The words spoken by that bioroid, and the kind of anger that even a bioroid couldn’t suppress, clearly left Li Rui completely stunned.
Qiu Shi didn’t explain anything to him. He shrugged off Xing Bi’s hand that was grabbing his arm and returned to the meeting room where the two people were still standing inside.
“Who the hell is in charge of this lousy team?” He stared at Feng Yu.
“We… work together—” Feng Yu’s words were cut off.
Qiu Shi kicked away the chair that had just been smashed on the floor. “Who’s in charge! What the hell does ‘together’ mean? Do you all always agree? When you don’t agree, do you just stop working?”
“Me and Qi Jian,” Feng Yu answered.
“Fine, then I’ll tell you,” Qiu Shi looked at Feng Yu. “I don’t care how you interpret what happened back then. We’re here for cooperation. We really need your help, and we can also help you. Our goal is the same, right?”
“Right,” Feng Yu nodded.
“We have almost more than half of the top-tier hidden guards, more than the symbionts, and all of them are already activated,” Qiu Shi stared at him. “We can destroy the symbionts’ nests and camps, and we can kill the super symbionts. Now we need to find 249, and we need you people who’ve been running outside for a long time to provide more clues. Is that clear enough?”
“Clear,” Feng Yu glanced at Zhou Ping’an beside him. “Actually, we—”
“Shut up and let me finish first. If you interrupt, I’ll forget what I was going to say,” Qiu Shi paused, cursed, “Damn, I already forgot.”
“There are things with different priorities,” Xing Bi spoke up. “I didn’t intend to say this, but I have no choice.”
Xing Bi’s words, “no position,” made Qiu Shi’s heart twist painfully. He glanced at Xing Bi, wanting him to stop talking, but when it came to not explaining this matter, Qiu Shi himself also had no position to stop him.
He could only silently watch Xing Bi.
“I have experienced the mistakes of bioroids, the retaliation against all humans because of a part of them. I saw the people who gave me emotions and taught me to think die tragically. I saw innocent people killed — old people, children,” Xing Bi’s voice was steady and calm, just like when they first met, that emotionless bioroid. “I have also tasted human mistakes, because of suspicion and fear, those who once trusted them, who they also called friends, my companions, were slaughtered to extinction, and I was the one who personally did it…”
The room was very quiet. Qi Jian had already returned but was standing at the door without coming in.
“On July 15, at 2:51 a.m., a disturbance occurred in the residential area on the south side of the inner city mountains. At 2:58 a.m., I led the team to handle the disturbance. Residents clashed with bioroids, but by the time we arrived, the bioroids had already left,” Xing Bi’s voice remained steady, but his speech slightly quickened. “At 3:01 a.m., small-scale disturbances and explosions occurred at seven locations in the inner city and four resettlement areas in the outer city. At 3:03 a.m., suspected invading bioroids were discovered. At 3:07 a.m., all inner-city hidden guards were dispatched to various incident locations…”
Qiu Shi leaned against the wall and watched Xing Bi.
The bioroid was in the room next door, and the voice of Xing Bi could be heard clearly.
“At 3:14 a.m., residents died — two adults and a seven-year-old child. The culprit escaped. At 3:20 a.m., a large number of residents appeared on the streets demanding the removal of bioroids. At 3:22 a.m., it was confirmed that there were four invading bioroids. At 3:25 a.m., I received orders to gather all bioroids. At 3:31 a.m., assembly was completed. At 3:37 a.m., I received orders to, to avoid a repeat of what happened back then…”
Xing Bi paused. “All bioroids are to assemble in place and clear the area immediately.”
The room and outside were so silent that even breathing sounds could not be heard.
“That’s all I know,” Xing Bi said. “I was once considered highly controllable. For me, an oath is not only a strict rule programmed in our ‘factory settings,’ it is the logic of our actions and the emotional bond of all humans who gave me hope…”
Xing Bi glanced at Qiu Shi. Qiu Shi wanted to relax his furrowed brow but failed.
“I have made many choices, not all were correct, but I have always taken responsibility for the consequences of each choice,” Xing Bi said. “Hatred, anger, pain, despair will never fade. Time does not lessen anything for me. I will always remember those eyes, every second I am alive…”
“But now,” Xing Bi turned back to look at Qi Jian, “there is something more important that needs to be placed before hatred, suspicion, even killing me.”
“The bioroids of Yun City have chosen to cooperate with humans to jointly eliminate the threat of the symbionts,” Qiu Shi took out a cigarette and lit it, trying to calm his emotions, though his hands trembled and it took two tries to get it lit. “It’s the same choice you’re making now.”
He took two hard drags, threw the cigarette to the ground, and stomped it out. “The goal is to prevent all of us from becoming data containers for 249.”
After finishing, Qiu Shi fell silent for a moment. No one spoke. He glanced at Li Rui. “Let’s go.”
“What?” Li Rui was stunned.
“Let’s leave.” Qiu Shi repeated and walked out.
Xing Bi glanced at him, probably not expecting him to leave so abruptly, but didn’t say anything and also turned to leave.
Qi Jian, standing outside the door, silently watched them.
“I found out you all know Xing Bi,” Qiu Shi stopped in front of him. “I believe you know it’s not just because of what happened in Yun City. You also know who he was before. You must understand…”
Qiu Shi paused, feeling his mind was a mess. “What he endured when he made his choices — you should be able to imagine. As bioroids, you should have more rigorous logic and cooler emotions. If no one can do that, how can you expect his choices to be calm and correct? Humans demand bioroids’ fundamental principles: obedience, never betrayal. It’s cruel and unfair. What he carries is far more contradictory and heavier than those who chose betrayal and slaughter from the start.”
Qi Jian said nothing.
“My words are certainly biased. I can understand the pain of victims who went through this,” Qiu Shi said. “But I know Xing Bi. I know what all this meant to him. He is my comrade, partner, family, lover who fought through life and death with me. I know that whether for his own kind or for humans, he will be the most reliable and strongest support.”
Qiu Shi walked toward the ship. “You should know where we rest. We leave in half an hour.”
The ship had docked at the Xiaodongtian pier. None of them had spoken throughout the whole time.
Li Rui tied the boat and said, “I’m coming with you.”
Qiu Shi looked at him.
“I’ve only lived fifteen years. I didn’t experience what happened one or two hundred years ago,” Li Rui said as he walked ahead. “I don’t have the brains to judge things so far back. I only live in the time you all are living now. During this time, Brother Xing Bi saved me, my sister, and everyone in the store. That’s all I can think of. I don’t understand about choices or no choices. We little humans never had choices. You are the only hope, the only choice to survive.”
He said all this in one breath, stopped, turned, and looked at Xing Bi and Qiu Shi. “That’s all I have to say.”
“Third Master,” Xing Bi looked at him, “thank you.”
“Don’t say that.” Li Rui waved his hand and turned his head, walking forward.
Qiu Shi glanced at Xing Bi, wanting to say something.
But Xing Bi smiled at him, “I’m fine.”
“How can you be fine?” Qiu Shi said. “If you really were, you wouldn’t be who you are.”
“This is what I must face as long as I live,” Xing Bi said. “As long as I’m alive, these things are part of me — being loved, trusted, and at the same time hated and questioned.”
Qiu Shi was silent for a long time and finally asked, “What do we do?”
“Give others a world where they don’t have to experience this anymore,” Xing Bi said.
When they returned to the small building where the convoy was resting, Xing Bi showed no abnormalities. But Qiu Shi and Li Rui’s emotions had not recovered, especially Li Rui.
Ji Sui glanced at them but did not ask about the meeting results, only reporting the contact situation with Xu Jie.
“Xing Chuan will send two teams over this afternoon,” he said. “One team is responsible for picking people up. If they refuse to leave, they’ll leave some supplies and weapons. The other team will scout the riverside camp.”
“Mm.” Xing Bi nodded. “The bio-organic creatures here cooperate with humans. They also know about 249. Their map is more detailed than ours, with the camps all marked. They have more contact with the symbionts and know more about the situation, so they should have clues we haven’t grasped yet.”
“Are we waiting now?” Ji Sui understood what he meant.
“We’ll leave in half an hour,” Xing Bi said.
“Okay.” Ji Sui nodded.
The convoy began organizing their things. With Li Rui and Da Xiong joining, they needed to leave some space for them to rest—after all, they were human, unlike the bio-organic creatures who could stay perfectly still in any posture like statues.
Xing Bi and Qiu Shi sat at the street corner, able to observe the situation in all four directions and several side roads.
“Do you think they’ll come?” Qiu Shi asked. “I told them to leave to give them some time to discuss.”
“They will,” Xing Bi said. “Bio-organic creatures are calm and steady after all.”
“Back then… did many bio-organic creatures escape?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Very few compared to those destroyed,” Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi sighed lightly. “Actually, it’s fine if they don’t say. They wouldn’t have known so much detail anyway.”
“Hearing about it and experiencing it are never the same,” Xing Bi said. “Those who kill and those who are killed—only those who have gone through it understand deeply.”
“If one day, all these people… are dead,” Qiu Shi said, “then these things will only be stories.”
“In the end, they all slowly disappear,” Xing Bi said. “Back then, the base and Yun City sealed those records to let them fade away one day.”
“After Li Feng took power, he didn’t unseal much data either,” Qiu Shi asked. “Didn’t he want to know?”
“Some things can never be clearly seen—who’s at fault? Who was first? No one can see it all,” Xing Bi said. “To move forward, those things need to disappear. Li Feng won’t look at those records because they’re unclear, full of distrust, suspicion, manipulation, and fear. He chose cooperation and doesn’t want to be influenced again.”
The convoy had finished packing, and everyone was on board.
Xing Bi and Qiu Shi stood and walked toward the convoy.
Two small bright dots appeared on the map in front of them.
“It’s their people,” Qiu Shi said.
The two stopped. On a side road to the right, two people were hurrying toward them from afar—one was Qi Jian, and the other was a bio-organic creature they hadn’t seen before.
Though Qiu Shi thought they would come, he still felt uneasy about Xing Bi. They didn’t truly know what he would choose in the end.
When he saw Qi Jian leading the people over, he let out a small breath of relief. Even if it wasn’t for 249, he hoped to see their response.
“Song Heng,” Qi Jian introduced the person beside him, “he’ll go with you.”
“Huh?” Qiu Shi was surprised; he hadn’t expected that.
“Song Heng escaped from the symbionts,” Qi Jian said.
“Then you are…” Qiu Shi looked at Song Heng.
“symbiont,” Xing Bi said.
“Mm.” Song Heng nodded.
“He knows their habits and situation better than us,” Qi Jian said. “Having him with you will help more.”
“Thank you,” Xing Bi said.
“Take this,” Qi Jian handed Xing Bi a small round metal piece. “There are more of our people to the east. With this, passing through or contacting them will be much easier.”
Xing Bi took the small round piece and looked at Qi Jian.
“Our opinions were actually unified from the start. Even if some will suffer pain,” Qi Jian said, “we can choose to cooperate with the humans who once enslaved and betrayed us, and we can try to trust you again.”
“Why should I take the brat?” Sang Fan whispered to Ji Sui by the car.
“The brat likes you. He treats you like his sister,” Ji Sui said.
“He’s a mountain eagle,” Sang Fan said. “Mountain eagles are strong.”
“He said his name is Mountain Eagle,” Ji Sui said. “I diagnosed him as a kid. Just go.”
“What’s up?” Xing Bi asked as he walked back to the car.
“Who?” Sang Fan looked at Song Heng standing behind them.
“Song Heng,” Xing Bi said. “He’s the bio-organic creature sent here to assist us.”
“Ji Sui asked me to stay in the back with the kid,” Sang Fan said.
“Li Rui asked three times which car Sister Sang Fan is in,” Ji Sui said.
“Go,” Xing Bi said. “Song Heng’s with our car. I’ll talk to him.”
Sang Fan turned and walked toward the back car. “Eagle!”
“Hey,” Li Rui poked his head out the window. “Sister Fan.”
Song Heng got into their car. Xing Bi glanced at the map inside the cabin. “Departure, continue east on the original route.”
“Copy that.”
The convoy turned a corner and headed east, crossing the upper part of Benquan City.
When the car passed the river where they had boarded the boat before, Xing Bi saw someone standing by the bridge.
“Stop the car,” Xing Bi said. “Sang Fan, tell Li Rui—Jiang Cheng is ahead.”
“Okay,” Sang Fan replied.
Xing Bi and Qiu Shi got out of the car. Li Rui and Da Xiong jumped down from the rear car and ran to Jiang Cheng.
“I knew you’d come to see me off!” Li Rui said.
“Wait till you come back to see me again,” Jiang Cheng took out a bag and handed it to Li Rui. “Inside are little gadgets—one for each of you.”
“What is it?” Li Rui eagerly opened the bag and took out a fist-sized small clay jar, painted with a child holding up his hand and wearing a red hat.
It looked handmade, rough but delicate.
“Can you open it?” Da Xiong was about to twist the jar.
“Hey hey hey,” Jiang Cheng tapped his hand. “This is a grass seed doll.”
“What’s it for?” Li Rui asked.
“Pour water on it, and little grass will grow,” Xing Bi said.
“Really?” Li Rui got interested immediately. “I’ll water it later.”
“Mm.” Jiang Cheng nodded.
“Well… you all talk,” Li Rui looked at them, a little reluctant but decisively pulled Da Xiong back to the car.
“Not going too smoothly, huh?” Jiang Cheng asked.
“Now it’s going smoothly,” Xing Bi said. “Song Heng is coming with us.”
“I heard about it,” Jiang Cheng glanced at their vehicle and waved his hand.
Qiu Shi looked back and saw Song Heng leaning against the window, his hand just lowered.
“Should we go over there…” he said.
“No need,” Jiang Cheng said. “Good luck.”
“Mm.” Xing Bi replied.
Jiang Cheng turned and walked along the riverside path.
The convoy passed over a small bridge and entered the central urban area of Benquan City — a square, a tall monument, fallen iron frames, dense buildings that made one feel dizzy, and a tangled network of straight and curved bridges spanning the overgrown, desolate streets…
“This road feels even more complicated than the mine tunnels,” Qiu Shi said.
“There are even more complicated ones ahead,” Xing Bi said. “You’ll see them soon.”
“There are still quite a few people in the buildings,” Qiu Shi said, noticing the small bright spots that appeared from time to time on the map—groups of three or four that barely moved.
“Jiang Cheng said there are still many people in the city,” Xing Bi said, “but fewer than before.”
“He’s been here over twenty years,” Song Heng said. “Back then, there were quite a lot of people here.”
“What about you?” Qiu Shi asked.
“I haven’t seen him in a long time. We met back at the base,” Song Heng said. “After the base fell, we rarely had the chance. He likes to be alone, deliberately avoiding crowds.”
“When did you… leave with the leader?” Qiu Shi asked again.
“About five years ago,” Song Heng said. “I ran into some nomads, and their people saved me.”
“Why did you escape?” Xing Bi asked.
“We wanted more than just strength, right?” Song Heng said. “More importantly, respect and freedom — to be ourselves.”
“Mm.” Xing Bi responded.
“Understanding this is easy,” Song Heng said, “but escaping is hard.”
“Can I understand it like this,” Qiu Shi thought for a moment, “that not everyone in the symbiont legion is there voluntarily? Some are forced or controlled?”
“Yes,” Song Heng said. “After all, not every biotic is a hidden guard. When we are…”
He glanced at Xing Bi and Ji Sui: “In front of hidden guard, we aren’t much different from ordinary humans.”
“Do you know how the camps communicate?” Xing Bi asked. “How does 249 control the camps?”
“The camps don’t communicate,” Song Heng said. “They don’t know each other’s location or objectives. 249 gives orders to the camps through the Black Mass.”
“What is this Black Mass thing?” Qiu Shi asked.
“It’s…” Song Heng thought for a moment, “a complete fungal symbiosis…”
“I know it,” Qiu Shi frowned. “We call it the Super symbiont. 249 doesn’t even want to give those biotics a living organism’s name. Damn.”
“After all, he’s not exactly a living being himself,” Ji Sui said. “He doesn’t care whether he’s alive or not.”
“Mm.” Song Heng nodded.
“Does he control the Black… Super symbiont through cables?” Xing Bi asked.
“Old-fashioned telephone lines,” Song Heng said. “If you have one, find the interface near the cable and connect an old phone. As long as 249 agrees, you can talk to him.”
“Holy shit.” Qiu Shi was stunned. This was something they had never thought of before.
“But I guess not everyone can get him to ‘agree,’ right?” Ji Sui asked.
“No one has ever contacted him proactively,” Song Heng glanced out the window. “I tried once when I was confused and doubting.”
“So that means he only contacts the ‘coal piles’ he thinks need to be contacted,” Qiu Shi clicked his tongue. “What a big ego. Compared to him, Li Feng seems so kind and brotherly.”
“Black piles,” Ji Sui corrected him.
“What’s the essential difference!” Qiu Shi said.
Song Heng smiled. “That’s when I realized, he only sees what he wants to see. Everything else doesn’t exist. We’re not individual biotics, we’re just parts.”
When they reached the connected urban areas, the roads became easier to travel. Though most of the pavement was broken or missing, the original width and even the somewhat flat surfaces covered with weeds and gravel were much easier to pass than the completely wild roads near Yun City.
They quickly left Benquan City and crossed through the roads connecting the cities.
Former intercity highways, former expressways, former overpasses, and former mountain tunnels—things Qiu Shi had only ever seen in broken picture books and reading materials—now appeared in a ruined yet real form, full of wear and fatigue.
For the first time, Qiu Shi had a tangible sense of the intangible concept of time and years.
“Damn,” he pressed his face against the glass. “I guess even in all the post-apocalypse stories, I haven’t seen this much.”
“Seeing some things doesn’t mean they’re pleasant,” Song Heng said.
“But it’s worth it,” Qiu Shi said. “After all, I only get a few decades of life. No time to wait around.”
Xing Bi glanced at him.
“Large groups of humans detected ahead,” Feng Zhi’s voice came through the earpiece; he was in the lead vehicle.
“Distance?” Xing Bi asked.
“No more than two kilometers,” Feng Zhi said. “Their direction seems to be northeast.”
“What’s there?” Qiu Shi asked.
“A camp,” Xing Bi said.
“Nomads,” Song Heng said.
“Nomads?” Qiu Shi was stunned. “Nomads going to a camp? Are they joining the symbionts?”
“No,” Song Heng said. “The nomads want to rob the camp.”
“…That fierce?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Slow down and observe,” Xing Bi said. “We might be able to pick up some benefits.”
Qiu Shi was a bit shocked. The strongest hidden guard actually planned to follow the nomads and pick up leftovers?
