Silent Transformation

Ling Qiu​⁠‍⁠‌⁠⁠‌‌‍⁠‌‍⁠​​‌‍‌‍​‌​​ once said that humans, like plants and animals, each have an environment suitable for their growth. Therefore, not every life can meet another; most are destined to never see each other from the moment of their birth.

An Yu had never questioned this statement until he personally witnessed these vastly different plants swaying together in the wind. Their scents wove into a thick, brilliant river, swallowing the persistent snowstorm and redecorating the vast, white world into an endless wetland forest.

In that moment, he was awestruck by the greatness of human technology, which could allow these lives, originally scattered all across the world, to grow together.

Beside Zhu Tao, low shrubs bore clusters of plump purple grapes. He cradled the small fruits, stunned for a while, and murmured, “What does ‘conventional containment’ mean?”

Qin Zhilu’s figure had already disappeared into the forest. In the channel, his voice could be heard reporting to High Peak. “Retaining the museum involves a lot of follow-up work; it’s not as simple as merely rebuilding the soil environment. This place is highly contaminated. All plants must be continuously observed, the new seeds will be screened one by one, and strictly monitored until the next decade arrives.”

“Besides monitoring, we also need to devote attention to the growth and development of these plants. If they can’t be kept alive or nurtured properly, there’s even less need to take risks. This involves an extremely heavy workload. Relying solely on existing research personnel combined with the military department, it’s hard to convince me to calmly acquiesce to this museum’s continued existence.”

“After all, one bad seed almost destroyed half a Bait City. There are 460,000 types of plants here and millions of seeds. If there are any serious oversights, all of humanity and human creations combined might not be enough to feed them.”

An Yu turned back at his words.

Zhu Tao’s eyes were red again, and the hand holding the grapes trembled violently. He spoke with difficulty, ” Commander Law, please…”

Qin Zhilu continued, “So I suggest we put a reinforced cover over this troublesome thing and find a dedicated person in charge. If the Seed Museum ever truly becomes an aberrant Museum, we’ll contain the person in charge to resolve it. If it can’t be resolved, we’ll blow it all up together, just like District 95 back then.” His tone was cold and casual. “As for the choice of person in charge, whoever initially proposed keeping it should be responsible.”

The channel was silent for a moment.

Zhu Tao stared blankly in the direction where Qin Zhilu’s figure had disappeared and his fingers touched the thin membrane earpiece in his ear, afraid of missing High Peak’s reply.

A few seconds later, a decisive gunshot sounded simultaneously from the distance and in the channel.

“The last abnormal plant has been completely eradicated,” Qin Zhilu said, still unperturbed. “Ten-year-old technology had a bad seed rate of only two in a million. Convey my respect to Brain’s research personnel.”

As his words fell, a button sound suddenly echoed in the earpiece. An Yu instinctively looked up at the sky—the sky in the high-latitude regions was exceptionally vast. Beneath the dome, the medium in the air seemed to have undergone a subtle change.

Zhu Tao abruptly looked up, his deep purple pupils trembling. “Dome system…”

High Peak said in a deep voice, “The Dome System’s power supply has been restored. Before Brain provides a complete solution for the enclosed system, Zhu Tao—”

Tang Feng raised his hand and opened the channel. “Before the solution, nothing will happen to the museum. Zhu Tao and I jointly guarantee it.”

“Given the current soil contamination exposure, it’s impossible for nothing to happen,” Qin Zhilu calmly pointed out. “But before the solution, no matter how many incidents occur, the Protectors from floors 199 and 197 will handle them, without involving other Spire personnel.”

The channel was quiet for a while. High Peak asked, “Corner can cooperate too?”

An Yu walked to Zhu Tao and squeezed his palm. “From now on, if the Commander’s missions require it, I’ll accompany him unconditionally.”

“Oh?” High Peak sounded surprised. “I didn’t expect Qin Zhilu could get you to agree so readily. Alright then, Black Tower has no problem.”

The communication automatically disconnected.

Zhu Tao was still in a daze until Tang Feng put an arm around his shoulder and pulled him into an embrace. Only then did he tremble, opening his palm to look at the small nutrient supplement An Yu had just given him.

An Yu turned to leave. After a few steps, he suddenly heard a sob from behind him.

The moment he turned back, Zhu Tao slid out of Tang Feng’s arms, crying uncontrollably, and knelt on the ground, sobbing as he kissed the autumn grape seed tag. Tang Feng also crouched down, silently embracing him and gently patting his back to comfort him.

An Yu watched them quietly. He himself seemed unable to ever experience such abundant emotion, lacking the energy for grand laughter or tears. But looking at Zhu Tao at that moment, he felt as if he too had tasted that embrace.

The first hug from the Commander on that rainy night in District 53.

A private channel notification suddenly sounded. Qin Zhilu said, “Come over here.”

An Yu calmly retracted his gaze. “Oh.”

.

Qin Zhilu stood on a patch of charred wasteland, wiping the gun barrel, which had accidentally gotten mud on it, with a handkerchief. He had not only cleared the aberrant plants but had also blasted the underlying soil into cinder. Hearing footsteps, he looked up at An Yu.

“When did we make a deal that I’m unaware of, that you’d follow me unconditionally on my future missions?”

An Yu lightly licked the corner of his cracked lips. “This was a deal you started, Commander. This is already the biggest chip I can offer.”

“I started it?” Qin Zhilu raised an eyebrow. “Are you referring to me being your healing support for once?”

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An Yu immediately said, “I choose you.”

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Qin Zhilu folded the dirty side of the handkerchief and put it back in his pocket. “What condition?”

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Qin Zhilu’s gaze gradually became scrutinizing. “Do you know you’re blatantly prying into your direct Commander’s privacy?”

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“He did,” An Yu remained calm. “But I’ve already promised you countless life-threatening risks in the future.”

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This stalemate lasted for an unknown length before Qin Zhilu suddenly spoke up. “In the future, if necessary, I will still temporarily act as a healer for you.”

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An Yu’s heart seemed to skip a beat. “Hmm…” He nodded lightly. “I saw a little.”

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An Yu looked up in astonishment. “Blind?”

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Qin Zhilu turned his head and glanced at him. “What happened that day is confidential, but you can remember this node. When the day comes that my will is completely lost, then you can watch if you wish.”

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“Did you proactively offer to accompany me on future missions in exchange for me becoming your dedicated support?” Qin Zhilu chuckled. “If you’re not going on missions, what do you need a healer for?”

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“I’m not interested in your little schemes,” Qin Zhilu said, tiredly pressing the bridge of his nose. He looked back and beckoned to him. “Let’s go back. High Peak said Xi De found a new aberrant creature near the polar regions. The gene sample has already been collected.”

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Qin Zhilu was frankly telling him that he was about to undergo a new batch of gene induction tests when he returned.

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It was a strange, inexpressible feeling.

“How odd,” Zhu Tao mumbled, his voice still nasal, rummaging in the storage compartment beneath his seat. “Isn’t this a relief plane? Why doesn’t it have any supplies? I’m starving.”

An glanced at An Yu expressionlessly.

Ning smiled and explained, “Sorry, the supplies are all gone.”

“Gone?” Zhu Tao’s swollen, red eyes widened in confusion. “Who ate them? Reinforcement supplies usually have a minimum quota…”

His peripheral vision suddenly caught An Yu, and he seemed to understand in an instant.

An Yu stared at the floor. “I apologize. Due to some sudden, anxiety-inducing situations, I ate all the bread Ning brought.”

He couldn’t bring himself to tell Zhu Tao that forcing the growth of over 400,000 plants had almost emptied him, he was starving again and his stomach was cramping.

He licked his lips and softly said, “Bear with it for a bit. When we get back, I’ll get some bread from my shop and give it to you for free.”

Zhu Tao sighed endlessly. “An Yu, there are other delicious foods in this world besides bread. How about I teach you to make something else when we get back? What do you want to learn?”

What to learn…

An Yu was stunned for a moment. Inadvertently, the image of young Qin Zhilu sitting at the dining table, savoring food he had never eaten at Brain, appeared before his eyes.

“French fries, I guess,” he said softly.

Qin Zhilu, who had been resting opposite him, suddenly opened his eyes. His eyes were lowered, as if he was zoning out at the ground for a few seconds, then he closed his eyes again to continue resting.

Grape sighed deeply. “Can’t you aim a little higher?! Fine, I’ll teach you something similar: cheese and ham potato pie. How about that?”

This fancy dish was something An Yu had never heard of, and for a moment he didn’t know whether to agree.

“Learn it,” Qin Zhilu said, eyes still closed. “When we get back, I’ll buy you a new outfit. You have to bake a loaf of bread to exchange for it, remember? Use this to exchange.”

“Oh,” An Yu nodded gently.

A moment later, he suddenly frowned and was about to speak, but Qin Zhilu, still with his eyes closed, said, “You still have to buy the gloves.”

“……” An Yu said sincerely, “Sir, in our last two transactions, you seem to be taking advantage of me.”

“I’m not taking advantage of you for free. With the orphanage mission settlement, my contribution will all be transferred to your account. I have no use for those achievement points,” Qin Zhilu said calmly. “Also, I’ve already had Yan Xi start arranging the bakery expansion. It won’t affect normal business during the expansion, and you don’t need to worry about it. You can spend your time thinking about new menus.”

“Oh. Alright then.” An Yu quickly nodded.

He turned his face. The plane window reflected his golden eyes, which, unusually, held a hint of happiness.

Qin Zhilu shifted his position and leaned in a light sleep. Midway through it, he opened his eyes, glanced at An Yu, and chuckled, “Bread, money. That’s all you think of.”

An Yu didn’t mind the Commander’s mockery, he truly only thought of that.

Midway through the flight, the Ladder system popped up the orphanage mission’s contribution calculation.

[High Aberrant Risk Orphanage Order Rectification Mission] Achievement Points Settlement

-Participation Points: 20,000 (settled)

-Completion Points: 15,253 (settled)

-Team S-rank Evaluation: 50,000 (settled)

-Individual SSS+ Evaluation: 442,359 (settled)

[Points Transfer] -Law has reserved transfer of 326,354 achievement points from this mission!

Perhaps to conceal An Yu’s time ability displayed in combat, High Peak didn’t attribute the vast majority of points to him as it had in previous instances. Additionally, the orphanage involved fewer people than District 53. Ultimately, the combined points of the two barely reached An Yu’s earnings from a single trip to District 53.

But he was already very satisfied; after all, it totaled nearly a million.

According to real-time information relayed by Bo, after time resumed flowing, only about a hundred people in the orphanage completely escaped abnormality.

Fortunately, A-Yue was not an aberrant. Unfortunately, besides Sisi and Jian Xing, whom they already knew about, no third aberrant with retained human will was found.