Chapter 53

Chapter 53

242 didn't understand why the child wasn't eating but instead came over to hug him.

When he felt the little one’s embrace loosen slightly, 242 gently pressed his finger against the sticky bun’s forehead, slowly easing him out of his arms. Then, he placed the bucket back in front of the child, motioning for him to eat.

Su Ximu looked at the small bucket, then at his brother, shook his head, and patted his own stomach, signaling, "Brother, I'm not hungry. I don't need to eat."

He had only been a little curious, wanting to taste what his brothers frequently ate.

Though it tasted truly awful, he had vaguely come to understand that this sustenance, which could fill their bellies, was actually very precious.

His brothers weren’t like him; they didn't get three meals a day. They only ate once every two days.

So, it was unpalatable yet precious. He didn’t like it, but he couldn’t waste it.

After patting his own stomach, he reached out to touch his brother’s—it was flat, unlike his own round belly after a full meal.

Eating only once every two days, and never to satiety.

At such a young age, Su Ximu had already faintly grasped the feeling of heartache.

He arranged his brothers in a row, then with effort, lifted the small wooden bucket and held it to his brother’s mouth.

The bucket was indeed tiny. Even when nearly full of nutrient solution, a four- or five-year-old could still lift it.

At first, 242 kept his mouth shut, merely staring at the little one’s stomach. It wasn’t until he was "sternly" urged again that he finally opened his mouth and took a sip.

This was his first time eating outside the feeding tube.

The same went for 241 and 243.

With Su Ximu distributing, urging, and explaining that he didn't need any, the small bucket of nutrient solution was finally finished.

The two extra portions, divided among the three brothers who were only half-full, didn't really provide an exaggerated sense of fullness.

However, after finishing this additional meal, 243 still looked down at his stomach in amazement.

Over the past two months, while learning to speak with his younger brother, he had easily understood and remembered the word "hungry."

But the corresponding word "full" was something he just couldn't learn or comprehend, no matter how hard he tried.

Until today, when he felt a slight sense of satisfaction emanating from a part of his body for the first time. He pointed to his stomach and asked his younger brother, "Full?"

Su Ximu nodded.

243 looked at his stomach again, grinned happily, and shouted loudly, "Full!"

241 also touched his stomach, lowered his head, lost in thought—or perhaps not thinking about anything at all.

***

Since 242 started smuggling nutrient solution, the family’s living conditions had visibly improved.

At the very least, 243 no longer felt weak from hunger after playing in the sand dunes a little longer each day.

Time drifted on for several more months, and District 13 once again welcomed Collection Day.

243 was no longer the same person he had been six months ago—frustrated but only grinding his arms against the ground. On the evening before Collection Day, he paced around the house several times, each time fiercely declaring, "I hate it!"

Six months ago, though he resisted inwardly, he wouldn’t have put up a fight.

Now, 243 began to ponder why.

Why did they have to endure the pain?

Why couldn’t they refuse?

No one gave him the answer.

Su Ximu didn’t know either.

He was still trying to figure out the world himself. It was impressive enough that he'd found the courage to search for medicine for his brothers and had explored beyond the wall all by himself.

243 didn’t expect his younger brother to have the answer either.

When he wasn’t pacing, he imitated his brother by holding the little one in his arms and instructed him, "Tomorrow, no, no, go out, out…"

Perhaps because the world hadn't corrupted him for too long, 243’s self-awareness awakened relatively easily, and he was a quick learner.

As early as two months ago, he had even begun to ponder more complex questions.

For example: His younger brother seemed different from them.

His brother 242 seemed to have realized this earlier than he did. That was why, on Collection Day, he pushed the little one who had followed them back into the room.

Precious things needed to be hidden so they wouldn’t be taken away.

This was the lesson 243 had vaguely learned during his time smuggling nutrient solution.

He couldn’t articulate it clearly, but he knew that his younger brother was even more, more, more… precious than nutrient solution.

So, he needed to be hidden and protected even more carefully.

After six months, Su Ximu had fully adapted to life here. His way of addressing 243 had also shifted between "Third Brother" and "Little Brother," clearly seeing the four of them as a family.

From Third Brother’s reaction, Su Ximu vaguely guessed something.

Even now, he still remembered clearly the incident six months ago when his brothers were collectively injured.

Was someone going to hurt his brothers again?

Su Ximu was furious. Ignoring his Third Brother’s warning, he rolled up his sleeves to show off his "muscles" and made a punching motion: "I, I’ll go tomorrow too, go, go fight the bad guys!"

"I’m very strong. If I see a bad guy trying to cut someone with a knife tomorrow, I’ll hit him with a stone first!"

"After hitting, I’ll, I’ll run. They won’t catch me."

Over the past six months, the little one had been playing outside every day but hadn’t tanned much. When he rolled up his sleeves to show off his "muscles," his chubby arms left little dents when pressed—there were no muscles to speak of.

Afraid he couldn’t convince his brothers, he dashed to the corner and brought out his weapon.

It was a small shovel made from a sharpened stone flake.

The little shovel was crafted under his guidance: he described how to make it, and his eldest brother ground the stone flake against the ground every night until it slowly took shape.

The little one held his shovel and made a digging motion, demonstrating that if he couldn’t hit the bad guys, he could dig at their heels with the shovel, which would also hurt them.

That way, the bad guys would chase after him, and no one would have time to cut his First, Second, and Third Brothers.

The little one put on a whole performance with his shovel. When he finished, 242 stepped forward, patted his fluffy little head, took the shovel from his hand, stood on tiptoe, and placed it somewhere high.

They clearly confiscated his tool of mischief.

Su Ximu looked down at his empty hands, then at his Second Brother who had hidden his little shovel, feeling a bit wronged: "Brother..."

242 picked up Su Ximu and rocked him soothingly in his arms.

Su Ximu stayed in his brother's arms, being rocked for a while before asking in a low voice, "Brother, is it because I'm just a little kid?"

"Those bad people are all very formidable adults."

"If only I could grow up right away."

That way, he could also stop the bad people from doing bad things as a very capable adult.

Instead of like now, where his only weapon was hidden and he couldn't even reach it himself.

242 patted him gently. Su Ximu lifted his head, missing his mom a bit.

Brother is like Mom.

No, even more than Mom.

He couldn't remember if his mother had ever comforted him like this.

***

No matter how unwilling Su Ximu was, the next day, the collection began as usual.

The three brothers deliberately left early. As they went out, 242 folded one of his own clothes and placed it behind the still-sleeping Su Ximu.

243 had thought this collection would be the same as before—everyone lining up, letting the person at the front take a piece of meat one by one, then going to the side to stop the bleeding using more painful methods.

But this time, when the eldest brother at the front stretched out his arm, the person wielding the knife suddenly looked into his eyes and exclaimed.

"Officer, his eyes have already begun to change," the person responsible for collection said to an officer in a white uniform standing further ahead.

The one called "Officer" immediately came over, glanced at 243's eyes, and nodded with satisfaction.

243's once-black eyes, upon closer inspection, now showed a dark golden hue.

In the time that followed, 243 was no longer sampled but was taken to another small, all-white room.

Because chains demonstrated their family relationship, 241 and 242 were also brought along.

The three were examined and studied by researchers in white coats. Some blood samples were taken as well.

The process wasn't particularly comfortable, but compared to the crude sampling methods outside, it was relatively gentle.

Finally, a researcher brought the test results to the Officer with a smile, speaking naturally: "Their paternal and maternal genetic material comes from two very ordinary prey. Who would have thought the combination would be of such high quality?"

"All three of them show varying degrees of transformation, with the lowest already at 70%."

"Though some transformations change appearance while others don't. Subject 243's transformation altered his eye color."

After saying this, the researcher sighed regretfully: "Ah, if only we had known that the combination of their parents' genes would yield such excellent results, we should have made their parents breeders back then."

Instead of them dying without leaving even bones behind.

The Officer reviewing the report also felt a bit regretful, but discovering three high transformation rate subjects before the collection even began was an unexpected delight.

Setting aside his slight regret, the Officer brought 241, 242, and 243 to another small room to wait.

He was somewhat hopeful—would there be more surprises today? So he ordered the meat samples from Sector 45 to be tested first.

Sector 45 was the area where 241 and the others lived in that sheet metal house.

They waited from morning until afternoon. Under the priority processing by the researchers, the samples from Sector 45 were tested, and two more were found.

After those two were sampled, they left the collection point and returned to Sector 45.

After waiting almost the entire day, only two individuals with low transformation rates were found. The Officer seemed rather disappointed. Finally, he yawned and instructed the driver to take the three in the room to Sector 45 to round up people. After gathering them, as per usual practice, they were to be sent directly to the inner area of District 13.

243 was led by the driver, chained, onto the back of the vehicle. Along the way, he noticed it was the route back home and finally relaxed his tightly clenched fists.

Just like the vehicle half a year ago, this one also stopped near their home.

Inside the house, Su Ximu, who had been keeping track of time and wondering why his brothers hadn't returned for so long, occasionally peeked outside through the door crack.

Until a very familiar large vehicle stopped not far from the door, and he saw his brothers who hadn't returned in the back compartment.

He remembered clearly—the grandpa next door and the auntie living a few doors away had left in this very vehicle and never returned.

At that moment, the little one finally understood.

So this vehicle wasn't for moving. It was a vehicle that took people away.

Because his brothers would never move without him.

Even as a small child, he possessed a determined nature.

He knew home is where your family is.

Where he was alone was just a house.

Seeing his brothers in the vehicle, Su Ximu turned around, quickly laid out the clothes his brother had left, placed each of his little treasures inside, and added his brothers' treasures as well.

Once everything was packed, he tightly bundled the clothes into a small package, hoisted it onto his back, quietly pushed the door open, and trotted toward the large vehicle.