*Crash... Boom—*
Flames licked the sky as the circuitry sparked and hissed. Crawling out of the overturned car, his vision blurred.
Under the night sky, a park by the river stretched out, and the city's dense lights on the other side flickered like a sea of fire, resembling a colossal floating citadel. That glowing metropolis stood in stark contrast to the desolate, forgotten park that lay on his side of the river. He recalled being the one who spearheaded the development of this park a decade ago.
"A failed project..." he sighed, stumbling toward the shimmering lights on the water. The roar of an explosion suddenly erupted behind him, as flames burst from the car, sending a wave of heat over him. Helicopters buzzed overhead, cutting through the night, casting blinding beams down. A voice boomed from above. Across the park, police cars sped closer, flashing their chaotic lights in pursuit.
His mind was still clouded. Blood trickled from his forehead, and he wiped it away as he tightened his coat. Along both sides of the river, boats swarmed the waters, blocking any escape route.
"Really... I'm not even an assassin," he muttered.
Land, air, and sea—all surrounded him. The overwhelming presence made him feel stifled. His vision blurred, yet in his heart, he understood: escape seemed unlikely this time. As a cold breeze swept over him, his thoughts drifted to trivial things, memories long buried. This was the city where he grew up. Back then, it wasn't so grand. From this same riverbank, he couldn't have imagined the towering skyline that now gleamed across the water. But those days felt warm, simple. There was a dirt path here once, where he and his friends would ride their bikes to school.
"I'll build a park here someday, make the city beautiful, fill it with skyscrapers, and we'll all live in them..."
He had declared this dream after visiting the provincial capital, full of youthful ambition. Over the next two or three decades, he fought tooth and nail, like a primitive man discovering fire, overcoming impossible odds to build one of the world's largest financial empires. Even he sometimes marveled at how surreal it all felt.
To the outside world, he seemed indestructible, a titan of finance. He believed it too—until this moment. Standing here now, it dawned on him: this park, his first big project, was a failure after all.
It was supposed to bring happiness to everyone...
Fixing the project wasn't impossible—just required a significant investment. He had the resources now, but why had he never done it? In the early days, money was tight. Now, it was just profit that guided his hand. Reflecting on it, he realized how much he had forgotten... forgotten friends, forgotten dreams, the desire to make the world a better place.
He sat on a stone bench by the riverbank, the lights from the other side shimmering in his eyes, memories swirling. He reached into his pocket. At this moment, a cigarette would have been perfect, though he'd quit long ago...
A hand appeared, offering him one.
Without looking up, he knew who it was. The man in a suit, gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, stood nearby. He took the cigarette, and the man lit it for him, shielding the flame from the wind.
"Thinking about the old days? We used to bike to school from here—me, you, Qingyi, A-Kang, Ruoping... Qingyi passed away two years ago, didn't he? I missed the funeral," he said, exhaling smoke that the wind quickly carried away. "How's Ruoping?"
"She has two kids now, living a good life," the man replied, sitting beside him.
"Oh... right, you told me that. I almost forgot..." He chuckled, lost in thought. "She was the prettiest one. I always had a crush on her but never dared to confess."
The man with the glasses lit his own cigarette, pausing for a moment. "I knew you liked her. I confessed to her first but got rejected... she said she liked you."
"You never told me that..."
"What could I say? We were all busy chasing the future. You forgot about her, and she couldn't wait forever. You never confessed, so she married someone else."
"Yeah... we missed a lot of things."
"You always aimed for perfection."
"You know, once you reach the top..." He raised his hand, gesturing to an imaginary peak. "Once you're there, you realize—beyond that brief moment of triumph, there's nothing. Just... emptiness. It's like, the road you end up on isn't the one you dreamed about all those years ago..."
"True." The man with glasses nodded.
After a pause, he glanced at the cigarette, now almost finished. "The hundred-billion-dollar hole... it's a mess to clean up. I saw it coming months ago and made a contingency plan. It's on my computer... I didn't expect you to react so aggressively. Changing leadership helps shift the blame, sure, but modify the plan so it doesn't hurt too many people. After all, we've built this together."
"...I..." The man hesitated, seemingly searching for the right words. Instead, he simply said, "I'm sorry."
"It's fine. I've always been the one leading. It's your turn now... The trap you set was clever. The company will survive. Just promise me—one day, finish developing this park properly. I always meant to, but I kept delaying. Now, it's too late."
"I told them that after this, you could still live comfortably."
"Leaving me alive would always be a threat to you." He looked up, his gaze stern. "You think you know what you're doing?"
"As long as I'm alive, I'll always be a danger to you." He dropped his cigarette, crushing it underfoot. "It's cold at the top. I've climbed far enough. If I had to do it all over again, I'd want a clean start... free of all the dirty deals and betrayals. If I could go back..."
He smiled and stood up. "If I could go back, I'd tell her I loved her."
Helicopters roared overhead, boats sped across the river, and cars surrounded the park. The man stood at the edge of the riverbank, suddenly drawing a gun and aiming it at the man with glasses. Startled, the man raised his hands, waving at the surrounding forces.
"Don't shoot—"
Gunfire erupted. Blood blossomed from his back, and after a long moment, he turned to look at the lifeless body in the pool of blood. Slowly, he removed his glasses, wiped them, then put them back on, picking up the gun from the corpse's hand.
"I told you... no bullets," he muttered into the night.