Hui Tian Ch22

Chapter 22

“Goodbye, little brother.”

---

Basel, Switzerland.
International Supervision General Administration.

“The level-one alert in Shenhai has been lifted throughout the territory. No need to worry. This was just an accident…”

Fritsch Nielsen stood by the conference room window, a cigarette between his fingers, slowly exhaling pale white smoke as he held his phone and gazed at the sky.

His meticulously combed, silver-gray hair was all swept back. His gray-blue pupils were like the wind and snow on the Nordic ice fields. A smile then appeared on his handsome, deeply chiseled profile as he interrupted the report from the other end of the phone:

“I understand. As long as you’re okay.”

No one would have ever dreamed that the world’s number one evolutionist, “Odin’s Wolf,” could be so gentle, a completely different person from the usual authoritarian dictator. 

“Yue Yang called from the Central District Supervision Office to tell me you weren’t seriously injured, but I was still very worried, waiting for you to call me back personally. I’m relieved to know you’re awake. All other losses can be disregarded.”

Shen Zhuo’s rather apologetic voice came from the other end of the phone. “I didn’t expect such an accident to suddenly occur in my jurisdiction. Actually, this time it was thanks to Mr. Bai lending a helping hand…”

“The severity of this assassination attempt is among the highest in the world. In any other jurisdiction, it might have had catastrophic consequences, but the Shenhai City Supervision Office’s response was perfect. It’s due to your excellent management.”

Nielsen interrupted Shen Zhuo, his attitude full of praise and unquestionable authority. “As an S-class evolutionist, it is Mr. Bai’s duty to assist. After all matters here at the Supervision Office are dealt with, I will personally go to Shenhai to thank him.”

There was a moment of ambiguous silence on the other end of the line.

“Then I’ll have to trouble you.” Shen Zhuo, holding the phone, stood in the hospital bathroom, squinting at the mirror. On the inside of his lower lip, there was a small, red mark where his skin had been broken by a certain person’s canine tooth in the chaos.

His skin was naturally thin, and the physical strength of an S-class evolutionist was simply too great, so great that it was difficult to control the force of their actions.

On the phone, Shen Zhuo’s voice seemed to contain a smile, but no one could hear the hint of gritted teeth in his tone. “After all, Mr. Bai and I… are not familiar.”

“Rest well, Shen Zhuo. I will follow up on that evolutionist named Rong Qi,” Nielsen said with a laugh. “Don’t worry. I will always be on your side.”

Shen Zhuo said, “I understand.”

The call ended. Nielsen put down his phone and turned around.

The conference room behind him was full of people.

In fact, none of them were physically present; they were all three-dimensional virtual projections of UN Security Council officials. Everyone’s expression was strange, but everyone was silent. The air was filled with an indescribable atmosphere.

“What?” Nielsen’s lips curled. He was elegant and full of mockery. “I thought upon hearing the news of Shen Zhuo’s well-being, you gentlemen would burst into tears, embrace each other, and thank God.”

“…”

“Are you not overjoyed, Cameron?” Nielsen turned his head to look at a figure at the conference table and smiled.

Cameron was likely sitting in his own New York residence thousands of miles away, his long legs crossed, his fingers relaxed and interlaced. This man always had the air of a diplomat, polite and full of sarcasm. 

“I’ve always had faith in Shen Zhuo’s tenacious vitality and inexplicable luck. Rather than worrying about him being assassinated, it would be better to worry about whether his rusty brain can still go back to researching the HRG project. After all, that is his only value.”

“Allow me to correct you on one point, Mr. Cameron,” Nielsen said flatly. “Shen Zhuo is now our evolutionists’ great Supervisor. He will never have the slightest possibility of going back to research your HRG project in this lifetime…”

“He was long ago discarded by you and fell into our hands.”

The scene was deathly silent.

It was a good thing these were three-dimensional projections; otherwise, some officials might not have been able to resist rushing up to strangle him.

“Oh, is that so,” Cameron replied smoothly, patting the cuff of his sapphire-blue suit.
“Since it’s confirmed that Shen Zhuo is not dead, at least today’s objective has been achieved.” He glanced around the conference table and smiled. “Gentlemen, meeting adjourned.”

The virtual three-dimensional projections on both sides of the long table disappeared one after another. Cameron pressed the exit button and, in the next instant, was back in his residence’s garden.

The salty, watery vapor unique to the rainy season hit his face.

He sat in an armchair under the veranda. The sky was pouring rain, the treetops swayed back and forth in the wind, and the surface of the fountain splashed with countless ripples in the downpour.

An assistant, holding a file, bent down and respectfully replaced his cup with hot tea. “Mr. Cameron.”

Cameron’s face always wore a three-parts insincere, theatrical smile, but his eyes were a cold gray-green. Whenever he wasn’t smiling, a cold texture would emerge from behind the mask, vaguely revealing his cold-blooded true self.

“Shen Zhuo has been completely controlled by Fritsch Nielsen,” he said softly, gazing at the heavy rain outside the long corridor. “We must find a way to kill Nielsen. Otherwise, we won’t be able to reclaim the lifeline of the HRG project.”

The assistant was a little worried. “But… are you sure it’s that serious? Dr. Shen is, after all, exceptionally intelligent, and his personality is very strong…”

“Strong,” Cameron scoffed, as if he had heard the most absurdly stupid thing.
 

“You don’t understand Shen Zhuo. He is weak, sentimental, and easily yields. He naturally attracts control freaks, which is why he always draws people like Fu Chen, Nielsen… and that recent one, Bai Sheng. If it weren’t for the Human Race Regeneration Plan, he would be an unbearable burden and a waste—”

Cameron’s words stopped as he looked down.

His arm rested on the chair’s armrest. Perhaps because of the humidity of the rainy day, an ant had crawled onto the back of his hand, bringing an almost negligible, faint itch.

So humble and tiny.

So fragile.

“…”

Cameron’s gray-green pupils stared at it, at its fragile body and its antennae waving in confusion. For a long time, he didn’t move, not even a flicker of expression on his face.

“…rain… melted, molecules hot, diffusion…”

He heard the little boy stammering and gesturing, squatting on the dirt before the storm, using melted honey candy to attract ants, his young face a picture of pale futility.

The six-year-old child was soaked to the bone by the heavy rain. Then the rain gradually turned to blood, dripping from the corners of his wide, dazed eyes, seeping into the hospital bed. Countless medical instruments emitted soft beeps.

“…already had issues with language development, and due to this accident, he has been exposed to unknown radiation, which may cause irreversible genetic damage…”

“Witnessing both parents die a tragic death has caused immense psychological trauma. As it stands, it seems to have affected the development of his brain’s nerves…”

“He may remain a vegetative person with his eyes open for the rest of his life. The family should be prepared…”

The special care ward was quiet, the polished floor reflecting the pale lights.
Cameron half-knelt, staring into the little boy’s pupils on the bed, and said softly:
“You know this world is about the survival of the fittest. The weak are supposed to be abandoned, right?”

Those eyes did not react.

Like an inorganic glass slide, they stared motionlessly at a point floating in the air.
The young Cameron himself had bandages on his forehead and hands, with faint, gruesome bloodstains showing through. He stood up and looked down at this small, soulless doll. He seemed to want to say something, but he opened his mouth and stopped. After a moment, he let out a soft breath.

The tail end of the sigh dissipated into the quiet air in an instant.
“Goodbye, little brother,” he said in a low voice.

—Goodbye forever.

He turned and walked out of the hospital room. As the door closed, he seemed to see the little boy on the bed move, as if trying to reach out towards him, but when he looked closely, there was nothing.

The hospital room was quiet and empty, with only that thin, small figure sitting there like a statue.

…Was it just my imagination? Cameron thought.

The metal door slid shut silently. He didn’t look back again, turning to walk out. The white light that hit his face cast a long shadow behind him, which gradually dissolved into a brand-new world.

That was the last time they ever crossed paths.

From that moment on, they went their separate ways, heading towards different distant futures.
…

The roar of the heavy rain seemed as if it had never stopped for a single second. Cameron opened his eyes.

Raindrops fell in strings from the eaves of the flower-covered veranda. The assistant stood in the same posture, not daring to move.

Cameron silently reached out, plucked a leaf from the rose bush, and gently scraped the ant off the back of his hand. Then he placed it under a dry windowsill not far away, letting the small black dot quickly crawl towards a crack.

“If you give the ants too much honey, they won’t be grateful to you. They will only become greedy, fierce, reckless, and eventually, they will drown in the honey in droves…”

The assistant stood there, at a loss.

Cameron stared blankly ahead. His gaze seemed to pass through everything, through the pouring curtain of rain and the whistling passage of time, to the lonely, small figure in the distant garden.

“—Those humans and evolutionists are all ants, Shen Zhuo,” he murmured softly.

“Don’t be the savior of the ants. Don’t become the saint nailed to the cross.”

Time spiraled upwards, passing through the vast sky.

At the traffic lights, cars and people surged like a river. The masses of humanity flowed like a colony of ants, swept along by the torrent of evolution, rushing towards a tiny, unknown distance.

[End of Volume 1]

Translator’s Note:
Here ends the first volume. Please support the author by purchasing the raw. The link to the raw is on the “TOC” page.

---

---

Support me on Ko-fi