Floating Island
The signal disappeared not long ago. The last time it appeared was in an isolated sea near Myanmar. A small island floating in the light blue sea had been hiding silently for more than ten years.
Above the floating island, layers of gauze-like smoke piled up until they were so thick that even strong winds couldn't blow them away. It was like a barrier, isolating everything from the outside world, forming a small slave state in its own right.
All resources are in the castle. The three-story signs separate the two worlds. Looking up, you can see the upper class people dressed in suits and looking elegant and handsome. Looking down, you can see the lower class people crawling at their feet and wailing.
The line where the blue dots had appeared on the tablet was the route he would take to bring Jiang Li back.
They arrived in Myanmar before sunset. With the help of the Special Investigation Team and the cooperation of the Myanmar police, the operation went smoothly. After an overnight deployment, they split their forces into two groups: land and air. The Myanmar police primarily handled the land operation, while Chen An, Zhou Chun, and Luo Min joined forces in the air via helicopter.
The moment he put on the bulletproof vest, Chen An suddenly remembered that many years ago he was selected by the investigation team to perform a mission on the front line. At that time, the instructor said that if he returned safely this time, he could pack up and report to the special case investigation team.
He did return safely, but for various reasons he still didn't join the investigation team.
A helicopter flew over the shallow sea and intercepted the dignitaries who were about to flee. Under pressure, they had no choice but to make an emergency landing on the shallow sea beach and handcuff them. The castle suddenly caught fire, and the smoke drifted towards the coast with the wind. Luo Min said to the person on the other end of the intercom, "Is there anyone else in the castle?"
"Reporting to Captain Luo, there are no more."
Chen An unconsciously raised his head, his eyes fixed on a corner of the third floor. The next second, a female voice came from the intercom, "Jiang Li, Jiang Li hasn't come out yet!"
Chen An's eyes darkened and he ordered the pilot to fly the helicopter.
He seemed certain that Jiang Li was in that room!
The helicopter circled over the castle. In the thick smoke, he caught a glimpse of a shadow that covered half of the body. The angle was tricky. When he raised his gun to shoot, the sweat on his forehead fell on his combat uniform, quickly spread out, and disappeared.
With a gunshot, Jiang Li lost his support and collapsed to the ground.
A rope was tied around his waist. Before the driver could stop him, he grabbed the rope with one hand and rushed into the sea of fire. It was terrifying to watch.
When Luo Min arrived, Chen An picked up the unconscious person and murmured something as he passed by.
"Home."
His sea of consciousness was up and down, and he felt as if his whole body was floating in the waves, sometimes being gently pushed by the waves, wandering between the coast and the sea, and sometimes being swept into the deep sea. The salty sea water was rolled into his lungs, making him feel uncomfortable as if he had choked on water.
He even wondered if he was dead, otherwise why would he see his childhood self.
The foam of the waves swept across the beach, and his sea of consciousness became blank. The only black spot in the light was the shadow of a child.
He approached slowly, the child turned his head, and a strange yet familiar face appeared before him.
He blinked his big, bright eyes, his pupils were black and translucent.
"Who are you?"
He asked.
Jiang Li paused and said, "You."
"oh."
The boy reacted flatly and turned his head to continue fiddling with the toy in his hand.
Jiang Li leaned forward, holding a stuffed toy in his hand.
This child doesn't look like him at all. Although he has the same oval face as he did when he was a child, his behavior and personality are completely different.
Jiang Li took a step back, trying to find the exit of this white space. The next moment, the scene changed, and other voices merged into the picture. There were a lot of vendors setting up stalls in the empty square, and their shouts formed the white noise of every ordinary day.
Suddenly, a bright voice came into his ears through the sea of people.
"Little fish!"
He saw that the little thing had grown to the height of his knees. The woman was very anxious and squatted down to check left and right. "Don't run around, okay? Mom and Dad will be worried."
The boy grinned and solemnly handed the rose he had just bought from the vendor to the woman. "Happy Mother's Day, Mom."
The woman was surprised and happy to receive the flowers, and thanked the boy with a smile. She took the boy's hand and walked forward. Jiang Li subconsciously raised his foot to chase him, but the hand he stretched out only caught a piece of broken debris, and the scene changed again.
Dark clouds blocked the sunlight and thunder rumbled in the sky.
The scar that had been branded on his heart and would never heal was cruelly opened, revealing a bloody wound.
The boy was already as tall as a thigh. His face was sallow and he was punished to stand in a rainforest full of mosquitoes, with incomprehensible human language in his ears.
He raised his head slightly, his dull eyes fixed on the somewhat rugged man.
He really became a fish, a fish locked in a glass tank, watched, driven and played with by others.
Xiaoyu has two lives. One is the ordinary life with a harmonious and happy family and loving parents before the age of seven. The other is the homeless and scarred life on the run after the age of seven.
Time erodes everything, and he has almost forgotten his life before the age of seven, but he has to live that dirty and devastated life until now.
He was thrown into a cage made of thorns by his biological father. His skin was no longer delicate and his arms were always covered with scars.
They were imprisoned like livestock in a dark basement.
A few days later, a foreign teacher came and he could not understand what the teacher said.
The laughter was like a circle of sound, circling around him.
He didn't understand why the kids who were imprisoned with him still had the mood to laugh at him.
They seem to be born without shame. Even if they are locked in a cage and hung up to be selected and judged by adults, they have no intention of resisting.
He was the most silent one among all the children. He hardly spoke to anyone in the half month since he came here. He didn't even cry out in pain when his skin was cut by a knife. The adults were very surprised as to why this Chinese child was so calm. Then they found that his endurance was higher than that of ordinary children, so the betting began.
The game is simple, adults place bets and children fight.
They have a half-month training, and there will be a fighting teacher who will teach them fighting skills.
His quiet personality made him a target of public criticism. He was always alone, training alone, eating alone, and being bullied by them. During the two weeks of training, his father hadn't visited him once. However, just before the competition, a new kid showed up in the basement.
He was much taller than them, and on his first day here he beat up the kids who bullied him.
He said his name was Nan Jiaxu.
On the day of the betting, there was no doubt that his father would bet on him. Apart from his father, almost everyone else placed their bets on Nan Jiaxu.
For three days, he was in a siege-like situation, with limited food and water, and endless pursuit and hiding. He had nothing to eat and struggled to hold on until the last day, only drinking a little water. Of the thirteen children, only three were left at dusk on the third day.
When he and Nan Jiaxu shared the last bottle of water at the same time, neither of them let go. After a few minutes, they looked at each other, and Nan Jiaxu was the first to let go, and the bottle of water was divided equally between them.
The discarded empty bottles rolled back and forth on the ground. They stood together and focused their eyes on the children opposite.
After the trial, they were further trained by the organization, but unfortunately they took different paths this time.
Nan Jiaxu was kept on a safe path by his adoptive father Tai Shu, while he was assigned by his biological father to a dead end where he was on the edge of a knife and had no way out.
He once told Lin Ran that he started killing at the age of thirteen, and since then he had killed so many people that he couldn't count them with just a pair of hands. As his father wished, he had sharpened himself into a sharp blade, a blade tempered in venom.
Lin Ran was the first person he saved.
Too tired, he was wandering around in this sea of consciousness but couldn't get out.
Is he going to heaven?
But that's not right. How could a person like him go to heaven? It would be lucky if he wasn't skinned, tendons pulled out, and bones broken when he died.
He sat cross-legged, his chin in his hand, deep in thought. They say people with too much free time tend to reminisce about the past, but there didn't seem to be much to reminisce about in his past. If he had to recall anything, it would probably be just those three or four years of dull high school life and... and...
His vision suddenly blurred and he rubbed his eyes. A blurry figure was vaguely reflected in his pupils.
The man leaned against the car, lowered his head and lit a cigarette, the flickering flame taking away all the light. Turning back, darkness was encroaching on him, like those terrifying flying insects in the rain forest, ready to devour him completely if it caught up.
He stood up and ran away. The man maintained the same posture. He wanted to remind him of something, but he couldn't open his mouth.
It seemed as if a hand reached out from behind to drag him back from stepping into the light. The person who had been motionless suddenly moved sideways and grabbed his wrist, and he fell into a warm embrace.
The darkness receded, and the frightened man raised his eyes and uttered his name in a daze.
"...Chen An."
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