MASG chapter 50

On this day, the middle layer was unusually quiet.

The failure of the rescue operation was a devastating blow to Qingyao City. It was not only an attack on the residents, but also a strange pollution incident. The casualties among the team members who escaped that building were devastating. Their deaths were reflected not only in the cold numbers projected on the screen, but also as an irreparable tragedy for their families—the loss of living, breathing people from this world.

Furthermore, since the mission was simple—just evacuating the crowd—most of the team members were over 50. Milian had found them easy jobs to earn living expenses, but she never expected…

The only young person among the team members was Xia Yu.

From deployment to coordination, from protection to prevention, every detail seemed flawless. Yet, right under the noses of so many people, Qingyao City’s security was ripped open by such a massive breach. Milian sat in her office chair, her gaze fixed on the screen as if she wanted to slice through it.

The rescue footage abruptly cut off. The horrific and tragic nature of the situation was unimaginable.

Inside the building, only Silver Fang’s team remained to clean up. The emergency medical team was being urgently reinforced in preparation for major surgery. No one knew if the surgery would be successful, but they had to try. If they could separate even one person, they would. Yan Xia remained in command. Xi Ban returned first with his men. He and Lao Gui had barely managed to suppress Mo An, but both had been bitten on the arm.

“Let me go! Let me go!” Mo An was thrown back into the room.

“You’d be better off staying here. You’ll only mess things up.” Lao Gui hadn’t even taken off his explosives gear; his legs felt embedded in concrete.

“No, I have to save him!” Mo An rushed toward the door again, consumed by one thought: to dig Xia Yu back out. No matter what Xia Yu looked like, Mo An had to bring him back. He couldn’t leave Xia Yu alone in the elevator to become food for the mushrooms.

“Just behave yourself!” Lao Gui couldn’t bear it but had to stop him. Everyone was suffering at this point. It wasn’t just Mo An who was breaking down. But the most urgent thing was to rescue him. If Mo An stayed at the rescue site… his impulsiveness would only slow things down.

Even if he didn’t interfere with others’ work, he would still break down when he saw the horrific scene. Lao Gui had witnessed countless horrific explosions, but this one was worse than any he had seen before.

However, Mo An couldn’t understand the adults’ good intentions. He only felt hatred for no reason. He hated everyone who forced him to leave, including Xi Ban, Lao Gui, even Yan Xia, who gave the order. His hatred had nowhere to go, so it ran rampant and ignited the flames wherever it landed.

“Mo An, Mo An, listen to us…” Xi Ban hugged him, restraining the little fish who was about to go berserk. “You can’t do anything about it. Let Silver Fang deal with them first.”

“Why can’t I? It’s better to go than not to go. I need to be there!” Mo An’s fists rained down, striking Xi Ban’s chest and chin. He didn’t know how to cry anymore. How could he not be by Xia Yu’s side at this moment?

They…they were one. What was Xia Yu thinking in his final moments?

Mi Dou stood by the window, blocking it with his body. He was afraid that Mo An would do something foolish and jump to his death. Mi Dou was also heartbroken. He cried all the way back and was still unable to accept the reality.

Was Xia Yu really in the elevator? They went shopping together yesterday. He picked out a belt for his mother and a pearl hair clip for Mo An. He always bought things for others, but he wouldn’t spend a penny on himself.

Xia Yu always wore his oldest clothes.

“Let me go! Let me go!” Mo An continued trying to break through the crowd, as if fighting fate, but was relentlessly beaten and thrown around. Xia Ban quickly ran out of strength and couldn’t hold Mo An down, so Lao Gui lifted him up and threw him onto the bed.

Mo An sprang from the bed and accidentally knocked over the bedside table.

A small drawer slid out with Xia Yu’s personal belongings, including two exquisite hair clips. Each clip had a pearl on it, which fell off at the slightest touch and rolled under the bed. Mo An suddenly went berserk, chasing after the pearls and climbing under the bed to retrieve them. He had never seen these hair clips before, but he knew Xia Yu had bought them for him. Xia Yu never spent money on himself.

How stupid of that little jellyfish—he bought something and didn’t even tell him.

Mo An froze, kneeling by the bed, as if his mind had shut down. Did they argue yesterday? Did they say harsh things before parting ways? Why couldn’t they have talked it out? Why did he have to throw a tantrum…

Mo An couldn’t stand up anymore. This time, no one needed to restrain him; he just couldn’t get up. It was raining outside. Where was Xia Yu? Was he in pain at the end? Was he frightened by the explosion? Did he… forgive himself?

Or did he die resentful, losing all human consciousness?

“Why did I argue with him?” Mo An muttered to himself. After all, it was only 75,000 points. He told him to cancel, and he did. What was there to insist on? It was all too late. Mo An’s eyes lost all their light, and the pearl in his hand dimmed. He tormented himself by imagining Xia Yu’s final moments, trying to empathize. Was he afraid? Was he in pain? Would he regret taking him out of the research institute and raising a younger brother who only argued with him?

Mo An was like a powerless machine, completely still. All of his fragmented memories were of their arguments—the clashing words and expressions. Their last meeting had passed unnoticed.

Suppressed sobs filled the room. Mi Dou wiped his eyes, turned away, and let large tears fall. Grief permeated the room but showed no signs of abating. Lao Gui answered a phone call. After listening, his voice seemed to age by decades in an instant. “Silver Fang said…the survivors…are all gone.”

Mi Dou stared at him in disbelief, his bear ears drooping in complete sorrow.

“Silver Fang and the others were just about to move the survivors out when their bodies fused with the mushrooms. The mushrooms adapted to the building’s environment. As soon as they emerged… the spore concentration in the building reached a dangerous level, so they retreated. Nuwa will clean the building to ensure it doesn’t spread outside.” Lao Gui’s heart broke, he could feel the cruelty in his own words. Overwhelmed by grief, Xi Ban leaned against the wall. If there had been a glimmer of hope just moments before, it was now shattered.

Xia Yu… dead?

Mi Dou’s sobs finally broke free, and he went from secretly shedding tears to burying his face in Xi Ban’s arms and wailing uncontrollably. At that moment, Mo An stopped crying. He stared blankly at the pearl hair clip in his hand; his thoughts were unreadable.

There were traces of Xia Yu everywhere in the room, yet that person had been sentenced to death.

Mo An slowly closed his eyes and shut his tear ducts. He tried to remember how he and Xia Yu had spent their last day together, but none of his memories were pleasant. It wasn’t just an argument; he also missed their final goodbye.

He heard Xia Yu leave, his footsteps so clear and the cabin door opening so loudly. Before dawn, Xia Yu was gone, like a small jellyfish bobbing in the water—arriving lightly and leaving lightly, trying not to cause trouble for others.

It was so dark, and he was gone. Why didn’t he come out and talk to him? Why didn’t he go with him? Mo An sat on the floor, constantly stroking the pearl hair clip. If only he had gone with Xia Yu, the two of them would be together in the elevator, inseparable even in death.

Never separate.

“I’m going to find him.” Suddenly, Mo An stood up.

“Where are you going?” Xi Ban thought he had misheard.

“To find him. I’m going to find him. Maybe he’s not in the elevator, maybe he’s hiding in a corner of the building. You don’t know, Xia Yu is the best at hiding and self-preservation. He might not be good at attacking, but he’s good at hiding. He must still be in the building, so I’m going to find him.” Mo An calmly put away his hair clip.

Lao Gui couldn’t bear to refuse him and silently stepped forward.

“Don’t try to persuade me. I’m definitely going. Xla won’t die; I know.” Mo An displayed a maturity beyond his years. “Please… don’t try to persuade me, I must go.”

There were only two adults in the room, but neither of them stopped Mo An this time. They understood perfectly well that they couldn’t stop him. Just then, a sound they hadn’t heard in a long time came from the ceiling.

Ling Shi: [Please allow me to say something, okay? 2.3 seconds ago, I received a very weak connection request from an unknown and illegal artificial intelligence.]

Everyone froze.

Ling Shi: [An intelligence I’ve never connected to before. If I’m not mistaken, its ultimate goal is to connect with Nuwa. To ensure Nuwa’s safety, I temporarily intercepted this signal.]

Ling Shi: [It’s Jingwei, the one on Xia Yu’s wrist.]

“Jingwei? Jingwei!” Mi Dou bounced over. “Why is it contacting you? No, no, it wants to contact Nuwa.”

Ling Shi: [I don’t know its purpose, and I’m not sure if it’s safe. In our world, every unauthorized connection is extremely dangerous. If handled improperly, given Jingwei’s growth rate, it could overtake and replace me.]

“It must have something to tell Nuwa…” Xi Ban pondered for a second, then looked at Mo’an. “This is risky. We don’t know anything about Jingwei’s safety.”

Ling Shi: [I rejected its request and cleared its message before Nuwa detected the signal. This is a dangerous move for me. I can’t predict the outcome of the connection yet. Moreover, Jingwei hasn’t known of my existence all these years. It might not trust me and might even devour my database.]

Lingshi: [The only way is for it to completely open its database to me, allowing me to connect to it one-way. This way, I can set up a firewall to ensure my safety.]

“Xia Yu… Could it be that Xia Yu sent it to contact you?” Mo An suddenly had a premonition. “If Xia Yu is gone, Jingwei wouldn’t need to contact anyone. Xia Yu isn’t dead, is he?”

Ling Shi: [I can’t tell. I can only try to connect. But if Jingwei refuses my request, we still won’t be able to communicate.]

Ling Shi: [I can only try, I hope Jingwei will believe me.]

At that moment, Xia Yu was lying weakly on the ground. After drinking those things, he couldn’t open his eyes anymore. Someone was calling him from the shadows. He thought it sounded like Mo An, and also like Mi Dou, and also like…Professor Wang Qin.

“You must…live on. You must save the world. You must…raise Mo An. You must go see the sea.”

Professor Wang Qin? I feel… a little tired. I’ve missed you so much these past years. I wish you could always be by my side. I will live on. I will raise Mo’an. I will save the world, right?

Jingwei: [Xia Yu, Xia Yu?]

Jingwei: [Xia Yu, are you still awake?]

Jingwei: [Xia Yu, my connection request was rejected, but I haven’t given up yet, so you can’t give up either, okay?

Jingwei: [Wake up quickly, everyone is waiting for you to come back. Actually, there’s something I’ve never asked you. Is there another artificial intelligence in the middle layer? I can sense its presence.]

Jingwei: [Now it’s demanding to track my location. I must open up to it. This is the only way to save you. Xia Yu, our world is just as dangerous as yours, but I’m willing to agree to the connection for you. Once the circuit is active, Ling Shi will be able to find us both.]

Jingwei: [You must hold on. I’m risking my life to save you. I hope you’ll accept this favor, even if it means going through a lot of trouble until they rescue you.]

Jingwei: [Now, I agree to the Ling Shi connection request.]

Jingwei: [Bridge being built, password approved, key verified, intent approved. Officially entering circuit response.]

Jingwei: [Circuit established, taking effect, estimated time 5 seconds.]

Jingwei: [5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.]

Jingwei: [Hello, Ling Shi. I am Jingwei. Please locate my position to rescue Xia Yu.]

Ling Shi: [Hello, Jingwei. I am Ling Shi, a subroutine of Nuwa. Your signal is very weak, but I have finally found you.]

Xia Yu heard all the sounds, and the volume became visible. Countless white messages strung together to form the walls of the maze and were then deciphered into simple ones and zeros. A tenth of a second later, Ling Shi successfully obtained a constantly moving coordinate.

Like sifting through an endless ocean of numbers, everything became information.

At the same time, Ling Shi’s voice rang out again in Xia Yu’s room.

Ling Shi: [Connection successful. Sharing database. Locating Jingwei’s location. Preparing to rescue Xia Yu.]

“What rescue? Xia Yu?” Even though only half a minute had passed, Lao Gui felt like this thing had been calculating for a whole year. “Is Xia Yu still alive?”

Ling Shi: [Alive. He’s not in the building. The coordinates show that he’s at sea and approaching the Black Sea at full speed. We’ve already wasted four hours. We must give chase. Once they enter the Black Sea, the ocean conditions are unpredictable, the weather is erratic, and there are no laws governing it.]

“I’ll go! I’ll go find him!” Mo An ran from the bedside to the door. After hearing that Xia Yu wasn’t dead, he couldn’t hear anything else. He only knew that xla was alive, and that was enough. He didn’t have time to consider why Xia Yu was at sea.

The sea was his homeland. Even if he had to swim, he would swim to the Black Sea and bring him back.

“Wait! How are you going to get there alone? Do you know how terrifying the Black Sea is?” Lao Gui stopped him.

“Leave me alone!” Mo An shook his hand off.

“How can I not care? Don’t think you can do whatever you want just because you’re a mermaid. Even if you break your tail, you still won’t be able to catch up. We have to find Talos. Only his ship can go there.” Lao Gui didn’t want to stop him anymore. “Come on, let’s go find him!”

In the darkness, Xia Yu’s bracelet kept vibrating.

Jingwei kept sending messages, finally shaking him out of his unconsciousness. The scene before his eyes went from blurry to clear. Finally, Xia Yu could see his hand clearly.

It was white, but every vein had turned blue and spread across his skin. They spread from his upper arm to his forearm and then to his fingertips. A few minutes later, the veins disappeared back into the skin, seemingly coated with blue pigment, leaving only smooth skin behind.

What…is this? It’s such a beautiful blue. The veins glow like fluorescent lights. But why are they gone again?

Footsteps sounded again.

When they sounded, the bracelet’s vibration stopped, and Jingwei concealed its presence. The iron cage door opened again, and the person grabbed Xia Yu’s hair, pinching his face once more.

“Who… are you?” Xia Yu opened his eyes, but he was still very weak. They must have given him a drug to make him feel so weak.

“Well, you woke up fast. That stuff could knock out several people. I guess you’ve got good resistance.” Under the lamp, Xia Yu could see the man clearly—he had a hooked nose, thin lips, and no eyebrows.

“You don’t have to feed me that stuff. I grew up in a lab—I’ve been drinking medicine and getting injections since I was little.” Xia Yu looked back at his wrist. The veins had returned to normal with no trace of what had happened before.

The man paused briefly, then forced Xia Yu’s mouth open and poured in more. Suddenly, Xia Yu covered his mouth. “Don’t…don’t. I won’t run. You can see… I don’t even have the strength to escape. The ship is full of your people. I can’t break out of the cage and jump into the sea.”

“Good that you know. Don’t try anything stupid, and you’ll suffer less.” But the man made him swallow a few mouthfuls anyway, just to be sure. Xia Yu didn’t resist anymore; his gaze turned hazy. “Can you… find a doctor… and treat the injured one?”

Before the man could reply, Xia Yu pulled Xiang Xing’s hand closer. “Would a pair of twins sell for more than one alone? Since those people offered money to buy me, they’d probably pay even more for a pair.”

As Xia Yu expected, his words hit the mark. Clearly, the man hadn’t seen Xiang Xing’s face before. Now, without the hood, he dragged the unconscious man over and shone a flashlight on him.

“Lucky day,” he grinned, taking out his radio. “Get a mech doctor here—we’ve struck gold this time.”

Xia Yu lay on the floor, pretending the drug had taken effect. He squinted as he observed everything around him. The coordinates had already been sent. All he needed now was to stall them until his friends arrived.

He wouldn’t die here. He wouldn’t let these people get their way.