Dinner that evening was… unusually quiet.
The long dining table that normally overflowed with noise — teasing, arguments over food portions, tactical debates — was subdued.
Steam rose from bowls of soup.
Stir-fried beast meat glistened under soft lantern light.
No one reached for seconds.
The decision from earlier still lingered in the air like a storm cloud.
Gu Yunchen ate calmly.
Gu Mian sat beside him, expression unreadable.
Across the table, siblings exchanged glances.
They weren't children.
They had grown in the apocalypse.
They understood when something was being… withheld.
It was Gu Shao — the second brother — who finally set down his chopsticks.
The faint clack echoed louder than it should have.
"Papa."
No one looked up immediately.
But everyone listened.
Gu Shao leaned back slightly, arms folding.
"I thought about what we discussed today."
Gu Yunchen continued eating.
Gu Shao's eyes sharpened.
"And I realized something."
The room stilled.
"You three are not telling us everything."
Silence.
Steam continued to curl from dishes untouched.
Gu Shao's gaze shifted between Gu Yunchen, Gu Mian… and Gu Ruisheng.
"What exactly is going on," he asked quietly, "that we do not know?"
No accusation.
Just certainty.
Gu Yunchen finally put down his chopsticks.
He exhaled.
"Haiii… haiii…"
It wasn't an annoyed sigh.
It was a tired one.
He looked at his children — all twenty-three of them seated around that table.
His legacy.
His responsibility.
"Our Gu family genes," he began slowly, "are quite special."
No one moved.
"To be precise… my branch of the Gu family."
Gu Ruolan frowned faintly. "Special how?"
Gu Yunchen's eyes sharpened.
"Everyone sitting here awakened mutated abilities."
That wasn't new.
But then he added—
"And there are those among you whose powers can be shared."
Now that…
That was new.
Chopsticks paused mid-air.
Gu Shao's brows knit. "Shared?"
Gu Yunchen nodded toward Gu Mian.
"Xiao Mian."
Then toward another quiet figure down the table.
"Xiao Yan."
Gu Yan blinked.
"You can mutate other people's powers," Gu Yunchen continued calmly, "given a little time."
The room exploded.
"What?!"
"That's impossible!"
"Ability mutation is random!"
"No — no, that's Institute-level research!"
Gu Mian remained calm.
Gu Yan looked stunned.
"I… I can?" Gu Yan whispered.
Gu Mian glanced at him gently. "You've been unconsciously refining resonance fields when you spar."
Gu Yan froze.
Gu Shao leaned forward sharply. "You knew?"
Gu Mian nodded once. "It's only natural, I wouldn't be surprised that our family can do anything."
Gu Yunchen continued.
"It wouldn't be a problem if only two or three of you mutated or developed dual abilities."
He looked at them one by one.
"But all twenty-four of us are abnormal."
Silence dropped like a blade.
"All of us?" someone whispered.
"Yes."
Gu Yutong swallowed. "Define abnormal."
Gu Yunchen's voice was steady.
"High compatibility with multiple energy spectrums."
"Low rejection rate."
"Accelerated mutation stability."
"Zero spontaneous collapse."
No one breathed.
Then—
GU YAN: "But Dad… if it's like that… big brother is adopted."
All eyes shifted to the eldest.
He didn't flinch.
Gu Yunchen nodded calmly.
"Yes. He is."
A few siblings stiffened.
"Then why—?"
"Because his genes," Gu Yunchen interrupted gently, "are strong enough to carry more than one ability. He would have developed instability in a normal genetic line. But he didn't."
The weight of that settled slowly.
Gu Shao rubbed his temples.
"So you're saying…"
He looked around the table.
"…we are basically walking research gold mines."
No one corrected him.
Gu Yunchen did not deny it.
Gu Ruolan spoke carefully.
"How many families are like ours?"
"Very few," Gu Yunchen replied.
"How do you know?"
He held her gaze.
"Because before the apocalypse, I funded certain genetic preservation studies."
Silence.
No one could know about their rebirth after all.
So he had prepared for this discussion long ago.
Gu Shao blinked. "You what?"
Gu Yunchen continued calmly.
"Our lineage has always produced extreme outliers."
"Not every generation. But when it does…"
He gestured subtly toward them.
"…it produces this."
Gu Mian finally spoke.
"If the National Institute discovers that an entire family line carries stable multi-ability potential…"
She didn't finish.
She didn't need to.
"They wouldn't just recruit us," Gu Shao muttered.
"They would dissect us," Gu Ruolan finished.
Qi Chu, sitting quietly at the far end, clutched his bowl.
Leng Rui leaned against Gu Mian's side silently.
Gu Yutong asked the question no one wanted to.
"Do they know?"
Gu Yunchen paused.
"Yes."
The word was quiet.
But devastating.
Several siblings half-rose from their seats.
"When?!"
"How much?!"
"Who leaked it?!"
"No one leaked," Gu Yunchen said firmly.
"They tested blood samples under the pretense of offering enhancement serums months ago."
Shock flashed across faces.
"You let them test us?!" Gu Shao demanded.
"I needed confirmation," Gu Yunchen replied calmly.
"Of what?"
"That we were still unique."
The room felt suddenly smaller.
Gu Ruisheng spoke for the first time since afternoon.
"They requested full genomic mapping."
"They were refused."
Gu Shao's jaw tightened. "And that's when you knew."
"Yes."
Gu Yunchen leaned back slightly.
"If only two or three of us were anomalies, we could hide within statistics."
"But twenty-four?"
He shook his head slowly.
"We are a classified project waiting to happen."
Gu Yan's voice trembled slightly.
"So the NCF…"
"…is not just about independence," she said quietly.
Gu Mian nodded.
"It's about obscurity."
Gu Yunchen continued.
"Except for those ready for suicide, no large force will enter the deep NCF for at least ten years."
"Too many apex territories."
"Too unstable."
"Too energy-dense."
"We disappear there."
Gu Shao exhaled slowly.
"And we grow."
"Yes."
Gu Yutong asked carefully, "Even if they know… why not just attack outright?"
Gu Yunchen's gaze sharpened.
"Because politically, we are still 'valuable assets.'"
"Open extermination would expose them."
"They prefer acquisition."
Gu Ruolan frowned.
"And if we refuse repeatedly?"
Gu Ruisheng's voice was cold.
"Then accidents happen."
Silence.
Gu Shao leaned back, staring at the ceiling.
"We're level five."
He looked at Gu Mian.
"You're level seven"
He looked at his father.
"And you're still worried."
Gu Yunchen's expression did not change.
"Abilities are not absolute."
He tapped the table lightly.
"They still possess pre-apocalypse weaponry."
"Missiles."
"Energy artillery."
"Orbital strike remnants."
"They could level this mountain."
A chill swept through the room.
"Doing it would cost them," Gu Yunchen continued calmly.
"But if framed as containment of unstable high-level mutants?"
No one argued.
Gu Yan whispered, "We can't wade in muddy water."
Gu Yunchen nodded.
"The capital will grow stronger."
"And more chaotic."
"Factions will emerge."
"Power struggles."
"Research escalations."
"We cannot afford to stand in the center of that."
Gu Yunchen looked at his children — not as soldiers.
But as a father.
"We have healing ability users."
He glanced at Xu Qian across the table.
"We have space ability users."
He looked toward Ming Baixu.
"Unless fate itself is against us…"
His voice softened slightly.
"I am 100% certain no one will die."
The words were not arrogance.
They were conviction.
Gu Shao stared at his father.
"You're asking us to trust you."
"Yes."
"You're asking us to leave everything."
"Yes."
"For over ten years."
"Yes."
A long silence followed.
Then—
Gu Shao exhaled slowly.
"…Okay."
It wasn't dramatic.
It wasn't loud.
But it broke the dam.
Gu Ruolan nodded next.
"If we're experiments either way, I'd rather be wild experiments."
A few chuckles escaped.
Gu Yan looked at Gu Ruisheng.
"Big brother… will we really come back?"
Gu Ruisheng met his gaze.
"Yes."
His tone was steady.
"When we come back… no one will dare point a syringe at us."
That settled something deep inside the room.
One by one, tension eased.
Not completely.
But enough.
After Dinner
As the table slowly cleared, Gu Shao walked beside Gu Yunchen.
"Papa."
"Yes?"
"You should have told us earlier."
Gu Yunchen smiled faintly.
"You wouldn't have listened."
Gu Shao huffed softly.
"…True."
He hesitated.
"Are we really that special?"
Gu Yunchen looked at the night sky beyond the window.
"No."
A pause.
"We are simply… dangerous."
Hearing that, a smile of relief crossed his face.
Later that night, Gu Mian stood on the balcony.
Qin Yao joined her.
"So," he said softly, "genetic royalty."
She rolled her eyes faintly.
"It's more trouble than royalty."
He studied her profile.
"Are you afraid?"
"Yes."
He seemed satisfied with the honesty.
"Good."
She glanced at him.
"Why?"
"Because fearless people die faster."
She huffed softly.
Below them, the mountain wind rustled trees.
Somewhere in the capital…
Researchers were likely analyzing blood samples.
Calculating probabilities.
Designing containment protocols.
But up here—
The Gu family had chosen disappearance.
Not because they were weak.
But because they understood power better than anyone else.
Power drawn too early…
Invited cages.
And they had no intention of living in one.