The school bus drove through streets that seemed to have been "copied and pasted" without end for the entire night. A total of 37 orphans—22 boys and 15 girls—were picked up.
Yi Chen leaned against the window, watching the similar buildings constantly flash past without feeling the slightest bit sleepy. The thought of returning to the Orphanage in this way excited him so much that he could not sleep at all.
The night passed,
The postman's voice echoed through the school bus via the speakers, as if a needle had been driven into everyone's ears. Some of the orphans who had already fallen asleep were forcibly awakened.
"First, congratulations on standing out from among the many 'Child Forms.' Quite a few of you are about to turn ten. We have a rule here: if you turn ten without breaking free from the restraints of your birth family, you will be classified as a defective product and consumed by the family from within.
"Next, you will be heading to the important regional Orphanage. Due to the secrecy of the route, you need to sleep for a little while."
The postman pulled a gas mask from inside his top hat and put it on, then pressed a green button.
Hiss~ A thick green mist poured out from every section, quickly filling the entire cabin. Every orphan, including Yuehen, fell unconscious within seconds.
Everyone knew this was a necessary process. It was not dangerous, and the hypnotic gas would help them enter a deep sleep, quickly recovering from the fatigue of "Leaving Home."
A minute passed,
When the gas concentration reached an extremely high level, the postman checked the cabin through the rearview mirror, only to find that the boy by the window in the last row was still wide awake, staring outside.