“Is the call over?” Curator Wu asked the projection of the finished call, stretching his neck so far he didn’t dare pull it back.
“Yeah.” Li Feng sat down, opened a can, preparing a simple dinner, then thought for a moment and asked, “Do you have any alcohol here?”
“This is the laboratory’s conference room, not your command center’s meeting room,” Curator Wu said, “Where would there be alcohol?”
“There’s no alcohol in the command center’s meeting room either,” Li Feng sighed, “I have some in my office.”
“You keep alcohol in your office?” Curator Wu was a bit surprised.
“When new products come out, I have to test them,” Li Feng explained, “If the taste is no good… the other day someone said some older food outside tastes pretty good. I sent people to find some and bring it back so the food department can study the process. They haven’t done proper work in decades. When it’s ready, you can try it.”
“You think pretty far ahead, all this over a can of food,” Curator Wu sighed, “The base is right in front of us, why don’t you take a look?”
“Look at what?” Li Feng glanced at him, as usual, poured the can into a bowl and took a bite.
“The base. The equipment and machines in Yun City were all transported from there. Our entire research foundation is there,” Curator Wu said, “Don’t you want to see what it’s like? And what else is there?”
“So you’re the curious type,” Li Feng said, “Now’s not the time for us to look. Xing Bi wouldn’t bring all the Bioroids into such an important area either.”
Curator Wu said nothing but glanced at Chen Dang.
“Why look at him? It’s not like he said it,” Li Feng said.
“Just want to confirm if that’s the case,” Curator Wu replied.
“That’s the production site for the existing Bioroids. Indeed, many Bioroids have stayed near the base,” Chen Dang said, “Vagrants and refugees rarely approach; rumors say there are lots of viruses and fungi there.”
“But…” Curator Wu sat next to Li Feng, “You have to understand…”
He looked at Chen Dang again, “That place used to be able to produce Bioroids. What if, just what if, the number of Bioroids suddenly increased again… It would be hard for humans to keep the balance.”
“Your brain suddenly works,” Li Feng smiled, eating and speaking, “Xing Bi and the others know what they’re doing. It’s not at that point yet.”
The base was not the goal of this operation; it wasn’t on the original route. However, when Jiang Liu suggested making a detour, visiting the base became a natural choice.
This was the “birthplace” of all Bioroids, the starting point of the war, and the place where Bioroids and humans broke apart.
The convoy found a hidden spot to park, set up communications, prepared defenses, and waited for Xu Jie’s team to arrive. Almost no one spoke.
Jiang Liu had been here many times and seemed emotionally unaffected, but the other Bioroids, especially Xing Bi’s team from Yun City, were unusually silent as they stared at the buildings outside the gate.
“Is this place the old home of the Bioroids?” Li Rui quietly asked from behind Qiu Shi.
“Sort of,” Qiu Shi said, “They were all ‘born’ here.”
“This place is really big, almost like a city,” Li Rui said, “I guess it was even bigger before being destroyed.”
“Yeah.” Qiu Shi nodded. He hadn’t seen many cities, but compared to Yun City, this place was indeed huge.
Li Rui, having lived only fifteen short years in this world as a human child, didn’t feel much beyond its size and that it was the Bioroids’ home.
But for Qiu Shi, also a young human of about twenty-five years, the emotions were much stronger. He understood and had contact with these Bioroids far more deeply than ordinary humans.
At this moment, he could feel a lot from the silence of the Bioroids around him.
After sunset, Xu Jie’s convoy arrived at the base. Their group was much larger than Qiu Shi’s, with more vehicles, people, and machines.
“Li Rui, right?” Xu Jie handed him a package. “Your sister asked me to bring this for you and Da Xiong. Said you weren’t dressed warmly enough when you left.”
“Hey,” Li Rui smiled, taking the package and handing it to Da Xiong, “She worries too much. We’re on the vehicle; how could we be cold?”
“Jiang Cheng didn’t return with our people to Xingchuan,” Xu Jie said. “He took people to the place your sister and the others are hiding, then left.”
“Got it,” Li Rui nodded, “Thanks, Big Brother Xu Jie.”
“You’re welcome,” Xu Jie said.
“Arrange the people going in,” Xing Bi said.
“Me?” Xu Jie glanced at him.
“Yeah, you know these people better than I do,” Xing Bi said, “From now on, you’ll be the one arranging it.”
“Are you leaving?” Ji Sui asked.
“No,” Xing Bi said, “I’m just stepping back from these things now. It’s you guys’ job.”
“A squad to set defenses…” Xu Jie glanced at him and started assigning people.
Qiu Shi watched the human soldiers and Bioroids quickly get out of the vehicles and quietly disperse under Xu Jie and Ji Sui’s command.
Besides them, Lin Sheng was now at Yun City command, and apart from Sang Fan—who lacked experience and hadn’t been assigned command—Xu Jie and Ji Sui were both frontline commanders in Yun City.
Xing Bi was gradually handing off the work that belonged to him.
“Soon, just the three of us plus Qiu Shi will enter the core area,” Xu Jie said. “The others will search the work and equipment zones.”
“Should we bring weapons?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Just simple ones,” Xing Bi said. “If the core area isn’t completely destroyed, we can’t bring weapons inside.”
“Understood.” Qiu Shi nodded.
The first group entering was a small human convoy led by several Bioroids, dispersing to search. Then came Xing Bi and the others, bringing a small unmanned vehicle.
After confirming the first group’s safety, the rest would follow.
This temporary mission was mainly to investigate the base’s condition, the extent of damage, and if there was anything left to salvage—equipment, instruments, or maybe something else. After all, Li Feng once led a team to find unused Bioroids in a southern base warehouse; Sang Fan came from there.
However, the base was well known to all Bioroids, so it was uncertain if anything could still be found.
“The outer area is normal,” Sang Fan’s voice came through the headset. She was with the first team.
“We’re moving,” Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi switched to squad communication and followed Xing Bi through the already collapsed main gate.
The long walls on both sides were clearly visible once, but now only the bases remained; the walls themselves were gone. Still, the boundary between inside and outside the base was distinguishable from the ground.
Even after so many years, the ground inside the walls was relatively flat, though cracked. Approaching the main building cluster, the ground felt different—smooth and solid.
Qiu Shi stomped his foot. Xing Bi glanced at him: “Metal. There’s space underneath.”
“Awesome,” Qiu Shi said, impressed.
“Yeah.” Xing Bi nodded.
Qiu Shi said nothing further, watching the dark shadows ahead.
It was already dark around, but the silver-white buildings stood out clearly. As they approached bit by bit, ruins appeared here and there.
“The main area is normal,” Sang Fan’s voice came again. “The rest can come in now. We’re heading to the eastern office building.”
The distant visible buildings became more incomplete as they got closer. Although tall, they covered a huge area. The eastern office area Sang Fan’s team was heading to was far from Qiu Shi’s core area, and they couldn’t see each other’s moving figures anymore.
“There should be many Bioroids nearby,” Qiu Shi said. “Why does it feel like there’s no one?”
“They’re all hiding. The convoy was big, after all,” Xu Jie said. “Nobody knows our intent, so no one shows themselves easily. Bioroids are good at waiting.”
Qiu Shi didn’t reply, but Xu Jie’s last words reminded him painfully of their long years trapped in hibernation pods.
They waited silently in the pods, while some of their kin waited quietly near their old “home.”
But what exactly they were waiting for—no one knew.
The unmanned vehicle went ahead, entering a large hall first.
“The reception hall. Visitors, tour groups,” Ji Sui said. “Everyone came through here.”
The hall was already in ruins, but unlike the ruined city buildings outside, the facilities here still remained. No vagrants or refugees had looted it—reception desks, waiting sofas, meeting tables, drink cabinets—though some were overturned or broken, the grandeur of the past was still visible.
Past the hall was a garden, with signs of fungi, but it was withered and cleared, leaving only black marks.
Sculptures, fountains, stone benches, and ancient-looking dead trees…
Only after entering the base did Qiu Shi slowly understand the world Xing Bi had lived in—though survival conditions had deteriorated, humans and Bioroids had once shared a final era of prosperity.
The buildings seen from the front weren’t the whole complex. Beyond the hall and garden was a large cluster of buildings, a maze of corridors and doors inside. Qiu Shi initially tried to memorize the route but gave up after a while.
“First-timers would get lost here,” Qiu Shi said.
“There are many secondary-level Bioroid guides who lead visitors where they need to go,” Xing Bi said. “Without a guide, you can’t wander freely.”
These secondary guides appeared on the first floor of the third building’s hall. Their number startled Qiu Shi so much he instinctively raised his gun—if not for Xing Bi grabbing his hand, he might have fired.
The hall was filled with Bioroids, sitting quietly and neatly arranged.
They were all dead. Their neck systems had been removed, leaving only shells that quietly decayed, held in their original form only by their uniforms.
It was obvious no one had entered this area for a long time. The airflow caused by their entry and the vibrations from the equipment vehicle caused some nearby shells to suddenly collapse.
“What… what should we do?” Qiu Shi suddenly panicked, feeling bad for these guides who had sat here for over a hundred years.
“It’s okay,” Xing Bi reached back and took his hand. “They died when their systems were removed. Someone probably left them here.”
“A guide graveyard,” Xu Jie said.
“…Oh.” Qiu Shi nodded, looking at Xing Bi’s hand, unsure what he meant.
Xing Bi waved at him and squeezed his hand again.
“What are you doing?” Qiu Shi asked. Normally this meant to hold his hand, but with Ji Sui, Xu Jie, and a video-recording vehicle present, it felt awkward.
“Hold hands,” Ji Sui said.
Xing Bi didn’t speak, only smiled and squeezed again.
Qiu Shi could only reach out and hold his hand.
“Don’t be afraid.” Xing Bi squeezed.
“I’m not afraid,” Qiu Shi whispered.
“Let’s go,” Xing Bi said, “Almost there.”
The core area was a separate two-story building: offices upstairs, laboratories below. Seeing its scale, Qiu Shi finally believed the large two-story lab in Yun City had been moved from this base—and only one part of it.
But the core was also the most heavily damaged area: walls blackened by fire, bent pillars, half-collapsed first floor, elevator doors crushed and deformed, interiors in total disarray, strewn with debris.
But inside the entire building, many places still had power; some floor lamps even automatically lit up as they passed by.
The elevator wasn’t working, and even if it was, they wouldn’t dare to use it. They went down the stairs. After several floors, Qiu Shi saw a large circular hall that was relatively well preserved—perhaps because the door was locked.
The glass looked just like the glass in the laboratory in Yun City—hard to break easily—and through the glass door, there was a heavy iron door inside.
“How do we get in?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Face scan.” Xing Bi slowly led him to the door and peeked inside. “All the rooms inside can block signals. If any Bioroids are hiding in there, we won’t be able to detect them. Be careful.”
Ji Sui and Xu Jie both pulled out their guns.
Qiu Shi also took his gun out from the holster on his leg. “I might aim better with two hands on the gun.”
“Mm,” Xing Bi responded but didn’t let go of his hand.
“Alright, at least I still have my right hand,” Qiu Shi said.
Xing Bi said nothing and gently touched the glass door. A faint blue light flashed where his fingertip touched, and then like ripples in water, a frame appeared on the glass with many characters written. Qiu Shi, who rarely looked at text, glanced quickly. Because of the chaotic background, he couldn’t really understand what was written.
But compared to the text, the photo of Xing Bi that appeared on the left instantly made his breath catch.
It was like being pulled back two hundred years, as if he had stepped into the world Xing Bi had once lived in.
In the photo, Xing Bi showed no smile; he looked cold and stern. The collar he wore was similar to the current Yun City uniform—maybe the uniform was taken from here as well.
Underneath the photo were some words Qiu Shi could read clearly:
Xing Bi, Level 1, Hidden Guard, B31-007.
The glass doors silently slid open to both sides.
As the doors opened, dry air poured out—it was noticeably warmer than the cold air outside. This place even had air conditioning on.
“Damn,” Qiu Shi whispered.
When Xing Bi stepped through the glass door, he finally let go of Qiu Shi’s hand. Qiu Shi quickly switched to holding his gun with both hands.
After Ji Sui and Xu Jie entered, the doors silently closed behind them.
Inside was a circular two-story structure. They were on the second floor, surrounded by a ring of closed doors. The railing in the middle looked down onto a circular hall below, also surrounded by doors. The thick iron door stretched through both floors.
“Is this the door we need to get through?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Yes.” Xing Bi nodded.
“Face scan again?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Bio-information,” Xing Bi said, slowly walking toward the stairs. “Anyone who enters needs it.”
Xu Jie and Ji Sui kept their guns pointed at the doors on the right.
“Then I can’t get in?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Requires three-person simultaneous authorization from the inside.” Xu Jie said.
“Normally, we three enter first,” Xing Bi said. “If the equipment isn’t damaged, the authorization process takes fifteen seconds.”
“So normally, I need to wait outside that door alone for fifteen seconds?” Qiu Shi said.
“Yes.” Xing Bi said.
“What about abnormal situations?” Qiu Shi asked.
“We can’t get in for now.” Xing Bi said.
“What do you mean?” Qiu Shi didn’t understand.
“There are people inside those doors.” Ji Sui said in a low voice.
“Shit?” Qiu Shi was stunned.
Ji Sui pointed his gun at a door open at the end of the corridor.
Qiu Shi stared inside and was shocked to see it full of empty supplement bags.
They went down the stairs, leaving the equipment cart at the stair landing on the second floor. From the top of the cart, a ring of gun barrels protruded.
After stopping in front of the big iron door, the group turned around and raised their guns, aiming at the surrounding doors.
Xing Bi reached behind the side of the door and pressed something. A soft “beep” sounded, and a keypad-like device extended from the door, identical to the way important secret doors in Yun City opened.
However, as Xing Bi slowly stretched out his hand, all the doors on both floors suddenly opened at once.
Qiu Shi had counted before—seven doors upstairs, five downstairs. If one person came out of each, that would be twelve.
But when the doors opened, two people came out from each door.
Upstairs and downstairs, a chorus of guns raised in unison—twenty-three guns aimed at them.
There should have been twenty-four, but one person standing at the stair landing on the second floor had no gun. Unlike the others in uniform, he wore an ordinary hooded tracksuit, already very worn and dirty. The frayed hood covered his head, making his face unclear.
“Level 2 Hidden Guards, twenty-three,” Xing Bi said. “One Level 1 Bioroid… critically injured.”
The hooded person slowly lifted his head.
Normally, Level 2 Hidden Guards weren’t a match for Xing Bi and his group, but facing twenty-three armed Level 2 Hidden Guards aiming at them, Qiu Shi felt even the strongest Hidden team wouldn’t have a great chance.
But Xing Bi had clearly anticipated this scene.
“Xing Bi?” The person under the hood spoke, voice weak and trembling somewhat.
To Qiu Shi’s surprise, it was a woman.
“Assistant Yao?” Xing Bi lowered his gun slightly.
“It’s me, Yao Xiu.” The person lifted the hood slowly, revealing her face.
She was indeed a female Bioroid, looking about the same age as Sang Fan, but her entire body posture was unstable, swaying slightly.
When they heard the name, Ji Sui and Xu Jie both lowered their guns a bit.
“You’ve been here all along?” Xing Bi asked.
“Yes,” Yao Xiu said, supporting herself on the railing and staring at them. “Who is this human?”
“My friend.” Xing Bi answered.
“Where’s Lin Sheng? Zheng Ting?” Yao Xiu asked.
“They’re in Yun City.” Xing Bi said.
“Alive?” Yao Xiu asked again.
“Alive.” Xing Bi replied.
“Outside…” Yao Xiu looked at them. “What’s it like?”
“It’s another world.” Xing Bi said.
“Ah.” Yao Xiu responded softly. “Why have you come?”
“We had other missions and passed by here,” Xing Bi said. “But there might be information or other things that can help us inside.”
“Who do you fight for?” Yao Xiu held the stair railing and slowly walked down to the first floor. “You’re fighting, right?”
“Yes.” Xing Bi replied. “For humanity and ourselves.”
“Who do you fight against?” Yao Xiu asked.
“A symbiote controlled by A01249.” Xing Bi said.
Yao Xiu was silent for a while, then sat down at the bottom of the stairs.
“You need treatment.” Xing Bi said.
“My organs are failing inside,” Yao Xiu said. “There aren’t many supplements left. I need to make sure they last longer.”
“Tell them to lower their guns.” Xing Bi said.
Yao Xiu didn’t move or speak, just looked at Xing Bi, seemingly thinking and judging.
After a while, she whispered, “Stand down the alert.”
The Hidden Guards on both floors lowered their guns at the same time.
Qiu Shi felt his arms start to ache and quickly lowered his gun as well.
Xing Bi quickly walked to Yao Xiu’s side, took an injection from Ji Sui, and injected it into the back of Yao Xiu’s neck.
“One shot isn’t enough.” Xu Jie said.
“Another.” Xing Bi reached out, and Ji Sui handed him another syringe.
After the two injections, Yao Xiu remained motionless, as if asleep. About a minute later, she spoke again.
“I don’t know who I was waiting for here, but maybe it was you.”
