Chapter 1488: Dropping the Disguise

When Zhang San asked Zhang Shi, he already knew the answer in his heart. If Zhang Shi hadn't intended to keep Ye Yiyi within Northern Zone One, there would have been no need to say so much to him and Xia Qing.

Zhang Shi nodded. "Our territory here is the safest place during the Calamity Years, and also the most hopeful. If she stays here, even if this child turns out to be an ordinary person without the ability to evolve later on, she can still live with dignity. And if she's willing to work hard, she'll have limitless possibilities once she grows up."

During the Calamity Years, supplies were scarce, the law of the jungle prevailed in human society, and the base's social safety net had collapsed. For Ye Yiyi to survive, she would have to have a skill to her name. This territory was the safest and most ideal place for her to learn that Zhang Shi could find for her.

Xia Qing raised the risk of doing so. "She knows I have a basement here, and she knows you're here. Once she regains her memory, she'll also know that Eleven entered Northern Zone One under her identity. If she lets it slip, you and Eleven won't be able to stay hidden."

Zhang Shi's gaze shifted from the water rolling and tumbling in the soup pot to Xia Qing's face, and she gave her answer. "Ye Yiyi is a child born during the Calamity Years, with tenacious vitality. She's suffered more than Eleven, and she's also a year older than Eleven. Whatever Eleven can do, she can do too."

Zhang San, who was tending the fire, affirmed Zhang Shi's judgment. "Ye Yiyi's behavioral sequence perfectly confirms a core tenet of developmental psychology: children are, by nature, experts oriented toward connection, growth, and survival."

"Her attention to the sheep is the revival of her exploratory system, and calling out 'Mama' is a successful, salvage intervention by her attachment system. Taken together, these point to one conclusion: Ye Yiyi has not only retained normal analytical ability, but has also displayed exceptional emotional intelligence and vigorous vitality. However…"

Zhang San's eyes, as precise as precision instruments, looked straight at Zhang Shi and raised the most severe possible consequence of doing so:

"She regards you as her mother, and has a deep attachment to you. Once her memory returns and she reasons out that Eleven is your biological daughter, how can you make sure she won't bear Eleven ill will and take action to eliminate her? This is something you must have thought of, yet you still plan to place the two children in a dynamic, bidirectionally regulated social system and let them interact."

Hearing her idol say this, Xia Qing knew Zhang Shi's disguise couldn't be held any longer. Her idol truly lived up to her reputation as a high-level brain-domain Evolver standing at the very top of the pyramid!

Without waiting for Zhang San to continue, Zhang Shi took off her disguise on her own. "Just as you guessed, I'm a dual-system Evolver. My other evolutionary ability is a Class-C magnetic-sense perception ability."

When Zhang Shi handed Eleven over to Ye Yang, Zhang San had already guessed that she possessed the ability to sense fluctuations in animal magnetic fields, which was why Zhang Shi dared to let her go along with Ye Yang, whom she trusted.

If nothing unexpected happens, Eleven is also a dual-system Evolver, just like Zhang Shi.

Zhang San immediately deduced that a recovery-factor evolutionary ability should be able to partially mitigate the headache symptoms of a magnetic-sense Evolver. Because when he went to give a lecture at the elementary school, little Eleven was in the middle of an extremely excited crowd of students, yet she didn't show any obvious sign of discomfort the way Wang Shunkang did.

Recovery factor is the best remedy for treating the headache symptoms of magnetic-sense Evolvers!

Zhang San, whose brain was running at high speed, looked at the weirdo beside him who showed no surprise on her face and had nothing but nonsense in her head, and understood that this weirdo had long known about Zhang Shi's hidden ability.

Having gained the trust of a rare dual-system Evolver with both recovery factor and Class-C magnetic-sense abilities, recruiting her into her own territory, and then giving her only 30 points a day and asking her to look after two old wolves and a monkey…

A New Human, sure enough, is no ordinary sort. But it's precisely because she's like this that she was able to win the trust of a Class-C magnetic-sense Evolver.

Zhang San turned his head and looked at Zhang Shi.

Zhang Shi, who had been observing Zhang San with her magnetic-sense perception ability the whole time, felt his magnetic field fluctuate violently, then settle back into gentleness when he looked at Xia Qing, and knew what he was thinking. "Sister Qing has the most stable, most peaceful magnetic field of anyone I've ever come into contact with. She, like you, holds fast to her moral bottom line, and she does it not under external pressure, but because she sincerely identifies with these treasures that human civilization has winnowed over five thousand years, and she puts them into practice in her own conduct. You and Sister Qing are the true strong ones, the soul of this territory, bringing hope to the humans struggling to survive in the Calamity. You two, and this territory full of hope, will surely shine in the annals of history!"

Xia Qing…

Listening to Zhang Shi's green-tinted speech, Zhang San felt uncomfortable all over. "Get to the point!"

"Okay!"

Zhang Shi returned to the main topic and continued introducing Ye Yiyi's situation. "Using magnetic-sense perception and the psychology knowledge I've crammer over the past half year, I can confirm: after suffering enormous trauma, Ye Yiyi's trauma-response pattern is non-aggressive and introverted. She has retained her basic goodwill and trust toward other people and other living beings. This is her most essential personality trait. As long as she doesn't suffer another enormous trauma that warps her character, her essential trait won't change."

"So next, I need to find a family or individual who genuinely likes this child, and who has the ability, the patience, and a certain amount of professional knowledge. The next stage of treatment will be taken over by this family, guiding Ye Yiyi to gradually transform the storm inside her into grief that can be spoken and borne, gaining strength and peace, and rebuilding her sense of safety and trust."

While giving Ye Yiyi the best arrangement for her life within the bounds of her ability, Zhang Shi also made the worst-case plan. She was a magnetic-sense Evolver, so the risk Zhang San had just mentioned was entirely manageable for her. "If the treatment fails and she develops strong ill will toward Eleven, I'll kill her."

Zhang San looked at the leader of the territory alliance, whom her own employee had just nailed into the history books, and let her make the decision.

Xia Qing stated her own attitude directly. "If this plan succeeds, Sister Ten won't have to travel every year to Ye Yiyi's foster family to obtain her blood and hide Eleven's identity. If it fails, the worst outcome is Ye Yiyi's death, and Sister Ten and Eleven pulling out of this territory and continuing to wander. Since Sister Ten has already prepared herself to bear the worst outcome, I have no objections."

If it fails, Zhang Shi's hiding within her territory will be exposed. Xia Qing's previous behavior of not letting outsiders into her territory will then have one more reasonable explanation, which is equivalent to putting another layer of disguise over her precious spring. So if it fails, Xia Qing won't just suffer no loss—she can actually benefit from it.

If this plan succeeds, the cooperative relationship between Xia Qing and Zhang Shi will become even more solid.

So whether it succeeds or fails, Xia Qing suffers no loss. She had no reason to object, and went on to ask, "Does Sister Ten have a suitable candidate?"

Xia Qing genuinely didn't object, and Zhang San's magnetic field didn't fluctuate either. This immediately put Zhang Shi's mind at ease. "In this territory I only trust you, Third Brother, and Ye Yang. Letting Ye Yiyi stay with you two isn't appropriate, and letting Ye Yiyi and Eleven stay together isn't appropriate either. I haven't found a suitable candidate for the moment. What about on your end?"

Zhang San returned to his lazy state. "Don't ask me. I haven't had much contact with the people in this territory."