As the sounds coming through Wenzhi’s earpiece dissolved once again into gunshots, grunts, and distant yelling, Xinyuan forced himself not to focus on it.

He trusted Wenzhi.

Xinyuan stepped past the shattered remains of the glass pod before walking toward the central supercomputer connected to the charging stations.

Then he grabbed the thick glowing wires running through the system and ripped them out with one pull.

Electric sparks exploded throughout the room. Several monitors burst apart.

Warning sirens screamed louder throughout the facility.

Then, he heard her voice. "Xinyuan."

Xinyuan stopped moving and slowly turned around.

Doctor Bai stood at the entrance of the room, her face twisted between shock and fury as she stared at the destroyed systems surrounding him.

"What do you think you’re doing?!" she shouted.

By now, every major computer in the chamber had already been destroyed.

The entire building pulsed with flashing red emergency lights, warning alarms blaring endlessly as the facility system falsely detected a rift opening.

Xinyuan stared at her coldly. "You contacted the Old Blood, didn’t you?"

Doctor Bai visibly froze for half a second before her expression hardened.

"What are you talking about?" she snapped. "I’m asking what you think you’re doing!"

Her voice rose sharply. "You’re going rogue after everything I’ve done for you!"

"Answer me!" The force that burst out of Xinyuan’s body shook the entire room.

CRACK.

Deep fractures spread across nearby walls instantly.

Doctor Bai’s pupils shrank.

She quickly pulled a small controller from her pocket.

"I warned them!" she shouted desperately. "I told them that Guide was a bad idea!" 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Her voice trembled now. "Ever since he appeared, you’ve been changing! He’s making you do things you would never do before!"

Her finger tightened around the button. "I warned them and they refused to listen!"

CLICK.

The moment she pressed it, a violent sizzling pain exploded throughout Xinyuan’s entire body.

His knees almost buckled.

But before the pain could fully drag him down, Xinyuan raised his hand.

Doctor Bai was blasted across the room. Her back slammed hard against the wall before she collapsed to the floor with a sharp gasp of pain, the controller slipping from her grasp.

Xinyuan stood there breathing unevenly.

His clenched hand trembled from the pain still tearing through his nerves.

Slowly, the controller lifted from the floor and flew directly into his hand.

Xinyuan felt proud of himself.

He knew the Xinyuan from before meeting Wenzhi would never have done what he just did.

The feeling settled heavily inside his chest as though some unbearable weight had finally begun lifting away from him.

Doctor Bai stared at him in visible terror now, her expression twisted with disbelief as though she still couldn’t comprehend that he had actually fought back against her.

After all, she had conditioned him for nine years.

No matter how much Xinyuan hated her, part of him still viewed her exactly the way she had taught him to.

Someone protecting him at all costs. Someone necessary. A twisted figure he had unwillingly learned to call mother.

Xinyuan breathed unevenly as he forced himself to step closer toward her.

"I..." His voice came out rough. "I asked you a question."

He took another step. "You’re in contact with the Old Blood, aren’t you?"

Doctor Bai let out a shaky breath, pain clearly visible across her face. Judging from the way she struggled to move, her back was probably broken.

For a moment, she simply stared at him.

Then quietly, "Are you going to kill me?"

Xinyuan’s fingers twitched.

He wanted to.

After all, she would kill Wenzhi without hesitation if it benefited her plans.

But instead, he repeated himself again. "I asked you a question."

Doctor Bai suddenly laughed weakly.

"You’ve been unstable ever since you left the Red Zone," she whispered. "Then suddenly, when I saw you again at the beach..."

Her eyes locked onto him. "You looked fine."

Xinyuan’s expression darkened.

"You imprinted on Lin Wenzhi," she continued. "Only he can stabilize you."

"And you found him," Xinyuan said quietly.

Doctor Bai swallowed before answering. "Your father came to me after the attack on the duplex. Right after I met you again at the Rift Suppression Corps."

Her gaze shifted away briefly. "We made a deal."

Xinyuan’s jaw tightened.

"I would hand you over to them while remaining in charge of your condition. In return, the Old Blood would protect me and remove me from the CEA."

"Oh." That single quiet response somehow sounded emptier than rage.

"I was trying to protect you! Like I always have!" Doctor Bai spoke again the moment she saw his expression shift.

Her breathing grew more uneven. "Your family wants you back because they need you. There’s a project underway. Something capable of restoring the world itself."

Her eyes widened as she spoke faster now. "No more rifts. No more monsters. They want your power for that."

Xinyuan stared at her silently.

"But they know.... the CEA would never willingly release you."

"If they want to use me to save the world..." Xinyuan’s voice sounded strangely calm now. "Then why do they want to kill Wenzhi?"

Doctor Bai froze.

"Why can’t they approach him peacefully?" Xinyuan continued quietly. "Or approach me peacefully?"

His eyes stayed fixed on her. "Why force everything? Why not negotiate like sane humans?"

Doctor Bai swallowed hard. "...The project is complicated."

"Then make it less complicated!" Xinyuan’s voice finally rose. "They sold me to the CEA, and now suddenly they want me back? Why?"

His breathing grew uneven again. "Why use this approach? Why force everything?"

His eyes darkened. "Why send Jingxin to talk to Wenzhi behind my back? Why try to separate him from me?"

The room trembled faintly from the pressure leaking out of his body. "I won’t let anyone take him away from me."

Doctor Bai narrowed her eyes sharply. "Xinyuan..."

"If saving the world comes at the cost of Wenzhi’s death," Xinyuan cut in angrily, "then the world can stay exactly the way it is."

Doctor Bai stared at him like she no longer recognized the person standing in front of her.

"This..." Xinyuan raised the shattered controller in his hand.

CRACK.

The remains of the controller crumbled completely in his grip.

"I’m done." His voice sounded terrifyingly calm now. "I won’t let the Old Blood claim me. Or Wenzhi."

His eyes landed on Doctor Bai again. "And you... You are not my mother."

Doctor Bai’s face fell apart. "Xinyuan..."

She tried forcing herself upright before pain twisted across her expression again.

"The Pei family..." she said shakily. "I didn’t know they would discover it was them. I can withdraw the deal. We can go back to the way things were before all this."

Xinyuan stared at her with absolute disgust. "The Red Zone is expanding. The monsters are evolving."

His voice sounded colder with every word. "I sent you data. Reports. Warnings. And instead of doing anything useful..."

Dark mist suddenly exploded from his body. His left eye burned deep crimson. "You’re a sick joke."

Doctor Bai’s pupils shrank.

"You irritate me."

The pressure in the room became overwhelming.

The walls cracked further. The air distorted.

Doctor Bai slowly closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath, accepting what she thought was coming.

Death.

But after several long seconds passed, nothing happened.

Silence filled the room.

Slowly, Doctor Bai opened her eyes again.

Xinyuan was gone.