Chapter 17

Goodbye, Lan

“The fruit farmer has to leave his beloved orchard.” 

Watching the lush growing fruits and vegetables ahead, the boy reluctantly wrote a spell in the air. When the last character fell, a plant, half the height of a person and with a big mouth, shot up from the ground! With a series of “chomp, chomp” sounds, it quickly devoured all the fruits and vegetables. Just as it was about to bite into a flower tree that was already growing there, the boy wrote something else in the air, and that plant vanished.

Komira—a unique magical plant created by Pedro that devours anything edible around it. If there’s no other food available, it can even eat itself.

Note: Perfect for cleaning up garbage.

Note: Also great for eliminating surveillance cameras.

The two notes read: the first one by Pedro and the second by the boy.

Thinking of the boy writing notes in the magic book, Juan felt somewhat speechless.

Yes, S11 had started adding his insights to the magic book himself that’s what he said.

“All right, they’ll be here to pick me up soon. I’ll take you outside; you can go see that classmate named Lan. He’s really tired, isn’t he? You can lend him your light to rest a bit,” the boy said with a smile, already helping Juan arrange his upcoming schedule.

After spending time together, the boy had picked up that Juan had a classmate named Lan, but all of this was inadvertently revealed by Juan. The boy hadn’t asked him anything about himself.

And Juan hadn’t inquired about the boy either.

Oddly, neither felt anything was amiss; their interactions were very pleasant.

“He might not be here. Last time we met, he mentioned today is his day off, and he’s going out to meet his girlfriend and Eric.” As he tidied his things, Juan spoke while walking toward the entrance.

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Well, he inadvertently revealed a little about himself again.

“Oh, Eric? Is he also your classmate?” the boy asked, seemingly “unintentionally.”

“Yes, he also interviewed for the tutor position. Although he didn’t get it, both Lan and I were accepted here, so his hover motorcycle business is doing well, and he’s been hired by a car dealership as a full-time driver,” Juan replied casually.

All of this was information Lan had told him.

Unlike Juan, who wasn’t allowed to go outside, Lan could still leave, although the holidays were few. He could take two days off every two weeks to leave Eden.

“Hover motorcycles? I’ve always wanted to try one!” the boy responded, following up on Juan’s comment before stopping in his tracks.

They had reached the door.

Waving, the boy said, “Goodbye.”

Juan nodded and said, “Goodbye.”

As the door closed, their figures disappeared from each other’s sight.

After reading the magic book, S11 asked for leave two more times.

Each time he was gone for a day, and he had sustained some injuries, though they weren’t from the previous whip scars.

He never mentioned what he did on the day he disappeared, and Juan never asked.

After standing at the door for a while, Juan soon felt the boy’s presence leave the room behind him.

He then walked toward the staff office in front of him.

“Can you help me make a call?” Juan asked the female researcher inside.

Whether by coincidence or design, the same researcher was always the one left behind when the boy went out—she was the one who wore glasses and had a warm smile, the first person to suggest that Juan chat with his classmates.

Because it was always her, Juan decided to ask her for help with the calls every time.

“Oh! Is it again 485321? Always asking for leave, his teacher is starting to suspect that our department wants to transfer him,” she said, feigning annoyance, but quickly grabbed the phone and dialed the number.

“Can he be transferred?” Juan asked her.

Thinking back to when Lan had complained to him about the monotony of his work, Juan casually asked.

Sometimes it wasn’t that there weren’t job opportunities; it was just that there was a lack of channels for obtaining job information—this was something Lan had told him during a previous chat, and Juan found it quite reasonable.

Then, for the first time, he met the female researcher’s gaze.

“Does he feel like his current job is boring?” she replied. “Trust me, that boring job is the best job here.”

She spoke this last sentence very softly.

Then she put on a smile again, and as a voice came from the other end of the line, she began to exchange pleasantries.

As usual, the person on the other end readily agreed to let him go.

“Go wait for him.” She handed Juan two cups of coffee and waved him off.

Juan found a glass room to sit in, and he kept thinking about what the female researcher had just said until Lan walked in.

“What are you thinking about?” Lan’s voice came from the door.

Turning toward the sound, Juan saw a worn-out face.

He paused for a moment.

Each time he met Lan, although Lan said he was tired, he usually looked fine—thanks to the good food in Eden, he had even gained some weight.

But this time, Lan…

It wasn’t that he had lost a lot of weight; he just looked haggard, his entire being appeared pale and dull.

“Taking care of children is indeed tiring,” Juan said, pushing the cups of coffee on the table toward him.

“Thanks, but I don’t want coffee right now.” After saying this, he sat down beside Juan, hugging his knees and falling silent.

This was the first time Juan had seen him so quiet. Since he wasn’t speaking, Juan had to ask him himself. After thinking for a moment, he asked, “Isn’t today your day off? Why didn’t you go out?”

“I went out… and then came back.” Lan replied, still hugging his knees.

“That was quick. I thought you’d stay out for two days. After all, last time we met, you said you were going to eat at a restaurant in the neighboring district with your girlfriend…” Juan had a good memory and remembered what the other had said.

“I… don’t have a girlfriend anymore…” Lan said in a low voice.

Juan was taken aback.

Then a word suddenly popped into his mind “breakup.”

“Did you break up?” he asked directly.

Lan’s blue eyes met his, and at that moment, Juan suddenly felt that Lan’s eyes were very similar to those of the female researcher.

Not in terms of color or shape, but in some feeling that was present in their eyes.

It was as if the other person knew a lot of things but couldn’t say them…

“Someone just told me that your current job is the best job here,” Juan said, repeating what Lan had told him.

Then he saw Lan’s face break into a bittersweet smile that resembled crying. “I know.”

“I only just realized that my boring job is actually the best job here. But it’s too late…”

“I got promoted.”

“A few days ago, I officially became a full-time employee after my internship, and since my performance during the internship was good, I was directly transferred to the teacher’s research group, which is slightly higher than the general junior researcher level.”

It sounded… good. Juan looked at him in confusion.

Then he was met with Lan’s eyes, filled with bitterness and despair—

“Listen to me, Juan, you probably don’t know anything yet, right? Hurry and leave! Leave Eden! Get out of here—”

“Whether you resign or find an opportunity to make a mistake, find a way to leave this place!”

“Maybe this afternoon is a good time to leave.”

After saying this, he suddenly stood up and left without looking back.

Leaving Juan filled with questions.

Was the other hinting that something would happen this afternoon?

Standing up in confusion, Juan poured the two cups of coffee into a nearby trash bin and prepared to leave.

He wouldn’t leave; as long as the boy was here, as long as the magic book was here, he would never leave.

The glass room was once again empty under the sunlight.

Meanwhile, far away in another glass room, a woman in a white coat watched the empty glass room on the screen and smiled slightly.

“What a pity, the coffee brewed by 398540 actually smells quite nice,” she said with a smile.

Clearly, through the small screen, she had witnessed everything that had just happened in the glass room.

She wasn’t a stranger; she was the woman known as Dr. Maria, whom Juan had met before.

The man standing next to her wasn’t a stranger either; Juan had seen him and recognized him as one of the five researchers responsible for S11.

“Dr. Maria, why don’t you stop them?” the man asked, puzzled by the woman’s completely unrelated words.

“Stop them from what? 485321 hasn’t said anything at all, has he?” the woman replied, smiling.

The man frowned. “Stop… stop 485321 from spying on 324836, stop him from leaving Eden, stop him from uploading that video.”

“No need for that. Let him do it. Anyway, you’ve already dealt with that video, right? Just let it go out; wouldn’t it be good for the kid to see the results of his efforts?” The woman said after taking a sip of the coffee next to her.

“You really have a twisted sense of humor. You did the same thing with 324836, not stopping her from searching for her brother…”

The woman laughed lightly, “Why stop them? Those poor things who lack love are always trying hard to find a family for themselves.”

“Isn’t it easier to control them this way?”

“Why doesn’t 485321 tell 485345 everything he sees?”

“Isn’t it because he thinks they’re friends and doesn’t want to let his friend know too much about the danger? That’s why he doesn’t dare to talk to him.”

“Why doesn’t 324836 run away? Because that’s her brother, the one she found herself, who shares the same genes. For the sake of this brother, she willingly stayed here and became our host.”

“And S11 has been much better recently, also because he seems to have developed some feelings for 485345…”

“Hmm? I just realized that 485345 is quite remarkable. Oh… I remember now, I talked to him last time, and he was indeed impressive. Let me pull up his genetic profile. How strange—his genes indicate he should be a simple and impulsive person, which is quite different from the impression he gave me last time… The genes also suggest he’s suitable for being a chef, yet he’s doing quite well in this tutor position…”

After this, the woman fell back into her research, knowing that what the other person was saying at this moment wasn’t directed at her. The man stood by, silent.

– 485321 = Lan

– 485345 = Juan

– 324836 = Mia