Chapter 66

"「I found something.」 Shang Jianyao, holding the long, white hair, quickly walked back to the living room area.

To let Qiao Chu, Jiang Baimian, and the others see more clearly, he turned the flashlight and shone it on his hand.

The slightly yellow beam of light spread out, casting a ghastly shadow on Shang Jianyao's face, scaring Long Yuehong almost to the point of shooting him.

"Look at my hand." Shang Jianyao seemed to have anticipated Long Yuehong's reaction, but only added this sentence at this moment.

Long Yuehong slowly exhaled, shifted his gaze, and looked over.

In the slightly yellow beam of light, fine dust danced, and the white hair gently swayed.

"Where did you find it?" Jiang Baimian asked.

Shang Jianyao pointed to the wall with the LCD screen:

"On the pillow in this bedroom."

"Only one?" Jiang Baimian followed up.

"In theory, yes, unless it can devour its companions and evolve itself." Shang Jianyao answered seriously.

"Is this what they teach in basic classes now?" Jiang Baimian said casually, seemingly distracted by various possibilities.

Bai Chen, who had been listening quietly, pulled the old scarf around her neck and said:

"Left over from the destruction of the old world?"

Hair doesn't rot easily in similar environments.

"There's no reason for only one to be left." Jiang Baimian expressed her doubt, "Besides, didn't we already have a preliminary judgment? This city is regularly 'maintained' to some extent. The situation in this room also confirms this. For example, we found traces of rat activity in the dining room and kitchen, but apart from bite marks and scratch marks, they left nothing behind."

"This is getting scarier and scarier..." Long Yuehong couldn't help but mutter.

A city that has long been dead is still being regularly cleaned and 'maintained'!

Without knowing the reason, this is scarier than the ghost stories on the radio!

"The rats might have been eaten by the active 'Heartless' here; they need food too." Bai Chen offered her guess.

Jiang Baimian nodded:

"Possible. But would the 'Heartless' clean up after the rats? They only have survival instincts left."

"What's impossible about that? They can still sing, can't they?" Shang Jianyao turned off the flashlight in his hand and said seriously.

"..." Jiang Baimian gave him a look, "Do you call that growling singing? Besides, even if they have some instinct to clean the environment, which I haven't seen in 'Heartless' elsewhere, let's assume they do. They should be maintaining regularly, not after a long time, since they don't have much thinking ability and act only on instinct."

From the conditions of the streets, buildings, and rooms, it seems there hasn't been maintenance for a long time.

Shang Jianyao argued based on "reason":

"Humans have a lazy instinct.

"How often do you clean your room?"

Jiang Baimian was momentarily speechless and looked at Qiao Chu:

"I'm more casual when I'm on missions in the wilderness; it's a way to show camaraderie.

"At the company, if I cook myself, I clean every day, more than once. If I eat in the cafeteria, I clean every three days and do a major clean every month."

Qiao Chu, who had been silent throughout their discussion, suddenly asked:

"Are you from 'Pangu Bio,' 'United Industries,' 'Orange' company, or 'Future Intelligence'?"

"We are from 'Pangu Bio.'" Jiang Baimian answered honestly.

Qiao Chu touched the silver rifle across his knees and nodded slightly:

"There's no need to discuss that hair; it's not a big deal.

"Eat, rest, and wait until midnight."

"Okay." Shang Jianyao and the others gave up the discussion, each finding a spot to sit and eat compressed biscuits and energy bars with the water from their water bladders.

After filling their stomachs, Jiang Baimian stood up, walked to the window in the dining area, and looked down at the overgrown lawn below.

She intended to state her needs directly but, after glancing at Qiao Chu, felt a bit embarrassed:

"I, I need to go down and take care of something."

"The toilet here can solve the problem directly." Shang Jianyao looked eager, as if he wanted to share the method he had discovered with his companions.

"No need... it will affect rest." Jiang Baimian politely declined his offer.

Sitting in the chair, seemingly resting with closed eyes, Qiao Chu opened his eyes and said:

"You can go to the corner of 601."

Jiang Baimian instinctively shook her head:

"In such a strange place, it's better to be cautious.

"A strong smell, if not buried and close to oneself, could attract unnecessary trouble."

"It's fine." Qiao Chu insisted.

Jiang Baimian didn't want to argue and chose to comply.

Bai Chen stood up:

"I'll go with you."

"Exactly, to help each other keep watch." Jiang Baimian nodded with a smile, "Even if you don't want to go, I'll have to drag you along."

Long Yuehong squeezed her thighs and looked at Shang Jianyao:

"Want to go together later?"

"Sure." Shang Jianyao responded with a hint of regret, "Since Qiao Chu said it's fine, we can be more relaxed, like standing on the railing, opening the window, and going directly outside..."

"Stop!" Long Yuehong stopped his jumping thoughts or sudden whims.

After this interlude, Long Yuehong and Bai Chen each took one end of the sofa, curled up, and prepared to rest. Qiao Chu remained in the chair, eyes closed, either resting or already asleep.

Shang Jianyao sat cross-legged on the railing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking in the direction of the tunnel, monitoring the movements in the dark city. Jiang Baimian, without the grenade launcher, held an 'Ice Moss' pistol and patrolled the living room, always watching for any abnormalities in the sleeping people.

A few minutes later, a scream filled with fear echoed from somewhere in the city.

In the abnormally quiet night, in the city ruins like a dead forest, the scream spread far, making Long Yuehong, who hadn't fallen asleep, feel her scalp tingle and tremble with fear.

Immediately after, gunshots rang out one after another.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. This series of sounds, like fireworks, quickly died down and returned to silence.

After a while, Shang Jianyao, with the help of the faint starlight, saw a figure dart out from a nearby alley.

This figure was hunched, moving more like an ape than a human.

It was dressed in a mess of clothes and bound with fabric, quickly approaching the building where Shang Jianyao and the others were.

Then, it ran along the street, covered with yellow leaves, heading in another direction, occasionally climbing to high places and leaping down gracefully.

Seeing this scene, Shang Jianyao felt that even with genetic modifications and systematic training, it would be difficult to perform similar actions, as the main focus of the modifications was not in this area.

At this moment, the high clouds moved, and a bit of moonlight leaked through, allowing Shang Jianyao to barely see the figure's appearance.

It should be a male, with black, messy, and dirty hair, but not too long, not reaching the shoulders.

Seemingly sensing Shang Jianyao's gaze, the figure suddenly turned its head and looked up at the building.

Shang Jianyao's eyes immediately reflected a blank face.

A 'Heartless.'

This is a 'Heartless,' a 'Heartless' in the prime of life.

Shang Jianyao did not avoid, but opened his eyes and stared at the 'Heartless' from a distance.

Finally, the 'Heartless' withdrew its gaze and continued toward the shadows of the distant high-rise, disappearing there.

Shang Jianyao gradually showed a smile, as if he had achieved a decisive victory.

Suddenly, he saw another figure.

This figure was also hunched, but moved much slower than the previous 'Heartless.'

Shang Jianyao saw a withered, wrinkled face and a head of messy white hair.

This figure flashed past and entered the alley on the left, which was a blind spot for Shang Jianyao.

Over the next two hours, Shang Jianyao saw several more 'Heartless.' Jiang Baimian also noticed this and expressed her doubts about the number of 'Heartless' here.

Later, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong woke up and took over their duties.

When Shang Jianyao was woken from his dream by Long Yuehong, Qiao Chu had already left the chair and stood by the floor-to-ceiling window.

"It's almost midnight." Qiao Chu said calmly.

He then withdrew his gaze from the dark city ruins and, with a cold look but a gentle voice, ordered:

"Help me put on the exoskeleton."

Soon, with the help of Jiang Baimian and Bai Chen, he put on the military exoskeleton and activated the system.

Holding the silver rifle, Qiao Chu, whose body was covered in a black metal skeleton, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and pointed to a building a few blocks away:

"Our destination is there."

Shang Jianyao and the others followed his direction and saw a building that was a considerable distance from all the surrounding structures.

It seemed to have a large attached courtyard.

At this moment, it stood quietly in the dark city ruins, with no light coming from inside, as if it had long been dead.

A few seconds later, Qiao Chu turned, walked to the door, and said in a deep voice:

"Let's go!"

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