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The main reason was that the rumors had been spreading until almost half the empire was discussing them, yet not a single official imperial account had come out to deny them. Even the official account that promoted the Soulmate System on the short-video app and was usually active in the comments had, unusually, left recent comments unanswered.

It was completely different from previous rumor posts!

The onlookers perked up. Some even turned into Holmes, digging into just who the original poster who had dropped the hints was talking about.

Then, guided by certain people, the netizens gradually zeroed in on Boss Chen.

[Floor 297999: No way. I think a heaven-sent match like that would be wasted on a scumbag like him!!!]

[Floor 370331: Which Boss Chen? Uh, not that greasy middle-aged guy who was taken to court recently, right?]

[Floor 381121: Holy shit! He happens to live in the same city as me. I was wondering why he'd been looking so pleased with himself and full of vigor these past few days. So that's why?! Oh god, even someone like him gets a chosen lover. I'm 25 this year, so why don't I even have a 65% match!!]

Amid all the wailing and skepticism, Xu Qingran noticed an inconspicuous comment.

[Floor 416998: Uh, well, I actually have a friend on that team. But why is the version I heard different?]

[The empire's rules are strict, so a lot of things aren't easy to disclose. I kept asking him for ages before he was willing to tell me a tiny bit. One of the people involved is connected to the original poster, that's true, but I heard the other one wasn't Boss Chen. It was someone from a major family, like the Shen, Xie, Lin, or Su families... You're all discussing this so convincingly that I'm starting to wonder if my friend lied to me.]

Among the many netizens replying, only a few noticed him.

They even tagged him, saying, "Hahaha, your friend must have lied to you. There aren't many people from major families with such rotten reputations, are there?"

"If it really were one of those families, word would have spread everywhere already. Let me put it this way: if the match really came from one of those major families, I'll let you use my head as a stool!"

"They've been milking those families for gossip for decades. I might have believed it before, but I've grown up now. I'm not taking the bait!"

Xu Qingran casually liked the comment from the person who had offered his head as a stool, then turned off the light screen and took out the charging equipment inside as well.

As he did so, he accidentally pulled a small object out from the back of the drawer, and it tumbled onto the floor.

He bent down to pick it up and discovered it was a model that looked like Ultraman.

It was small, about the size of his palm, and looked grimy, with one arm missing. Compared with the one in his memory, though, the round jewel on its chest had been replaced by a lightning symbol.

Xu Qingran gently brushed his thumb over the symbol on his chest.

In a daze, he returned to a day long ago.

Under a gloomy sky, crowds of people were walking across an iron bridge over a great river, migrating.

Two children of nearly the same age walked among the crowd, with no other adults accompanying them. They could only hold hands tightly and look after each other amid the press of people.

The boy was suddenly bumped by a passerby. The model in his arms fell to the ground and was trampled to pieces before he could pick it up.

His round eyes went wide. He stopped walking and burst into tears.

The pedestrians around them were all in a hurry. With the apocalypse upon them, no one would spare extra attention for a child they didn't know.

Only when the girl walking in front of him heard him did she realize he had fallen behind. She hurried back, and when nothing she said could persuade him to move, she angrily held his cheeks and snapped, "Brother, wake up! There's no light in this world, and there's no Ultraman!"

"Mom and Dad are gone too."

Her almond-shaped eyes were red and filled with tears, yet they held a stubborn resolve. "So if you still won't follow me properly, you won't even have a little sister anymore!"

Chapter 16: Moving

The room's dark gray curtains had finally been drawn open today. Warm sunlight slipped through the window, and a small portion seemed to be drawn to the figure in the room, quietly falling over him.

The coldness in Xu Qingran's eyes seemed to melt a little in the sunlight, growing softer.

In his previous life, he had a younger sister who was born on the same day as him. Her name was Xu Qingyao.

He often thought that perhaps he hadn't followed closely or well enough after all, and that was why she had disappeared in the end.

Xu Qingran came back to his senses, and a layer of coldness quickly settled over his eyes again, as though the hint of softness from a few seconds ago had been an illusion.

Holding the toy with one arm broken off, he suddenly smiled faintly and murmured, "Do you want to become the light of justice?"

He had packed his things and was just about to go downstairs and leave when someone else arrived at the house.

He recognized the voice at once as Xu Qing'an's. "Dad, whose car is parked outside? Why does it have the Golden Wing emblem on it?"

Father Xu didn't know. "What car?"

He didn't pay it much attention and continued, "Ah, it's rare for you and Lu Cheng to come over together, but I just suddenly received a call from the Imperial Government Affairs Office asking me to go there in person."

Xu Qing'an was puzzled. "What happened? Is it something important?"

Father Xu replied, "I don't know. They only said it had to do with the Xu Family. Qing'an, take a look for me. Which department does the Government Affairs Office address they sent me belong to?"

Downstairs fell quiet for a brief moment, then Xu Qing'an exclaimed in surprise, "This is... the Soulmate System headquarters!"

Xu Qing'an returned the phone displaying the official government office address to Father Xu, looking conflicted. "Dad, I recently heard some things from my friends."

"They all said the soul information sample Brother gave some time ago was successfully matched with Boss Chen from the Golden Wing Camp, and that it was over 98%. I thought they were joking, but now you've suddenly received a meeting notice from the Soulmate headquarters. Could it really have something to do with Brother..."

The moment Father Xu heard the name Boss Chen, he flew into a rage. "What kind of joke is that?!"

"A scumbag like Chen Shengfei thinks he's worthy of being connected to my Xu Family?!"

When Lu Cheng came in from outside, he found the Xu Family members in a solemn mood.