Chapter 11: The Path Ahead

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Unnoticed, dawn was breaking. Su Yi lay on the sofa, suddenly snapping his eyes open. Judging by how fatigued his body felt, he had slept for a long time; it was already nine in the morning.

But sleeping in a bit on the weekend was no problem. The advantage of living alone was that no one complained about him being a shut-in. Even if he slept for another twelve hours, no one would care.

He lazily turned over on the sofa, instinctively reaching under his head for his phone, only to grasp at empty air and suddenly realize his Oppo A5 had been destroyed last night.

A rough check revealed the screen was shattered, the device leaking severely. It was better off being repurposed as scissors or a metal basin than repaired.

“Whoosh, whoosh—”

A steady breathing sound came from beside him. Su Yi stopped moving and turned his head.

Loli Xi’s silver hair spilled over the back of the bed. Her eyes were tightly shut as she lay flat, her chest rising and falling with each breath, sleeping deeply and peacefully.

After their multiple clashes with blades last night, the two had gradually memorized each other’s breathing strength, allowing them to ignore minor background noises.

But this moment didn’t last long. Just as Su Yi was getting up, Loli Xi, who had been sound asleep, seemed to have had her forced power button pressed. She sat up as well, eyes still closed, and saluted him.

“Sir, you’re awake. Loli Xi reporting.”

(~ o~)~zZ

With that, she slowly opened her drowsy eyes, sitting on the bed and blinking a few times. Green light flickered continuously in her eyes, as if loading a startup animation. Whether she had some security software installed that prolonged boot time, like 360 Security Manager, was uncertain.

“What’s wrong?” Su Yi noticed something was off and glanced down at her face.

Last night, the silver-haired girl had been quite lively, so this lethargy was clearly abnormal—not the usual response of someone from the wasteland.

Upon hearing this, the green light in Loli Xi’s eyes faded. “Report, sir. The smart chip just alerted me that energy remains at only nine percent. It is estimated to last for only two more hours.”

“That’s fine. I’ll charge you up later,” Su Yi said, relieved. He jumped up from the sofa, slipped on his flip-flops, rubbed his stiff shoulders, then opened the bedroom closet. He picked out a white knitted jacket and a pair of cropped jeans he had worn back in junior high.

“You always shiver wrapped in a towel. Put these on for now.”

“Today, I’ll take you out shopping… ah, buying clothes… and get to know the world a bit…”

Yawning, Su Yi handed her the clothes, straightened his own rumpled hem from sleep, stretched lazily, and headed out of the bedroom, not forgetting to close the door behind him.

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At the dining table, he grabbed a water bottle and gulped down several large sips, finishing the bottle of Nongfu Spring water that Loli Xi had been treasuring yesterday. Then he exhaled deeply.

“There’s quite a lot to prepare for just one day,” he murmured, wiping the water from his mouth.

As everyone knows, the official high school holiday lasts half a month and two days, but in reality, it’s only one day, with nine more days before winter break. It was truly frustrating.

With less than half a year until the college entrance exam, Su Yi hadn’t yet decided what he wanted to do with his future.

He still had ambitions; he couldn’t be a laborer on construction sites forever, doing heavy manual work.

Before crossing over, he had consistently ranked in the top five of his class, so getting into a key university was no problem.

Though he had spent ten years in the wasteland, almost returning all the knowledge he had learned to his teachers, his enhanced body gave him exceptional memory and photographic recall. With a few months of preparation, he was sure his grades would improve beyond before.

When he first returned, Su Yi had thought about applying to a military academy. With his physical condition, he would easily top physical fitness, combat, and marksmanship.

But that thought was quickly dismissed.

When reading novels before, he never understood why heroes and demon lords from other worlds wouldn’t join the army to shine, but now he knew.

Damn it, he wouldn’t pass the physical exam!

His body, after enhancement, had muscle and bone density seven to eight times that of a normal person, with severe radiation overload internally. A CT scan couldn’t produce clear images.

Anyone would immediately tell he was not human.

Pah!

Not even from Blue Star.

Just after finishing the physical, he was sent straight to the lab to be sliced for analysis.

Su Yi knew well that every world had a dark side, but normal people couldn’t see it, making life seem prosperous and idyllic.

“Sir, I’m dressed,” Loli Xi pushed the bedroom door open just a crack, poked her head out, looked at him, then timidly lowered her gaze again.

“Can I have something… are there bandages at the base?”

Su Yi was momentarily stunned, unsure why she needed bandages. He replied, “There aren’t any at home. Why do you need bandages? Aren’t yesterday’s wounds healed yet?”

“No, no, no, it’s not that.” Loli Xi came out from the room and gestured in front of him.

“My chest feels heavy, and the impact area is large, which affects my movement.”

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With that explanation, Su Yi instantly understood. The white knitted jacket the girl wore was the same model Mu Xiaowei had worn yesterday, bought by Mrs. Xu back in junior high. Even with the school uniform underneath, Mu Xiaowei looked unremarkable.

Though it was oversized and loose, on Loli Xi it showed obvious contours—contrast made all the difference.

He had seen it briefly last night, and he remembered well—the shape was indeed quite good.

Thinking of this, Su Yi scratched his cheek awkwardly.

“No need for bandages. Blue Star has better options. I’ll take you shopping today. We’ll stroll around.”

He grabbed the keys from the table and pocketed them, but his eyes caught the small lunchbox of braised pork on the table. He reached for it, hesitated, then put it back down.

“Listen up—today, when we go out, you only bring your eyes and ears. If you don’t understand something, ask me, not your chip. Try to stay within two meters of me. If you see anything dangerous, don’t suddenly draw your dagger… If anything urgent happens, I’ll protect you. Got it?”

Before leaving the apartment, Su Yi reminded her earnestly. The neighborhood was full of frail elderly people who couldn’t take much roughhousing. Not only could they not withstand a knife wound, even a light push could cause a heart attack or worse.

Then it would mean millions in lawsuits.

“Oh, and you need to cover your exoskeleton.”

Su Yi returned to the bedroom and took out a piece of clothing the girl didn’t recognize, draping it over her shoulders.

“Sir, the towel I wore last night is still by the bed. I can keep wearing that,” Loli Xi tugged at her jacket from underneath.

“That’s not a towel. It’s a scarf.”

“Bath scarf?”

Su Yi chuckled lightly. “Just drop the bath part.”

The scarf was a light brown color. He folded it lengthwise into a strip and wrapped it around her neck, with the right side over and the left side under.

He folded the right end over and overlapped it, then pulled the overlapped part back, wrapping it over the other side, pinching the edge and tugging it upward.

With a bit of force, it could strangle a person…

No, it perfectly covered the exoskeleton on her cheek and neck.