The blue dome faded.
The light dissolved back into the night sky,
leaving behind cracked asphalt, broken walls,
and two figures locked together on the ruined street—
one unconscious,
one trembling and refusing to let go.
Yin Lie's breathing had steadied,
but only barely.
The Anchor field had stabilised him,
not healed him.
Qin Mian stroked his hair shakily,
her forehead resting against his.
"Lie… you're still here…
you're still here…"
Her whole body felt drained,
as if she had poured something sacred out of herself
and now couldn't pull it back.
The Hunters around them slowly regained their footing.
Some stared.
Some whispered.
Some raised weapons again—
hands shaking.
Kai lifted a single hand.
"Stand down."
Her voice held no softness.
The team hesitated.
A few lowered their rifles.
Most didn't.
One Hunter whispered,
not quietly enough:
"That wasn't a Variant.
That wasn't even reality-bound.
What the hell is he…?"
Another muttered:
"And the girl—
her field pushed my mind flat.
Felt like someone turned gravity into emotion…"
Before Kai could silence them—
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
A sharp alert sounded from every Hunter's wrist-band.
Qin Mian stiffened.
Kai's eyes narrowed in dread.
The Director was calling.
The Director's Message
The message wasn't a voice call.
It was a code—a full-screen directive burning red:
PRIORITY 0 ORDER
CATEGORY: EXISTENTIAL THREAT
TARGET DESIGNATION — YIN LIE (NULL-CLASS ABERRATION)
SECONDARY TARGET — QIN MIAN (ANCHOR PROTOTYPE)
Below it, the true ultimatum appeared:
Bring the girl back alive.
Kill Yin Lie.
Qin Mian's blood froze.
Her breath caught in her throat.
"No…
no, no, NO—"
Kai's face was unreadable—
stone carved under pressure.
But her eyes…
her eyes flickered with something like sorrow.
Qin Mian shook her head in disbelief.
"They think he's a threat—
they think I'm something they can own—
why?! Why now?!"
Kai exhaled slowly.
"Because the Anchor Field awakened.
Because his instability shook half the district.
Because the satellites registered an event we can't explain."
She met Qin Mian's eyes.
"Because the world just realized you two don't fit inside it anymore."
Qin Mian gripped Yin Lie tighter,
as if she could shield him from the words themselves.
"No.
I won't let them take me.
And I won't let them hurt him."
The Hunters raised their weapons at once.
Kai stepped forward sharply.
"I SAID—STAND. DOWN."
Their visors flickered,
but the order from above outranked her command.
One Hunter swallowed hard.
"Ma'am…
our orders come from the Director herself."
Another steadied his aim.
"She's classified Yin Lie as a Null-Class Aberration.
That means—
he's not recognized as a human threat.
He's classified as a structural anomaly."
Qin Mian's heart pounded painfully.
"Lie is not an anomaly!"
The Hunter didn't look at her.
"He tore open a Rift.
Twice.
He destabilized the entire city block.
Your resonance field suppressed three Hunters without contact.
You expect the world to ignore that?"
Qin Mian's vision blurred with fury.
"Expect?
No.
But they will not TOUCH him."
Kai's jaw clenched.
"Lower your weapons," she repeated, quieter but sharper.
The closest Hunter hesitated.
"Ma'am, with respect—
if we don't act now, containment protocols escalate to lethal force—
city-wide."
Qin Mian's breath stopped.
City-wide?
Kai's voice dropped dangerously low.
"You intend to start a metropolitan-scale elimination order
because two people are scared and hurt on a street corner?"
"Not intend, Captain,"
the Hunter replied grimly.
"It's already authorized.
If Yin Lie rises again—
if his power surges one more time—
the Director will initiate Ark Protocol."
Even Kai froze.
Qin Mian's voice came out a whisper:
"…What is Ark Protocol?"
Kai didn't look at her.
She looked sick.
"It's…
the directive to sterilize any unstable zone
that risks dimensional fracture."
The world tilted beneath Qin Mian.
"You mean…
they will kill an entire district
to erase him?"
"No," the Hunter corrected.
"To erase you both.
The Anchor who doesn't obey.
The aberration she stabilizes."
Qin Mian felt something inside her ignite.
Something fierce.
Something terrifying.
Something that answered the Anchor Field.
She stood slowly,
lifting Yin Lie with both arms despite his weight.
Kai stepped forward.
"Mian—wait—don't—"
But Qin Mian's voice cut through the trembling night:
"You tell your Director something for me."
Her eyes glowed faint blue.
Not flame.
Emotion sharpened into resonance.
"You can take your ultimatum…"
Her fingers tightened around Yin Lie.
"…and choke on it."
The ground beneath her cracked from the pulse of her anger.
Hunters staggered.
Kai's breath hitched.
Qin Mian looked down at Yin Lie's unconscious face,
touched his hair,
and whispered:
"I'll protect you.
Even if the world won't."
She turned her gaze back to the Hunters—
not afraid anymore.
Not begging.
Claiming.
"If you want me—
come take me."
Her eyes hardened.
"If you want him—
you'll bleed for it."
The wind fell silent.
The Hunters raised their guns.
Kai stepped between them and Qin Mian.
And the city held its breath.
Chapter 111 End