Chapter 61

Su Ximu and Third Brother held hands as they entered the next-door room. As usual, the door opened with just a light push.

Inside, the Old Man—surrounded by a group of cartoon animals on the walls—was sharpening a knife. The blade rubbed against the hard stone, producing an unpleasant grinding sound.

When he noticed the guests in his room, the Old Man stopped sharpening. He wrapped the blade in a cloth cut from his clothes and placed it in a corner where children couldn’t reach it.

He looked at the little kid who had walked right up to him and was gazing up. The Old Man extended his rough, calloused hand and touched the little guy’s cheek, though somewhat reluctantly.

Feeling Grandpa’s heavy, reluctant emotions, Su Ximu tilted his head in confusion. “Grandpa, what’s wrong?”

“Why aren’t you happy?”

Meanwhile, 243 paid little attention to the old man’s mood shift. He had already taken out the white stone he brought specially and started drawing on the wall.

Yesterday, Xibao had drawn a little deer here. He needed to draw an identical one to keep it company.

The Old Man standing in the middle of the room didn’t reveal the truth upon hearing this. Instead, he scooped up the somewhat worried little kid and coaxed him. “Grandpa has to move again soon. He can’t bear to leave Xiao Mu behind.”

Lately, the managers and inner-city residents in District 13 had been too busy with their own troubles to bother injecting him with more suppressants.

With his ability no longer suppressed, even as a sixty-something-year-old whose body functions were declining, he still gained exceptional learning ability through emotional perception and replication.

In truth, the Old Man’s learning speed surpassed even 243’s. By now, he and Su Ximu—the old man and the little kid—communicated without any issues.

The now-wiser little guy thought for a moment upon hearing this. He didn’t immediately buy Grandpa’s story about moving. Instead, he drew an analogy from past experience. “Is it like the last time we moved?”

This time, the Old Man had no qualms about telling the child the truth. “No, it’s different.”

This time would be far more dangerous.

Thanks to his ability, he knew more about recent events than anyone else in the Education Field—even more than some inner-city residents.

This world, slipping into twilight, had finally tolled the bell of doomsday.

The Old Man held the child steady with one hand while rummaging through the house with the other.

He continued, “If it were before Grandpa met you, Xiao Mu, he definitely wouldn’t have moved. Grandpa would’ve gone outside to find ‘people’ and tear this place apart.”

But now…

“Grandpa’s new home is in a very faraway place. He’ll go scout it out first. If he makes it big and gets powerful, he’ll come back for Xiao Mu. We don’t care about living here anyway.”

Hearing this, Su Ximu nodded solemnly. “Yeah, this place isn’t good.”

But it was good with his brothers around.

Seeing the little kid didn’t resist moving with him, thought the place was bad, and was just reluctant to leave his brothers, the Old Man smiled. Wrinkles creased deeply across his face. “Good boy, obedient little one.”

“When Grandpa gets back, we’ll discuss it properly with your eldest brother. Then we can all move together, okay?”

“Yeah!” Hearing they’d discuss it with Big Brother made the little guy look forward to Grandpa’s moving proposal a bit more. He couldn’t help asking, “Grandpa, is it nice there?”

If he survived and made it back, of course it would be.

So the Old Man answered without hesitation. “It’s great. If it weren’t, Grandpa definitely wouldn’t come back for Xiao Mu.”

“You like the Little Yellow Dog, right? After we move, Grandpa will find one just like it for you to raise, okay?”

Su Ximu’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise as he repeated Grandpa’s words. “Can I raise a puppy?”

It sounded so great there.

“Then when will you come back, Grandpa?”

The Old Man spoke casually, as if he weren’t heading to a near-death trap in another world. “Grandpa will try to come back as soon as possible.”

After saying that, the little guy thought some more and added, “Even if Grandpa doesn’t get super strong, it’s okay~ We’ll just stay here.”

“Okay~ Even if Grandpa doesn’t get super strong, he’ll still come back.” The Old Man’s eyes grew misty with emotion.

He took out a small plaque he had just found and hung it around the child’s neck. With one hand, he tied a dead knot.

That way, even if the little guy tried to take it off, he wouldn’t be able to easily.

【Weird Item: Puppet Person’s Safety Plaque

Grade: A-grade Item

Usage: Automatically activates upon receiving external energy attacks

Effect: Wearing the Puppet Person’s Safety Plaque ensures your safety—guaranteed with the Puppet Person’s life】

Su Ximu looked down at the little plaque Grandpa had hung on him. It had a cover; when he lifted it, it revealed a drawing of a smiling little puppet person inside.

Grandpa instructed him not to take the plaque off.

The little guy nodded and tucked the plaque into the inner layer of his clothes.

The day after their farewell, the next-door room stood empty. The Old Man was gone.

Before leaving, he couldn’t bear to leave the wall drawings. He fetched a stack of black paper from the school, traced all the white drawings onto it, folded them neatly, and packed them in his bundle.

Su Ximu had thought Grandpa would at least wait a few more days. He hadn’t expected him to leave so quickly.

Because of this, the little guy felt genuinely down for two days.

In the third month after the Old Man left, everyone over twenty in Education Field 104 vanished.

The Su Family moved again. Education Field 104 merged with many others into a larger living area.

In this third residence, things felt like they had back in the Outer District at the start.

No management, no teachers, no school, no Gladiator Arena.

District 13’s managers simply herded these young people here, periodically extracting batches of expendables, then merging in more from other Education Fields.

It was as if a massive meat grinder loomed ahead, and the managers just shoved the consumables in one by one.

If the grinder’s entrance had been bigger, they would’ve pushed in even more.

In the blink of an eye, Su Ximu had his second birthday in this world. Then came Su Jianglou’s, Su Xuanxiao’s, and Su Wuzi’s.

Next was the third birthday.

Su Ximu was seven.

Su Jianglou was eleven.

Su Wuzi was fourteen.

Su Xuanxiao was eighteen.

The vast living area underwent reductions, more reductions, mergers, further reductions, and mergers again. Finally, the red-eyed managers turned their gaze to the most promising forces in their hands.

During this time, not only had the Education Fields consolidated—the entire Wasteland World had too.

District 13’s designation was canceled a year prior.

Now, the Wasteland World consisted of a single massive district consolidating all remaining forces. The managers still aimed for the 【Doomsday Voyage Ship】.

Thus, this last district was named Hope District.

As the Monster World’s invasion deepened, the domain of that weird monster possessing the 【Doomsday Voyage Ship】 prop no longer limited challenger numbers.

On an otherwise peaceful afternoon, the living area’s bell tolled. Rumbling giant trucks pulled up to the streets. Hunter combat squads—loyal and powerful, dispatched by the managers—took away every young person they could see.

After the first batch of trucks left, the second batch rolled in. At least two Hunters jumped from each truck compartment.

Clearly, these Hunters were outstanding Education Field graduates.

In a remote tin-roofed house,

Su Xuanxiao looked down at the shackles on his wrist amid the roar of truck engines.

He glanced at his brothers, especially little Xi.

As if resolving himself, he gripped the chain binding him and yanked it apart with force.

Clunk.

With a heavy, muffled sound, the broken chain slammed onto the floor.

The instant he snapped it, he bent down, scooped up his youngest brother, pushed open the door, and said to Su Wuzi and Su Jianglou—who had followed suit and broken their own chains—”Keep up! We’re going.”

With that, he darted out like a swift leopard.

Su Wuzi and Su Jianglou wasted no words and followed at no slower speed.

Thanks to their frequent nighttime strolls to stargaze, they knew the area intimately. Even the Hunter squads couldn’t catch them right away.

Su Xuanxiao ran flat out for over an hour, carrying one brother while Su Jianglou—who had tired out—clung to his leg.

Fortunately, Su Wuzi kept pace and occasionally carried Third Brother too, easing the load on Big Brother.

Su Ximu was still a bit dazed, unclear on exactly what was happening. But he trusted his brothers completely.

So when Big Brother suddenly started running with him amid the chaos outside and tense atmosphere, he clung tightly to Big Brother’s neck without making a sound.

Of course, while hugging tight, he made sure to leave room for Big Brother to breathe.

They ran at full speed for two full hours before an abandoned factory appeared ahead.

Su Xuanxiao led his brothers inside to hide for now.

“Rest here for a bit.” Su Xuanxiao set the kid in his arms down in a relatively clean corner.

Now that he could finally speak, Su Ximu asked softly, “Big Brother, why are we running? Are bad guys coming to catch us?”

These past two years of frequent moves had taught even Su Ximu that everywhere they lived grew desolate before each relocation.

The people who suddenly vanished were probably taken by bad guys.

He had been sad at first, but he couldn’t stop it.

Neither could his brothers, who were only a little older.

The oldest, Big Brother, hadn’t even been eighteen back then.

Su Ximu sometimes wondered if Grandpa had lied to him—maybe Grandpa knew the bad guys were coming for him too.

But whenever that thought surfaced, he forced himself to think positively. Grandpa wouldn’t lie. Grandpa had just gone to find their new home.

Vigilant in unfamiliar places, Su Xuanxiao set the kid down briefly but soon picked him back up.

He no longer hid the truth, explaining in the gentlest way possible. “This world is broken.”

We might all die when the other world fully arrives.

“But our family will always be together.”

Su Ximu looked at his brothers, who looked back at him.

Comforted by Big Brother’s words, he nodded obediently. “Yeah. We’ll be together. Big Brother, I’m not scared.”