Do you want to hear a story from me?

Filled with anger and disappointment, Rose initiated the micro-wormhole transport directly.

The space rippled, and her figure instantly appeared from the oppressive command center to the quiet, deserted mountaintop.

This is the place where she and Cang Yu first met and had a barbecue together.

The cool night breeze ruffled her fiery red hair and calmed her restless heart.

Beneath my feet lay the city lights of countless homes, and above me stretched the vast starry sky. Far removed from the disputes and scheming of the academy, the whole world seemed to quiet down.

She sat on a flat rock, hugging her knees, resting her chin on her knees, gazing into the distance in a daze.

The heated argument with Dukao still replayed in my mind, and the feeling of being misunderstood and even called "naive" surged up again.

And so, I sat on the rock, hugging my knees, for several minutes.

She didn't know why she felt so agitated yet wanted to come here.

Perhaps it's because it's quiet enough here? Or the scenery is beautiful? Anyway, it definitely has nothing to do with that guy! Yeah, that must be it!

"Oh, our Miss Rose has some refined tastes, coming here to enjoy the scenery in the middle of the night?"

A cheerful voice suddenly rang out from behind, without warning.

Rose was startled and her body reacted before her mind could process it. She instantly turned around and assumed a standard fighting stance, her eyes sharp as knives.

When she finally recognized Cang Yu's mocking smile in the moonlight, she breathed a sigh of relief and rolled her eyes at him, clearly annoyed.

"Hey! Don't you know that someone can scare another person to death?"

She complained as she lowered her defensive stance, but her heart was still racing from the fright she had just experienced.

"Want to grab some late-night snacks?" he asked casually, as if he had just bumped into a friend.

He sat down next to Rose naturally and handed her a can of beer.

Rose hesitated for a moment, but still took it. The cool touch of the jar seemed to provide a temporary anchor for her agitated mind.

"What's wrong?" Cang Yu opened his can, took a sip, and his gaze followed the bright lights below the mountain.

"Did you have a fight with Dukao?"

Rose turned her head abruptly, her eyes filled with surprise: "How did you know?"

"Just a guess." Cang Yu smiled, his tone calm, yet carrying a knowing understanding of the ways of the world.

Rose gave him a complicated look, then picked up her beer and took a big gulp. Her gaze shifted to the quiet night sky, her voice slightly muffled:

He said...we cannot let our guard down against any "unstable factors".

Cang Yu seemed completely unsurprised, a slightly sarcastic smile even playing on his lips:

"Oh? So what's his solution? To monitor my every move? To try and find weaknesses to control me? Or... to use the 'for the sake of the Earth' to blackmail me?"

Rose's fingers tightened slightly around the beer can. Cang Yu's accurate prediction made it clear that Dukao's plan was correct, and she didn't need to say anything more. She remained silent, which was tantamount to acquiescence.

"See?" Cang Yu's tone carried a hint of understanding, but not much anger. To Cang Yu, Dukao was nothing more than a clown.

"This is the mindset of people like them. Anything that cannot be fully controlled is first classified as a 'threat,' and then analyzed and controlled by all means."

He turned his head to look at the rose, his gaze calm and profound:

"And what about you, Rose? Do you think so too? That I'm an 'unstable element' that needs to be closely monitored?"

This question gets straight to the point. Rose met his gaze without looking away.

The mountain breeze ruffled her red hair. She thought for a few seconds, then firmly shook her head.

"I'm not so bad as to lack even this basic judgment."

A brief silence spread across the mountaintop, broken only by the soft rustling of the night wind through the grass. Perhaps it was the tranquil night and the cool wine that made her lower her guard; Rose gazed at the distant city lights below and suddenly spoke softly, her voice carrying a rarely revealed vulnerability:

"Actually... I've always thought I was pretty weird."

Cang Yu remained silent, only shifting his gaze from the night view to her profile, quietly becoming a listener.

"I have no memory of my mother as far back as I can remember."

Her voice was calm, as if she were talking about someone else's affairs. "As for my father... his figure in my childhood was so vague that he was almost a symbol."

"He always wore that crisp military uniform and was always busy with things I couldn't understand at all."

At this point, she suddenly forced a smile, a smile that appeared particularly desolate and lonely in the moonlight.

"Did you know? He never showed up at any of the parent-teacher conferences during his six years of elementary school. Even at his graduation ceremony, Aunt Lianfeng attended in his place."

She paused, then her tone suddenly took on a slightly rebellious, feignedly relaxed quality, typical of a teenage girl:

"This continued until I went to high school. Back then, I was...very rebellious. Drinking, racing cars."

Haha, I even gathered quite a few followers back then, thinking I was really powerful and a troublemaker. I guess... I just wanted to use this method to make him 'see' me.

Cang Yu listened quietly, without interrupting or showing any sympathy or judgment.

He simply looked at her with understanding and acceptance. This silent companionship allowed Qiangwei to speak more smoothly.

"Until one day... I realized that my body was starting to feel strange." Rose's fingertips tapped lightly on the beer can.

"My physical strength, power, and reaction speed far surpassed those of ordinary people. Later I learned that it was because the spacetime genes within me were beginning to awaken."

"After confirming this, he—my father—almost immediately threw me into the most disciplined military camp."

Her tone carried a hint of complex emotion.

"He said it was to toughen me up, to prepare me for the catastrophic event that would soon befall the Earth."

"Gradually, in that environment, my personality was indeed tempered and became much more stable. I was no longer as prickly and deliberately rebellious as before."

She raised her head, gazing at the boundless night sky, a barely perceptible hint of loneliness in her voice.

"But in essence, I am still a person. It's just that I've gone from a rebellious child to a... warrior who shoulders heavy responsibilities alone."

"I feel like... I've never truly understood him," Rose's voice trembled slightly, as if a long-built dam had finally cracked.

"Just like he never tried to understand me."

As soon as she finished speaking, two lines of clear tears silently slid down her cheeks. She did not sob, but simply let the tears flow, as if mourning the unbridgeable gap between them.

Cang Yu didn't turn his head to look at her, as if deliberately leaving her a space where she could be vulnerable for a moment without being noticed.

He simply tilted his head back, took a swig of the liquor, letting the icy liquid slide down his throat, then gazed at the distant night sky and said in a very soft voice:

"Would you like to hear a story?"

(Rose: Huh? It's my turn again so soon? Seriously, what on earth is Dukao, that biological father of mine, thinking?)

(Rose: Ahem, Time and Space Rose would like to express her gratitude to everyone, especially Chen Fan who doesn't like drinking x2, tens of thousands of Yuan Hao's, Yin Yang Dun Jia's, Striving, working hard, working hard, working hard, hehehe, the slacking off monster x3, the side dish is fried rice x2, and Na Yunxi from Taiji Palace's.)