He hadn't slept all night, yet Ling Feng felt no fatigue.
A mix of determination and anxiety kept all his senses in a state of high alert.
He didn't set out immediately.
The legend of "The Echo" was a legend for a reason—it was ethereal, and the dangers of the deep Sea of Scrap were well-known. He needed to wait for the right moment, and he needed... to wait for his friend.
He used the last hours before dawn to organize the workshop.
This wasn't an act of cleanliness, but more of a farewell ritual. He wiped down the tools scattered on the workbench one by one and hung them back on the wall, arranged by size and function. He carefully covered his unfinished, imaginative creations with a dust cloth. He even straightened the cold, hard bed made from a block of compressed waste.
His fingertips traced the rough edge of the workbench, which was covered in the nicks and scratches left by tools and parts.
He remembered when he was just ten years old, taken from his parents by the "Enforcers" and thrown into the Rust Belt like a piece of luggage. Back then, he had been cold and hungry, huddled in this abandoned, drafty shipping container, thinking he would die at any moment.
It was his obsession with repairing machinery that had kept him alive.
He had used scavenged scrap to plug the holes in the walls, blocking out the biting wind.
He had used scavenged parts to assemble the first lamp that could light up the night.
He had used scavenged tools, bit by bit, to transform this cold metal can into a place he could call "home."
Every screw, every wire here was soaked in six years of his life.
This was his only sanctuary, the culmination of all his ingenuity, and also... the cage that confined him.
And today, he was going to push open the door of this cage himself and step into the wider, more dangerous jungle outside.
Just as the sky was about to "brighten," the familiar iron door was knocked upon three times in a distinct rhythm.
It was Shi Lei.
Ling Feng opened the door, and Shi Lei slipped inside. He brought two high-energy nutrition bars and a grave expression.
"It's not looking good," Shi Lei whispered. "The Iron Fist Gang is still out there, searching everywhere like madmen. But they're mostly focused on the main roads. I drew a map. If you need to get out, take these smaller paths. The chance of being spotted is lower."
Ling Feng looked at the simple map his friend handed him, drawn on a piece of oilcloth, then at his friend's bloodshot eyes. A warmth spread through his chest. He knew Shi Lei probably hadn't slept either, having spent the night gathering information for him.
"Shi Lei," Ling Feng began slowly, "I have to leave."
"Leave? Where are you going?" Shi Lei was taken aback.
"To find 'The Echo.'"
The color drained from Shi Lei's face, replaced by a mixture of shock and terror. "Feng! Are you trying to get yourself killed? The Sea of Scrap is a one-way trip! It's not worth it for some vague rumor!"
"It is worth it." Ling Feng's gaze was unusually calm, but held an unshakeable resolve. "If we hide here, we'll be found sooner or later. I'd rather take the initiative and find a way out than wait passively to die like a cornered rat. Shi Lei, I can't live like this anymore."
Looking into Ling Feng's eyes, Shi Lei knew he couldn't change his mind. His friend, whom he had grown up with, seemed to have been completely transformed overnight. Something hard and unyielding had grown inside him.
He sighed heavily and pushed the nutrition bars and the map into Ling Feng's hands.
"...Fine. Then take these. Ration them, they should last you four or five days."
Ling Feng took the items. Then, he did something Shi Lei didn't expect. He retrieved a thick notebook, bound in worn leather, from a hidden compartment in the workbench.
"Inside here are all my notes and blueprints from over the years. From the simplest water purifier to a new energy lattice stabilizer I'm designing, it's all in here."
Ling Feng handed the notebook to Shi Lei, his voice solemn. "If... I'm not back in three days..."
"Bullshit!" Shi Lei cut him off abruptly, his eyes turning red. "I don't want your junk! I just want you to come back alive!"
His voice trembled with emotion. "If you dare to die out there, I'll take all your precious blueprints and use them as toilet paper!"
Ling Feng looked at him and suddenly smiled. It was his first genuine smile in two days.
"Alright," he said. "Then you'd better take good care of them."
He placed the notebook on the table and began to arm himself.
He secured the credit chip, grabbed his alloy staff, and attached his lamp to his belt.
Every movement was steady and efficient.
When he finally stood at the door, he took one last look around the workshop.
In the lamplight, the cold tools and parts seemed to be imbued with a warm glow.
This was the only light he had in this cold wasteland, the light at his back.
He turned his head and gave Shi Lei a firm nod.
There were no goodbyes, no "take care."
For some farewells, a single look is enough.
Ling Feng pulled open the door and, like a drop of water merging into the ocean, disappeared without hesitation into the eternal, dusky morning and shadows of the Rust Belt.
Shi Lei stood in the doorway, staring in the direction he had gone, long after he was out of sight.
Then, he closed the door and hugged the heavy notebook tightly to his chest.