A small squirrel darted quickly through the dark alley, leaping into a small courtyard.

Lights were on in the low building in the courtyard, and the sound of an old man gasping for air occasionally drifted out.

Song Yu sat on the couch by the window, growing more annoyed the more he listened.

“He’s so old, can’t he bear a little pain?”

Old man: “Try having sand in your flesh, see if it hurts?!”

“I don’t crawl on the ground,” Song Yu sneered, “and certainly not that far.”

Old man: “…” This is too infuriating!

As they spoke, the small squirrel squeezed through the door crack and jumped into Rong Shi’s pocket.

[01: I’ve installed the listening bug and tracker on a sparrow.]

Rong Shi cleaned the old man’s wound and bandaged it.

“Was it you who called us over tonight?”

The old man rubbed his sore wrist: “My name is Ji Ming. You should have already investigated me. Before we discuss anything else, I need to make one point clear.”

His expression turned serious: “My research is not wrong.”

Rong Shi and Song Yu’s faces changed simultaneously.

Song Yu’s voice turned cold: “So, you admit that all the omega modification drugs were researched by you?”

Ji Ming nodded: “You could say that.”

Song Yu sneered: “Do you know what kind of situation those modified omegas are in? What are they doing? How many alphas have been harmed?”

Ji Ming nodded: “I know.”

Song Yu slammed his palm on the small table, sharply saying, “Then how dare you say you’re not wrong?!”

In the small room, a few square meters in size, the air suddenly stagnated.

Ji Ming turned his head to look at Rong Shi: “What about you? Do you agree with his view?”

The gauze that hadn’t been put back into the medical kit was gripped tightly by Rong Shi. He was silent for a long time, not answering.

“Alright.” Ji Ming stood up, his face indifferent, “Then we have nothing to talk about.”

“Without my permission, do you think you can walk out of this door?” Song Yu said coldly.

“There’s really no door I can’t get out of.” Ji Ming stood at the doorway without looking back, “What kind of situations haven’t I seen over the years? Will I be afraid of a mere babe like you?”

Being called a babe, Song Yu’s last shred of patience vanished.

“Sweet potato, tie him back for me—”

“Enough.”

Rong Shi put down the gauze and walked towards Song Yu, “You slammed the table so hard just now; does your hand hurt?”

Song Yu was too angry to speak, and extended his hand with a sullen face.

His palm was red. Rong Shi took his “cat’s paw” in his hand and gently rubbed it.

“Didn’t you sprain your back? Standing so straight, doesn’t it hurt? Your knees are bruised, doesn’t it hurt?”

Ji Ming: “…”

He quietly bent down a little.

Rong Shi: “Based solely on what you’ve said, I cannot judge whether you are at fault, nor is it for me to judge.”

He looked up, meeting Ji Ming’s gaze.

“The disaster has already occurred. All I’m thinking about now is how to salvage the losses.”

Ji Ming: “You want to save those omegas?”

Rong Shi neither nodded nor shook his head.

“My parents, brother, and partner are deeply involved; I can’t ignore it. As for others—”

He paused here: “After this matter is over, those who want to be saved will naturally work hard to crawl out of the mire. As for those who voluntarily sink to the bottom, what value is there in saving them?”

Rong Shi’s voice was calm, and his speaking speed was unhurried, giving him a strange sense of persuasiveness.

At first listen, it seemed very reasonable, but upon closer inspection, one would find that his words were extremely cold.

To be so clear-headed at only a dozen years old.

Ji Ming looked at Rong Shi with a bit more admiration.

He sat back on his stool: “How do you plan to salvage it?”

Rong Shi’s gaze returned to Song Yu’s palm.

“Before I answer that question, I also have a few questions to ask.”

Rong Shi: “Did you originally develop this drug to achieve today’s goals?”

“No!” Ji Ming shouted urgently, “I was deceived and then—”

He slammed his fist on the table, his face very pale, but he didn’t continue speaking.

At this point, the reason no longer mattered.

No one would be willing to listen to his explanation.

Rong Shi and Song Yu exchanged glances, and Rong Shi asked calmly: “Perhaps the disaster wasn’t caused by you, but it started because of you. Have you thought about making amends?” Ji Ming’s hand on the table slowly closed, and after a moment of silence, he said: “I’m already developing a restorative agent, but—it’s not going very smoothly.”

“Good, one last question.” Rong Shi gently massaged Song Yu’s hand and asked softly, “Why do you have two sons, but only one is registered?”

Ji Ming’s face stiffened, his eyes flickering.

Rong Shi pressed on: “Why did you want these two children in the first place? Did you sincerely want the companionship of children, or—were they merely for experiments?”

“I never thought that!” Ji Ming stood up abruptly, his eyes red with anger, his voice choked, “They were indeed modified, but I never for a single day treated them as experimental subjects!”

After speaking, he still seemed angry and added testily: “If I were really going to do experiments, I wouldn’t use my own children. Am I sick?!”

Rong Shi: “…”

Song Yu: “…”

That was true.

Song Yu rested his chin in his hand and slowly said, “You should be careful; don’t sprain your back again. No one will carry you back.”

Ji Ming: “…………”

His back did hurt a bit; he silently sat back down.

“Last question.” Rong Shi stopped what he was doing and looked at Ji Ming, “Who deceived you?”

When Qin Lin woke up, he was already in the returning hovercar.

“Hiss—” He sat up, rubbing his still numb neck, “Where’s old Ji?”

“Here.”

Qin Lin turned his head and saw Ji Ming with a dark face, sitting uncomfortably on a hard bench between the two rows of seats.

“What are you doing?”

“Sprained my back, the seat’s too soft to sit on.” Song Yu, sitting in the co-pilot seat, scoffed mockingly, “This is probably just retribution, isn’t it, gege?”

After being venomous, he still sought validation.

Rong Shi casually pinched his face, then looked at Qin Lin through the rearview mirror.

“Professor Qin, what are your plans?”

Qin Lin looked at Ji Ming, who nodded slightly, then shook his head.

Song Yu: “Stop with the secret signals, the old man with the bad back has already spilled everything.”

Qin Lin: “…Old Ji?”

Ji Ming turned his head: “Pretty much.”

Qin Lin: “…”

Seeing Qin Lin’s solemn expression, Rong Shi looked straight ahead, his voice very faint: “I can probably guess your concerns, but whether you worry or not, we’ve already stepped into this mire. If you’re unwilling to cooperate, then we’ll only be in greater danger.”

Song Yu, seeing Qin Lin’s indecisiveness, chimed in: “Think about Mianmian, he’s only three. If there had been a cure sooner, he could have had a normal childhood.”

Qin Lin’s eyes flickered, and he leaned back in his chair, rubbing his forehead tiredly.

“Let me think about it for one more night.”

Rong Shi: “Okay, only one night.”

Since Ji Ming had escaped, it was impossible for him to go back. Leaving him alone outside was dangerous: first, he had a sprained back and no one to care for him, and second, he would be hunted.

When dropping Qin Lin off at home, Rong Shi considered finding a temporary position for Ji Ming at the school, which would also allow for close protection.

“He can temporarily stay at my place,” Qin Lin said first.

Rong Shi: “Will it cause you trouble?”

It would also be difficult to explain to Elder Qian.

Qin Lin: “It’s fine, Fanfan knows Old Ji.”

But Ji Ming refused.

“If those people come looking, don’t involve Qian Fan.”

Qin Lin gave him a speechless glance.

“Why do you think I’ve been living so well at the Academy Star all these years?”

Ji Ming paused, genuinely stumped by the question.

It made no sense that he was locked up doing experiments while this old fellow lived a comfortable life.

“Why?” Ji Ming asked blankly.

Qin Lin smiled smugly: “Because you don’t have a wife.”

Ji Ming immediately got angry, pointing his finger at Qin Lin and cursing: “Don’t think I can’t tell you’re insulting me!”

“My father-in-law is the former Marshal; he has special protection for Fanfan. I’m just benefiting from it.” At this, Qin Lin shook his head and sighed, “If you hadn’t been so stubborn back then, you could have had my comfortable life too, but you insisted on rushing to your death.”

Thinking of his decision back then, Ji Ming did feel some regret.

When they discovered abnormal experimental results, they did consider terminating the project, but they had invested so much effort in the early stages; how could they abandon everything based on just one accidental experimental result?

If it could be successfully researched, the information pheromones of omegas and alphas would no longer be a one-sided suppression, and omegas could achieve a greater degree of freedom.

This would be a groundbreaking product!

But after all these years, he didn’t get the desired results; instead, that accidental product was infinitely magnified, causing great disaster.

Thinking of these things, Ji Ming was extremely frustrated.

“All you’re saying is that you’re picking on me for not being married, aren’t you? Is having a wife something to brag about?!”

Qin Lin nodded seriously: “Yes.”

Rong Shi: “Yes.”

Song Yu: “Yes.”

Ji Ming: “…”

This place is unbearable!

In the gloomy, damp basement, Ji Ling looked at the sparrow held by his subordinate, his face icy cold.

“You told me this was Ji Ming?”

The black-clad man’s hand, holding the birdcage, trembled uncontrollably.

“I-we’ve repeatedly confirmed that the, the tracker is indeed on this bird.”

Ji Ling smashed a teacup, flying into a rage: “I want the person!”

The black-clad man’s knees buckled, and he knelt on the ground: “We’ve searched the area within 10 kilometers, but haven’t, haven’t found the old master yet.”

“Useless!” Ji Ling kicked the black-clad man in the face, “Couldn’t even keep an old man! Drag him out and shoot him!”

The black-clad man’s head hit the ground with a loud thud, and two other black-clad men walked over, grabbing him and dragging him out.

Soon, a gunshot echoed from outside the door.

Lin Jing, standing in the corner, felt his scalp tingle, and nervously swallowed, tiptoeing over, afraid of incurring misfortune.

“Your Highness, check on Rong Shi and the Second Highness; they should have the old master’s whereabouts.”

“Do you need to remind me of something so obvious?!”

Ji Ling’s breathing was deep and rapid, and it took a long time for him to calm down.

He reached into the birdcage, grabbed the fluttering sparrow, and brought it close to his eyes.

“He’s been on the run for so many years, when has he ever succeeded?” Ji Ling’s fingers tightened, watching the sparrow struggle and chirp in his palm, and the smile on his lips gradually twisted, “This time, I’ll make sure they can’t escape even with wings!”

By the time they returned to school, it was almost dawn.

Rong Shi and Song Yu took a shortcut back to the dorm. With only two hours left until morning exercise, it was no use lying down now, so they simply curled up on the sofa in the small living room.

The sofa was spacious, but with two tall people lying on it, it became quite cramped.

Rong Shi rested his head on a soft pillow, playing with Song Yu’s hair, his mind filled with thoughts.

Although he was his nominal grandfather, it was their first meeting, and Rong Shi didn’t completely trust Ji Ming’s words, nor did he fully believe his claim of willingness to make amends.

Similarly, he felt that Ji Ming didn’t entirely trust him either.

Song Yu felt the muscles on his abdomen, digesting what Ji Ming had said that night.

After a long time, just when Rong Shi thought Song Yu had fallen asleep, he heard him say softly: “A war is about to begin.”

Rong Shi’s fingertips paused: “Mm.”

In the past few months, Song Yu had used various ridiculous excuses to make the Qin family strike hard, taking down many connections, including Lin Feng and Qin Zhao, putting immense pressure on the enemy. A while ago, they also destroyed the underwater data center.

Although they used some small tricks as cover, suspicion was inevitable.

Rong Shi was even surprised that the other side had endured it until now.

The tension between the enemy and them had always been taut. Both sides were observing, waiting for the other to make the first move, thus maintaining a delicate balance.

But Ji Ming’s escape would undoubtedly break this balance.

If Ji Ming didn’t agree with their actions, yet was still imprisoned and not killed until now, it could only mean one thing—even if the other side had a vast team of biological experts, they still couldn’t replace Ji Ming.

He was the core and key to developing super omegas.

If the database was gone, as long as there was a complete management system, rebuilding the database was only a matter of time.

But if Ji Ming ran, everything would be lost.

Rong Shi stroked his head: “Don’t be afraid, we’re ready, we won’t lose.”

Song Yu chuckled lightly: “I’m not worried about losing, just worried about winning too easily.”

After that, he fell silent again.

“After this is over, I’ll take you to see Dad.”

Rong Shi’s hand paused: “…”

Did Little Cat Song finally realize? Song Yu’s voice was very soft: “I buried his tombstone by the sea. He liked the sea, saying it symbolized freedom.”

Rong Shi: “…” Didn’t he realize?

Song Yu: “Don’t be nervous; he has excellent taste. He’ll definitely like you.”

Rong Shi: “…………”

Rong Shi opened his mouth, hesitating: “Actually—I’ve already met him.”

Song Yu paused, looking up at him: “?”

Rong Shi felt guilty, not daring to meet his gaze: “He liked me very much.”

Song Yu: “???”

Can a rabbit sleep with its eyes open? And talk in its sleep?

__

Author’s note: 

Rong Bunny: I bet my wife won’t bear to hit me after he finds out the truth. [Hands on hips]

Later—

Song Cat: Dead rabbit, give it to me [Smile]

Rong Bunny: QuQ