Chapter 55: Leaving the Nest City

The next day.

Qin Wuyue returned home near noon.

As she stepped out of the elevator and passed the unit next door, she stole a glance at Lin Yu’s front door.

Thinking back, she felt a trace of regret. If she had known she would run into them at Hive One, she would have brought her daughter along.

Even though some… awkward things that were hard to talk about had happened between her and Lin Yu, she still felt, in her heart of hearts, that her daughter and Lin Yu should be together. Even if her daughter never became an Awakened, she could at least live a very happy life with him.

That girl didn’t even bother to hide her little feelings, yet that little brat Lin Yu acted as if he had something on his mind, constantly coming up with excuses to push her away.

If it weren’t for that, she wouldn’t have had to resort to playing mind games with him time and time again.

Just thinking about those scenes made her heart race. She took a few deep breaths, cursed him under her breath, and opened her own front door.

She expected her daughter to be next door at this time, but instead, she found her sitting blankly on the sofa. Xia Yanran didn’t even notice that her game character had a giant “DEAD” sign hovering over its head.

It wasn’t until the sound of the door closing echoed through the room that Xia Yanran snapped out of it and looked over.

“Mom, you’re back,” she said, looking toward the door as if nothing were wrong.

But was everything really alright?

Qin Wuyue’s brow furrowed slightly as she walked over and sat down beside her. “What’s wrong, Yanran? You look like your mind is elsewhere. Have you eaten?”

Xia Yanran bit her lip and lowered her head slightly. “No, I was waiting for you to come back and cook. Your cooking is the best.”

As she spoke, she made a point to look up and offer a casual smile.

“Oh?” Qin Wuyue smiled back, teasing her. “How did you know I’d be back at this time? If I didn’t come back, wouldn’t you have gone hungry? You could have gone next door to Big Sister Lin’s place for a meal. They wouldn’t have refused you.”

At those words, Xia Yanran’s face stiffened. “Um…”

“What is it?” Qin Wuyue realized something was off. It figured—the only person who could make her daughter this depressed was that little brat next door.

“They… they seem to have gone out…” Xia Yanran lowered her head and bit her lip, looking dejected.

“Where did they go?”

“I don’t know.”

“You didn’t ask?”

“…”

Xia Yanran had wanted to ask, but… this was already the second time Lin Yu had left without telling her.

She didn’t understand why. She wanted to ask but didn’t quite dare to, fearing she would bother him. She had spent the day in a daze, trapped in those muddled thoughts.

Seeing her daughter like this, Qin Wuyue felt a surge of dissatisfaction toward Lin Yu, but she also felt her daughter was being a bit weak-willed.

She had raised this girl from a tiny child to the person she was today; she knew her daughter’s personality better than anyone.

‘How could a girl so cheerful become so timid and hesitant, not at all like me?’

If you like someone, you fight for them. If you want something, you take it. Even though Lin Yu was a person, the principle remained the same.

Qin Wuyue had always lived by that creed.

She reached out, patted her daughter’s head, and handed her the phone.

“Come on. Call him and ask him where he is.”

Seeing her mother’s encouraging smile, Xia Yanran took the phone. She quickly found the number and dialed.

The call connected almost instantly, but an automated voice answered, “The user you have dialed is currently out of the service area.”

“…?” Mother and daughter looked at each other in confusion.

In the Old Era, such a situation might have been a network fluctuation or a sign of being blocked.

But now, there was another possibility: they had left the Hive.

Qin Wuyue immediately arrived at the same conclusion. Seeing her daughter holding the phone with a pathetic, tearful expression, she fell into thought for a moment.

She then smiled and said, “It’s okay, Yanran. Leave it to me. Mom will take you to find him.”

“Huh?”

Qin Wuyue patted her head. “Alright, don’t think about it anymore. I’ll cook first. What do you want to eat?”

“Anything is fine.”

“Good. Then we’ll head out right after we eat.”

“Okay!”

***

Outside the Hive.

The imagined green grass, lush trees, blue sky, and white clouds were nowhere to be seen.

The weather today was poor. Gray clouds hung low in the sky, and the wind carried the scent of rust through the car window.

As far as the eye could see, there were ruins of the Old Era. Collapsed buildings looked like the skeletons of giant beasts, lying silently amidst weeds and overgrown trees.

Further out, at the edge of the horizon, a black tower stood abruptly against the earth.

Lin Yu knew what that was—a device used by the Rift Beasts to terraform the environment. Although the process was slow, the area around it had truly become a forbidden zone for humanity.

Even if the tower were destroyed, it would take countless years to reverse the damage.

Not far ahead was Star-Ring Town, a military fortress.

This was the reclaimed front line, the boundary where order and danger intersected.

Inside the car, Lin Yu silently gazed at the world outside, which was starkly different from the Hive. The low growl of the engine and the electronic pings from his sister checking the map filled his ears.

Lin Mowei glanced at him and suddenly spoke. “Xiao Yu, do you know about that incident?”

“Which one?”

“The one where…” A flash of disdain crossed Lin Mowei’s eyes. “There was once an organization that claimed the Rift Beasts were a hoax. They said the Hives were nothing more than cages built to keep us like livestock.”

“Heh…” Lin Yu couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’ve seen that online. In the end, they headed out with total confidence, and not a single one came back. I think they were even live-streaming it.”

“Yeah. That decision was very risky back then. A single misstep could have caused an irreversible collapse of public trust. Luckily, the Chief Director at the time was a brilliant politician and handled it well.”

“Yeah,” Lin Yu nodded.

Then, he heard his sister ask, “So, Xiao Yu, what did you learn from that incident?”

“?” Lin Yu raised an eyebrow at his sister. ‘Is she asking me for a reading comprehension summary or a political analysis? Is this really the time?’

Lin Mowei looked at him, her lips curving into a smirk. “Absolute freedom brings absolute danger. Do you understand?”

“I understand…” He had always understood, he just didn’t know why his sister was suddenly bringing this up.

Satisfied, Lin Mowei reached out and ruffled her younger brother’s hair.

Her reasoning was simple: she wanted to tell Lin Yu that the outside world was dangerous. He shouldn’t think about things like “freedom”; only by her side would he be safe.

“By the way, Sis, are we going straight into Star-Ring Town?” Lin Yu asked.

Logically, since Lin Mowei had been suspended, she shouldn’t be allowed to enter. They were only able to get out because of her authority as a high-rank Awakened, which allowed her to bring one person out of the city.

Lin Mowei shook her head. “We aren’t going in. There’s a place nearby where we can stay.”

“Huh?” Lin Yu was confused. “This is the middle of nowhere. Where is there a place to stay?”

“Heh heh.” Lin Mowei gave a mysterious smile. “You’ll know when we get there.”

Lin Yu blinked. He really didn’t know where they could go.

After entering the Zenith Academy, he had indeed gone on exploration missions, but he had never been to the Star-Ring Town area.

Still, his sister wouldn’t harm him, so he had nothing to worry about.