Chapter 44: But Other Types of Non-Humans Aren’t Completely Off the Table…
Ezekiel stared at him with great interest. “You know my name?”
“It was in the news,” Xiang Nanli replied.
“Ah, that’s actually the name those researchers gave me. I don’t really like it,” Ezekiel replied slowly. “Though, you might as well call me Ezekiel. After all, humans need a name to address me by.”
Before Xiang Nanli could respond, a loud clatter suddenly echoed behind him.
It turned out that Andrew, who was trying to sneak away quietly, had accidentally tripped over a loose rock by the roadside.
Holy shit! Just moments ago they were in the same boat, weathering the storm together, and now at the first sign of danger he runs off to save his own skin?!
Sure enough, the shady doctor remained true to his colors—if Xiang Nanli had known better, he would have kicked him into the pile of snakes earlier.
Xiang Nanli felt an itch at the back of his teeth, but he still maintained his composure on the surface. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, my friend. Are you just passing by? You look like you have important business to attend to, so I won’t keep you any longer.”
With that, he took a small step aside to clear a path.
Xiang Nanli had undergone training before, and his instructor had told him that the best approach when facing a criminal was to stay calm, composure intact, neither humble nor arrogant. Of course, that only marginally increased one’s chances of survival… If the other party was determined to kill you and you lacked the strength to fight back, there was nothing else to be done anyway.
Remaining calm sounded simple, but very few people could actually achieve it. Staying collected in the face of danger went against human nature; biological instinct urgently commanded you to either fight or flee.
Xiang Nanli felt a gust of sweltering, metallic wind blow into his face—the scent of fresh blood.
He instinctively closed his eyes, his eyelashes trembling slightly. Only after two or three seconds did he remember he could still breathe.
Opening his eyes, he found Ezekiel’s blank, featureless face right in front of his own. He could even see the scaly texture of the skin on the other’s face.
Xiang Nanli half-expected Ezekiel to flick out a snake-like tongue in the next second.
Two slits opened near Ezekiel’s cheeks, exposing narrow, pitch-black eyes to the air.
He deliberately leaned a little closer, his face practically touching the tip of Xiang Nanli’s nose. “Afraid of me?”
Xiang Nanli studied him carefully for a moment before answering candidly, “Actually, not really.”
He preferred robots. Those metallic creations combining power and technology were the absolute pinnacle of industrial aesthetic enjoyment; Xiang Nanli had once firmly believed that mechanization was the ultimate destination for carbon-based life.
Still, other types of non-human entities weren’t completely off the table… Ezekiel was a bit on the ugly side, unable to compare to his mechanical Crawler colleagues, but what if he still had room to grow?
Ezekiel: “…”
He backed away, his interest thoroughly dampened.
A plastic bag was tossed toward Xiang Nanli. He caught it instinctively, feeling its heavy weight in his hands.
Ezekiel’s voice drifted back from a distance. “Yes, I have other matters to attend to right now, but I wasn’t just passing by. I dislike owing favors, so take this. The city is very dangerous. My Mutants won’t hurt humans, so you can leave through the city gate. Ah… do you know how to open the gate? Inside the watchtower at the northwest section of the city wall, there’s a control panel inside.”
A weird smile appeared on Ezekiel’s face, like a mischievous child who had just pulled off a prank.
He paused for half a second. “The next time we meet, we’ll be strangers, Xiang Nanli.”
Ezekiel vanished from the spot. He needed to hurry to the underground.
There was something there that he needed.
Ezekiel had never read any scientific literature, so he had no idea what the thing was, tentatively referring to it as an “Evolution Stone.” As early as half a month ago, Ezekiel had sensed its presence. Being a genuine “biological entity,” his perception in this regard was actually far sharper than Dongfang Qingdi’s.
Dongfang Qingdi might refer to it as “bio-energy.”
To most people, the Divine Court’s “Holy Spirit” was a terrifying biochemical monster. But in the eyes of Dongfang Qingdi and Ezekiel, it was merely animated crude oil.
When a Lurker wished to conceal itself, it was extremely difficult to detect, whether by the naked eye or electronic scans.
Xiang Nanli felt the suffocating, chilling pressure abruptly subside.
The plastic bag in his hand looked rather rough. Xiang Nanli opened it and saw a large, folded piece of leather armor inside, its texture resembling pigskin.
He picked it up, unfolded it, and gave it a shake. The surface of the skin was covered in layers of bottle-cap-sized scales.
“What is this thing?” Xiang Nanli was thoroughly puzzled.
Alpha: [Suggested search result: Lurker Shed Skin.]
[Lurker Shed Skin: A special biological light-cloaking material with high ductility. Capable of shielding against electronic eye scans and blurring the perception of others to a certain degree. However, sudden movements or remaining in the same space as an observer for an extended period may cause the cloaking effect to fail.]
[Due to the near-extinction of Lurkers, this material is classified as contraband and is not traded in public markets.]
[Note: The effectiveness of this item degrades as its biological activity decreases, making it a consumable item.]
Xiang Nanli was quite surprised. “Alpha, you can still function?!”
[Hello, I am merely disconnected from the network, not malfunctioning.]
Xiang Nanli packed the item away and slung it across his chest. After reflecting for a moment, he walked over to the roadside and called out toward the boulder behind him: “Andrew.”
Although Andrew’s speed at running away earlier was infuriatingly fast, fortunately, Xiang Nanli had never harbored high expectations for him in the first place. Or rather, he held no expectations for anyone.
At least Andrew had simply run off, rather than shoving him into danger before making a break for it.
A robot standing under 1.6 meters tall poked its head out from behind the rock. “Is Ezekiel gone?”
Andrew uttered the name “Ezekiel” very softly, as if terrified that speaking it out loud would summon him back.
Xiang Nanli nodded. “Yeah. He said the Crawlers he raised won’t harm humans and told us to leave through the city gate. Let’s go.”
Andrew followed behind him in a daze, looking utterly dejected.
They were halfway down the mountain when he suddenly snapped out of it. “Where’s Dongfang Qingdi? And Sirius and the others?”
“Underground, most likely,” Xiang Nanli mused. “I haven’t received any signal yet. Let’s wait outside the city. If he’s fine, he’ll come find me.”
Andrew hesitated, looking as if he wanted to speak. “But…”
“Do you think I should be worried?” Xiang Nanli turned around and offered him a slight smile. “Actually, I am a bit worried. If Xiao Qing gets into trouble, I think I’ll be sad. I don’t know…”
A trace of confusion crossed his face. “He’s the first artificial intelligence equipped with a anthropomorphic module that I’ve come into contact with. According to Human Alliance law, I can treat him as a human being. Xiao Qing is much stronger than us; if there’s a difficulty he can’t solve, us going there would be completely useless. Staying alive and safe is my way of helping.
“As for Sirius… he’s very pitiable, and I feel some sympathy, but I can’t save him.”
Andrew knew he was stating cold hard facts, but his heart still sank heavily.
“I wasn’t trying to abandon you just now,” Andrew explained stammeringly, trying to defend himself. “I used to know Ezekiel, and I was terrified he would recognize me.”
As it turned out, Andrew had overthought things. The person Ezekiel knew was the complete Andrew—not the robot he was now.
Andrew hiding away wasn’t even out of a fear of dying. He was simply afraid of Ezekiel’s interrogation, and the disappointed look in those eyes.
Xiang Nanli narrowed his eyes. “Ezekiel only escaped from the underground factory recently.”
“Yes. Years ago, I worked for Donghuang Heavy Industry as a scholar specifically in charge of biological evolution research. I graduated from the finest university in the Human Alliance with a doctorate. I even signed a lifetime employment contract before I even graduated.” Speaking of his past glory, there was not a trace of joy on Andrew’s face. “Back then, the Human Alliance had already declared war on the Omnics. You know how it is—when people act in a collective, they lose all rational judgment. We conducted a lot of experiments that violated ethics and morality. Consequently, when everything was exposed, we faced sanctions.”
Andrew fell into painful memories, his internal voltage spiking due to his agitation. Yet, now that a secret buried for years finally had a listener, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief.
“The core research team was attending a conference in another city; some were arrested directly, while others left the Human Alliance to defect to the Black Cross Inquisition, which was still weak at the time. I was the sole exception. I should have died long ago, but Ezekiel let me off.”
“Lately, I often feel that my time is running short, so there’s something I want to tell you… Back then, the Chief Researcher of Donghuang Heavy Industry—he’s still alive.”
Hearing this, Xiang Nanli couldn’t help but ask, “What, do you want me to help kill him?”
Andrew immediately refuted, “No, it’s not that! His name is Mo Bai. Currently, he’s in Gusu City’s prison. Because of repeated memory wipes, he remembers nothing now. He has already paid the price for his mistakes. His designation is GS719, serving a life sentence. His entire body has been cybernetically modified, leaving only his brain intact. His cognitive abilities are normal.”
“I just wanted to tell you that besides Mutants, he also developed the nutrient paste—the very stuff all the paupers eat today. When he was in university, he even participated in experiments for the Gene Serum! He has saved many people, yet his name exists nowhere in history. He’s a exceptionally brilliant, remarkably great scientist—just like you. Both of you are people who can change an era.”
“I just feel that he ought to be more useful, rather than being locked up in a prison forever. I’m afraid that after I die, no one will remember him anymore, which is why I’m telling you.”
Andrew’s voice was filled with wandering loss and grief. “Xiang Nanli, you can understand, right? Technology itself is blameless. Just like artificial intelligence and Omnics. You can understand, right?”
Xiang Nanli couldn’t help stopping in his tracks.
He turned around to look at the figure behind him.
Andrew’s robotic face could only form a smile, but in this moment, he looked like he was crying his heart out.
Xiang Nanli had never changed his name, nor did he want to. Yet almost no one believed he was the real “Xiang Nanli.”
Andrew, however, seemed extraordinarily sure and certain of it.
Xiang Nanli let out a soft sigh. “Mo Bai, was it? Alright, I got it.”
Andrew froze, then nodded furiously in utter delight.
Talent pool +1, Xiang Nanli thought, though I have no idea when he’ll come in handy.
Once they returned to Gusu City, he’d ask Rock and see if there was any way to bail out a inmate on death row. After getting him out… he’d just keep him fed for now. Building a base always required extra hands. If he couldn’t do research, helping water the vegetables wouldn’t be bad either.
As an ordinary public servant in Gusu City, Rock naturally lacked such authority.
Who Xiang Nanli actually wanted to contact was Xin Zhui. Back then, Xin Zhui had left Rock’s contact information as part of maintaining personal favors, hinting that if any problems arose, Xiang Nanli could reach out to him through Rock.
Favors, however, would eventually be exhausted. Barring any surprises, this would likely be his final time reaching out to Xin Zhui.
A person like Mo Bai, who lacked any social ties, was perfectly suited to become a member of the base. Actually, Xiao Qing was very suitable as well—diligent at work and formidable in a fight—unfortunate that he had to return to the Omnic Legion.
Musing over this, Xiang Nanli gradually walked down the mountain. The path ahead flattened out into the road he had previously driven past in the vehicle.
The streetlights were dark. While the interior of the palace was brightly lit, hardly anyone was on the streets.
Even though it was a snowy day, the towering flames made the ambient temperature feel as hot as a furnace. Dense smoke billowed from the Outer City not far away, looking like burning straw fields.
Xiang Nanli once again felt glad that he hadn’t found it too troublesome to put on his protective suit.
They soon arrived near the city wall.
Separated only by a single wall, the roars of the Mutants were deafening.
Blood-red Mutants slammed their massive bodies against the city wall, causing clods of earth to fall and reveal the metallic structure underneath.
Yet even more piercing than the roars of the Mutants were the cries of the crowd. Mixed with the gunpowder smoke, these sobs should have been faint, but there were simply too many people.
A few robotic soldiers stood guard in front of the city gate, looking entirely idle.
Andrew stopped Xiang Nanli. “Wait a moment. There are a lot of robots nearby. Let me try first. I have a high degree of cybernetic modification; newer robot models often mistake me for an antique counterpart.”
With that, his legs trembling violently, he walked out.
Xiang Nanli couldn’t hear what they communicated, but Andrew seemed to get along fairly well with those robots. A few minutes later, he walked back.
“I told them I was a service robot from the Tournament Committee,” Andrew said, his tone brimming with relief. “Thank goodness I bought a fake ID back when I was selling booze.”
“They’re robot guards from the Eternal City, only responsible for watching the perimeter. They don’t have the authority to open the gate. The opening controls for both the Inner and Outer City are on the second floor. The watchtower is also at the edge of the wall, and the only way to get up there is by elevator.”
Xiang Nanli pulled out his binoculars and surreptitiously observed for a moment.
The elevator should be located at the archway beneath the city wall, and there was more than one. Robot guards were stationed at the entrance.
Patrol teams walked along the base of the wall, leading electronic hounds. The sky was too dark for Xiang Nanli to tell whether they were robots or humans.
Not many people were using the elevator; it required keycard access, and he could see men and women dressed in luxurious clothes entering and exiting.
There were even Black Armor Knights from the Black Cross Inquisition.
Xiang Nanli suddenly understood why Ezekiel had been kind enough to give him a cloaking suit.
Turns out Ezekiel had predicted that without this gear, Xiang Nanli wouldn’t be able to sneak into enemy territory at all.
Unwrapping the package, he slipped the Lurker’s shed skin over his body. The material possessed excellent elasticity, stretching to fit even the exoskeleton on his back inside. As expected of a Lurker that could compress its body from over ten meters down to the size of a palm.
The Lurker’s shed skin was a pale, translucent pink, but the wearer inside could see the outside world clearly.
Xiang Nanli’s breathing remained unobstructed. If not for the cool touch against his skin, he wouldn’t even have remembered he was wearing an extra layer of skin.
He reached out and patted Andrew on the shoulder.
Andrew turned his head abruptly. “Xiang Nanli?? Where are you?!”
Andrew was fitted with prosthetic eyes; besides cameras, he relied on sensor arrays to gather information, allowing him to clearly avoid obstacles even in the dark.
Yet right now, Xiang Nanli had completely vanished from his sensor system, and there was no sign of him in his camera feeds either.
He couldn’t even feel Xiang Nanli tapping his shoulder—after all, touch required sensor systems to function as well.
“Wait for me here. Find a safe place to hide. I’ll go up and take a look first,” Xiang Nanli said.
Xiang Nanli slipped out of the pitch-black alleyway.
He then arrived beside the elevator.
Sure enough, the nearby robots reacted to him not in the slightest. A fierce-looking mechanical hound even trotted past his feet; Xiang Nanli had to exert immense self-control to resist the urge to lean down and pet it.
A few minutes later, a knight dressed in black armor arrived in front of the elevator.
He wore a pointed triangular metal helmet—judging by the headpiece, he was likely a Knight Commander.
The same rank as the knight who had led the pursuit against Xiu last time.
Xiang Nanli followed him into the elevator, carefully ducking into a corner.
The knight was currently on a phone call: “Logically speaking, the Holy Spirit should have hatched successfully. Why hasn’t it been born yet…?”
“Lord Sariel sent a message asking me to head over to the city wall for backup.”
“The wall is completely safe. The Eternal City is built right on top of the Gospel’s body—it won’t be breached by a mere mob of Mutants that easily. Don’t worry.”
“I have to work overtime now, so I’m hanging up. Love you, baby, mwah.”
Xiang Nanli: “…”
He had assumed the knight was reporting to a superior. So you Apocalypse Knights actually have love lives in private, huh?
Half a minute later, the elevator reached the top of the 60-meter-tall city wall.
At the exact same time—
The Gospel, currently working overtime to intercept signals and blasting fake messages everywhere: “Waaaaah! Didn’t we agree I only needed to hold out for five minutes?! Scout, did your signal actually go out or not?! Didn’t I tell you to go call Alpha for backup?! I’m seriously running out of power! Where the hell are you?!”
