A Little Time

"Green Day?" Director Fu asked.

"Impossible," Ai Qing shook her head. "Even if Green Day knew Huai Shi killed Red Glove, they wouldn't bother with a nobody. Those lunatics are always targeting the Astronomical Society, they're not that low-tier."

"Savior Society?"

"Even more impossible."

Ai Qing shook her head. "He's just a victim. If they wanted revenge, they should come for me. Huai Shi's file is still classified. Right now, besides you and me, no one even knows he's an Ascendant."

"..."

For a moment, neither of them could continue their thoughts.

"That kid sure can stir up trouble," Director Fu sighed unhappily. "Let's just lock him up for half a year."

"He's currently a formal employee of the Astronomical Society," Ai Qing stared at him intently. "If you insist on doing that, then I guess we'll see you in Jinling."

Ai Qing's meaning was crystal clear: if Director Fu remained stubborn, they would likely only meet again at the border court.

Director Fu frowned. "Are you really going to protect him with all your might?"

"He's my subordinate," Ai Qing replied.

"No, he's a seventeen-year-old high school student. He's a junior next year, and will take the college entrance exam the year after." Director Fu raised his voice slightly. "If you truly don't want him to end up imprisoned at the border one day, then you shouldn't let him get involved in things outside of school."

"..."

Ai Qing's gaze turned peculiar. "You're actually concerned about adolescent development?"

"I just hate brats who pick up weapons," Director Fu touched the scar on his neck, his expression growing more displeased. "The more troublesome they are, the more I hate them."

"He won't become the person you imagine."

Director Fu didn't answer, merely remaining silent, recalling the boy's eyes in the video footage once more.

As if finally provoked, the moment he clenched his fist, his disguise scattered like mist blown away by wind and snow.

The unpleasant, superficial smile finally vanished, replaced by a cold, somber, and gloomy demeanor as unyielding as iron ore.

To crush everything with such arrogance...

It was as if he treated death like insignificant dust.

That kind of gaze, like that of an executioner, instinctively made Director Fu feel uneasy. No, it should be disgust.

Disgust for people who have that kind of gaze.

Even more disgust for children who have that kind of gaze.

"Miss Ai, you're trying to put a chain on a beast and teach it the rules of a house dog, but Huai Shi isn't like that." He frowned. "He's just living among a pack of wild dogs. Even if he looks like a husky, his nature is that of a wolf reverting to its ancestral form. Once he's tasted blood, no chain can hold him anymore."

Ai Qing calmly drank the cheap tea in the office, put down her cup, and remained unfazed.

"If you're so scared, why don't you just kill him?"

"Do you think I haven't considered it?" Director Fu retorted. "The night Red Glove died, the first time I saw him in the rain, I had that impulse. I can't accept such a potential madman existing in my jurisdiction. But what can I do? I'm forty-six years old, I have children. Am I supposed to kill another child because he might commit a crime in the future? Miss Ai, he's only seventeen. The juvenile protection laws are on his side. He still has the chance to choose his future... a future that won't harm most people."

"Isn't that more like a house dog?" Ai Qing asked coldly. "Stuffing your ears and pretending not to hear? Covering your eyes and pretending nothing happened, enduring pain until it becomes a habit, passively accepting abuse, and wagging your tail for rewards. Do you think a life like that is happiness?"

Director Fu was enraged. "He has more choices!"

"He doesn't," Ai Qing said. "His surname is Huai, just like mine isn't Ai. Whether he struggles or not, it can't change what happened in the past, just like you and I can't decide a person's future." She added, "It's predetermined."

Director Fu asked coldly, "What do you think he'll think of you when he finds out the truth of what happened back then?"

"Who cares? I won't be surprised by whatever choice he makes," Ai Qing looked at him calmly, word by word. "But until then, I won't allow anyone to touch him."

"Then what exactly are you doing?" Director Fu chuckled. "Atoning?"

Ai Qing's expression was blank. "Just hoping someone will come to settle the score with me."

"..."

In the silence, Director Fu said nothing more. He simply gestured towards the interrogation room, indicating for her to take her subordinate away.

Meanwhile, Huai Shi was enjoying his meal to his heart's content in the interrogation room.

After finishing the late-night snack of some unknown employee, he wiped his mouth and called out, still unsatisfied, "Another bowl!"

In the silence, several Special Affairs Department agents sitting there didn't speak. They just watched him with their arms crossed, a hint of pity clearly showing in their eyes.

It wasn't until Huai Shi turned around and saw Ai Qing behind him.

"Uh..."

"Don't always make people think I don't pay you, okay?"

"...Ah, sorry."

"Sorry for what? For eating so much?" Ai Qing shook her head. "The Astronomical Society has special potions for the developmental stage of Ascendants. Do you need me to purchase them for you?"

"Ah..." Huai Shi didn't know how to explain about Crow, so he just scratched his head. "I already bought that."

"That guy Liu Dongli again?"

Ai Qing raised her eyebrows, appearing displeased. "It's best to avoid the detective's place. That guy isn't someone you can relax around."

"Okay."

Huai Shi, in the Federation, readily agreed.

After the watchers left, Ai Qing finally asked, "What happened today?"

"Sorry, I caused trouble again."

"Don't always apologize for other people's mistakes—"

The girl rubbed her temples unhappily and sighed. "Honestly, I don't care what you turn that bunch of societal trash into. As an employee of the Astronomical Society, your standard response procedure when encountering an attack even includes the option of lethal force, understand?

Don't underestimate the privileges of the Astronomical Society. Even if you drew your gun and killed them all, it would be fine procedurally. At most, you'd get an internal reprimand after going through the process.

I'm just curious—why did you do it?"

"Hmm?" Huai Shi was confused.

"Normally, you would just run away, wouldn't you?"

She said, "Begging for mercy shamelessly, running away when you can't win... Confronting them head-on isn't your style."

"..."

Huai Shi was speechless. "Do I really come across as timid and afraid of trouble in your eyes?"

"What do you think?"

"...Alright, I guess that's true." Huai Shi sighed, scratching his head, not knowing how to explain. "If I had to say, it's probably because I was angry? And then, without paying attention, I went a bit too far and ended up like this."

"Does it have anything to do with Old Yang's funeral?"

"..."

Huai Shi froze for a long time, then gave an awkward laugh. "How could it be?"

Ai Qing didn't say anything, just looked at him, as if waiting for him to continue. After a while, Huai Shi finally broke.

"Okay... maybe a little."

He looked down at his wounds and bandages, sighing helplessly.

"I was scared."

"But no matter how nicely you put it, when you're surrounded by a group of people in an alley, holding knives, and they say they want your life, you can't help but be scared.

I always thought I was tough enough not to fear death, but after seeing my friend end up in the crematorium, I realized I wasn't just scared; I was terrified."

Huai Shi sighed. "After being a happy idiot for so many years, I couldn't be happy anymore, or even continue being an idiot. But what else could I do?

I can't even manage my own life.

Even if I go out shopping for nothing, people from who-knows-where come to try and kill me... Even if I'm annoying, isn't this going too far?"

"Yeah."

Ai Qing nodded, seemingly in agreement, but it was unclear what she agreed with.

Was it being annoying or going too far?

Huai Shi gave a bitter smile, reached out to the table, and pushed himself up. The bandages on his body were once again seeping blood. He was seriously injured this time.

He discovered another bad habit he'd developed after reading records.

While it was convenient to court death recklessly in the records, in reality, doing so would come with a heavy price.

Fighting seven people alone might sound impressive, but being beaten by seven people, it was impossible not to get injured.

"Do you want me to give you a hand?"

Ai Qing suddenly asked, as if hinting at something.

Huai Shi smiled and shook his head. "No need, I can do it myself."

"Life has to be lived on your own, right?"

He finally managed to straighten up, relying on himself.

He put on the coat hanging in the corner. The years-old suit was still spotless, covering the bloodstains, making him look as if he had returned to his past self, gentle and harmless.

"Should I have the driver take you home?"

"I'll call a car myself." Huai Shi jingled his phone, raising an eyebrow with a smile. "I managed to grab a ride coupon today, and it'll expire if I don't use it."

Watching him lean against the wall, staggering a little in a comical manner, Ai Qing fell silent.

"If there's no yearning for anything beyond the ordinary, there's no reason to become an Ascendant..." she suddenly asked, "Huai Shi, do you regret it?"

"No." Huai Shi grinned. "I just haven't gotten used to it yet."

As he spoke, he patted his chest and made an "all okay" gesture.

"Give me some time, and I'll be fine with these little problems."

The young man smiled, nodded goodbye, pushed open the door, and as if talking to himself, softly murmured, "Give me a little more time..."

Ai Qing watched him go downstairs.

She didn't try to comfort or persuade him, though she knew deciding to face everything alone was foolish.

At worst, she could continue digging deeper herself and save him when necessary. Perhaps that would even let him work for the Astronomical Society for a few more years.

His pride and her ambition were both satisfied.

Double satisfaction, double happiness.

It was perfect.

But in the silence, as she looked at the bounty that had quietly been increased on the page for the [Myriad Sins Collection], her expression turned grim.

Two hundred thousand US dollars?

That was a bit too cheap for a formal employee of the Astronomical Society, wasn't it?

Rarely, she decided to fulfill her duty as a superior.

The page closed. Her finger slid across the screen, tapping on the intricate symbol composed purely of triangles and perfect circles at the very top – Metatron's Cube.

It was a trading platform established by the three major neutral powers of the frontier: Tomorrow's News, the Stone Kiln Society, and the Workshop Alliance, corresponding to information, frontier technology, and weapons/tools – the three essential elements for Ascendants.

Soon, the page flickered, navigating to the page of the alchemical workshop that specialized in combining cutting-edge technology with frontier techniques – Cavendish Laboratory.

Recalling the bounty money that Huai Shi hadn't even had time to warm up in his account, her mood became unusually cheerful.

Three million US dollars.

That should be enough to buy something good, right?