Chapter 154: Missed |
Shi Rang wracked his brain but couldn't figure out why Jack was here.
His Sensing was an active ability. Since it consumed energy, he only turned it on occasionally for a quick scan. Without adjusting the precision, it was difficult to catch the Anomaly Fluctuations emitted by the Mini-Humans. This child hadn't made a single sound the entire trip! If his finger hadn't accidentally brushed against Jack, the boy might have been crushed when he unpacked his luggage!
This Big Guy should have been at the Villa in the Second District, staying with his parents!
"Jack? Why are you here?"
Facing Shi Rang's question, Jack climbed up his hand all the way to the top of the backpack, standing there with tearful eyes.
"I'm not going home... Shi Rang, can I go on an adventure with you?"
Jack's parents had originally followed the mutant Director Bjorn, escaping the facility after a series of twists and turns, eventually ending up at Shi Rang's house. Because Jack was about four inches tall, he was the only Big Guy at the time. Lacking playmates his own size, Jack was quite lonely and often sought out Shi Rang to chat.
Shi Rang had a good relationship with Jack, but as he had become increasingly busy lately, he rarely interacted with the child.
Even after the two groups of Mini-Humans merged, there wasn't a second child of his four-inch stature. Coupled with the series of events brought on by the Charity Foundation and the Ascension Society, Shi Rang was incredibly busy, leaving Jack completely without companions.
"They... they don't want me anymore!" Jack burst into loud sobs.
Shi Rang pulled out a tissue for him to hug and wipe his tears, then quickly sent a message to The Sheriff to ask what was going on.
A few minutes later, The Sheriff, who had just finished a field inspection over in the Second District, replied directly with a plain text message:
"I was wondering why I didn't see him today."
"He doesn't really like his new younger siblings. They had a fight."
So that was it. Jack's parents had also joined the "population boom" army...
Poor Jack. He was already out of place among his peers due to his size, and now his parents had added a second child—or maybe a dozen children. He was definitely feeling miserable.
While Jack was still calming down, Shi Rang called Newborn Robbie over and asked why the Mini Combat Squad hadn't reported Jack's presence. Robbie explained that they had seen Jack as soon as they arrived, but Jack had asked them to keep it a secret. Relying on "childhood loyalty," this group of Tiny Ones—with an average age of less than a month—had simply agreed.
"Alright, just this once. I'm not mad, but you can't lie to me again. I'm worried you might run into danger." After sending Robbie away, Shi Rang cradled Jack in his hand and said earnestly, "You still need to go home. How about I find someone to take you back?"
"I don't want to! I'm not going back! I want to go on an adventure with you. I'm very strong!"
"I'm not here on an adventure, Jack," Shi Rang explained patiently. "I'm here on a mission. It could be very dangerous. If you get discovered, you'll be taken away by the Management Authority."
The miniature boy lowered his head and fell silent.
Shi Rang had no parenting experience. He and Ying Shang had been married for several years without ever thinking about having children, but he actually liked kids quite a bit—perhaps, in a way, he was using them to make up for the happy childhood he never had.
Seeing that he wouldn't be able to untangle the child's emotional knot anytime soon, he thought for a moment and came up with an idea.
"How about this? You can follow me, but you have to obey my orders. If I tell you to stay with Jing Zi or A Wei, you absolutely cannot run off. Do you understand? We are very far from home right now, and it would be very easy for you to get lost."
The boy immediately broke into a smile through his tears. Imitating the other adults in the Miniature Kingdom, he raised his right fist in a salute. "I promise!"
"Let me see what I have... Ah, here. Good thing I brought an Empty Water Cup. I'll take the lid off, and you can hide inside it later so you don't get bumped or bruised. Your mission right now is to rest. When it's time for an adventure, I'll call you."
The speed at which Jack grabbed the tissue and jumped into the Empty Water Cup made Shi Rang doubt whether the child had actually heard his instructions.
But there was no need to be too strict with a child. This was enough.
Jing Zi sped up and drove for another half an hour, finally catching up with the enforcer A Wei, who was parked by the side of the road waiting for them.
After a brief exchange of information, the two cars arrived at the small town near the Operations Zone. After undergoing another round of inspections, they smoothly drove inside.
The town looked quite eerie at night. The design and layout of the houses were overly uniform, as if they were all carved from the exact same mold. Even the gardens behind the houses looked virtually identical in the dark. If it weren't for the commercial district in the center of town, Shi Rang would have genuinely thought they were trapped in an endless loop.
Most of the residents here were employees of the Charity Foundation. There were also many beneficiaries who couldn't afford to repay their assistance loans, or those who wanted to help other orphans and returned to work here. Of course, there were also plenty of ordinary residents... as well as Field Agents from the Management Authority.
Before arriving, Shi Rang had notified them that he would report to the headquarters of the Charity Foundation Campus tomorrow, which was June 11th.
According to the plan, they would rest tonight in a house they had rented in advance in the town.
But as the vehicle passed by the detached houses one by one, he couldn't help but press his face against the car window. His eyes eagerly swept across the doorplates, searching for the residential Number 210.
That was Fan Yingshang's current registered address.
"Do you want to go check out that house, Mr. Shi?" Jing Zi noticed his behavior.
Shi Rang had previously asked Jing Zi to look up the address, and the latter had also heard Shi Rang talk about Ying Shang.
"It's the middle of the night... let's just drive past it. I'll visit tomorrow."
The car turned a corner at the intersection, separating from A Wei's vehicle once more, and continued down the street.
Number 202... Number 204...
It felt as though a hand was tightly gripping Shi Rang's internal organs. He was so nervous he could barely breathe.
He knew that before reaching the end, there would inevitably be countless variables and increasingly worse outcomes, but he simply had to come and see for himself.
Finally, Number 210 appeared at the end of the dark street. It was a small house with fresh flowers planted by the door. The garden was much better maintained than those of the neighbors, making it obvious at a glance that the owner was someone who loved life.
Shi Rang held his breath as he stared at the approaching house, then blinked blankly at a piece of paper taped to the door.
"Going to the city for errands. Will be back in a few days."
He wasn't sure if the cursive letters on the paper were Ying Shang's handwriting. It looked similar, but certain details felt wrong, leaving him deeply unsettled.
Ying Shang rarely drew a circle on her final stroke; she didn't have such an unnecessary habit.
'Such a coincidence. She's actually not here?'
The note was still very clean, showing no signs of weathering from the wind or sun. It seemed to have been posted just today.
Fate had played another joke on Shi Rang.
The disappointed anxiety of failing to see her and the relief of delaying his final judgment washed over him simultaneously.
Shi Rang withdrew his gaze. He had originally planned to have Jing Zi take him to the rented house, but then he remembered that he had to immediately report for work at the Charity Foundation tomorrow and begin his operation. If he stayed in the town, he probably wouldn't be able to focus on anything other than sitting outside Number 210 waiting for her. However, he couldn't afford to neglect the Ascension Society and the Alliance.
'Since she went to the city and won't be back for a while, I might as well get my business done first...'
'That way, the moment of facing either a bad or good ending will also be delayed significantly.'
Waiting was agonizing, but arriving at the answer was equally painful.
Always tormenting oneself—humans were simply such contradictory creatures.
"Take me directly to the Operations Zone," Shi Rang said.
"What about the Mini-Humans?"
"You take them for now. Once I finish my onboarding and confirm the situation, I'll come pick them up."
If the headquarters of the Charity Foundation had installed some high-precision detectors, having the Mini-Humans discovered would be a disaster.
Shi Rang quietly left his backpack in the car, stepped out at the Main Entrance of the Operations Zone, and watched Jing Zi drive away.
The guard at the entrance booth noticed his approach, pushed open the window, and eyed him suspiciously.
Shi Rang shifted his focus to Sensing the signal of the Communication Device on the guard, trying his hardest to stop thinking about that house.
"I'm a newly hired employee. My name should be on the list. I was delayed on the road—could I borrow a room in your dormitories for the night?"