“We want to go to Planet Six,” Cheng Xu declared, adding, “But before that, isn’t there a way to rescue the other passengers on the train?”

“That’s your military’s job,” Ta Ta replied, pulling on a piece of clothing from a corner where they were hiding. “You see, my small shuttle can only fit three people at most. I’m already squeezed for space.”

Cheng Jin quickly offered, “You can sit on my lap.” Ta Ta nonchalantly sat down on his lap and then looked up with a smile, “My name is Ta Ta.”

Cheng Jin smiled back, “Ta Ta, thank you for saving us.” Cheng Xu and Cheng Zheng also thanked him. Cheng Zheng asked, “Why are you on the train? Have you been on it all along? What was the passage we just crawled through? And what are we sitting in now?”

The situation seemed surreal, almost like a dream. Ta Ta pulled out a solid control panel from the soft wall, explaining, “I boarded the train halfway through, using the same passage you just came through. It’s actually an emergency exit, but it seems many people don’t know about it. What we’re sitting in now is a shuttle invented by my partner. It can withstand the pressure of folded space and can operate within it.”

“So, we’re still in folded space?” Cheng Xu asked.

“That’s right,” Ta Ta confirmed.

Cheng Jin felt overwhelmed, “I don’t understand… How many routes are there through folded space? Isn’t this technology supposed to be difficult? I thought there weren’t many.”

Cheng Xu elaborated, “Officially, there are only four routes that are continuously used, all starting from the Imperial Planet: east to the Trade Planet, west to Planet Nine, south to Planet Forty-five, and north to Planet Twenty. Our route today was supposed to head east.” He estimated they would disembark at the Trade Planet and then detour south to reach Planet Six.

“It seems so, but actually, there are three hidden folded space routes,” Ta Ta explained. “One of which is where you were almost taken, known as—there’s no official name, but we call it the Experiment Planet.”

Cheng Jin shivered, his face paling, “Is that where Indira conducts human experiments?”

“Exactly. Another route is the one we’re currently on, which leads to Hell Planet, rumored to be inhabited by criminals,” Ta Ta informed them. “So if you want to go somewhere else, you can only reroute from there. However, I checked, and the distance to Planet Six is too far. Given the current difficulties with train travel, it might take about a month to get there.”

“That’s really far…” Cheng Jin muttered.

“Maybe change your destination for travel. By the way, are you traveling or settling?” Ta Ta asked.

“Settling, and we need a place with advanced medical facilities. If possible, I hope for a place with simpler social relations,” Cheng Xu stated.

Ta Ta wasn’t familiar with such places, and Cheng Jin knew nothing about the worlds beyond their planet. In the midst of their panic, Cheng Zheng suddenly suggested, “Let’s go to Planet Twenty-nine.”

The Cheng brothers were stunned, asking in unison, “Planet Twenty-nine?”

“Yes,” Cheng Zheng confirmed. “It’s close to Hell Planet, sparsely populated, and we should be able to get housing easily. Survival there is relatively simple, and because communication and transportation aren’t as convenient, we won’t have to worry about being… disturbed.” He originally wanted to say “being found,” but changed his wording for his younger son’s sake.

Cheng Jin thought his father was considerately looking out for him, which warmed his heart. Cheng Xu, however, frowned, “But won’t the medical facilities there be inadequate?”

Cheng Zheng responded, “I’ve already had two surgeries; I just need medication regularly. Besides, the doctor said maintaining a good mood is crucial for heart disease. Living there, my mood would definitely improve.”

“Why is that?” Cheng Xu was puzzled.

Cheng Zheng rarely smiled but did now, saying, “Because that’s where your mother was from.”

With their destination decided, Cheng Jin grew more curious about Ta Ta. Looking down at the child sitting in his lap, he resisted the urge to pinch his chubby cheeks and asked, “Ta Ta, what’s really going on with you and Indira? And when were you fused genetically?”

Asked such a question, Ta Ta didn’t seem offended but instead queried, “Do you know when folded space routes started being used?”

Cheng Jin eagerly responded, “I know! It was 120 years ago!” He was somewhat proud to not appear clueless, remembering Lu Tao had told him this, which also brought sadness.

“That’s right, 120 years ago. But did you know about the accident that happened 110 years ago?”

Cheng Jin nodded, “I know that too. Lu Tao said that the accident made everyone on the train disappear, leaving nothing behind.” He vividly remembered this as it was quite horrific.

Ta Ta looked at him seriously, “I was one of the passengers on that train.”

Cheng Jin was stunned, looking at the child who appeared only seven or eight years old, feeling his scalp tingle and goosebumps rise on his arms. His father and brother, seeming to have already guessed a bit, were surprised but not overly shocked.

After a long pause, Cheng Jin stuttered, “How… how is that possible… That was 110 years ago, and how old are you now?”

“Dummy, didn’t I tell you I don’t grow up?” Ta Ta tapped his forehead, “My actual age is 117 years old!”

Cheng Jin still found it hard to believe, but Cheng Xu added, “I’ve read about that accident. The victims were indeed all primary school students, totaling two thousand.”

“Two thousand?” Cheng Jin was skeptical, “But aren’t there not that many seats on a train? Nowadays, a train can only seat five hundred people.”

“That was after the accident; new trains were custom-made for safety, reducing the maximum number of passengers and even the speed,” Cheng Xu explained.

“Two thousand passengers, all primary school students? How could that be such a coincidence?”

“It was probably selected on purpose,” Ta Ta said. “I remember we were organized by our school to visit the Imperial Planet.” For children from other planets, the Imperial Planet was akin to a sacred site, and visiting there was highly enviable. “It wasn’t just our school; many schools organized this trip, and before being selected, we went through rigorous screenings.”

The rationale at the time was to prevent any diseases from reaching humanity’s dream home, so any child with a medical condition couldn’t participate. They also underwent physical fitness selections, IQ tests, and most importantly, genetic testing.

No one suspected the motives, and everyone, adults and children alike, eagerly anticipated the event. Being selected was a joyous occasion, akin to winning a grand prize. Ta Ta still remembered how his parents cried tears of joy and meticulously prepared his travel bag.

“Later, we realized that those screenings were just to select more suitable subjects for human experimentation,” Ta Ta said, his expression and tone calm, devoid of bitterness. “On the day we departed, we boarded the train happily, chatting with friends, sharing snacks, and even singing songs. We left our hometowns, saw landscapes we had never seen before, and then entered folded space.”

“Unlike what our parents had told us, we didn’t exit the folded space after ten minutes, nor after twenty, thirty…” Ta Ta detailed every minute, up to “a hundred minutes,” then said, “And then we arrived at the Experiment Planet and met a group of adults in white coats and some fierce soldiers with guns.”

By now, Cheng Jin understood what had happened to them and felt sorrowful, “The mastermind… was it Indira?”

“It was his father, Old Indira.” Ta Ta stuck out his tongue playfully, “Are you silly? The current Indira is younger than me.”

Despite Ta Ta’s teasing, Cheng Jin couldn’t laugh, his voice filled with sadness, “What happened to you guys afterward?”

“Needles,” Ta Ta said nonchalantly, “Just lots of injections, sometimes several times a day, sometimes only once in a few months. We were separated, ten of us in a group, eating and sleeping together, rarely seeing anyone else. After a month, we became nine.”

Cheng Jin shivered, “The other one… died?”

“What else?” Ta Ta mocked, but his eyes weren’t smiling, “After a year, only eight remained, after two years, five, and by the third year, I was the only one left.”

Cheng Jin’s heart trembled, wanting to hug him, and Ta Ta didn’t refuse, “Later, I was regrouped with others, but the numbers kept decreasing, and I also discovered I wasn’t aging. Afterwards, the friends I could see all became strange, some grew parts we shouldn’t have, some changed skin color, and some started hurting others… Then I changed too, first my skin color, then it felt like my buttocks were splitting, and finally, a tail grew. I was a bit scared, but the doctor who injected me said I had succeeded, I had become a ‘Chimera,’ a human-chameleon ‘Chimera.’”

Cheng Jin clenched his teeth, anger bubbling up, but before he could speak, Cheng Zheng couldn’t hold back, “That’s too atrocious!”

Ta Ta continued, “Anyway, we all became strange creatures, always under their observation and confinement until one day, I discovered I could completely blend into my surroundings, that’s when I started thinking about escaping.” His expression saddened, “I miss my mom and dad.”

However, escaping with those people, he realized the world had changed into something he barely recognized. He couldn’t find his parents, but he saw everywhere the pictures of the man who had hurt them, always smiling as if kindly, yet worshipped by many, which angered him.

The Experiment Planet wasn’t a normal world; as an “experimental subject,” he aged but his body didn’t change, nor did his mind mature to that of an average adult. But he and the remaining friends all shared the desire to escape.

“Zheng Zheng said, ‘Only by exposing everything, can we possibly rescue all of us.’ They didn’t have my abilities and couldn’t escape on their own, so it all depended on me,” Ta Ta patted the machine housing them, “My friends are reliable, they secretly made this shuttle, and I escaped, then snuck onto the train and attempted to assassinate Indira for the first time.”

Cheng Jin regretted, “It’s a pity it wasn’t successful. Such a villain should be let to die!”

Ta Ta chuckled, “It was intentionally unsuccessful. They didn’t know my capabilities back then. If I had wanted to kill him, it would’ve been easy.” He added, “But only by being severely injured would he be forced to enter the Military Hospital, right?”

Cheng Jin was puzzled, but Cheng Xu understood, “You knew the Minister of General Affairs doesn’t get along with the military’s high command, so you had him stay in the Military Hospital to set up a second assassination attempt?” Although he hadn’t known Ta Ta was the assassin, he deduced it from the conversation.

“Exactly, and then deliberately left clues.” Ta Ta grinned, showing his white teeth, “The ‘Chimera’ clues were also released by me early on.” He looked at Cheng Jin, “I specifically chose you as a hostage, though I’m a bit sorry about that. But now that I’ve rescued you, we’re even. We just have to wait for the military to reach the Experiment Planet, and my friends will be free.” He paused, his face showing concern, “If everything goes smoothly, that is.”