“Law is terrifyingly mild lately.”

“Law is⁠⁠‌⁠​⁠‌‌⁠‌⁠​‍‌‍​⁠‍⁠‍​‍⁠‌ terrifyingly mild lately.”

“Tell me about it. His face and aura are the same as always, but the ‘vibe’ has shifted without a sound.”

The emergency “Post-Disaster New Life Group” occupied an entire floor of the former Black Tower office area. Former high-level officers had all become busy staff members, recording endless reports and making non-stop calls, only finding time to chat during coffee breaks.

“My dorm mate says the shift is because he suddenly started doing a lot of ‘ordinary person’ things.”

“Like what?”

“He never used to drink hot tea, let alone hot milk tea. And he never used to dazedly stare out the window.”

“True… and I never saw him eat snacks before.”

“Yeah, when I went to the waiting area to call him just now, he was eating cookies and smiling at the packaging.”

“Shh, I heard Law spent a ton of combat merit points on weird stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“A guitar, sheet music, vinyl records, bread baking books, a toaster, red wine, couple’s pajamas, a nightlight shaped like a loaf of bread, rabbit and octopus throw pillows…”

“Some of that must be for Corner… I mean, for An Yu, right?”

“Not necessarily. I heard An Yu cashes out all his points and refuses to buy anything useless. An Yu even said—”

The conversation cut off abruptly. Qin Zhilu, having finished his paperwork, walked past the breakroom and tossed an empty cookie bag into the trash. As the two went silent in awkward smiles, they saw Qin Zhilu peel a sticker off the bag before throwing it away, casually sticking it onto his palm.

It was an ordinary sticker, a marker doodle of a loaf of bread with a vacant, dazed expression.

Qin Zhilu recognized the receptionist from earlier and said, “If there are any other procedures, please contact me directly. Don’t disturb An Yu, and don’t delegate to that AI he raised. That thing has no sense of timing.”

The staff member gaped. “Ah—right! Understood!”

“Thanks.”

Qin Zhilu dropped those two words, smiled, and strode away. Only then did the two realize what the biggest change was.

“The clothes!”

“The gloves!” they exclaimed simultaneously.

The leather gloves Qin Zhilu had worn for over a decade were gone. Before An Yu, almost no one had seen his hands. Even just now, they only dared to steal a quick glance at those long, elegant hands before immediately looking away.

It was as if looking was taboo.

The black trench coat that seemed welded to his body for years was also gone. In the chill of early spring, Qin Zhilu wore a soft, dark gray sweater and a matching wool overcoat.

“Is the person who came back that day really still him? What exactly happened in the Dark Wasteland?”

“I don’t dare ask. We don’t have the clearance anyway.”

“So is he really safe now? Sorry, I know it’s offensive to ask…”

“You can rest easy on that. He’s safe.”

“The fact that no one in the Black Tower asks about the truth… it makes me feel uneasy.”

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Someone had indeed asked, but that “person” was no longer there.

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The first voice was familiar; it was the late General Qin Zheng—

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The dissenting voice came from a former top scientist at Brain, who had died of infection during the aberration experiments ten years ago.

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“Yes. No matter how lost and desperate we are now, this snowstorm will surely end at some point in the future. Humanity must have this faith.”

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“When its analysis determines that humanity has truly reached the dawn, when the baton of decision-making can be safely handed back from the AI to civilization; when the friction of humanity and emotion against rationality no longer threatens the survival of all mankind; and when every step people take has the space to be allowed to make mistakes.”

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After the recording finished, High Peak remained silent for a long time.

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The silent farewell shook everyone in the Black Tower to the core. That night, the lights of the Black Tower stayed on until dawn; no one slept.

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The silence of the Black Tower was deafening.

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An Yu frowned, processing this for a moment. “So? They’re already dead… no, they’ve already logged out.”

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“Anyway, just calculate the price and email the bill to me.” An Yu gave them a small smile. “I need to be alone for a few days to soothe the Commander’s emotions. My reply might be a bit slow, but I definitely won’t skip out on the bill. Please don’t mind.”

The crowd watched in silence as he tucked the computer under his arm and stepped out the door, only for him to turn back one more time.

“Actually, send the bill to my Commander,” An Yu changed his mind. “But address the greeting at the start to my name, like you accidentally sent it to the wrong person. You understand it, right?”

“……”

No one answered. Silence was the final grace of the Black Tower.

“Thank you.” An Yu let out a breath and muttered to himself, “My merit points happen to be a round number.”

The memory of a few days ago ended with An Yu’s brisk departure.

Two members of the New Life Group looked at each other for a moment and simultaneously felt a shiver.

“Let’s go, let’s go. Back to work.”

“Don’t think about it, don’t think about it. Don’t dare to think about it…”

Qin Zhilu returned to the Spire.

In just a few days, the Spire had mostly been emptied up. Protectors had found their own paths and left, especially the large contingent from the middle and lower ranks of the Ladder.

Qin Zhilu’s elevator stopped a few extra times. He personally delivered a large bag of new items from the bakery to Bo and An Ning, Deep Reverence and Chao Wu, and Tang Feng and Grape. He also handed two buns to Jiang Xiao to shoo him away before he could harass An Yu, and only then returned to the room.

An Yu hadn’t woken up yet. The temperature in the room was comfortable, and he was sleeping steadily and contentedly.

Because they had just “finished,” he wasn’t wearing pajamas. He only had a corner of the quilt draped over his waist, sleeping curled up with his back to the door, revealing a large area of marks trailing from his spine down to his hips.

As Qin Zhilu closed the door, the body finally stirred.

However, An Yu pulled the quilt over his head with a “whoosh,” covering himself from head to toe like a rabbit shrinking into the grass.

“It still hurts.”

He grumbled indistinctly from under the covers. “No more. Please leave.”

Qin Zhilu looked down and smiled.

“I’ve submitted the forms for you.”

A few seconds later, the quilt covering his head was thrown back with another “whoosh.” An Yu turned his head to look at him. “Where are we going?”

“Nowhere.”

Qin Zhilu walked to the bedside, leaned down, and kissed the tip of his ear.

“We’re staying right here.”

“Is the Main City not being dismantled?”

“Let them dismantle it.”

“Then what will this place become? A city or…”

“Who cares what it becomes.”

Qin Zhilu gently nipped An Yu’s earlobe, watching with satisfaction as those golden eyes lost focus for a moment.

“Your bakery is here. You can’t leave, and neither can I.”