ATL | Chapter 19

Hetawaisi looked down at him.

Then, his hand slowly moved upward, along Lin Bai’s spine, but he still never truly touched him, only seeming to fit against him faintly, from the shoulder blades to the back of the neck. In the end he brushed aside the slightly damp silver hair and gripped Lin Bai’s horn, lightly pulling it back.

The horn was held, then compressed. He could clearly feel the temperature of the other’s fingertips, Ganlin followed the motion and tilted his face up, his Adam’s apple sliding up and down.

His breath was full of heat. Facing the scrutiny of those silver-gray vertical pupils, he slowly blinked.

“Lin Bai,” Hetawaisi’s other hand lifted, leaving his waist, “do you know what you’re saying?”

Ganlin still kept his face tilted up. Sweat had already seeped out at the bridge of his nose and at his temple. From a bystander’s angle, he must look a complete mess. He idly maintained the status quo and simply did not answer, until he caught the sound of footsteps drawing nearer, then he turned his head and bit down on Hetawaisi’s wrist.

And in terms of personal contact, Lin Bai was the only one.

But, even if it was an individual like Lin Bai, docile and old-fashioned, once he entered the heat period, did he have no choice but to follow the instinct of the companion gene?

Xiao Xun hung up the phone, lifted his head in high spirits, raised the cipher key in his hand, and waved at Heta.

“Boss, the cipher key has already been obtained.” The serval opened its clear round eyes and swayed its tail to claim credit.

“Gan Wei?”

As soon as those words came out, Ganlin and Cizhu both froze on the spot, but the man was wildly excited, giving a disjointed explanation: “You look so much like her, you’re her child, right? What’s your name, you... I, I’m your dad.”

“Mom, do you like it?”

Gan Wei was lifted by the brilliant color. In the dim yellow light of night, even the lashes she lowered seemed to flow with honey-colored light. She leaned toward the bouquet and gently flared her nostrils, as if smelling the fragrance of flowers from a hundred years ago.

It’s fine, it’s fine.

He didn’t need any best Doctor.

The Doctor in front of him finished roughly handling Ganlin’s wound, and after Ganlin thanked him, the other party hurried away.

After eating something, the tension in his body still had not eased. He had no interest in Hetawaisi, no interest in urban legends, and no interest in the holographic game either. He only wanted to know what had happened in these hundred years, and why the military had taken the initiative to surrender.

But in his current state, going to the high tower was no different from courting death.

Even if, stepping back ten thousand times, he really could win this child’s play of a game, could Hetawaisi help him fulfill a wish?

He wanted all aliens to vanish into ashes, and he wanted humanity to last forever.

To put it plainly, whether it was the game or the rumors, they were ultimately just an illusory numbness. He had no time to tangle with someone like that.

Thinking of this, Ganlin turned his head and saw the little girl beside him, who had been silent the entire time. He froze for a moment, then finally was willing to soften his voice. “What’s your name?”

At the same time, the man in the wide-brimmed hat walked into the public restroom of the Red-Light District, the multi-colored lighting effects of red, blue, and purple flashing and making his face flicker between light and dark.

He glanced outside, confirmed that no one had followed him, then turned around and pulled out the terminal behind his ear.

Two seconds later, he lowered his voice and said, “I’m really fed up, he really can’t recognize me. Anyway, I hinted this game to him, let’s see whether he comes or not.”

A serious female voice came from the terminal. “Are you sure he’ll go in?” Ganlin’s house was at the far end near the north. From here, he could see the thick fog inside the city gate more clearly, the flowing gray-black color making one uneasy. Ganlin remembered having caught a glimpse of the city gate when he had gone to the slums before, but the real Luo Xi City had its city gate closed all along.

The house that belonged to him was an ordinary two-story building, with cheap furniture, shoddy decorations, and a scratched wooden floor. On the floor lay a yellow notebook.

An utterly plain diary. There were already signs of wear on it. Ganlin flipped through it for a long time. The front was blank, and only the last few pages had a few sparse lines of writing.

[2050.11.1] This research group should not have been formed. It is anti-human.

Footsteps creaked on the wooden floor. Ganlin went around the living room, a two-meter-long fabric sofa, and walked into the kitchen. The kitchen was clean and tidy. Then he walked to the bathroom. The bathroom mirror had shattered, and there was still blood that had not been wiped clean from it, like the release of someone punching it with a fist before.

[2050.11.3] I can’t, I can’t stop it, I’m only a technician, and I have my own life. If I get fired, I’m finished.

[2050.11.10] The Investor supporting this experiment is not a good person either. LHC does not need to cooperate with this kind of person.

The second floor only had a small corridor and a bedroom. Inside, the windows were tightly shut, the black curtains like flowing black water, a double-door wardrobe, and a gray-and-white plaid quilt scattered messily on the bed. In the center of the pillow was a faint yellow stain like oil.

A desk piled with books, a desk lamp shining weakly, the filament making a burning sound.

“Mitnessing Creation: A History of CERN and the Large Hadron Collider” Amir D. Axel

“Quantum Boundary” Don Lincoln

The man in the wide-brimmed hat closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed up and down, saying unhappily, “Of course I’m not sure. I really don’t know how to hint at him without leaving a trace. He’s so smart, he might discover that I deliberately let him know. Ah, as long as Hetawaisi doesn’t find out, it’s fine. And I’ve prepared Plan B.”

The person on the other end was silent for a moment, then said, “Han Ya, no matter what method you use, make sure you get him into the game. We can’t gauge Hetawaisi’s current attitude. There won’t be a chance outside. Also, have the two of them already met?”

Han Ya looked out at the booth again. Seeing that Ganlin was currently chatting with the little girl Ains about something, he pulled his head back and said in a slightly mocking tone, “Don’t know. I have a way to test whether they’ve already met, but Ganlin also doesn’t remember Hetawaisi anymore, hehe, great, he forgot completely.”

“Mm, be careful of everything.” The moment the shout came out, the entire square, and all the tops of the Corinthian columns, erupted together in a piercing alarm.

“Buzz——” This led to another strange thing. The underground drainage system had definitely been built by humans. The aliens ruled this city, but the city’s basic operating facilities were still handled by humans. They made the space below large in some places and small in others, for what reason?

If all of this was done by humans, there was still an explanation. The most baffling thing...

The water sound stopped, and only a hazy water vapor remained drifting through the entire bathroom. Ganlin wrapped himself casually in a bath towel, stood in front of the mirror, and absentmindedly blew his hair dry.

What exactly was the countdown on the obelisk? It floated in midair at the very center of Tower District. As long as one entered Tower District, one would definitely be able to see it. So it was not for humans to see, but for the aliens themselves to see. What were they trying to remind themselves of? When the countdown ended, what would happen?

The memory of when he first woke up was not complete, but when he escaped from Tower District back then, it seemed he had not seen this countdown at all. That is to say, it had only started counting down in these past two days.

What remained were some fragmented and completely unresolvable pieces of information.

Charging in without thinking was stupid. Today he was a bit impatient. He needed a thorough plan.

The noise of the hair dryer quickly disappeared. Ganlin gathered his hair. Before, its length had just passed his shoulders, but now it had been cut to one or two centimeters above the shoulders. There was no special reason, he had been disgusted on the arena.

“Haa——” He let out a long sigh, wiped the fog off the mirror, and revealed the person in the mirror.

The injuries on his body had not fully healed yet. Many places had scabbed over, some places were still red. It was possible that tonight’s intense running had torn at some wounds, and a little blood had seeped out again, but he looked to be in no serious trouble.

Above that was a strange face. Seeing that face, Ganlin frowned and directly ripped off the mask he had been wearing all this time, revealing his original appearance.

The mask Hetawaisi gave him was not bad, but he still liked his own face. A straight, elegant nose bridge, handsome features, ice-blue pupils, a few strands of hair curved over his forehead, and his perpetual lack of expression made him look especially cold.

When he was still a Major, and both his parents were still alive, because of his face that looked younger than his actual age, and because he always did childish things, he had always been seen as not living up to his reputation. Only after his parents died, and he relied on himself to kill alien enemies, did his reputation in the military district gradually improve, winning over a large number of followers.

Long-past memories, just thinking of them brought a kind of disgusting stinging pain. Ganlin was a little irritated, and the mask in his hand became prickly too. He didn’t want to wear this thing, but he also didn’t want to be identified by the recon drone right now and cause a pile of trouble, because he still had to enter the holographic game soon.

Less than half a minute after taking it off, the mask still fitted tightly against his face. Ganlin pulled off the bath towel and tossed it into the dirty laundry basket, casually turned off the bathroom light, and the house fell into darkness.

He still had to apply medicine. The time he could let himself rest was already not much.

The medicine was on the bedside table. When Ganlin, barefoot and dazed, moved to the side of the bed, a very faint sound of fabric rubbing came from the sofa. Almost by reflex, Ganlin’s entire body muscles instantly tensed.

A piercing high frequency roared in from all directions. One red light after another received the order and instantly spread across the entire square. Those stone columns opened their eyes like giants, and lasers burst from their eyes.

The sudden change. At that instant, Ganlin flashed out from the bushes, rushed at high speed to the guard’s back, and a small knife popped out. Without even half a second of hesitation, he drove it into its skull. The moment it fell, the sound of wings beating came from the sky.

A small knife alone could not kill an alien. Wanting to jump down while it was unconscious, he had not expected the other aliens to already be out.

A sharp screech split a gash in the air. It was impossible to tell whether it was a scream mixed with rainwater, or thunder exploding from the edge of the sky.

The alien’s sharp beak was fully exposed. Ganlin turned and charged toward the direction of the building complex. After several seconds of deadlock, Ganlin turned around expressionlessly, exposing his back covered in wounds. If he kept wasting time like this, he wouldn’t need to sleep anymore.

The instant the icy ointment touched his skin, Ganlin’s whole body was almost sounding the alarm. He clenched his fists tightly to keep himself from attacking, but the other party was only applying medicine to him. Those cold ointments slowly melted into the skin. Very quickly, the chill disappeared, and he could only feel warm fingertips pressed against the skin on his back, moving gently and carefully, circling slowly around the wound and rubbing it in.

Actually, just now he had been imagining the possibility that if he handed over his back, a knife would come through his chest. He had also been ready to counterkill at any moment.

The chill of the ointment, and the chill of the knife tip, had at first both existed in the same way. But in the end that scene did not descend either. Besides applying medicine to him, Hetawaisi made no extra movements, apart from the breath that slowly and regularly brushed his skin.

The entire room was quiet and soft. Ganlin buried his head. When Hetawaisi was applying the medicine to the most serious penetrating wound he had ever had, after his shoulder, he drew in a sharp breath.

Hetawaisi’s fingertips paused. “Did I use too much force?”

Unfortunately, Hetawaisi almost never let ordinary players win the game. To put it plainly, when people went in to play the game, manipulating this game itself was his game.

This did not stop people from persistently trying to strike it rich overnight. After all, occasionally Hetawaisi would be benevolent enough to let people naturally win the game. As long as there was a glimmer of hope, they would flock to it.

The man’s fingertip pointed toward the depths of the Red-Light District, and Ganlin’s gaze also turned toward the direction the man pointed. Over there was a turn, and one could not see inside. The only thing visible was the entrance to that black abyss, drawing countless people to fall and shatter.

The aliens rule humans. If they want humans to fall, humans will fall. Hetawaisi!

The moment the person above flipped over the iron grate and came down, a chip signal sound of the same kind rang out behind him.

“Beep!”

Ganlin gasped sharply and ran back along his sense of direction. Water splashed half a meter high, the sound of running echoed in the tunnel, and only after he found that no one was chasing from behind did he gradually slow his steps.

For now, infiltrating through the drainage system could be counted as a rather bad decision. Right now he could only pray that the high tower had not collected information on the intruder.

That alien had not chased after him, and it also brought a more urgent problem, it might have notified the guard. Would they enter the drainage system to inspect it?

Fortunately, after running all the way, the exit was not far. When Ganlin found the iron grate outside Tower District, the entire drainage pipeline was still only water sounds, and the imagined pursuit had not arrived.

The torrential rain had already become a drizzling rain. One night of downpour, one night of wanton violence.

At the familiar spot, Ganlin lifted the iron grate with one hand. After confirming there were no recon drones above, he sprang up through the opening, then nimbly dropped to one knee to restore the grate, and let out a long breath as he looked up.

At this time, the sky at the horizon was pale.

The morning air was slightly cold. There were already people on the street. When they saw this person, soaked through and covered in mud, they all avoided him without exception. Ganlin walked with his head down through the dark street corners. Every time he spotted a recon drone from far away, he flashed into a turn, and only came back out after there was no sound.

The Red-Light District had, as always, stayed awake all night. The red decorations inside gave off a hint of warmth. The electronic clock on the wall pointed to five in the morning.

Under the scrutinizing gazes, Ganlin turned into the elevator area and collided head-on with Ye Shu, who was just about to go home.

Ye Shu walked slowly. The moment she saw Ganlin, she gave a “yo” and immediately stepped back, pressed a hand to her nose, and frowned as she said, “You’re not upstairs? You weren’t there all night?”

Ganlin pressed the elevator button and gave her a cool glance. “I wasn’t.”

As the person in charge of the Red-Light District, Ye Shu very much wanted to display her authority at this moment and reprimand the disobedient employee who had also made the floor dirty, but she stood there for a long while before disgustedly spitting out a few words. “So you went swimming in the mud, then showered while wearing your clothes?”

“No.”

“Then you were fighting? Punished?”

Ganlin did not understand, but he had no intention of asking.

This silence made Ye Shu feel she had guessed right. She revealed a smile as if in understanding. “Good luck.”

Ganlin: “?”

Ye Shu covered her mouth and laughed, then slowly added, “Ah, young people should also pay attention to scale. If you need emergency items provided, you can use the terminal in the hallway. Staff members will send them up.”

Ganlin confirmed that he did not understand, couldn’t be bothered to think about it, and answered casually, “Okay, thanks.”

“Ding.” The elevator arrived. Ganlin walked straight in and waited for the door to slowly close.

Ye Shu walked out of the elevator hall and just happened to run into the Bartender who was also preparing to get off work. She immediately leaned over and said with interest, “Wanji! Quick, Hetawaisi’s first time living on the top floor, and he paid five thousand for one night. Take a guess, will this high and noble little white flower be killed? Or tortured to death on the bed? Ugh, this ending, I don’t even dare imagine it.” She patted her chest and looked toward the elevator hall.

On the wall at the corner, half of The Creation of Adam hung askew, showing God but not Adam. A painting by Michelangelo from several centuries ago still remained, but in this kind of way.

God abandoned humanity, and humanity also gave up on itself.

“There are many people here who have signed slave contracts, and other poor people in the city. Anyone can participate in the game. Win, and you redeem yourself, get money, get a high-grade mask, turn your life around overnight, and get a noble identity. Even outside the Red-Light District, make the person you hate die.” Saying this, the man in the wide-brimmed hat laughed, the sarcasm in his laughter utterly unhidden, “How is it? Aren’t you itching to try?”

Ganlin had been looking at that corner all along, at that black-hole-like human future. After a moment, he withdrew his gaze.

The man in the wide-brimmed hat’s leisurely expression turned troubled, his crossed legs rocking up and down. “To be honest with you, I came here just to wait for the next game. I have something I want, and I don’t know whether Hetawaisi can do it.”

Ganlin suddenly remembered his purpose for coming here. “Where is Hetawaisi?”

Just as he asked this sentence, the Doctor helping him stop the bleeding had a trembling hand, and Ganlin hissed in pain.

The man in the wide-brimmed hat tightly grasped the key ring, then frowned again and rubbed his brow, his voice unconsciously rising several degrees. “What are you looking for him for?”

“Nothing.” Ganlin did not want to say.

The man quickened his speech. “Look, just asking about this person is enough to scare people. You’re still looking for him? He’s not a good person. If there’s nothing urgent, it’s best to avoid him.”

“Why?”

Inside the Red-Light District, the scene from the arena earlier had already passed, and the bloodstains and corpses on the arena had also been cleared away. Cries of misery kept coming from other places, but one could not tell whether what filled them was extreme excitement or extreme panic.

The air was filthy. After staying in it for a long time, it seemed one would get used to it too. Looking out from the only exit gate, one could see the gradually dimming sunset, that deep orange layer wavering indistinctly, making the passersby at the gate seem to stagger.

The people inside were living but dead, the people outside were dead but living.

The hope of being alive was a brief and sad illusion.

The man’s voice was indistinct, like pooled water, still and deep, and not a single ripple could stir in Ganlin’s heart.

Ganlin lifted his hair away. “No.”

After getting the answer, Hetawaisi continued applying the ointment. “If it hurts, tell me.”

“Mm.” Ganlin thought about it, then felt there was one thing he needed to make clear. “Hetawaisi, I have other things recently, and I can’t find a suitable job for now, but I’ll pay back your debt later, and also the accommodation and medical care during this time.”

Hetawaisi suddenly pressed his lips together and laughed out, laughing in a way that was incomprehensible, his breathing brushing Ganlin’s back in waves.

Ganlin instantly stiffened and did not move. It was a little itchy, and he could not understand that neurotic low laugh, so he could only ask in annoyance, “What are you laughing at?”

Hetawaisi immediately suppressed his smile. “Nothing, I’ll wait for you.”

Ganlin thought that if he could win the game tomorrow, he would definitely add this to the list, to erase his debt, and even make up a little extra.

“So,” Hetawaisi glanced at the bathroom, “can I know what you went to do tonight?”

Ganlin answered without hesitation, “No.”

He was not wearing clothes, so it could not have been him.

There’s someone on the sofa! The instant that thought surfaced, Ganlin instantly woke up. He withdrew his hand, flashed over and flipped behind the sofa, and with a speed so fast it was almost impossible to see clearly, he grabbed the neck of the person sitting on the sofa.

“Who?” Ganlin’s tone was cold. His fingers dug in deeply with force, but he heard a familiar humming laugh, and immediately after that, a woody fragrance that seemed almost to merge into the air drifted into his nose.

Ganlin frowned and loosened his grip a little, but did not let go. “Hetawaisi?”

The person under restraint gave a slight nod.

“How did you get in?” After asking, Ganlin realized his question was wrong. This was originally the other party’s room.

In the darkness, Hetawaisi sat casually with his legs crossed, his voice very light, always answering something other than the question. “I hope next time you threaten me, you’ll first think about whether, if I wanted to harm you, you would still have a chance to resist.”

Ganlin did not move, his mind rapidly considering what he had said. He was right. From entering the door to washing up, he had never once sensed anyone here. If he had been ambushed, it would probably already have happened in the bathroom.

This thought made Ganlin feel a little annoyed, because his perception was much worse than before. Perhaps it had something to do with lying in the low-temperature stasis pod for too long. All his movements and senses were much slower, and could only slowly recover.

Hetawaisi gently patted the hand stuck at his neck and said softly, “Don’t just stand here. Aren’t you cold? Lie back down.”

The pressure remained for a few more seconds, and in the end he let go. The instant he did, Ganlin suddenly remembered that he was not wearing a stitch of clothing. He immediately darkened his face, sat back down beside the bed and covered himself with the blanket, then looked up coldly and asked, “Who allowed you to come in?”

The morning sun filtered in a few pale strands through the gap in the curtains, falling behind Hetawaisi. Backed by the light, Ganlin could only see his outline.

Hetawaisi sat lazily on the sofa, his whole person unhurried. “The whole building is mine.”

Ganlin: “This room is not allowed in.”

The usual issuing of orders. Hetawaisi laughed softly. “You’re commanding me?”

“Yes.” After answering, Ganlin realized he had fallen into the other party’s verbal trap. He was very displeased. “What exactly is the matter?”

As soon as the words fell, Hetawaisi lowered his legs, stood up, walked slowly to in front of Ganlin, and placed a stack of papers on the bedside.

“I heard you’re looking for people from the military district, people from the military. But there’s already no clear organization now, only some scattered descendants of the old military. I sorted out a list. If you’re interested, you can take a look.”

At this, Ganlin froze for a moment. His gaze slowly moved to the bedside, but the darkness made him unable to see the stack of papers clearly.

If he only wanted to give him a list, he could have put it in the room while he wasn’t here, rather than ambushing him here, for now calling it an ambush.

In the silence, Ganlin said nothing. After a moment, he looked toward Hetawaisi’s position. “Why are you helping me?”

Hetawaisi did not care, spreading his hands. “I helped because I wanted to help, for no reason.”

Ganlin: “You’ve always been this lacking in principle when you do things?”

He thought of the urban legends that wide-brimmed-hat man had told him. Although those stories contained truth and falsehood alike, they were by no means made out of thin air. At least there was some truth in them. One of the comments was that Hetawaisi had no principles at all.

Hetawaisi suddenly laughed out loud, a laugh that was both contemptuous and frivolous. “Principles? I don’t know what kind of principles you’re talking about. If it’s according to my understanding, in fact I have one principle and bottom line that absolutely cannot be crossed, and that is...”

He stopped there and said no more. Ganlin also did not speak, and the air suddenly fell into a stifling stillness, breathing becoming obvious.

Ganlin was waiting for the other party to continue, but the standing person had no intention of filling in the rest of the sentence. Not long after, Ganlin broke the silence. “Next time you look for me, tell me in advance.”

Hetawaisi felt very innocent. “I left you a message.”

That terminal message sound under the iron grate nearly got him discovered, making him run around for so long.

Thinking of this, Ganlin gradually grew angry, and his voice instantly turned colder by several degrees. “We are not familiar, so please do not enter my room on your own, and sit in a place I cannot see. If there is such a thing again, I will directly break your neck.”

Hetawaisi nodded in agreement, very cooperative. “Okay, next time I’ll remember to turn on the light and sit in a place you can see.”

Ganlin: “...” That was not what he meant.

Ganlin’s tone grew colder and colder, his fingers sinking desperately into the blanket, gripping it into wrinkles, nearly tearing the quilt cover apart. “I mean, you need to get my permission to come in.”

“You asked me before about the military’s information. I was afraid you needed it urgently, and couldn’t get in touch with you, so I wanted to come here and wait...” Hetawaisi did not finish, the words caught in his throat.

The sound of fingertips gripping the blanket was clearly audible in the silent space. It was obvious that the person sitting on the bed was shifting attention and forcefully suppressing anger. Hetawaisi felt that if he kept speaking, the other party might really get angry, so he had to change his words. “All right, Colonel, I apologize to you for my unauthorized intrusion today.”

Ganlin’s words were still cold. “Who I am, it seems you understand very well.”

Hetawaisi tilted his head and smiled. “Not hard to understand.”

Ganlin let go, calming down, and did not intend to go deeper into this topic. “I’m going to rest.”

Hetawaisi did not leave. He crouched down and half-knelt by the bed, beside Ganlin, and suddenly reached out to turn on the bedside lamp. Warm light instantly filled the not-large bedroom, reflected on the beige wall, and dragged both of them out of the darkness.

Under the faint light, Ganlin was tucked into the pure white blanket. His freshly washed hair fell loosely on his shoulders, his lips lightly pressed together. The warm light dripped into his eyes like a galaxy, but on closer look there was no galaxy hidden inside, only countless supernovas collapsing. The moment the light came on, his pupils fixed entirely on Hetawaisi. Cold and alert, he asked, “What are you doing?”

Hetawaisi took the ointment from the bedside table and, from below up, looked into Ganlin’s eyes, asking, “Can I help with the wound on your back?”

Ganlin looked away and toward somewhere else. “No need.”

Hetawaisi said softly, “You can’t reach it.”

“No need to apply it.”

“It’ll get infected.”

A 10-year-old child took up a gun and skillfully and precisely killed every person related to him by blood. After that, he went completely mad. Walking down the road, if he met an alien, he would shoot and kill the alien. If anyone looked at him one more time, he would kill that person, regardless of whether the other party was human or alien. If a god stood in the way, he would kill the god, if a Buddha stood in the way, he would kill the Buddha, without any principle, completely becoming a killing machine.

The little boy covered in blood walked silently down the main street. Wherever he walked, there would be terror and slaughter. The best way was to absolutely not attract his attention.

The high tower paid no mind either. The entire Luo Xi City was in a state of panic, all afraid of becoming the target of his expulsion for no reason. This state lasted for a long time.

Until on the most prosperous street in Luo Xi City, the name “Red-Light District” lit up, some of those vagrants were still vagrants, and some became toys of the Red-Light District, left to the guests to ravage. At the same time, a brand-new mask technology was brought out by Hetawaisi, namely the present-day masks that could grow completely on people’s faces, leaving no trace, as if they were born that way.

This at the same time further heightened his importance in the aliens’ eyes, and they had even less they could do about him.

“If it can grow completely on the face, there are still distinctions between high and low, noble and base?” Ganlin thought of what the man had just said about wishing for a high-grade mask.

However, the man paused here, looking at Ganlin with doubt.

Ganlin knew he had asked the wrong thing, and said lightly, “I mean, there’s no need.”

The little girl beside him quietly nodded. “I think so too. I hate this thing. When can humans stop wearing this thing?”

“As a profession, masks of course have to distinguish high and low, noble and base. They need a hierarchy.” The man pointed ahead. That was the direction of the high tower.

He turned back to it again. Fortunately, after the Red-Light District came into being, Hetawaisi no longer killed wantonly, gradually returning to normal human life. Usually he took on the entire city’s mask production work, dividing different lives for everyone. He was busy and rarely appeared. Occasionally he would come to the Red-Light District to take a look, and as long as one did not court death by slammed ing his gun muzzle, he would not have any extra actions. Walking on the street, he was just an ordinary passerby.

The problem was, who knew when someone would run into his gun muzzle? So the best choice was simply to stay far away from him.

Saying this, the man in the wide-brimmed hat touched his own face. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Ganlin glanced at him. “Full of holes.”

No one dared to go show off in front of Hetawaisi, just in case they became the target of his blind shot.

The man in the wide-brimmed hat shrugged. “Of course. Maybe he has his reasons. Who knows? Maybe only because he’s a thoroughly madman, and also the richest and most powerful madman. Oh right...”

His gaze fell on Ganlin’s body, which was almost riddled with holes, lingering for a moment before he kindly reminded him, “If you have something you want, you can also win the game and then make a wish to him. I’ve heard that in this regard, he’s still very sincere. For example, ask him for an absolutely safe place to rest, or the best Doctor.”

“Fine.” Hetawaisi felt that this question had gone a little too far, and immediately kept quiet.

The two of them stopped talking. After the wounds on his back had been treated, Hetawaisi stood up, put the ointment back in place, and said softly, “All right, lie down again in two minutes.”

Ganlin pulled the blanket up a little higher and turned his head away from looking at him. “Mm, thanks.”

Hetawaisi turned off the light, letting the bedroom fall back into darkness. In the dark, his voice was like a weak flame that had been lit, swaying in and out of sight.

“I’m in the next room. If anything comes up, come find me, or contact me through the chip terminal, either is fine. Now...” He paused for a moment. “Good night.”

Ganlin looked into the depths of the darkness for a long while before speaking. “Good night.”

The door was closed. After confirming that he was the only one left in the room, Ganlin finally let out a breath. The tense muscles slowly softened, and his gaze remained fixed in the direction of the shut door.

He completely could not understand Hetawaisi. If he had not heard those rumors, he would have thought Hetawaisi was a person who, though neurotic, was sufficiently gentle. But once the evaluations of others were in his mind, this person’s every move became blurred and torn. For a moment, he could not tell whether he should follow his real feelings or the words spread by others.

After applying ointment to the rest of his wounds as well, Ganlin lay down, and the blanket wrapped his whole body up.

That stack of documents lay quietly at the bedside. He had not gotten around to looking at it. When he opened his eyes again, the sky was already fully bright, and the time pointed to 9:30.

No matter what, colliding head-on in the empty square was obviously not the correct choice.

The shrill sound of the alarm stabbed through his eardrums, at once making the entire Tower District seem on the verge of collapse.

“Intruder discovered! Intruder discovered!” The mechanical voice echoed above the entire Tower District.

“Pa, pa!” Warning lights lit up one by one in sequence. Under the torrential rain, the square was a white expanse.

A figure ran wildly in the rain-soaked night, flashing from the edge of the square into the building complex at extremely high speed.

“Boom——” Another thunderclap covered a scene of chaos. The elevator doors closed behind him, water-heavy droplets fell into the corridor carpet, and Ganlin slowly walked to a door. “Beep.” The door automatically recognized his chip and opened.

Very tired. The sticky, wet feeling all over his body was awful. He only wanted to take a hot shower and, with the few hours remaining, get a shallow bit of rest.

A woody fragrance hit him in the face. The room was pitch-black, the curtains tightly shut. This intense sense of safety made Ganlin instantly feel that his body was incomparably heavy.

Dirty clothes were piled one by one on the floor. The bathroom light came on, and the showerhead sprayed dense water. Ganlin closed his eyes and let the clean water wash away the filth and fatigue all over him.

This trip could not be considered a complete waste. There was a lot of information. First, the high tower was divided into east and west zones, but whether the junction point was that square remained unknown;

Second, the Morse code in the pipeline pointed accurately to an entrance. That entrance was a very hidden corner in the Tower District square, which meant someone had once passed through this pipeline into the interior of Tower District and left a mark here. Clearly, using Morse code in this way could not have been the work of the aliens.

Someone had found a way to enter Tower District through the drainage system before him, and that person had not been discovered.

Ganlin panted, his figure rushing through one rugged alley after another. The huge wing-flapping sound overhead pursued him relentlessly, and because of this torrential downpour, their speed was not fast.

“Buzz buzz!” The sound of alarms rang everywhere. Ganlin staggered underfoot, and the muscles in his thighs instantly exerted force to keep his body steady.

Headache. When he had just woken up, his surroundings had also been full of such sounds. This kind of alarm sound gave him a needle-like headache, his brain in complete chaos, leaving only uncontrollable heartbeat, and layered, stacked images. Countless scenes overlapped and appeared before his eyes, past and present.

The terminal call ended. Han Ya let out a long sigh, looked at the two people not far away, and after making a report call, leaned leisurely against the wall by the bathroom entrance, wearing an absent-minded expression, gently rubbing the old key ring in his hand, waiting.

A group of people came to the Red-Light District hall, and another group of people left. This place was like a giant beast with its mouth open, swallowing people’s rising and falling desires.

At the booth, Ganlin’s expression remained completely unchanged. He said to Ains, “Don’t come to a place like this by yourself in the future.”

The way he spoke was either those cold monosyllables or this kind of tone. It always made people feel like they were being ordered around, so Ains, who had been ordered around, lowered her head and said aggrievedly, “Got it, big Brother.”

At the words “big Brother,” Ganlin frowned. He looked at Ains’s face again and again, then asked uncertainly, “You know me?”

Ains raised her head, puzzled. “I didn’t know you before, but I know you now.”

He told himself that maybe the amusement park had only just closed, and Mom was checking the equipment, making the final handover.

“If one is gone, just replace another.” The other person said, “The loss rate for sensory intake is originally high. S-16 has already held out long enough. However, she also provided a new example. Going forward, when recruiting, we can increase intake of sheep-type individuals naturally rich in emotion.”

Ganlin’s eyes swelled red. In that brief sentence, he pieced together the truth of his mother’s death in a blur. Every word was like a mountain, clogging his breathing, heartbeat, and nerves.

“Do you want to take a shower first?” Yase said. “Clothes sticking to your body doesn’t feel good.”

The pajamas were light gray, very clean, and folded very neatly. Ganlin looked down at them, not in a hurry to take them.

“He actually has a son, named Lin Sheng. The Lin of forest, the Sheng of shengge.”

Lin Sheng.

Hetawaisi silently repeated this name, and in an instant thought of another person.

“Lingsheng?”

“That’s right.” Kane immediately understood. “Lingsheng, born in the slum Birdcage community. We suspect his identity information was altered, and that he is actually ‘Lin Sheng.’ But judging by Lin Zhixing’s financial conditions, that doesn’t seem very likely.”

“Also, Lingsheng left the slums very early. Records show that he was discovered by a talent scout when he was five. Now, he is already a rising new star in the opera world.

Ka.

Hetawaisi immediately turned his head and bit toward the source of the sound.

Under the sternness of those black vertical pupils, the half of Lin Bai’s body that had been sticking out shook with a start, and immediately withdrew his gaze.