"What did you say?! How is that possible!"
Lao Liu: "I didn't believe it at first. After all, Commander Qin Chuan and Xu An's acting was too good, but you two have been exchanging glances since you first met. Do you really think no one can see it?"
"The most suspicious thing is that this is a desert. You two appeared here one after another without any prior signs. Where did so many coincidences come from!"
"Especially Xu An, you don't even have any means of transportation. How did you walk into the desert alone?"
"There are no signs of escape on your bodies. You say the outside world is flooded, but all the surrounding cities are close to the desert belt and are at high ground. Only Hawole would believe such a lie!"
Upon hearing this, Hawole's dark face was filled with shame and anger. He looked at Xu An, "Xu An, is what Lao Liu said true?!"
Xu An looked at Hawole, but did not speak. She was really not good at lying. She had just said it casually, and she didn't know that Hawole believed everything.
"So you targeted me from the beginning, put on this show, just to trick me into bringing you here?"
"No!" Xu An couldn't help but explain, "Qin Chuan and I do know each other, but I'm not with him. His appearance here was also sudden for me, and I don't know what mission he's on."
"Then where are you from!" a low, hoarse female voice suddenly sounded from behind Hawole. Ana walked out from the crowd, her eyes like sharp knives, looking directly at Xu An, and asked word by word, "Since you know each other and are carrying out orders, where are you from!"
It was like a fig leaf that would eventually be torn off. Xu An had imagined countless scenarios where they would become antagonistic.
But she never thought it would happen so soon.
Qin Chuan, who had remained silent, suddenly spoke, "When did you know?"
His gaze was directed at Lao Liu, clearly asking the other person.
Lao Liu: "From the moment you met."
Qin Chuan raised his eyebrows, seemingly dissatisfied with the answer, "I'm asking, when did you know about the lighthouse?"
"You've set up so much groundwork, all for this moment?" Qin Chuan looked at Ana, "Did you tell that girl about the lighthouse?"
"You should know the citizen's code of the lighthouse. If the lighthouse information is leaked externally, the law enforcement team has the right to expel you at their discretion, depending on the severity of the situation."
Lao Liu raised his eyebrows and said nonchalantly, "Unfortunately, I am not a resident of the lighthouse."
"Heh... you really know everything."
"......"
Xu An was also astonished listening to the conversation between Qin Chuan and the other party, as if she had never known Lao Liu. The first time she saw Lao Liu, she felt he was ordinary and unmemorable.
But now Lao Liu seemed to have been reborn, his eyes and brows suddenly becoming sharp.
Only then did she realize that Lao Liu possessed an aura comparable to Qin Chuan's.
Lao Liu cast his gaze towards Xu An, "The first time I saw her, I guessed it, but I couldn't be sure. After all, it's only been a year. Until I saw you."
He turned his head and looked at Qin Chuan again.
The people around, except for a few who knew the truth, were all confused.
"What exactly are you talking about! What lighthouse? Who exactly are you people?!" Hawole questioned loudly.
Ana: "The lighthouse is a shelter built by the country..."
Hawole was astonished, "A shelter? The country built a shelter? Then why didn't we receive any transfer orders?"
Ana: "Don't you understand yet? We are the abandoned ones. The lighthouse is at our doorstep, and they won't even let us in. Don't you see what's going on?"
Hawole was stunned upon hearing this, speechless for a long time. The overwhelming information was like a surging tide, and he couldn't process it all at once.
Seeing this, Qin Chuan stopped pretending. He took out the new weapon from his backpack, aimed it at the location on the map, and turned to leave. Before leaving, he dropped a sentence.
"If you want to leave, you can go now. I can't guarantee whether the road ahead is life or death. As for you," he looked in Lao Liu's direction, "no matter what your purpose is, you won't get what you want from me."
Zhou Zhe followed closely, "Xu An, do you want to come with us?"
Since the truth was out, Zhou Zhe had no need to be sneaky and asked her directly.
Before Xu An could reply, Ah Wu, who had been an invisible person all along, finally seemed unable to hold back.
"I want to go to the lighthouse. Commander Qin Chuan, if I follow you, can you take me to the lighthouse."
"No."
"Why?!"
"I don't decide who gets selected as a lighthouse resident. Why are you asking me? Who should I ask?"
Ah Wu clearly didn't believe it, but seeing the shining weapon in Qin Chuan's hand, a firearm he had never seen before, he dared not act rashly.
This was the first time Xu An had seen Qin Chuan so emotionally open. There was an anger in his eyes that she couldn't understand, even a reprimand?
What was Qin Chuan angry about?
Without giving Xu An time to respond, Qin Chuan turned and left. Seeing this, Zhou Zhe quickly followed, calling for Xu An to hurry up and catch up from the front.
Xu An looked at Hawole. Although they had only been together for a few days, Hawole's honesty touched her.
Looking at Hawole, Xu An shook her head helplessly.
"You don't need to look at me. Qin Chuan already holds a position of authority in the lighthouse. If he says no, there's nothing I, an ordinary civilian, can do."
Although she knew they would eventually part ways, Xu An had never imagined it would be such a dismal situation.
They were like two intersecting rays, their brief intersection lasting only a moment before they had to sail off in different directions.
Ah Wu, a grown man, cried out in despair after getting Qin Chuan's negative answer, clutching his head. It was unclear whether he was crying about being rejected or about the unfairness of fate.
In contrast, Ana, a girl, was calmer than Hawole. She looked at Xu An coldly, her eyes full of condemnation, as if questioning Xu An.
Xu An naturally did not feel guilty because of Ana's gaze. She felt regret for Hawole's kindness but never felt apologetic.
Ultimately, the absence of "humanity" was just the lighthouse's problem, what did it have to do with her.
She glanced at Lao Liu one last time, "Lao Liu isn't your real name, is it? So you hid your identity just to tell them about the lighthouse, and then, knowing they couldn't get in, made them despair?"
Xu An added in her heart: Or to instigate conflict between them, preferably mutual slaughter, so that this Lao Liu could reap the benefits!
Lao Liu leaned against the wall, raised his eyebrows at Xu An, and replied slowly, "How do you know? Despair may not be a new hope."
Xu An: "You're really quite malevolent."