A Familiar Face

Gu Xi... died again?!

Fang Qi leaned against the metal door, staring at the bullet embedded in the wall, slightly dazed.

"You mean..."

He muttered.

"She's dead for good?"

Liguang didn't answer, merely gripping his wrist tightly to keep him away from the crack in the door.

Fang Qi turned around, pressing his forehead against the cold metal door.

The chill of the metal helped his chaotic mind cool down a bit.

Wait a minute. Let him sort this out.

Previously, Gu Xi had died suddenly right in front of him.

He guessed the reason was that she had said something she shouldn't have, crossing the red line of the world's rules.

So, the world's rules punished her, causing her to suffer sudden cardiac death.

And then...

The watchers arrived.

They entered the wooden cabin, and then...

Gu Xi came back to life.

But...

She only lived for a few minutes?

And then died again.

And this time, she died even more thoroughly.

So...

Fang Qi's eyelids twitched.

She wasn't faking her death just now?

Instead, those watchers used some method to make the already dead Gu Xi...

Experience a terminal lucidity?!

Fang Qi rubbed his temples vigorously!

He didn't understand!

But right now, there was no time for him to think it over slowly!

The footsteps outside were getting closer and closer!

Those dense, overly uniform footsteps had traveled all the way down from the top of the stairwell, growing ever clearer!

However, the beam from the high-powered flashlight had dimmed considerably.

Now, the people outside had adjusted it to a relatively soft brightness.

It was no longer blinding.

Fang Qi leaned against the metal door, suppressing his heartbeat, listening to those footsteps drawing nearer...

Closer and closer.

Finally...

They stopped outside the door.

Standing just outside the crack of the heavy alloy blast door.

Separated from him... by only a single door.

Everything went quiet.

The footsteps stopped.

Fang Qi narrowed his eyes, listening carefully.

He could faintly hear some subtle noises.

The rustling of clothes.

Slight breathing.

And the occasional faint sound of shoes shuffling against the stone floor.

Those people were all outside.

But...

Why wasn't anyone speaking?

Silence.

An eerie silence.

Fang Qi tilted his head, looking at the crack in the door that was only two fingers wide.

The door was too thick, and the gap too narrow. From his current angle, he couldn't see the people outside at all.

He could only see a thin band of light shining in from outside, with dust motes floating within it.

What were the people outside doing?

Why weren't they moving?

Why...

Weren't they speaking?

Is their discipline that strict?

No talking allowed during a mission?

Fang Qi stared at the door crack.

Liguang, meanwhile, still gripped his wrist tightly.

Her whole body was in a state of high alert, leaning slightly forward, her crimson and amber eyes flashing simultaneously.

Her gaze was also firmly locked on the crack in the door!

Fang Qi listened to his own breathing and the faint breathing outside the door...

Silence.

Too silent.

This silence was even more suffocating than the gunshot from earlier!

Fang Qi couldn't hold back anymore.

He wasn't here to waste time with these guys!

He took a deep breath, and then...

Bang!

He kicked the heavy metal door!

A dull thud!

But the door didn't budge an inch.

The alloy blast door was too thick. His kick didn't even make it shake, but instead sent a jarring pain through the sole of his foot!

Fang Qi grimaced slightly in pain, but still shouted at the crack in the door:

"People outside, make a sound!"

That kick, that sentence, finally successfully broke the eerie silence outside.

Footsteps sounded.

Very light footsteps, step by step, walking up to the door crack.

Fang Qi could hear that person's breathing.

Very steady, very even, right across the door!

But this person still didn't speak.

The next second...

A series of beeps came from outside the door.

"Beep, verification failed."

A cold synthesized voice.

Fang Qi: ...

Huh?

The people outside are trying to open the door?

At least say something?

Fang Qi immediately wanted to lean close to the door crack to take a look outside!

But as soon as he moved, he was pulled back tightly by Liguang!

"Master...!"

Her voice was kept very low, full of vigilance:

"The people outside are all holding guns, aiming at this door crack!"

Fang Qi's movements instantly stiffened.

...?

All aiming at the door crack?

He slightly turned his head, glancing at the bullet still embedded in the wall...

He swallowed hard.

Hiss...

Instant death upon showing my head, huh...

"Beep. Verification failed."

Another sound.

"Beep. Verification failed."

And another.

The people outside were obviously trying different methods.

"Verification failed."

Failed again.

But the other party still showed no intention of giving up, continuing to press the buttons.

The silver-haired girl still tightly gripped his wrist, not allowing him to take a single step closer to the door crack.

Fang Qi pursed his lips.

Now... what kind of bizarre situation is this?

"...Are the people outside all mute?! Say something!"

Fang Qi shouted at the door crack once again.

The result was that still no one paid attention to him.

Still...

"Beep beep beep..."

"Beep. Verification failed."

Fang Qi was truly a bit helpless now.

I mean...

Not saying a single word, just keeping up the beeping...

What are they doing?

It's creepy!

The other side was still non-stop trying to hack it!

And looking at this stance, it seems the other side doesn't know how to hack at all?

Constantly getting verification failed, isn't that just blindly trying?

They won't be able to hack it at all!

Forget it!

Not wasting time anymore!

In the future... there will be plenty of opportunities to interact with them!

Better get down to business first!

"Liguang."

He turned to look at the silver-haired girl.

"Close the door, let's go inside. Ignore them."

"Yes, Master."

The silver-haired girl immediately responded.

She still held his wrist tightly, and her other slender hand was about to operate the control panel.

"Please wait a moment."

A voice suddenly came from outside the door.

It was a man's voice.

Very young, very calm, without any emotional fluctuation.

Fang Qi narrowed his eyes.

Finally speaking?

And the silver-haired girl's hand also stopped.

Her phoenix eyes stared at the door crack, a faint blue light surging for a moment.

Then, she suddenly spoke softly again:

"Master, the people outside... have all put their guns down."

"They are no longer aiming their muzzles at the door crack."

...Oh?

Fang Qi slightly raised an eyebrow.

Is this finally... willing to put down the guns and have a proper chat?

Fine.

Since the other party isn't wasting time, he naturally wouldn't mind chatting with these mysterious guys for a bit!

Thus, he leaned close to the door crack again.

This time Liguang didn't stop him.

Only, his wrist was still tightly held by that small hand.

Fang Qi leaned close to this two-finger-wide door crack, looking outside through it.

The light outside was no longer blinding, having become very soft.

The entire platform was now brightly illuminated.

He saw...

Six people.

Three men and three women, standing in two rows.

Three in the front row, three in the back row, evenly spaced.

Incredibly neat!

They were all also very young.

Looking... about the same age as Gu Xi?

In their twenties or thirties.

But unlike Gu Xi, they were all wearing uniforms, though they didn't seem to be police officers.

They wore unfamiliar dark uniforms with no insignia on them.

No police badges, no rank epaulets, nothing to indicate their identity.

Mysterious uniforms.

Standing right in the middle of the front row was a young woman.

Her hair was combed meticulously, tied in a tight bun at the back of her head. Her features were regular, but...

Her expression was completely wooden.

She was staring straight at the crack in the door, staring at Fang Qi.

Those eyes...

Fang Qi's pupils shrank, and he felt a slight chill.

There was absolutely nothing in those eyes.

Calm? Apathetic? Lifeless?

None of those words seemed quite right.

She looked more like a...

Soulless doll.

The five people beside her were exactly the same.

All of them stood perfectly straight, hands resting in front of them, holding rifles of an unrecognizable model, sharing the same wooden expression.

Their gazes were also uniformly fixed on Fang Qi through the crack in the door!

Six pairs of eyes reflected a faint gleam under the relatively soft light.

They just stood there motionless, staring at him eerily.

...Hiss!

Fang Qi couldn't help but break out in goosebumps.

Why did these people look so bizarre?

And this scene...

Gave him a slight sense of déjà vu?

Oh... it was somewhat like that feeling of being surrounded by Twilight in the movie theater before?!

Huh?

Could they be...?

He subconsciously asked:

"Liguang, are they humans or androids?"

On his wrist, that small hand tightened slightly.

"Master, the people outside... are all pure humans."

The silver-haired girl replied softly:

"Like Miss Gu, they are humans who haven't undergone any modifications."

Fang Qi fell silent.

Unmodified humans...

But they looked more like robots than unawakened AI companions!

Wooden faces, no hostility, no goodwill, no curiosity...

Nothing at all!

Like a bunch of empty shells whose souls had been sucked out!

Fang Qi stared at them, feeling the hairs on his arms stand on end.

Just as he was squinting, examining them closely...

From the blind spot on the left side of the door crack, something slowly emerged.

Fang Qi was fully focused. Catching a glimpse of movement in his peripheral vision, he subconsciously shifted his gaze...

...and saw an eye.

The dark brown pupil was large, with very little white showing.

That eye and Fang Qi's eye were separated only by the thickness of the door...

Meeting straight on!

Unblinking, staring intently at him!

"Holy shit!!"

Terrified, Fang Qi jerked backward!

The back of his head slammed right into Liguang's shoulder!

The silver-haired girl's hand instantly supported his back, catching him steadily!

Leaning against Liguang's embrace, Fang Qi's heart was still pounding wildly.

He glared at that suddenly appearing eye!

There was another person!

A seventh person!

Oh...

He was probably the one... who had been trying to open this door just now?

Suddenly pressing his face to the crack, locking eyes with him through the door!

Tch!

Who are you trying to scare!

And at this moment, that eye finally slowly pulled away from the crack.

Revealing his entire face through the gap.

Fang Qi narrowed his eyes, looking at the face slowly emerging outside the door!

It was a very young face, probably only in his twenties.

Similar to the other six.

Fair skin, regular features.

Slightly thick eyebrows, a slightly prominent brow ridge, average-sized eyes with monolids, and very ordinary dark brown pupils.

His expression was just as wooden as the other six.

...Hmm?

Staring at this face, Fang Qi was slightly taken aback.

Why did this man...

Look somewhat familiar?

Had he...

Seen this face somewhere before?

A vague sense of familiarity.

He had seen him.

He must have seen him!

At the very least...

In some place, at some time, in some scene, he had seen some angle of this face?

Hiss...

Where was it?

Fang Qi stared at the young man's face behind the door crack, his brows furrowing.

The more he looked, the more familiar it seemed!

...Who?

Who was this?!

A man?

A young man?

Had he met any young men since coming to this world?

He hadn't met many important men at all.

The old man by the sea was one.

Uncle Fang Yi was one.

...Who else?

Oh right, and those...

The armed personnel he had dispatched in the Dawn Apartments?

There were indeed some young people among them.

Did any of those people look like this?

...Did they?

Or perhaps...

He had seen this face before he transmigrated?!

...No, no!

He must have seen this face recently!

Very familiar!

Just recently!

Absolutely recently...

...Hmm?

Ah!

A flash of inspiration suddenly struck Fang Qi's mind!

Wait...!

This face seemed to be...!

Hey, hey, hey...!

He abruptly yanked the constantly tense silver-haired girl beside him!

"Liguang!"

He was still staring fixedly at the man outside!

"Give me that card! The white card! Hurry!"

At the same time, he reached his hand out toward Liguang!

Yet after holding his hand out for a while, Liguang still hadn't handed him the card.

Fang Qi: "?"

He turned his head slightly, looking at Liguang beside him.

He saw the silver-haired girl looking at him with pursed lips, her amber pupils flashing with a faint blue light.

That expression suddenly looked a bit displeased!

"Master, you said..."

Her voice was a little muffled, slightly stubborn.

"This card was to be kept by Liguang."

"It's a dirty thing..."

Fang Qi: "..."

No, wifey!

Stop messing around at a critical moment!

He glared at her, his voice dropping:

"Give it to me! Now! Once I'm done confirming, I'll give it back to you to keep!"

Fang Qi's tone was a bit harsh, and Liguang trembled slightly at his words!

A flash of crimson appeared in her red pupils as she glared back at Fang Qi!

But then, she pursed her lips in slight grievance, and slowly reached her hand into that small crossbody bag...

Pulling out the access card she had just stuffed inside, handing it to Fang Qi.

"Master must keep his word..."

She muttered softly.

Fang Qi snatched the card and looked down.

On the card...

That middle-aged man wearing glasses had a gentle expression.

This...!

He immediately held the card up to his eyes, up to the crack in the door!

Then, his gaze darted between the photo on the card and the face of the young man outside the door...

Back and forth!

Hiss——!

His lips even began to tremble slightly.

"Liguang..."

He tugged at the silver-haired girl's sleeve, his voice a bit weak.

"Look outside..."

"Look at that person outside!"

The silver-haired girl had originally been gently biting her lip, staring at the card.

Hearing this, her phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, and the faint blue in her amber pupils flashed.

Seeming to realize something, she immediately leaned over, her head resting against Fang Qi's, looking out through the crack.

Outside the door, that young man remained expressionless.

The faint blue light suddenly flashed violently!

"Master..."

Liguang also murmured:

"This person... really looks like..."

She slowly looked back at the white card.

The crimson in her red pupils also began to flicker!

She didn't continue.

But Fang Qi knew what she wanted to say.

She wanted to say...

This person really looks like Lin Zhouyuan.

Exactly the same.

Exactly the same.

...Except for the age.