The doctor felt as though he had been led into a trap, yet even so, he could not deny that his interest had been piqued by Xin Ye’s proposition.
"...I suppose I’ll hear what you have to say."
Xin Ye let out a quiet sigh of relief. On the other side, Xun Yin chuckled: 【Congratulations, you’ve secured the assistance of an S-rank.】
The tension that had just left Xin Ye’s shoulders snapped right back.
Before Leng Xianye, Xing Yue, and Lian Muyun reached S-rank, there were exactly twelve S-rank espers in the world. This was a fact Xin Ye had always known.
Ten were directly under Headquarters, one was under the First Branch, and one had vanished into the civilian sectors, hiding their tracks.
In the original timeline, Xin Ye had never met a single S-rank other than his three teammates. He hadn't expected to run straight into one now.
【Your ability reached S-rank during the Surinam Toad mission, which proved you have S-rank potential. To truly influence the mirror fragments, only someone of S-rank will do,】 Xun Yin explained. 【Dr. Chen is that stray S-rank. As for why the world feels so small...】
【Because I’m the author. Whether you meet them or not is up to me.】
Following Xun Yin’s lead, Xin Ye asked tentatively, "Do you know about the project to artificially create espers?"
"I do." This was news that should have been earth-shattering to anyone, yet Dr. Chen didn't even blink. "I thought only the higher-ups knew about that. I didn't expect a kid like you to be in the loop. You must have been part of the early training phase. Did you run away because you were scared?"
"Being treated as a reserve power source... it’s a hard thing to accept, isn't it?"
"I wasn't part of the early training, though I’ll admit I was deeply unsettled when I first learned the truth. But my escape wasn't just to save my own skin." Here, Xin Ye didn't need Xun Yin’s help; his words came from the heart. "It was because I found a way to end the mutations."
The doctor let out a mocking snort.
"Children. Always dreaming the impossible."
【Middle-aged men always look down on kids. Tell him Yi Ting helped you escape.】
"I’m not joking. The possibility of terminating the mutations has already been validated by Researcher Yi Ting," Xin Ye said. "She helped me escape this time. It’s just that... the first attempt at the plan failed. To carry out the second, I’ve decided to seek your cooperation."
At the mention of Yi Ting’s name, the doctor’s dismissive attitude vanished instantly. He sat up straighter.
His gaze toward Xin Ye turned solemn. "The Yi Ting you mentioned... is she the adopted daughter of Doctors Gu and Jiang?"
This information hit one of Xin Ye’s blind spots. Xun Yin quickly filled the gap: 【Yes.】
【You probably only heard Yi Ting mention that Jiang Kelan was her teacher, but there’s actually a closer connection in her backstory... Geniuses raised by geniuses are geniuses themselves. The fact that she could write the Butterfly Story with such detail to shadow Jiang and Gu proves their relationship wasn't simple.】
Xin Ye swallowed this new information with difficulty and nodded. The doctor murmured, "Researcher Yi... "
"She certainly has the capability to help someone escape," he said, finally dropping his guard. "And how exactly do you plan to stop the mutations?"
Xin Ye pinched the mirror fragment between his thumb and forefinger, pulling it from his pocket and holding it up before the doctor.
"With my ability."
It sounded completely unreliable.
Even a slightly stronger variant could sense that Xin Ye’s ability was weak to the extreme. Dr. Chen was an S-rank who loathed Headquarters, yet even he hadn't been able to stop the mutations in all these years. For a D-rank to make such a grand claim in front of an S-rank was almost laughable.
And yet, Dr. Chen’s eyes lit up.
"Can I ask what your ability actually is?" There was a hint of urgency in his tone. "You saw it earlier—my ability is 'Restoration.' The reason I hated this fragment so much before was because it carried the scent of 'Tearing,' the polar opposite of my power. So far, I’ve only seen your ability manifest as that boy who looks exactly like you. Is there another secret?"
Xun Yin whispered the words into Xin Ye’s ear, and Xin Ye repeated them syllable for syllable.
"...It is Spatial Tearing."
"My ability can seize mutation cores that have already vanished."
...
On the clinic’s roof, Lian Muyun knelt on one knee, tugging at the brim of his cap. He whispered to Xing Yue beside him, "Can you do it? You don't look very reliable."
Xing Yue had changed back into her dress, but she could no longer maintain her ladylike persona. She shoved him aside with her elbow. "I feel like I’m one step away from S-rank. You tell me if I can do it. Don't interrupt me; I’m almost through."
Her threads slithered down the clinic walls, creeping along the drainage pipes and into the building, finally hiding the tips behind a flowerpot.
Lian Muyun grumbled, "I’m dying of anticipation. Is it ready? Is the Little Captain really inside?"
"I see him," Xing Yue said.
Lian Muyun fell silent instantly. The black cat crouched beside the girl’s deep purple skirt.
Xing Yue closed her eyes, and the scene unfolded before her.
She saw a fierce-looking middle-aged man in a doctor’s coat stand up from the sofa. He approached Xin Ye step by step, holding a ball of light formed from esper energy in his hands...
Xing Yue stood up abruptly on the roof. "Xin Ye looks like he’s in danger. We’re going down to save—"
Before she could finish, she felt the other end of her thread being tugged twice.
The black cat’s fur bristled as he meowed at the thread in Xing Yue’s hand. She gestured for Tang Qiuqiu to be quiet. Since the ability hadn't been cut off yet, the sound from the other end carried through.
She heard the doctor say, "Stop peeping and come down."
She relayed the doctor’s words verbatim to Lian Muyun. He clicked his tongue and scooped up Tang Qiuqiu. "Let’s go... might as well regroup with the Captain."
The two leaped off the roof, startling the ordinary passersby. Mirror happened to be returning from clearing out variants when he saw two familiar figures dash into the clinic. His first instinct was that it was a robbery, but then he remembered Xin Ye and the doctor were inside and slowed his pace.
Inside the clinic, the two ran straight to Xin Ye’s side.
Seeing their captain again after so long, Xing Yue and Lian Muyun stood close to him, yet they didn't know what to say first.
Lian Muyun’s personality couldn't handle the stiff atmosphere. He figured he should just say anything to break the ice, but just as he took a deep breath, he saw Xin Ye press a finger to his lips.
"Shh."
"Don't speak yet."
He completely blocked the words that had reached Lian Muyun and Xing Yue’s throats. Xin Ye turned back to Dr. Chen. "I’m counting on you."
The ball of light that had been retracted returned to the doctor’s hand. He asked Xin Ye one last time, "Have you really thought this through? I didn't expect the favor you’d ask of me to be so simple... but this is essentially taking a knife to your own ability. Can you be that ruthless?"
Mirror pushed the door open, calling out, "I’m back."
He froze in his tracks when he saw Xin Ye holding the fragment.
Their telepathic link remained calm; he didn't feel any emotional turbulence from Xin Ye, but the scene before him didn't look calm at all.
Xin Ye didn't turn to look at Mirror. "I can."
The black cat jumped onto the sofa, pacing anxiously, but this time Xin Ye didn't hold him down.
Despite the talk of being ruthless, Mirror’s lips curled into a slight smile.
Xin Ye had said they would live and die together. They had already jumped into the sea once; what was a change in temporal state compared to that? Since a long time ago, they were destined to be two halves of the same whole.
The light that had filled the operating room ten minutes ago now enveloped the entire reception area of the clinic. Lian Muyun closed his eyes, making the voice in his ears even clearer.
Xin Ye said, "Wait for me. Wait for me to return to your side."
*
He returned to that space, this time wearing his own clothes.
Xin Ye tried to turn the doorknob. Just like last time, it wouldn't open.
The difference was that last time he had been locked inside the room; this time, he was locked out.
He tried calling for Xun Yin twice, but finding the other party unreachable, he decided to head downstairs.
Xin Ye discovered that Xin Yan’s—or rather, Xun Yin’s—home wasn't just identical in terms of the bedroom; the entire layout was very similar to his own.
In the living room on the first floor hung a clock identical to the one in the bedroom. The small square in the blank area displayed the date: Sunday, April 23rd. The hands pointed exactly to twelve noon.
The stairs connected to the living room. As he came down, the first thing he saw besides the clock was a boy sitting at the table eating.
The first floor was terrifyingly quiet. If he hadn't seen the boy, he would have thought no one was there.
The boy was wearing the white shirt Xin Ye had worn in the space last time, with the same plush slippers on his feet. Based on the time, it was lunch, but his meal consisted only of a bag of soy milk that cost two yuan at a breakfast stall and a one-point-five yuan steamed bun.
Xin Ye had never been sure of Xun Yin’s gender because the voice he heard was ambiguous, but seeing the real person now, he could finally be certain.
He looked at Xin Yan’s lunch again, feeling puzzled. Was there no one to cook at home? For a high school boy who was still growing, this amount of food was nowhere near enough.
Xin Ye walked over to the boy and waved a hand in front of his face. Xin Yan didn't react. He stuffed the last bite of the bun into his mouth before looking up and shouting indistinctly toward the other side of the living room, "Mom, I’m heading out!"
Now Xin Ye saw his face clearly. It was exactly the same as his own high school face.
Just with a bit of that Leng Xianye-style deadpan expression.
A woman who had been watering flowers on the balcony returned to the living room. "It’s the weekend. Why are you going out instead of staying home to study?"
Xin Ye looked back at the woman’s face, then looked away. He couldn't remember clearly, but he could sense that Xin Yan’s mother looked very much like his own.
"Going to the library with a classmate to do practice problems."
The woman watched her son hoist a heavy backpack from the sofa. Her furrowed brows relaxed slightly. "I hope that’s not a lie just so you can go out and play."
"It’s not."
Xin Yan walked to the door, set his bag on the floor, changed into his sneakers, and left.
When he stood up, he passed right through Xin Ye’s body, confirming that Xin Ye was currently a phantom in this space. After a final glance at the woman’s back as she returned to her plants, Xin Ye followed Xin Yan out the door.
The world outside the house was the peace that existed before the apocalypse. Xin Ye couldn't help but slow down to take it in, nearly losing track of Xin Yan.
The high schooler’s backpack looked incredibly heavy, but Xin Yan’s steps were light, as if he weren't carrying a burden at all.
Xin Ye boarded a bus with him. There was one seat left—a priority seat for the elderly and disabled. Xin Yan didn't even look at it; he just grabbed a handrail and lowered his head, entering a self-imposed state of isolation. A few stops later, another young man got on and took the seat.
The boy looked back at the young man, then went back to staring blankly at the floor.
Surprisingly, Xin Ye found that he could sense some of Xun Yin’s thoughts and emotions, just as Xun Yin could see his. It was a one-way perception.
They got off at a stop near an office district. It was nearly one in the afternoon. After wandering aimlessly for a bit, Xin Yan returned to the station, sat on a bench, and pulled a notebook and pen from his bag to start writing.
Xin Ye sat beside Xin Yan and saw him open a page with "Protagonist Settings" written in the top left corner.
Xin Yan was writing his character profile.
Without a word count tool, Xin Ye didn't know how many words Xun Yin had written for his initial draft, but looking at the dense handwriting, it had to be several thousand.
Xin Yan wrote for half an hour without any sign of stopping, a true fountain of inspiration. But whenever a person wants to focus on writing... some external force always comes to stop them.
A cold bottle was pressed against the high schooler’s cheek. Xin Yan finally looked up, and Xin Ye curiously looked back at the source of the shadow looming over them.
He saw a woman with exquisite makeup and long, wavy hair looking at the boy with a beaming smile. As a lifelong bachelor, Xin Ye couldn't help but wonder why Xun Yin, with such good luck with girls, would choose to write a celibate, "No CP" story.
Xin Ye thought about it and realized that even Leng Xianye and Xing Yue’s romantic subplots were minimal, barely mentioned across several missions.
This train of thought lasted until Xin Ye heard the name Xin Yan used for the beautiful woman.
"Ting-jie."
"A drink for the student. Take it."
Xin Ye’s brain stalled.
He looked at the woman again, paying particular attention to her height.
Who was this?
Yi Ting???
***
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Promoted to Protagonist: Persecuted by the Meta-Narrative | Chapter 60 | Tearing Through Space | Novela.app | Novela.app
