Qiu Shi struck hard. Curator Wu and his two assistants were knocked unconscious, but it was clear that they weren’t hit as hard as Li Feng.
There were clearly some personal grudges involved here.
After pretending to be shocked, Li Feng felt like he was going to vomit. He gagged several times; tears even started to fall. If Curator Wu hadn’t been preparing to inject something into him, he would have tried to stay unconscious a little longer.
“Who hit you?” Curator Wu asked.
“Qiu Shi,” Li Feng gritted his teeth, feeling his neck aching, swollen, and painfully tense.
“You might have a concussion,” Curator Wu said. “Go inside; I’ll check you out…”
“Lao Wu,” Li Feng looked at him, “Isn’t there a sense of urgency? We’re down two bioroids, and Mr. Long will be here in an hour!”
Curator Wu didn’t move or speak, just stared at him.
Li Feng didn’t avoid his gaze either, glaring back.
“Director Li,” Curator Wu furrowed his brows, “Are you staging this yourself?”
Although Curator Wu was always immersed in various “scientific research,” his mind hadn’t deteriorated. He was able to survive various power struggles because he could see things clearly.
Li Feng didn’t care whether he could see through him. What he wanted was just a form of accomplice, preferably one who shared full responsibility.
“Curator Wu,” Li Feng started, but couldn’t help but gag again, turning his head twice, “The test subjects were unlocked by you, activated by you, and the people were taken from your lab. Even if this is all staged by me, shouldn’t you praise my cleverness? Otherwise, how are you going to cover up your mistakes?”
“You!” Curator Wu suddenly stood up, pacing around the room, pointing at his assistants. “Check the surveillance! Director Li brought them in. If no one had brought them, they couldn’t have left so smoothly!”
Li Feng didn’t stop him, slowly getting up and sitting down on a nearby chair, watching the assistant pull up the surveillance footage.
The screen showed Qiu Shi and his group of four leaving smoothly through the high-level employee passage at the back door of the laboratory, reaching the parking lot, and driving away.
All the doors had been opened in advance by someone wearing a display hall uniform. The only people who could open these doors were high-level staff in the lab, and Li Feng didn’t have access to this passage.
Curator Wu stared at the surveillance for a while before turning to look at Li Feng. “Who is this person?”
“Are you asking me?” Li Feng said. “Isn’t this person wearing a security department uniform?”
It was clear that Curator Wu was struggling to accept the result, repeatedly rewinding and forwarding the footage.
“Curator Wu,” Li Feng had to remind him, “The most important thing now is to explain things to Mr. Long.”
“How do I explain?!” Curator Wu turned around and shouted in a low voice.
“Curator Wu, I’m trying to help you,” Li Feng said.
“Help me?” Curator Wu’s hands trembled with anger. “Now it’s my fault?”
“What exactly is my fault?” Li Feng asked.
Curator Wu stared at him for a long time, unable to say anything.
“Do you have any painkillers?” Li Feng touched the back of his head and found a bump. “It hurts so much.”
Curator Wu grabbed the medicine and walked up to him, slamming the bottle onto the table. “Li Feng, we’ve been friends for many years, and you’re doing this to me?”
“Find two test subjects to replace No. 4 and No. 5 right away,” Li Feng took the medicine. “When demonstrating to Mr. Long, just use No. 6. The rest can be based on the data.”
“Do you know who the two they took were?” Curator Wu leaned over, pressing his voice low. “Do you know who they were?”
“Who?” Li Feng took a nearby glass of water and swallowed the medicine.
“Ji Sui and Xu Jie,” Curator Wu said. “Those two, along with Xing Bi and Lin Sheng, were the last members of Lü Rang’s strongest hidden guard team.”
“Who were they missing?” Li Feng asked. “Zheng Ting?”
“Now do you realize how serious this is?!” Curator Wu said. “Out of our four strongest hidden guards, we only have one and a half partners left!”
“Liu Wu is indeed not very capable,” Li Feng said.
“Not just incapable, he can’t even control Lin Sheng,” Curator Wu said. “If it weren’t for the urgency of the mission, I would have opposed Colonel Xu’s choice.”
“If the mission weren’t urgent, you wouldn’t have opposed Colonel Xu,” Li Feng said. “Lao Wu, you need to face the truth. You only dare to oppose me.”
“What if something happens to them?” Curator Wu asked.
“These people all stood by Xing Bi in the end,” Li Feng said. “As long as Xing Bi doesn’t waver, they won’t be in danger for now.”
“Why wouldn’t Xing Bi waver?” Curator Wu asked again.
“Because his partner quit everything for him,” Li Feng said.
“Qiu Shi alone controls four hidden guards,” Curator Wu nodded. “I don’t know if you’re optimistic or if I’m naive.”
“Curator Wu, we need to clarify the order of events,” Li Feng sighed. “The hidden guards didn’t have partners at first. Back then, they were called ‘friends.’ This period lasted much longer than the time they had partners.”
Curator Wu glared at him for a while, then suddenly turned and walked toward the inner door of the laboratory. “I’ll go find two replacements.”
Li Feng breathed a sigh of relief, grabbing the cup and finishing the water.
Timewise, Qiu Shi and the others should have already switched cars and be on their way back to Xima Town.
However, Li Feng wasn’t clear about the plan after handing the team members back to Xing Bi. Since the people had been taken away, he naturally wouldn’t know what they intended to do.
He could only guess.
The secretary called him 10 minutes before Mr. Long’s arrival to remind him that he needed to have a video call with Mayor Luo in the afternoon.
“Got it, I haven’t forgotten,” Li Feng said, touching his head. “Please check the time with Director Zhang again. After my meeting, I might need to take a nap before heading to the City Defense Bureau.”
“Okay,” the secretary replied. “Also, your guest has been arranged.”
“Mm, understood,” Li Feng said.
The guest was the senior staff member wearing the display hall uniform. Curator Wu still hadn’t had time to check who was missing from the museum. By the time he found out, he would probably come looking for Li Feng to settle the score.
However, places like the display hall, which didn’t have much profit, and with a director who lacked any human warmth, it wasn’t difficult to take a few management staff.
The people in the car had remained silent.
From the moment Xing Bi took the fourth and fifth hidden guards out of the transfer chamber, to escaping the display hall, and now to driving, Xing Bi hadn’t spoken a word to the two hidden guards.
Qiu Shi also didn’t speak. He mainly didn’t know what to make of the situation. The hidden guards now used by Yun City had mostly undergone symbiotic experiments with Curator Wu’s group and were now symbiotic entities. He even suspected that the two in the back might be controlled by Xing Bi.
However, Xing Bi had said that it was difficult to control another subject of the same level.
So… Qiu Shi glanced back. Maybe they were just introverted.
He couldn’t think of any other explanation.
When the car reached “Dushi,” Xing Bi stopped the car.
“Hmm?” Qiu Shi glanced at him.
“It’s a scenic spot,” Xing Bi said.
The two people in the back got out of the car and walked to the front, looking up at the sky.
“What are you looking at?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Just feeling it,” Xing Bi said. “The real world.”
Qiu Shi didn’t respond.
“I thought you were going to ask why feeling the real world requires looking at the sky,” Xing Bi said.
“Did I misjudge what you were feeling?” Qiu Shi smiled.
“My partner is really hard to predict,” Xing Bi said.
“Shut up,” Qiu Shi said. “I also like looking at the sky. The sky is big, you can see far. Things on the ground keep changing, but the sky doesn’t. What you saw before and what I see now, it’s the same.”
Xing Bi turned his head to look at him.
“Hmm?” Qiu Shi also looked at him. “Did I say something wrong? The teaching quality of the refugee school is just like this…”
“You’re quite romantic,” Xing Bi said.
“Wow,” Qiu Shi froze for a moment. “Honestly, in my life, I’ve only heard that word used about five times, and now the sixth time it’s being used on me.”
Xing Bi laughed.
“Do you want to go over and chat for a bit?” Qiu Shi looked at the two people outside the car. “It’s been a while…”
Qiu Shi stopped halfway through his sentence, the words instantly taking him back to that night in Xima Town. He was fine, but didn’t want to provoke Xing Bi.
“What’s wrong?” Xing Bi looked at him. “Got some trauma?”
“Afraid you do,” Qiu Shi said. “I’m fine; next time I see him, I’ll still greet him. It’s been so long, I really miss him.”
Xing Bi laughed again.
The two people outside the car looked over at them.
“Come on, partner,” Xing Bi opened the car door. “Let’s get acquainted.”
Qiu Shi followed him out of the car.
“Qiu Shi,” Xing Bi walked over, pointing to Qiu Shi and then to the two people. “Ji Sui, Xu Jie.”
Qiu Shi remained silent.
This was indeed very simple.
“Partners?” Ji Sui asked.
“Yes,” Xing Bi replied.
Qiu Shi noticed that these bioroids were indeed randomly selected from the best range. They were all about the same height. Though their appearances were different, they were all quite pleasant to look at.
“We don’t have partners right now,” Xu Jie spoke up. “Is that okay?”
This statement, compared to how they looked up at the sky earlier, made Qiu Shi feel somewhat uncomfortable.
“No need,” Xing Bi said.
“We’re the ones who took the people,” Qiu Shi said. “What do partners matter? Your partners won’t be locked in a hibernation chamber, staring blankly.”
Xing Bi glanced at him.
Qiu Shi suddenly realized that this statement of his really felt like “betrayal.”
Ji Sui and Xu Jie didn’t speak, seemingly thinking.
“It’s just returning to the original state,” Qiu Shi said. “Originally, you were friends of humanity, not tools that were required to be 100% controllable.”
Ji Sui looked at Qiu Shi.
“What?” Qiu Shi asked.
“You’re not fully human,” Xu Jie said.
“Mm,” Qiu Shi responded.
“Why?” Xu Jie asked.
“I am,” Xing Bi said.
Ji Sui and Xu Jie both seemed stunned.
“Because I didn’t want to drag my friend down,” Qiu Shi said.
“Let’s check out the scenic spot,” Xing Bi said as he walked over to the rock and touched the spot he had touched earlier. “Then we’ll head out. We have plans for the evening.”
Ji Sui and Xu Jie walked over and touched the same spot, very naturally, without any doubt.
So this was a habit of the old-timers.
Ji Sui picked up a small stone and placed it on top of the large rock.
“What’s that for?” Qiu Shi asked, stunned.
“For good luck,” Xing Bi said.
“…Are there really that many ways to ask for good luck?” Qiu Shi said. “I thought you just touch the stone.”
Ji Sui smiled.
“Let’s go,” Xing Bi said.
Asking for good luck didn’t seem out of place given the current situation.
Li Feng hadn’t contacted him yet, so it seemed he planned to perfectly execute the “I had no idea this was something Qiu Shi did” plan. As for what would happen next, that was up to him and Xing Bi… No, it was up to Xing Bi.
After all, Qiu Shi didn’t know how to handle that nest. The request for team members had originally come from Xing Bi, and he also didn’t know what would happen to the two people they had rescued.
But he didn’t care. No need to think too far ahead—people might not even live to see the future they imagined. For now, he would deal with what was in front of him.
By the time dusk arrived, they had entered the vicinity of Xima Town. Xing Bi stopped the car at the intersection of Xiniu Village.
“Wait for us here. We’ll leave once it’s dark,” Xing Bi said.
Ji Sui and Xu Jie didn’t speak, opened the car doors, and got out.
“Is this okay?” Qiu Shi asked.
“No problem,” Xing Bi said.
When Qiu Shi looked out the window, he realized he couldn’t see them anymore. He opened the map and confirmed they were already behind the dirt mound over there.
“They…” Qiu Shi asked, “Are their memories also locked like yours?”
“Mm, about the part with my teacher, they might not be locked,” Xing Bi said as he continued driving. “But they will eventually find out.”
“What do you mean?” Qiu Shi immediately asked.
“Fungi act as a whole,” Xing Bi said. “Fungi in the same nest can sense each other. The symbiotic host control takes advantage of this, so there’s also information transfer between symbiotic entities.”
“Got it,” Qiu Shi said. “You guys were all part of the first nest’s fungi, right?”
“Mm,” Xing Bi nodded.
“Then… there are no secrets left,” Qiu Shi said. “You can all learn a bit of each other’s little secrets.”
“Only if you’re willing,” Xing Bi said. “As long as it’s a secret, there will be defenses in the subconscious.”
“Mm,” Qiu Shi leaned back in his seat, raising his arm to rest behind his head. “Have you been together for a long time? You and your team members.”
“We’ve always been together on missions,” Xing Bi said.
“I feel like,” Qiu Shi turned his face to look at him, “when you meet, it’s not like… you haven’t seen each other for a long time, right?”
“Introverted,” Xing Bi said.
“F*ck,” Qiu Shi laughed. “You’re introverted?”
“We have emotions, and we can sense emotions, but not everyone expresses them like humans do,” Xing Bi said. “Especially when we don’t need to face humans, or… when facing humans we don’t like.”
“Got it,” Qiu Shi said.
Like Liu Wu.
When Xing Bi and Lin Sheng stood in front of him, they were two standard bioroids, completely detached from anything human.
“Why didn’t you tell me Xing Bi had already been found?” Liu Wu looked at Lin Sheng.
“The mission didn’t require me to proactively inform my partner,” Lin Sheng said.
“What kind of mission setup is this?” Liu Wu said, looking at Qiu Shi. “Was your mission set up like this too? Does it really need to be that detailed?”
It would indeed be more detailed, especially during the first collaboration. It was clear that Liu Wu and Lin Sheng’s mission setup wasn’t done by Curator Wu or Li Feng, but by Colonel Xu.
Colonel Xu, who had a rigid view of bioroids, believed Lin Sheng should be someone who could perfectly handle situations with his own thoughts and consciousness while also following orders 100%, even without pre-set conditions, and still follow orders without question… like a soldier.
Qiu Shi didn’t answer Liu Wu.
“What’s the mission for tonight?” Liu Wu raised his hand, as if preparing to contact the command center. “Have you reported the discovery of Xing Bi to the higher-ups?”
“Liu Wu, you’re now an external member of the second team.” Qiu Shi looked at him, ready to draw his knife and jab it at his hand. “Do you want to report to someone above the team leader?”
“Deputy Leader Li is the direct order issuer,” Liu Wu said. “If I have doubts about you, I will naturally report to him.”
Qiu Shi frowned. “Li Feng is meeting with Mr. Long.”
“Then it’s Colonel Xu,” Liu Wu said firmly.
When Liu Wu pointed to his wrist to initiate the call, Qiu Shi punched him squarely in the face.
Liu Wu, being a soldier and one selected by Colonel Xu to be Lin Sheng’s partner, had excellent physical conditioning and reflexes.
The enhanced Qiu Shi’s punch was fast. Liu Wu couldn’t avoid it, but even though he was struck solidly in the nose and fell to the ground, he didn’t lose consciousness.
As he struggled to sit up from the ground, Qiu Shi walked over and kneeled sharply into his chin.
Liu Wu leaned backward and fell to the ground, unmoving.
Lin Sheng didn’t stop him, possibly because he knew it wasn’t fatal.
But he kept watching Qiu Shi, his gaze filled with some confusion.
“Problems that can’t be solved with your brain,” Qiu Shi said, looking at him. “Then solve them with your hands.”
Lin Sheng smiled.
“Zhao Yi,” Qiu Shi opened the team’s internal channel. “Please bring two people up here.”
“Is he dead?” Zhao Yi looked at Liu Wu, who was lying on the ground.
“Don’t be so happy, he’s not dead,” Qiu Shi said. “Lift him up and hand him over to Sang Fan to control, make sure he can’t move or make a sound… especially his left hand…”
Qiu Shi kicked Liu Wu’s left hand. “It must be completely immobile until I return.”
Zhao Yi paused, his gaze scanning Liu Wu’s left hand, then nodded. “Understood.”
“It’ll be a bit hard tonight; don’t rest for now,” Qiu Shi said. “Stay alert. If anything happens, contact me immediately.”
“Will something happen?” Zhao Yi asked.
“Maybe not,” Qiu Shi didn’t go into detail with Zhao Yi. The second team couldn’t be involved in this matter. If there were any consequences, with Li Feng’s style, even if he wanted to protect someone, it was unlikely he would protect the regular members of the second team.
With Li Feng’s previous orders, the two new vehicles were requisitioned by Qiu Shi.
He and Xing Bi would use one, and Lin Sheng would drive the other.
The two cars drove out of Xima Town, one after the other. When they were nearing Xiniu Village, Lin Sheng’s voice came through the earpiece: “Xing Bi.”
“They’re up ahead,” Xing Bi said.
“They’re not from Yun City, right?” Lin Sheng asked.
“Not exactly,” Xing Bi replied. “To the outside world, they can be understood as having been rescued.”
“Mm,” Lin Sheng responded.
Qiu Shi opened the map, and not long after, he saw two small dots. However, because these were rescued people, their names didn’t show up on the map, so Qiu Shi manually added them.
Once the team had gathered, Qiu Shi handed the earpieces to Ji Sui and Xu Jie. They also distributed their weapons before getting into the cars.
Xing Bi, Qiu Shi, and Ji Sui in one car, Lin Sheng and Xu Jie in the other.
Without saying much, the two cars started heading northwest in the dark.
The snow-covered ground clearly showed more and more infected people appearing, with their numbers increasing compared to before. It seemed the infected from the nest were quickly gathering, and soon there would be a scale similar to that night.
With a clear destination and vehicles, they quickly approached the nest.
The two cars stopped about 500 meters from the nest. Lin Sheng and Xu Jie got out of their car, and Xing Bi glanced at Qiu Shi. “You drive. This one will charge in, the other car will be used for retreat.”
“Mm,” Qiu Shi responded. “Four seats, are two of them holding on?”
“I’ll be on top,” Xing Bi said, getting out of the car and jumping onto the roof.
After Lin Sheng and Xu Jie got into their car, Qiu Shi said, “Let’s go.”
“I won’t be thrown off,” Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi clicked his tongue and slammed his foot on the gas.
The wheels kicked up a spray of snow and shot forward.
Soon, the nest appeared at the top of the map. As the car kept getting closer, the black area on the map gradually expanded, slowly taking up half the screen.
“Don’t stop,” Xing Bi said.
“Mm,” Qiu Shi gripped the steering wheel and charged toward the increasingly dense infected crowd ahead.
A flash of light streaked from the car roof, exploding in the infected crowd ahead.
At the same time, the three doors—front passenger and rear—opened simultaneously, and Lin Sheng and the others leaned out, sending out several more flashes.
The fire in front flared up, bright as daylight.
Qiu Shi drove the car into the pile of dismembered corpses, the sparse trees along the edge shattered by the explosions, black branches scattered in the firelight. The blast wave stirred the black mist, making it swirl and twist.
As the car plunged into the trees, the map in front of Qiu Shi was completely filled with black. The infected dots that had disappeared from the explosions were now reappearing from all directions, and this time, they weren’t charging forward but began to surround them.
“A host entity has started to take control,” Qiu Shi said.
“Follow me,” Xing Bi jumped off the car roof.
The others also opened their car doors and jumped out.
On the map, their four dots fanned out, pushing forward and clearing the approaching infected before quickly pulling back toward the cars.
Qiu Shi kept his eyes on the map, maintaining a steady speed.
This was his first time seeing bioroids working in coordination. The precise synchronization made it seem as if they were one person.
After two rounds of clearing, the infected ahead no longer charged at them but began to gather toward the center.
“They’re gathering in the middle,” Qiu Shi reported the coordinates. “The car can’t go any further.”
Lin Sheng threw a grenade forward, which exploded in the air. The nearby infected were knocked down by the shrapnel, and Qiu Shi saw the infected ahead, now clustered together like a mountain of flesh.
“His ancestors,” he cursed, stopping the car and quickly grabbing his gun.
The infected making up the “flesh mountain” all turned their heads at once, opening their mouths.
“Xing Bi—”
“Old man, I’ll kill your ancestors—” Qiu Shi couldn’t help but shout back.
I caught up 😭 Thank you for the translation!