Chapter 163: A Family Agreement

The old building was, as always, dark and quiet.

And yet, a sliver of warm light was still emitting from beneath the door of Room 401 on the fourth floor.

When Lu Xin pushed the door open and walked in, he was braced to face his Father’s angry glare.

But to his surprise, after pushing the door open and stepping inside, he was greeted by a picture of harmony.

Little Sister sat slumped crookedly on the sofa watching TV; the program playing was the ever-unchanging SpongeBob SquarePants.

She was gnawing on a piece of dark chocolate she held in her hand.

Seemingly worried about finishing it too quickly, she scraped at it little by little with her sharp teeth. Each scrape only yielded a tiny bit, yet she looked thoroughly pleased, her eyes curved into crescents.

Mother was on the phone by the window, her face beaming: “Aiyo, Miss Chen, you wouldn’t believe it, taking the family out for a stroll is really quite nice. It’s good for your health and lifts your spirits. Plus, I made a good friend this time…”

“She grows the most beautiful flowers; let’s visit her together next time…”

“…”

Even Father was simply sitting beside the dining table at this moment, nursing an old glass bottle as he slowly sipped his drink. It appeared he hadn’t drunk much yet, his face showing no sign of intoxication. Even seeing Lu Xin come in, he merely emitted a “Hmph!”

“Big Brother, you came back so slow…”

Seeing Lu Xin enter, Little Sister immediately leapt joyfully onto him and reached out her small hand to fish through his pockets.

Lu Xin let her extract the last piece of chocolate from his pocket, smilingly picked her up, and placed her back on the sofa.

It was lucky she didn’t search his backpack, which only had a dozen or so pieces left inside…

Mother smilingly put down the phone and said, “You really are back late; we’ve been waiting for you to eat!”

Lu Xin nodded and made his way to the table.

He saw that the house had been tidied up. The chairs damaged in the previous scuffle between Father and Mother had been repaired and were now neatly arranged around the table. The table was set with exquisite dishes. Though it seemed as usual to be primarily vegetables, it was clearly more abundant than before—at least near Lu Xin’s seat on the table, there was a plate of scrambled eggs.

Lu Xin genuinely enjoyed this feeling.

Stepping through the door this time gave him an unexpectedly deep sense of calm.

He sat down quietly and remarked with a smile, “If you were hungry, you should have just started eating. You didn’t need to wait for me.”

“Hmph!”

Father, who was in the midst of drinking, slammed his glass down heavily onto the table.

The atmosphere in the room instantly became somewhat oppressive; Mother and Little Sister turned their gaze toward Father simultaneously.

Father seemed to remember something, gave an unnatural twist of his lips, and said, “Since you knew we were waiting, come back earlier next time!”

Lu Xin’s mood lifted, and he relaxed. He nodded, smiling. “Got it.”

So, this time, Father wasn’t angry either.

Or rather, he might always be angry, but this time, his mood was significantly better than usual.

…

“If our deduction is correct, what’s inside here should be the documents related to the Escaped Laboratory!”

Chen Jing picked up the last file, stamped with the lead characters “003,” and said slowly, “We all know how important this file is. Even the six professors at the Research Institute didn’t have sufficient clearance to know its contents. Therefore…”

“Keeping it from them is because they talk too much and don’t understand keeping secrets.”

Minister Shen stated, “Everyone present here knows how to handle sensitive information. Feel free to open it.”

“Actually, Xiao Chen’s concern is necessary!”

Mr. Su spoke up softly, smiling. “We all know how much importance the Lunar Eclipse Research Institute—or rather, The Alliance—places on this Escaped Laboratory. We never expected before that this Laboratory would end up right here in our Qinggang City… So, before confirming the secret within, it’s completely reasonable for us to first align our internal views…”

Hearing this, Chen Jing immediately nodded.

Professor Bai, sitting to the side, tapped the tip of his walking stick against the floor and chuckled, “I think you’ve misunderstood our purpose. Right now, we are not discussing how to treat Lone Soldier. Lone Soldier is a member of our Special Clean-up Department; how he should be treated isn’t up for discussion.”

“What we must do is simply understand him.”

“Therefore…”

He looked at Chen Jing with a smile. “Open it. We’re not gambling here; we’re just doing our job!”

“Well…”

Chen Jing’s mouth opened slightly, but then closed again.

She couldn’t refute Professor Bai’s words. So, she silently began to open the file.

…

“Feel really good after this trip; made a new friend too.”

At the table in Satellite City No. 2, Mother spoke cheerfully: “We should have a few more trips like this in the future.”

“Okay…”

The younger sister, crouching on her chair, was the first to raise her hand.

Even Father merely snorted, though this time much more softly, almost as if agreeing.

Lu Xin also nodded. He too liked seeing the family happy.

“However, some unpleasant matters deserve criticism too!”

Mother’s tone shifted as she looked toward Father. “Your hot temper puts everyone on edge.”

Father tilted his head back slightly, his eyes reddening as he stared at Mother.

But Mother met his gaze directly, her expression stern. “A family should trust and help each other. If you act like this every time, it only erodes our trust. This family will fall apart. So, I’m giving you a serious warning: if you don’t change this habit, don’t expect to join us when the whole family goes out together again…”

“You…”

Father’s jaw clenched, and he leaned forward.

The room seemed to quiver faintly. The Blood Threads in his eyes thickened, radiating immense pressure.

But Mother remained unmoved, her gaze cold and steady.

Meeting Mother’s eyes, Father, surprisingly, fell silent.

In the end, he only gritted his teeth in a cold sneer and said no more.

His attitude seemed almost like… agreement…

……

……Lu Xin suddenly felt that perhaps their words were meant for him.

Father was never this easy to convince. He wouldn’t suppress his rage just because of a look from Mother.

Which meant, in the day and a half before Lu Xin’s return to the Satellite City, they must have reached a consensus.

“Alright, now it’s your turn…”

Just then, Mother looked at Lu Xin, her voice gentle. “Mother knows you’re very curious and full of questions. Sometimes, you want to understand these things. Honestly, Mother doesn’t want to stop you. Really, just as I told you back in Happy Town, I even support you seeking answers. After all, you’ve grown up. You shouldn’t stay in the dark forever…”

Lu Xin fell silent for a moment and raised his head.

Then he saw both Father and Little Sister looking at him.

Father’s eyes were thick with Blood Threads. He stared coldly at him—with hatred, or perhaps… fear?

Little Sister’s eyes were wide open. All he could see was worry.

……

In the Main City’s tall building, Chen Jing had opened the file folder and was slowly unfolding its contents.

Beside the conference table, the other three tensed visibly. They sat upright, leaning slightly forward.

They didn’t know what secrets they were about to see, but they understood the gravity of this information for The Alliance.

Especially Minister Shen. He knew the serious consequences of prying into that person’s secrets. Last time, disaster struck precisely because they attempted surveillance after being explicitly forbidden. While this time, no such explicit warning existed beforehand…

Yet, the dread wouldn’t leave him. As Chen Jing moved, his Heart seemed to clench…

Then, under their expectant stares, Chen Jing suddenly paused.

Everyone’s Hearts skipped a beat.

Under their anxious gazes, a look of helplessness spread across Chen Jing’s face.

She then turned the file folder upside down and gently shook out… a pile of paper shreds.

Shreds so minute they were utterly beyond reconstruction.

……

“Alright, I agree.”

In the apartment building, Lu Xin nodded gently, offering Mother a faint smile.

The atmosphere at the dining table instantly lightened.

Father resumed drinking his wine, while Little Sister divided her attention between her food and the television.

A smile touched Mother’s lips. “In that case, it’s time to give you this gift…”

She retrieved a file folder from beside the table. It bore the printed number “003.”

Holding it up for Lu Xin to see, she said, “This is the gift we all decided to give you after discussing it. It contains the answers you seek…”

As she spoke, she rose gracefully and, in full view of Lu Xin, placed it in the drawer in front of the television and locked it.

She then pressed the key into Lu Xin’s palm, closing his fingers around it, her eyes gentle on his face.

“But remember, you absolutely must not open it until you have reached the Second Stage…”

“……”

Under the varied gazes of his family members, Lu Xin tightened his fist around the key.

Then, he nodded firmly.