Top edge chapter 40

Thirty this year

The dawn came early on the ice field, and when Klet woke up, Shen Siwei had already packed his bag and was ready to go.

That day was another full day of travel, and they wouldn’t reach their previous resting point until  afternoon at least.

Klet rinsed his mouth quickly and splashed his face before stepping outside with a deep voice, asking, “Am I driving today?”

“Yes.” Shen Siwei slung the backpack over his shoulder and casually replied, “You sit in the front.”

Klet hesitated for a moment.

To be honest, he preferred sitting at the back because that way he could hold Shen Siwei’s waist anytime.

But he had to admit that sitting at the front made it easier to see the route and take control of the motorcycle whenever necessary.

Shen Siwei decided to sit at the back,  not wanting to be constrained by Klet, but in reality, he was handing over complete control of the motorcycle to Klet.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll take you somewhere else?” Klet straddled the motorcycle with his long legs and turned back to ask.

He was considerably taller than Shen Siwei, and with him in the front, Shen Siwei could hardly see the road ahead.

“Take me to the underground city in the desert?” Shen Siwei followed suit and climbed onto the motorcycle, holding onto Klet’s waist with both hands. “That’s where we are going.”

Klet slightly lowered his chin, looking at the hands on his waist, then gently curved his lips and twisted the motorcycle’s throttle.

The vast ice field still showed no trace of anyone else. It was a sea of white, with only the slowly moving sun reminding them of the passing time.

Fortunately, the weather was good that day, and the tracks from the previous day were still intact.

Once they left the densely packed ice crevice area, the motorcycle accelerated again. But at that moment, the two of them received a notification on their mini-computers.

It was a signal sent by the government, and everyone with a mini-computer received it.

Klet wasn’t particularly interested and continued to focus on driving, while Shen Siwei projected the notification, increasing the volume.

At the center of the screen was a Marg news officer dressed in white uniform, sitting upright behind a long table, reading from a script.

“Five years ago, in order to drive away the aberrant monsters, we had to sacrifice a group of civilians. Here, I express my deep condolences once again. The government has temporarily abolished the ‘Declaration of Refusal to Reproduce’ and opened the birth of newborns. And now, according to statistics, the number of newborns has already made up for the number of civilians sacrificed at that time.

“Therefore, on behalf of the government, I announce that the ‘Declaration of Refusal to Reproduce’ is reinstated. Starting today, residents will receive injections of a new drug to ensure no more newborns are born. If the refugees outside the Tree of Life cooperate with the new policy, we will also be lenient towards them.”

This was undoubtedly a major news announcement.

After the announcement ended, Shen Siwei immediately opened a web page filled with news about the new policy, and the comment sections were buzzing.

Some people supported the new policy, some hoped for a further delay, and others mentioned conspiracy theories about the Nightingale.

“What do you think?” Klet suddenly asked from the front.

Shen Siwei didn’t have much thought about it. He didn’t need to have children, so the new policy didn’t affect him much.

But he was curious about Klet’s opinion and asked, “Will you take the new drug injection?”

“No.” Klet said, “I haven’t received any injections before.”

Upon hearing the word “before,” Shen Siwei suddenly remembered that Klet’s records were all blank and asked, “Why did you become a refugee in the first place?”

This time, Klet didn’t answer.

Seeing that, Shen Siwei didn’t pursue it further. Although it seemed like they had formed a relationship of mutual trust, he could also sense that this trust was very fragile, and perhaps Klet didn’t trust him as much as he seemed to…

Just as he was thinking about it, Klet suddenly spoke up, “Because I am a newborn.”

Shen Siwei was slightly taken aback, “What?”

“I am the first newborn born after the Declaration. I came outside the Tree of Life when I was very young.” Klet looked ahead at the road, paused, and added, “I turn thirty years old this year.”

This news was even more shocking than the government announcement.

Shen Siwei stared blankly at the back of Klet’s head for a while before finally uttering, “So you’re that young.”

Klet turned his head slightly and asked, “How old are you?”

“I don’t quite remember.” Shen Siwei replied honestly.

In this era, with significantly extended human lifespans, few people paid attention to their age anymore.

But seeing Klet’s honesty, Shen Siwei still thought about it carefully and said, “Around seventy or eighty.”

Even if you subtracted the twenty-five years he spent in cryosleep, he was still much older than Klet.

“Oh.” Klet responded casually, “You’re pretty old.”

Shen Siwei: “…”

“Have you ever received the drug injection?” Klet asked again.

“Yes.” Shen Siwei said, “I was part of the first batch of injections when the Declaration took effect.”

“In that case, you can’t have babies anymore.” Klet’s tone carried a hint of regret.

“I never wanted children anyway,” Shen Siwei frowned slightly.

“It’s okay,” Klet said, “I still can.”

“It’s none of my business,” Shen Siwei responded, his brows furrowing deeper.

Klet smiled, took a deep breath, and asked, “Do you fully trust me now?”

Shen Siwei looked at the constantly retreating icy road and knew that his answer didn’t matter.

His actions had already made it clear that he trusted Klet and believed he wasn’t lying.

However, he still said, “I still need to communicate with my superior about it.”

“You’d better not,” Klet immediately turned his head, “who knows what they will do to you this time.”

“Let’s find Amor first,”  Shen said.

 They were traveling faster than the previous day, so it wasn’t evening yet when they arrived at the resting point.

Klet stopped the motorcycle, checked the time, and asked Shen Siwei behind him, “Do we still continue forward?”

Shen Siwei was looking at the electronic map, which showed the estimated time, but he still subconsciously asked Klet, “How much longer until the Desert Underground City?”

“About three to four hours,” Klet’s answer matched the estimated time on the electronic map, “ We can arrive before it gets dark.”

“Then let’s continue,” Shen Siwei checked the motorcycle’s usage information again, knowing that the remaining battery could only support about five more hours.

The two didn’t stay at the resting point and went straight ahead towards the Desert Underground City.

After a while, dirty soil began to appear among the ice fragments, and the temperature around them noticeably increased.

But at that moment, Shen Siwei suddenly heard a rumbling sound, and a few seconds later, the ice beneath his feet started to tremble.

“There’s quicksand ahead,” Klet stopped the motorcycle.

The trembling of the earth was like an earthquake, something Shen Siwei had never experienced before, and he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. He looked ahead and furrowed his brow, asking, “Why do sand collapses always occur in the desert?”

“Because of excessive exploitation in the past, the geological layer is hollow,” Klet explained, “So when the geological layer collapses, it appears as quicksand on the ground.”

The damage caused by humans to nature was destructive, and in turn, nature’s feedback to humans was equally destructive.

“How long do we need to wait here?” Shen Siwei asked.

Klet frowned and said with a serious expression, “Hard to say.”

The tremors under their feet grew stronger, and a sense of panic spread through Shen Siwei’s body.

“There’s another worst-case scenario,” Klet suddenly spoke up, “This is the border between the ice field and the desert. The quicksand from the desert might cause new ice formation here—”

Before he could finish the word “crack,” the ice beneath their feet suddenly split open.

Shen Siwei felt his bottom empty, and as he looked down, he saw a huge crack below, like the gaping jaws of a hellish beast, waiting to swallow them.

Due to the suddenness of the situation, the motorcycle couldn’t start its flight engine in time and could only plunge straight into the abyss.

Klet who was in front and fell first, while Shen Siwei was on the edge of the ice crack. He quickly grabbed onto the exposed rocks with his hands.

“Klet!”

He reached out, trying to reach Klet, he watched helplessly as Klet moved farther away.

This couldn’t continue.

Shen Siwei felt an urgent sense of despair. He exerted all his strength and managed to grab hold of Klet’s belt.

But at that moment,  Shen Siwei’s face mask  lost its magnetic properties. Klet noticed this and reached out to grab it but failed.

A cold breeze rushed into Shen Siwei’s airway, piercing his chest like a knife, making it impossible for him to breathe.

With the remaining strength he had, he turned around and brought Klet back up to the surface. Then, he experienced a suffocating feeling he had never felt before.

—When Shen Siwei first woke up, he tried to take off the face mask. As long as he didn’t move or wear the mask, it didn’t affect him much.

But the environment on the ice field was completely different from indoors. Even if Shen Siwei didn’t move, he couldn’t withstand the freezing cold.

Moreover, adding insult to injury, he made vigorous movements while unable to breathe, which used up the little air left in his lungs.

I’m going to die…

This thought flashed through Shen Siwei’s mind.

The will to survive can make people try everything to stay alive. At this moment, Klet was right in front of Shen Siwei. Without thinking, he grabbed Klet’s collar, and moved closer.

Their lips touched, teeth collided, and Klet froze in place, allowing Shen Siwei to firmly hold the back of his neck and freely draw from his mouth.

The warm breath eased the stinging cold, and Shen Siwei bit Klet’s lips emotionlessly, inhaling from his mouth and exhaling through his nose.

After about ten breaths, the suffocating feeling disappeared completely, and Shen Siwei finally regained his composure.

He let go of Klet, who had been stunned the whole time, and said, “We’re even.”

He had saved Klet once, and this time Klet saved him.

After saying that, Shen Siwei took off the backpack on his back and was about to take out a spare oxygen mask from it. But at that moment, Klet suddenly hooked his neck and leaned towards his lips.

Everything happened unexpectedly. Unlike the rough collision just now, this time it was a slow passionate kiss.

Shen Siwei was still in a daze.

His tongue ravaged freely in the mouth, an electric current ran through Shen Siwei’s body, making his back tingle.

He pushed back, but Klet, seemingly unsatisfied, leaned over again and pressed him to the ground.

How could this happen?

“Klet,” Shen Siwei furrowed his brow and turned his face away, “I can’t… breathe…”

Before he could finish his words, his lips were blocked by Klet again.

 Did this person want to kiss him to death?

“Klet!” Shen Siwei tried to push him off him, but failed.

Fine.

Although it was a bit suffocating due to Klet’s weight on him, once Shen Siwei figured out Klet’s pattern, he kissed him back.

 Shen Siwei then had a surge of emotions that he’d never felt before and panicked, he instinctively then kicked klet’s waist with his leg

Sending Klet flying fifty meters away.