Gao Zhiming looked up at the blackboard, struggling to understand the incomprehensible knowledge coming out of the teacher's fluttering mouth. In the end, he began nodding off.

The girl sitting next to him, Miaomiao, nudged him gently with her elbow.

The drowsy Gao Zhiming immediately sat up straight.

Ring!

The bell rang just in time, allowing Gao Zhiming to breathe a sigh of relief.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

He had survived yet another difficult day at school.

At first, he thought Little Sichuan had lied to him, but he finally realized that school was indeed difficult and torturous. He had never been to school before, so he couldn't recognize the characters on the blackboard.

Actually, in his eyes, they weren't words but tiny people with tiny arms and legs.

"What's the point of learning all this stuff? Why does Big Sister want me to go to school? Even Little Sichuan never went to school," Gao Zhiming lampooned as he dejectedly packed his things.

"It's because we need to work when we grow up. We need to go to school to learn things that we need to do work. Haven't you thought about what you want to be when you grow up? As for me, I want to become a scientist."

The little girl sitting next to Gao Zhiming reached over to help him stuff his items into his backpack. The little girl herself was sporting a small backpack.

"

Hm,

what do I want to be when I grow up?" Gao Zhiming had no idea what to say. "I don't know, but I'm fine as long as I'm with Big Sister."

"

Hmph!

" The little girl stomped and withdrew her hand. She then turned around and left in a huff.

Staring at her retreating figure, Gao Zhiming scratched his head in confusion. He put on his backpack and left the classroom. Wandering aimlessly on the streets, he observed the adults walking to and fro with their own business.

What do I want to be when I grow up? Has everyone else figured out what they want to become?

He had been homeless until recently, so he had never really thought about the future. Finding food to eat for the day was already difficult, after all.

For some reason, Gao Zhiming was reminded of the adults, who were scavengers and homeless like himself, and he suddenly felt afraid. He was afraid of becoming like them when he grew up.

I'll go back and ask Big Sister. Whatever she wants me to do, I'll do it!

Instead of heading for their previous residence, Gao Zhiming ran into a gated community. It was an ordinary, average-sized gated community; there wasn't anything special about it, but the neighborhood was exceptionally quiet.

It was a residential district named Longxiang, and it was the gated community that Anna had found in Charles' memories. Anna had decided to purchase a home inside one of the residential buildings in the community.

Drenched in sweat, Gao Zhiming looked up at the window of their new home before walking up the stairwell.

He had no idea why Anna had decided to move here, but he had no intentions of asking any questions. In Gao Zhiming's eyes, his big sister was always right. He just had to follow his sister's arrangements.

Taking out the key hanging around his neck, he thrust it into the doorknob and turned it, opening the door. The cozy furnishing inside was revealed before him, and they looked exactly the same as what Anna had seen in Charles' memories.

Gao Zhiming liked the home, as he had his own private room. It was small, but he jumped for joy, bouncing up and down for a long time upon moving into his very own room.

After throwing his backpack onto the bed, Gao Zhiming rushed to the kitchen and walked up to Li Lu, who was busy making some food for them to eat.

"Auntie, where did Big Sister go?" Gao Zhiming asked.

Li Lu was tasting the food to ensure that it wouldn't have too much salt for her son's sake. Upon hearing Gao Zhiming's query, she did not even raise her head as she answered, "She went out."

Gao Zhiming drew closer, propping his hands on the edge of the stove.

"Where did she go?" he asked.

Just then, a large hand landed on his head. It was Li Long's hand. "Don't ask. Just hurry up and do your homework. I'll help you, or you'll have to go to bed at eleven again."

"

Ha…

" Li Long sighed dejectedly. "This task feels more like an entire job rather than just a task. Wang Sheng, where are you?"

Gao Zhiming looked a bit despondent as he looked at Li Long and asked, "Will Big Sister come back tonight? I want to sleep with her tonight."

The corner of Li Long's eye twitched slightly upon hearing that. Only this kid could say something so offensive. If anyone else were daring enough to say that, their corpse would sink into the depths of the ocean by daybreak.

Gao Zhiming really was too young to know better; he was completely unaware of Anna's terrifying side.

"Stop the questions and just do your homework. Afterward, you still have to make up for the lessons you've fallen behind on. You're eight years old, but you can't even write your own name. Are you not embarrassed at all?"

***

In his quiet office, Wang Jianshe stared solemnly at Anna busy fiddling with the black diamond ring on her thumb.

"I need an explanation!" Wang Jianshe demanded sternly. Anna had said that the diamond ring was a very useful tool, so he had gone to extreme lengths just to find it.

However, it was clear that Anna had lied to him. It was just an ordinary diamond ring. He had been bamboozled!

Anna's casual words had made him spend several hundred million yuan!

"An explanation? What explanation? Don't you have money? What's wrong with you helping me buy it back? This ring is

very

important to me," Anna said. Her gaze was transfixed on the ring as she fiddled with it.

"If that ring were truly important, you would never sell it! If you keep on playing with me like this, I will have to seriously reconsider our relationship."

Anna put away the black diamond ring and propped her chin with her wrist. Then, she stared at Wang Jianshe with a smile.

"Oh my, are you really mad at me? It's not that big of a deal. Old people truly are inflexible."

"Not a big deal?! Do you know how much manpower and resources it cost me to repurchase a black diamond of more than two hundred carats? Do you think my money grows on trees?!" Wang Jianshe was enraged.

"Alright, alright, stop kicking up a fuss over such a trivial matter. When we make it big in the future, I'll let you obtain things far more important than money, like immortality or any other special abilities."

Wang Jianshe's chest suddenly felt tight, and he found it hard to breathe. He had always been the one making grandiose promises to others, and he never thought he'd one day be on the receiving end of such promises.

Wang Jianshe raised his trembling index finger and was about to point it at Anna to rebuke her when the phone on the desk rang, interrupting the expletives that were already at the tip of his tongue.

"Hello? It's me. Who is this?

Mm?

Wait, what?"

Wang Jianshe seemed to have heard something terrible. He trembled slightly as he handed the phone over to Anna.

Anna's heart sank slightly at the sight. However, she still put the phone to her ear, and then a bizarre voice reverberated from the other end of the line. It sounded like the other party was chewing on crushed glass.

— The dogs of the IMF caught the scent of the traces you left behind when purchasing that black diamond. They followed your traces, but don't worry, we've already resolved that minor issue. It's our reward in exchange for releasing our brothers when you were at Site 66.

"I saved many people at Site 66. Who are your brothers?" Anna asked.

— We are the fortunate ones favored by the Shattered God. We want to talk to you about the IMF.

"You people are followers of the Shattered God? Anyway, since you know my location, then you should just visit me," Anna replied. Then, she stood up and walked toward the window, peering down at the cars that looked like matchboxes.

— If this were any other time, we'd come and find you. Our god wants to meet you in person, but it is not convenient for Him to move at this moment."

The Shattered God…

Anna pondered over the name. The other party had used the word "god" to refer to the subject of their faith, but there obviously weren't any gods on the surface world. Otherwise, this place wouldn't be so peaceful.

They were probably worshiping a different entity—most likely an intelligent Anomaly rather than a

real

god.

"Haha, interesting. I'm suddenly feeling a bit curious about what your god looks like. This better not be a disappointment."