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Deus Ex Machina: Chapter 35
Chapter 35
Meng Die woke up and wandered around, noticing that everyone was busy in the hall.
“Aren’t any of you going to eat?” She rubbed her eyes. “Order some takeout. We’ll head out after we eat.”
“Takeout?” Feng Mang looked up from his work, the cold light from the screen casting over his face. “Look at the chaos out there, who’s going to deliver takeout now?”
Meng Die glanced outside through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The gloomy, rainy weather made the ruins look even more apocalyptic.
“Oh…” Meng Die mumbled lazily. “Just a small matter.” Hearing her casual tone, Feng Mang angrily played the official news report at a much louder volume. According to official statistics, so far, 1,192 people had died in the explosion, 286 were missing, and 3,977 were injured. The world’s population density was nowhere near what it had been a century ago, and since it was late at night when the explosion happened, most of the affected buildings were office spaces, meaning there weren’t many people inside.
Even under these circumstances, the heavy casualties were enough to put the entire world on high alert.
And yet Meng Die was still focused on takeout, which filled Feng Mang with frustration.
“Is anyone hungry?” Zhan Feng stood up and asked everyone. “We’ve been busy all night. We should eat something to keep our strength up.” As he headed out, he passed He Xun on his way in. He Xun greeted him warmly. Zhan Feng glanced at He Xun, noticing that despite his smile, there was a subtle hint of sadness in his expression.
“Why didn’t you call me, Xiao Die?” He Xun asked.
“It’s nothing urgent. Why on earth would I call you?” Meng Die replied with a laugh. “We’ll eat soon, and then we’ll go home.”
He Xun blinked, taking in the scene outside, seemingly in disbelief. He glanced around the room and asked, “Where’s Yang Jin?”
Meng Die shook her head. “No idea. Who cares?”
Even Ying Si, who wasn’t fond of Yang Jin, couldn’t help but jump up and say, “If you two want to leave, then just get out of here! Stop being an eyesore!”
“Sure,” Meng Die replied, still relaxed, as she stood up and pulled He Xun to leave. He Xun tried to stop her. “Xiao Die…”
At that moment, Zhan Feng returned with a small robotic cart assisting him, helping to deliver the food. The small mechanical arm accurately placed each meal in front of everyone, including Meng Die and He Xun.
“If you’re not in a rush, at least have some food before leaving,” Zhan Feng said with a smile.
Feng Mang had no appetite for food. The search results he had been waiting for finally came in, and he reported to Zhan Feng, “I checked all the transport records for Aurora and the surrounding areas. There’s no sign of Yang Jin leaving since last night. He should still be in Aurora. After narrowing it down, we found what appears to be a Sanctuary base here, but the exact location is still unknown.”
Zhan Feng turned to He Xun and asked, “Can you tell us the origin of that package now?”
Meng Die acted as if she didn’t hear anything, while He Xun sighed and said, “The DR Logistics Hub. That’s all I know.”
“That’s enough, thank you,” Zhan Feng smiled at He Xun. “Lao Bai, are you coming with me?”
“Let’s go,” Bai Yunci nodded.
Meng Die asked, “Can we leave now?”
“You…” Feng Mang started to say something, but Bai Yunci interrupted him, “Please feel free.”
Zhan Feng added, “However, if necessary, please don’t refuse our request for help.”
The DR Logistics Hub was located in the southern part of Aurora, where many logistics companies used it as a transportation warehouse. In this densely packed and expensive city, preserving such a space was a rarity. As a result, the logistics hub was fully automated, with only one or two staff members on duty at any given time.
It was the perfect example of the most dangerous place being the safest.
Due to the Aurora incident, the city had entered a state of emergency, and all incoming and outgoing vehicles were restricted. What was once a bustling logistics center had become quiet, with even the duty staff neglecting their usual responsibilities.
Zhan Feng and Bai Yunci easily infiltrated the hub.
“I think I can recognize the marked container…” Zhan Feng muttered as he inspected the various containers. He walked up to an unremarkable small container, lightly brushed its left side with his hand, and then used infrared to scan it. A small star appeared.
“This is it?” Bai Yunci asked.
Zhan Feng nodded.
“Be careful, someone’s coming,” Bai Yunci warned, spotting a figure approaching from the distance. Both Zhan Feng and Bai Yunci hid among the containers. The person’s footsteps echoed clearly in the warehouse, matching the rhythm of a heartbeat. He used a handheld device to scan the container, apparently performing some kind of inspection. After confirming everything was in order, the person turned and walked away. Zhan Feng signaled to Bai Yunci, and they silently followed the man.
The person walked to the far end of the warehouse and pressed a button. The ground separated, revealing a pitch-black entrance, and the man descended before the door slowly closed behind him.
Zhan Feng and Bai Yunci followed, opening the entrance in the same way. Bai Yunci asked, “Go down?”
“Yeah,” Zhan Feng nodded.
The staircase leading underground was long, and as they descended, the cold, damp air of the underworld became more pronounced. The lighting was dim, and though no one was around, it made both of them more cautious.
“Surveillance is blocked,” Zhan Feng said. “We’re safe.”
As they rounded a corner, they saw the man from earlier, who also noticed them. But before he could call out, Zhan Feng knocked him unconscious.
Ahead of them was a door.
“This is the only door,” Zhan Feng whispered to Bai Yunci. “We don’t know what’s inside.”
Bai Yunci took a deep breath and used the terminal on his wrist to scan around the door. Finding nothing unusual, he said, “Let’s try opening it. I didn’t detect any signs of life inside.”
“Alright,” Zhan Feng kicked open the door, and they both rushed inside with their weapons drawn.
To their surprise, the room was small, arranged like an office. On the desk sat a chessboard, and a swivel chair faced away from the door. Someone was clearly sitting in it.
The chair slowly turned around, revealing a man with slightly wavy dark brown hair, deep-set features, and a smile on his face. He rested his head against his hand, as if he had been waiting for a long time.
“Zhan Feng, hello,” he said with a smile. “I’ve been expecting you.”
Bai Yunci’s first reaction was to grab Zhan Feng by the neck, pressing the barrel of his gun against Zhan Feng’s temple.
Zhan Feng quickly said, “It’s not me!”
Shi Yixi sat by the window, staring blankly outside.
Meng Die and He Xun had already left, and without anyone to argue with, Ying Si and the others had quieted down, their focus shifting to Bai Yunci and Zhan Feng’s actions.
“What the hell!” Ying Si suddenly exclaimed. “Why is there no signal? What happened to those two?”
It seemed Feng Mang had seen this kind of sudden disappearance too many times before. Though concerned, he appeared somewhat numb to it. After some operations, he said, “It’s likely being jammed. I’m working on fixing it, but it will take some time.”
“I’m so nervous,” Ying Si said. “Do you think something’s happened to them?”
Feng Mang shook his head.
Dalia brought a glass of water and placed it in front of Shi Yixi. “Xixi, you haven’t had any water all day.”
Shi Yixi took a sip and said, “I’m not thirsty.”
“Still worried about Yang Jin?” Dalia asked.
“No,” Shi Yixi replied. “I’m trying to find him.”
Dalia muttered, “I really don’t get what’s so good about that Yang guy. Why do you care so much about him? He drives me crazy.”
Shi Yixi asked, “How do you define ‘good’ and ‘not good’?”
“When he hit me, he definitely didn’t hold back,” Dalia recalled, pressing her finger to her lips. “And… well… anyway, he just exudes this annoying aura! He’s arrogant, always thinking he’s right.”
“Is that so?” Shi Yixi scratched his head. “I guess I never really noticed those things.”
“Hey!”
Shi Yixi smiled slightly. “He’s always been good to me.”
Dalia said, “Well, I’m good to you too!”
Shi Yixi replied, “I like you too.”
Dalia blushed a little and mumbled, “But I feel like it’s different.”
“How is it different?” Shi Yixi asked.
Dalia found it hard to say, “Because you and Yang Jin had that kind of relationship, so your concern for him is different.” Girls tend to be more sensitive about such matters than boys. After hesitating for a long time, Dalia finally said, “So, tell me, what do you think is good about him?”
“I already told you, he treated me quite well,” Shi Yixi said calmly. “He didn’t pity me or look down on me just because I’m not very bright. He treated me like any ordinary person—yet for me, that might have already been enough. He was my teacher, he taught me a lot. Although he has his own code of conduct, I don’t think it’s wrong. I don’t think most of your codes of conduct are wrong either. It’s just that everyone has different expectations for themselves and for others, like people talking past each other, never able to understand each other’s point of view, and that’s all there is to it.” He paused for a moment and repeated, “There’s a lot I don’t understand either, but that’s my problem. It doesn’t mean something is wrong just because I can’t grasp it. I can’t define things, nor can I label them as good or bad.”
Hearing Shi Yixi say this, Dalia’s mouth opened slightly in surprise. Among these people, Shi Yixi was the quietest, often barely noticeable. But when you talked to him, he would always come up with thoughts far beyond his age and experience.
Yang Jin was flippant about small matters and almost authoritarian when it came to big ones. Bai Yunci was genuinely ready to kill someone during arguments. Ying Si was forever complaining, swearing at the world, but in the end, was just a child with more ambition than skill. Feng Mang was a hypocritical bleeding heart with a split personality. Even that married couple was like the North and South Poles, polar opposites. And as for herself, Dalia had her own set of issues.
These people seemed to have gathered together as if they’d found their most detested opposites. Either they expected others to do what they couldn’t do themselves, or they demanded others live up to their own standards without realizing everyone had different limits. They constantly pulled each other apart, their opinions would never align, always clashing, always arguing.
Shi Yixi was the only one who had no conflict with anyone. Everyone liked his innocent and harmless demeanor, and they instinctively wanted to protect him. It didn’t matter if he didn’t talk much or didn’t have many ideas, he just needed to follow along quietly behind them. It’s hard to say whether this protective instinct came with a touch of condescension.
Yet this quiet boy seemed to be an observer in their midst, silently noting down every word and action.
It was as if he knew everyone well, but no one really knew him.
Dalia looked into Shi Yixi’s eyes, which were hidden behind his messy hair, devoid of expression—calm, eerily calm. A sense of deep fear surged within Dalia. She felt that Shi Yixi might not be the insignificant boy they thought he was. He might not be observing them from a place of inferiority but, in some way… he was above them.
“If it were you, or Ying Si… if something happened to anyone, I’d be worried,” Shi Yixi continued. “But Yang Jin is different from you all—I can feel him. Do you… do you understand what I’m saying?”
Dalia nodded mechanically but then immediately shook her head.
Shi Yixi smiled faintly. “Actually, I don’t fully understand either…” Before he could finish, his expression froze in place, and he stopped moving entirely.
Dalia reached out and waved her hand in front of him. “Xixi, what’s wrong?”
“Ecological cycle of the petri dish, first test. Beginning data monitoring.”
Yang Jin felt groggy, his consciousness muddled. So much had happened recently in such a short span of time. Despite all the training he had undergone, he couldn’t tell whether hours or days had passed in these extreme circumstances.
It was as if his awareness had slipped into a borderland. The first time he woke up, he could barely utter a few words, but now, he had no idea how many tubes were attached to him.
He was submerged in a large, sealed glass container filled with a thick liquid. Strangely, though, he didn’t suffocate from the liquid surrounding him. His body floated slightly, suspended in the soft liquid, as if he were drifting in mid-air.
Several people stood in front of the glass container, tilting their heads slightly to gaze at the naked figure inside. They had spent very little time gathering a considerable amount of data on Yang Jin. “At least two-thirds of his genetic information is still incomplete,” one person remarked. “How many secrets does his body hold?”
Someone else added, “Is he even human, or something else?”
Another person couldn’t help but marvel, “If a Creator exists in this world, they must have given him all the best traits. He’s practically a masterpiece.”
At that moment, the man leading the group, who had been silent, finally spoke. “If there really is a Creator in this world, it must be humanity itself. Failing to decipher his genetic code is our problem…” He turned, his face cast in shadows, making his expression appear even more severe. “But nothing can defeat us, because we are the finest elites, right?”
Just as he turned, Yang Jin suddenly convulsed violently, and the alarms blared.
“He’s discharging electricity,” one of the staff hurriedly reported. “His brain activity is much more intense than we anticipated.”
“Is that so?” the man responded, intrigued. “Set a threshold. I want to see how much more he can resist.”
“Let’s see what you’ve brought me.” In a dim, worn office, a man sat calmly in his chair, maintaining a polite, elegant smile.
“Who are you?” Bai Yunci’s gun was still aimed at Zhan Feng’s temple. Slowly backing away, Bai Yunci’s body was tightly wound, his eyes fixed on the man, though his senses were keenly attuned to everything around him.
“Lao Bai…” Zhan Feng, strangled and struggling, managed to say, “It’s not me.”
Bai Yunci said, “I’m not Yang Jin.”
The unspoken message: *I don’t fully trust you.*
“Seems like you’re not doing so well, Queen,” the man said, flicking one of the chess pieces on the board. The black queen toppled over. “Need my help?” With another flick of his hand, the black king piece flew through the air.
Instinctively, Bai Yunci fired his gun. The king piece shattered, but a net sprang out from behind it, swiftly entangling the two of them. Both Bai Yunci and Zhan Feng tumbled to the ground, Bai Yunci’s gun slipping from his grasp. Zhan Feng quickly picked it up. Bai Yunci expected Zhan Feng to turn it on him, but instead, Zhan Feng aimed the gun at the man who was slowly walking towards them.
The man wasn’t the least bit upset and continued to smile, as if he were born with only one expression. He stared directly down the barrel of Zhan Feng’s gun and said, “You haven’t changed a bit.”
Zhan Feng growled, “What exactly do you want?”
“I want to know one thing,” the man said. “Where is Yang Jin?”
“Xixi!” Dalia pushed Shi Yixi forcefully.
Ying Si and Feng Mang also gathered around. Shi Yixi trembled slightly, slowly turning his head and pointing outside. “I felt it… just for a moment… he’s there.”
Everyone turned to look outside.
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