officially worded encrypted message from the Interastral Peace Corporation.
No body, no details.
Just the words “died in the line of duty” and a sum of compensation that followed.
That day, the home seemed to have all its air and color sucked out of it.
Their mother locked herself in her room, and the muffled, heart-wrenching sobs that drifted through the door cut like a dull blade into the hearts of the three children.
Robin clutched her Bella doll, her big eyes filled with tears.
She did not understand why her father would never come back, but she instinctively felt a profound sadness and fear, whimpering softly.
Sunday pressed his lips tightly together, his face pale.
Those blue eyes, always so analytical and calm, were filled with bewilderment and helplessness for the first time.
He clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms.
Mercy’s heart sank to the bottom.
Even though she had a foreboding feeling, when the news finally came, the wave of grief, anger, and cold premonition nearly overwhelmed her.
She forced herself to stay calm.
Her father was gone.
She was the eldest sister.
She had to…
do something.
She walked over to Robin, who was silently crying, and pulled her and Bella into a tight embrace.
Her voice was soft as she tried to comfort her.
“Don’t cry, Robin.
Dad has just…
become a star, watching over us from the sky.” She then looked at Sunday, who was standing stiffly to the side, and reached out to gently cover his clenched fist.
“Sunday, Mom and Robin need us.” Sunday looked up at his sister’s eyes.
They were red-rimmed but held an unyielding determination he had never seen before.
He took a deep breath, slowly relaxed his fist, and nodded.
The shadow of their father’s passing had not yet lifted when an even greater disaster, like a long-dormant beast, finally bared its fangs.
The Stellaron, that twisted entity known as the “cancer of all worlds,” which had been hiding somewhere on Radiant Star, had accumulated enough power to reach its critical point.
Its destructive emanations, like a beacon in the darkness, attracted the most ravenous and brutal predators in the universe: the Antimatter Legion.
At first, only abnormal, vein-like purple energy rifts appeared in the sky, writhing and distorting.
The planetary defense system issued the highest-level alert, and the piercing wail of sirens filled the air.
On the news, official spokespeople still tried to calm the public, claiming it was only a rare cosmic energy storm that the defense systems could handle.
But soon, the lies were mercilessly torn apart.
Countless meteors wreathed in flames of destruction tore through the atmosphere like a rainstorm, striking the core areas, energy hubs, and defense nodes of every major city with pinpoint accuracy.
Then came the Antimatter Legion warships, their forms twisted and menacing, blotting out the sky.
Like a plague of locusts, they rained down beams of destructive energy.
Wherever they passed, skyscrapers collapsed like children’s building blocks, bustling streets turned to scorched earth, and the crystal-like colors of Radiant Star were replaced by blinding flashes of explosions and rolling clouds of black smoke.
BOOM—!!!
The deafening sound of explosions, even from a distance, rattled the windows of their home, as if they might shatter at any moment.
“Ah!” Robin screamed in fright and buried herself in Mercy’s arms, her small body trembling.
Sunday rushed to the window and pulled back the curtain just enough to look outside.
The distant sky was stained an ominous dark red, thick with smoke.
“The Antimatter Legion…
they’re really here.” His voice carried a slight tremor, but more than that, it held a cold certainty.
Their mother’s face was ashen.
She forced herself out of her room and gathered the children close.
“Don’t be afraid, my darlings.
Don’t be afraid…
We’ll be fine.
The planetary defense forces will stop them…” But her trembling voice betrayed her inner terror.
The local defense forces were not weak.
As an important tourist planet, Radiant Star was garrisoned by a powerful Family guard fleet and planetary defense forces.
Fierce aerial battles erupted above the clouds, energy beams crisscrossing, explosions lighting up the sky like festival fireworks, but carrying the stench of death.
Ground forces also engaged in brutal combat with the teleporting Voidrangers.
But the Antimatter Legion’s numbers were overwhelming.
They seemed endless, fearless of death.
Their destruction was pure and efficient.
They did not come to conquer.
They came only to annihilate.
In the first wave, the global economy collapsed instantly.
Interstellar communications were largely disrupted.
Energy networks failed.
Food supply chains were severed.
Chaos descended.
Officials still called for calm, for maintaining Harmony ideals and mutual aid.
But in the face of survival instinct, such slogans rang hollow.
In the first few days, shops remained open, but prices skyrocketed like a rocket taking off.
“Mom, we have to go out and buy supplies!” Mercy grabbed their mother, who was waiting for order to be restored, her tone urgent.
“Credits will soon become worthless.
Food and water are what matter most!” Their mother looked at the energy beams occasionally streaking across the sky and listened to the distant explosions, hesitating.
“But it’s too dangerous out there…” “If we don’t go now, we might never get another chance.
Or the prices will be so high we won’t be able to afford anything!” Mercy insisted.
“We’ll only go to the nearest supermarket.
We’ll buy quickly and come straight back!” In the end, Mercy convinced their mother.
She left Sunday to watch over Robin, repeatedly telling them to lock the door and not open it for anyone, no matter what.
Then, mother and daughter put on hats to hide their conspicuous halos, gathered their courage, and rushed out the door.
The streets were in chaos.
Hover vehicles were parked haphazardly on the roadside, some still smoking.
People’s faces were etched with panic and desperation as they hurried past.
Occasionally, defense force vehicles screamed by on their way to the most intense combat zones.
At the nearest supermarket, a long line had already formed.
People were crowded together, shouting, shoving.
Gone was the politeness and composure of better days.
Only the desperate craving for supplies and the anxiety of survival remained.
“Stop pushing!
Get in line!” “Hurry up, people in front!” “It’s gone!
No more flour!” “Water!
I need water!” The numbers on the price tags were staggering.
A loaf of bread that had cost a few dozen credits was now priced at several thousand.
A bottle of ordinary drinking water was hundreds of times more expensive.
And yet, even at these prices, shelves emptied before their eyes.
Mercy and their mother pushed through the crowd, relying on their relatively nimble movements and a bit of luck to grab some compressed biscuits, a few cans of meat, several vacuum-sealed packs of dried vegetables, and two cases of drinking water.
At checkout, the astronomical price made their mother’s hands tremble.
It nearly drained the family’s entire liquid savings.
Clutching their hard-won supplies, they ran almost all the way home.
The moment they shut the door behind them, both leaned against it, gasping for breath, as if they had just returned from a battlefield.
“Terrifying…” their mother said, still shaken.
“Those people…
they were like madmen.” Mercy said nothing.
She silently organized the supplies.
She knew this was only the beginning.
The days that followed confirmed her fears.
Though the Antimatter Legion’s offensive was temporarily held at the outskirts of the major cities, the planet’s ecology and economy had already suffered devastating damage.
Power and water cuts became routine.
Communications were intermittent.
News broadcasts reported nothing but which districts had been destroyed and the rising death toll.
Food prices had soared to astronomical levels, and even at those prices, there was nothing to buy.
Their mother tried to go out again to scavenge, but not only had prices spiraled out of control, public order had deteriorated sharply.
Robberies and thefts were common.
After one near-miss where they almost lost the last of their food, their mother no longer dared to venture out.
The family of four, relying on what little they had managed to hoard, rationed their supplies and struggled to survive.
Days passed.
Hope seemed to dwindle along with their food stores.
The atmosphere at home grew increasingly oppressive.
Robin often lay awake at night, hungry, asking in a small voice, “Sister, do we have anything left to eat?” Sunday grew even more silent, often staring out the window at the ruins outside, lost in thought.
Their mother visibly deteriorated, the light in her eyes slowly fading.
Finally, the last can was opened, and the last crumbs of biscuits were carefully shared.
Their mother stared at the empty storage cupboard, a look of utter despair on her face.
“Mom…” Robin tugged at her mother’s sleeve, her voice weak.
Sunday bowed his head, his fists clenched.
In that suffocating silence, Mercy stood up.
Her face held no panic, only a quiet resolve.
“Mom, Robin, Sunday.
Follow me.” She walked toward the small door leading to the yard.
“Mercy?
But outside…” their mother tried to stop her.
“It’s fine.
It’s just the yard.” Mercy cut her off, her tone leaving no room for argument.
The three followed her to the yard in confusion.
Due to the Stellaron’s influence and the war, most of the flowers and plants had withered, leaving only desolation.
Mercy ignored all of it and walked directly to a corner of the yard.
It looked like nothing more than ordinary, slightly compacted soil.
Under the bewildered gazes of their mother, Sunday, and Robin, Mercy crouched down and began to dig with her hands, discreetly channeling a fraction of her [Martial Artist] power.
The earth gave way easily.
Soon, her fingers touched something hard and cold.
She worked faster, and a corner of a sealed metal box emerged, stamped with the words “Military Compressed Biscuits.” “This…?!” Their mother covered her mouth, her eyes filled with disbelief.
Sunday’s pupils contracted sharply.
He seemed to understand something, his gaze sharpening as he looked at Mercy.
Mercy did not stop.
She moved to another spot and continued digging.
A second box appeared, labeled “High-Energy Canned Meat.” A third, “Pure Drinking Water (24 bottles/case).” A fourth, a fifth…
One by one, boxes were unearthed from what had seemed like an ordinary patch of earth, neatly arranged.
Food.
Water.
Even a small first-aid kit and several boxes of water purification tablets.
In no time, a small mountain of supplies stood in the corner of the yard.
It was enough to sustain the whole family for a considerable time.
Robin stared at the sudden “treasure,” her little mouth hanging open in astonishment, forgetting her hunger.
Their mother wept openly, too moved to speak.
She looked from the supplies to Mercy, as if witnessing a miracle.
Sunday walked over to Mercy.
His gaze swept across the supplies, then settled on her face, smudged with dirt yet eerily calm.
He recalled all the times she had gone out for no apparent reason, her focus on supermarkets and maps…
All the pieces clicked into place.
His voice was a little hoarse, carrying a quiet, profound realization.
“Sister…
this is why you were always going out before?
You…
you knew this was coming?” Mercy straightened up and brushed the dirt from her hands.
She met Sunday’s complicated gaze.
She did not confirm or deny.
She just gave a tired but resolute smile.
“Right now, we don’t have to go hungry anymore.”