The door opened.
Three people entered.
At the front was a woman in a dark gray suit, around thirty years old, her hair impeccably combed. She held a thin tablet in her hand.
Two men wearing the Association’s standard-issue jackets followed behind her, their expressions so blank they might as well have been part of the background.
Elliot came in last. He nodded at Lance Blue, signaling that he did not need to be nervous.
"Lance Blue... little one." The suited woman spent a second considering how to address him before stopping three steps from the hospital bed.
Her voice was steady and devoid of superfluous emotion. "I’m Claire, a commissioner from the Hero Association. These two are my colleagues. We’re here to confirm your hero registration information."
Little one...
Lance Blue nodded helplessly without saying anything.
Claire pulled up the information on her tablet and scanned it quickly. "System records show that on the afternoon of November 7, Union Year 23, your Trust Value exceeded the threshold during the incident. The system automatically completed your provisional hero registration. Your current real-time ranking is seventh."
"Are you aware of this basic information?"
"Mm," Lance Blue replied.
"Heroes registered provisionally must confirm their basic identity information and complete their final hero title registration within seventy-two hours."
Claire looked up at him. "First, please confirm whether your basic personal information is correct."
She turned the tablet toward Lance Blue. His registration file was displayed on the screen:
Name: Lance Blue. Date of birth: July 3, Union Year 13. Registered address: West Street Newsstand, District 70, Union City. Temporary guardian: Elliot, Community Services Officer.
It was all the information Elliot had helped him fill out.
"No problems."
"All right."
Claire took back the tablet and swiped a few times. "Next, please confirm or designate your hero title."
"You may also choose not to answer for now; that is your right. However, the Association recommends that every hero have a public-facing hero title."
"Once confirmed, it will be officially entered into the Association’s Hero Registry and announced publicly."
The hospital room was very quiet. Elliot stood to one side, watching. The two Association staff members stood at the door like statues.
Lance Blue’s gaze fell upon the blank space on the tablet.
Miracle.
It was as though his mind automatically filled those two words into that empty space.
Two days ago, in the fire, when he had screamed soundlessly at the concrete slab—when he had said, "Move aside," and, "Let’s go together"; when he had clung to the obsession that he absolutely could not let Mrs. Carter’s key become a keepsake.
All of it had forged that day’s miracle.
The people who had watched him rush into the sea of fire, and those who had prayed through their screens, were the ones who had bestowed the name Miracle upon him.
Because to them, a ten-year-old child bringing two people out alive from a place like that was a miracle.
And now, that word was before him, waiting for him to claim it.
...
"Miracle."
Lance Blue raised his head and looked at Claire. "My hero title."
Claire nodded and tapped to confirm it on the tablet.
"Hero title Miracle confirmed."
"Registration complete." She put away the tablet, then took a card and a small wristband terminal from the briefcase she carried.
"This is your hero identification card, containing your basic permissions. The wrist terminal is used to receive Association announcements, mission notifications, and real-time Trust Value data synchronization. Please keep them safe."
Lance Blue accepted both items. The ID card was dark blue, with the Association’s emblem along its edge.
"Under Association regulations, heroes ranked within the top fifty are eligible to reside in Hero Tower and receive the corresponding stipend and resource allocation."
Claire continued in the same flat tone. "Your ranking meets the requirements. Here are the relevant explanatory documents." She handed him another paper document.
"You may choose to move in, or retain your current residence. If you choose to move in, the logistics department will arrange a room for you in the tower and assist with the move within twenty-four hours."
Hero Tower.
The place that stood in the center of District 1, gleaming in news photographs, accessible only to top-ranked heroes.
Lance Blue opened the document and glanced through it. The stipend was considerable, enough that he would never again have to worry about food or shelter.
The resource allocation included training facilities, medical support, intelligence sharing, and a whole range of other things.
The benefits were generous.
But he thought of his newsstand, which had already burned down. He thought of the little stool in front of Mrs. Carter’s pancake cart, and of the near-expiration yogurt Jake hid beneath the convenience store counter.
"I..." Lance Blue paused.
"I still need to remain in the hospital for observation. Could we wait a few days before dealing with the move?"
Claire glanced at him, apparently a little surprised that he would ask that.
But her professionalism kept her from asking further questions.
"Certainly. The contact information is in the documents. Once you have made your decision, you may contact the logistics department at any time. Also," she turned to Elliot, "Officer Elliot, as his temporary guardian, you will need to sign and confirm the relevant legal documents as well."
Elliot nodded in agreement.
"Finally, regarding the formal investigation into this incident."
Claire’s gaze returned to Lance Blue. "The Association’s special investigation team has already been established. There may be formal questioning later that will require your cooperation. The specific time and location will be sent through your terminal."
"Understood."
"Then our work here is complete."
Claire gave a slight nod. "I wish you a speedy recovery."
"Hero Miracle."
With that, she led her two colleagues out of the hospital room. Their crisp footsteps quickly faded down the corridor.
From the moment they entered to the moment they left, less than ten minutes had passed.
Lance Blue looked down at the ID card and terminal in his hands. It was just that simple.
A few words, a few confirmations, and he had officially become "Miracle."
A hero with an identification number, a ranking, and a stipend in the Hero Association’s system.
Elliot walked over, picked up the residency document, and looked it over. He smiled. "The stipend is substantial. It’s enough for you to buy a house in the central district. What are you planning to do next? Move to Hero Tower?"
Lance Blue did not answer immediately.
He put the wrist terminal on his left wrist, replacing the crude band that had only been able to display numbers.
The terminal screen lit up and connected automatically, displaying his current Trust Value: 【2,768,190】.
The number was still fluctuating at an extremely slow rate.
Seventh in the Hero Association rankings.
"I want to leave the hospital first," Lance Blue said. "And go... see my old place."
Elliot understood what he meant. "All right. I’ll take care of the paperwork. Your injuries..."
Lance Blue chuckled softly.
"They’re already healed." Lance Blue threw back the covers and stood up from the bed. "People hope that I can recover right away."
The speed of the physical recovery granted by Trust Value was even faster than he had imagined.
...
Half an hour later, Lance Blue changed into the new clothes Elliot had brought him—a simple blue hoodie and trousers. He gave one final look at the hospital room he had occupied for three days, then walked out.
The entrance to the hospital was quieter than he had expected.
Perhaps the Association had cleared the area in advance.
Only a scattered handful of reporters remained in the distance. When they saw Lance Blue emerge, their cameras immediately turned toward him, but hospital security kept them beyond the barricade.
Elliot drove him.
The car left the hospital and headed toward District 70.
The closer they got to that street, the more the air changed. The faint smell of scorching had not completely dispersed. Some buildings on both sides of the street were surrounded by scaffolding, with workers bustling about. There were not many pedestrians, and the place felt somewhat desolate.
The car stopped at the mouth of the street. It was inconvenient for vehicles to go any farther inside.
Lance Blue pushed open the door and got out.
The scene before him overlapped with, yet was utterly different from, the final image he remembered of flames soaring into the sky.
The fire had been extinguished.
Most of the wreckage had been cleared away, leaving large stretches of charred ground and a few smoke-blackened wall frames that had not yet been demolished.
Where Mrs. Carter’s pancake stall had stood, there was now only an empty patch of ground, its edges blocked off with temporary fencing.
Jake’s convenience store was likewise reduced to half a precarious storefront, empty inside.
As for his newsstand... not even its frame remained. There was only a patch of scorched earth where it had been.
Damn it, his home was gone.
Lance Blue felt indignant.
...
The entire street looked as though a giant beast had taken a bite out of it, leaving behind a horrifying scar.
Lance Blue stood there for a long time.
The wind swept in, stirring ash from the ground.
Elliot stood behind him without saying anything.
After a while, Lance Blue walked toward the patch of scorched earth. He stopped where his newsstand used to be, crouched down, and brushed his fingers over the ground.
A layer of black ash clung to his fingertips.
He had lived here for ten years.
He had sheltered from rain here, counted stars here, and gnawed on day-old bread here while planning for tomorrow. This place had been one of the proofs that he existed.
Now, there was nothing left here.
But he was still alive.
Mrs. Carter, Chloe, and Jake were alive too. This street would be rebuilt.
He stood and brushed the ash from his hands.
Then he turned and walked toward the other side of the street. Beneath a residential building that had sustained relatively little damage, a temporary disaster-relief service station had been set up.
Jake, with a bandage still stuck to his head, was helping distribute supplies there.
Chloe sat in a chair nearby, a blanket covering her legs, organizing things as well.
When they saw Lance Blue, both of them froze for a moment before hurrying over.
"Lance! You’ve been discharged already? Are you healed?" Jake looked him over from head to toe.
"I’m healed," Lance Blue said. He looked at Chloe. "How is Mrs. Carter?"
"She’s been transferred to a regular ward and is recovering very well. She was talking about you just yesterday."
Chloe’s eyes reddened again, but this time she was smiling. "She said that once you came, she wanted to thank you in person... Oh, right, your things..."
She gestured to Jake.
Jake ran behind the service station and brought out an old backpack. It was one of the few belongings Lance Blue had kept in the newsstand.
A large patch on the surface of the backpack had been blackened by smoke, but it did not appear to have burned.
"We found it while clearing the ruins, so we held on to it for you." Jake handed the backpack over.
Lance Blue accepted it and opened it to take a look. There was not much inside: a few old clothes, several outdated magazines, and a small metal box containing the coins he had saved and the subsidy card issued by the community.
And that gold Union Coin.
Everything was there.
"Thank you." He slung the backpack onto his shoulders.
"You still haven’t used the coin I gave you?" Elliot pressed a hand to his forehead.
Lance Blue smiled without confirming or denying it.
"Where are you going next?"
Jake asked, "The news said you’re officially a hero now, ranked seventh! Are you going to compete in the Hero Ranking Matches and move into Hero Tower? And..."
There was envy in his voice, but also reluctance to part.
Lance Blue looked at them, then looked back once more at the patch of scorched earth.
"I will go."
"But not today."
He needed a little time to formally say goodbye to this street and to the life he had lived for ten years.
He also needed a little time to think through the things Grant had told him.
And he wanted to see the sole survivor of that disaster—the cyan-haired girl.
...
"I’ll stay at the community center with Uncle Elliot for a few days first," Lance Blue said. "Until Mrs. Carter is discharged, and things here settle down a little."
Jake and Chloe both sighed in relief and nodded firmly.
The wind blew down the street, carrying the sounds of distant construction and the faint murmur of voices.
Life was struggling to return to its former rhythm.
Lance Blue looked up toward the city center.
Hero Tower...
He had already earned the right to go there.
But before he walked that path, he had to properly finish walking the stretch of road beneath his feet.
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