People will lose control in old dreams

Those dark eyes were lost for a rare moment. After a long time, Qin Zhilu finally asked in a low voice, “Where does that confidence come from?”

“This isn’t confidence. It’s analysis and…” An Yu paused, lightly pressing his lips together. “Intuition, Commander.”

He lowered his gaze and whispered, “Perhaps just like 21, I’ve also started trying to compute the information I receive.”

When traversing the Commander’s memories, he had only seen his youth, but missed District 95.

But even without seeing it firsthand, he knew District 95 was an old nightmare. He had been forced by Zhong Ke to relive the nightmare of killing Ling Qiu with his own hands again and again, and had understood that trance-like feeling capable of engulfing a person.

Qin Zhilu’s voice was deep. “It seems winning the gamble against Molly once made you trust your intuition very much.”

“I just feel people will lose control in old dreams. So you ultimately agreed to take me to District 99 because the only one you truly trust is me. You believe only trust in me can awaken you from the old dream.” As An Yu spoke, he opened his arms and gave Qin Zhilu a light hug. “This time, my intuition wasn’t wrong either, was it?”

Qin Zhilu neither confirmed nor denied. Before he had finished packing, he was called away by Black Tower.

An Yu explained the bakery matters to Xu Shuangshuang, pushed open his door, and saw a familiar figure standing in the dimness.

An seemed to have been standing there for a long time.

“Were you waiting for me?” An Yu looked around in surprise but didn’t see Ning’s figure.

After a while, An finally hummed in agreement, reached up, and pulled off his hood. “Came to tell you, Ning and I aren’t going on the District 99 mission.”

An Yu’s steps faltered, as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head. “Why…”

“The Commander was injured protecting Bo and has to go solve the sky anomaly in District 77 soon. The risk of forbidden missions is extremely high. Ning and I decided to accompany him…” An pressed his lips together. “Sorry, can’t support you this time.”

This seemed to be the first time An Yu had heard the word “sorry” from An’s mouth.

He spaced out for a good while before hesitantly saying, “I haven’t seen you much since the Molly incident ended. That forum post…”

“It wasn’t because the Commander helped me delete the post that I chose him.” An shook his head. He held out his hand, looking at his fingers. The giant white morpho butterfly genotype made his fingers slender and fair. When his fingertips touched the air, faint, glowing white particles were released, trailing behind like fluttering butterfly shadows, beautiful to behold.

“Both are forbidden missions. Ning and I chose the side where we can maximize our abilities. We are destined for the sky battlefield,” An said in a low voice. “Although butterflies are fragile flying creatures, my only value is providing support.”

An Yu wanted to say something but didn’t know how to begin. He could only stand there and watch An turn around and put his hood back on.

An took two steps, then turned back. The edge of the hood blurred his features. An Yu had the illusion he was  actually smiling at him.

“Wait till I get back from the sky. I’ll join you on the next mission,” An said softly. “Wish you luck.”

Only after he had walked far away did An Yu realize Ning was waiting for him in the distance. He gave him a hug, just like always, then took his hand, and they went into the elevator together.

The sound of a door opening came from behind. Qin Zhilu walked out, holding his terminal. “I seem to have heard some Spire news. The popular Corner was abandoned by his own support?”

“……” An Yu stiffly turned around. “He’s your support too.”

Qin Zhilu patted his head reassuringly. “Just go along with him. It’s rare to hear him speak so much out of his own initiative.”

An Yu nodded. “It’s indeed a bit abnormal.”

“Ning did mention to me that An has been slightly better-tempered since returning from the Cloud Island, but only slightly.” Qin Zhilu waved his hand dismissively. “Since An isn’t going, you can use your other support this time.”

An Yu was confused for two seconds. “Other? Where’s there anoth…” His eyes suddenly widened. “Jiang Xiao?”

“Black Tower said on the call that Jiang Xiao’s extreme testing at Brain has just ended. The result is: Pass. The Arctic Willow gene expressed an unbelievably wonderful ability in him.”

Qin Zhilu paused slightly. “Not just cold resistance. Under extreme cold conditions, his vital signs will tend towards constancy, but his mobility will be retained—this includes not just survival value, but also mental strength.”

An Yu was stunned for a good while, dumbfounded. “I remember his previous healing support ability is…”

“Conversion-type ability. Consumes the target’s mental strength to provide survival healing. When the target’s mental strength is constant, specifically referring to your situation, it will consume his own mental strength to provide survival healing. So his ability seems powerful but is difficult to use. But now the situation is reversed.” Qin Zhilu chuckled softly and whispered, “District 99… seems destined to be a mission where he supports you.”

Author’s Note: