100: Chapter 100: Everyone's busy saving the world, who has time for a breakup!

The voice on the phone was as soft as if reading a bedtime story, but every word felt like a nail hammering into the bone.

"You have learned the truth."

"I will give you three days."

"Three days from now, we will come to pick you up."

Lin Xiaoman's voice paused for a beat.

"From the moment you saw those images, the life of an ordinary person has left you behind."

"Use these three days to think carefully about whether you will join Kindling and become probationary members."

Beep—a busy signal.

Only the sound of the wind and two beating hearts remained on the rooftop.

Zhou Yu squatted on the ground, his phone resting on the concrete surface with the screen still lit.

Call duration: 47 seconds.

He turned his head to look at Shen Nian.

Shen Nian was looking at him too.

Moonlight stretched their shadows across the ground—one long, one short—with two bronze pieces that had returned to a dull state lying between them.

"So... what about the breakup?"

Shen Nian's voice still carried the nasality of someone who had just finished crying.

Zhou Yu picked up the bronze pieces, tucked them into his pocket, and pushed off his knees to stand up.

"We're about to save the world; who has time to break up?"

Shen Nian froze for a second.

Then, her nose stung, she laughed, and punched him on the shoulder.

"Get lost."

---

Three days.

The first day.

They skipped all their classes for the day and sat on a bench on the hill behind the school.

They sat there from nine in the morning until five in the afternoon.

They talked about a lot of things.

"That person who stepped on fire—how strong do you think he really is?"

"I don't know, but he's definitely stronger than me."

"...Obviously."

"Do you think if all those things come in three years, humanity can really win?"

Zhou Yu didn't answer.

He looked down at his toes, where the rubber on his sneakers had peeled away, revealing the gray lining underneath.

"Even if we can't win, we have to fight, right?"

He laughed after saying it; it sounded like a line from a TV show, and coming from his own mouth, it felt incredibly cringe-worthy.

Shen Nian didn't laugh.

She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'm scared."

Zhou Yu reached out to wrap his arm around her shoulder, but said nothing.

Students were coming and going, passing by the foot of the hill on campus.

People were shouting for passes on the basketball court, couples were taking photos under the ginkgo trees, and long lines had formed at the library entrance.

No one knew that the sky had once cracked open.

Zhou Yu stared at those scenes for a long time, finding them blindingly bright.

---

The second day.

Zhou Yu called his mom.

He didn't mention the bronze pieces or Kindling, just talked about how the school cafeteria had raised prices and how the weather was getting cold and his quilt wasn't thick enough.

His mom nagged on the other end for twenty minutes—don't stay up late, eat less takeout, wear your long johns, and get along well with Shen Nian.

She added one last thing: "Take care of yourself out there. Don't be afraid if you run into trouble."

Zhou Yu gave a grunt of acknowledgment and hung up.

He stood on the dorm balcony with his phone pressed against his chest, the bronze pieces sitting in the pocket right next to it.

The images from the bronze pieces flooded his mind—ancient ancestors in animal skins, people drawing runes with their blood at the foot of the Great Wall, and silver-armored knights raising shattered shields against colossal beasts.

His mom was waiting for him at home for the New Year.

His dad's beer belly had been sticking out for thirty years.

He hadn't taken enough photos of Shen Nian's smile—not even a hundred yet.

Zhou Yu tucked his phone back into his pocket and stood on the balcony for ten minutes.

The wind was cold.

---

The third day, early morning.

The track field.

Zhou Yu dragged Shen Nian along for a run; after running eight hundred meters, the two of them collapsed onto the lawn, panting.

The autumn grass was a bit withered and pricked their necks.

"Have you decided?" Zhou Yu turned his head to look at her.

Shen Nian lay on her back, her forehead covered in sweat.

"I decided a long time ago."

"When?"

"The first day, when you said, 'Who has time to break up?'"

Zhou Yu propped himself up on his elbows and sat up.

"So you were just acting these past two days?"

Shen Nian also sat up, picking blades of grass out of her hair.

"It wasn't acting. I just wanted to live a couple more days of ordinary life."

She tilted her head to look at him, her eyes shining brightly.

"I've lived them, and that's enough."

Zhou Yu stood up, brushed the grass clippings off his pants, and reached out to pull her up.

"Let's go."

"Let's go."

They were in sync for the third time.

Shen Nian laughed and punched him.

Zhou Yu didn't dodge.

His chest felt burning hot; he didn't know if it was the aftereffects of the run or something else entirely.

He pulled out his phone and sent a message to that unknown number.

"We are ready."

Three seconds later, a reply popped up.

An emoji of a cat giving a thumbs up.

Zhou Yu: "..."

The mysterious organization saving the world replied with a cat emoji.

Shen Nian leaned over to take a look and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

---

Jingzhou Torch Base.

Lin Xiaoman set her phone down on the stone steps, sat cross-legged, and tilted her head to look at Su Chen, who was leaning against an ancient tree.

"Chairman, I have a question."

Su Chen was flipping through his notebook without looking up.

"Go ahead."

"Do these two... really have the potential to become Kindling members?"

She bit her lip, gathering her thoughts.

"We're all Kindling descendants. Brother Wang Hao stood in a factory, using bent steel bars to shield his pregnant wife, and charged into gunfire in the War Zone while carrying the bronze pieces. That kind of grit seems a lot more reliable than two college students."

Su Chen flipped a page.

"Wang Hao's mission is to assist Section Chief Han Zheng."

The tip of his pen drew a horizontal line across the paper.

"When the time is right, he will become the link that makes ordinary people stronger. That is his greatest value."

Lin Xiaoman blinked, deep in thought.

"As for Zhou Yu and Shen Nian—"

Su Chen closed his notebook.

"Some things are called destiny, but destiny is not a coincidence."

He paused for a beat.

"It is fate issuing a preview."

Lin Xiaoman fell silent.

She recalled the process of how she was 'found' by Su Chen—tracking Kindling information all the way to the gate of the courtyard, thinking she was the hunter.

Only after entering did she realize that from the very first step, she had been the prey.

"Fine."

She hugged her knees and rested her chin on them.

"You're the boss, anyway."

Su Chen didn't answer.

He stood up, walked to the edge of the altar, and cast his gaze toward the golden firmament.

He opened his notebook to the latest page and set his pen down.

"Zhou Yu · Shen Nian: Pending status. Dual-cooperation type? Sword cultivation path?"

"European Branch mercenary recruitment: Initial screening 82 candidates → Secondary screening 3 candidates. Two men, one woman."

"It's time to pay a visit to the War Zone."

He flipped to the next page.

"Section Chief Han Zheng · Pangu Project: Exotic beast database under construction, research and development for targeted weapons initiated."

"Global authenticity continues to climb. Word of mouth from the War Zone, the fermentation of the Santa Monica incident, and the narrative of the Hangzhou evacuation—the three threads are converging."

"Current authenticity: 9,200/10,000."

At the very bottom, he wrote a line of text, pressing down hard enough to leave a slight indentation on the paper.

"LV3 is imminent. After the upgrade—"

"It's time to make the history of Kindling a bit more ancient."

Three days later.

At the school gate.

A black commercial van was parked on the side of the road.

The rear window rolled down halfway.

A baby-faced girl leaned out of the window, wearing twin tails and a gray hoodie, with a lollipop dangling from her mouth.

"Get in."

Zhou Yu and Shen Nian exchanged a glance, slung their backpacks over their shoulders, opened the door, and got inside.

The window rolled up.

The van merged into traffic and disappeared at the end of the street, where ginkgo leaves were fluttering through the air.