My Name Is Ander, Mr. Mu Xiu

"I want to ask you a favor. I have a child here. Once this is over, can you help arrange somewhere for him to go?"

"A child? An illegitimate son? How old are you, anyway?"

Selina's shocked voice came through the phone.

"A homeless child I happened to meet." He Ao glanced at the little boy rummaging through things nearby. He had just spoken with Selina about tracking Mu Xiu, and only now had the conversation turned to the boy. "I may need you to arrange something for him later. I don't know what the system is like here in Dawn City."

"No problem." Selina seemed to be rushing somewhere, with chaotic wind whistling past on her end. "By the way, did you find a metal test tube nearby? The Criminal Investigation Division said Dancer came here to trade a secret potion for 'Talent Sequence 34: Waiter' with a client. It should have been stored in a metal test tube."

"Talent Sequence? Waiter?"

He Ao was a little puzzled.

"Waiter is one of the advanced sequences of 'Talent Sequence 9: Listener.' As for Talent Sequences, that's a bit troublesome to explain. You can think of them as a way to become a Transcendent. I'll explain it in detail once this is over. Oh, right..." Selina paused and warned him carefully,

"If you find the waiter's secret potion, don't try to drink it. Just put it away. The mortality rate for taking a secret potion beyond your level is very high. Also, be careful not to damage it. If the potion leaks, it could cause a contamination incident."

"Mm." He Ao nodded lightly. He looked at the little boy, who was shaking the silver test tube and trying to fill it with water. "I'll be careful."

"All right." Selina caught her breath. "I'm going to find Mu Xiu. He didn't show up at the defensive line we set up. He's hiding pretty deeply."

"Mm, stay safe." He Ao reminded her casually, then seemed to suddenly remember something. "By the way, Selina, what's your social security number?"

"What do you need that for?"

Selina sounded puzzled.

"If I'm asking you to do something for me, I should naturally give you something in return. Send it to me."

He Ao smiled.

"Don't tell me you can transfer money into my Social Security account?" Things grew noisy on Selina's end, as though she had discovered something. She sent her social security number to He Ao in passing. "All right, that's it. If you've recovered, go to the hospital as soon as possible. Don't put it off. Small problems can easily turn into big ones."

"Mm."

He Ao hung up, operated his bracelet for a moment, then walked over to the little boy and held out his hand, signaling for him to hand over the test tube.

"What's up?"

The little boy was confused, but he still gave him the silver test tube.

He Ao carefully examined its interior. It was very clean, with no residue at all. The boy had been playing with it for so long without anything happening, so the test tube did not seem particularly risky.

"This might be dangerous. I'll hold onto it for now."

Still, just in case, He Ao put the test tube away.

"Hey!" The little boy immediately grew anxious. "You're even stealing a kid's stuff?"

"A trade." He Ao smiled and unlocked his Smart Bracelet before handing it over. "I'll use this Smart Bracelet as collateral."

"For real?"

The little boy looked at him suspiciously.

"I'll give you this too." He Ao took out the standard-issue pistol, opened the magazine and saw that eleven bullets remained. Then he engaged the safety and handed it to the little boy.

"???" The little boy was a little dazed. He looked up at He Ao in confusion. "Did you hit your head too hard?"

"This is your reward for saving me."

He Ao smiled and patted the little boy on the head, signaling for him to follow.

The little boy accepted the gun in a daze and followed He Ao out of the building.

This was an abandoned industrial building on the edge of Aston District. Standing on the street in front of it, they could even clearly see the towering barrier wall.

He Ao took the bracelet and called a taxi for the little boy, setting the destination as the Federal Bureau of Investigation Building.

"Want some fried chicken legs?"

He Ao sent the still-confused little boy into the taxi.

"Yeah." The little boy looked at him suspiciously. "What are you trying to do? Kidnap me and sell me?"

"Then do you trust me?"

He Ao smiled at him.

"More or less. You look like a good person." The little boy blinked. "So where are you sending me? There won't be any buses after two in the morning. I won't be able to get back."

"I'm sending you to meet an older sister. Once you get there, sit in the lobby downstairs for a while. An older sister will come find you." He Ao stuffed the bracelet into the little boy's hand again. "Just give her the bracelet when she arrives. She'll treat you to fried chicken legs and pay you the reward for saving me!"

"Oh, I get it!" The little boy suddenly realized. "You don't have any money, but your girlfriend does! You're living off a woman!"

He Ao:?

He smacked the little guy on the head and signaled for the taxi driver to leave.

"Why aren't you coming with me?"

As the taxi started, the little boy stuck his head out the window and asked in confusion.

"I'm staying here."

He Ao turned around and looked at the rundown industrial building behind him, a faint smile appearing on his face.

"Waiting for someone."

"Inspector Selina!" A fully armed police officer walked up to Selina and saluted. "No sign of him. We've sealed off every route, but there's nothing. Nothing in the sewers either."

"How could that be?" Selina froze. A deployment map of the entire police force and Federal Bureau of Investigation appeared in her vision, densely packed red dots covering every route. "Unless Mu Xiu's destination isn't Hope Building."

But if it wasn't Hope Building, where could he go?

Selina zoomed out the map again, and a map of the surrounding blocks appeared in her vision. They had sealed off most directions. There was no way Mu Xiu could cross through without being discovered.

Where else could he go?

Then her gaze suddenly caught a gap in their deployment. It was the route they had taken while pursuing Mu Xiu.

Because they had chased him all the way along that route, everyone had already passed through it. Instead, it had the fewest personnel and the weakest defenses. Everyone's attention was focused on the roads leading to Hope Building ahead.

"Ander!"

Selina realized something. She spun around and sprinted back wildly.

Heavy footsteps echoed through the silent building.

A man, his body covered in several charred patches and barely concealed by a few strips of cloth, walked into the corner.

He crouched down and stared at the darkened blood on the floor.

He pressed his finger into the blood. A faint red glow emerged from his fingertip, and as it spread, the blood on the ground gradually began to stir.

He took a blood-red, writhing object shaped like a compass from his pocket, placed it over the blood, and let it suck up the surging blood.

Bang-- bang-- bang--

Crisp footsteps rang out in the night once more. A Youth in a neat Combat Suit slowly emerged from the shadows, smiling at the man.

"Nice to formally meet you for the first time. My name is Ander, Mr. Mu Xiu."