After celebrating the coming-of-age ceremony for the two children, the parents from both families coincidentally gathered in the living room, chatting and laughing as they played mahjong.

Feeling it was a bit noisy, Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan went out for a walk.

They strolled down a forest path not far from home, walking slowly against the evening breeze, enjoying the calm of the night.

Shen Qinghan, wearing a light pink dress, revealed her slender white legs as she walked, the gentle sway of her steps eye-catching.

Lin Zichen couldn’t help but glance at her a few times, but each time, he quickly turned away.

“Xiao Chen, how long did it take you to make that specimen frame?” She asked suddenly.

“About half a year,” Lin Zichen lied without blinking.

With his Innate Wisdom, he had actually completed the specimen frame in less than a week, spending only about an hour a day on it.

But that was something better kept to himself.

If he said he made it in just a week, it might seem careless and Shen Qinghan might feel disappointed.

The night breeze was gentle, pleasant against their faces.

After walking a while, they saw two low parallel bars and sat on them, chatting idly.

Shen Qinghan swayed her legs lightly and said in her soft, sweet voice, “When I get back, I’m going to hang that specimen frame in my room so I can see the flowers you gave me every day.”

“I’ll hang your watercolor painting in my room too,” Lin Zichen said.

As he spoke, his gaze drifted to her again, studying her closely.

She now stood about 1.68 meters tall. Her slender legs had grown longer, her figure fuller and more graceful, exuding a natural charm.

Her features were still delicate and refined, but now sharper, more defined.

Especially her glistening peach-blossom eyes—once bright with childlike innocence, now carrying a soft maturity that could steal one’s soul.

At eighteen, Shen Qinghan had grown stunningly beautiful, surpassing even the celebrities on TV with their heavy makeup and filters.

“Xiao Chen, you’ve been staring at my face a lot lately,” Shen Qinghan teased, turning to him with a playful smile in her eyes.

These days, she no longer blushed or grew shy when he looked at her like that. Instead, she often responded with teasing liveliness and girlish charm.

“No, it’s just that time flies so fast,” he said.

“In the blink of an eye, we’re already eighteen—grown-ups. Our faces have matured, lost that childishness. Sometimes I just want to look at you now and compare you with the girl I remember from years ago.”

Shen Qinghan tilted her head curiously, “Then which do you like more—the me from back then, or the me now?”

“I like both,” Lin Zichen answered without hesitation.

He wasn’t lying. He liked the cheerful, giggly Shen Qinghan from their childhood, the timid, shy Shen Qinghan from middle school and the bright, confident Shen Qinghan beside him now.

Each version of her had left a lasting and beautiful mark in his heart.

Maybe this was the kind of bond only childhood friends could share.

Hearing his answer, her smile grew even sweeter. Her legs swung faster beneath her skirt as she began humming a cheerful tune.

“What about you?” He asked, “Which version of me do you like more?”

“I like all of them,” she replied without hesitation.

Then she added, “But if I had to choose, I think I like the current you right now the most.”

“How so?” Lin Zichen asked curiously.

Looking into his eyes, Shen Qinghan’s lips curved into a gentle smile, “Because I like you a little more every day.”

Lin Zichen froze for a moment, then chuckled, “Then I guess I’ll have to change my answer too—I also like you a little more every day. May our friendship last forever.”

“Mm, friendship forever,” she echoed softly.

Then she extended her small, pale pinky toward him and said with nostalgia, “Remember how we used to hook pinkies and promise a hundred years without breaking it? Want to relive that?”

“Sure, let’s relive it.”

He hooked his pinky with hers.

Just as the words “pinky promise” were about to leave their lips—

The ground suddenly trembled!

Both felt a sharp vibration beneath them.

“An earthquake?” Shen Qinghan exclaimed, startled.

“Seems like it,” Lin Zichen replied.

Before he could say more, several glowing lines of text appeared in midair.

[You have experienced an earthquake and survived successfully.]

[Achievement: Survive 100 times in different ‘extreme environments’ or ‘disasters.’]

[Reward: Biological Attribute – Adaptation Instinct]

[Total Survival Count: 1/100]

‘An achievement mission?’

Lin Zichen’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

He hadn’t expected an earthquake to trigger an achievement mission—it was so sudden.

“Xiao Chen, it really was an earthquake,” Shen Qinghan said as she checked her phone, “People are talking about it in our class group and on social media.”

Just as Lin Zichen was about to reply, his phone began ringing—it was a video call from Zhang Wanxin.

The moment he answered, her worried voice came through, asking if they were okay.

Lin Zichen turned the camera toward himself and Shen Qinghan, assuring her they were fine.

Once she confirmed their safety, Zhang Wanxin sighed in relief and told them to come home soon.

After the call ended, Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan didn’t linger outside, heading straight home to avoid worrying their parents.

When they arrived, the television was already broadcasting earthquake news—astonishingly fast.

They sat together on the sofa, watching the report.

Authorities explained that it had been a minor tremor, nothing serious. They reassured citizens that Shanhai City’s geological position wasn’t on a fault line, making major earthquakes unlikely.

* * *

Deep beneath Shanhai City—twenty thousand meters underground.

The temperature had already broken triple digits and in certain geological zones, even surpassed four digits, hot enough to cook any surface creature alive.

And yet, in this extreme environment, hundreds of massive, heat-resistant, pressure-enduring Giant Aberrant Rats were tunneling with intense speed.

What had once been solid rock had become, over time, a sprawling network of interconnected tunnels—an enormous underground nest.