Qiu Shi didn’t know whether he could trust Zheng Ting. When Xing Bi insisted that he leave, he chose to let Zheng Ting go out first.
If Zheng Ting was not trustworthy, then when he climbed out himself, at least Xing Bi would be distracted. At such a critical moment, if Zheng Ting planned an ambush, even delaying by a minute could be fatal.
But he didn’t expect that Xing Bi would directly forbid Zheng Ting from leaving.
In other words, Xing Bi had never trusted Zheng Ting from the very beginning.
Qiu Shi understood Xing Bi well. When it came to their own kind, even if there was a shred of hope, he always wanted to lend a hand. For those symbiotes in the nest who were willing to leave, Xing Bi would think about letting them go. Even the super-symbiote Zheng Ting, he never gave up on.
At this moment, in the last few minutes, his gun was aimed at Zheng Ting.
“Blow up that box.” Xing Bi held his gun pointed at Zheng Ting with one hand, while tossing a grenade to Bai Zhan with the other.
Bai Zhan caught the grenade and walked to the box. The box was latched shut; he lifted his leg and stomped on the lid, breaking the metal latch.
Opening the box revealed rows of small black blocks, neatly arranged inside.
“Can it be destroyed by explosion?” Bai Zhan asked. “Should we take it out to deal with it?”
“No,” Xing Bi answered simply, “Nothing here can be taken out.”
“It can’t be blown up,” Zheng Ting said.
“Blow it up,” Xing Bi said, looking at Zheng Ting. “When 249 transferred the items into the box, he was already monitored by the base and about to be silenced. There’s no way he could get anything advanced. Even if he did, it would be discovered. These must be ordinary storage devices, easy to hide during inspections.”
Zheng Ting said nothing.
“The research facility isn’t officially operational, and he couldn’t find a suitable place here. That’s why he always wanted to return to the core base,” Xing Bi said. “Am I wrong?”
Zheng Ting remained silent.
“You were activated the moment you arrived here. You know this place too well, and you know 249 too well,” Xing Bi said. “You want me to take you out, but you haven’t even changed your name from ‘replica’…”
The ground trembled with the ongoing explosions around them.
“The program implanted in your mind is that Zheng Ting from when he left the base—the one who wanted to destroy humanity. That hasn’t changed,” Xing Bi said. “You’ve spent too long with 249, living here, watching what he showed you, thinking what he wanted you to think. He never gave you a chance to change. 249 never gave up because you both know you’ll find a way to survive with him.”
Bai Zhan kicked the box into a nearby small room, preparing to detonate it inside.
At the moment he turned, Zheng Ting rushed forward.
When Xing Bi fired his gun, Qiu Shi felt a complex mixture of emotions. Zheng Ting knew that no matter how fast he was, he could never outrun a gun in the hands of a Level 1 Operative. But he still chose to rush the box.
“Sorry,” Xing Bi’s voice was low.
The bullet pierced Zheng Ting’s neck. He leapt into the air, then fell heavily, blood spraying over the box.
Bai Zhan threw the grenade into the box, closed the lid, and turned to sprint out of the small room.
The highest-tech grenade from Yun City exploded inside the box.
Its power far exceeded that of Deng Yeye’s nomad grenade.
Qiu Shi felt his eardrums painfully shaken.
The room’s walls were blown apart, the entire equipment chamber shaking violently. Metal panels from the ceiling began to fall, flickering lights went out one by one…
As if knowing the last person who needed this room had died, the once solid structure suddenly began to collapse.
The research institute’s self-destruct system had already begun detonating from outside inward around them.
“Warning…”
A female voice stopped the warning amid the explosions.
“Those with broken ribs, move first.” Xing Bi moved to the door.
Qiu Shi jumped and grabbed the door frame. His injured ribs hampered his movements, making it hard to push himself harder, so he kicked Xing Bi’s shoulder before flipping out.
Bai Zhan also grabbed the door frame, looked at Xing Bi briefly as he raised his leg.
Xing Bi grabbed Bai Zhan’s ankle and pushed him out.
“Hey, that’s not what I meant…” Bai Zhan tumbled out.
Xing Bi followed, jumping out after him.
Outside, thick smoke billowed. Everywhere was filled with explosions and firelight.
“Go down,” Xing Bi said, taking a spare rope from his waist pack, tying it around Lin Sheng’s waist, then tying the other end to his own wrist.
They had to go down through broken floorboards and walls to escape through the seawater below.
Lin Sheng was seriously injured. The penetrating wound in his neck was beyond what the medical kit could treat. In such chaotic conditions, any accident could trap him.
“Watch over Old Deng,” Xing Bi said.
“Yeah,” Xu Jie responded.
“I’m fine,” Deng Yeye said. “Just an arm injury, no problem. Qiu Shi’s hurt worse.”
Xing Bi glanced at Qiu Shi.
Qiu Shi went to Ji Sui’s side. “I’ll follow Ji Sui.”
“Okay.” Xing Bi nodded. “Watch out for explosions. Move.”
“I’m fine, really, don’t worry about me,” Bai Zhan said. “I’m going down first.”
Before Xing Bi could say anything, Bai Zhan dashed into the flames rising at the hole and jumped down through the breach.
Then his voice came through both below and the earpiece: “Ah!”
“Did you hit something?” Ji Sui shouted.
“Landing spot shifted half a meter to the right,” Bai Zhan replied. “Height three and a half meters.”
“Copy that.” Xu Jie jumped down.
Deng Yeye followed.
Another explosion rang out, much closer this time, right behind them.
Qiu Shi looked back, staring at the flames bursting from the equipment chamber. The entire door was engulfed in fire, billowing black smoke, with crackling sounds from the equipment burning inside.
Qiu Shi followed Ji Sui, jumping down into the hole in the ground.
The lower level was an unknown place, already engulfed in flames. During the descent, Qiu Shi could smell his hair being singed, and the ground beneath was littered with debris. When he landed, a blast went off, and he felt the scorching heat hitting him.
Xing Bi and Lin Sheng also jumped down. Lin Sheng’s wound had temporarily stopped bleeding, but in the firelight, it was clear that half of his uniform had changed color from the damage.
“Which way?” Deng Yeye asked.
“Follow me,” Bai Zhan said, “Head toward the shipyard.”
The communication equipment was already set up. Li Feng stood before the command center’s large screen, arms crossed, watching the images transmitted from the coast.
The battle was over. The troops sent by Yun City had basically cleared the battlefield. On the shore, vehicles lined up, and on the reefs and beaches were people—soldiers, refugees, and displaced persons…
Everyone’s attention was fixed on the sea.
Li Feng didn’t know what the sea normally looked like, but he could tell this large expanse was different from the distant waters. Giant waves continuously surged from underwater explosions, and as the main building collapsed and sank, whirlpools formed—appearing, disappearing, then appearing again.
Debris of all kinds floated on the water, tossed by the waves, washing up on shore and then being dragged back out to sea.
Li Feng kept staring at the images, trying to spot anything beyond the debris.
Those who hadn’t escaped before the building began to collapse.
The ambush team was already in place, ready to clear any abnormal situations immediately.
“Let me check that map again,” Li Feng quietly said to Chen Dang nearby.
Chen Dang projected a small screen in front of him, showing an automatic transmission from Xing Bi’s communication system—a rough sketch they had drawn on the ground. It roughly depicted the interior layout of this section of the research facility’s main building. It wasn’t complete, but it gave an idea of their position and surrounding structure.
“Their best escape route is probably down through the floor,” Chen Dang said. “If the walls are damaged, they could exit directly into the sea, or leave from where they entered, which looks like a shipyard.”
“Given their abilities, how long would it normally take them to get out?” Li Feng asked.
“To be honest,” Chen Dang replied, “I don’t know. The underwater situation is complicated to begin with. After the building started breaking apart, it became like a jungle—anywhere could trap them. When they went in, Qiu Shi and Deng Yeye each only had a single breathing apparatus…”
“You don’t know?” Li Feng said sharply, “You know more than the grim reaper.”
“They’re waiting on your orders,” Chen Dang said. “Still no contact means we can’t confirm whether 249’s data has been completely destroyed.”
“What?” Li Feng sneered. “Before, no one wanted to talk about demolition, but now everyone’s suddenly in a hurry. With the current situation, sending someone to blow it up is a death sentence. And we’ve already missed the timing. If we do it now, it’ll look like killing heroes. Can these people use their brains at all?”
Chen Dang said nothing.
“Put me through to the field commander,” Li Feng said.
A somewhat unfamiliar voice came through: “Command center, the commander is injured and unconscious. I am acting commander Liu Chen.”
“Is the sea condition suitable for diving now?” Li Feng asked.
“Experienced refugees think it’s about okay,” Liu Chen answered. “But we don’t have professional diving operators. The sea conditions…”
“Get that one,” Li Feng pinched his forehead. “That one…”
“Jiang Liu and Lao Qi,” Chen Dang quietly reminded him.
“Jiang Liu and Lao Qi,” Li Feng said. “Have them come over.”
Soon, a man’s voice came: “This is Jiang Liu, who’s looking for me?”
“Brother Liu,” Li Feng used the nickname Bai Zhan gave him earlier, “Find some refugees to go down to search for them. The bioroids can last longer, but Qiu Shi and Deng Yeye are humans. Without breathing apparatus…”
“I’ll arrange it,” Jiang Liu said.
“Have Acting Commander Liu arrange the equipment—speedboats, breathing apparatus, propulsion devices, underwater lighting,” Li Feng said. “We have all that.”
“They might bargain hard,” Jiang Liu said. “Refugees don’t care much about ideals.”
“Trade is normal,” Li Feng said. “You handle it. Whatever they want, we can provide, but the priority is to get the people out.”
“Got it,” Jiang replied.
Liu Chen’s voice came again: “Command center.”
“Do your best to satisfy them. The refugees helped a lot this time,” Li Feng said. “Give them face, but weapons must be controlled. Yun City isn’t some wishing well where we fulfill every demand.”
“Understood,” Liu Chen said.
“Send Sang Fan and Feng Zhi to lead the team down,” Li Feng said. “Ensure safety.”
“Received,” Liu Chen said.
Sang Fan swung her gun behind her and stepped toward the water. “Let’s go.”
“Equipment,” Feng Zhi called after her. “Wait for the refugees to prepare theirs. We have to take ours too.”
“I don’t need equipment,” Sang Fan said.
“The people down there do,” Feng Zhi whispered. “It’s been so long; some are trapped, others injured and slow.”
“Mm,” Sang Fan nodded. “Got it.”
Besides their personal gear, backup breathing apparatus, propulsion devices, and medicine were packed into diving bags. Feng Zhi tied a bag to his waist.
“Do you think they’ll be okay?” Sang Fan suddenly asked.
“They will,” Feng Zhi said, grabbing a refugee dressed for diving passing by them. “San Ye, what’s the situation?”
“Damn,” Li Rui tore off the cloth covering his face. “You can recognize me even like this?”
“We don’t only recognize people by their faces,” Feng Zhi said. “What are you doing?”
“Going underwater to rescue,” Li Rui said. “My lifesaver is down there. I can’t not go.”
Feng Zhi quickly scanned the refugees preparing to go down.
“Didn’t let Da Xiong go,” Li Rui said. “He’s big, can’t hide.”
“You’re not hiding either,” Sang Fan said.
“Stick with Sister Fan, follow orders,” Feng Zhi didn’t stop him anymore. “Time is tight. The situation below is complicated; we might not be able to care for you immediately.”
“Don’t worry.” Li Rui adjusted his diving mask, grabbed his propulsion device, and ran toward the speedboat to jump on.
Although the research facility had never been officially activated or even completed, the self-destruct system was very thorough. The main structure was shattered into pieces, but explosions continued.
Underwater explosions no longer produced large flames, but strong shockwaves and vibrations churned the water beneath. Combined with the slowly sinking building, progress was difficult.
This level was full of small rooms; their purpose unknown. Qiu Shi always felt it was like a prison.
These complex walls and columns formed a dense forest.
The entire area was flooded; most of their bodies were submerged. In many places, the water passed over their heads. Qiu Shi and Deng Yeye, both humans, had to rely on underwater air pockets formed at room corners to breathe.
Except for Xu Jie, everyone was injured. The bioroids’ wounds hadn’t been treated much either. Even the strongest covert agents would be heavily drained after a battle, wounded and navigating the icy, bone-chilling underwater labyrinth.
Xu Jie broke the surface of the water and said, “There’s a passage ahead, about fifty meters to the next air pocket. Be careful of the strong currents from the explosion on the left side.”
“Maybe,” Qiu Shi hesitated, “Old Deng and I stay behind, you guys go ahead first? Wouldn’t that be faster?”
“No.” Lin Sheng answered simply.
“It’s too complicated down there,” Xing Bi said, “The place we came through before has already completely collapsed.”
“If we go out first and then come back to find you, that’s basically a death sentence,” Bai Zhan said, “Let’s go.”
“You sure know how to talk,” Deng Yeye said.
After another wave of turbulent water caused by an explosion passed, Qiu Shi took a deep breath and followed Ji Sui underwater.
Without breathing apparatus or propulsion devices, Qiu Shi and Deng Yeye—two injured land survivors who couldn’t swim—could only advance by grabbing debris around them in the freezing seawater. When there was nothing to hold onto, they each grabbed onto the pant legs of Xu Jie and Ji Sui.
Passing two more air pockets, Qiu Shi felt numb from the cold. A metal pillar, carried by an underwater current, struck his leg, but it took him almost five minutes to feel the pain. The pillar had long since drifted away.
“Almost there,” Ji Sui went ahead to scout, “I can see the edge, but we have to dive about twenty meters deeper, and between here and there, there’s no place to surface for air.”
“This structure is still sinking,” Bai Zhan looked around, “If they don’t breathe soon, they probably won’t get out.”
“I’ll try,” Qiu Shi took a deep breath and held it, diving underwater to see how long he could hold on.
To be honest, he felt he was already near his limit. His eyes stung painfully from the seawater, and various wounds on his body throbbed mysteriously. His physical strength remained, but the cold had stiffened him completely. Earlier, he had seen Deng Yeye’s face turn blue from the cold, lips colorless; he probably wasn’t in better shape.
And after holding his breath underwater for less than a minute, hallucinations appeared.
He suddenly popped his head out of the water. “Damn, did the water pressure mess up my eyes?”
“What?” Xing Bi immediately reached out, pinching Qiu Shi’s chin to look closely at his eyes. “They’re red. Does it hurt?”
“No, it doesn’t hurt. I just saw flashing white lights, like spotlights—damn!” Qiu Shi suddenly realized, “I see a flashlight beam!”
Bai Zhan and Xu Jie both dove down fast, swimming swiftly toward the light.
“Is someone coming to pick us up?” Deng Yeye asked.
“Yes,” Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi let out a long breath, gripping a steel bar overhead and leaning his head against the wall, exhaustion flooding over him.
Their conditions didn’t look good; they were seriously injured. But not entirely because of the wounds—Lin Sheng’s decisiveness when killing Number Two, and Xing Bi’s last moment shooting Zheng Ting, both had put them under unbearable pressure and pain that few could truly understand.
Qiu Shi just hoped this would end soon, to get back to shore, back to the car, back to that broken, shabby world.
His body submerged in water suddenly felt a chaotic flow. He looked down and saw several white beams of light sweeping underwater, followed by splashes rising on the surface.
Sang Fan’s face emerged from the water. “We’re here! How’s everyone doing?”
“All good,” Xing Bi replied.
Next, Feng Zhi surfaced and threw a waterproof bag to them. “Here’s medicine. Need it now?”
“Not yet,” Lin Sheng answered.
“Okay.” Feng Zhi took out breathing apparatus and propulsion devices. “We’re leaving soon. Follow the ropes the locals set up to swim out. The outer shell is already breaking apart—if we wait too long, we’ll get dragged down and trapped on the seabed.”
Qiu Shi took the breathing apparatus and put it on.
“Really high-end stuff,” Deng Yeye put on her breathing apparatus.
“It’s all for you,” Sang Fan said.
“Brother Shi!” Li Rui’s voice came through the water noise. “Xing Bi! Lin Sheng! Are you all there? Are you okay?”
Li Rui grew up by the river and could swim well, but now the water was too cold, and with his excitement, he was shivering. His urgency was clear; he didn’t even say “big brother.”
“Li San-ye, what are you doing here?” Xing Bi asked.
“Sneaked in with the team,” Feng Zhi said. “If they said no, he definitely wouldn’t obey.”
“They found everyone underwater,” Chen Dang said behind Li Feng, “All injured, but nothing serious. They’re heading back.”
“What about 249?” Li Feng asked.
“Already destroyed. The details will be known after they come up,” Chen Dang said quietly. “Should we evacuate the people there?”
“Not yet,” Li Feng said. “Let me talk with Xing Bi and the others first.”
“Xing Bi knows people I know,” Chen Dang said. “If he finds out, he’ll know…”
“Know what?” Li Feng asked. “That I sent people to watch them? They didn’t meet me yesterday for the first time. If I hadn’t sent a team to monitor them just in case, that’d be strange.”
Chen Dang didn’t say more. The underwater surveillance team he sent was tasked with monitoring those who emerged from the water. If they found any connection with 249, or anything suspicious about 249, they would immediately detain Xing Bi and the others.
Normally, it was basically impossible to control these people, but today it was still possible because they were all injured—a bit like taking advantage of someone.
“I’ll rest for a bit,” Li Feng patted Chen Dang’s shoulder. “When the call comes in, connect me to the next room’s lounge.”
“Okay,” Chen Dang nodded.
Li Feng entered the lounge, closed and locked the door, then sat on the sofa and let out a long breath.
When he picked up a cup of water, he noticed his hands were trembling badly—probably from tension.
The people underwater were their last hope for victory and the hope for peaceful days ahead. While hoping they would come back safely, he also had to face the consequences if something went wrong—even if it meant having to kill them.
Li Feng took a sip of water, pressing his hands on the table.
A few minutes later, the call came through. Qiu Shi’s tired voice came over: “Should we report now, or rest a bit before reporting?”
“Now. If you’re alive, report first,” Li Feng said. “Your condition, injury severity.”
“…I thought you’d ask about 249 first,” Qiu Shi said. “We’re all okay for now, but we need to get back to Yun City to fully recover.”
“Thank you for your hard work,” Li Feng said. He looked at his hands silently for a moment, then added, “Thanks.”
