Chapter 40 A Bit of Time_1

"Green Day?" Director Fu asked.

"Impossible." Ai Qing shook her head, "Even if Green Day knows that it was Huai Shi who killed Red Gloves, they wouldn't stoop to settling scores with a nobody. That bunch of lunatics always has their sights set on causing trouble for the Astronomical Society, they haven't sunk that low yet."

"Savior Association?"

"That's even more unlikely."

Ai Qing shook his head: "He's just a victim, too. If it's about revenge, they should come at me. Huai Shi's file is still classified; apart from you and me, others don't even know he's a Sublimator."

"..."

For a moment, both of them found it difficult to continue their train of thought.

"That guy, really knows how to stir up trouble, huh."

Director Fu sighed impatiently, "Might as well lock him up for half a year."

"He is presently a formal employee of the Astronomical Society." Ai Qing looked straight at him, "If you insist on doing so, then I'm afraid we can only meet again in Jinling."

Ai Qing's point was unmistakably clear: if Director Fu stubbornly stuck to his view, then it was likely they would meet again only in a border courtroom.

Director Fu frowned: "Are you really set on protecting him that much?"

"He is my subordinate," replied Ai Qing.

"No, he's a seventeen-year-old high school student, who will be a senior tomorrow, facing college entrance exams the year after next."

Director Fu raised his voice slightly, "If you truly don't want him to end up in a border prison one day, then you shouldn't let him get involved in anything beyond school matters."

"..."

Ai Qing's gaze became strange: "Are you actually concerned about the growth of the youth?"

"I just hate kids who pick up weapons," Director Fu touched the scar on his neck, growing more visibly upset: "The more trouble they cause, the more I detest them."

"He won't become the kind of person you imagine."

Director Fu didn't reply to him but kept silent, recalling once again the eyes of that teenager in the video.

It was as if finally provoked, in the moment he clenched his fist, all those disguises dispersed like fog blown away by the wind and snow.

The irksome superficial smile finally vanished, replaced by the cold and gloomy hardness of rock and iron.

So arrogantly crushing everything...

As if treating death as inconsequential as dust.

That kind of gaze, starkly reminiscent of an executioner, instinctively made Director Fu feel uneasy. No, it was more accurate to say he felt disgust.

Disgusted with someone who had that kind of gaze.

Even more disgusted with a kid who had that kind of gaze.

"Miss Ai, you're trying to put a leash on a wild beast and teach it the rules of a domestic dog, but Huai Shi isn't the same as those things."

He furrowed his brow, "He's just cohabiting in the den of stray dogs. Even if he looks like a Husky, his nature is like that of a lupine reverting to its ancestral traits.

Once he has tasted blood, he'll no longer be something you can control with a leash."

Ai Qing calmly sipped the cheap tea in the office, set down the cup, and remained indifferent.

"If you're that afraid, why don't you just kill him?"

"You think I haven't thought of that?"

Director Fu countered: "The night Red Gloves died, when I first saw him in the rain, I had that impulse. I can't accept such a potential lunatic in my jurisdiction.

But what can I do? I'm forty-six this year, a parent myself, how could I kill another kid just because he might commit a crime someday?

Miss Ai, he's only seventeen, the juvenile protection law is on his side, he still has a chance to choose his future... to choose a future that doesn't harm the majority."

"That's just like a domestic dog, right?"

Ai Qing asked coldly, "Cotton in your ears so you pretend you can't hear? Cover your eyes as if nothing is happening, endure the pain until it becomes habit, acquiescent, submissive to maltreatment, wagging your tail waiting for a reward. Do you really think such a life is happy?"

Director Fu became enraged, "He has more choices than that!"

"He doesn't."

Ai Qing stated, "His surname is Huai, just as mine is not 'Ai.' Regardless of whether he struggles or not, he can't change what has happened in the past, just as you and I can't decide a person's future."

She said, "It's fate."

Director Fu asked coldly, "What do you think he'll think of you when he finds out the truth about the past?"

"Who cares? Whatever choice he makes, I won't be surprised," Ai Qing replied coolly, looking right into his eyes, telling him word by word, "But before that, I won't allow anyone to touch him."

"Then what are you really doing?" Director Fu was almost amused, "Atoning?"

Ai Qing expressionless, "I'm just hoping someone will come and settle accounts with me."

"..."

In the silence, Director Fu said nothing more, only gesturing towards the interrogation room for her to take her subordinate away.

.

Meanwhile, Huai Shi was indulging himself in the interrogation room.

After finishing the midnight snack of some employee, he wiped his mouth, still unsatisfied, and called out, "Another bowl!"

In the silence, the officers of the Special Affairs Department sitting there did not speak but just watched him with arms folded, their gazes revealing a hint of pity.

Until Huai Shi turned his head and saw Ai Qing behind him.

"Uh..."

"Could you not make people think that I don't pay you a salary?"

"... Ah, sorry."

"Sorry for what? Eating so much?" Ai Qing shook her head, "The Astronomical Society has special potions for Sublimators in their developmental stage. Do you need me to help you with an internal purchase?"

"Ah..." Huai Shi didn't know how to explain about the Raven, just scratching his head, "I've already bought it."

"Is it Liu Dongli again?"

Ai Qing's eyebrows rose in displeasure, "It's better to stay away from that detective. He's not someone who gives peace of mind either."

"Alright."

Huai Shi complied, readily agreeable.

After those few overseers left, Ai Qing finally asked, "What happened today?"

"Sorry, I caused trouble again."

"Don't always apologize for other people's mistakes—"

The teenage girl rubbed her temples with displeasure and sighed, "To be honest, I don't care what you turned that group of societal trash into. As an employee of the Astronomical Society, the standard procedure when under attack even includes the option to kill, understand?

Don't underestimate the privileges of the Astronomical Society. Even if you pulled out a gun and killed all of them, there would be no issue with the procedure; at most, you would face an internal demerit after going through the process.

I'm just curious—what was your reason for doing this."

"Hmm?" Huai Shi was puzzled.

"Normally, you would run away, right?"

She said, "Pleading desperately, running away if you can't fight... Taking a direct confrontation is not your style."

"..."

Huai Shi was speechless, "Am I really such a coward in your eyes?"

"What do you think?"

"...Okay, I guess you're right." Huai Shi sighed and scratched his head, unsure of what to say, "If I have to say, I guess I was just angry? And without paying attention, things went a bit too far, and I ended up like this."

"Does it have anything to do with Old Yang's funeral?"

"..."

Huai Shi was stunned for a while and then let out an awkward smile: "How could it?"

Ai Qing didn't speak, just looked at him as if waiting for him to continue. After a while, Huai Shi gave in at last.

"Okay... Maybe a little."

He looked down at the wounds and bandages on his body and sighed helplessly.

"I was scared."

"No matter how eloquently I spoke, when I was surrounded by a group of people in an alley with knives in their hands, threatening my life, I couldn't help but be scared.

I always thought I was tough enough to not even fear death, but it wasn't until I saw a friend enter the cremation chamber that I realized not only was I afraid, I was terrified to death."

Huai Shi sighed, "After so many years of being a joyful idiot, it's suddenly not easy to be happy anymore, and I can't even continue being an idiot. But what else can I do?

I can't even take care of my own life.

Just by going out for a walk when I have nothing else to do, there are people from who knows where trying to take my life... Even if I am annoying, isn't that a bit too much?"

"Yeah."

Ai Qing nodded as if in agreement, yet it was unclear which part she actually agreed with.

Agreeing that he was annoying or that it was excessive?

Huai Shi gave a bitter smile, reached for the table, and pushed himself up, blood seeping through the bandages once again. This time he was really badly injured.

He then realized another bad habit developed after reading the records.

Dying on a whim in the records was convenient, but doing so recklessly in reality comes at a steep price.

Fighting one against seven sounded grand, but it's hardly possible to not get hurt when it's seven against one.

"Do you need a hand?"

Ai Qing suddenly asked, seemingly hinting at something.

Huai Shi laughed and shook his head, "No need, I can manage on my own."

"Life has to be lived on one's own, right?"

He finally managed to stand up by himself.

He put on the coat hanging on the wall corner; the age-old suit was still immaculate, covering the bloodstains, making him appear once again harmless and mild-mannered as he once was.

"Should I have the driver take you home?"

"I'll call a cab," Huai Shi waved his cellphone, cheerily raising his eyebrows: "I snagged a taxi coupon today, it'll expire if I don't use it."

Watching his slightly staggering, comical demeanor as he leaned on the wall, Ai Qing fell silent.

"If you don't long for something beyond the everyday, there's no reason to become a Sublimator..." she suddenly asked, "Huai Shi, do you regret it?"

"No." Huai Shi grinned, "I'm just not used to it yet."

As he said this, he patted his chest and gestured an 'all OK' sign with his hand.

"Such a minor issue, just give me a little time."

The young man smiled, nodded his farewell, pushed open the door, and seemed to mutter to himself in a soft whisper: "Just give me a little more time..."

Ai Qing watched as he descended the stairs.

She didn't try to comfort or persuade him anymore, although deciding to face everything alone was far too foolish.

In the worst case, she would continue to dig deeper, saving the day when necessary, maybe even extending the years he'd sell his life to the Astronomical Society.

His pride and Ai Qing's career ambition were both satisfied.

Double the satisfaction, double the joy.

It was a perfect solution.

Only, in the silence, as she looked at the page of [The Collection of a Thousand Evils], her eyes darkened at that quietly increased bounty.

Two hundred thousand dollars?

That seemed rather cheap for a formal employee of the Astronomical Society, didn't it?

Unexpectedly, she decided to fulfill her responsibility as a superior.

The page closed, her fingers glided, opening the intricate symbol composed purely of triangles and circles—the Metatron Cube.

The trading platform established by the three neutral tycoons of the Border: Tomorrow News, Stone Pot Society, and Workshop Alliance, covering the three essentials for Sublimators: intelligence, border technology, and weapons and tools.

Quickly, the page bounced around, entering the interface of the Alchemy Workshop known for combining cutting-edge science and border technology—Cavendish Laboratory's page.

Remembering the bounty on her account that Huai Shi hadn't yet heated up, her mood unexpectedly brightened.

Three million dollars.

That should be enough to buy something good, right?