Chapter 108: If Time Could Freeze

After dinner, Qi Yu and Ling Wu played the remaining attractions at the amusement park. As night fell, the park's colorful lights flickered, and the time reached 8:00.

The two walked toward the Ferris wheel. The temperature had dropped slightly in the evening, so Ling Wu put on his jacket and placed his left hand in his pocket. He felt his phone vibrate and glanced at the message:

-The Fool: A piece of information regarding that person named Weilan was missing last time. Furthermore, he is also a student of Fang Kai, the director of your Jin Family Gene Research Institute.

-The Fool: Should we still capture this kid?

Fang Kai......

Ling Wu's footsteps slowed down more and more until he came to a halt. He stared at the two characters "Fang Kai" on the screen, his fingertips turning slightly pale from the force of his grip on the phone.

Qi Yu saw him stop in his tracks: "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Ling Wu smiled and shook his head at him, extinguished the phone screen, and tucked it into his pocket: "Just a spam text. The Ferris wheel is about to open, I see many people rushing over there, let's walk faster too."

"Mm."

Qi Yu did not press for more, but he felt that Ling Wu's mood just now was very off. Even though the fluctuation was small... appearing on someone as emotionally stable as Ling Wu, it was a sign tending toward a loss of control.

Ling Wu asked him: "Regarding the shooting matter Yu Shixue mentioned to you, can you handle it?"

"Hm?" Qi Yu hadn't expected him to bring it up just now, so he pursed his lips and smiled: "Ling Wu, don't worry about me... in the Academy's elective shooting course, I hit a perfect ten every time I take a test."

"I won't lose."

The Ferris wheel.

Following what the haunted house owner said, Qi Yu and Ling Wu took the VIP lane and soon stepped into the small Ferris wheel cabin. As the cabin rose, the night view of Beidu City gradually spread out beneath their feet, the flickering neon lights and car taillights merging into a sea of red...

Ling Wu leaned close to the window, his eyes on the city night view: "Qi Yu, from this direction, you can see the Academy's teaching buildings."

As the Ferris wheel rose higher and higher, the hustle and bustle of the mortal world gradually faded away. It was very quiet by their ears, so quiet there wasn't a shred of noise.

It was as if only the two of them remained in the entire world.

Qi Yu looked in the direction of his gaze and saw the tallest Gothic-style teaching buildings within Sike Academy, sitting quietly in the moonlit night.

"Mm, I see them."

Qi Yu moved toward him with a very small motion, his chest almost pressing against Ling Wu's back, his chin resting in the air on his left shoulder. The two's refined silhouettes were projected blurrily onto the Ferris wheel's glass window.

Ling Wu turned his head abruptly: "Qi Yu, you said..."

Because the two were close, when he turned his head, he collided unexpectedly into Qi Yu's deep, bright eyes. His breath stalled, then intertwined, sliding across his side profile. That warm touch lasted less than a few seconds, yet it seemed to leave behind the illusion of dampness.

In the embrace of the midsummer night, a corner of Beidu City was brewing a beautiful fireworks display.

Qi Yu and Ling Wu were both hesitant to speak.

Just then, fireworks rose slowly. At first, the night sky was exceptionally tranquil, like a deep, pitch-black canvas. Then, a sharp whistle tore through the silence, like a shooting star dragging a bright trail of light as it rushed into the high sky...

With a loud "Bang," the pitch-black canvas of the night sky was rendered into a scroll of flowing, brilliant colors.

The gorgeous, radiant glow cast a layer of fine light onto Ling Wu's cheeks, making his already refined features even more vivid and beautiful.

【Alright, such a warm and wonderful scene, I declare the finale can begin!】

【The end, throw flowers!】

【Can you handle the chance for Qi Yu to watch fireworks with my wife? Move aside and let me go!】

Cheers erupted in the amusement park:

"Quick, take a picture!"

"So beautiful, this trip to the amusement park was so worth it."

"It's just a pity we didn't get to ride the Ferris wheel."

The entire fireworks show lasted about three minutes; beautiful moments are always fleeting.

Qi Yu put his hand into his jacket pocket, his palm slightly sweating, gripping that mint candy until it was damp. The fireworks were brilliant, but he didn't look at them; the intense thumping in his chest almost drowned out the noise of the world.

If time could freeze, if the brilliance could be eternal.

Ling Wu returned to the villa outside the school.

The villa's lights were on. Ling Wu used iris recognition to enter the foyer. Xi Huaizhi was sitting cross-legged on the sofa watching TV, holding a Cinnamoroll pillow in his arms. Hearing the movement at the door, he immediately stood up: "A-Wu, you're back."

"I thought you were going to live on campus and not come back lately. You didn't even reply to phone messages. Could it be you went out on a date with someone?"

Ling Wu changed into slippers and asked: "Where is Shi Yu?"

"Oh, never mind her." Xi Huaizhi walked over in two steps, kneaded his shoulders and said: "She's probably taken a fancy to some girl, running out all day and night."

"Are you still worried she'll be deceived by others?"

Ling Wu looked at him in silence: "......"

Xi Huaizhi grabbed a handful of pistachios and put them in his hand, peeling one himself to toss into his mouth: "Don't worry, anyway, it's only her turn to toy with others, never others toying with her."

"Is that what I'm referring to?" Ling Wu tossed the handful of pistachios back into the fruit bowl with a crisp sound and sat down with his back against the sofa: "How did your talks go regarding the specific cooperation items with Huo Xi's side?"

Xi Huaizhi patted his chest: "I'm handling it, don't you worry!"

"Huo Xi made an appointment with us to meet at a place, meaning he wants to bring his Highness to meet with us formally, and then establish a firm bond of cooperation."

Ling Wu took a sip of mineral water: "When?"

"The afternoon of October 5th."

"By the way, isn't his Highness a classmate of yours?" Xi Huaizhi's light blue eyes held a deeper meaning: "Are you two on good terms? We won't meet and immediately start fighting like fire and water, right!"

Ling Wu recalled Qi Yu's deep, bright eyes and set down the mineral water bottle: "Now is not the time to be frank with him."

Xi Huaizhi: "What's wrong?"

Ling Wu was concise: "Remember the batch of Jin Family TJ-45 Gene Agents for overseas that I had you investigate?"

"I remember, that was a year ago, wasn't it..." Xi Huaizhi sat down next to him: "There was nothing abnormal about this batch of agents."

Ling Wu's eyes turned dark: "Of course there was nothing wrong with this batch."

"Do you know why it's the TJ-45 Gene Agent?"

"Because there were 1 to 44 test subjects before it. The mechanisms of action for these 44 types of Gene Agents all, without exception, showed serious deviations, incorrectly cutting, inserting, or modifying DNA sequences, creating new genetic mutations."

Xi Huaizhi's expression turned serious: "A-Wu, you've been away from the Jin Family for so many years, how do you know this so clearly?"

The villa was silent.

Ling Wu did not answer this question: "In fact, the TJ-45 agent newly developed by the Jin Family does not have much effect on the human body and cannot effectively activate genes; it is just an expensive 'IQ tax,' and my latest news indicates that the Research Institute under Fang Kai has not stopped research on test subjects 1 through 44 in the TJ agent series."

"Just recently, Fang Kai is going to complete the transfer of the TJ-44 Agent at the port of the Beijiaer Coast."

Xi Huaizhi heard the subtext in his words: "You want to let the Imperial Army intercept that batch of agents?"

"Just a small test for a business partner." Ling Wu lazily crossed his long legs, interlaced his fingers, and rested them on his knees: "I can provide them with the latest military weapons; they should at least return something to me, right?"