It was as if one movie had another movie's dialogue and soundtrack inserted into it. In Ye De's consciousness, the world gradually slipped out of sync; sound and visuals no longer matched.
In his ears, he could hear Lin Sanjiu's urgent, quickened voice. Though it was blurry and fragnted, he still made out the words—"We need to split into three teams," Lin Sanjiu said hurriedly. "I'll go hunt the duoluozhongs; I'll kill them one by one. As long as I'm here, I won't let Chiric City be overrun."
Ye De vaguely rembered that it was nightti. Yet now, the sun was warm and golden on his skin, making his blood hum with a pleasant, lazy joy.
In his vision, he saw it again: the scene from when he was four years old, being led to the orphanage in Chiric City's 97th passageway for the first ti.
Back then, he wasn't called Ye De. People just called him Ah De. He had no last na because no one knew who his parents were.
The orphanage spanned twenty to thirty ters of the 97th passageway, and its entrance was beneath a large gap in the ceiling.
Sunlight poured generously into the passageway, the bright dust in the air swirling and dancing. The orphanage's exterior wall served as a chalkboard, covered in ssy drawings, words, and numbers. Two long legs stretched into the warm golden light, the tattered, dirty pants illuminated in stark detail. Their owner's upper body lounged in the shadows, slumped lazily on a broken chair.
A rough hand on Ah De's back gave him an impatient shove forward. He felt his short, four-year-old legs stumble a few steps and stop in front of the broken chair.
In his ears, the voice of the young man nad Cyrus said, "If you go alone, the risk is too high. The duoluozhongs must be their doing. If you try to fight them, the operatives will co after you too..."
"I know. That's what I was about to say," Lin Sanjiu responded softly. "I trust my skills, but I'll be facing duoluozhongs and a group of skilled posthumans at the sa ti... So, you can't co with . I can't guarantee I can protect your back. After all, you're one of their targets too."
In his haze, four-year-old Ah De looked up. On the broken chair in front of him sat a woman with short black hair.
Her features weren't particularly beautiful, but her dark eyes burned with an intense, almost ferocious energy that made anyone forget her looks the mont they saw her.
She wasn't a posthuman, but the vivid light in her eyes struck even the young Ah De dumb. Her gaze felt like a slap.
She was clearly displeased. "Another one?"
He was too young to guess her age, so he cautiously called out, "Hello, Auntie."
The mismatched voice-over continued. "You're saying you want to hide on my own?" Cyrus asked calmly.
"You're not soone who acts on impulse," Lin Sanjiu explained. "You know this is the smartest move. If they can't even find their target, how can they carry out the plan?"
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To Ye De, their voices felt distant, like the buzzing of bees circling flowers in the sunlight, unrelated to him and incomprehensible.
He widened his eyes, trying desperately to pull the scene from thirty years ago closer.
"Don't call Auntie," the woman with short black hair snapped. "Call Big Sis."
Ah De was a little scared. Even though he was young, he was painfully aware of his place in this world; he had no place.
If an auntie in the passageway happened to be in a bad mood and gave him less food that day; if he lay starving by the roadside and didn't move out of the way quickly enough, earning himself a kick; if he couldn't scavenge enough scraps of cloth to get through the winter... he might simply vanish. Just like several other kids in the city, he'd disappear because the world had never really had a place for him; it was all too easy for him to go missing.
In a small voice, Ah De said, "Big Sis."
The black-haired woman didn't look particularly pleased. She raised her head and complained to the person standing behind Ah De, "When can I get a different job? I have stamina, I can take hardship, and I'm quick to react. Why do I have to waste my days here looking after kids? I'm really not suited for this. Is it because I'm a woman that you all think I have an affinity for taking care of children?"
"Isn't this job good enough for you?" said whoever was standing behind him; Ye De couldn't rember now except that it was an adult. "Watching over kids all day isn't dangerous. Compared to us, isn't this an easy gig?"
"I can't even talk like a normal adult all day. I have to sound like an idiot," she muttered as she pulled back her long legs and stood up from the chair. "Hey, you. What's your na?"
Ah De froze for a mont before realizing she was talking to him. On the way there, he'd heard the adult say he was lucky to get into this new orphanage in Chiric City, that he'd have food and shelter from now on. But he didn't feel lucky at all. He just felt afraid.
This black-haired aun—this black-haired sister seed really mad at him. From his past experience, when he got in an adult's way, things didn't end well.
"Why are you crying when I asked your na?" The black-haired woman ran her hands through her ssy hair, clearly irritated. "Okay, okay, stop crying. My na's Ye Jing. What's yours?"
This was the first ti an adult had ever told him their full na.
But he didn't dare say his na. He didn't really have a proper na anyway, and if she got even more annoyed... It looked like she was going to be the one taking care of him, and Ah De was terrified of making her angrier.
"I swear to god," Ye Jing muttered. "Do all kids have faulty brain wiring or what?"
She placed a hand on Ah De's head. He was sobbing so hard he didn't notice at first, too caught up in his tears to be afraid of her hand. Normally, the mont an adult raised a hand, he'd shrink away.
When Ye Jing gave him a light push, signaling him to walk into the orphanage, Ah De belatedly realized that her touch had actually been quite gentle.
"If you stop crying and tell your na, I'll give you a glass of milk," Ye Jing said, half-threatening, half-coaxing.
Milk? What was that?
Ye Jing took out a key, unlocked a large cabinet by the orphanage entrance, and poured a white liquid into a cup to show him. "This is milk, see? It tastes really good," she said, her tone now an impatient, barely restrained attempt to coax him. "It's white and sweet. All the other kids get hooked on it."
"Co on, open your mouth."
Ye De felt a hand pinch his chin. He wasn't sure if it was Ye Jing offering him milk, but he slowly opened his mouth. The liquid that flowed in wasn't milky; it was thick, bitter, and rich, with a strong aroma.
Coffee. That was the taste of coffee.
Where did the coffee co from? How could Ye Jing have—
The warm sunlight, the orphanage on 97th Passage in Chiric City thirty years ago, and the world after the snowstorm all vanished into the cold void. The heavy, dark night returned, along with the searing pain that felt like his entire body was about to shatter. Lin Sanjiu's face ca into focus in front of him, a cup of coffee in her hand.
"This is my Special Item, [Energizing Bulletproof Coffee]," she said. Each word was comprehensible, though it took a while for Ye De to process their aning. "Your injuries are too severe. Without a jolt from the coffee, you won't be able to find your head or collect intel. I called you several tis just before. You were staring blankly, like you couldn't hear ."
Head... intel...
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Ye De slowly returned from his four-year-old self to his cold, weighted body. "Where is this..."
"I've brought you to the entrance," Lin Sanjiu said, pouring coffee into another cup and handing it to him. The mug from earlier, evidently a Special Item, refilled itself imdiately. She put it away without drinking any herself. Standing up and stepping aside, she said, "Look, not far ahead is the landing area. Do you rember where your head is buried?"
In a daze, Ye De glanced around. He vaguely recalled he needed to find his head, though he couldn't rember why.
"Maybe I should take him with ," Cyrus's voice sounded from behind. "In his state, splitting into three groups doesn't seem realistic."
"But we still need him inside Chiric City to gather intel. He just hasn't had enough coffee yet," Lin Sanjiu glanced at Ye De, worry in her eyes. As if talking to herself, she said, "One more cup will have a noticeable effect, but the crash afterward will be severe..."
Ye De managed a few more sips. His mind cleared slightly; the orphanage on 97th Passage drifted further away.
"Fur... further ahead," he stamred, leaning on Lin Sanjiu's hand to stand, his steps shaky. "I know. I buried it near the edge..."
Lin Sanjiu gripped his shoulder, looking him in the eye. "Eight-Heads De, listen. While you were unconscious, we ca up with a plan."
"What?"
"Cyrus must leave first. I'll head back into the city to intercept the duoluozhongs and rescue as many ordinary people as I can." She spoke slowly and clearly, as if expecting him to focus once he heard the words ordinary people.
"As for you, I know you're badly injured, but I need your ability. My aircraft is over there. After you retrieve your head, I'll get you into the craft. Drink all the coffee, then gather all the intel circulating in the city and stay in touch with . Can you do that?"
This was what Ye De wanted to do anyway. He knew Lin Sanjiu's plan was kind: if the coffee's effects wore off and he passed out from exhaustion, at least he'd be safe in the craft, away from the open air.
When he retrieved his spare head, he found himself too weak to carry it. Lin Sanjiu had to escort him to the aircraft, confirm the action plan, and remind him of the precautions before leaving with Cyrus.
As Ye De fumbled to activate and reacquaint himself with the silver sphere, intel hadn't yet begun to flow into his mind. So, he had no way of knowing the conversation between Lin Sanjiu and Cyrus as they departed.
"If he stays put and doesn't move, I doubt there'll be any problems," Cyrus said, glancing back at the craft. "Especially if he avoids contact with the mutated ones."
Lin Sanjiu paused. "The mutated ones aren't reliable?"
In the darkness, Cyrus gave a humorless smile. "There are no mutated ones," he said in a near-whisper. "Not even the Shadow Hall can create a new human category out of thin air."
He lowered his head, looking at his feet. "They're just duoluozhongs capable of seamlessly switching between transformation and disguise."
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