Valley No. 4.
As the teleportation light faded, the three of them appeared in the plaza of the Hub Center.
Angelina steadied herself and looked around—and froze for a few seconds at what she saw.
Construction was everywhere. Scaffolding, stacked materials, busy workers, the occasional engineering vehicle rolling past. On the distant hillside, damaged structures and scorched black marks were still visible.
"This teleportation… is so convenient," she murmured.
She'd already experienced jumping from here back to the Dijiang, but a long-distance transfer like this still felt unbelievably futuristic.
After the initial amazement, she went quiet, simply taking it all in.
The workers' constant motion, the rebuilding efforts, and—on the mountainside—a vast, charred scar that looked like it had split the hill in two.
After a long while, she finally pointed at that blackened mark.
"Um… was that done by Miss Talulah?"
Bai Ling followed her finger. The location she indicated was clearly where the Transdomain test site had been.
"…Yes," he admitted.
Angelina stared at the scar for a long time, then turned back and smiled at him.
"So impressive."
There was no fear in that smile. No unease. Only pure admiration.
Bai Ling looked at her and felt something subtly off—in a way he couldn't neatly explain.
This person… seemed able to face anything with that same buoyant lightness.
Was that the discipline of a courier? Or was she simply born this way?
Truthfully, Bai Ling didn't have many clear impressions about Angelina as an individual—Arknights didn't even have much in the way of personal story centered on her—but the sense that she was someone you could trust felt carved into him like an old scar.
"Mr. Bai Ling?"
Angelina's voice pulled him back. He blinked and realized she'd been watching him.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Nothing." She smiled. "Just… you looked like you were spacing out."
Bai Ling didn't deny it—he simply changed the subject.
"Let's go. We'll see if there's anything we can help with."
"Okay."
Right now, the busiest places in Valley No. 4—besides the Hub—were the temporary shelters.
Thanks to supplies coming from the valley transfer station warehouses, construction here had entered a new phase. It had moved fast: from the earliest emergency builds, to reconstruction, and now toward becoming a secondary outpost.
Angelina still walked in front, looking everywhere, curious about everything. Jelperta followed behind, answering questions now and then. Bai Ling brought up the rear, unhurried.
Compared to the days when the valley corridor had been occupied by the Riftbreakers, everything looked different now. The transfer station had returned to the Guild's control and large-scale rebuilding had begun.
While staring at the worksite, Angelina abruptly stopped and pointed toward a corner off to the side.
"What's that little girl doing over there?"
Bai Ling looked where she pointed.
In the corner, a small girl was crouched on the ground, fiddling with something intently. A middle-aged man stood nearby, looking down at her with a helpless-but-indulgent smile.
Aji and Soth.
Bai Ling paused, then walked over.
"Aji."
The girl looked up—and the instant she recognized him, her eyes lit up.
"Brother Bai Ling!"
She tossed aside whatever she'd been holding and ran to him. Bai Ling crouched and caught that small, rushing body.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Playing!" Aji held up what she'd been working on—a stone painted in colors, shaped to look like a flower. "Uncle Soth said this place will become a garden later, so I'm planting flowers!"
Bai Ling looked at her "flower," then at the construction site nearby, and the corner of his mouth lifted.
"You're planting them really well."
"Really?" Aji's eyes shone even brighter.
"Yeah."
Angelina and Jelperta walked up as well. Aji, seeing two strangers, shyly tucked herself behind Bai Ling's leg, peeking out at them.
"Brother Bai Ling, who are they?"
"New friends," Bai Ling said. "This one is Angelina, and that one is Jelperta."
"Big Sister Angelina, Big Sister Jelperta," Aji greeted obediently.
Angelina crouched down, smiling warmly. "Hi there, little one. What's your name?"
"My name is Aji."
"Aji—what a nice name." Angelina pointed to the painted stone. "You said you're planting flowers?"
"Mm!" Aji lifted it proudly. "When this place becomes a garden, my flowers will bloom!"
Angelina looked at the stone, then at the serious little face—then laughed.
"Then when that happens, you have to invite me to come see it."
"Okay!" Aji nodded hard.
Soth finally stepped closer and nodded to Bai Ling. "Mr. Bai Ling."
"Soth." Bai Ling stood. "How've things been lately?"
"Not bad." Soth adjusted his eyepatch, trying to soften his expression. "Reconstruction is going smoothly. People's emotions have settled. We've got new refugees coming in, but everyone still has hope for the future."
He glanced at Angelina and Jelperta. "And these two are…?"
"New operators," Bai Ling kept it simple. "Angelina. Jelperta."
Soth nodded and didn't press further.
Aji hugged Bai Ling's leg and looked up. "Brother Bai Ling, are you staying long today?"
Bai Ling looked down at her. In the end, he didn't say no.
"I'll stay for a while."
"Then can you play with me?"
"…Alright."
Angelina watched from the side, smiling, then leaned toward Jelperta's ear and whispered mischievously, "Mr. Bai Ling really is popular with kids."
Jelperta's ears turned red again.
The afternoon sunlight was warm.
Bai Ling sat on the stone steps by the worksite, watching Aji playing with Angelina not far away. They ran back and forth in an open patch of ground, Aji's laughter chiming like a wind-bell.
Jelperta sat beside him, quietly watching.
"Mr. Bai Ling," she asked suddenly.
"Mm?"
"That child…" Jelperta hesitated. "Is she an Infected?"
Bai Ling nodded, his gaze staying on Aji.
Jelperta didn't speak again.
She just watched that small figure—the hair flying as she ran, the teeth showing when she smiled, the little hands waving wildly with joy.
There were visible signs of Originium crystallization on the child… but there wasn't a shred of shadow in her eyes.
"The suppressants work," Bai Ling said quietly. "If she uses them on schedule, she can live like anyone else."
Jelperta nodded.
She remembered the way Angelina played with that child—so natural, so happy—as if the crystals didn't exist at all.
Was this what it meant—trust first, judge after?
She didn't know.
But she found herself thinking… maybe it really wasn't a bad way to live.
"Jelperta!"
Angelina's voice carried over. Jelperta looked up to see her waving.
"Come play with us!"
Jelperta froze for a second, then stood.
She turned and glanced back at Bai Ling. He was watching them, a faint, almost imperceptible smile at his lips.
"Go on," he said.
Jelperta hesitated—then walked over.
Angelina grabbed her hand and pulled her into the circle. Aji ran up too and seized Jelperta's other hand.
The three of them began spinning in circles together.
Aji's laughter, Angelina's laughter—and Jelperta's, still a little stiff at first, but gradually loosening—drifted into the sunlight.
Bai Ling sat on the steps, watching.
The sun was warm. The wind was light. The laughter felt far away.
He pulled a bottle of soda from his pocket, twisted off the cap, and took a sip.
Cold. Sweet.
Soth had given it to him at the temporary shelter—something that might have been Soth's small reward to himself after a hard day's work.
But because Bai Ling's arrival made Aji so happy, Soth had handed it over instead.
Bai Ling suddenly remembered the question Angelina had asked earlier.
"What are you?"
What was he?
Someone who remembered a lot of things.
Someone from another world.
Someone who sat here, watching these smiles, and felt—strangely—like maybe everything really had been worth it.
He took another sip.
In the distance, Aji's laughter still floated on the wind.
"Brother Bai Ling! Come play too!"
Bai Ling paused—then stood.
He set the soda bottle down on the steps and walked toward them.
....
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