This answer from Xing Bi made Qiu Shi turn his head and glance at him.
“So, you wanted to kill me?” Li Feng asked Qiu Shi.
“I told you, if you don’t die a natural death, it will be at my hands,” Qiu Shi said, his hands still shaking with anger.
Li Feng said nothing more. He walked over, took Curator Wu’s cup, poured some water into his hand, wiped the blood off his face, and then stuffed a wad of paper into his nose, which was still dripping blood.
Then he nodded to Curator Wu: “Continue.”
“I need to contact Xiao Lei,” Qiu Shi said before Curator Wu could speak, “right now, immediately.”
“The military personnel sent to assist will take over the task of clearing out the infected. Don’t worry,” Li Feng said.
Curator Wu cleared his throat, preparing to speak again, when Qiu Shi asked another question: “Why won’t I get infected?”
“You’re heaven-sent…” Li Feng started walking towards the sofa.
“Watch your words,” Xing Bi interjected.
Li Feng looked at him.
“He will hit you again,” Xing Bi said.
Li Feng sighed and turned to Qiu Shi: “We’re still studying it. If you ask me now, even if it costs me my life, I can only say you have a unique constitution.”
To be honest, Qiu Shi didn’t believe a word of it.
But he knew very well that, in the current situation, Li Feng wouldn’t tell him the truth anyway.
“Qiu Shi, let me explain how you and your partner will work together.” Curator Wu finally got a chance to speak.
“Whatever.” Qiu Shi leaned back on the sofa, stretched out his legs, and tilted his head back, feeling very tired and wanting to sleep.
Processing so much information in such a short time was overwhelming for someone who had always lived a simple life.
More than anything, he felt despair. It seemed as if some force was dragging him down into a bottomless whirlpool.
The most direct culprit was the person standing across from him, leaning against the wall with a wad of paper stuffed in his nose.
Qiu Shi wanted to go over and kick that wad of paper into Li Feng’s brain.
Curator Wu pressed a button on a remote, and an image full of hand gestures was projected in front of him: “These are control gestures. They can control… the biotic entities’ actions, through…”
“Hmm?” Qiu Shi was still tilting his head back but raised an eyebrow.
After two seconds, he quickly realized that just using a gesture to control the biotic entities was probably as effective as those street doctors in the outer city who jump around and shout while treating people.
So he sat up straight and looked at Curator Wu: “Through what?”
“Through…” Curator Wu glanced over at Li Feng.
“Through a control system,” Li Feng turned his head away and said.
“What control system?” Qiu Shi pressed on, “Where is it? How can it capture my gestures?”
Li Feng didn’t answer. When Qiu Shi looked at Curator Wu, Curator Wu’s gaze quickly shifted to Xing Bi.
“What’s going on?” Qiu Shi suddenly laughed and leaned back on the sofa, “Do you think I can’t beat him, so you let him speak? If I fight, it’ll definitely still be you two getting hit.”
“The control system has already been implanted in your body,” Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi froze, then closed his eyes after a while, feeling as if all his strength had been drained: “You can all go to hell.”
“Qiu Shi,” Li Feng called to him, “the situation was too urgent; we had no choice.”
“I want to go to the dungeon. You can kill me if you want,” Qiu Shi said softly, “I won’t do this mission. Let’s all die together. I’m not that noble.”
“Let’s go out first,” Li Feng said, “You need to calm down.”
Qiu Shi didn’t move or speak; his eyes were closed. He heard footsteps heading towards the door, then the door opening and closing.
The room was very quiet. No sound could be heard. This room was deep underground, feeling like it might be even deeper than the entire dungeon.
The dungeon in Yun City was also deep underground. The more serious the crime, the deeper the cell.
Qiu Shi kept thinking about what the bottommost level would be like.
It seemed to be just like this, where he was now.
“Don’t you need to breathe?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Yes,” Xing Bi’s voice sounded, “You can’t hear it because your hearing isn’t that good.”
Qiu Shi opened his eyes: “Why are you still here? Is it beneath a hidden guard to retreat with the main conspirators?”
“I stay here because there’s no danger of being hit,” Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi paused, then laughed: “You actually have a sense of humor.”
“A little bit,” Xing Bi said.
“Are you really not human?” Qiu Shi tilted his head to look at him, “The biotic entities I understand aren’t like you. The one that broke my bones last time fits my imagination better.”
“That one didn’t break your bones,” Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi stared at him for a long time, then turned his head away: “Damn it.”
Xing Bi didn’t respond.
“You really seem like a living person,” Qiu Shi said.
“Level 1 biotic entities have emotions and thoughts, infinitely close to humans,” Xing Bi said, “but not humans. biotic entities below Level 1 fit your imagination better.”
Qiu Shi sneered.
This “classification” was indeed very human. Even biotic entities had to be ranked. The high-level ones had thoughts and emotions, while the lower-level ones could just be mindless zombies.
“Facing a non-human entity almost identical to yourself is a terrifying thing,” Xing Bi seemed to read his thoughts, “the fewer, the better.”
“Do Level 1 biotic entities have mind-reading abilities?” Qiu Shi asked.
“No, that was my first question,” Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi leaned back on the sofa and closed his eyes again: “Let’s end this heart-to-heart here. Even if we talk more, I won’t join this mission. Let Li Feng find someone else to trick.”
“If the initial sequence was to first inspect the nest, then prove that you wouldn’t be infected, making you the most suitable candidate for the task, and finally tell you that you need an implanted control system,” Xing Bi’s tone remained calm throughout. “To save the people of this city, including your brothers, would you still refuse?”
Qiu Shi didn’t say anything.
…Level 1 biotic entities are really terrifying; no wonder their numbers need to be restricted.
So that control system probably exists because of this fear.
Qiu Shi thought for a moment and raised his hand.
“The system is not activated,” Xing Bi said, “The control over your partner only works during the mission and only if the biotic entity loses control or makes an obvious error in judgment.”
“Damn you.” Qiu Shi jumped up from the sofa, walked to the door, and pulled it open. Outside were Li Feng and Curator Wu, who hadn’t had time to dodge.
“Give me a biotic entity without mind-reading abilities,” Qiu Shi said, leaning against the door frame, “If you can’t, then send me to the dungeon.”
“The biotic entities don’t have that ability,” Curator Wu said, “Xing Bi is not an alien, nor does he have superpowers. He just has sharper insight and more experience than ordinary humans…”
“Change him,” Qiu Shi said.
“There’s no one to change with,” Li Feng said, “Xing Bi is the only Level 1 hidden guard we can safely activate.”
“Then change to a Level 2, Level 3, Level 5, or Level 8,” Qiu Shi said, “A remote-controlled rocket launcher would work too.”
“We can give you a remote-controlled rocket launcher,” Curator Wu said, “but Xing Bi is still your only choice as a partner.”
Xing Bi wasn’t wrong. If it had been the sequence he described, Qiu Shi basically wouldn’t refuse this task. All his anger stemmed from the deceit.
Maybe for the people in the inner city, this didn’t even count as deceit, just like those refugees from the outer city who were taken to the nest to repair the walls, believing they had gotten a decent-paying job, only to die silently. It was nothing significant, just tools.
Yun City’s acceptance of refugees didn’t have any noble purpose either. To keep the city running normally, to ensure a sufficient supply of various survival materials, and to let the inner city residents live a peaceful life, all this required people.
They needed enough refugees to serve as production tools.
“Have you memorized all these gestures?” Curator Wu asked, “If not, it’s okay, we can…”
“I’ve memorized them.” Qiu Shi snapped out of his thoughts, but his gaze never fell on the projection.
Curator Wu’s voice turned a bit stern: “Please take this seriously. This task concerns…”
Qiu Shi impatiently raised his hand and mimicked the gestures: “I memorized them earlier, along with the corresponding commands. This thing can’t be used casually; there’s no need to go over it repeatedly. Talk about something else.”
“Your memory is quite good,” Curator Wu smiled, “Your job is to provide data for your partner, including the environment, dangers, and mission targets. You are to assist him in anticipating danger and providing accurate strike support. The hidden guards don’t have these devices on them.”
“Why not?” Qiu Shi squinted.
“This is… a form of cooperation,” Curator Wu said, “based on mutual trust between partners.”
“More like a lack of trust,” Qiu Shi said, “and when I unilaterally decide he’s untrustworthy, I can restrict his actions.”
“That’s why you need to undergo training,” Li Feng said, “According to historical experience, this is the safest and most effective way.”
“Historical experience,” Qiu Shi responded quickly, “So it wasn’t like this at the beginning, right?”
Li Feng didn’t speak; he just glanced at Xing Bi.
“Right,” Xing Bi said, “biotic entities have a small chance of losing control and breaking their vow to humans.”
“What vow?” Qiu Shi turned to look at Xing Bi.
“Never betray,” Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi was silent.
After a while, he smiled: “You really aren’t human.”
“So what you need to know is that your partner has cognitive abilities, emotions, likes and dislikes,” Li Feng took out the wad of paper from his nose, but blood started dripping again before he finished speaking, so he had to stuff another wad in, “You’ve seen the likes and dislikes, right? Lastly, the principle he will never break is that he won’t harm humans.”
The time was evidently tight. Qiu Shi hadn’t even figured out the dynamics of this partnership or understood the so-called system operations before being taken to the training ground.
It was a deserted area composed of rocky peaks and scattered dense forests.
Qiu Shi and Xing Bi were squatting in a sealed compartment that was directly transported to the edge of the area. Li Feng’s voice came through the earpiece: “The task is simple: find and eliminate four infected individuals and two Level 3 biotic entities. Note, the biotic entities are not from Yun City; they are invaders and hostile.”
“Can you hear this?” Qiu Shi asked Xing Bi.
“No,” Xing Bi answered.
“He can’t hear it,” Curator Wu’s voice came through, “Now your positioning system is activated, allowing you to sense the movement of objects within a 300-meter radius centered on you. You need to identify which ones are targets.”
A targeting frame-like image appeared in front of Qiu Shi, with scales, various shaded areas, and several points moving at different speeds and distances. There were eleven in total, indicating that apart from the six targets, there were five irrelevant objects.
Without giving him more time to think, Li Feng’s voice came again: “Start.”
Xing Bi opened the compartment door and jumped out.
“F*ck your ancestors,” Qiu Shi had to follow and jump out too. The overlay of the image in front of him with the surrounding scenery made him a bit dizzy, “What the hell is this? How do I read it?”
“I don’t know,” Xing Bi walked towards the rocks ahead, “I can’t see it.”
“What’s the use of you? Partner.” Qiu Shi had no choice but to watch those moving points while comparing them with the terrain in front of him, simultaneously judging whether the shaded areas were obstacles and what kind of obstacles they were.
“That’s what I should be asking you now.” Xing Bi suddenly rushed towards a huge rock, climbed to the top, and immediately threw an infected person off the rock. When Xing Bi landed, he directly broke the infected person’s neck and said, “Partner.”
Each point had coordinates next to it, changing as the point moved.
Xing Bi had already entered the forest. After he was out of Qiu Shi’s sight, Qiu Shi found that he could see Xing Bi’s position in the frame in front of him. Confirming that there were no suspicious targets around him, he stopped to quickly study these points.
Then he reported the coordinates of the first target.
The point representing Xing Bi started to move, and a little over ten seconds later, the first target point disappeared.
“What was it?” Qiu Shi asked.
“…A pig,” Xing Bi said, “a spotted one.”
“No need to tell me the color.” Qiu Shi reported the next coordinates.
After the target disappeared, Xing Bi reported the situation without waiting for Qiu Shi to ask: “An infected person.”
“Good,” Qiu Shi frowned, staring at the frame in front of him, not having time to report the coordinates again. “biotic entity at three o’clock.”
Li Feng, with his arms crossed, watched the returning footage on the screen with a smile on his lips.
“Quick reaction.” Director Zhang stood next to him.
First, he picked an unknown target to clear, then used the data characteristics of that target to determine whether other targets matched the task criteria. After two times, Qiu Shi could directly judge the type of target.
No wonder he survived as a corpse collector outside the city, facing the harshest conditions—his adaptability is strong.
“It seems we chose the right person,” Curator Wu said.
“There was no one else to choose from,” Li Feng said, “We were just lucky.”
Although he could now determine what these points were, it was his first time, and for Qiu Shi, the image overlaid on the messy background was a bit straining. When he noticed a biotic entity rapidly approaching him, he judged that the distance was already less than a hundred meters.
He checked the distance between himself and Xing Bi—about two hundred meters—unsure if there was enough time.
“Come back!” He drew the knife strapped to the side of his boot, staring at the direction the biotic entity was charging from.
A black figure rushed out, and Qiu Shi slightly bent his body, picking an angle for attack.
To his surprise, the biotic entity was a female with a particularly noticeable ponytail.
In the image, Xing Bi’s point approached at an even faster speed, then appeared behind the biotic entity.
The biotic entity was kicked down, tumbling forward several meters and landing on the ground about ten meters away from Qiu Shi.
Her face was turned towards Qiu Shi, revealing a young and slightly innocent face, her eyes staring blankly at him.
Xing Bi’s movements were crisp and efficient. He leapt up and came down, his knee smashing into the back of her neck. Her eyes, which had been staring at Qiu Shi, slowly dimmed until they became pitch black.
The task was completed in half the allotted time.
Qiu Shi and Xing Bi returned to the vehicle.
“Perfect!” Li Feng’s voice came through.
“Turn this thing off,” Qiu Shi said, “It’s annoying to look at.”
The frame finally disappeared from his vision, and the return to normal sight made him exhale sharply.
The vehicle seemed to be taking a concealed path, bumping quite a bit. Qiu Shi leaned against the compartment, feeling something indescribable.
He had cleared many infected people before; it wasn’t difficult, nor did it put much pressure on him. Most infected individuals had significant differences from their human forms, typically disfigured, with rotting blackened skin and blood-red eyes, all representing lethal danger.
The gruesome scenes he had seen while collecting the bodies of those killed by infected individuals made him angry and decisive when dealing with them.
However, the biotic entity that Xing Bi had just easily killed in front of him made him uncomfortable.
He didn’t know if it was because she was a female, because her appearance was indistinguishable from that of a healthy human, or because Xing Bi’s efficient dispatch was similar to the move he had wanted to use on Li Feng but failed.
“Where do these biotic entities come from?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Captured,” Xing Bi said, “Yun City still has quite a few Level 2 and 3 biotic entities. Capturing these two Level 3s wasn’t difficult.”
Qiu Shi looked at him: “What do these biotic entities mean to you? Are they your kind?”
“They are mission targets,” Xing Bi replied.
“Oh,” Qiu Shi responded.
“Level 3 biotic entities don’t have the ability to learn emotions,” Xing Bi said, “They have no thoughts or feelings and experience no pain when being cleared.”
Qiu Shi frowned: “Stop observing me, damn it. Does guessing what people think give you a sense of achievement?”
“No,” Xing Bi said, “These were just questions I thought about when I started thinking.”
“You didn’t start thinking from the beginning,” Qiu Shi looked at him, “Now your mind works so well; you must have put in a lot of effort to be as close to human as possible.”
Xing Bi smiled but didn’t say anything.
“You were produced…you left the factory…you…” Qiu Shi adjusted his words for a long time, and finally used the one he was most used to, “How long have you lived?”
“A long time,” Xing Bi said, “definitely more than twenty-five years.”
“That was just bullshit,” Qiu Shi thought for a moment, “What’s the earliest thing you remember?”
Xing Bi was silent for a while: “I don’t have all my memories. In order to ensure 100% control, some of my memories will be locked.”
“Can you lie?” Qiu Shi asked.
“No,” Xing Bi said.
“But you can be evasive,” Qiu Shi said.
“Yeah.” Xing Bi nodded.
Back at the underground exhibition hall, Qiu Shi entered the lab for the first time.
Xing Bi entered a transparent glass cover, and the staff began to check his various indicators. It seemed that they had to do this every time he came back from a mission to ensure that nothing unexpected happened to him.
Qiu Shi was also taken into another room, where only Curator Wu was present. However, the several cameras facing him made him feel that there was a pair of eyes watching him from behind each camera.
“How did the mission feel?” Curator Wu asked.
“Not great,” Qiu Shi replied.
“Do you have a comprehensive understanding of your partner now?” Curator Wu inquired.
“No,” Qiu Shi said, “I’ve known Director Li for ten years and never thought he could screw me over like this. How could I understand a ‘near-human’ biotic entity in just a few hours?”
“You performed very well in this trial mission,” Curator Wu said, “exceeding our expectations.”
“Then your expectations were low,” Qiu Shi said.
“Now, I judge that you two can perfectly execute the first mission,” Curator Wu glanced at the time, “departure in five minutes.”
“What?” Qiu Shi was somewhat incredulous.
.
A Level 2 biotic entity had appeared in the outer city, and its two attack locations were close to the inner city edge. Its goal was likely to be to enter the inner city. Several checkpoints of the City Defense Bureau were already on high alert.
Qiu Shi and Xing Bi were still in the same enclosed vehicle. Qiu Shi didn’t know what Xing Bi was thinking, but he himself felt confused. These people didn’t even give him a chance to get angry. He had to quickly focus his attention and start figuring out this first mission.
“The areas where the target appeared are already sealed off,” a stern male voice said, “Civilians are prohibited, but given the urgency, some may still be there. Identify them carefully, and if they hinder the mission, they can be cleared as well.”
“Who are you?” Qiu Shi asked, frowning.
“City Defense Bureau Director, Zhang Qifeng,” the man replied.
“Director Zhang will be monitoring this operation,” Li Feng’s voice came through.
“Whatever,” Qiu Shi didn’t pay much attention. The same damned frame appeared before his eyes, more complex than during training.
“Clear the area,” Xing Bi finally spoke to guide the mission as he jumped out of the vehicle, “First, eliminate any lingering civilians.”
“Got it.” Qiu Shi followed him out, his vision overwhelmed by the cluttered display, nearly tripping.
They were now outside the No. 4 Peak checkpoint of the inner city. Following the rocky path down led to an old, poorly maintained road where normally no one would come. This area was within the patrol range of the checkpoint, and the City Defense Bureau’s approach to approaching refugees and outer city residents was to shoot to drive them away. Being wounded was considered lucky; Qiu Shi had collected many bodies here.
Xing Bi had already started down the path. Given the large task area, Qiu Shi had to move with him. After a few minutes, he could finally start to understand the display in front of him.
Rocks, crevices under rocks, streams…
“One hundred meters ahead,” Qiu Shi stopped and reported the coordinates, “Two people, likely civilians, not moving.”
Xing Bi almost immediately moved forward, quickly disappearing from Qiu Shi’s view.
Qiu Shi kept his eyes glued to the frame, not daring to relax for a moment, and ran towards the suspicious figures. This wasn’t training, and the target biotic entity wasn’t a Level 3. He had to stay close to Xing Bi. If the target appeared suddenly, he needed to give Xing Bi enough time to return.
“Civilians,” Xing Bi’s voice came through.
Qiu Shi hurriedly rushed forward. Although Director Zhang had said “clear them if they hinder the mission,” he didn’t know how Xing Bi would judge what constituted an obstacle to the mission.
“Let me see,” he called out.
Xing Bi hadn’t killed the civilians; he just knocked them out.
But these two civilians… Qiu Shi was stunned when he saw the two people lying in a hidden rock hollow: “What the hell…”
It was Li Datou.
And that skinny shrimp next to him.
There was also Li Datou’s damaged butterfly pet nearby.
“Do you know them?” Xing Bi asked.
Qiu Shi didn’t reply; he hadn’t decided what to say.
Apparently, Xing Bi hadn’t hit hard, or Li Datou was tough. At that moment, Li Datou groaned and began to wake up, slowly trying to lift his head.
Xing Bi slapped the back of his head, and Li Datou faceplanted back into unconsciousness.
Author’s Note:
Director Zhang: What kind of creature did I create?
For every Ko-fi received for a perticular novel, I will release a new chapter!
