The Blue Eyes

"What do you mean?"

They were still standing at the same spot and still not moving an inch. It was two in the afternoon, and the sun shined so brightly. Fortunately, they were standing in a shade, so the blazing sun didn't burn their skins.

Blue turned to Jack and answered, "Normally, a company will transport the fragmented overburden material to the nearest valley. They transport it to the nearest place, so they can easily move it to fill the pit again when they're done with the mining activity. But, when we were still above the ground, I didn't see any valley near here, so I thought they must have transported the material to somewhere rather far from here."

Jack fell silent. Once again, Blue proved that she was not an ordinary girl. She could analyze the case quickly and even meticulously examined her surroundings when they were still above the ground.

"So, they didn't backfill this pit because they didn't want to spend more money to transport the material back to this place?"

Blue frowned at the question. "I'm not sure about that," she answered. "That's possible, but there are other possibilities that can't be left."

Jack also frowned while tilting his head a little. "And, what are the other possibilities?" He asked.

"Perhaps they've sold the material," she answered, and Jack facepalmed hearing the answer. "Hey! I wasn't joking! There must be people out there who need material like that. For example, they want to convert paddy fields to houses. You know that paddy fields usually have a lower elevation than the road, right? They can use the material to raise the ground level. That's necessary, you know?"

Jack rolled his eyes after hearing the girl's explanation. She was probably right. Humans needed money, and as long as there was something to sell, they could convert it to money.

"So, it's all about business?" The tattooed man asked again. "Humans surely can do anything for money."

"Probably." Blue nodded. "I read on the internet that a case like this is common. Those companies are profit-oriented, not environmental-oriented."

Jack nodded his head. He was an uneducated man, so he didn't know anything about human business. Before he decided to join forces with Kris and the others, he was never interested in human life. He hated humans, so he never cared about them.

"Then, what's your next plan, Blue?" He then asked again.

Blue couldn't immediately answer. She worked her brain to generate the next plan for them. "Let's go back to Nozheic first," she decided. "We have to report our investigation to my uncle and Brother Kevin first. We also need to know the result of their investigation. I'm sure they will find a better plan after that. We can't be reckless with our next plan."

Jack seemed to agree with Blue's opinion. "You're right. They're smarter than us, after all," he replied.

His reply got Blue chuckled. "It's not about who is smarter than who, but it's about teamwork, Jack," she stated. "When we get back to Nozheic, I want to collect more pieces of information about this abandoned mine. I'm sure we can find more clues by doing that." 

Jack nodded and was about to reply, but then he noticed something was not right with the blue-eyed girl. "Why do you look so pale, Blue?" He asked the young girl.

Blue didn't immediately answer. She also could feel that she was not in perfect condition. She felt her body became weaker, and she almost fell to the ground if Jack didn't hold her shoulder in time.

"Didn't I tell you that you need to eat earlier?" Jack snapped at the weak girl in his arms.

"I thought I could make it until we're done with the investigation," the girl answered weakly.

Jack rolled his eyes again. "You're so stubborn!" He scolded the girl. "Let's go back to the car and grab some food. Can you walk by yourself?"

Blue tried to stabilize her body again, but her head felt dizzy and she almost fell again if Jack didn't save her.

Jack just sighed while shaking his head. He then crouched down in front of the girl. "I can give you a ride. Hop on!" He instructed her.

Blue blinked her eyes innocently, but she still didn't move from her spot.

Jack glanced back at her and shouted, "Hurry, Blue! Or you want me to carry your bridal style?"

Blue's blue eyes widened in surprise. Her pale cheeks turned red, and she shook her head to answer the man's question. She quickly walked over to Jack and positioned herself on Jack's broad back. Her heart skipped a beat when her chest made a contact with the broad back.

Jack slipped his hands under Blue's knee and got up from his crouching position. "You're such a burden!" He said as he started walking to leave the bottom of the pit.

Jack walked on the circled road carefully. He was not a human, so he didn't feel tired even if he had to carry Blue on his back when he stepped up the steep road.

They were engulfed by a silent atmosphere. The wind grazed their faces gently, making Blue unconsciously closed her eyes in comfort.

"Don't sleep, Blue," Jack warned the young girl.

The short warning was enough to make Blue open her eyes again. "I didn't sleep, I was just closing my eyes," she rebuked.

"Yeah, closing your eyes is just the start. You'll fall asleep after that," Jack didn't want to lose and retorted.

Blue smiled a little. She silently inhaled Jack's scents. Jack smelled like Summer; hot, yellow, and watermelon. Yeah, he was hot-headed, sometimes he was yellow and mellow, and when he was angry, his eyes turned red like the watermelon. Jack was like Summer.

"It's not the first time I carry you, right, Blue?" Jack suddenly broke the silence between them.

Blue frowned when she tried to recall the memory. "You mean, the first time you carried me was when we were on the island? When you carried me like a sack?"

Jack couldn't help but giggle. "Yes, that was the first time I carried you," he replied casually. "Seriously, Blue. You were so stubborn back then, and you're still the same now."

Blue didn't reply to Jack's words, and her memory wandered to the moment when she was 'kidnapped by the werewolves. She hated Jack so much back then because Jack was the total opposite of her. He didn't have his own principle and only followed his leader's words. Moreover, he was also a pushover and bootlicker. He didn't have the reason to be stubborn.

Apart from that, Jack was also cocky, rude, and carefree. He didn't have any purpose for his life, and he only did what other people ordered him. It felt like Jack didn't even know himself.

"Jack," the girl suddenly called out. "Now that you're no longer a lackey of the werewolf's leader, what's your life purpose?"

Jack was stunned after he heard the question. He even stopped walking and just stared blankly ahead. It seemed like he didn't expect the girl's sudden question.

After a minute of silence, Jack finally sighed and continued his steps. "I don't have a life purpose," he answered.

It looked like Blue had expected the answer, so she didn't flinch and didn't look surprised by the answer. She just smiled sadly but didn't say anything again.

Jack also kept walking up the road, but his expression looked morose and blue. It seemed like something was bothering him, making his mood drastically change.

After minutes of walking, they finally arrived at the black jeep again. Blue hopped down from Jack's black and walked over to the car. She needed to hold onto the car body before safely got in the car.

Jack could only shake his head. He originally wanted to help the young girl, but he was rejected. He felt dejected, but he didn't comment on anything and quickly got in the car.

The tattoed man fastened his seatbelt while glancing at Blue, who was gulping down her mineral water. Even though she had a superpower, but Blue was still a human. It was normal for her to feel tired and lethargic.

Jack was about to start the engine, but Blue's voice stopped his movements.

"Do you remember the moment when I asked you to fill my void, Jack?"

Jack froze. His memory wandered to the moment when he fought with Blue in the last war. Blue almost killed him back then, but then the girl stopped her action and stretched her hand out to him. She was willing to give him a second chance, she was willing to give him a hand.

And about Blue's question just now, of course, he still remembered the girl's request. He remembered how Blue looked so broken and hurt back then.

"I remember," he then answered in a whisper.

Blue smiled a little when she heard the answer. It was just a whisper, but it was enough to make her heart warm.

"If you remember, then will you accept my request to fill my void, Jack?"