Chapter 19

Do You Know Juan?

“Just got back and have to go out again; I don’t like overtime.” Looking at the aircraft behind him, the boy pouted and complained.

 “Good child, who told them they weren’t as good as you? It was just a mission, and they ended up like this.” The woman smiled at him as she looked at the stretchers being carried out from another aircraft nearby.

“It’s not their fault; this mission was indeed difficult,” the boy—S11—seriously replied.

Hearing him say that, the woman—Dr. Maria—tucked her wind-blown hair behind her ear, glanced at him, and smiled again: “Starting to speak up for your companions? It seems that all that poetry reading hasn’t been in vain; you’ve developed a bit of camaraderie. This home tutor is quite effective.”

The boy looked at her and after a moment said, “Old lady, you should consider switching to a different facelift company. This time, they didn’t do it well; when you smile, you look like a ghost, did you know that?”

Seeing the woman’s smile vanish, the boy felt satisfied and gave her a slight smile before he cheerfully ran toward the aircraft behind him. With a leap, he climbed into the vehicle.

As usual, the aircraft had a driver at the front, two researchers, and four fully armed guards.

The guards were probably there to escort the goods behind them, while the researchers were there to keep control over him.

Not wanting to sit with them, S11 simply opened the hatch to the rear cabin and walked inside.

Inside, several people were seated or standing—both men and women—and they all looked quite good.

Well… there was only one who looked average, but maybe they had other talents?

Lost in thought, S11 sat down on the floor.

He was well aware of what these people were for because he himself had once sat in this aircraft, treated as a commodity sent to distant places.

Once, when he was very young, he was dressed up cutely and was carried in a swaddle to his biological father. That man was an old geezer who had sold sperm at the bank when he was young due to a lack of money. After the apocalypse, he had become a powerful figure due to his abilities and had become a target for Eden’s product promotions.

His biological father didn’t lack sons and didn’t want to be marketed, so he decisively rejected them.

The aircraft then took him to his biological mother—who was also a survivor. Before the apocalypse, she had left some eggs there for medical treatment, but unfortunately, when they arrived, she had met with an unfortunate accident and died.

Unable to be sold, he was taken back by Eden and was not turned away. Instead, he stayed behind and grew up with other beautiful commodities, and then boarded the aircraft again.

Then the others were sold, except for him.

However, this time it wasn’t that he couldn’t be sold; it was due to the sudden awakening of his abilities.

“Do you… know where they’re sending us?” Just as S11 was lost in memories, a girl’s voice suddenly rang out beside him. Looking up, S11 found that the question had come from a young woman sitting across from him.

“Probably to some auction, sold to some powerful old men or women?” S11 replied.

His words were direct and even malicious, completely disregarding the listener’s reaction.

“Ah? What are you talking about?! I clearly interviewed for a job provided by Eden, to work as an accountant!” the girl retorted loudly.

“An accountant? Haha.” S11 laughed, “I’d love to see where in the outside world they would hire accountants, especially someone like…”

He scanned the girl from head to toe: “you.”

The sarcasm in his eyes was evident, and the girl was furious at being scrutinized by him: “Even though I’m good-looking, my grades are even better! I’m the top student in the accounting program at my school!”

“Oh” S11 raised an eyebrow and looked down, not intending to speak to her further.

“You—” The girl was about to say something, but suddenly someone spoke up from the corner.

“He’s right; we are going to be sold.” A young man with slightly curly brown hair, blue eyes, and freckles on his face, wearing glasses, was the “only one who looked average” that S11 had noticed when he entered.

“Eden was a sperm and egg bank before the apocalypse. We were mass-produced to be sold.”

“What gives you the right to say that?!” The girl frowned, wanting to defend Eden.

As children who had been socialized and raised within Eden, it was their instinct to feel this way. They had no mothers or fathers, and to them, the organization was like a parental figure; how could children think their parents were bad?

The young man pulled out a work ID with Eden’s logo that could not be replicated, along with a photo of him in Eden’s uniform and his name.

“You work for Eden?”

“Wait, he looks a bit familiar. This afternoon, I saw a breakup video on the street. Looking closely, you’re the protagonist of that video!” a man said, stepping closer to get a better look.

“I’ve seen that video too!” A woman next to him also walked over. “485321, I remember that was the name of the guy in the video.”

It had to be said that quite a few people who had seen the video were present; soon, the man was surrounded.

“It’s not a breakup video; it’s a video where I want to expose the truth about Eden. The footage was edited, and all the videos I shot were cut out, and my words were replaced.” The young man spoke in a muffled voice: “And please don’t call me 485321; my name is Lan. Being identified by a number is ironic; to them, we are nothing but a string of numbers…”

“What?!” As he narrated, everyone began to believe his words. Though some still had their doubts, they started to feel uncertain about their futures.

S11, who had initially planned to close his eyes and rest, suddenly became interested and leaned over to pick up the ID badge on the ground. He looked at the photo on it, then compared it with the young man who looked dejected in front of him and asked, “Is your name Lan?”

Seeing him, Lan nodded.

“Then do you know Juan?” the boy continued to ask.

“I do; he’s my good friend.” Although they only met when graduating, Lan considered Juan one of his few friends.

The boy smiled, pointing to himself with his slender fingers, beaming with excitement: “He’s my teacher!”

“Ah?” Lan was taken aback to unexpectedly meet a familiar acquaintance here.

“Tell me some stories about my teacher!” The boy immediately sat down across from Lan, his face filled with eagerness, his bright eyes locking onto Lan’s.

Although…

Lan’s mouth opened and closed several times, eventually succumbing to the boy’s eager gaze. After a moment’s thought, he began to talk about Juan.

“…This person is quite serious and diligent…”

“Yes, yes! That’s exactly how my teacher is!”

“But there are times that are quite exasperating; he ranked sixty-eighth in the grade in exams, yet he dared to apply for a job at Eden, something even the second-ranked students wouldn’t dare to do…”

“Mm-hmm! My teacher is actually very brave!”

“But I think his bravery is actually a sign of wisdom, because many people believe that Eden only accepts the top students, so they don’t even consider it. However, there are other ways to get into Eden…”

“Right, right! My teacher is full of wisdom!”

…

The people beside them looked at the two with speechless expressions: These two… they are the ones who caused everyone to be so anxious! But now they are chatting happily; does that make any sense?

Pushing others into a state of panic while they are so delighted; is that reasonable? Is it reasonable?!

However, the two continued their conversation, specifically the boy, who kept encouraging Lan to share more about Juan. He wouldn’t allow Lan to stop!

Then, as their conversation continued, the aircraft began to descend.

When the propellers stopped spinning, the inner cabin door started to open.

Thinking about what might happen next, everyone inside fell into fear simultaneously.

Except for the boy.

Watching Lan, who had just realized something and turned pale, he licked his lips, still savoring the moment.

Then, as people entered, he smiled:

“You’re really a good friend of the teacher! Since that’s the case, I’ll let you go.”

“If I let you go, will the teacher praise me?”

“I really like being praised by him.”

With a smirk, his eyes narrowed into crescent shapes, and accompanied by the boy’s voice, which sounded a bit hoarse due to puberty, Lan saw a cloud of blood mist erupt behind him.