Chapter 3: Rose Corridor

Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Rose Corridor

After all the noise and commotion, dusk was already beginning to fall by the time it was Huai Yu’s turn.

Following the BEEP of her zero-point Contribution Card, an involuntary silence fell over those nearby who had noticed.

Huai Yu, however, seemed utterly devoid of shame. She simply waited in docile silence.

She had nothing to be ashamed of. She had forgotten everything about her past and had no idea if she had died and come back to life, or if she had suddenly mutated. Regardless, when she opened her eyes today, she found herself wrapped in a cocoon of tree roots.

After crawling out of the cocoon, she realized she had forgotten everything except her name and some vague common sense. As for her parents, relatives, or friends, she couldn’t recall a single detail.

In short, she reasoned that since she was so kind-hearted, she couldn’t possibly have done anything bad. The zero-point Contribution Card wasn’t her fault; the world had definitely let her down.

With this thought in mind, her mental state became exceptionally stable. Her smile was open and untroubled, leaving the crowd of onlookers who had been ready to gossip completely speechless.

A moment later, the staff member finished the registration and shoved thirty bottles of nutrient fluid and half a kilogram of soybeans into her hands.

"Your life is your own from now on. There’s no state welfare to fall back on. If you keep this up, you’ll starve to death."

Huai Yu hugged the pile of items and smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. "I know."

After a moment’s thought, she added, "I’ll live well. Thank you, ma’am."

Stepping out of the hall, she saw the distant sky weaving a twilight tapestry of ink-blue and tangerine.

The battered bus at the entrance was already packed with people. A loudspeaker blared continuously, "To facilitate everyone’s registration, buses are free this month! The terminal station is the Rose Corridor!"

Huai Yu froze for a moment before breaking into a jog toward it. The driver honked the horn repeatedly and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Those in the back, move in a bit!"

"It’s full, it’s packed! Driver, let’s go!"

"Exactly! I live in Golden Yuan. If we don’t leave now, it’s going to be dark!"

The next moment, the passengers felt the space around them tighten as their feet involuntarily shuffled closer to the edges.

"Damn it! Who the hell is pushing?"

"Stop pushing, stop pushing, damn it! We can’t fit! My feet are off the floor!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Don’t crush my nutrient fluid!"

The doors finally closed. Huai Yu gripped the handrail tightly and flashed an innocent smile at the people packed around her like sardines.

Looking out through the spiderweb-cracked window, she watched the city transition from order to ruins, and then to gradual desolation. It looked exactly like the scenes in her dreams.

But what else was in her dreams?

"Roses..." she murmured, unable to recall anything more.

The bus rattled and jolted along, struggling down the broken roads toward the outskirts of the city. The crowd thinned out. After a few more people got off at the Golden Yuan District, only Huai Yu and the driver were left on board.

The two locked eyes. Huai Yu smiled, her eyes curving. "I’m getting off at the Rose Corridor."

The driver started the engine with a helpless sigh. He thought that just because the terminal was the Rose Corridor didn’t mean they actually had to go there. Why did someone actually live there?

Muttering under his breath, he couldn’t hold back his gossipy nature. "Miss, you didn’t even qualify for the Golden Yuan District... Did you, did you get a massive deduction in points?"

"No." Huai Yu shook her head honestly. "I probably just didn’t make any contributions."

The driver was rendered speechless.

The bus didn’t linger at the Rose Corridor. It seemed the area was truly dangerous, so much so that the bus had to immediately turn around and head back.

Dusk had completely enveloped the surroundings, leaving only the faint silhouettes of the distant mountains. The night breeze carried a chilling bite. Huai Yu crouched down, touching the green blades of grass on the ground as she recalled the hazy morning broadcast. She vaguely remembered that it was March.

She was a little hungry, but the soybeans were dry and rock-hard, so she casually fished out a pouch of nutrient fluid.

The packaging lacked any flashy designs, resembling a simple squeeze-pouch of jelly. It bore only the words "Basic Nutrient Fluid." The ingredients list was already blurred by the dark night, with only the word "vitamins" faintly visible.

Curious, she twisted off the cap and took a sip.

It was tart, with a very faint sweetness and a hint of salt. As for the texture... it was like sawdust soaked in water and mixed with thickeners.

It tasted terrible.

But that didn’t matter. Too much had happened today. She needed to figure out her origins and why she had formed a tree-root cocoon on Sanqing Mountain. Could her root nodules have mutated?

Ew! She didn’t dare think about that—it was far too disgusting!

Huai Yu quickly paced around the area, deciding to shift her focus from her past to her current situation. For instance, where was she going to sleep tonight?

It was pitch black all around. In the distance, she could vaguely see lights flickering on in the high-rise buildings, only to quickly extinguish.

Huai Yu tugged at her tattered clothes and strolled back and forth a couple of times on the cleared, barren ground before a sudden realization hit her. Since no one was watching her, she didn’t necessarily have to stay here for the night! She could go back up the mountain! Her cocoon was still there!

It sounded a bit strange, but that oval woven from tree roots—stuffed with some pine needles and dead leaves—would surely be a more secure place to sleep than out here.

The fragrance of the Rose Corridor grew increasingly intense in the dead of night. Hideous thorns hid beneath the green leaves. In this early spring of March, the roses were clearly blooming a little too eagerly.

Huai Yu couldn’t quite remember which direction she had entered from earlier in the day. But when her fingers once again brushed against the soft, fragrant petals, a tall pillar nearby—one she hadn’t paid any attention to—suddenly flashed with an alarm.

"Mutant Value in Rose Corridor Zone 37 is rising rapidly! Suspected anomalous activity!"

"Mutant Value in Rose Corridor Zone 37 is rising rapidly! Suspected anomalous activity!"

"Mutant Value in Rose Corridor Zone 37 is rising rapidly! Suspected anomalous activity!"

She instantly retracted her hand, then looked nonchalantly at a depression ahead and decisively crawled inside.

Three minutes later, the roar of an engine shattered the silence of the dead of night. Two minutes after that, Huai Yu huddled within the freezing masonry, listening to the faint thuds of military boots treading on the ground above.

"Come out!" someone shouted harshly.

She slowly poked her head out, looking like an innocent flower bud growing beneath layers of lotus leaves—docile and fragile. "I didn’t do anything..."

Cold, gleaming guns were slowly raised. The surrounding group relaxed slightly, but their expressions remained stern. "What are you doing here so late? Lingering in the Rose Corridor at night is forbidden."

Huai Yu looked utterly bewildered. "But this... this is my place now."

She slowly climbed out of the masonry like an innocent, stray puppy. Her clothes were in tatters, and her long hair was a mess from squeezing in and out of the hollow. She then pointed to the scattered pile of ruins. "Look, this is the Rose Mansion’s territory. It was allocated to me today."

The surrounding group was instantly stunned.

"You... allocated to you?" The leading soldier, who bore a Rose badge on his chest, finally processed her words. "You’re saying you were registered and assigned here today? You’re all alone. Why would you be assigned here? Did someone tamper with your Contribution Points?"

Beneath his helmet, his expression gradually turned icy and fierce.