This was convenient for Qin Feng.
It took him some thinking before he found his own bed before unpacking the necessary toiletries in the public bathhouse of the building.
Finally, with the absence of prying eyes, he carefully took Xiaobai out of his pocket and... voila!
The little guy was now worlds away from the frail, stuttering newborn from yesterday night.
In the place of the matted cakes of dirt was a fluffy, newly obtained white coat of fur. The tiny creature opened its dark eyes, and two small ears perked up!
"Wait!" Qin Feng touched his pocket and found that the energy core he had put inside was missing.
He did not sell the energy core to Xue Xingfu because he was keeping for his own use.
After fumbling about in his pockets, his hand touched something wet. Qin Feng looked at Xiaobei.
"Did you swallow the energy core?"
"Chirp! Chirp!" Xiaobai's guilty dark eyes avoided Qin Feng's gaze, which was filled with questions.
Qin Feng found himself unable to scold the little creature. Not when those misty eyes were looking back at him so longingly.
"Forget it, as long as you're not going to be sick, go ahead!"
There was a massive amount of energy stored up inside the core. Qin Feng, being its new caretaker was worried that Xiaobei's tiny body may not be able to take it, thus killing it in the process.
"Stay here for now. I'll bring you out later!"
Qin Feng placed Xiaobai in a bucket. Walking into the bathhouse, he gave himself a cold shower.
He cleaned his combat outfit for a while, then put on a new set of clean clothes. The clothes were washed so many times they were faded and old. The homely-looking garments somewhat softened the blow of Qin Feng's fierce looks.
Once he was done, he put Xiaobei into his combat backpack and headed to the old director's office.
As he stepped up the office, the hearty laughter of people coming from inside could be heard.
"Good, good, good! My only hope is that you have good prospects. There's no need to return the favor!" boomed a familiar voice. Qin Feng could instantly tell that it was the director.
Lin Derong was already eighty this year and was a well-respected elder. Legends said that this old man had a hand in the construction of the Chengbei colony.
He had been in charge of the orphanage for thirty years – which was of all things, a suitable position. At least not for someone of his talents.
But his magnanimity and kindness brought a new ray of hope into the orphanage.
Even though it was tough being here, Qin Feng had always felt the safety and warmth of a home, something worth remembering for the remainder of his life.
The door into the director's office was left ajar, and when Qin Feng saw the other person in the office, his smile disappeared.
In a chair sat was Chen Ming!
Qin Feng straightened his face, cleared his throat, then knocked on the door.
Both Lin Derong and Chenming looked towards the sound at the same time and found Qin Feng standing at the door.
"Qin Feng, you're here too, huh?" Lin Derong said with nonchalance as if he had already expected this. "Are you also here to get the documents?"
"Also?" Qin Feng looked at Chen Ming with a raised eyebrow.
A look of embarrassment flashed across Chen Ming's face. On the surface, he and Qin Feng both shared a great relationship. But when that attack happened yesterday, guess who ran away first. Of course, he was as guilty as sin.
"Yeah. Oh, Qin Feng, you plan to move out too? Has your special ability awakened?" Chen Ming asked, pretending to be calm while unabashedly changing the topic.
"No!" Qin Feng denied with gusto. "What about you, eh? Why are you moving out now?"
The corners of Chen Ming's lips automatically curved into a smile.
"I came across a small team of mercenaries yesterday. They offered to take me in. So, from now on, I'm a member of the team, and I can go live with them in their apartment whenever I wish to!"
Apartments were different from the rooms in the orphanage – a fantastic perk to have indeed.
"Yeah, Chen Ming found a pretty good team. Qin Feng, are you planning to join a team too? Why don't you ask Chen Ming to introduce you? That way, the next time, both of you can take care of each other!" Lin Derong said.
The smile on Chen Ming's face froze at that. When he thought about what the mercenary team had told him yesterday, he became unnaturally stilted, obviously uncomfortable.
"I don't have a say in this. I still have to ask the team leader. But from what I heard, the team's already full!"
Qin Feng smiled bitterly inside. Emotions aside, he would not make a person like that his brother.
"I'm not looking to join any mercenary team just yet. I might be enrolling at the advanced academy!"
"The fee for that place comes at a very high cost. If you're really interested in going, however, I can contact a few organizations, and you can sign a training contract with them. Once you've graduated, they would guarantee you a job too. That would be better!"
"There's no need for that, sir. I will figure it out myself!" Qin Feng did not want to exploit Lin Derong's kindness. On top of that, the memory of what was to happen in the coming 10 years put him off thoughts of joining whatever organization.
"Alright, let me get your documents then!" The director got up quickly from him seat.
Qin Feng turned to look at Chen Ming and asked casually, "What happens to be the name of the team you joined?"
"It's called Ultimate Team!" Chen Ming looked alarmed, but he knew that there was no point in lying to Qin Feng.
"Mm, a good name!" Qin Feng muttered under his breath, the welling anger within him stiffening his veins.
In his previous life, after he managed to escape the laboratory by the skin of his teeth, barely returning to Beicheng colony. With Zhou Hao dead and no one to rely on, Qin Feng returned to the orphanage. When Chen Ming returned and saw that his wounded friend had recovered, he had this strange look on this face. Then he walked out and made a call.
Until today, Qin Feng could still hear so clearly, the words that came out of Chen Ming's mouth.
"Team leader, didn't you capture Qin Feng for experimentation? Why is he still alive? Yes, he's here in the orphanage. Alright. Okay... I'll figure out a way to keep him here. Hurry!!! get here quickly…"
One could only imagine the feeling of betrayal and disbelief that was in Qin Feng's mind at that moment. He was enraged. To the ends of the earth.
But he was still in the process of recovering and was too weak to fight Chen Ming. So, that same night, he escaped and left Chengyang.
That team leader Chen Ming called was a member of the illegal laboratory. This Ultimate Team also belonged to the anti-human alliance, a covert operative having hidden spies in the colony.
'It seems that Chen Ming still doesn't know the truth about this mercenary team. But he should probably know in less than a month! But not only would he not keep my secret, but he will also want to kill me again! People like that are the scariest. We've been friends for so many years! That's why I must never let him know about my awakening!' Qin Feng thought to himself.
It was not only him who must never know. If Zhou Hao's abilities were also awakened, he would also become a target. Now that Qin Feng had changed Zhou Hao's fate, he had to help Zhou Hao withhold this information. Qin Feng could not allow his own true brother to suffer his ill-fortune.
"Done! Here you go!" Lin Derong handed the organization's information to Qin Feng.
"Thank you, sir. I will come see you in a couple of days!" Qin Feng said. Of course, he did not utter those words in politeness – he had to come back to see the old director because that day was the fateful day Lin Derong had an accident.