Yi Ming tightly grasped Li Li’s hand as he sprinted down the hall. His other hand morphed into a baseball bat-like shape to down any enemies in their way.
Li Li started to lose her breath eventually. Her physical condition really wasn’t as good as Yi Ming’s.
“He didn’t come after us.” Li Li tried to steady her breathing and say.
Those who misunderstood her would probably never expect that a ‘Rank A bigshot’ who could make a Rank C back off with a single look couldn’t even outrun a Rank D.
Acting was one thing, being able to follow through was another.
Li Li felt like there was some truth to those forum comments: her physical condition truly was lacking compared to these manhua denizens.
“He didn’t?” Yi Ming was taken aback. He pulled Li Li to the wall just before the corner. Behind them was another long hallway.
Yi Ming was more vigilant after learning the same lesson twice. He lowered his voice as well. Yet when he peered around the corner again, there were a group of black-robed individuals headed their way.
Their robes all featured gold embroidering. All six were ability users!
The group immediately shouted upon noticing Yi Ming and ran over.
More hairs fell out and formed into a ball. Yi Ming was about to go meet them head-on when Li Li suddenly dragged him into a dark corner.
[Item [Presence Concealment] purchased successfully. Countdown: 10:00]
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The subordinates ran right past them none the wiser. Yi Ming stayed still for quite some time before asking belatedly, “Is this your ability?”
“Yes.” Li Li readily acknowledged.
She just felt like she had to do something during all of this. She had to act in a place where Yi Ming, and the readers in turn, could see.
Although she was supposedly injured, she couldn’t let Yi Ming carry her the entire way.
Once the black-robed people were far enough away, she said, “We’ve already been discovered. Fighting them will only waste time.”
“You’re right.” Yi Ming nodded while clenching his fists. He reached for Li Li’s wrist when he looked up again, leaving their hiding place and trotting further down the hallway. “We need to find Tang quickly before Qing Yuchen comes back.”
The brunet’s motivation seemed renewed. He ran even faster now.
The metal ball from before floated beside him, efficiently dispatching a person in black robes from behind as they rounded the next corner.
The number of subordinates gradually thinned as they made their way through the maze-like facility. Yi Ming was almost met with no resistance.
Li Li, who basically just had to keep up while being dragged along, suddenly realized this was a good opportunity to develop her character.
She glanced at Yi Ming’s latest victim. The man’s chest was still rising and falling.
…
“You don’t kill?”
The dark-haired young man behind him suddenly asked.
“No,” Yi Ming replied quickly and quietly as his blue puppy-dog eyes surveyed their surroundings.
“Even those who’ve hurt you?” Li asked again.
“Buyan told me if I kill those who kill, it would make me no different than them.” Yi Ming quickly responded as he transformed his arms into hard metal plates and decked a black-robed subordinate in the back.
He seemed glad that Li was speaking to him based on his giddy tone. It seemed like they were getting a bit closer this way.
The young man behind him was silent for a while.
“This mentor of yours, is he a relative?”
The young man’s words seemed impassive, but Yi Ming didn’t seem to feel the other party was aloof in the slightest.
“Buyan is my adoptive father.” Yi Ming explained, “He sent me to school when I was younger, taught me how to develop my ability, and showed me how to survive in the Empire.”
His glittering eyes seemed as blue as the sky when speaking of his adoptive father.
It was hard for low-rank ability users to survive alone in this society. Many such children never even made it to adulthood.
Yi Ming deeply respected his adoptive father who gave him a childhood.
Something he should have ever had.
Li sighed after a lengthy pause, “He must love you very much.”
Yi Ming was taken aback for a beat.
Li seemed to be simply reminiscing and lamenting about the past, but there were indefinite emotions lurking beneath the statement.
Envy? No.
Empathy? Perhaps.
Yi Ming had the feeling they were commiserating over a shared experience.
For a moment, they seemed to understand one another.
“Do you have someone too?” Yi Ming couldn’t help but ask, “Family, I mean.”
He couldn’t help but sneak a glance at the young man as they turned another corner. Li’s expression was softer somehow, his eyes half-lidded as if recalling the past.
Although Li’s expression appeared cold, that was just a front. Yi Ming could sense the young man’s nostalgia.
“Of course.” Li said in a casual tone, “It’s not like I popped out of nowhere.”
Yi Ming seemed even more excited than Li, “You can go home once we get out of here then!”
In the Empire, the people lacking actual names were likely to be commoners, and the lowest class at that, like Yi Ming. He’s known from the start that Li was a commoner like him. He knew that they, along with Tang, were from the lowest class of their society.
They are all struggling to survive in this world.
That was why he was truly glad from the bottom of his heart to hear that Li has a family.
But before he could continue, he heard Li casually say, “No, she’s not here anymore.”
The statement was matter of fact, like he didn’t care at all.
Yet this person often feigned disinterest to conceal his true feelings.
This was true, Yi Ming realized.
He felt like he was suffocating for a moment.
The number of enemies up ahead began to diminish, as if they were being directed elsewhere. Their voices seemed to be the only sounds echoing down the long hallways. The bronze walls around them began to grow darker as they ran, like an impenetrable darkness lay ahead.
An invisible pressure descended upon his shoulders in the claustrophobic space.
Their racing footsteps were like drum beats mirroring their pounding hearts.
Yi Ming understood better than anyone. He too once had family, only to lose him and become alone once more.
He might have had friends by his side, but what about Li, who had been locked up here for an unknown amount of time?
He could run his mouth and then forget about his sadness, but what did Li think about after feigning indifference?
An impulse suddenly struck Yi Ming.
He whirled around out of nowhere and looked earnestly into the eyes of the lonely young man.
“We can be family from now on.” He stated.
Everything around them seemed to fall away at that moment. The brunet teen raised his face that still had some baby fat left, utterly serious.
The dark-haired young man’s eyes widened slightly. His lips parted but no words came out. Those dark eyes where Yi Ming’s face reflected seemed both astonished and stunned.
“You said I can call you ‘Big Brother’ the other day, right?” Yi Ming said, “I’ve always wanted a big brother.”
His eyes were like the beautiful clear sky waiting after the rain.
Li just stared at him.
The acerbic, aloof young man who was never honest about his feelings seemed bewildered by the ridiculous statements. Yet there was a hint of vulnerability beneath his facade.
It was a long time before Li lifted his head slightly. He smiled genuinely with misty eyes behind his dark eyelashes.
“Alright.”
The dark-haired young man whispered.
…
Tarnished Bronze’s silkworm squad was responsible for guarding the merchandise. They would not leave their post even if things outside descended into chaos.
And these ‘silkworms’ in particular were guarding the most valuable piece of all.
All was quiet outside the room. The black-robed subordinates remained in rows before the door. They knew what was stored in the room behind them. A piece of merchandise with a special ability.
Their leader had golden stripes hemming his robe. He wasn’t a part of the ‘silkworm squad’, but the more combat-capable ‘tiger squad’. He was a Rank D mimic-type whose sharp close could rend the earth. His extremely acute five senses could detect vibrations from a hundred meters away.
No one could escape his eyes or elude his ears. Night or day, he would hunt down and capture his prey.
He was in charge of security here at this time.
It was a measure that seemed somewhat excessive. After all, an ability user like him was best suited for finding new marks outside.
However, they’ve been forced to stay at HQ by the leader ever since a Rank D supposedly caused offense to the organization’s esteemed guest and caused Tarnished Bronze to suffer heavy losses.
He wasn’t happy about this, but he wasn’t going to disobey the leader’s direct orders.
He suddenly heard a thump.
With that, the lights in the hallway up ahead extinguished at once.
The black-robed subordinates retrieved their guns and warily observed the direction the sound had come from. The tiger squad subordinate transformed his hand into sharp claws. Tiny feathers that would not be amiss on a bird covered his skin.
For all they knew, a man-eating monster lurked in the impenetrable darkness at the end of the hallway. Their headlights barely allowed them to see the remains of the overhead lights.
There were intruders here.
A figure rushed out of the darkness before they could react. A brunet teen.
The black-robed people instantly fired on the teen, only for the bullets to near-instantly hit hard metal!
After a series of pinging noises, the bullets fell to the floor with a clatter. Meanwhile, the teen’s metal ball smashed through the hallway lights above them!
Their surroundings instantly plunged into darkness. The subordinates continued to fire at the last spot they saw the teen, each shot providing a split second of illumination. The tiger squad individual snorted coldly as he tracked his target all the same. Even metal would be rended into pieces in the face of his ability.
He flexed his claws, almost able to see the teen being torn apart already.
However, before he could do anything else.
“Dun!”
A huge blue assailed him from behind, striking his side.
The undetectable attack escaped his keen senses, rendering the ability he was so proud of useless.
He subconsciously glanced back.
There was a dark-haired young man smiling faintly in the darkness, watching him fall unconscious with muted interest.
The man connected the dots in that instant.
Of course his ability was useless trash.
His opponent was the esteemed guest the leader had repeatedly mentioned, the inscrutable Rank A powerhouse!
But why did this powerhouse spare his life?
He didn’t understand, not one bit. Before the lights went out, the man glanced over at the brunet who had disable the other subordinates with non-lethal methods.
He saw the pure, untainted look in those sky blue eyes as the teen turned around and smiled at the young man behind him.
Was it for his sake?
He thought before the darkness claimed him.
Was he spared out of consideration for the teen’s principles?
