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Chapter Ⅹ - An Unexpected Guest

On another side of the city where Hydrogen, Phosphorous and Phosphorous Ⅱ were staying together, an old god suddenly appeared on the top of the roof in a strong gust of wind, giving them a cool stare.

Phosphorous had never seen any god like him before. The shirt and trousers he wore were shabby and ragged and the broken edges swam violently in the fierce wind he brought. His skin was wrapped so tightly around his bones that his skeleton could be seen clearly. His throat jutted out while his cheeks were sunken. Instead of the strong and powerful god that Phosphorous at first expected, it was an old god who looked like a poor beggar. It was hard to believe that it was him who brought the strong gale.

Under his bushy eyebrows, two fiery eyes shown like lightning. It looked as if there was fire burning in his eyeballs and preparing to jet out at any moment. However, it only lasted for a few seconds and then his eyes suddenly turned ocean blue. Though his eyes were now much calmer and softer, Phosphorous could still feel his great anger and murderous look.

After a few moments of silence, the old god waved his hand slightly and the wind stopped.

“Hydrogen?” the old god sneered in a shrill voice, “may I call you that?”

“Sure, Mars,” Hydrogen replied in the same tone. “Why not come here and sit down? Don’t you feel tired or cold in such freezing weather?”

“Look brother, I am not here to fight.” The old god named Mars jumped down and walked towards to Hydrogen.

“I think you are," Hydrogen said slowly and placidly. “I could feel your arrogance when your wind started blowing.”

“Venus suggested that I engage with you on this planet,” said the old man, “but I do not want to do this. I think you still have a hot heart and are eager to fight.”

“Well, my heart turned totally cold after the last war. Now, I do not want to fight any more.” Hydrogen pointed to Phosphorous and added, “The fight belongs to the kids, not us. And those kids will learn that all wars are meaningless.”

“Why meaningless?” shouted Mars. “Right now, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, and Uranus are all on my side. And the Earth will soon fall into Chaos. We have a great possibility of defeating the Sun. At that time, we could have our own star system …”

“You have told me your ambitions thousands of times,” Hydrogen interrupted him with a jeer.

Mars puts his hand on his back and walked around. Meanwhile, his appearance unexpectedly changed. The holes on his trousers were miraculously repaired. The dirt on his shirt seemed to fall away. His matted hair suddenly went straight little by little and finally became clean and tidy. For a few seconds, he stopped walking after taking a hard step while his back was to Hydrogen. Raising his head and closing both eyes, he said, “I will give you the last chance now.”

A gentle breeze passed by and brought the smell of blossoms, which caused Hydrogen’s long but grizzled hair to float in the pure moonlight. He looked up to the sky and stretched his arm up, so that it seemed like he was trying hard to find something among those bright stars. After a while, he lay down his arm with a sigh.

“Phosphorous, have you ever heard about the war between Earth and the Sun?”

“Of course.” replied Phosphorous, “It is a very famous fable.”

“Well, can you tell me this story briefly?”

“Once upon a time, after the lord of Earth became the lord of all the planets in the solar system, he became even more ambitious. He wanted to be the lord of the whole solar system. He united most of the potency in the system and started a war with the lord of Sun. However, he failed and was killed by the lord of Sun.”

“I am still waiting for you.”

“I won’t thwart you what you are determined to do,” Hydrogen said, shaking his head slightly. “After all, I won’t fight with my brother.” And he put his hand into his pocket, took out a dark case and handed it to Mars. “It might help you,” he added. “I have stayed on this planet for a long time and have decided to stay longer.”

The old god lowered his head and took the case without a glance.

“Just wait for my news.”

Then he jumped onto the roof and disappeared in the darkness.