"It's been all these years, and you still remember."
A touch of sadness flickered in Qin Tan's eyes.
When she woke up in the hospital that year, she was told that her parents had died a year ago, and she had no relatives or friends since.
She was only sixteen years old that year, still a minor.
She was confused.
At the time, someone in the community offered to arrange for her to be placed in another family, but she refused.
At sixteen, it's difficult to fit into any family.
So there's also the option of an orphanage.
She secretly ran away to this orphanage without telling those people, and it was here that she met the old director.
“I remember, after all these years, only one child came to inquire about entering an orphanage.”
The old dean smiled kindly and handed Qin Tan an orange.
"Try it, it's grown in the backyard, it's very sweet."
The small orange was bright yellow. Qin Tan peeled it open, and the juice was so sweet that she squinted her eyes.
"Back then, you left because you saw that all the children left here were under ten years old, right?"
The old dean sighed.
Qin Tan tacitly agreed.
Even though she was not yet an adult at the time, she had no right to compete with children who were only a few years old for the orphanage's resources.
So she ultimately refused to go to the orphanage and decided to live on her own.
To reassure the community, she was required to report every week until she turned eighteen.
"I'm so happy to see you growing up so well."
The old dean stood with his hands behind his back, his body slightly hunched, and the silver hair on his head swayed gently in front of Qin Tan.
The old dean was very old, and Qin Tan could smell the stench of decay emanating from him.
Not far away, a group of children were playing around the princess.
The haughty princess squatted on the slide, drooping her tail to tease the children.
Laughter and cheers filled the air.
On those walls, Qin Tan saw many children's paintings.
The strokes are immature, yet they carry a vibrant energy.
This orphanage truly lives up to its name of "hope".
Qin Tan stared at the orange flame in the very center of the wall, her gaze seemingly frozen.
The fire burned fiercely.
The Qin Tan reveals that it was the work of more than one person.
"That was created by the children from the orphanage."
“Every child who leaves leaves a mark on it, which is how that flame was formed.”
“Those children said that even if it’s just embers, it has the right to continue burning.”
"It's bright and warm, isn't it?"
The old headmistress chuckled, her tone overflowing with tenderness as she spoke of the children.
"Mm." Qin Tan nodded.
She looked at the old man, but inexplicably saw a trace of melancholy in his eyes.
But when she looked more closely, she found nothing.
Qin Tan stayed there for dinner before going back. Spending so much time with these children made her feel much younger.
The following day, Qin Tan woke up to an emergency call.
It was a message from the team leader, saying that there was an important mission for the third team to handle, and that Qin Tan should arrive as soon as possible.
When she arrived, the massive organization of Dawn Central was operating at full capacity.
The elevator was crowded, so Qin Tan decided to go up the stairs instead, only to run into Yan Feng again.
Upon meeting Qin Tan's gaze, Yan Feng nodded in greeting.
The two should have passed each other as usual, but Yan Feng stopped this time.
"Qin Tan".
Upon hearing the other person's call, Qin Tan turned her gaze to them inquiringly.
The other person was a few years older than Qin Tan.
Perhaps the stairwell was too dimly lit, and the other person stood in the shadows, their eyes flickering uncertainly.
At this moment, Yan Fengyu resembled the villains in TV dramas.
"Qin Tan, what do you think of those people from the past?"
This question surprised Qin Tan.
Her thoughts were drawn out.
After the great catastrophe, the survivors gathered together and established the Federation that exists today.
The high walls protected their safety, but they also separated the inside from the outside, turning them into two different worlds.
They were certain that many survivors remained outside the city walls at that time.
So many years have passed, and nobody knows if those people are still alive.
After entering the Dawn Hub, Qin Tan saw some information about the outside world on the forum, which showed traces of human activity.
The marks were very fresh.
This indicates that there are still humans in the outside world.
Those people are called the people of the past.
The old days.
As Qin Tan thought of those two words, a phrase came to mind.
Abandoned.
Those people from the past are those abandoned by the Federation.
There are voices within the organization that want to contact those people, but the internal situation is not yet stable, and exploration of the outside world remains stagnant.
"They are different from us."
This is Qin Tan's answer.
The power of the abyss has distorted this world, and humans who can survive in places ravaged by the abyss cannot be ordinary.
No.
It's impossible to be sure whether those people are real.
After all, they only saw the remaining traces.
"What's different?"
Aren't we all human?
"They are able to survive, perhaps because they adapted to the external environment and, like the superhumans, became a new kind of human."
"Isn't this the kind of talent the Federation desperately needs to resist the Abyss?"
Yan Feng seemed to want to have a serious discussion with Qin Tan.
But Qin Tan's bracelet rang again.
"I'm sorry, I've taken up your time. Go on now."
Before Qin Tan could speak, Yan Feng smiled at her and then stepped down.
Looking at the other person's background, Qin Tan felt that Yan Feng had wanted to tell her something just now.
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