fireworks
Shura and Jiangping led their men in an emergency evacuation from the camp. Shanong silently carried his bag and walked in the opposite direction from the main force, looking down at the former camp, which had now become another member of the ruins.
"Is something wrong?" Gu Yan asked, feeling uneasy, because he thought Shanong's behavior was a bit strange.
"This is none of your business. Please hurry up and leave. This place is about to explode." Shannon paused, feeling that lifting his foot was even more difficult, as if a thousand-pound stone was pressing down on it.
"you……"
"Let's go."
Shannon slung his backpack over his shoulder and jumped into the entrance.
"Aren't you leaving yet? If the guards come, I won't save you two brats."
Shannon's tone was completely flat, as it was most of the time, but this time was a little different. She was covered in ashes, and her worn-out dark windbreaker had black holes burned into it by sparks. Only then did Gu Yan notice that the wound that ran from her forehead to her cheekbone was gushing blood, dripping onto the dirty windbreaker and becoming part of the filth.
"We'll wait for you to come out before we leave." Yang Guang ran out of words and, seeing that Gu Yan showed no sign of leaving, awkwardly uttered a sentence.
Shannon raised an eyebrow at them with a rare look; the two children she had watched grow up were now adults capable of standing on their own.
"Excuse my bluntness, but you guys are in the way. I'll have to look after you when I retreat. Get out of here, I don't want to risk my life."
Yang Guang's face turned red from the criticism, and he became angrier the more he thought about it.
"Never mind, let's find that bastard first. He's an ungrateful wretch."
Yang Guang took out the tracker, and a small dot was flashing on the screen.
"Although I don't know who her boss is, this boss is far too careless. How could she let an idiot work for her?" he said disdainfully.
A micro-tracking chip was sewn into the wound—a most basic procedure, yet Liwen was completely unprepared. If she hadn't finally taken action this time, he would almost have thought he had wronged her.
"Wait till I catch up with you, I'll chop you up and use the broth as fertilizer." Yang Guang gritted his teeth and chased after the coordinates.
"And you? Why are you still here?" Shannon clicked his tongue impatiently.
Gu Yan knew that she never wanted them to watch at this time, and kicking people out was a regular occurrence. But today, she especially didn't want to leave.
"I'll leave after you go in. The security cameras inside can see where I'm standing, and you'll be able to tell if I'm lying once you're inside."
After a long silence, Shannon suddenly spoke.
"Actually, I've been quite happy raising you all these years."
Shannon taught them to read and write, instructing them in the most basic things. She was like a leader among children. Until her sister died, she became the most silent one in the camp.
Gu Yan never knew what Shannon's sister's name was. Shannon never mentioned it, and Jiang Ping and Xiu Luo certainly wouldn't. If anyone hated androids more than Yang Guang, it would definitely be Shannon.
Shannon stared at his hands, his thoughts drifting back to the past for a moment before he came to his senses.
"Jiang Ping didn't want you to know that the place was cleared out that day and the children all went back to their rooms to rest." The surroundings quieted down, and Shanong's voice wasn't loud, but Gu Yan heard it very clearly.
Jiang Ping didn't let the children see that she dragged her sister's severed limbs back to the camp. Even the burial was only attended by Jiang Ping and Xiu Luo. A dignified funeral? That's something from the old civilization, now reserved for the nobility.
“That android who came to the camp is definitely suspicious. You didn’t spend enough time with her. I don’t blame you; I blame myself for not keeping a close eye on the human girl.” Shannon gritted his teeth. “Bad people don’t really distinguish between androids and humans. Humans have more complex minds. Androids are just machines. They’re killing machines. How can you outmaneuver humans when it comes to these kinds of tricks?”
She covered her eyes and raised her head.
After a long pause, he finally said, "Alright, get away from here quickly."
She dived back into the hole.
Gu Yan wasn't entirely sure how long they had been camped there, but judging from the facilities, it was definitely not a short time. Jiang Ping was always decisive; this wasn't the first time the camp had been exposed. Each time, she would ensure that as many people as possible survived, and she would choose to destroy the equipment that was still being researched and replicated, even if it was about to be completed.
Shannon is already an expert, so it's no exception that she's being handed over to her again this time.
With firm steps, she faced the smoke and residual heat of the explosion and saw the enormous object in the underground warehouse.
It was so close, so very close.
This was their closest chance to success.
Since joining the resistance, she had started to lose track of the days from her third year onward, feeling like she was living in a daze. Sometimes when she mentioned certain things, she thought it was last summer, but Jiang Ping told her it was the summer before last.
It doesn't matter, as long as I remember that my sister's death anniversary was thirteen years ago, that's enough. That day will be unforgettable.
She unloaded her backpack as if all her strength had been drained, and the sudden relaxation made her stagger to a low cabinet containing the Burgundy wines she had amassed a few days earlier.
"You used to love watching me blow up camps while you drank a little wine, saying it was like something called fireworks from an old civilization. I'll show you one this time."
She placed the bottle heavily in the center, dragged her backpack, and slowly set up the starting devices at the four corners of the semi-finished slide rail. Then she returned to the center, lifted the bottle cap, and sat in the very center of the nearly completed slide rail.
The alarm in the conference room suddenly went off; someone had trespassed into the restricted area.
Shannon glanced at the surveillance camera set up high up. A group of dark figures sneaked into the camp entrance like ghosts. Clearly, the prey had entered her hunting area.
She had done this countless times, luring and killing at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, members of the guard team.
There are humans and there are androids.
They're all lackeys of the federal royal family, they're all the same.
But she had never seen her hunting scene so closely before.
It must be very exciting.
A disdainful smile appeared on her resolute face.
"No abnormalities found, continue forward."
"Are you sure this is their hideout?"
"Sure."
"See if there are any remaining clues, and it would be best to find something to confirm their identity."
"Wait, there are still people inside."
"The wounded?"
"Was the evacuation so rushed that people who were unable to move were left behind?"
"Mine clearance complete, no danger."
Shannon waited quietly for someone to open that door. If their mother were still alive, she would surely say it was God's guidance.
She and her sister had no faith, so she knew it would be the lament of the enemy as they were about to be annihilated.
Squeak—
She downed the rest of the drink in one gulp and pressed the button on her hand.
This ending seems pretty good.
She only felt tinnitus and couldn't hear anything. Her skin burned painfully, but she responded with a relieved smile.
——————
Livin ran frantically, seemingly aimlessly, but a closer look would reveal that she would always take the same route two or three times to the same spot. She knew someone was chasing and biting her.
The strange bird that suddenly took flight in the poplar forest startled her, making her jump and almost scream.
Where is she? All she knows is that she has entered the central area. She has no idea where to find her contact or who the contact is.
The plan went slightly wrong; she spent too much time with that group and couldn't find an opportunity to contact the contact.
She had received an address before, and although she had deleted it after reading it, she still remembered the general location.
As I recall, it was not far from where I passed through this poplar forest.
She was a little flustered. In fact, she didn't remember which side she had entered the poplar forest from. The forest covered a huge area, and she had known about the rumors since she was a child that once you went in, you couldn't come out.
"The mission must be completed..."
She gritted her teeth and continued groping forward, when suddenly she heard a bark.
What is it?
Turning around, there was nothing there. This made the poplar forest seem even more eerie.
Her pace quickened, and finally she couldn't help but jog.
Suddenly everything went black. She didn't know what was happening and broke out in a cold sweat. The next second, she lost her footing and screamed as she tumbled down the steep slope.
Where is this?
Suddenly everything went dark, then the lights suddenly came on, the bright light so intense she couldn't open her eyes, and it took a while for her to recover.
Fault?
Without thinking twice, she got up, completely disoriented, and could only choose any path at random to get out of there.
The terrain became gentler, and the branches and leaves of the poplar forest began to grow lush. Someone had taught her when she was a child that the closer you are to the central tower, the more nutrients the soil contains. She had gone the wrong way.
Liwen bit her lower lip.
It was too dangerous here, so she decided to go out first and then walk around the perimeter of the poplar forest.
She saw smoke rising from the gaps in the huge poplar forest. It was something that seemed to be etched into her bones, buried by the dust of time, and now it was seeing the light of day again.
There are people living outside the poplar forest.
She saw a landscape completely different from her life over the past few decades. Houses of varying heights were scattered along the flat streets. Occasionally, a few houses enclosed courtyards.
An elderly man was sitting on a recliner, covered with a thick blanket, quietly enjoying the scenery.
Noticing the commotion, the old man smiled kindly.
"That little malfunction was really bad; my old bones are easily blinded by the light. Kid, did you come out of the poplar forest?"
"Yes, madam."
"It's good that you're out. Don't go back; it's too dangerous."
"Thank you for reminding me, madam."
The old man swayed for a while, nodded slightly, and looked at the smoke rising from the chimneys and the sparse wheat ears in the fields not far away.
"That's wonderful. If my youngest daughter were still alive, she would be about your age by now."
"I'm so sorry, madam."
"What's there to apologize for? Is there anything urgent? Would you like a cup of hot barley tea? It's made from our own barley."
"No, madam."
The old man waved his hand regretfully: "Alright, go to a safe place, child."
Liwen's legs felt like lead, and she couldn't move. The old man stopped looking at her and silently gazed at the wheat ears in the distance. After a while, Liwen realized that he had fallen asleep.
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