Ice skates forward, regardless of east or west.

1

Forty-one degrees.

The mercury column of the thermometer felt like a cold knife pressed against the child's burning forehead.

"Cooling blankets! Quick!" the old doctor roared, his hands already gripping ice packs.

Gu Xidong pressed down on the child's burning little hand; Ling Wuwen stood by the bed.

"Mom...no..."

The child's three intermittent words hung in the hospital room.

The albatross burst through the door, the silver metal box in his hand gleaming coldly.

"This is a special antipyretic for the organization, designed for individuals with specific conditions, but it may cause nerve damage as a side effect. You decide."

"Use it." Ling Wuwen snatched the syringe, his hands trembling so much he could barely hold it. Gu Xidong took the injection, lifted the child's clothes, and the child twitched as the needle pierced his thigh, but remained unconscious.

The blue liquid was injected into the body, and the thermometer reading dropped rapidly—41, 40, 39.5 degrees… The child’s breathing gradually became steady, but his eyes remained tightly closed.

"Can she speak in complete words now?" Albatross asked.

"Hmm." Gu Xidong's gaze remained fixed on the child. "Shall the plan continue?"

Albatross glanced at Ling Wuwen's tense profile: "You're both in terrible shape. Rest first, until the baby stabilizes—"

"Continue," Ling Wuwen interrupted her, his tone resolute. "The longer we drag this out, the more likely Ling Yashi is to release the virus prematurely. If the child can hold on, so can we."

Gu Xidong caught a glimpse of her right hand hidden behind her back, her nails digging deeply into her palm.

The albatross hesitated for a moment and then nodded:

"We're leaving for the Northern City at five tomorrow morning. The fake child is next door." She turned and left, leaving only the family of three and the unconscious child in the ward.

Gu Xidong pulled up a chair and looked directly at Ling Wuwen: "How did you get the scar on your arm?"

Ling Wuwen subconsciously touched the fading incision on his left arm, his eyes flickering: "The car accident three years ago, didn't I tell you?"

"Car accident wounds don't look like this." Gu Xidong stood up, approached, and pulled out a photograph.

"This is a screenshot of an experimental report from the submarine's computer. Below Ling Yashi's signature, it says 'Number 07, tracking chip implanted subcutaneously on the radial side of the left arm.' The incision location in the diagram is exactly the same as yours."

The only sound in the ward was the beeping of the monitor.

2

Ling Wuwen stared at the photo for a long time before speaking softly, "When did you start to have doubts?"

"It starts when the child says 'Mom isn't,'" Gu Xidong said in a deep voice.

"But I've had my suspicions for a long time—Ling Yashi hasn't been able to catch you for three years, yet you always manage to escape beforehand, and you even know the backup ventilation shafts of the Northern City laboratory like the back of your hand. This is too unusual. You are Subject 07, aren't you? The child's mutation is due to inheriting your modified genes."

Ling Wuwen laughed until tears streamed down his face: "Yes, I am number 07, and I am also Ling Yashi's biological daughter."

Gu Xidong's mind went blank.

"She experimented on her own daughter in an attempt to create the perfect 'evolved human'."

Ling Wuwen wiped away his tears, walked to the bedside and gazed at the child. "But my genes have undergone an uncontrollable mutation, my abilities are intermittent and accompanied by serious side effects. She thought I was useless and abandoned me to her twin sister, Ling Yaqin. Unexpectedly, the child inherited my mutation, and it's a stable version. When Ling Yashi found out, she wanted to take her back to complete her unfinished experiments."

"Why are you only saying this now?"

"I'm scared." Ling Wuwen turned away, tears streaming down her face again.

"I'm afraid you'll think I'm a monster, I'm afraid you'll hand me over for the sake of the child, I'm afraid you... won't want me." Three years of pretense and fear completely broke down at this moment.

Gu Xidong stepped forward and hugged her, gently comforting her, "Silly girl, I don't even care that you're a clone, why would I mind this?"

Suddenly, the monitor emitted a piercing alarm—the child's heart rate spiked.

The two rushed to the bedside and saw that the child's eyes were open, his pupils had turned pure silver-white, and he was staring at the ceiling, silently moving his lips.

"What is she saying?" Gu Xidong leaned down to listen.

"Don't come any closer!" Ling Wuwen shoved him away abruptly.

As soon as the words were spoken, the air around the child began to distort, the bed sheet moved automatically without any wind, and the monitor screen flickered wildly.

"Power out of control!" Ling Wuwen grabbed the tranquilizer, but was blocked by an invisible force field.

Gu Xidong threw out the cooling blanket, which was instantly torn to shreds in mid-air, sending cotton fibers flying everywhere.

The child was lifted off the hospital bed by an invisible hand, hovering half a meter above the ground. The silvery gaze swept across the room and finally settled on Ling Wuwen.

Then, a cold, adult female voice rang out, not a child's voice, but Ling Yashi's: "Found you, Number 07."

Gu Xidong felt his blood freeze: "Is she speaking through the child?"

"Remote gene resonance." Ling Wuwen's face turned deathly pale.

"I have her biomarkers in my genes, and she can establish connections through the genetic network of her children."

"Daughter." The child's lips parted, and Ling Yashi's voice was coaxing.

"It's been three years. It's time to go home. Give me the child's body, and I'll set you free."

"Don't even think about it." Ling Wuwen drew his pistol, but his wrist trembled uncontrollably.

"Guess what would happen if I triggered the self-destruct program in my child's genes?" Ling Yashi's voice was laced with mockery.

"Gu Xidong, do you think Ling Yaqin gave you a life-saving drug? It's a catalyst, a catalyst that accelerates the collapse of the child's genes. Every inhibitor is pushing her towards a cliff."

The gun in Ling Wuwen's hand clattered to the ground: "You're talking nonsense..."

"Check the toxin levels in the child's blood. Is it increasing after each medication?" Ling Yashi chuckled.

"Ling Yaqin also wants the child to die; if she can't have it, she won't let me have it either."

The monitor suddenly went black, and all electronic devices malfunctioned simultaneously.

The ward was plunged into darkness, with only the silvery light shimmering on the child's body.

Albatross and his men rushed in, and when they saw the floating child, they froze on the spot.

"Ling Yashi...remote control..." Before Gu Xidong could finish speaking, the child suddenly turned to the albatross.

"Albatross, no, I should call you 'Nightingale'—Ling Yaqin's mole planted in 'Ice Shards'." The voice was full of mockery.

"Your disguise was exposed long ago."

Nightingale's expression changed drastically. She reached for her waist, but was lifted up by an invisible force and slammed against the wall. The sound of bones cracking was clearly audible, and she screamed as she collapsed to the ground.

"The game should end now." Ling Yashi's voice echoed.

"Northern City, I await you. Bring your children, or I will make the whole world pay with its life."

The silvery light went out, and the child fell from the sky. Gu Xidong rushed over and caught him.

She has returned to normal, her eyes are closed, her breathing is weak but her body temperature is stable.

The ward lights came back on, the equipment restarted, and Nightingale lay on the floor moaning, with at least two broken ribs.

"Are you really one of Ling Yaqin's people?" Ling Wuwen picked up the gun and pointed it at her.

"Yes...but she didn't mean to harm the child..." Nightingale coughed up blood, "She just wanted to use the child to force Ling Yashi to show herself, and then catch them all in one fell swoop..."

Ling Wuwen walked to the window and looked at the night sky at three in the morning:

"Go to the northern city, but don't follow their script. We'll destroy the labs, the formulas, and all the data, and bring this all to a complete end."

"How do you destroy it?" Gu Xidong asked.

Ling Wuwen squatted down in front of Nightingale, pressing the muzzle of his gun against her forehead: "What are the trigger conditions for the lab's self-destruct program?"

"The gene lock has been illegally activated... or the control room has manually detonated it..." Nightingale winced in pain.

"The central control room is on the fifth basement level and requires Level 3 access, which only Ling Yaqin has."

"She will give it to me." Ling Wuwen stood up.

"What she fears most is that Ling Yashi will release the data after failing, and then the whole world will know that she conducted thirty years of inhumane experiments." She looked at Gu Xidong.

"We'll split into two groups. You take the child to the real safe house, and I'll go to the Northern City alone to negotiate with Ling Yaqin."

"No! Going there would be suicide!" Gu Xidong grabbed her wrist.

"I won't die." Ling Wuwen rolled up his sleeve, revealing the scar.

"There's a genetic code inside. All the lab's defense systems will recognize me as the 'administrator,' and genetic weapons are ineffective against me—this is the backup plan Ling Yashi left behind. But the child can't go. There are gene inducers in the lab air, which will accelerate her mutation."

Gu Xidong hugged the child tightly, the soft little body breathing as lightly as a feather: "What if you can't get out?"

"Take the child and go, the farther the better." Ling Wuwen tiptoed and kissed his lips.

"Wait for me for 24 hours. If I don't hear from you, I'll consider you dead."

"I will go in and find you," Gu Xidong said firmly.

At four in the morning, the sky was just beginning to lighten.

Gu Xidong, holding the child, got into the SUV. The driver was one of Albatross's "own people".

Ling Wuwen stood outside the car and touched the child's face one last time: "Tell her that Mommy loves her."

"Tell her yourself to come back alive." After Gu Xidong finished speaking, the car sped away, and Ling Wuwen's figure in the rearview mirror gradually disappeared into the morning mist.

3

The child woke up, his deep brown eyes clear and bright, his little hand tightly gripping Gu Xidong's finger. After two hours of driving into the mountains, the driver suddenly said:

"Two cars followed us for ten minutes."

Gu Xidong turned around, and the black sedan on the winding mountain road was following closely behind.

A tunnel appeared ahead, and the driver stepped on the gas and rushed in, then braked abruptly and turned around, turning off all the headlights and stopping in the emergency lane.

Two black cars sped past, and they took the opportunity to turn onto a side road.

Half an hour later, the car stopped at an abandoned forest ranger station. The driver moved an old metal cabinet, revealing a downward staircase:

"There's food and medical supplies downstairs, enough to last a month." He handed over a walkie-talkie.

"Channel 5, call every six hours to let us know you're safe. Press the red button in case of emergency."

Gu Xidong carried the child down the stairs. The basement was well-equipped, even including a crib. The child slept soundly. He turned on the intercom, and amidst the crackling static, Ling Wuwen's voice suddenly came through: "Gu Xidong, can you hear me?"

"Yes! Where are you?"

"We're almost at the Northern City. We dealt with Ling Yashi's men along the way." Her voice was slightly breathless.

"Nightingale didn't tell me everything. Once the self-destruct sequence is activated, it will release nerve gas, covering a radius of fifty kilometers. You and your child must evacuate to a distance of one hundred kilometers within three hours. I have protective clothing, and Ling Yaqin is already waiting for me in the control room, saying she is willing to cooperate."

"Don't believe her!"

"I know, but I need her access." Ling Wuwen's voice lowered.

"If I hadn't come out, you would have taken the children to New Zealand, where there are protected areas for 'ice chips'."

"Don't say things like that!"

A muffled explosion came from the other end of the walkie-talkie.

"I have to go. Remember, three hours. I love you." The communication was abruptly cut off.

Gu Xidong gripped the walkie-talkie tightly. Suddenly, the child climbed onto his lap and began to cry anxiously. He patted his chest with his little hands and pointed to the corner of the basement—behind the iron bars of the ventilation shaft. A pair of silvery-white eyes flashed in the darkness, like the gaze of a wild beast, gleaming faintly.