Lin Ze moved his legs mechanically, running from day to night, as if the boundary of time had lost its meaning at this moment.
His body, developed by the gene tonic, was like a tireless perpetual motion machine, continuously running under the drive of an adult's tenacious will.
With every step, a small cloud of dust and dead leaves was stirred up. Fortunately, Lin Ze had lived in the countryside as a child and had run around barefoot since he was young.
His back was already soaked with sweat, and Xiao Monü's body swayed gently with his steps, like a weightless feather.
But Lin Ze's eyes remained firm, carrying a stubborn resolve.
He was not a person of strong will, but he had been pushed to a dead end now. The faint calls from behind were like a death knell.
Undoubtedly, being caught at this moment would result in a fate worse than death.
He didn't know how long or how far he had run. The fatigue of his body came in waves, but every time the thought of giving up arose, he ruthlessly suppressed it.
After the genetic modification, his vitality seemed to be infinitely amplified, and on the brink of life and death, he burst out with astonishing endurance.
Finally, as the first ray of dawn tore through the night sky, he ran out of the forest. Ahead was a large expanse of grassland, and Lin Ze's steps slowly came to a halt.
As he stopped, his legs went weak, and he stumbled, almost falling to his knees.
"Huff, huff... I can't run anymore, I really can't!" Lin Ze felt like he had never run this far in his entire life. He put Xiao Monü down and lay down on the grass himself.
After catching his breath, he looked down at Xiao Monü, who was still unconscious. Her face was as pale as paper, and her breathing was so faint it was almost imperceptible.
He checked the system, and his mind showed that his modification points had reached 53.
"Oh, that's great! The 100 points for basic Crossing isn't that hard after all. The plot has already passed the halfway mark! Haha!"
Suddenly, a long-standing question that he had never directly confronted popped into his mind—getting rid of Xiao Monü.
At this moment, killing the unconscious loli next to him would be as easy as turning over his hand, and then his modification points might instantly exceed 100. By then, Lin Ze would have the freedom to choose whether to stay or leave.
"Do I really have to do that?" His rationality had already told him what to do.
Looking at the little girl with a blood-stained face and tattered clothes, Lin Ze couldn't help but feel a pang of pity.
"Oppaa!" A small, soft voice awakened Lin Ze from his daze.
"Hm, Zi Yun, you're awake? How are you feeling?" Lin Ze felt a little guilty.
After all, he was still a normal person and couldn't be that cold-blooded!
"Oppaa! I'm fine. I'm sorry, I used too much of my psychic power to block the grenade shrapnel and fainted. I caused you trouble..." Xiao Monü spoke like a child who had done something wrong.
Hearing this, Lin Ze felt even more ashamed of his previous thoughts. With his now developed brain, he quickly recalled the situation at the time.
Recalling that thrilling moment, the scene of Xiao Monü unleashing her psychic shield seemed to be right before his eyes. It was a desperate act of bravery; she used her small body to shield Lin Ze, firmly blocking the grenade shrapnel flying towards him, her small frame erupting with immense power. But even with powerful psychic abilities, she couldn't achieve complete protection. Her arm was mercilessly pierced by shrapnel, and blood instantly gushed out, staining the ground.
How much pain she must have been in then. But to protect Lin Ze, she didn't flinch in the slightest. Her firm gaze and courage, facing death as if it were home, were deeply moving.
And now, looking at the scarred Xiao Monü, Lin Ze's heart was filled with guilt and heartache. He gently stroked Xiao Monü's cheek, tears welling up in his eyes.
"I will never forget everything you've done for me," Lin Ze murmured, his voice low and firm.
"Oppaa, where is this?" Xiao Monü asked.
"Don't worry! We've escaped..." Lin Ze briefly recounted what happened after Xiao Monü fainted.
"Oppaa, once I saw a map in Dr. Bai's office. The west of the base is a forest, not far to the south is a large lake, and to the east and north are roads leading to the city. It's great that you escaped through the forest, and then we just need to go further west..." Xiao Monü analyzed, a hint of excitement appearing on her face.
Lin Ze instantly understood and was a bit speechless. In the movie, this girl really had a premeditated plan to choose a path leading to that farm. On that farm lived a couple, the husband's surname was Ju. Professor Ju and his wife had lost their son while abroad, so they returned to China and lived in seclusion in a rural area.
"You want that couple to adopt us? I also read that magazine, it seems to be in this direction." Lin Ze saw through Xiao Monü's thoughts.
"Oppaa is really smart! He will adopt both of us!" Xiao Monü was a little happy. She felt that she and Lin Ze really had a telepathic connection, so how could Oppaa change?
"It seems what I felt just now was my imagination! I misunderstood Oppaa!" Xiao Monü thought to herself.
In fact, the moment Xiao Monü woke up, she felt Lin Ze's killing intent towards her, but that killing intent quickly disappeared. So she deliberately brought up the topic of their escape together and how she helped Lin Ze block the shrapnel, both to test Lin Ze and to remind him.
At this moment, she also felt that the momentary killing intent could only be an illusion, because she couldn't find any reason for Lin Ze to kill her now.
If Lin Ze knew that this loli had so many hidden thoughts from a few simple words, he would probably marvel at Xiao Monü's abnormal intelligence. Lin Ze only knew the plot.
Lin Ze, bare-chested and carrying the still-weak Xiao Monü, finally arrived at the farm Xiao Monü had chosen earlier, illuminated by the morning sun. At the farm, Professor Ju and his wife saw the two scarred, disheveled children, their eyes filled with shock and pity. Without a moment's hesitation, they quickly brought the two poor children into their home.
Professor Ju and his wife were both kind and warm-hearted people. Seeing the situation, they immediately contacted the town doctor. The doctor quickly arrived, and seeing their shocking wounds, he gasped. Especially Xiao Monü's leg injury, clearly caused by a hot weapon, which, according to regulations, had to be reported to the police station.
Lin Ze's head started to ache when he heard this, and he secretly groaned. He knew that once the police got involved, things would become incredibly complicated, and the hidden forces behind the scenes might quickly come knocking, putting both of them in an even more dangerous situation. But before he could come up with a countermeasure, the doctor had already picked up the phone to call the police.
Just at this critical moment, Xiao Monü slowly opened her eyes. Although her face was pale, she forced a sweet smile and acted cute towards Teacher Ju and his wife. Her voice was soft and sweet, and her eyes were filled with endless pitifulness: "Uncle and Auntie, please don't call the police, okay? We just got hurt accidentally and don't want to trouble the police."
What was different from the movie was that Xiao Monü didn't have amnesia, because with Lin Ze there, she couldn't pretend to have amnesia. It's impossible for two children to have amnesia at the same time, right?
Teacher Ju and his wife were already kind-hearted, and seeing Xiao Monü like this, their hearts immediately softened. They quickly stepped forward to stop the doctor, smiling and saying, "Look, these two children are quite pitiful. Can we make an exception and not call the police?"
The doctor was a bit hesitant, but looking at Xiao Monü's pitiful appearance and thinking of the couple's good reputation in the town, he wavered.
Seeing this, Lin Ze also quickly stepped forward and sincerely said, "Sir, we just encountered a gang shootout. We just ask that you don't call the police. We don't want to cause trouble."
The doctor pondered for a moment, then finally sighed and said, "Alright, for the sake of the children, I'll take a risk this once, but you must recover quickly and not have any more accidents."
It wasn't that the doctor was truly moved by Lin Ze's words, but rather that he knew how arrogant the local gangs were. Could these two children break the law? He thought it was more likely that they had been abducted and escaped from a gang. He didn't want to cause trouble for himself or for this place.
Lin Ze and Teacher Ju and his wife thanked him repeatedly, finally breathing a sigh of relief.
They knew that in the days to come, they would have to hide carefully on this farm, waiting for the right moment to find a truly safe place, and this time, they had escaped a disaster in these difficult circumstances.
Since they couldn't pretend to have amnesia, how would they fabricate their identities next? And how long could they keep it hidden? After discussion, the two little ones felt that staying here and being adopted was still not very realistic.