Undocumented Resident

As Su Qing'an watched the girl occasionally stealthily glance over, he slowly turned the pages of the book with his fingertips, his dark eyes reflecting the characters that were distinctly different from those of previous civilizations.

The young man easily grasped its meaning, for the writing systems of Previous Civilization originated from this era.

Although it has undergone several changes over the years and has become a seemingly completely different version, the underlying principles have not changed much, so he has been able to read it without any difficulty in the past few days.

Su Qing'an actually doesn't like fairy tales.

But while reading Moonlight Prison, he suddenly recalled the book of Andersen's fairy tales in his old room, only this one was much thicker than the thin book in his hand.

When Su Qing'an first saw Fu Hua looking at the sea alone, her first thought was that her slender figure resembled the Little Mermaid from Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale.

She seemed poised to vanish into the vast ocean at any moment, turning into bubbles.

From then on, even if you search every nook and cranny of the world, you will never find a trace of her again.

Therefore, Su Qing'an rarely gave her the opportunity to see the sea alone after that.

Only when sitting beside her does that sense of transparency gradually become ethereal and elusive.

Su Qing'an disliked fairy tales. Even when using metaphors, he would use examples from fairy tales to compare things, as if even in fairy tales full of fantasy and beauty, he could only glimpse profound darkness and reality.

Even as the girl eagerly handed him the fairy tale, Su Qing'an could only read it and then smile faintly, saying, "The story is beautiful, and I really like the ending," in response to the swaying expectation in her blue eyes.

Even having glimpsed the brilliance that shone upon hearing those words, the boy could only offer this level of insight.

After experiencing so many failures, he had long since come to terms with reality. The huge gap between fairy tales and reality forced Su Qing'an to remind himself of the cruel reality that Honkai was inevitable.

He disliked this cruelty but was confident he could endure it.

But what about Fu Hua?

Su Qing'an chatted with her casually, his eyes growing increasingly dark and gloomy.

Indeed, she originally lived through this era to the next civilization.

During that time, she transformed from a naive and immature girl into a qualified warrior, and in the years that followed, she gradually grew into the Immortal Chi Yuan, who was tasked with spreading a civilization.

It was through countless hardships that Fu Hua became the resolute and decisive woman she would become later in life.

Painful experiences could not break her spirit, sorrow could not destroy her will, and what she lost could not make her completely give up on herself.

Therefore, Su Qing'an theoretically doesn't need to worry that she will be unable to endure this pain.

But this is the most simplistic outcome-based perspective.

His intention was to make Fu Hua's future path less winding and difficult, but without these things, no one could guarantee that things wouldn't go astray in the future...

She needs to be tempered.

But... it'll be fine in a little while.

He thought.

Since she will have to face those hardships sooner or later, what difference will it make if she has a few more months of peace to temper herself?

The premature emergence of the Void Sword Qi itself has inevitably altered Fu Hua's trajectory.

Su Qing'an didn't know in the long run what direction this change would take, but at least for immediate security reasons, giving Fu Hua more self-protection capabilities wasn't a bad thing.

One week later, at night.

Looking at the various dishes on the table, which looked and smelled delicious, Fu Xiuran secretly felt that this was a worthwhile deal. Although his little darling was about to be kidnapped, it was almost a done deal that he could hardly stop.

In that case, replacing her with Su Qing'an, who can do laundry, cook, and act as a bodyguard, would be a timely way to minimize losses.

Fu Xiuran it difficult to use a forceful approach to explicitly forbid girls from liking certain people, stemming from his doting and respectful nature.

Of course, this can only be done if the other party has already undergone his personal judgment and screening.

Essentially, this is no different from the so-called democracy in the family. Your parents and you each have one vote. In this seemingly three-way balance of power, you are always the only one left in a dilemma at crucial moments, while the other party always retains the veto power.

The man glanced at the boy sitting upright opposite him; he could tell that this wasn't just shyness or restraint.

Su Qing'an is long past the stage where she would show such an attitude.

The boy looked more like a wild beast that was safely bound in its cage, hiding its fangs and ferocious side.

Even with power far beyond the mundane, he still possesses the patience and affability to haggle carefully with the vegetable vendors on the roadside, and the calculations and thoughts he reveals when buying discounted items at the supermarket seem quite ordinary.

The boy's conflicted expression as he hesitated between half-price pork and 50% off beef was particularly relatable.

His habit of obediently wearing an apron when cooking still makes Fu Xiuran feel that Su Qing'an is sometimes no different from a child of this age.

If I had to say something, it would be that he was overly polite and mature.

Even though Su Qing'an initially seemed clueless about many things, her natural integration into this world was so rapid that the superficial ignorance almost vanished in an instant.

When Su Qing'an talks to people, his few words always make the other person feel that he is listening attentively. As a result, his taciturn nature is no longer a flaw, but occasionally becomes a likable trait.

He also learned the local dialect of this small town, which the boy cleverly used when buying groceries.

Later on, Su Qing'an no longer needed to haggle; he could simply use his facial recognition to get the vegetable vendors to sell to him at low prices with a friendly smile.

This surpasses even Fu Xiuran's bargaining skills—that guy is completely incapable of bargaining—only Fu Hua, in his familiar territory of the wet market, can use his connections to rival Su Qing'an.

But the upright back and the natural, ever-flowing energy that formed his stance made Fu Xiuran realize the abnormality of the person in front of him in the midst of a harmonious and ordinary life.

But he has yet to ask the boy why he came to this city. There seems to be an unspoken understanding between them, neither of them intending to change the status quo.

Even when the group went out together to the supermarket or shopping mall to buy daily necessities and clothes for Su Qing'an, they looked like an ordinary family of three, living in harmony and naturalness.

Fu Xiuran vividly remembers the sales assistant's comment when he tried on clothes. "Your son is so handsome."

Although he understood that it was a misunderstanding, the way Su Qing'an addressed Fu Hua still felt strange in various ways, given the unusual nature of their relationship.

While Fu Hua finished eating and sat on the sofa watching TV, the two of them continued to eat slowly and deliberately at the table.

Fu Xiuran leisurely finished his third bowl of rice, glanced at the other person, and whispered:

"How long do you plan to stay here? You don't seem like the type of person who just likes to freeload."

This was undeniably the truth in the man's eyes. Based on his understanding of Su Qing'an over this period of time, there must have been a reason for such behavior from him.

Su Qing'an expanded the scope of [hidden], and after shielding Fu Hua from the possibility of hearing this conversation, he responded without looking up:

"During this time, I killed three Zombie, the kind of monsters you encountered before."

Fu Xiuran stunned. He had lived in this city for more than ten years and had only encountered it once, while Su Qing'an had encountered it three times in a short period of time. This not only showed that the other party's perception ability was extremely exaggerated, but also showed that the frequency of monster appearances was gradually increasing.

He also understood the implication: Su Qing'an's reason for staying at his home was to better protect Fu Hua's safety.

He said softly and helplessly:

"Zombie? What an apt description."

Where did this monster come from?

Although Fu Xiuran's words seemed like a question, he actually already had some guesses about certain things.

Su Qing'an was silent for a moment, then said:

Do you really want to know?

Fu Xiuran simply shook his head at this, but then he immediately replied:

"I was going to find out sooner or later, no matter what."

The boy whispered:

"Yes, you'll find out sooner or later."

He repeated Fu Xiuran's words, then deliberately changed the subject and continued:

"I will stay here temporarily until Fu Hua goes to Canghai City."

Fu Xiuran smiled and said:

"What, you're still thinking of going to Canghai City with Hua?"

"Unlike small places like this, the civilian technology in Canghai City is far more advanced than here. Without corresponding identification, you are Undocumented Resident, and you don't even have the right to use the most basic mobile devices there."

People without identification cannot use the common mobile phones or computers available in major cities. Fingerprint and iris scan records are linked to identification, and the right to use the device requires initial registration with identification.

Some high-end devices may even automatically alert the system if they scan a user and find that the user does not match any of the records in the database.

At that time, nearby guard robots and surrounding mobile devices will receive information about Undocumented Resident; the former is to assist in the arrest, and the latter is to prevent uninformed individuals from participating.

In short, it's impossible to make any progress.

Fu Xiuran shook his head and said:

"I understand your desire to protect Hua, but it's very difficult to survive in a city like that without attracting attention."

"I don't know where you used to live, but you were lucky to adapt to city life in this remote corner, Xiao Su."

Su Qing'an remained silent.

The other party is right, based on my recent understanding of Canghai City.

That place has squeezed out every inch of living space for people like myself; it's difficult for people of unknown origin to stay there for long.

I am certainly not the only Undocumented Resident in this era. For example, due to historical issues, there is a lot of official discrimination within the United Nations.

This vast nation has gone through several wars and breakthroughs in economic and technological development before becoming the somewhat overly centralized and distorted system it is today.

Many of the defeated nations were extremely weak and stripped of most of their rights, not even qualifying to join the United Nations. Their citizens did not have United Nations citizenship. If such a person entered Canghai City, they would be Undocumented Resident, just like Su Qing'an.

There are many other reasons for Undocumented Resident, and the consequences of being caught are severe.

Su Qing'an's completely blank resume is not much safer either. No matter how clean one's background is, an Undocumented Resident can only be used as an extra to boost year-end performance.

However, Su Qing'an believes that precisely because Undocumented Resident are not uncommon, a corresponding industry chain will inevitably emerge.

As the saying goes, "Where there's a policy, there's a countermeasure." As long as artificial intelligence doesn't completely control society and as long as human desires persist, even the most perfect and unbreakable system will eventually develop flaws.

Connections/Learning methods

That's exactly what he lacks.

And something similar might exist in this city.

Su Qing'an's reasoning was simple: the city's governance was very poor, and it almost disregarded the existence of identity documents, so there must be countless Undocumented Resident inside.

Therefore, given that there is a market share in this area, it is normal for some operators to choose to share this profit.

In reality, there are probably more Undocumented Resident in this city than Su Qing'an imagined.

This is an easy situation to understand. Why can't most people accept the renovation plan?

Aside from basic economic market changes, the main reason is that the redevelopment plan will disrupt the lives of many people. The re-emergence of technology and the suddenly increased control of the United Nations will shatter the peaceful lives of many here.

Many of them were no different from anyone else, but were forced to leave this land simply because of this identity.

The United Nations' domineering power is unstoppable. It's like playing a coloring game, gradually forcing the gray areas it sees into more remote and barren corners.

However, in the eyes of some High Command, these gray areas are merely "harvested crops" that can only be exploited by those with specific powers.

They drain you of all your capital, sell you your identity, and then, just when you think your life is starting a new chapter, they secretly compile a list of Undocumented Resident who have exposed themselves and give them their current identities.

How much time you have left depends on the exchange of benefits among the people on this list. When your information is sold to someone who needs you to meet their sales targets, your days are numbered.

Of course, this is only the most merciful and fortunate approach one might encounter.

With the Honkai intensifying and beginning to shake humanity's foundations, the darkness of the past will only become more terrifying and profound.

Human experimentation would be the fate of most of the people on this list later on.

Therefore, even if Su Qing'an really wanted to find a way, he would have to go through layers of screening to eliminate these fake ways before he could possibly find the one in a hundred genuine ones.

Even if he did find it, he wouldn't be able to verify its authenticity.

Su Qing'an can determine whether someone is lying, but what if that person believes they are not lying but has been misled by their superiors?

The uncertainties were too great, which led Su Qing'an to decide to rely solely on [momentum] and [concealment] to force his way through.

If Su Qing'an is willing, no one in this world can find his whereabouts.