Ice skates forward, regardless of east or west.

1

The darkness lasted for a full three seconds.

In those three seconds, Gu Xidong heard the most sounds he had ever heard in his life—

The sounds of shattering glass, splashing liquid, breaking bones, and Ling Yashi's short, agonizing screams filled the air.

Then the lights came back on.

The control room was a complete mess.

The culture chamber was completely destroyed, and nutrient solution was spilled all over the floor, mixed with blood. Ling Yashi lay on the ground, her left shoulder ripped open by something, the wound so deep that the bone was visible.

Her hand, which was covering her wound, was trembling, but her eyes were still fierce, like a wounded mother wolf.

The cloned embryos have disappeared.

There were only wet crawling marks on the floor leading to the outside corridor.

"Where...did they go?" Ling Wuwen picked up the gun, his voice tense.

Ling Yashi coughed up blood and laughed, "Go find...something to eat. I just woke up...I need energy..."

Before the words were finished, screams came from the corridor outside; it was the guards.

Then came gunshots, running sounds, and more screams.

The embryo is attacking everyone.

Gu Xidong rushed to the control panel; the countdown on the screen was still ticking: 00:58:17. He wondered what would happen an hour later.

"Where is the child?" He grabbed Ling Yashi's collar.

"Where...where it should be..." Ling Yashi laughed even more wildly.

"She's connected to the mainframe... her consciousness is controlling all the embryos... but her body... won't last an hour... she'll suffer brain death..."

Ling Wuwen smashed the butt of his rifle into her face: "Location!"

"The virus storage facility...the deepest one..." Ling Yashi spat out a broken tooth.

"If you're so capable... go and get it..."

Gu Xidong looked at Ling Wuwen: "I'm going to find the children. You watch over them."

"I'll go with you—"

"No," Gu Xidong shook his head, "We need someone here. What if the embryos break in..."

He didn't finish speaking, but his meaning was clear. Ling Wuwen gritted his teeth and nodded.

Gu Xidong rushed out of the control room.

The corridor was covered in blood, splattered on the walls, floor, and ceiling.

Several corpses lay on the ground, their throats bitten open; the wounds were not knife wounds, but lacerations.

The embryo's teeth are very sharp.

He gripped his gun tightly and ran along the trail of blood.

The virus storage facility is on the basement level, accessible via three corridors and two staircases.

The first corridor is safe.

In the middle of the second corridor, he saw the first embryo—or rather, something that had once been an embryo.

It has grown up.

It's not normal growth; it's abnormal, accelerated growth. The skin is translucent, and you can see the blood vessels and bones inside.

Its limbs are long and thin, with sharp claws on its fingers and toes. It has no eyes, only two silver-white dots in its eye sockets.

It was lying on a corpse, gnawing on it.

Hearing footsteps, it raised its head and "looked" at Gu Xidong.

Gu Xidong raised his gun, but didn't fire—there might not be enough bullets.

The embryo emitted a sharp shriek, not a sound, but a high-frequency signal that pierced directly into the brain.

Gu Xidong's head throbbed with pain, and he almost knelt down. The embryo seized the opportunity to pounce, its claws reaching for his throat.

A shot rang out.

2

It wasn't Gu Xidong who opened it. The embryo exploded in mid-air, splattering blood and flesh all over the wall.

B-3 emerged from around the corner, carrying a shotgun.

He was in even worse shape; bone spurs pierced his clothes, and he was hunched over like an old man, but he was still standing.

"Hurry up..." B-3 gasped, "There's... a lot more ahead..."

"How could you...?"

"The child...sent me here..." B-3 nudged him, "She's...in the petri dish...at the very back of the virus storage...go quickly..."

Gu Xidong kept running.

He encountered two more embryos at the stairwell. He took care of one with his gun, and the other was blown to pieces by B-3's shotgun.

When they reached the second basement level, B-3 couldn't hold on any longer and slid down against the wall.

"That's...this is it..." he smiled.

"Brother Gu...when you see the child...tell her...Uncle B-3...he doesn't regret it..."

Gu Xidong squatted down: "Hold on, wait for me to come back."

B-3 shook his head: "There's no going back... The door to the virus database... Once you go in, you can't come out... Unless... the mainframe is destroyed..."

"Where is the main unit?"

"It's right... under the petri dish..." B-3 grabbed his wrist.

"The child... is the key... and also the lock... pull her out... the main unit will self-destruct... but the child... will die..."

Gu Xidong's mind went blank.

Another choice.

Saving the children means you can't save everyone.

If we save everyone, the child will die.

"Is there... any other way?" His voice was hoarse.

B-3 shook his head with difficulty, then closed his eyes and stopped moving. He was still breathing, but very weakly.

Gu Xidong stood up and walked towards the last corridor. At the end was a heavy blast door with an observation window.

He leaned closer to take a look.

Inside was a circular room with a cylindrical glass petri dish in the center, filled with a pale blue liquid.

The child was suspended inside, eyes closed, with more than a dozen data cables inserted into his chest, the other end of which was connected to the main unit under the floor.

She was still alive, her small chest rising and falling slightly.

But his face was so pale it was almost transparent.

Around the petri dish stood six embryos—larger and more complete than the ones outside.

They surrounded the petri dish, as if guarding it.

3

Gu Xidong pushed the door open; it was locked. The electronic lock required a password.

He tested the child's gene sequence, but it was incorrect.

I tried Ling Wuwen's, but it didn't work.

I tried Ling Yashi's, but it wasn't right.

There's one last chance left.

He thought of Ling Yaqin.

Enter Ling Yaqin's birthday.

The lock is open.

The moment the door slid open, the six embryos turned around and pounced at the same time.

Gu Xidong opened fire.

The bullets hit the embryos, blasting open bloody holes, but it was no use. They were still moving, their claws tearing at his arms, shoulders, and cheeks.

He fought and retreated, until he reached the edge of the petri dish, his back against the glass.

When the last embryo pounced on him, he emptied his magazine.

Hand-to-hand combat.

The embryo's claws reached for his throat; he grabbed the slender wrist and twisted it hard, a cracking sound. The embryo screamed as its other hand stabbed at his eyes.

Gu Xidong ducked to avoid it, then raised his knee and smashed it into the embryo's abdomen, knocking it away. He then grabbed the shotgun that had fallen to the ground—the one B-3 had given him earlier, with only one shot left.

boom.

The embryo exploded into fragments.

silence.

Gu Xidong was covered in blood, leaning against a petri dish, panting. The injury wasn't serious, but it hurt.

He turned to look at the child in the petri dish.

The child opened his eyes.

It's not silvery-white, but a normal dark brown, clear and calm.

She looked at him, a slight smile playing on her lips.

Then her voice rang directly in his mind, not through his ears:

"dad."

Gu Xidong's eyes welled up with tears: "What are you doing?"

"End all of this." The child's voice was young but firm.

"My genes contain control programs that can connect to all clones. Ling Yashi designed this to control the army in bulk, but she didn't expect that I could control them in return."

"You will die."

"I know," the child said.

"But if I live, more people will die. Ling Yashi and Ling Yaqin both want my heart to activate the virus. If I die, the virus will never be able to activate."

Gu Xidong slammed his fist on the glass: "No! I'll take you with me! We'll figure something out!"

"There's no time left." The child looked at the countdown screen: 00:21:34.

"The host is locked; once started, it cannot be stopped. But there's one thing you can do—"

The glass of the petri dish suddenly cracked.

"Pull the wire from my chest, and the main unit will self-destruct immediately. But the self-destruct process takes a minute. In that minute, you carry me and run to the escape route over there." The child pointed to a corner of the room where there was a small door.

"The passage leads directly to the ground, and there are cars outside. Mom will also receive the alarm in the control room, and she will come out through another route."

"And what about you?"

"I..." the child paused, "I will stay here and complete the final instructions."

Gu Xidong shook his head: "No, I'll take you with me."

"Daddy," the child's voice softened.

"I'm only three months old, but I know what love is. You and Mom did so much to protect me. Now, it's my turn."

The glass crack widened.

"Pull the cord," the child said, "and run, don't look back."

Gu Xidong's hands were trembling. He looked into his daughter's eyes, so clear, so small.

He remembered the first time she laughed, the first time she grabbed his finger, the first time she vaguely called him "Daddy".

Now she wants him to kill her with his own hands.

"I'm sorry..." he choked up.

"Don't be sorry," the child smiled, "Remember me."

Gu Xidong gritted his teeth, reached into the crack, and grabbed the data cables.

The thread was inserted very deeply; pulling it out would cause severe bleeding, and the child would not survive.

His hands were shaking.

4

Countdown: 00:18:02.

"Dad, hurry!"

Gu Xidong closed his eyes and pulled hard.

The thread was pulled out, stained with blood.

The liquid in the petri dish turned red instantly, an alarm sounded, the main unit screen flashed red, and the self-destruct countdown started: 00:01:00.

The child didn't cry, but just stared at him, his gaze gradually becoming unfocused.

Gu Xidong smashed the glass and carried her out.

His small body was as light as a feather, and there was a hole in his chest from which blood gushed. He tore off a piece of clothing and pressed it against the wound, but he couldn't stop it.

"Run..." the child said with his last breath.

Gu Xidong picked her up and rushed towards the escape route.

The door wasn't locked; pushing it open led to a staircase leading upwards. He ran as fast as he could; the staircase was long, seemingly endless.

An explosion came from behind me, not just one, but a series of explosions, coming from deep underground, shaking the stairs.

As he reached the ground, the tunnel behind him exploded, spewing out flames and thick smoke.

Outside was a valley; it was dark, and the stars were very bright.

A car was parked not far away, its engine already running.

Gu Xidong rushed over and opened the car door—Ling Wuwen was sitting in the driver's seat, his face covered in blood, but he was alive.

When she saw the child, her eyes instantly turned red.

"she……"

"Hurry!" Gu Xidong handed the child to her. "To the hospital! Quickly!"

Ling Wuwen took the child, his hand touching the wound on his chest, and he froze.

But she didn't cry or shout. She just carefully placed the child in the back seat, fastened the seatbelt, and then stepped on the gas.

The car sped out of the valley.

On the way, Gu Xidong kept pressing on the child's wound; the blood was still flowing, but slowly.

The child's breathing was weak, but still there.

"She will survive," Ling Wuwen said, as if speaking to himself. "She's so strong, she will survive."

After driving for an hour, we found a small hospital in a rural town. The doctor on duty turned pale when he saw the injury.

"This child..."

"Save her!" Gu Xidong roared, "Please!"

The doctor carried the child into the operating room. The door closed, and the red light came on.

Gu Xidong and Ling Wuwen sat on a bench in the corridor, covered in blood.

Silent for a long time.

"How's the control room?" Gu Xidong asked.

"Ling Yashi tried to escape, but I shot her in the leg. Ling Yaqin... pressed the final button, not to self-destruct, but to release sedative gas. All the embryos fell unconscious, and the laboratory was completely sealed off."

Ling Wuwen said softly, "Both sisters died inside."

Gu Xidong nodded without saying anything.

The surgery lasted three hours.

When the doctor came out, his expression was strange.

"The child... is still alive," he said.

"But the situation is strange. The wound healed on its own, the bleeding stopped, and the heartbeat and breathing were normal, but... he just wouldn't wake up."

"What do you mean?"

"She looks like she's in a coma, but her brain activity is very high, even more so than normal." The doctor hesitated. "And her blood sample... the cells are repairing themselves, very quickly, I've never seen anything like it."

Gu Xidong and Ling Wuwen rushed into the ward.

The child lay on the hospital bed, his chest wrapped in gauze, breathing steadily, his face rosy, as if he were fast asleep.

But her eyes were darting around rapidly under her eyelids.

Ling Wuwen held her small hand, and tears finally fell.

The child woke up the next morning.

I opened my eyes; they were dark brown, clear, and calm.

She glanced at Ling Wuwen, then at Gu Xidong, and smiled.

"Mom, Dad."

The voice is normal, youthful, and healthy.

Gu Xidong hugged her tightly, as if afraid that she would disappear if he let go.

The doctor performed a full examination, and everything was normal. The wound had healed completely, leaving only a light pink scar, and he didn't even have a fever.

"A miracle," was all the doctor could say.

A week later, they left the town.

The raven was given a new identity and a new home—a small, quiet farm by the sea on New Zealand's South Island.

B-3 didn't die; he was rescued by the "Ice Shards," but his degeneration is irreversible. He now lives in the organization's sanatorium and occasionally writes letters. His handwriting is crooked, but it's still legible.

The child grew up normally. She could walk at one year old, talk at two, and go to kindergarten at three. She was intelligent, but not excessively so; healthy, but never displayed any special abilities. Her eyes remained dark brown, never turning silver-white.

It's as if everything that happened during those three months was just a nightmare.

Gu Xidong would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, only daring to believe it was real when he touched Ling Wuwen's hand beside him or felt the child's even breathing in the next room.

Three years later.

On his child's sixth birthday, Gu Xidong was tidying up old things in the attic when he found an iron box—

It was brought from the lab and has never been opened.

He opened the box.

Inside were Ling Yaqin's research notes and a letter addressed to Ling Wuwen.

The letter was thick; he read it.

After reading it, he sat in the attic for an entire afternoon.

That night, after the child fell asleep, Gu Xidong showed the letter to Ling Wuwen.

After reading it, Ling Wuwen remained silent for a long time.

The last paragraph of the letter reads:

"Wuwen, if you see this letter, it means my plan succeeded. The child wasn't a natural mutation; I edited her genes while you were pregnant. I lied to everyone, including you. I edited her genes to make her a 'perfectly evolved being,' but there's a flaw—every time she uses her abilities, her lifespan is shortened. The 'sacrifice' three years ago was actually a program I designed to make her believe she was dead, thus permanently shutting down her abilities. Now, she's an ordinary child, she'll grow up normally, age normally, and die normally. This is the only compensation I can give you as her mother. I'm sorry."

Ling Wuwen burned the letter.

Ashes drifted out of the window and landed on the sea.

"She made her choice in the end," Ling Wuwen said, "without asking us if we were willing."

Gu Xidong hugged her: "At least the child is alive."

"Um."

Outside the window, children are playing in the yard, chasing a butterfly. Their laughter is crisp and clear, like wind chimes.

Gu Xidong looked at her and remembered the little baby in the petri dish three years ago who told him, "Remember me."

She's six years old now, she doesn't remember those things, and she shouldn't remember them.

That would be best.

But sometimes he wonders, is it really just a program?

Or did the child choose to forget and choose to be an ordinary child?

he does not know.

There's no need to know anymore.

At night, after the child fell asleep, Gu Xidong covered her with a blanket. The moonlight shone on her face, peaceful and serene.

He leaned down and whispered:

Goodnight, my little hero.

As he turned around, he didn't see—the child's eyeballs moved rapidly beneath his eyelids.

Deep within his dark brown pupils, the silvery-white ring flickered faintly.

Then it goes out.

forever.