After landing, none of the vehicles in the convoy stopped—they all accelerated, rushing under the bridge.
Qiu Shi gripped the handle on the roof of the vehicle, eyes glued to the screen. Even after seeing Sang Fan and Feng Zhi pull Li Rui and Da Xiong into the car, he still couldn’t relax. He could tell that because of the added weight of those four people, the vehicle didn’t jump as high as the previous ones.
“Will they be able to…” Qiu Shi asked in a low voice.
Before he could finish the sentence, the car landed—but it was clear the landing was slightly too far back.
“Shit!” he shouted.
“They’ll make it,” Ji Sui said calmly.
The wheels got stuck right at the edge of the broken bridge, black smoke rising as they spun and skidded.
Qiu Shi was already ready to jump out and help when Xing Bi said, “This vehicle has a self-rescue mechanism.”
Suddenly, the stuck vehicle bounced upward, as if everyone inside had jumped at the same time. In that split second, the car lunged forward and shot back up onto the bridge.
“Safe,” Sang Fan’s voice came through the earpiece.
Qiu Shi exhaled deeply, falling back into his seat. He closed his eyes and rested for a while. Only when the gunfire outside gradually faded and eventually disappeared did he open his eyes.
“We’re clear,” Xing Bi said. “Keep moving—don’t stop.”
“It’s about ten minutes’ drive into the city once we’re across the bridge,” reported the soldier driving the lead vehicle. “There appear to be quite a few buildings on the map.”
“We’ll enter the city first, then look for a suitable place to rest,” Xing Bi instructed.
“Understood.”
“Sang Fan,” Qiu Shi called, “how are Li Rui and Da Xiong?”
“They’re okay,” Sang Fan replied. “Crying.”
“You and Feng Zhi—are you injured?” Qiu Shi asked.
Bioroids had no special external protection. Their bodies could be hurt just like a human’s, though they had a powerful regenerative ability. Qiu Shi knew that those steel cables, with their thickness and tremendous tension, must have cut into their hands and waist—probably not shallow cuts, either.
“Injured,” Sang Fan replied. “Feng Zhi’s worse off than I am.”
“Still within self-repair limits,” Feng Zhi added.
“Inject yourselves with two doses while recovering,” Xing Bi said. “There’s medication in the medkit.”
Qiu Shi turned off the map in front of him and looked out the window at the street and the increasingly tall buildings rising on either side. This was a city entirely overgrown with plants and vines. From time to time, one could see blackened leaves and branches, dead from fungal infestation.
“Xing Bi,” Qiu Shi said, looking at him.
“Yeah?” Xing Bi responded.
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me we could save them that way?” Qiu Shi asked quietly.
“I wasn’t sure,” Xing Bi replied.
Qiu Shi froze—that wasn’t the answer he had expected.
“It’s not that I wasn’t sure if we could save them. If I had been able to determine exactly how they were situated, I would’ve been confident. But with a fifteen-year-old human kid resolved to die, I couldn’t predict what he would do next. I didn’t even see it coming that he would trade his life for Li Xia and the people in the shop to have a peaceful end,” Xing Bi said softly.
Qiu Shi let out a quiet sigh.
Indeed.
Not just Li Rui—even he hadn’t expected Da Xiong to choose to go with Li Rui on such a mission of no return.
“Humans really are complex,” Xing Bi said, looking out the window. “A thousand faces for a thousand people. Every random experience could shift a person’s path.”
Qiu Shi reached over and took his hand.
The convoy moved smoothly through the wide streets. Not far apart, roadblocks lay scattered along the way. It was clear that over the years, even after the city had been abandoned, people had come and gone.
But now, where they passed felt like a ghost town—no people, no sound.
As they drove, not even a single bird was startled into flight.
Qiu Shi zoned out for a moment, then thought of a question. He looked at Xing Bi: “So, Wargod—were you nervous back there too?”
“I was,” Xing Bi answered. “I just wasn’t climbing the walls like you—but inside, I was definitely climbing the walls.”
“Fuck off, I wasn’t climbing the walls!” Qiu Shi said.
Xing Bi chuckled. “Those two kids are the real war gods.”
“Mm.” Qiu Shi frowned slightly. “Do you think Li Xia thinks they’re dead?”
“Probably,” Xing Bi said. “When we stop to rest, I’ll contact Xu Jie. Their team can get there quickly. If Li Xia and the others are willing, they can go to Xingchuan and also scout out that camp.”
“Li Rui said there are bioroids here,” Ji Sui added. “Not sure if they’re still in Benquan City, but if they are, we might learn something.”
“What if they’re hostile?” Qiu Shi asked.
“The only ones hostile to bioroids are symbiont. You choose symbiosis, or you don’t. That’s a survival choice—there are only two paths,” Ji Sui said.
“They were driven over by the bioroids,” Ji Sui continued. “Maybe we’ll run into them.”
Qiu Shi could sense that Ji Sui hoped to encounter more bioroids. Even though they were stronger, they were still far fewer in number compared to humans—even humans who had survived multiple apocalyptic disasters.
No matter how humanlike their thoughts were, bioroids were always aware that they were not truly human. Those bioroids wandering the world with no place to belong—maybe they felt the loneliest.
After entering Benquan City, the convoy scouted out a three-story building that was relatively intact and showed no signs of recent activity.
It must have once been a residential building. There was no furniture left inside, but the structure of the bathroom and kitchen could still be seen.
The convoy split into two groups and parked in front and behind the building.
Qiu Shi jumped out of the car and ran straight for the last vehicle.
The door opened—Sang Fan and Feng Zhi jumped out.
“Go treat your wounds right away,” Xing Bi said, following behind Qiu Shi.
“They’ve stopped crying,” Feng Zhi murmured as he passed Qiu Shi, “but they’re still not talking.”
“Mm.” Qiu Shi nodded.
The rear car door opened. The supplies that had been piled up in the back had been moved aside. Li Rui and Da Xiong sat quietly in the innermost corner, lost in thought.
“Third Lord,” Qiu Shi called gently.
Li Rui stirred slightly at the sound of his voice.
Qiu Shi climbed into the vehicle, walked over, and crouched beside them, reaching out to pull them into a hug.
“Brother Shi,” Li Rui said after a pause. Then, as if he couldn’t hold it in anymore, he hugged Qiu Shi tightly and began to cry again.
Qiu Shi wasn’t good at comforting people. He hadn’t even known what to do when Xing Bi cried. Now, all he could do was pat the two gently on their backs.
“It’s okay now,” Qiu Shi said. “Thanks to you two, we made it here. Xing Bi will contact our people soon. They’ll go find Sister Xia and let her know you’re both safe. You two really are war gods.”
“Really?” Li Rui asked.
“Yeah, really,” Qiu Shi said.
Li Rui let go of him and wiped his eyes roughly with his sleeve. “I mean—Wargod. Are we really?”
“Yes,” Xing Bi’s voice came from outside the vehicle.
“It’s true,” Da Xiong sniffled. “We’re war gods now.”
“Let’s get out of the car first,” Qiu Shi said. “We’re resting here for thirty minutes. I need your help with something.”
“Sure thing.” Li Rui flicked his hair, stood up, gave Da Xiong a pat, and jumped out of the car.
Before the bridge was blown up, the suburbs and the city were still connected. Li Rui had lived here for five years—he knew Benquan City pretty well.
After resting for a while inside the building, Li Rui’s eyes and nose were still red, but he was starting to recover from the earlier life-or-death moment. He was standing beside Sang Fan and Feng Zhi, watching as Ji Sui treated their wounds—disinfecting and injecting regenerative agents.
“Does it hurt?” Li Rui asked. “How long will it take to heal?”
“It doesn’t hurt,” Feng Zhi said. “It’s a minor injury, within the range of self-healing. It’ll get better soon.”
“Oh,” Li Rui leaned over to look at the wound on Feng Zhi’s waist, frowning. “It’s pretty deep. Da Xiong weighs over 160 pounds. Too heavy.”
“Why don’t you look at my injury?” Sang Fan asked.
Li Rui was a little embarrassed. “You’re a girl… I figured I shouldn’t look at your waist.”
Sang Fan held out her hand in front of him. “It’s on my hand.”
“Thank you, big sister,” Li Rui said, lowering his head to look at her hand.
“You’re welcome,” Sang Fan replied. “But you’ve already thanked me several times.”
Although her “factory setting” age was younger than Li Xia’s, maybe because Sang Fan was the only woman present, she reminded him of his sister. After saying thank you, Li Rui’s eyes filled with tears again.
“Ah.” Sang Fan stood up and walked out of the house. “Don’t cry.”
Li Rui stood where he was, head lowered.
“Third Master,” Xing Bi, leaning against the wall, spoke up. “Let’s discuss our current situation.”
“Okay.” Li Rui immediately looked up, having already suppressed his emotions.
“You and Da Xiong can’t go back to the bridge for now,” Xing Bi said. “You’ll have to stay here for the time being…”
“I’ll go with you,” Li Rui said.
Xing Bi looked at him but said nothing.
“I’ll go with you too,” said Da Xiong, who had been squatting silently in the corner, now standing up.
Qiu Shi didn’t know how to respond. It wasn’t impossible to take them along, but their journey was far from safe—in fact, it could be considered dangerous. What dangers lay ahead once they found the research institute, whether Unit 249 would pursue them—none of that was known.
Bringing these two kids along might not be any safer than leaving them behind. His original plan had been to take them back to Yun City on the return trip.
“You two are familiar with Benquan City?” Xing Bi asked instead of answering directly.
“Yeah,” Li Rui said. “I’ve been here five years. Da Xiong even longer. When the bridge was usable, we came over here almost every day.”
“Raiding warehouses for supplies,” Da Xiong added. “Sometimes we’d rob people.”
Li Rui glanced at him.
Xing Bi chuckled. “Is this where you saw the bioroid?”
“You don’t normally see bioroids. You know that—they keep to themselves. If they want to hide, normal people can’t find them,” Li Rui said, picking up a rock from the ground. “I can take you to him, but we can’t bring too many people.”
“What kind of bioroid is it?” Qiu Shi asked.
“A regular one—not like you guys, not like Brother Xing Bi and the rest,” Li Rui looked at Xing Bi, then at Ji Sui and the others. “You’re all hidden guards, right? Aren’t you?”
“Yeah.” Xing Bi nodded.
“That’s amazing,” Da Xiong said. “I didn’t think I’d live to see hidden guards—so many of them—and get rescued by them!”
“You’re the ones who rescued the hidden guards,” Xing Bi said. “You’re the amazing ones.”
Da Xiong thought about it and grinned sheepishly.
“He’s just being polite—don’t take it seriously,” Li Rui said. “Even if you believe it in your heart, don’t show it on your face.”
“Okay.” Da Xiong nodded.
Li Rui walked over to the wall and started drawing lines on it with the rock.
“This is the main street. Used to be shopping malls, office buildings, stuff like that,” Li Rui drew some boxes on the lines. “There’s also a square here, pretty big, but nothing’s left. After Benquan City was abandoned, a lot of people must’ve come through again, so you see stuff from all kinds of eras. But anything useful is gone—already picked clean…”
“People mostly gather around this area,” he circled a section in the south. “That bioroid said this used to be the commercial district, so there’s a lot of underground space—warehouses, parking garages—good for avoiding lightning strikes. That’s why people usually stay here.”
“That bioroid…” Qiu Shi asked.
“He’s usually here,” Li Rui circled another area in the north. “There’s nothing there—just collapsed skyscrapers. If someone hides inside, nobody can find them.”
“Can we go now?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Sure,” Li Rui tossed the rock to the ground. “I’ll take you there—it’s not far.”
“We’ll drive—” Qiu Shi started, but Li Rui cut him off.
“Don’t drive,” he said. “Too big a target. There are scavengers here. They’re terrifying, like hyenas. Best not to get tangled up with them. Even if you could kill them all, it’d just draw attention.”
“Okay.” Qiu Shi nodded. “Xing Bi and I will go with you.”
“Mm.” Li Rui pulled a small paper tube with a thin stick sticking out of it from his pocket and tossed it to Da Xiong. “If anything happens, use this to signal me.”
“Okay.” Da Xiong caught the paper tube and tapped it against his chest.
Once they had recovered, with Third Master leading, the two returned to their previous roles—like the bandit chief and his loyal sidekick.
“What is that?” Qiu Shi asked.
“A signal marker,” Li Rui said as he led them north along the street. “If something happens, just light it. Whoosh—bang! I’ll hear it.”
Qiu Shi glanced at Xing Bi.
“Sky rocket—like the old ones people used to light for New Year’s,” Xing Bi said. “They still make those? Probably don’t even go off anymore.”
“It’s just a signal marker, not a firework,” Li Rui replied. “That bioroid made it for me.”
“Really?” Xing Bi mused. “Interesting.”
It was interesting—a bioroid, making a two-hundred-year-old toy to give to a kid from two hundred years later.
“He is kind of interesting,” Li Rui said. “Not as strong as you guys, though. He’s the one who told me about hidden guards—said there aren’t many of you left… This time, I’m taking Brother Xing Bi with me so he can see for himself.”
Benquan City really wasn’t a safe place. Judging from the look of it, there had been a fight not long ago. As they passed a ruin, Qiu Shi spotted a corpse. From his experience, it had been no more than half a month.
“Scavenger fight,” Li Rui explained calmly. “They’re… like wild beasts. It’s like they’re not afraid of anything—not even death.”
“You don’t seem afraid of death either,” Qiu Shi said.
“I am,” Li Rui replied. “Depends on what it’s for. If it’s to get you guys across the river—that’s what we agreed on. You helped me, so I have to keep my word… Besides, if it weren’t for my sister, I’d have died years ago. As long as I can keep them safe, I’m not afraid of dying.”
“If we hadn’t pulled you and Big Bear into the car, what were you planning to do next?” Xing Bi asked.
“Jump off the bridge,” Li Rui said.
“You could’ve been shot before even hitting the water—or died from the fall if you made it,” Qiu Shi said.
“Yeah,” Li Rui replied, “but we couldn’t just wait on the bridge and die. Jumping was better than nothing. The bastard was dead, my sister was safe—that’s all that mattered.”
Qiu Shi patted his shoulder, saying nothing.
“Brother Shi,” Li Rui turned back, “you’re not a soldier, are you? You don’t seem like them.”
“Mm, I’m a…” Qiu Shi thought for a moment, “body collector.”
Li Rui looked at him for a long moment before asking, “Where do people die that you need to collect bodies? The refugees here—if they don’t find food, they’ll eat the corpses before they even go cold.”
“Where we came from,” Qiu Shi said.
Probably because it was daytime and there had just been a barrage of gunfire on the bridge, there were no vagrants, refugees, or locals around. The part of Benquan City they walked through felt like an empty ghost town.
Old, dilapidated buildings showed traces of former prosperity, as well as the weathering of years. Their footsteps echoed on the pavement like they were stepping through a doorway into a memory—a place they could never return to.
On the map in front of Qiu Shi, no people or bioroids were showing up.
But when they reached the collapsed high-rise buildings Li Rui had mentioned, Xing Bi said softly, “There’s one here.”
“Can it sense you?” Qiu Shi asked.
“If it’s just a standard level-one bioroid, not necessarily,” Xing Bi replied.
“Mm.” Qiu Shi nodded. As long as the bioroid was present, that was enough—they needed someone who knew the local bioroids and symbiont, and this was the only one they could find.
Besides watching for any small blinking dots indicating bioroids on the map, Qiu Shi found himself more drawn to the ruined buildings around them.
“So many buildings,” he muttered, “what were they all for?”
“Residential,” Xing Bi said. “This was a housing complex.”
“Damn,” Qiu Shi sighed, “so many people crammed into one place…”
When they reached a ruined fountain, Li Rui stopped. “Wait here. I’ll go into that garden ahead and find him. He might not understand what’s going on and be too scared to come out.”
“Alright,” Qiu Shi said.
Li Rui walked off and disappeared behind a building. A moment later, his signal dot vanished from the map.
“He’s safe, right?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Yeah,” Xing Bi looked around, “there really doesn’t seem to be anyone else around.”
While Li Rui was gone, Qiu Shi lowered his voice, “If he and Big Bear want to come with us, should we let them?”
“Yeah,” Xing Bi looked in the direction Li Rui had gone, “He’s a bit like you.”
“Is that so?” Qiu Shi asked. “I’m not as fearless as him.”
“You’re fearless,” Xing Bi said. “You’ve already died once.”
“Shit,” Qiu Shi chuckled.
“If we leave him here, he might try to go back and find Li Xia. That’d be more dangerous,” Xing Bi said. “Bring them. Those two are way tougher than average kids.”
“Alright.” Qiu Shi nodded.
“You were just waiting for me to say that,” Xing Bi remarked.
“You’ve got sharp instincts,” Qiu Shi said. “I don’t feel like saving just anyone. But those two… if you ever wonder why humanity hasn’t gone extinct, just look at them.”
When Li Rui’s signal reappeared on the map, there was another signal dot following behind him.
“They’re here,” Qiu Shi said.
“Mm.” Xing Bi began walking slowly in their direction.
Li Rui waved to them, then turned to say something to the figure in a black hooded coat walking behind him in the shadows.
Qiu Shi followed Xing Bi to meet them.
“This is the bioroid I told you about…” Li Rui glanced back. “I don’t know his name. I just call him Old Bro.”
“Old Bro,” he pointed to Qiu Shi and Xing Bi, “these are the guys I told you about—who saved me and Big Bear—Brother Qiu Shi and Brother Xing Bi.”
“Xing Bi?” the man lifted his head slightly.
His hood covered most of his face, and even when he looked up, Qiu Shi couldn’t make out his features.
“Yes.” Xing Bi nodded.
“Finally meeting you,” the man extended his hand. “Jiang Cheng.”
Qiu Shi noticed he offered his left hand.
Xing Bi also extended his left hand and shook it.
Probably noticing Qiu Shi eyeing his right arm, Jiang Cheng added, “I don’t have a right hand.”
“…Oh.” Qiu Shi offered his left hand as well.
“Let’s talk inside,” Jiang Cheng said. “The sun’s too strong.”
“He can’t really be in the sun,” Li Rui explained. “Like a vampire.”
“Bullshit,” Jiang Cheng said. “My system’s damaged—I’m UV-sensitive.”
Jiang Cheng led them into the basement of a nearby building. Inside were simple tables and chairs, a few paper books on the table, and a decent stash of nutritional supplements.
Xing Bi glanced at the packaging of the supplements, then looked at Jiang Cheng: “You can still get these?”
The logo on the supplement packaging belonged to a base destroyed in the war—a base Xing Bi had lived in for a long time.
“Yeah, someone gave them to me,” Jiang Cheng took off his coat and tossed it aside. “You probably recognize the goods—old machines from the base.”
“I do,” Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi noticed that Jiang Cheng’s right arm was missing from the elbow down.
“I hear you want some intel?” Jiang Cheng sat by the table, leaning back in the chair, resting his head on his left hand and peering at them through his fingers.
Jiang Cheng was good-looking, but he gave off a completely different vibe from Xing Bi and the others.
Even compared to non-guardian level-one bioroids like Qu Shen, Cheng Gu, or Chen Dang, he felt different.
“What did you used to do?” Qiu Shi couldn’t help but ask. “What kind of bioroid are you?”
“Me?” Jiang Cheng smiled, first glancing at Xing Bi, then at Li Rui. “There’s a kid here—we’ll talk about that another time.”
Qiu Shi paused, then understood what he meant. He felt a bit awkward.
