M01 turned his head to look over, his lifeless gaze landing on Wan Tong. He pronounced each word carefully: “You lied to me.”
Wan Tong opened her mouth but, in the end, offered no explanation. She only looked at him and said, “At first, I didn’t know you were my Eldest Brother…”
The moment the words ‘my Eldest Brother’ left her lips, the air grew even more deathly silent. Every young person around them turned their gaze toward Wan Tong and M01, their expressions tinged with something strange.
M01 was the strongest among them and the one with the most independent thoughts. He had once secretly hacked into a database in the Paradise and glimpsed some of the files, his own included.
But he had never expected to meet a blood relative here.
A relative. It was such a foreign word to them.
They hated this unfair world, hated the Paradise that had never treated them as humans, and hated their families who lived peaceful and ordinary lives outside.
When M01 struck at Wan Tong, Ling Wu swiftly pulled her out of harm’s way.
At the same time, a thin red line appeared across Teacher Bai’s neck. He clutched at his throat, collapsing to the ground with a choked, mechanical sputtering sound.
Wan Tong hadn’t expected this. Though Ling Wu had shielded her, she could still hear the sounds of Teacher Bai’s struggle. A weight pressed down on her heart—Teacher Bai had been dedicated to his job and had genuinely cared for the girls.
“Stop them!” 017 called out in a low voice, her sharp gaze locked onto Wan Tong, her expression unreadable.
Immediately, walls of people formed around Ling Wu and Wan Tong, encircling them like a pack of feral beasts.
“Wuu… wuu…” 003 and 010 huddled behind Ling Wu, but he had no time to spare for them. Their terrified shrieks echoed intermittently.
010 was quickly subdued by one of the boys, her hands tied behind her back before she was disdainfully thrown aside. 003, however, had managed to stay hidden, one hand clutching tightly onto Wan Tong’s sleeve.
Wan Tong looked at M01 and 017, now standing on the same side. Her expression was grave. She wasn’t even sure anymore if 017 was the Raider.
“Hand her over to me.” M01’s thin lips moved, his hoarse voice carrying a deeply repressed resentment.
Wan Tong peeked out from Ling Wu’s arms, her large eyes rimmed with red, glistening with moisture.
Even in their previous conversations, she had never felt his hatred so vividly.
In fact, every child in the Paradise resented the families who had abandoned them, resented the peaceful and free lives of the people outside.
Excluding the very young who didn’t yet understand, the Western District alone had over four hundred teenagers with combat capabilities. Though the girls’ training had changed, their hatred toward the outside world was no less than the boys’.
If these people ever escaped the Paradise, it would be like setting off a massive bomb.
The true intentions of Lin Qi’s master were now all too clear.
Wan Tong was beginning to regret letting Ling Wu help these teenagers rebel against the Paradise.
“No.” Ling Wu’s voice was calm, his tone exceptionally gentle.
M01 gritted his teeth. His lean, handsome face was dark with suppressed fury. If Ling Wu weren’t standing beside her, protecting her, he might have already torn her apart.
He couldn’t gauge Ling Wu’s strength, but from the way he could control the entire Paradise’s communications and even influence its security systems, Ling Wu was far more powerful than anyone M01 had ever encountered.
Even though Wan Tong was right in front of him, he had no way to take her from Ling Wu’s grasp.
He never did anything he wasn’t sure of, so he only stared at Wan Tong for a few seconds before suddenly reaching out his long arm and yanking 003 in front of him. His fingers abruptly tightened around her throat, and then he spoke to Wan Tong, “She’s your partner, right? Do you know what it feels like to watch your partner die in front of you?”
003’s toes lifted off the ground, and her face instantly turned red. She seemed just as incredulous, looking toward Ling Wu as if pleading for help. “Teacher Ling Wu, s-save me!”
Wan Tong clung tightly to Ling Wu’s arm, her small face tense.
Ling Wu lowered his head to look at her, his deep green eyes remaining calm and still. His voice carried a soothing power, as if capable of quieting the heart. “Don’t be afraid, Tongtong. I’ll take you away. Forget about Shen Yu.”
But upon hearing the last sentence, Wan Tong couldn’t help but laugh through her tears.
Ling Wu had really taken a grudge against the boss.
Listening to Ling Wu’s words, M01’s eyes darkened further at the mention of the unfamiliar name. Names—of course, they sounded better than mere code numbers.
Tongtong, Shen Yu…
A discarded child, did he even deserve a name?
Unknowingly, M01’s grip tightened.
“Ah—” 003 struggled, but her screams were stifled in her throat. She kept staring at Ling Wu, trying to see his reaction.
But Ling Wu’s heart and eyes were entirely on Wan Tong, he didn’t even glance at 003.
“Let her go. She’s innocent,” Wan Tong finally spoke up to stop him.
Yet M01 curled his lips coldly, as if seizing on her weakness. “Everyone here is more innocent than she is.”
A flash of hostility flickered through his eyes, but at that moment, 003 pulled something from her sleeve. The sharp crackle of electricity filled the air, and M01 immediately flung her away.
003 quickly retreated to Wan Tong’s side, now gripping a small, enhanced stun baton.
M01 had been caught completely off guard, he hadn’t expected her to fight back.
So she wasn’t some pampered little princess after all. She was a hidden predator, playing the fool.
A series of crisp clicks echoed through the room as gun barrels swiftly aligned, aiming directly at the three of them.
The weapons came from Paradise’s training base armory. A bit outdated, but still deadly.
“Kill them,” 017 ordered expressionlessly.
Yet, in the corner of his eye, he glanced at M01.
“You’re going too far! We’re innocent too!” 003 protested. “The Paradise has existed for a long time. Everyone is forced to comply with its rules. Parents must send their children here, and I’m sure they’ve felt heartbroken too. I have a younger brother in the Western District. My family told me to find him no matter what…”
As she spoke, her voice trembled, and soon, she was sobbing.
She tried to move closer, but Wan Tong avoided her.
Noticing Wan Tong’s resistance, Ling Wu simply wrapped his arm around her and gently moved her to the side.
A synchronized shuffle followed as every gun barrel turned toward the two of them. Yet Ling Wu seemed completely unbothered, while the armed youths were still waiting for M01’s command, restless with anticipation.
M01 turned to 017 and said something in a low voice.
A moment later, the armed boys began to disperse.
“You plan to use Paradise as your base?” Wan Tong asked, watching M01 intently.
He appeared calm and had no plan to escape from the Paradise.
M01 naturally didn’t answer her. He gave her a blank stare before spitting out a single word.
“Go.”
“Go where?” Wan Tong asked softly.
Just as her voice fell, a gunshot rang out with a loud bang. Ling Wu’s arm moved up, shielding her head.
In her last glimpse before everything blurred, she saw a rare flicker of shock flash across M01’s usually expressionless face.
A dull thud followed. Ling Wu lowered his arm and moved swiftly, forcefully snapping a gun in half!
The disarmed young man retaliated, and chaos erupted instantly.
“Ling Wu, stop! It’s fine, don’t fight!” Wan Tong called out urgently. At the same time, several more gunshots fired—aimed directly at her!
Once again, Ling Wu pulled her out of the storm of bullets. M01 also spoke up, “What’s going on?”
“Misfire,” came the synchronized response.
Yet everyone holstered their weapons, collectively falling silent at the eerie turn of events.
A mass misfire? That was impossible.
Wan Tong furrowed her brows, instinctively looking toward 017, only to see that she, too, had a rare expression of confusion.
She had always suspected 017 was the Raider, but now, it seemed she wasn’t.
Yet the strange situation earlier was likely caused by the Raider.
The more Wan Tong thought about it, the more puzzled she became. But M01 was her Eldest Brother, so why would the Raider target her? Shouldn’t they be going after her Eldest Brother’s white moonlight?
Or… had she made a mistake by assuming, based on his looks, that M01 was the boss of this world?
Her mind spun rapidly before a chilling realization crept up her spine.
She reached out, grabbing Ling Wu’s hand, then turned to look at 003, the seemingly fragile girl who resembled a harmless rabbit.
Then, she uttered coldly, “Lingwu, kill 003.”
003’s eyes widened in shock. “001, what’s wrong with you…? Why are you doing this to me?”
Ling Wu, however, didn’t ask a single question. He simply nodded and lunged toward 003 with a fatal strike.
But 003 dodged.
At the brink of life and death, her disguise could no longer hold.
Wan Tong’s lips twitched stiffly as her gaze flickered between 003 and Lingwu. She found it hard to believe, but the truth was now undeniable.
003 was the Raider. Ling Wu was the true boss of this world.
“Shen Wantong, you’re so damn annoying,” 003 sneered, malice dripping from her smile. “No matter what I do, I just can’t kill you.”
“The poison in the recovery pod… that was your doing?” Wan Tong asked, accepting 003’s transformation.
Now that the Raider knew the storyline, she had the advantage over Wan Tong. Who knew if she also had something that blocked Shishi…
“It was me. But you’re just too damn lucky.”
003 glanced at M01, who had been silently watching the show, and spoke with clear disdain. “A bunch of useless tools. Just looking at you is irritating.”
By now, most of the other young men had left. Only M01 remained, with 017 standing behind him.
Neither of them reacted to 003’s words. They rarely showed emotions, and now was no exception. They simply cast a glance her way and dismissed her entirely.
“Go,” M01 commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument as his gaze locked onto Wan Tong.
003, who had been thoroughly ignored, stiffened and turned to Ling Wu.
The next moment, Wan Tong saw Ling Wu’s dark green eyes flicker a few times before his body stiffened. Then, rigidly, he stepped toward 003.
“Ling Wu,” she called out.
His deep green eyes flickered again, but he remained still beside 003, as if under some kind of spell.
Wan Tong instantly understood. Ling Wu was a robot. 003 had somehow taken control of him.
Her expression hardened. Just as she was about to move closer to Ling Wu, M01 hoisted her up onto his shoulder.
For the second time, she heard a complete sentence from him:
“Go to the Shen family.”