Safe House

The ground was about to sink in with just a brief pause!

No time to think about that, keep moving!

The silver-haired girl was being dragged along by him, but she kept looking back at the passage that had already returned to its original state. Her brows were furrowed, and her single amber eye brimmed with confusion.

"Master... it stopped just now."

"Yeah."

Fang Qi pressed on, his stride quickening!

His heart was still pounding!

That was so close just now...!

"But it didn't crush us. It went back on its own."

Liuguang turned her head to look at their clasped hands.

Fang Qi glanced sideways at her and noticed that she looked a bit dazed and slow on the uptake.

She seemed to be struggling to analyze something...

But her computing power was insufficient—she couldn't figure it out.

After several seconds of hesitation, she suddenly lifted her head!

"I get it."

A look of sudden realization dawned on her pretty face.

"Just now, it was making way for Master!"

Fang Qi froze, even his footsteps halting for half a second.

...Huh?

For me?

Two walls making way for me?

Making way...

He blinked.

It was actually possible.

But not for him—rather...

He glanced at Liuguang.

Probably...

it was the "rules" yielding to Liuguang!

Hmm...

Fang Qi squinted.

That must be it.

Just like how those fragments fled from Liuguang before!

He pursed his lips.

Ah.

So much for saying he'd protect his wife—turns out it was his wife protecting him again...

He shook his head with resignation.

"If it really was making way, I think it was making way for Liuguang..."

"No way!"

Liuguang suddenly cut him off. She glared at him, her tone suddenly stubborn.

"It has nothing to do with Liuguang!"

"It just didn't want to crush Master!"

As she said this, she tightened her grip on his hand!

Fang Qi blinked.

What else could he say?

His wife was right!

Since his wife was giving him all the credit, he'd just take it.

"Alright, alright, Liuguang is right~"

"Don't you brush me off, Master—I'm serious!"

"Yeah, yeah, Liuguang said it well~"

"Master——!!!"

With all this messing around, the tension and unease from earlier finally eased.

They kept walking forward.

Beneath their feet, the mosaic tiles were still squirming.

They turned a corner.

"That was definitely because of Master...!"

"Alright, alright..."

Suddenly, the view opened up!

Liuguang's words caught in her throat.

Fang Qi looked at the scene before him and slowly widened his eyes.

Because he saw...

rows and rows of familiar metal shelves! Not mosaic shelves!

Had they finally made it out of the long corridor?!

And was this the supplies storage area?!

But...

Fang Qi squinted at the display before him.

The storage area looked different now than when they had passed through before.

The bottom halves of the shelves had already turned into mosaic, becoming that familiar, colorful pixel swamp.

Yet...

"Ha...!" He burst out laughing!

Because the upper halves of the shelves were completely intact!

On the shelves—canned goods, compressed biscuits, bottled water...

All untouched!

"Gurgle..."

The sight made his stomach growl!

He was so thirsty! So hungry!

It had been from morning until now...

An Lian's shooting, the car chase, the underground research facility, the Fate Collar, the rule breakdown, the crimson-eye surgery, and then wandering through the maze...

A whole day without eating anything!

"Master is hungry."

Liuguang looked at him, her amber eyes flickering with concern.

"Master hasn't had anything since this morning..."

She bit her lip, her expression filled with guilt and regret.

"I'm sorry, Master, it was Liuguang's oversight..."

"Don't worry, don't worry!"

Fang Qi quickly waved his hand.

"Eating now is still fine!"

But Liuguang was already pulling him toward the shelves!

The mosaic still squirmed underfoot; as she walked, she reached out, grabbed a pack of compressed biscuits from a shelf, and shoved it into his hand!

Then she grabbed a bottle of water, scooped up a handful of energy bars, and more—!

"Enough, enough, I can't eat that much!"

"Master, eat!"

Her tone suddenly turned assertive.

"Alright, alright, I'll eat, I'll eat, I'll eat!"

Yeah, he really was hungry!

Time to eat!

If his wife said eat, then he'd eat!

He hugged the biscuits and energy bars to his chest, tore open a pack of compressed biscuits, and stuffed them into his mouth.

The dry, hard biscuits didn't taste great, but at this moment...

they were so delicious!

He felt like this was probably the best-tasting thing in the world!

Liuguang pulled him further along the shelves, then crouched down and retrieved an empty plastic woven bag from the bottom shelf...

She then started packing whatever supplies she could grab from the shelves into the bag, one by one!

Fang Qi ate as he watched her.

Her movements were much clumsier than usual.

The super AI that could scan an entire shelf in a second now had to pick up canned goods one by one and squint at the labels to read the text.

Checking expiration dates, then carefully putting them into the bag.

"This one, eleven months until expiration. It's okay to take."

"This one has a high protein content in the nutritional information. Master needs to supplement protein now."

"This one is too salty—it'll make you thirsty... Hmm, better bring it along anyway."

She muttered to herself while selecting.

"Liuguang."

Fang Qi chewed on an energy bar, speaking vaguely.

"There's not much point in taking all this now..."

"Master, eat your meal!"

"Oh..."

Fang Qi swallowed the crushed biscuit in his mouth and took a sip of water.

...Not bad, it actually felt pretty nice!

He never thought he'd be eating something here!

Liuguang picked up a bag of strawberry-flavored sandwich cookies, apparently left behind by Lin Xiaoyou.

She placed them into the bag.

Soon, the fabric bag began to bulge.

She kept stuffing things in as she moved, trying to squeeze in one last bottle of water!

But the bag was now so full that the zipper wouldn't close!

Fang Qi blinked.

She wanted to take everything!

Gotta hand it to his wife—she really knew how to be economical!

But this was way too much!

"Enough, enough, Liuguang!"

He quickly stopped her.

"You're practically emptying this warehouse!"

Liuguang lifted her head, staring at him very seriously.

"Liuguang can't calculate Master's caloric intake anymore."

"Before, Liuguang could precisely determine how many calories, how much water, how many electrolytes Master needed per hour..."

"But I can't do that now. I can't calculate it."

She gently pursed her lips.

"So, I have to take a little extra, just in case."

A hint of anxiety crept into her tone.

"If we never find a way out, if Master gets hungry again soon, if..."

"Liuguang."

Fang Qi interrupted her, reached out, and gently pinched her soft cheek.

"That's enough. This will last us for days. If you pack any more, you won't be able to carry it."

Liuguang blinked, looked down at the canvas bag that was about to burst, and fell silent for a few seconds.

"...Mm."

She finally let go of the hand that was still trying to shove things in.

Her amber eyes became moist again, and a faint trace of grievance welled up.

"Master..."

She mumbled softly.

"Before, things like this—Liuguang could have scanned them in an instant..."

"Now I have to look at them one by one. It's so slow..."

Fang Qi chuckled, reached out, and ruffled her fluffy little head.

Her silver hair swayed through his fingers, and that stubborn cowlick of hers was tousled into standing straight up.

“Slow is fine. We’re not in a hurry anyway.”

Liguang squinted from his rubbing, but instead of pulling away, she nuzzled her head into the palm of his hand.

...

The two continued weaving through the maze for a long time.

Fang Qi wanted to help carry the bag with Liguang, but she wouldn’t allow it.

Because Liguang wanted to hold his hand, and carrying the bag together would mean letting go.

Fang Qi couldn’t argue with her.

Still, it was okay—though Liguang’s processing power was a bit low now, her strength hadn’t weakened much, so she carried it with ease.

The corridors kept splitting and merging, walls sometimes narrowing and sometimes widening.

Along the way, Fang Qi spotted several more doors.

Some wouldn’t open; others revealed nothing but emptiness when pushed.

He was no longer as reckless as before.

Every time he approached a door, he’d stop first and test the panel with the back of his hand.

He’d even started to develop a knack for it!

If it felt like cold metal, the door was real.

If it was warm, with a faint vibration, it meant the door could turn into a wall at any moment!

Liguang still wanted to test them herself, but Fang Qi said no.

No way—he was the one protecting his wife now!

How could he let his wife do the testing?

Besides, his wife was already carrying the supplies!

So every time he checked a door, Liguang would tightly tug on his sleeve and stare at the door with alert eyes,

ready to yank him back at a moment’s notice!

Even though nothing dangerous ever happened—at worst, he’d hit a wall.

After turning the seventh or eighth corner—he’d lost count—Liguang suddenly pulled at his sleeve.

“Master,” she said.

She raised a slender finger, pointing toward the end of the corridor.

“That door.”

Fang Qi followed her gaze. A door—a complete door.

The frame wasn’t pixelated, and the panel wasn’t distorted.

He walked over and, as usual, tested it with the back of his hand.

Cold. Metallic.

A real door!

And it looked a bit familiar… almost like—!

He pushed it open immediately!

His eyes lit up!

Sure enough!

The familiar glow of the lab’s light spilled out—

Soft, steady white light.

Inside, the core calibration device’s screen was still flickering, and the robotic arm rested quietly in place.

The floor showed no blurring or pixelation.

They were back!

This place—still just as normal as when they’d left!

He immediately stepped inside and steadied himself.

His feet felt no sinking sensation underneath.

Solid metal flooring—no twisting or pixelation.

“Liguang, hurry in!”

Fang Qi pulled the silver-haired girl through the doorway.

She stepped inside, looked down at her feet, blinked her amber eyes, and then glanced around.

“…How did we end up here?” she murmured.

“And why hasn’t anything changed…”

She squinted slightly, as if trying to analyze and think—

But ultimately, she wore a dazed little expression.

Little dummy!

“I don’t know, but—”

Fang Qi turned to face Liguang, raised a hand, and arched an eyebrow.

“Liguang, we’re back at the safe house!”

At least…

Here, they still had a safe place!

A safe house where he and his wife could explore together, scavenge for supplies…!

It felt pretty nice, didn’t it?

Felt… like maybe there was no rush to leave right away!