Chapter 6
Amidst layers of verdant mountains, atop a steep peak stands a solitary, abandoned ancient castle.
The stone fortress is weathered and its walls are mottled. The stone path in front of the gate only extends for ten meters before abruptly ending, with the surrounding mountain walls cut as if by a knife and axe, leaving no way forward.
A gentle breeze swept by, and a tall, slender figure appeared out of nowhere at the end of the broken road—along with a large brown bear.
The man wore a plain white shirt and navy blue trousers, casually tied at the waist—a traditional Alpine outfit. This attire is rarely seen in the area, which is heavily influenced by French fries and jeans culture; it's only glimpsed during festivals.
His arms and legs were covered with an extremely thin layer of silver mechanical material, like a modern version of medieval knight's armor. The surface was covered with blue and white electronic light, and upon closer inspection, one could see intricate circuitry, just like the most advanced CPU technology.
The brown bear sat on the ground, like a teddy bear, for a long while.
The man scoffed, "Tsk, after all these years, you're still afraid of heights."
He walked toward the castle. The brown bear was startled, then quickly followed, behaving as obediently as a dog.
A man and a bear walked through the dilapidated hallway.
"It's your birthday today, and I happen to have a mission, so I'll take you for a stroll along the way—the Wolf King doesn't get this kind of treatment."
The brown bear couldn't speak, but it let out two "howls," full of gratitude.
The man looked towards the neighboring peak: "The destination is over there." He glanced back at the ruins behind him, a hint of reluctance flashing in his eyes. He could have flown directly over, but because of this old memory, he deliberately stopped here.
He tapped his armor twice to activate flight mode. The air shield instantly deployed, enveloping him and the brown bear.
The brown bear immediately began to howl.
"You chose to come along, so even if you're afraid of heights, you have to bear it!" The man said sternly, but his hand grabbed the bear's neck fur and rubbed it to comfort it. "If you're really scared, just close your eyes. We'll be there soon."
The brown bear let out two "woofs" and covered its eyes with its paws.
Two streams of air shot out from the bottom of the armor, smoothly lifting the man and the bear into the air, soaring towards the opposite mountain peak.
A minute later, they landed in a forest.
The brown bear glanced at the abyss below, trembling with fear as it gasped for breath—damn, this birthday was too thrilling!
Two hours earlier, the man had received a new task assigned by the management committee.
Despite his insistence on retaining his managerial position, he remained idle for decades. He spent his days idly playing with bears, his brain and special abilities practically rusting away.
He protested to Snow's chief advisor many times, and each time the advisor readily agreed, but once communication was cut off, it was as if he had forgotten everything, and all his promises became empty words.
Today is Da Bao the brown bear's birthday.
He was lying in bed in a daze, intending to drift through the day, when Da Bao barged into the room and woke him up—this guy was suffocating him with his long-unshowered body odor and insisted on celebrating his birthday.
He had no choice but to go to the kitchen and make the bear's favorite pizza by hand. Before the dough was even kneaded properly, the urgent communication bell rang: management had assigned an urgent task.
His eyes lit up, and he was as excited as if he had drunk ten cups of espresso.
Meteorite? Earthquake? Flood? Emergency tasks in the management area have always been related to such major disasters.
Unfortunately, their excitement was short-lived—the mission was simply to patrol Castle Mountain in Area A7. A group of middle school students were coming for a picnic, and the roads in that area were treacherous with deep canyons, making it easy for "kids to slip and fall."
Oh.
Back then, he was ranked as the best in the clan, a once-in-a-century achievement. Now, he has been reduced to working as a babysitter for middle school students.
Don't those children have their homeroom teachers leading them?
Noah had to exert a tremendous amount of effort to refrain from smashing the communication screen.
The pizza couldn't be made. As compensation, he took his eldest child with him.
Sector A7 was the first base he and Claire chose after becoming managers. The castle held too many memories.
Upon arriving at the castle, he saw the group of middle school students.
One of the children caught his eye, and he could hardly look away.
That child looks...so much like Claire!
The resemblance made him momentarily disoriented, wondering if Claire had a twin brother she had never mentioned.
But he knew that Claire was an only child and had no siblings.
It couldn't be cloning either. While cloning technology was as commonplace for her people as printing documents, it was absolutely impossible for Claire—she was wiped out in the accident, leaving insufficient biological samples.
He stared blankly at the child, the longing he had been suppressing on a daily basis overwhelming him like a tsunami bursting its banks.
Even Da Bao admitted his mistake and let out a "howl" as he tried to pounce, but Noah grabbed his neck with both hands and pulled him back.
The sentries' strength is more than enough to subdue a bear.
Da Bao whimpered softly, sounding aggrieved.
Noah took a deep breath and said to the bear and himself, "Calm down. It's not her. Let's just stay here and watch, don't scare anyone."
Actually, upon closer inspection, they aren't entirely alike. Claire is cheerful, her smile as sweet as melting honey; the boy, however, always has a stern face, looking at everyone as if they owe him money, and clearly has a bad temper.
But he still couldn't take his eyes off it.
His thoughts were churning, and he watched quietly from the shadows for a long time.
The day was sunny and breezy. The cheerful shouts of a group of high school students broke the silence of the green hills.
Su Yue was frowning.
On the bus, he was "held hostage" by Mike and kept winking at Martin and John for help—not asking them to fight back (that would be like throwing an egg against a rock), but hoping they would be clever enough to find an excuse to call him over, such as "we're short one player for a game," so he could escape.
Unfortunately, they were both idiots, incredibly stupid.
His eyes were practically twitching from blinking so much that he even used his suggestive abilities. John asked, "Did you get sand in your eyes?" Mike immediately offered to blow it out for him, which startled him so much that he quickly denied it.
I almost got my face touched again...
Then Martin suddenly realized, "Hungry? I brought some potato chips!" Without saying another word, he rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a family-sized bag.
Su Yue rolled her eyes inwardly: Does this fat guy think everyone is like him, a 24-hour reincarnation of a hungry ghost?
Mike "gently" took the potato chips, as if he wanted to feed them to him himself.
Su Yue turned her face away: "I'm not hungry, thank you."
In the game, Fatty and Bamboo Pole are god-tier teammates, but in real life, they're a disaster. So exhausting.
They finally made it to the point of getting off the bus and walking. While everyone was getting ready, Mike, out of "gentlemanly manners," had to help the girls carry their luggage. Su Yue took the opportunity to slip away and hide between Martin and John.
The mountain path was so narrow that only one person could pass at a time. With several people blocking his way, Mike couldn't force his way through and could only stare at Su Yue's back.
Su Yue felt as if his back was on fire—that gaze was too scorching.
I was thinking about spending two nights in the wilderness, but only half a day has passed. What will I do for the next two and a half days?
He was extremely worried.
After a few seconds of silence, he bluntly said, "I like living alone. I'm going to find a single tent!"
He angrily grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder—the bag was heavy, and his center of gravity suddenly dropped. He gritted his teeth and held on. Unexpectedly, he tripped over a tree branch and stumbled to the side.
In his panic, he reached out and grabbed wildly, trying to steady himself.
When she came to her senses, she found herself kneeling on the ground, clinging tightly to Mike's leg.
The two friends were taken aback for a moment, then suddenly realized: "So you still want to live with Mike! Perfect!"
"Go ahead, we won't stop you."
Su Yue completely collapsed.
Just run him over!
Mike smiled as he watched the petrified man, taking it as tacit approval. He picked up his backpack and strode towards his own tent.
Su Yue jumped in surprise and caught up a beat too late: "Mike! Wait, wait a minute!"
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