The group eventually arrived before the small rift.

The tear in space twisted unnaturally in the air, the inside reflecting soft blue and white light like shattered glass floating beneath water.

There were no monsters nearby anymore. But it was obvious this was where the Craxisis had emerged from.

Nuo and Wenzhi immediately began injecting themselves with the necessary stabilisers and corruption blockers.

Meanwhile, Shao Xinyuan and Jiang Zhaohe stood closer to the rift, the strange light reflecting across their faces.

"It looks like it’s about to close naturally," Xinyuan said as he stepped nearer to it. "I don’t think we should enter this one."

"Got it." Zhaohe tapped her earpiece again, still attempting to reconnect to the comms.

Nothing answered except sharp static.

Then she suddenly spoke again. "By the way, Xinyuan?"

"Hm?" He turned toward her.

"I heard your duplex got blown up." She paused. "Well. Part of it."

Xinyuan didn’t look surprised in the slightest. "So you have people watching me and my guide."

Zhaohe scoffed. "Oh, come on. Everyone has eyes on you and your guide. Every faction. Every interested Esper. Every guide. Every elite family."

She folded her arms. "You’re basically a merchandise."

Xinyuan’s brows twitched at that wording.

Zhaohe smiled. "You are a dangerous product the government kept hidden from the world for years. Even when you were sent to handle large rifts, your existence was still concealed."

Her eyes narrowed. "But then guide after guide kept dying after trying to stabilize you.... And now suddenly you finally have a compatible guide." Her gaze flickered briefly toward Wenzhi. "And you’re back outside again, living among people."

Xinyuan’s hand slowly gripped around his own wrist. His fingers tightened.

"And you... Do you see me the same way they do? Do you see me as a subject? a weapon? A disaster?"

His voice lowered further. "Is that why you’re watching me too?"

Zhaohe didn’t answer immediately.

"I watch you because I know how dangerous you are," she finally said. "You’re one of the most manipulative beings I’ve ever met."

Her expression hardened. "We’re Espers. Our duty is to protect humanity. Not destroy it like you’ve tried to do more than once."

The atmosphere instantly shifted.

Wenzhi, who had been silently chewing energy restoration pills nearby, looked up immediately.

For a split second, Xinyuan’s left eye flickered crimson red.

"You say that," he said softly, a faint laugh escaping him, "like you’ve never gone berserk too, Zhaohe."

"Not like you," Jiang Zhaohe countered calmly. "I may be the only SSS rank Esper, but more people have their eyes on you than on me. I want to know whether I can trust you, Xinyuan."

"You can," Xinyuan replied quietly. "I have my guide now. I just don’t want anyone taking him away from me. That’s all I ask from this universe."

Zhaohe narrowed her eyes at him.

"What happened?" she asked. "Who blew up the house?"

Xinyuan parted his lips to answer.

But before he could speak, Wenzhi and Nuo approached them.

"Are we still going in?" Nuo asked first.

"No." Zhaohe turned toward her with a smile. "The rift is closing naturally."

Nuo immediately blushed under the attention.

Xinyuan tapped against his own earpiece this time, attempting to reconnect with the others, but only static answered him.

"Perhaps we should keep moving," he said instead.

He took the supply bag from Wenzhi and immediately started walking deeper into the haze.

Wenzhi watched him carefully.

...He was creating distance again.

He took what he wanted from Wenzhi’s touch, calmed himself down, then immediately pulled away again.

Wenzhi had noticed the earlier conversation between Xinyuan and Zhaohe, but he hadn’t bothered trying to read their lips.

Right now, surviving the red zone was already stressful enough. Especially beside someone like Xinyuan.

No matter what happened, Wenzhi could never forget one thing. He was only a B rank guide.

He quickly followed after Xinyuan through the thick haze.

"Xinyuan, wait."

Xinyuan kept walking.

Wenzhi frowned harder. "Xinyuan!"

The next second, a sharp sneeze suddenly escaped him.

Pain immediately shot through his head, reminding him that he was still recovering from the cold.

That finally made Xinyuan stop.

He turned instantly. "You still have a cold?"

Wenzhi rubbed his forehead with a tired sigh before looking at him directly. "What is going on with you?"

Xinyuan raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

Wenzhi hesitated. He honestly didn’t want to admit how much this was bothering him.

But it was.

"You..." Wenzhi walked toward him but suddenly caught movement within the haze, his eyes widening instantly.

Without even looking at the Craxisis that suddenly burst from the fog to slam into him, Shao Xinyuan simply blinked.

An invisible force smashed the monster violently to the side.

Wenzhi’s breath turned shaky as loud cracks immediately echoed through the air, clear signs that Xinyuan was crushing the creature from the inside, breaking its bones apart while still maintaining eye contact with Wenzhi the entire time.

"Go on?" Xinyuan asked calmly, looking at Wenzhi attentively as though nothing had interrupted them at all.

But Wenzhi simply closed his mouth and turned away, walking back toward where Zhaohe and Nuo were standing.

Xinyuan’s lips curled with amusement.

Then suddenly, a voice crackled sharply through the static in his earpiece.

"Xinyuan! Xinyuan, are you there?!"

It was Kaiwen.

Xinyuan pressed his fingers against his ear as he headed back toward the group, giving Zhaohe a signal that he could hear them.

Her expression sharpened instantly as Xinyuan connected their channels together.

"I’m here," Xinyuan said immediately. "We have a code red. The corruption levels are rising rapidly, the monsters are evolving and they’re no longer appearing on the trackers."

"Well we got the news too late." Kaiwen’s voice sounded rough and disturbed. "Chenxi and Suye... they’re dead."

Everyone immediately froze.

"Oh no..." Nuo’s face creased painfully.

Even Wenzhi looked genuinely shocked.

Zhaohe spoke at once. "What happened?"

"Devil lizards." Kaiwen answered sharply. "Dozens of them. They were bigger, faster. We got split up and everything happened too quickly, Commander." His breathing sounded uneven, disturbed.

There was heavy static for a second.

Then another voice suddenly came through.

"Wait." It was Duan Ze. "I still have a pulse. Chenxi... I think he’s still alive."

Xinyuan locked eyes with Wenzhi before speaking. "Send us the coordinates. We’re on our way."

"Got it," Kaiwen replied.

"Why would outer sectors suddenly have S rank monsters?" Nuo asked quietly, tears already gathering in her eyes.

"Because mutation evolution is a bitch," Wenzhi breathed darkly as he started walking ahead.

Zhaohe and Nuo quickly followed after him.

And honestly, Xinyuan couldn’t agree more.