Chapter 31: The Final Road Home — Departure

It was the weekend.

Before the sun had even risen, the two of them were already awake.

“Mia, what do you think of this?”

Lu Nian’an stood in front of the mirror and turned to look at her.

Xia Jiuwei gave her a quick once-over—

it looked similar to what she normally wore, only with more care put into the finer details.

“Mm, you look really good,” she nodded.

“That’s not what I’m asking.”

Lu Nian’an’s expression turned more serious.

“I mean… if I dress like this to meet your grandfather, what will he think?”

Xia Jiuwei froze for a moment, then the image of that man surfaced in her mind—

always stern-faced, yet occasionally showing traces of childishness.

“He probably won’t care too much.”

Xia Jiuwei didn’t sound entirely sure.

“Do I look proper enough to meet your grandfather?”

Only then did she catch the unease in Lu Nian’an’s voice.

She straightened slightly, her tone turning sincere.

“You look wonderful.”

After a pause, she added softly:

“And… very beautiful.”

Lu Nian’an looked at her but said nothing more.

Silently, the two of them clasped hands and headed toward the underground parking garage together.

Inside the parking garage.

Xia Jiuwei felt an unusual gaze.

That feeling of being watched flashed past for only an instant.

But she neither stopped walking nor turned around.

The two got into the car.

Lu Nian’an inserted the key and started the engine.

A completely ordinary sedan rolled out of the garage.

And within the shadows—

a tiny black spike remained quietly attached to the corner.

Not long after the car left, the black spike suddenly trembled.

Then it shot forward, piercing into seemingly empty space.

As if—

it had struck something invisible.

Inside an unknown hidden operations room.

One staff member was responsible for organizing intelligence and assigning missions.

“Report. Subject 0 has begun moving.”

“Squad 04 will take first-shift surveillance duty.”

The man calmly issued orders while switching between dozens of surveillance screens.

Everything moved exactly as planned.

Then—

one of the indicator lights suddenly lit up.

The man frowned.

“Why is this thing broken again…”

He muttered quietly, but didn’t think much of it.

“Logistics Team 09, go handle it.”

“Replace pinhole camera unit #0141.”

The streets were nearly empty at this hour.

The sky had yet to fully brighten, and the entire city still seemed asleep.

A low-profile sedan moved quietly along the open roads.

Occasionally, a few cars passed from the opposite direction or from behind.

Not many—but too consistent.

Lu Nian’an frowned slightly.

Her gaze swept across the rearview mirror.

The same license plate had appeared four times already.

She said nothing.

She only gave the wheel a slight turn, easing the car toward the highway ramp.

The moment the car passed through the ramp—

a nearly imperceptible black shadow quietly detached itself from the rear of the vehicle.

Like a fragment torn from a shadow, silently left behind.

A few seconds later.

That “familiar” car behind them entered the ramp as well.

—and then, the accident happened.

The tires suddenly lost traction without warning.

A harsh screech tore through the stillness of dawn.

Another “familiar” car behind it had no time to react and slammed directly into it.

Bang—!

Within mere seconds, the entrance ramp was completely jammed.

The sound of twisting metal lingered in the air.

Meanwhile, Lu Nian’an’s car had already entered the highway smoothly, disappearing into the distance ahead.

The interior of the car remained quiet.

“…What bad luck.”

Xia Jiuwei finally spoke, her tone lightly probing.

“How did something suddenly happen back there?”

She didn’t turn around.

But she spoke very slowly.

“Mm.”

Lu Nian’an responded calmly.

“Probably just an accident.”

Her voice was so steady it was almost unnaturally flat.

“So… the people inside should be alright too, right?”

This time, the air stiffened for just a moment.

“They’ll be fine.”

Lu Nian’an answered quickly.

Xia Jiuwei turned to glance at her.

That side profile remained calm—perhaps too calm.

She fell silent for a while, her gaze slowly withdrawing.

As though thinking about something.

A few seconds later, she finally spoke softly.

“Next time you do something like this, tell me first.”

Her tone wasn’t heavy, but it was serious.

After a pause, she added:

“…But thank you anyway.”

Some of the tension in the car finally melted away.

“Since we still have time—”

Xia Jiuwei sat back upright again, her tone recovering some of its usual brightness.

“Let’s look over the rest of today’s plans.”

And the car continued forward.

“Report from Squad 04—surveillance was compromised by a traffic collision.”

Inside the operations room, the man stared at the footage of the blocked entrance ramp, his brows tightly furrowed.

He quickly pulled up route maps and timelines, piecing the situation together in his head.

At normal driving speed… if they hadn’t stopped anywhere—

His finger tapped against the screen, instantly marking several nodes.

“Squad 09, move immediately to highway exits A14 and A15. Block all possible exit routes.”

“Squad 13, standby at entrance A16.”

After a brief pause, he announced the timing precisely.

“At 6:05 sharp, enter the highway and resume surveillance.”

Several screens shifted simultaneously as teams mobilized.

The system still operated with cold efficiency.

—Assuming everything remained “normal.”

Six o’clock.

An unremarkable sedan passed through entrance A16 exactly on schedule.

The timing. The route.

Everything matched the man’s predictions perfectly.

And yet, not a single surveillance officer noticed it.

On screen, it was merely an ordinary car.

No markings. No anomalies. No reason to pay attention.

Even the agents assigned to the area barely gave it a second glance before looking away.

As though—

it had never been worth noticing in the first place.

And in the next moment,

it disappeared into the sparse traffic.

Time passed minute by minute.

By the time they officially confirmed the target had been lost, an entire hour had already passed.

For the first time, a crack finally appeared in the atmosphere inside the operations room.

The man remained silent for a long while before reluctantly dialing a number.

“…Sir.”

“Subject 0 is currently missing.”

His voice had lowered noticeably.

Silence came from the other side of the line.

Then:

“This isn’t your fault.”

“If anything, it proves one thing—our judgment was correct.”

The man’s hand tightened slightly.

“Subject 0… really is an esper.”

The heaviness in his chest deepened.

He opened his mouth, then finally forced himself to say it:

“Sir, actually… the incident was caused by our team’s vehicles not being properly maintained. It was a basic operational error.”

After a short silence—

the other side let out a faint sigh.

“Compile all current data and upload it.”

“This case will now be transferred to ‘Level Seven.’”

The man’s expression changed instantly.

“Sir, this has nothing to do with her abilities!”

“There’s no reason to drag innocent people into this—”

“Innocent?”

The voice on the other end turned cold.

“Have you forgotten why she was designated ‘0’ in the first place?”

The man fell speechless.

“As long as she is connected to ‘that person’—”

“she cannot possibly be innocent.”

There was no room to argue with him.

Inside the operations room, only the low hum of machinery remained.

The man took a deep breath and finally gave up arguing.

“…Understood.”

“Data upload has begun.”

He pressed the button.

The information on screen was rapidly compressed, encrypted, and transmitted into a higher-level system.

And the name—“Level Seven”—hung over the room like a shadow.

On the highway.

The car had already been driving for several hours.

The city gradually faded behind them, replaced by endless mountain ranges.

After some time,

the car slowly exited the highway.

The roads became narrower, winding into mountain paths.

Then, halfway up the mountain—

the steering wheel turned gently.

The sedan quietly turned off the road and pulled into a small roadside motel.