Chaotic

The streets in this dark area, which is not controlled by the government and has its own legal system, are narrow. Most of them can barely accommodate only one car, let alone an aircraft. The chaotic and cluttered streets and those tall or low houses are serious obstacles, not to mention that this area is almost on the verge of lawlessness.

No drone that has flown in has ever left intact.

There were heavy footsteps coming from behind. It was the bearded man who was stopped by Ivy just now. He came out with a few brothers in anger: "Hey, little ghost——"

The voice stopped abruptly. The bearded man looked at Lorraine's back in shock, his eyes wide open. His beard was trembling with excitement. "Cyril, is that you?"

Lorraine leaned slightly to the side, revealing only a pair of black military gloves. "Sorry, my student was a bit reckless."

The bearded man stared at the pair of gloves and immediately realized the other person's identity.

"No, nothing," he said, "Oh my God, I got the wrong person... You take her away."

As if he was holding back his anger, the bearded man raised his voice and said rudely, "I hope you can teach her a lesson. This is not a kindergarten."

Lorraine nodded: "Thank you for your advice."

The bearded man said something dissatisfiedly in Czech and left with his men.

After everyone left, Lorraine pulled Ivy out from under her black windbreaker and frowned, "Are you trying to kill yourself?"

Ivy said, "I want to be first."

"Is being first so important?" Lorraine said, "You are so competitive, impulsive and reckless. I guess I shouldn't have praised you last time, which made you so complacent."

Ivy felt that Lorraine's body seemed to be trembling slightly. His skin under the black windbreaker was so hot that it seemed to burn her through the clothes, but his tone was still cold, like a flame burning under a glacier.

He tightened his black windbreaker and looked down at her: "I don't want you to be the first even at the risk of your life."

Ivy explained: "I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble - I'm not familiar with the Dark Zone."

"Safety classes in public elementary schools emphasize the dangers of dark areas," Lorraine said. "Didn't you get first place in safety class? Ms. Champion."

"Because I'm a refugee from District 23, and my genetic test showed that I'm at level D," Ivy said frankly. "I suffered severe discrimination and school violence when I was studying in a public school, so I could only attend a private elementary school that only accepts children of refugees. This is why I want to get first place. If I'm not first, anyone can reject me with strange reasons. Only if I get first place will they reluctantly allow me to join."

She saw that Lorraine had a complicated expression.

He looked like he wanted to withdraw that statement.

"I will report this to the base and add a new safety education course for future trainees," Lorraine said in a gentle voice, "Put away your guns. Unless your life is threatened, don't shoot outside. There are many desperate criminals here, and the sound of gunfire will cause an uncontrollable situation."

Ivy said, "I understand, teacher."

She calmed herself down and asked, "I just saw the android taking the child away to—"

"He can't run far," Lorraine said. "Don't worry, the child's life will not be in danger in the short term."

Ivy said, "Why?"

"He has already successfully escaped into the Dark Zone. Here, a five-year-old girl would only be a burden," Lorraine stepped forward. "He didn't abandon her immediately, which proves that he didn't want to kill her."

Ivy took a few quick steps and realized something: "Song Xu and I are in the same group, he will definitely -"

"Someone will stop him," Lorraine said. "That's good. Your relationship is good enough to live and die together."

He strode forward, and Ivy followed closely behind him: "Thank you for praising our friendship, but I'm still a little worried about him. His family has had friction with certain people in the Dark Zone. I wonder if these guys will take this opportunity to assassinate him on the edge of the Dark Zone."

"With Song Xu's intelligence, there's no need to go to such lengths to kill him," Lorraine said. "Just throw a poisoned fried chicken with your name on it on the ground, and he'll pick it up and eat it excitedly."

Ivy: "...So where are we going now?"

Lorraine finally stopped and looked back at her: "Change out of this eye-catching uniform, Ms. Ivy."

Ivy was stunned for a moment, then asked in surprise: "Do you want to help me?"

"Don't daydream," Lorraine said, "it's just for public safety."

Ivy said, "I knew you wouldn't let the android escape, and you wouldn't let anything happen to that innocent five-year-old child—"

"No need to talk nonsense," Lorraine interrupted, "I can tell whether you are sincerely complimenting me or just flattering me."

Ivy: “…”

Lorraine seemed to know this place very well, and they kept winding through these broken spider-web-like alleys. Ivy tried hard to remember the route and piece together a map in her mind.

Children aged seven or eight with different hair colors and skin colors were laughing and playing as they passed by them. One of them fell down, and Ivy reached out to help him. The child said thank you in Spanish, turned around and tried to run, but Lorraine grabbed the collar and lifted him up.

"Hand it over," Lorraine said, also in Spanish, "or I'll beat the shit out of you, ass."

This was the first time Ivy heard him speak Spanish. The lingua flavescent sounds that she had learned with great effort were said by Song Xu to sound like a cat's purring - he spoke it naturally and sensually.

The dirty child reluctantly gave the things in his hand back to him.

It was the memo in Ivy's uniform pocket, a small notebook with an exquisite cover, useless, a uniformly distributed item.

But the fact that the child just now was able to sneak away successfully did not alarm her.

This place is like a thief training camp.

Lorraine left the child behind and looked at the stunned Ivy: "Stay alert. No one here treats you as a 'baby' except for thieves."

Ivy put away the memo: "Thank you, teacher."

Lorraine ignored her.

Their destination was a clothing store in a dark alley. The proprietress had long curly red hair. She saw Ivy's uniform from a distance and subconsciously wanted to close the store, but was stopped by Lorraine.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but this lady's original dress was stolen while we were playing a game - can you help me?"

Ivy: “…”

She suddenly felt that her uniform was a little tight.

After hearing the word "game", the proprietress let down her guard, enthusiastically invited them in, and introduced the products in the store.

On the other hand, she pulled Ivy to look around and asked, "Where was this dress made? It looks exactly like the real thing."

Lorraine said, "Stolen, genuine goods."

Ivy almost coughed.

The proprietress touched it reluctantly and said, "Name a price and sell it to me."

Ivy: “…”

Under Lorraine's warning gaze, Ivy resisted the urge to bid. She finally bought a set of ordinary sportswear and, as Lorraine suggested, packed the uniforms in a black plastic bag.

After leaving the store, Ivy couldn't help but ask Lorraine: "You seem very familiar with this place."

"When you have a few troublesome students, you will also be very familiar with this city," Lorraine said, "...Stay away from me, don't get so close."

He looked impatient. It was like the days when Ivy's period was about to start, when just enduring the discomfort was enough to bother her, and she would refuse to communicate.

Although she didn't know what was wrong with him, the considerate Ivy didn't ask any further questions.

Lorraine's familiarity with the Dark Zone was beyond Ivy's imagination. She finally understood why he didn't choose to continue tracking her, but instead instructed her to change her clothes first.

He knew where to go to get first-hand information.

The two went to a hotel and got a room. On the first floor was a noisy bar. They drank alcohol that didn't even have a label on its strength. Ivy smelled the strong scent of alcohol and she suspected that she could set the whole bar on fire with just a lighter.

No wonder there is a "No Smoking" sign at the door.

"...a room," Lorraine said to the shop owner, "thank you."

Ivy turned around in shock. Lorraine showed no expression and just told him, "Two beds."

The shop owner held a white chocolate bar in his mouth and squinted his eyes as he slapped the room card on the table.

Lorraine said thank you and took the room card.

Ivy hadn't seen this old-fashioned room card electronic lock for a long time. She looked carefully and said, "No ID is required here."

Lorraine said, "Then this store won't have any customers."

Ivy said: "I didn't expect that this kind of room card is still used now."

Lorraine said, "I'm sorry, I don't have as much experience staying in hotels as you do, so I can't comment."

Ivy felt that Lorraine was not on his "period", he seemed to have eaten some explosives.

The room was at the end of the corridor. In some countries, this was considered the last room, which was unlucky. Ivy had heard her mother say that when staying in a hotel, one should never choose the last room, as it would either be haunted or bring bad luck.

She wondered whether to tell Lorraine, but she could already guess her answer - "Are you going to be crowned the most superstitious student, Ms. Champion?"

Ivy decided to keep her mouth shut.

They went to a pub for lunch. Lorraine's black windbreaker and naturally cold face put many people off, but the pretty and kind Ivy managed to get a lot of information from these guys.

Ivy understood when Lorraine said that the android would not hurt the little girl.

Combined with the neighbor's testimony, she could easily guess that the other party must have come here more than once to buy solar power.

This kind of thing can only be circulated on the black market. If you buy it from other places, you must register and report it.

The physical features of that bionic man are too obvious: he is a retired soldier, taciturn, muscular, and has purchased a large amount of solar power and some skin adhesives for bionic men, etc.

Ivy successfully found out the other party's whereabouts and fake name.

"Beman used to go there often to buy milk powder and baby products," the man told Ivy, "and the owner of that store was very familiar with him."

Ivy thanked him and generously bought him a drink.

After getting the key information, she shared it with Lorraine and couldn't help frowning: "Did he kidnap the girl a long time ago? This is not scientific..."

"That's his daughter," Lorraine said. "While he was in the army, his wife died in a car accident - that's why he was discharged. A three-year-old girl couldn't leave her parents' care."

Ivy was stunned: "He has an identity?"

"It's the 'android' who has an identity," Lorraine corrected, "He has Beman's memories."

Ivy understood.

No wonder he was shot.

Humans are afraid of being "replaced".

Therefore, clones that are exactly the same as the original are not allowed to appear, and androids will be decisively wiped out.

She hesitated for a moment, and Lorraine had already stood up.

Ivy thought she was contributing information, but now she realized that Lorraine knew more than her and that what she did just now was more like a test for the students.

No wonder he's not in a hurry at all.

But Lorraine won't help her.

He watched how Ivy found the escaped android.

Following the information provided by the tavern, Ivy successfully knocked on the door of the owner of the children's clothing store. The other party had just got up and was yawning. Her upper body was naked and exposed, with only a thin layer of gauze covering her. Such a plump beauty didn't seem to care about being seen.

Lorraine just walked in and immediately left with a frown.

"You mean Berman?" the landlady said casually. "I've never seen him."

She kept talking about other things, and Ivy saw that she was trying to delay time. After thanking her, she pretended to leave, walked around, and quietly slipped into a pub opposite through the back door. She sat quietly on the second floor until the evening, and sure enough, she saw Berman leaving the door stealthily.

There is no girl in his arms anymore.

Ivy fell down from the second floor and punched Berman in the face: "Where's the child?"

Berman didn't bother with her. He was very strong and pushed Ivy down without saying a word.

Without the burden of the child, he ran very fast.

Ivy gritted her teeth and chased after him.

Lorraine followed behind her at a leisurely pace, like a she-wolf secretly observing her cub's first independent hunt.

You can’t shoot in public areas, and you can’t use weapons that make a lot of noise. Ivy finally forced Berman into a dead-end alley. He tried to climb over the wall to leave, but Ivy grabbed his pants fiercely and pulled him hard: “Get down!”

Beiman said in a low voice: "We are all compatriots, please let me go."

"Where is the baby?" Ivy demanded, pulling at her pants with such force that she tore them apart. "Tell me."

Berman kept silent. Perhaps realizing that the negotiation had failed, he turned around and started fighting with Ivy.

Ivy showed no sign of weakness. She jumped up, clamped her legs around his arms, and spun around. There was a sound of bones breaking, and she landed steadily on the ground. She kicked him again - this time, her arm was caught by the opponent. Just as Berman was about to break her wrist, Ivy kicked him in the chest with all her strength.

Berman coughed twice and staggered forward. He had sharp brass knuckles on his hands and hammered at Ivy. Ivy dodged but her arm was still pierced.

The cold and hot pain made Ivy realize that there was something painted on the opponent's brass knuckles. She hesitated to draw her gun, only to see a crossbow arrow flying past her side and piercing Berman's chest steadily.

Beiman's body swayed, and he staggered back a few steps. He didn't know where he got the strength from, but he suddenly let out a "ah", climbed up the wall violently, climbed over and jumped down.

Ivy wanted to chase him, but the injured part of her arm was numb.

"Don't chase him, he can't run away." Lorraine held her arm and looked at the wound carefully. "Your wound needs to be treated as soon as possible. I have medicine."

Ivy was shocked: "Why do you carry everything with you?"

Lorraine said nothing. He quickly took out a small glass bottle, broke it open, and poured the powder on Ivy's wound. The numbness quickly faded. She couldn't help but hum and asked, "What was painted on his weapon?"

"Something extracted from poppies," Lorraine said. "If you don't process it in time, you will hallucinate immediately."

Ivy said, "How do you know?"

"There aren't many drugs you can apply. Use the process of elimination," Lorraine said simply. "You're bleeding. Stop making those weird noises."

Her arms were bleeding and the coconut scent was getting thicker.

But in the dark area, the most dangerous thing is the smell of blood. There are a large number of stray dogs and some stray animals whose gene fusion has failed. Any smell of blood can attract their attention.

Lorraine poured all the drug powder on her arm and tore off a piece of his black shirt.

Ivy worried: "Are you sweating? Is it clean?"

Lorraine deadpanned, "It's cleaner than any piece of cloth you have on you right now."

"Oh," Ivy praised, "you really pay attention to hygiene."

Unlike Song Xu, he loves sports and often makes himself look like a husky rolling on the grass.

It was a little difficult to bandage her because the fabric was limited and Ivy's arms were shaking due to the drug reaction. Lorraine tied it twice but it was too loose. She had no choice but to pull her under the black windbreaker again and tighten it.

Ivy lowered her head and took a deep breath of his scent.

Lorraine was concentrating on tying it, and she heard her muffled voice say, "I feel like I'm hallucinating, teacher."

Lorraine said, "I've already given you medicine, don't scare yourself."

"Really?" Ivy said doubtfully. "It's so weird. I think I saw your pants bulge in some places."

"Yes," Lorraine said coldly, "If you get closer to me, you'll have even more bizarre hallucinations."

As she looked up, she saw more obvious blue veins on Lorraine's neck. He frowned, as if thinking about something.

Ivy was frightened by his look and stuttered: "Now..."

"Don't say anything yet," Lorraine said stiffly, "it's too late."

"What?"

Ivy heard something wrong in his tone, and he took off his gloves in annoyance, touching her gloves that had just been wrapped. She turned sideways and saw a clear scar on the back of his hand, like a burn left by a bullet, a large one with bulging blood vessels and full of sweat.

"Listen, Ivy, if you hadn't barged into the dark zone, I would have completely avoided you in the past few days," Lorraine said sternly. "Of course, I don't mean to blame you, I just want to tell you that I tried to control it."

Ivy hurriedly asked, "What what?"

She didn't quite understand: "Control what?"

"There is a strong attraction between you and me," Lorraine restrained himself from letting go of her injured arm and holding her intact hand again. He was sweating a lot and his palms were hot. "Do you mind letting me use your hand? Or below; but I don't want to do it with you in such a bad place, classmate Ivy."

Ivy was surprised: "You're going too far with your topic, right? Did I miss something?"

Nothing was missed. Lorraine wrapped her completely in his black windbreaker. They stood in a dark and narrow alley. Above their heads was the cloudy sky and tall buildings. It was a chaotic, dark area without the ubiquitous surveillance cameras. This was a lawless place.

She was still in shock.

"If you want to reject me," Lorraine said, "you can still run away now."

Ivy slowly digested the meaning of his words: "Ah, does it have to be now?"

She said, "I certainly don't mind, but there's no bed, no warm sofa, no human baby strangling bag, no water, no change of clothes--"

The words were not finished.

Because Lorraine no longer had the patience to listen to her talk about these things, after saying the three words "I don't mind", he opened the metal buckle with one hand and held her hand with the other.

The contact without any psychological preparation made her mind go blank. She lost the ability to think instantly, her eyes widened, and Lorraine's dull voice came from above her head. It was indescribable, as if she had never heard such a sound before.

"Ivy," Lorraine frowned, "Don't tell me, I need to teach you this too."

Ivy was about to collapse: "What else? I don't have any growth."

"Um."

Lorraine responded softly and grabbed her in the dark. His fingertips were cold when they touched the metal buckle, but they were hot again. Sweat rolled down his cheeks. He held Ivy's hand tightly. The sky was dark and the moon was covered. The dark area was silent. In the distance, there were the barking of wild dogs, the quarrels of couples upstairs, the beating of children, the news broadcasts from the old TV, and the sizzling sound of frying in hot oil...

A chaotic mix of sounds filled the night.

There is only dirty silence in this dead corner.

"Ivy," Lorraine called her name and asked with restraint, "Can I kiss you now?"