Humanity’s defense line had collapsed.

Sienna vanished​​‍‍‍‌⁠⁠​​​​‌⁠⁠⁠‌⁠⁠⁠‍‍‌​ completely, as if she had never existed. But the brutal fissures left on the earth constantly reminded people that the Main City was no longer safe.

Humanity’s defense line had collapsed.

Overnight, these few words became the craziest meme, sweeping across the world rapidly through social media and word of mouth.

Xu Shanshan complained on the phone that the bakery had returned to the state of being sold out as soon as items hit the shelves. Only unlike before, people nowadays could no longer accept purchase limit rules peacefully. When she steeled herself to ask customers to return the extra bread to the shelves, those vicious glares made her heart tremble.

“I’m glad I’m in the Main City. People haven’t completely torn off the last layer of civilization’s disguise, otherwise he definitely would have hit me.”

“It’s not just our shop; all supermarkets and bakeries are the same. Hoarding isn’t a good sign. Is the Main City really done for?”

“Heard someone got robbed on their way back from shopping last night. This is insane. Such things have never happened in the Main City. How could the human elite rob people?”

“……”

“Boss, humanity’s fragile order and sense of morality automatically fall apart in the face of chaos. This is a mental entropy increase of the entire society.”

An Yu listened quietly to her complaints. The elevator descended rapidly. Through the transparent glass doors, he saw people in protective suits appearing in every corner of every floor of the Spire.

“Boss, that person from the Spire… the former decision-maker, you know him, right?” Xu Shanshan’s words suddenly became cautious. “Humanity’s last line of defense. People have been questioning him ever since they discovered he could be infected by non-biological aberrants. Now everyone says the root cause of the Main City’s fall is the collapse of his human will…”

An Yu paused slightly as he stepped out of the elevator.

“For safety’s sake, don’t appear with him right now.” Xu Shanshan lowered her voice to advise, “Although you are also deeply relied upon, the second line of human defense or whatever… but human hearts are unpredictable. Aberrants are a sensitive topic right now. Don’t show your face in the shop either; Mrs. Maddie and I can still cope.”

An Yu felt a heavy weight on his chest, suffocating.

“Anything else?” He frowned at another team of researchers filing in through the side door. This time, instead of greeting them from afar, he strode directly towards them.

“Nothing else, just… you aren’t good at dealing with people, so after thinking about it, I still wanted to remind you…”

Xu Shanshan hesitated a bit. As An Yu walked up to the team of researchers, she finally took a deep breath and finished quickly—”Even here in the Main City, human stupidity is unavoidable. That is a person who has guarded humanity for over twenty years; his will would never collapse easily. He has done so much for the bakery, behind your back. Now that he has lost power and is vulnerable, please stand by him and hold on a little longer.”

“Although doing so may not benefit you, Boss… relationships between people should be like this.”

An Yu gripped his phone, his eyes suddenly a bit dazed.

“Sir?” A researcher asked softly, “Do you have any instructions?”

An Yu snapped back to reality, whispered a “Thank you” into the phone, then put away his terminal. He looked up at the long line of people wrapped in bulky protective suits.

“How is the Commander?”

That researcher exchanged glances with a colleague. A moment later, another person replied cautiously, “Law’s human will is very tenacious. Brain has also made the utmost effort within humanitarian limits to assist him in maintaining his will. But regrettably, we cannot eliminate the impact on his mental power. Although the decline is slow, his mental power is still gradually draining away.”

An Yu’s heart tightened, and he asked in a low voice, “Is he resisting all the time?”

“Yes.” The researcher nodded hurriedly. “Law is a Protector with a tenacious will.”

Protector.

An Yu chewed on the meaning of this title.

He found that humans living at the top of society indeed, as Ling Qiu said, carefully organized every word and sentence. Those seemingly casual words often revealed their stance. They would use language to pave the way for subsequent actions and leave a way out for themselves.

Another researcher said gravely, “You should be aware of the allegory of District 95. Law carries the main body of the chaos that descended back then. No offense, but he is essentially no different from those Super-Aberrants. But because he is more complete and massive, he has been dormant for so many years. Unfortunately, Sienna awakened him this time. This is not only his calamity but also humanity’s calamity.”

An Yu gazed at that person. “Protector, human. So, what are you trying to explain?”

That person paused. “No one questions Qin Zhilu’s loyalty; he will always deserve our respect. But, if even someone with a will as strong as his ultimately finds it hard to resist the invasion of chaos, then…”

He didn’t finish, but his gaze subconsciously circled the hall, finally landing in the distance. An Yu followed his gaze and saw the Statue of the Protector’s Oath.

He found it somewhat unbelievable for a moment. “You suspect all Protectors?”

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On the way to visit Qin Zhilu, An Yu deeply realized what top-level threat protection meant.

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“How much longer?” An Yu glanced at his terminal.

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An Yu’s fingers, hanging by his side, curled, resisting the urge to clench them tight.

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The mechanical door opened. The officer remained outside and gestured to him. “Please.”

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Ten minutes later, An Yu finally stood before the last gate leading to Qin Zhilu.

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The researcher nodded. “Of course. Black Tower provides professional training, and we have specialized equipment.”

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“When unknown Super-Aberrants appeared in Bait Cities, did you, did the Black Tower, come up with 30 contingency plans to counter them?”

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“Law signed off on all of these.” The researcher avoided his gaze.

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The last door was quite thin, without any mechanisms.

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“Corner?”

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The monitoring room was no different from the laboratory An Yu had stayed in before. Display screens covered all four walls, and there was a cold metal bed in the middle of the floor. But Qin Zhilu wasn’t here. An Yu lightened his steps and looked at the small door leading to the inner room.

According to the blueprint provided by Brain, Qin Zhilu had a small bedroom inside. That was his private space, furnished just like his room in the Spire. There was no surveillance in the bedroom, only a call device. But once he entered the bedroom, he couldn’t come out unauthorized; to come out, he had to call professionals to release him first.

An Yu approached that door and heard the heavy sound of metal inside.

Qin Zhilu was sitting on the bed in soft pajamas, flipping through a book. Two steel rings protruded abruptly from his shoulder blades. The two forks of a Y-shaped chain clasped the steel rings respectively, with the other end connected to the bed.

There was a steel cable between those two rings, invisible from the outside, but it passed under Qin Zhilu’s spine. Once he struggled with a little more force, the steel cable would directly sever his spine.

Qin Zhilu put down the somewhat old collection of essays. The title page read “Written by Tang Ru.” It was a leisure book recording small life events written by his mother the year Qin Zhishi was born.

He looked over at An Yu. “What’s wrong?”

His voice was low, carrying some helplessness and tolerance. That was the gentleness he only showed when speaking to An Yu in private after confirming their relationship.

An Yu had coarse nerves, but he had long keenly felt the change in the Commander’s attitude towards him, and that change made him very happy.

He glanced at the somewhat obtrusive display screen on the wall.

—35. Qin Zhilu’s mental power at this moment.

When he looked over, that number dropped to 34, then flashed back to 35, changing back and forth many times, finally stopping weakly at 34.

Qin Zhilu also turned his head to look at the screen. Only now did An Yu notice his eyes were somewhat unfocused, like an old camera unable to focus. Every time he concentrated for a few seconds, his gaze would scatter away again.

“What’s wrong with you?” Qin Zhilu asked again. His voice was a bit hoarse as he turned back from the wall to look at An Yu. “Like you’ve saved up a ton of temper in your heart. Black Tower should have told you, this is the emergency plan I designed for myself.”

He flicked the steel chain hanging by his side lightly as he spoke. “Designed it when I was sixteen.”

“What else did you design?” An Yu spoke, only to realize his voice was trembling a little.

Qin Zhilu paused and didn’t answer. He looked at An Yu, his eyes suddenly a bit dazed. Those unfocused dark eyes finally focused again. An Yu watched him put down the book, stand up, and slowly walk towards him from the bed.

Qin Zhilu walked slowly and steadily, showing no sign of wretchedness, nor letting the steel cable behind him make any sound.

He stood quietly in front of An Yu, leaned over, and gently kissed An Yu’s cheek, leaving a wet, cool sensation.

Then that kiss moved to An Yu’s lips. He pried open An Yu’s lips and deeply kissed him. Feeling a slightly bitter taste finally made An Yu realize that it was actually a tear that had landed on his face.

Qin Zhilu kissed him very hard, only stopping when An Yu unconsciously wrapped his arms around his waist. He whispered in his ear, “What are you crying for again? I told you don’t just cry because of anything. You should know when to stop acting cute.”

“I’m scared, Commander.” An Yu lowered his eyes before him, looking at the patterns on his pajamas.

“Scared of what?”

Scared of losing the wooden stake tethered to the bottom of the boat again.

Only unlike before, he wasn’t just afraid of facing the black sea again, but even more afraid that the wooden stake would be smashed to pieces alone in the black sea.

“You’ve grown.” Qin Zhilu stroked his back, his palm sliding down his spine to rest on his waist. He applied gentle pressure, pulling An Yu into his arms.

Without the stiff uniform, the Commander’s embrace was solid and gentle. He was running a fever; An Yu didn’t know if it was a reaction to pain or caused by gradual aberrant loss of control. The scorching heat seeped through the pajama fabric. He subconsciously opened his arms and firmly hugged the person in front of him.

A low chuckle from Qin Zhilu came from above his head.

“You’re the first person to hug me.” Qin Zhilu gently rubbed his cheek against his hair. “The first time was in District 53. Don’t know who taught you.”

An Yu was stunned.

He finally remembered that back in District 53, the first time he saw Qin Zhilu fall into self-loathing due to excessive use of aberrant genes, he had hugged this person almost instinctively.

Qin Zhilu let himself be held, whispering instructions for what followed in his ear. He anticipated that Black Tower would suspect all Protectors. He wanted An Yu and Codex, two genetically pure humans, to stay in the Main City to stabilize Black Tower, using this as leverage to negotiate the release of the other Protectors to the Equality Zone to join Miss’ team.

An Yu was shocked at first hearing this. This person was clearly imprisoned, yet he could anticipate everything happening outside. He usually showed no concern for others, yet could accurately predict everyone’s reaction.

“You have to complete the negotiation with Black Tower alone. Of course, I will contribute to this, but I don’t have much say in front of Black Tower anymore. The most critical part is Tang Feng; he will stabilize the emotions of the Protectors so they don’t lose their loyalty due to anger. Once everything in the Equality Zone stabilizes, if you want to leave, you can leave. Go anywhere you want. Don’t worry about how angry Black Tower gets; they can’t do anything to you.”

Qin Zhilu paused as he spoke. “I don’t care whether Protectors and Black Tower are ultimately friends or foes. I only require that they each exist well. They are the last chips on the scale of order, even if just insignificant chips.”