De Nuo City · North District
Ding—
With a crisp chime, He Ao stepped out of the elevator.
A long, narrow, clean corridor lit by bright lights came into view.
Narrow doors lined both sides of the corridor, each marked with a number indicating an apartment.
Soon, He Ao reached the end of the corridor and stopped before apartment 1923, its number glowing above the door.
Judging from the exterior wall, this apartment seemed slightly larger than the others, though only by a limited amount.
At the end of the corridor was a narrow window, through which brilliant sunlight streamed and fell at He Ao's feet.
He Ao raised his head, glanced once more at the number, and pressed the doorbell.
Ding-dong—
Along with the crisp ring, there seemed to be some movement behind the door.
Then, a faint light came on at the peephole, as though someone were using a remote camera system to look outside.
"Please wait. You can wait in the living room," a slightly hoarse middle-aged man's voice sounded in He Ao's ear.
Click—
The lock released on its own, and the door shifted slightly backward, indicating that it had been unlocked.
But that was all.
Clearly, this was not one of the automatic doors popular in upscale apartments in the Federation's central region. It could not open by itself.
He Ao glanced at the unlocked door, raised his hand, gripped the handle, and gently pushed it open.
The faint sound of running water came from deep inside the apartment, as though someone were washing their hands.
He Ao slowly raised his head and surveyed the space. The first thing he saw was a simply decorated living room.
It was not large, barely spacious enough for a seventy-five-inch wall-mounted television and an old beige sofa set