Li Wang clutched the phone tightly, the edge of it digging into his palm as his uncle’s words echoed in his mind like cracks in glass. He adopted Jian because he was her son. Not because he cared. Not because of kindness. It had all been a calculated move.
He took a trembling breath, his throat dry. His lips parted, voice uneven and shaking.
"Then why..." he whispered, his voice barely audible, "Why did you ask me to be nice to him? Why treat him well if you just wanted him for that?"
There was a pause on the other end of the line. Long, heavy, suffocating.
"Because I wanted to use him for another purpose."
Li Wang’s breath stopped. He could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears.
"...For what, Uncle?" he asked, his voice cracked, barely holding together.
"To breed," came the cold, emotionless answer.
Li Wang froze. The wind felt colder suddenly. It was like time stopped. His fingers moved before his mind could—he cut the call immediately, the sharp beep ringing out like a final nail driven into his chest.
The silence that followed rang louder than anything.
Behind him, the pharmacy door creaked open.
"Li Wang, what are you doing there?" Jian’s voice called out casually.
He turned around. Jian walked toward him, carrying a bulging bag of medicine in both arms. Varon followed closely behind, his face unreadable.
Jian stopped in front of him and held out a small pill bottle and a tablet packet. "Here," he mumbled, glancing away. "It’s just a headache med. It’s better to take it after eating."
His tone was casual, almost cold, but his eyes—those brown eyes still shimmering faintly from emotion—betrayed him. They were worried. Soft. Kind.
Li Wang stared down at the medicine in his hand. Then at Jian.
That boy—naïve, stubborn, reckless... and yet, warm.
So warm.
And for a flash, Li Wang saw something else.
A specimen alive but dead in a glass jar.
That familer kind face submerged in fluid, pale and cold, still alive but no longer a person.
That could’ve been Jian.
No—it would be him if he helped his uncle.
if his uncle’s plans succeed... Jian would end up being just another relic in a basement full of glass coffins.
Li Wang’s hand slowly reached into his pocket.
He pulled out the phone. The screen blinked at 3%.
He stared at it for a long moment—at the black glass that had carried the weight of his silence for too long.
Then, without a word, he turned and tossed it.
The small device hit the ground and bounced once, disappearing into the overgrown grass by the broken sidewalk.
Jian blinked. "Was that your phone?"
Li Wang forced a crooked smile, shaking his head. "It was broken."
Varon said nothing, but his eyes lingered on Li Wang a second longer than necessary.
They began walking back toward the farmhouse, the bag of medicine rustling with each step.
But something in Li Wang had shifted.
And now, for the first time, he wasn’t following his uncle’s plan anymore.
He was protecting Jian.
Even if it meant turning against everything he was raised for.
"Let’s... Let’s go home " adjusting his cracked glasses he quickly took off.
Li Wang walked ahead in quick, uneven steps, like a man desperate to flee something only he could see. His shoulders were hunched, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, and his head slightly bowed—like the air itself had turned heavier.
Jian, watching him go, frowned faintly. Just for a second, something had felt... off.
Then his gaze fell to the side, catching a dull glint in the overgrown grass. Curious, he stepped forward and bent down, brushing aside the weeds.
It was the phone.
Scratched, dusty, and blinking a faint red at 2%—but still intact.
He turned it over in his hands, a flicker of thought crossing his mind. This could be useful...
Jian bit his lower lip. "Eren could use the parts. Even if it’s busted, he might be able to repair something with it," he mumbled to himself.
Without another thought, he shoved it into his jacket pocket and stood up.
Behind him, Varon followed silently, his heavy boots crunching over the cracked pavement. He hadn’t said much since they left the pharmacy, but his presence was steady—like a shadow quietly guarding Jian’s back.
Jian glanced over his shoulder briefly. "He’s walking like he wants to run away," he muttered, half to himself.
Varon simply gave a small nod, expression unreadable.
They didn’t say more. Together, the two of them continued back toward the farmhouse.
A faint whump-whump-whump began to echo in the distance—subtle at first, like a heartbeat muffled through layers of cloud. Jian slowed his pace, head lifting as he squinted at the grey-tinted sky.
"That sound..." he mumbled.
Whump-whump-whump-whump.
It was rhythmic. Growing louder.
"A chopper?" he asked aloud, his brow furrowing. "But how? That kind of noise would bring Graylings swarming like flies on sugar—"
Behind him, Li Wang suddenly froze mid-step. His entire body locked stiffly in place.
Then his eyes widened.
"No... no no no—how did they—?"
His voice broke as he spun on his heel, gaze frantically sweeping the sky. His face turned paper white.
"They tracked it—my call. The phone call—fuck!"
He darted forward without warning, grabbing Jian’s wrist in a tight grip. "We have to go. Now. Jian, we have to go!"
Jian’s boots ground to a halt on the cracked road. He stared at Li Wang, alarmed but unmoving. "What? Why?! Who’s coming?"
"You don’t get it, we have to move!" Li Wang snapped in panic, tugging at him again.
But Jian yanked his arm back firmly. "Li Wang, stop! You’re not making any sense!"
The thrum in the air deepened, sharper now. A large shadow passed briefly over them—still far but unmistakable. The sound was definitely getting closer. Something was coming fast, and low.
Li Wang’s shoulders hunched and he slowly turned toward Jian, breathing hard, trembling.
"I messed up," he whispered, voice cracking like a boy who’d just realized how far past the line he’d gone. "I called... and now they know where we are. They found us."
He looked down at Jian, dread pooling behind his eyes like ink bleeding into water.
"I messed up real bad, Jian," he said again. "And now they’re coming—for you."
Varon moved in an instant.
The moment Li Wang’s voice cracked into full-blown panic, he stepped forward, a fluid sweep of movement bringing his curved sword out from the sheath on his back. The blade gleamed under the cloudy daylight, reflecting the shadow now quickly circling above them.
The chopper was close now—black, military-style, its surface matte and angular. The whirring rotors were almost deafening, and within seconds, flashes erupted from both sides.
PFF-PFF-PFF!
A rain of darts fired in tight clusters toward the trio.
"Stay behind me," Varon said sharply, planting his feet. His stance was calm but coiled like a spring. Then his blade moved—impossibly fast, a blur of cold metal slicing clean arcs through the air. Each dart that came near was deflected, shattered mid-flight or sent spinning to the dirt.
"GO! Jian, you have to RUN!" Li Wang shouted in hysteria, his voice cracking as he turned to push him.
"They can’t catch you—they mustn’t catch you—they mustn’t—"
But Jian stood frozen, eyes sharp and calculating even as his hair fluttered from the downdraft of the descending chopper.
A dart bounced off a nearby fence, clinking faintly as it dropped to the ground. Jian moved swiftly and picked it up.
The dart’s shaft was dark grey, smooth and cool, with a blue-tinted chamber halfway down its body. Inside, the liquid shimmered faintly.
It wasn’t lethal.
It was a tranquilizer.
Jian’s eyes narrowed.
Slowly, he lifted his gaze to Li Wang.
"Who did you call?"
The question was soft. Quiet. Deadly.
Li Wang stumbled back a step, sweat running down the side of his face. "I—I didn’t mean to—Jian—I just—"
"Who?" Jian asked again, louder this time, voice trembling not from fear, but the force of restrained fury.
Li Wang looked at the dart, then at Jian’s eyes—eyes that looked so much like hers.
"My uncle..." he breathed, defeated. "I called my uncle."
Jian’s fingers clenched around the dart, the metal biting into his palm as he stared at Li Wang like he had never seen him before.
"You called your uncle..." he repeated slowly, like the words themselves didn’t make sense. "Why would he send a chopper—armed with tranquilizers?"
The roaring of the rotors above was a background scream now, vibrating through his bones, but all he could hear was the pounding of his heart. His voice came out quieter, like a tremble before a quake.
"Why would he try to capture us?"
Li Wang was shaking. His mouth opened and closed, but no sound came for a second. Then—tears welled in his eyes.
"I didn’t mean to," he whispered, his knees giving just slightly under him. "I didn’t mean to, Jian. I just wanted to know—I didn’t think they’d find us so fast—"
His voice cracked, desperate and raw. "You can’t get caught. Jian, you don’t understand—he’ll hurt you. Badly. He doesn’t care about you, he just wants what’s in you."
Jian took a step back, the dart falling from his fingers. "What do you mean, in me?"
Li Wang fell to his knees. "He... he always knew. You’re her bloodline. That Farian woman. The one in the basement."
Jian froze.
Everything blurred for a moment—wind, dust, chopper noise—and then snapped back with razor clarity. He could feel Varon behind him, sword still ready, his silent figure unmoving like a guardian statue.
Li Wang’s voice was nearly a sob now. "Back then, I thought it was just another experiment. But he adopted you on purpose. To raise you like livestock until you matured."
Jian’s throat closed, nausea rising fast.
Li Wang clenched his fists. "You mustn’t get caught. I don’t care what I’ve done—I’ll burn for it—but you have to run."
Above, the chopper tilted lower. A soldier leaned out, prepping another shot.