This was Shen Ning’s first time arriving in this city, a city named for freedom, yet she began by losing her own freedom.
Perhaps it was because she never truly entered the urban area the plane swiftly flew over the city, then descended into a valley. The deep and quiet valley was nearly pitch black; only the runway lights guided the way.
The plane stopped at the end of the runway, but the door didn’t open. Not long after, Shen Ning felt herself descending again, as if the plane itself was a kind of elevator.
After some time, the platform came to a stop, and a voice came over the broadcast:
“We have arrived, Miss Shen Ning. Please disembark.”
She stepped off the plane and saw a corridor shaped like a pipeline. At the end of the corridor stood a metal door, indicating she had already entered the interior of the Research Institute.
A female researcher in a white lab coat approached to greet her. Her attire reminded Shen Ning of the former Dr. Hailianna, though the woman’s hair color was different.
“Identity verification, Miss Shen Ning. Please follow me.” The researcher led the girl inside, saying, “Your room is 301. Aside from your own room and public areas, other places are strictly off-limits without permission. Otherwise… strange things might happen.”
Such ambiguous warnings didn’t scare Shen Ning, but she recalled Xu Chuyao’s advice to be cautious.
After identity verification, the heavy metal door slowly opened. The mechanical lock inside had gone through multiple complex interlocks before finally releasing.
“Let’s go.”
The researcher stepped into the Research Institute, while Shen Ning stood still for a few seconds.
Judging by the sound just now, there should be four to six sub-locks inside the door. Could they be opened with wind energy?
“Miss Shen Ning!”
“Coming.”
The girl shook her head lightly, temporarily setting aside the idea, because she suspected the door locks were linked to alarms.
Since it was built underground, the interior of the Research Institute was not visible at a glance. Even inside, only a small portion of the area could be seen.
“Your room is this way.”
The researcher first introduced the various accessible public areas—places where a small number of staff still worked—before leading her down another corridor. On both sides were fully sealed and locked rooms. According to the room numbers, her dormitory should be at the very end.
But just as Shen Ning passed the first locked door, a faint voice whispered beside her ear.
“So cold, can you give me some glue?”
What was that noise?
Shen Ning turned around but could only see a cold, fully sealed door.
“What’s wrong, Miss Shen Ning?”
Could no one else hear it?
“Nothing.” The girl hid what she had heard, “Just curious about who lives in these rooms.”
The researcher glanced over toward that direction, but with her mask on, her face revealed no expression.
“My clearance doesn’t allow me to tell you more. Please follow me; escorting you to your dorm is my duty.”
That said, but as they walked down the corridor, passing door after sealed door, Shen Ning heard at least one phrase from each:
“Is it day or night?”
“So hot, can you give me some ice?”
“I think I’ve forgotten something, but I forgot what I forgot.”
“Survival or reproduction? That’s the question—or maybe two questions.”
Only after she entered the fully sealed dormitory—much larger than a school dorm—did the voices stop.
“If you need anything, you can call, but not every request can be fulfilled.” The researcher stood at the door and said, “Good night, Miss Shen Ning. Someone will explain your work tomorrow.”
After saying that, she left, not forgetting to close the door behind her.
Now Shen Ning was alone. The reflections began to emerge one after another—a shadow under the light, a small mirror on the table, and the phone screen.
“The team and everyone else have probably come to a very special place.” The Milky Ning Reflection adjusted her hat. “People here speak very philosophically, very talented.”
Talented?
Shen Ning thought to herself, whether they were talented or not she didn’t know, but they were certainly crazy.
One reflection finished speaking, and she waited a long time but didn’t hear the other two reflections say anything.
“You guys really can’t talk at all.”
The girl was a bit puzzled: “But usually at school, even when things have nothing to do with Xu Chuyao, you can still say a few words.”
Why was it like a Silent Ban here?
“No choice, daily life at school rarely violates temporal-spatial continuity.” The Sexually Repressed Shadow said helplessly, “But this is a key node, a highly correlated event. We’ve been completely Silent Banned.”
She then glanced mockingly toward the Milky Ning Reflection: “Don’t be fooled by how much she talks. She’s only giving some ideas from your perspective. What she herself has experienced, she can’t say.”
Milky Ning Reflection folded her arms seriously: “Xu Chuyao said, we need to observe more, think more, rather than rely on empiricism.”
The Sexually Repressed Shadow scratched her head, unsure if Milky Ning couldn’t give the answers because of the temporal-spatial continuity principle, or because Xu Chuyao forbade it.
At this moment, the Broken Shadow said: “Observing and thinking is right, because with your current strength and timeframe, it’s still too early for you here.”
“If I told you who to kill to get out, you wouldn’t have the ability anyway.”
“Fine then.”
The girl lay on the bed, recalling the insane phrases she had heard along the way, thinking of Liu Ji telling her in a dream that she shouldn’t believe every word from these ‘things’.
But how to tell which is true?
“I miss Xu Chuyao.” The Sexually Repressed Shadow suddenly said.
That was a topic that could be discussed.
“Who doesn’t?” The Broken Shadow’s tone was low and gloomy. “I think about it every day.”
The room fell silent except for the lively voice of Milky Ning Reflection: “Xu Chuyao said to wait a while, not too long. Maybe after we finish observing and thinking, she’ll come.”
Seeing her so positive and optimistic, she seemed like a primary school student promised by her parents: “Finish your homework, then you can play games.”
At this moment, the Sexually Repressed Shadow suddenly envied her for giving up thinking.
“We haven’t been angry at Xu Chuyao in a long time. It’s all your fault, and you two’s.”
The Sexually Repressed suddenly became indignant: “Whenever we get angry, Xu Chuyao would be happy and recover quickly. But because of you guys promoting respect for thoughts every day, these days have been so peaceful!”
“We didn’t get to quarrel before, now it’s all suppressed.”
“Not my fault.” Milky Ning Reflection blinked innocently.
“Not your fault? Then I ask you, do you ever get angry at Xu Chuyao?”
“Of course. Xu Chuyao said, baby, you should be angry. It’s just that I get angry quietly.”
Milky Ning Reflection’s words left the Sexually Repressed Shadow speechless.
As they bickered, the exhausted girl closed her eyes, sleepiness washing over her.
Far away in Center City, was Xu Chuyao asleep? Did she miss me? What would tomorrow be like?
Center City, Shengling Academy.
Xu Chuyao had rested well last night and woke up refreshed at dawn. After getting out of bed, she called Xiao Si Nuo to bring Xiao Hua into the family district.
“This is our Crisis Response Team’s newly recruited external intelligence agent. Please register her.”
After informing the gatekeeper and the Internal Affairs Department, she led them to the team’s activity room and pushed the door open.
“Our operation consists of three stages. Today, we’ll focus on the first stage, mainly testing your abilities, Xiao Si Nuo.”
Xu Chuyao planned to introduce the team members during the second stage. Today’s focus was on the mission objective.
She turned on the projector, inserted a USB drive, and the screen showed a foreign man in his thirties.
“Sveinar, known as Professor Sveinar, an outstanding graduate of Hong Leiden Academy, ranked at the peak of third stage. A few years ago, he was hired by the Rockmorgan Family as an academic consultant, making significant research achievements in Spirit Ore. These are publicly available materials online.”
After finishing, Xu Chuyao clicked to open another picture—Xiao Hua’s previous drawing of the “Red Burning Potato” emblem.
“That’s not a potato. It’s the Spirit Ore of Xitong, representing a Spirit Ore Research Institute named Fred Valley Research Institute, an institution under the Rockmorgan Family’s research department.” She lightly tapped the projection screen. “The director of this institute is Professor Sveinar.”
Xiao Hua stood up abruptly but was quickly calmed down by Xu Chuyao.
“Don’t get excited. He’s our target, so don’t rush. As for this institute, I’ll tell you more after the first stage is complete, so it won’t shock your worldview and affect your work.”
This last part was directed at Xiao Si Nuo, who looked confused with her curly hair. Xu Chuyao continued:
“The first stage is very simple, Xiao Si Nuo. Use those old newspapers you have to piece together Sveinar’s past—his early experiences, ideological tendencies, even interpersonal relationships.”
Xiao Si Nuo nodded repeatedly: “Got it. That’s definitely simple.”
She had done similar things before, like helping Shen Ning investigate the grade supervisor Luo Kangsheng.
As usual, finding any random person might be difficult, but Sveinar reached third stage peak by his thirties. Although nowhere near Shen Ning’s level of historic genius, he was still a regional prodigy with formal academy training, so there must be reports.
Moreover, Sveinar was a contemporary figure; his early reports were mostly within the past decade or so, making him much easier to research than the veteran Luo Kangsheng.
Xiao Si Nuo calculated in her head: “I’ll send messages to Dad this afternoon to get old newspapers sent over, plus maybe find some online reports.”
But Xu Chuyao shook her head: “Online reports can be altered. If he wanted, he would have handled that already. Old newspapers are more reliable.”
“Alright then. I’ll work hard and should have results by tomorrow.”
That meant by tomorrow, they would know the thing that Xu Chuyao—the goddess, or rather the commander—had said would be a huge shock to their worldview. Just thinking about it made her a bit nervous.
Then Xu Chuyao clicked to open two more pictures—one of Sveinar, the other of a clown mask.
“Our entire operation has only one main goal—to prove Sveinar is a direct superior in the Clown Gang, orchestrating and directing early attacks. Now it’s Xiao Si Nuo’s turn to stand up.”
“Understood.”
Could there be something even more shocking than this?