Who would have thought back then that this kid would end up being the spark that ignited the entire “8.20 conference”?

Honestly, in the original book, the trigger for the 8.20 conference wasn’t Chu Xusheng. Scaling back the Atavists’ special privileges had been on the government’s drawing board for years; they were simply biding their time for the perfect moment. In the original storyline, once Chu Xusheng went after Zhou Qian and became an assassin lurking in the shadows, he lost any chance of being a public symbol under the sun. He couldn’t even be used as a political pawn.

But now, thanks to Jing Pei’s meddling, future history books might actually write something like: “Chu Xusheng, the King Insect Atavist, became a pivotal figure who turned the gears of history.”

Jing Pei rested her chin on her palm, watching him run in and out. Bouncing around in the sunshine like a happy puppy carrying a prized bone, he cheerfully jumped into the car.

Not long after Jing Pei and Chu Xusheng drove off, a taxi came screeching to a halt. Before the wheels even fully stopped, a girl leaped out. She landed as lightly and firmly as a nimble leopard cat, ignored the driver’s angry shouts, and sprinted up the steps, rushing straight into the Tribunal Division.

“What do you think you’re doing?” an officer heading up from the other side blocked her path.

The girl before him had wild, messy short black hair and a smooth, sun-kissed complexion. Drenched in sweat, she looked dazed and almost frantic with excitement. Her mental state seemed completely off, which immediately raised red flags for the officer. He wondered if she was another person whose family had suffered a tragedy and, after the regular police failed to solve it, had come to make a scene at the Tribunal Division.

Looking closely, she was clearly just an ordinary human.

“Long Jin! I’m looking for Long Jin!” Min Yue grabbed his arm, her eyes burning with desperation. “She’s here, right?”

She held on so tightly, like a drowning person clutching at the very last straw.

“Long Jin isn’t at the Tribunal Division,” the officer replied, frowning.

“Then can you help me call her?” she begged, her voice frantic. “She knows me! If you just call her…”

“If she knows you, why didn’t you go to the Long estate? Stop fooling around here and leave.”

“No, there’s no time! Please, I beg of you…”

“Hey, you…”

“What’s the commotion?” someone inside noticed the racket at the entrance.

“This girl is here looking for Long Jin.”

The person blinked. “Then let her in. I’ll help you contact her.”

The fading light in Min Yue’s eyes, which had begun to give way to a hollow numbness, suddenly flared back to life. She snapped her head up. “Really?”

“Come on in.” The officer inside was already reaching for the telephone on the desk.

No wonder Jing Pei had gone out of her way to warn Chu Xusheng when he came over, even leaving behind the phone numbers for the old Long estate and Chu Xusheng’s personal line. It turned out someone really was coming to find her.

Min Yue held her breath, watching the officer dial the number. She tilted her head, listening intently, almost as if she could hear the distant rings on the other end of the line.

---

Jing Pei kept a constant eye on her phone, making sure there were no signal issues. Her often checking made Chu Xusheng quite curious.

“Young Master, is there really nothing I can do?” He desperately wanted to help ease her worries.

“It’s fine,” Jing Pei said. “I’m just waiting for a really important call.”

“H-How important?” Was it from someone very special?

Jing Pei looked at him and smiled. Reaching out, she patted his head like comforting a puppy. “So important that if I don’t get it, I might die.”

The warm, happy feeling of her hand on his head had barely registered before it was instantly replaced by a wave of icy dread. Chu Xusheng stared at her in shock.

“Just kidding, haha,” Jing Pei laughed. But Chu Xusheng couldn’t bring himself to smile.

Right then, the phone rang loudly.

Chu Xusheng’s eyes snapped toward it at once. Was this the life-or-death call?

Jing Pei checked the caller ID and answered. “Long Jin? There’s a girl here who says she’s looking for you… She’s from the Nevergone District.”

The corners of Jing Pei’s mouth slowly curled up.

---

As night fell, the Wu Family Lake Island was brightly lit, shining like a glowing pearl in the middle of the lake.

As an Atavist family whose interests had been heavily damaged, the mood inside the Wu family had been pretty grim lately. Not to mention, the stage for the upcoming duel between Chu Xusheng and Zhou Yongzi was set right on their own home arena.

“Sigh, we all knew the government wanted to strip us of our privileges anyway. Even without that King Insect kid, someone else would’ve popped up sooner or later.”

“Exactly. What’s the point of complaining now? At the end of the day, it’s all because of the dirty things those other families did that we’re being dragged down.”

“That’s right! At the meeting the day after tomorrow, the Family Head must cut ties with those families. Why should we take the fall for the shady stuff they pulled?”

“Agreed, agreed…”

Every Atavist family knew that the government wouldn’t completely abolish their rights at the upcoming conference, but it would definitely amend the Atavist Management Regulations to limit them. The change was bound to happen, and all they could do was fight to keep as many benefits as possible.

Hearing the Wu family members speak with such self-righteous anger, you’d think they had never used their status to push people around or acted as though they were above the law.

Jiang Qing stopped on the cobblestone path. He stood near a tall sweet osmanthus tree that was exhaling a rich, heavy fragrance, listening to the group of Wu family members gossiping in the pavilion after dinner.

In the shadow of the tree stood a tall, slender young man wearing a spotless white shirt. Behind his refined glasses, his cool eyes stared ahead, his expression giving nothing away.

“What are you standing here for? Weren’t you heading out?” A lazy voice drifted from behind him.

Jiang Qing turned around. In the shifting patches of light and shadow, Wu Ying’s glamorous yet heroic face was partly hidden. But her bright eyes were clear, as were her slightly raised, queen-like chin and straight posture.

Wu Ying glanced toward the pavilion by the lake. “What? Scared of what they’ll say?”

Jiang Qing’s lips curved slightly, his eyes locked onto her without blinking. “Yes. Sister, help me.”

“Big bad wolf, stop pretending to be a puppy.” Wu Ying wasn’t going to fall for his act anymore. Back then, she must have been blind to think he actually needed her protection. She tried to step past him, but a large hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back. In an instant, her back was pressed against the osmanthus tree, their shadows completely merging in the darkness.

In the pavilion ahead, several Wu family members were still debating the upcoming conference, but their voices were entirely drowned out by the thumping of their own hearts.

“I’m not pretending. I really am Sister’s dog.” His chest, somewhere between a youth’s and an adult’s, was broad and firm. Pressing against Wu Ying, it felt as though he had completely hidden her away. In his cool, proper tone, he spoke words that were very intimate and sticky.

His warm breath brushed against Wu Ying’s ear, making it hot. Her heat cycle had already passed, and with the summer being so busy at the Tribunal Division and the tense atmosphere at home, they hadn’t messed around in a while. But her body seemed to have acquired a taste for it. He was just too good at teasing her, and with a single touch, her mind couldn’t help but flood with those vivid memories.

“Y-You bastard, what do you think you’re doing? Know your limits. If someone sees us, you’ll lose your skin.” Wu Ying pushed against him. But back when Jiang Qing and his mother had first arrived at the Wu family, she had accidentally pushed him, sending him flying five meters. Since then, she had always been careful with her strength. Over the years, her subconscious restrained force wasn’t enough to budge him at all.

“I’m not afraid. With Sister here, nothing will happen to my skin, right? After all, this body of mine isn’t too bad.” He reached out, grabbing her pushing hand. His long fingers forced their way between hers, interlocking tightly. His voice dropped even lower. “I haven’t relieved Sister lately. Did you miss me?”

“Miss you, my foot! Get lost already. Aren’t you supposed to go to Bubble 109?” Wu Ying’s face flushed red with embarrassment. It sounded as if she were some kind of sex-starved demon. You were the one who threw yourself at me, okay?

Suddenly, memories flashed in her mind that made her feel a bit guilty. Like how she had been training in the field and suddenly felt an itch, so she barged into his room and demanded her younger brother set aside his thesis and papers to satisfy her; or waking up in the middle of the night, unable to contain herself, finding his bedroom key, throwing off his blankets, and climbing in…

Wait… was she actually the sex-starved one here?? No, wait! He was the one who offered himself up! Why did it feel like she, the overbearing, dominant older sister, was forcing her poor, dependent stepbrother who could only survive in this house by pleasing her?! Why did this guy always look like the victim in her memories?!

Jiang Qing chuckled softly. “What a pity. I missed Sister very much.”

He pressed forward slightly, making sure Wu Ying felt that he wasn’t lying.

!

Wu Ying was about to push him away when Jiang Qing said, “Sister, you’re so warm. Are you blushing?”

Wu Ying’s queen like temper flared. She used her free hand to grab the hair at the back of his head, pulling him back so they were looking eye-to-eye. “My dad sent you to work, and this is all you have on your mind? What a cheap bone. Since you’re so eager to serve me, I suppose I can satisfy you.”

“Alright. I’ll wait for you in my room tonight,” he said, lowering his eyes and looking very obedient.

Wu Ying held her head high and walked away. Only when she got back inside did she realize she had added another memory to her mental collection of being an “evil step-sister.”

Why was she always so easily provoked by him?!

Meanwhile, a pleased Jiang Qing had already boarded a boat to leave the lake island. The Wu family members in the pavilion spotted him and muttered a few more insults, repeating their usual complaints about him and his mother being shameless social climbers.

Once the cooperation for the Bubble 109 project began, to prevent the Atavist families from scheming and stealing the crystals, several strict rules were put in place. One of them was that no Atavist from any family could enter Bubble 109 at will. The entire project had to be managed by ordinary humans from top to bottom.

And the “squibs” of the Atavist families didn’t want to run this project. First, because the crystals were only useful if consumed by Atavists, meaning they were useless to squibs. Even though it benefited the family, watching it still made them bitter and jealous. Second, inside was a dusty construction site with a terrible environment. Thus, none of the Wu family members wanted the job, so they dumped it onto Jiang Qing.

After all, although he wasn’t a Wu and wasn’t on their family register, he had lived there for so many years. He was clearly planning to stay for good, so he had to work for his keep.

---

At this hour, construction sites across the city had shut down, but inside Bubble 109, it was still as bright as day.

High-powered lighting flooded the space, and the night shift workers were working hard.

They came from all over the country, brought together by online job postings.

The wages here were much better than standard construction work outside. The environment was harsh, but the food and lodging were excellent. To make sure they rested well, an Atavist with hypnotic abilities would put them to sleep every night at 10 PM, preventing insomnia from affecting their work the next day. Some workers had even quit higher-paying jobs just to come here so they could get a good night’s sleep.

To keep the workers motivated and mine and cut all the crystals during the bubble’s stable period, the wealthy Atavist families were more than willing to pay well. The only catch was the strict security checks at the exit, since there had been cases of people trying to smuggle crystals out to sell.

Furthermore, because this kind of bubble had only one exit and entry, and with the tight security from the Atavist families, they didn’t have to worry about sudden criminals or mutants taking their lives like in the outside world.

On the whole, though tiring, it was a very good job.

In the cafeteria, resting workers ate delicious food while video-calling their spouses and children. Dialects from various prefectures blended into a noisy, lively chatter. In the wrinkles of their sun-baked skin, there was happiness and longing.

“Daddy, daddy, is the world inside the bubble the same as the world outside?”

“The same! Same sky, same ground, just no tall buildings and cars.”

“Daddy, daddy, can you touch the wall of the bubble?”

“Hahaha, how could I touch it? The scientists say you can’t see it, and you can’t touch it either.”

“Then will the bubble fly away?”

“Daddy will leave before it flies away. My bosses are very powerful; they know exactly when it will fly away. Don’t worry…”

“Keep talking. Say a few more words. After all, those will be your final words,” a man with a scarred eyebrow muttered to himself as he walked through the noisy warmth of the cafeteria, his eyes wild with excitement.

He walked out of the cafeteria and crossed the uneven, dusty ground. He coughed a few times from the dust, cursing under his breath, before finally reaching the entrance of the bubble.

The entrance was out in the open, meaning the strange upright door could be seen from outside, unlike the entrances of people who purposely kept their bubbles hidden.

Just outside the door stood a tall, strange-looking machine covered with a black cloth, placed where no one could miss it. A few managers were discussing something nearby.

The man with the scarred eyebrow eagerly approached.

Jiang Qing had just stepped out of his car when he saw the object. His steps halted, and his eyes behind his lenses shifted.

“This is the latest bubble membrane observation instrument. It tracks the membrane’s movement with much higher accuracy than current models. Our boss wants us to let you try it out… Of course, it’s completely free… We won’t go inside, we’ll just leave it by the door…” several people said to the managers, handing out cigarettes.

Jiang Qing looked at the men, then at the machine. In an instant, he understood.

This machine was no observation instrument. It was a trap designed to sever this bubble from this spacetime.

If the red button was pressed, the small bubble attached to the glass sphere would be torn away within about three hours. The outside world would remain completely untouched, but the tear in Bubble 109 would cause the entire space to crack and collapse like a black hole. No one inside would escape, not even a speck of dust.

…Unless they fled right now. Or someone stopped the machine from entering.

Any representative of the participating families could block the machine’s entry, as per the rules.

As the Wu family representative, Jiang Qing could stop it. But he didn’t move. He just stood there, quietly watching.

The men seemed to have convinced the managers to let them wheel the machine in. After all, it was just a machine, and it would only sit by the door. What could go wrong?

The research institute was their long-term partner, and they had purchased many of the instruments used inside the bubble from it. Now, the institute merely wanted to use the bubble to test a new machine. It was a small favor, and refusing would seem rather not good…