BFET Chapter 35

Memory

Kui City Security Defense, Research Institute, second basement floor, laboratory.

Jiang Li quickly sent a message, then looked up ahead.

Hu Xianwei was sitting in front of a virtual holographic screen surrounded by a cluster of instruments, displaying constantly changing molecular formulas and gene structure diagrams.

Jiang Li stood behind him, hesitating for a long time, wanting to ask but not daring to, then glanced down at her silent Smart Terminal. A surge of curiosity compelled her to touch her wrist again, wanting to secretly send another message to urge a reply.

Just then, Hu Xianwei, who had been silent, suddenly spoke, “Xiao Li.”

Jiang Li immediately snapped to attention and straightened her posture. “Yes, Teacher.”

Hu Xianwei was silent for a few seconds before asking, “Any reply yet?”

Jiang Li responded with an “Ah,” then said, “Not yet…”

Then, she heard Hu Xianwei sigh softly.

Jiang Li pursed her lips and finally couldn’t help but ask, “Teacher, why do you say maybe it was 16 years ago? I remember in Xie Yi’s file, he was rescued by the support team 16 years ago and immediately entered an awakened state. Because he was young, he had a persistent high fever and fell into severe pollution, staying in a special containment room for a long time. He and Shen Shu wouldn’t have had the chance to interact at that time, right?”

Even if Hu Xianwei had vaguely asked if Xie Yi had done something else with Shen Shu at some other time, she wouldn’t have found it strange, since Shen Shu had been in Xie Yi’s squad for a while before Jiangbei.

But Hu Xianwei directly specified the time as 16 years ago.

Hu Xianwei didn’t speak for a long time. Just as Jiang Li thought he wouldn’t answer, she heard Hu Xianwei, with his back to her, say, “I’m not asking about what happened in Kui City.”

Jiang Li was stunned, and then she heard Hu Xianwei continue, “16 years ago, I didn’t supervise Xiao Shu too strictly. And at that time, I was busy with the Gigawhale and couldn’t take care of him, so I often asked Yue Lan to look after him.”

“When Jiangbei had the accident, Yue Lan led the team to provide support. She didn’t know that Xiao Shu had secretly hidden in her car and was brought there directly. By the time she found out, Xiao Shu was with Xie Yi, and both of them had fallen into a coma.”

Jiang Li opened her mouth, not daring to imagine what an eight-year-old and a nine-year-old child would encounter in such a situation that would cause them to fall into a coma. “Then in Xie Yi’s file, why…”

She stopped mid-sentence, realizing something and shutting her mouth.

Hu Xianwei seemed to know what she was going to say and explained directly, “That’s because after Yue Lan rescued Xiao Shu and Xie Yi, she sent Xie Yi to the support personnel nearby and took Shen Shu away alone, so this matter wasn’t reported.”

“When Xie Yi first came to Kui City, I originally wanted to find an opportunity to talk to him, to ask him to help conceal this matter. But I didn’t expect that he entered an awakened state as soon as he woke up. What surprised me even more was that after this, he actually lost that memory because of his awakening.”

“To be honest, I was very grateful at that time.”

“Then why did you just ask Xie Yi and tell him to think carefully?” Jiang Li asked, puzzled. “Doesn’t he… not remember?”

Hu Xianwei recalled the last question Xie Yi asked before he left the containment room, “Because he remembered.”

…Maybe it was 16 years ago.

Xie Yi stared at the message for a while, his fingertips unconsciously stroking it.

In fact, his last memory of Jiangbei 16 years ago was no different from the illusion he saw before he fell into a coma in Jiangbei this time. He even suspected that it was a reflection of his memory, otherwise, he wouldn’t have suddenly remembered that lost memory after waking up.

Xie Yi’s gaze was somewhat absentminded. In his memory, two blurry figures passed through time and space, overlapping in the firelight, and finally stopped in front of him, reaching out to him. There was a faint, mottled wound on the palm of that hand.

He was stunned, not knowing why his hand, which was resting on his leg, unconsciously curled up. Then, he saw the memory of himself reaching out his bloodied right hand and grasping that hand.

Xie Yi suddenly looked at Shen Shu.

Sensing Xie Yi’s gaze, Shen Shu tilted his head to look at him. “Captain, why are you suddenly looking at me like that?”

Xie Yi, with a tight mouth, withdrew his gaze. Just as he was about to say it was nothing, he heard Shen Shu say, “Captain, is that look because you’re discussing me with someone?”

Xie Yi, who was indeed being discussed, said, “…”

Xie Yi coughed awkwardly. Although he confirmed that he hadn’t opened the holographic display and Shen Shu couldn’t see who he was talking to or what he was saying, he still turned his body slightly. “You’re overthinking it. Just drive your car.”

“Alright.” Shen Shu glanced at his wrist without leaving a trace, and then added, whether intentionally or unintentionally, “However, if Captain wants to know anything about me, I suggest Captain can ask me directly.”

His dark eyes quietly looked at Xie Yi, as if enclosing his entire being within his eyes. His voice became soft and slow. “After all, I promised Captain that I would tell you anything you want to know.”

“…” Xie Yi hummed and uncomfortably avoided Shen Shu’s gaze.

He looked back at the Smart Terminal and tapped to reply to Jiang Li.

The high-risk Enclosed Zone in charge of Baisha was located in the northeast direction of Kui City. It was necessary to bypass one B-level Enclosed Zone, two C-level Enclosed Zones, and three A-level Enclosed Zones.

Only then could they reach the contact station near the high-risk Enclosed Zone.

It was already a week later when Xie Yi and Shen Shu arrived at one of them.

The contact stations distributed near the high-risk Enclosed Zone were all established based on the surrounding terrain.

Unlike the scattered high tower signal points around other Enclosed Zones, the contact stations near the high-risk Enclosed Zone, in addition to the high tower signal points, also had dedicated response teams, mainly to assist the team members acting within the high-risk Enclosed Zone with internal and external communication, and to regularly provide resource replenishment.

Xie Yi drove around, quickly finding the special marking of this contact station, which was a coiled white tail-like symbol.

He then parked the car beside it.

Less than two minutes after the car stopped, someone knocked on the car window from outside.

Xie Yi lowered the window and looked at the person.

It was a young man in his twenties, wearing the same team uniform as them, but with a “Jin” logo on his chest.

The man stood outside and sized them up. “Kui City Security Defense Team? Which squad are you from? This isn’t a place ordinary squads can approach.”

“Baisha.” Xie Yi retrieved his identification from the Smart Terminal.

The man glanced at it, then raised his hand and pointed not far ahead. “There’s a passage over there. Park your car there, and I’ll wait for you here.”

Xie Yi nodded and drove towards where he pointed.

The so-called passage was formed by collapsed buildings, with several cars parked inside.

Xie Yi parked the car on the outermost edge and walked back with Shen Shu, carrying things from the trunk.

The young man nodded at them, then led them to the side. “Please follow me.”