The visitor wore a white lab coat, his face wrapped tightly in bandages with only a narrow opening left for breathing.
He even wore sunglasses, making his attire exceptionally mysterious.
Yan Anqing closed the door and looked at him, the corner of his eye twitching slightly. "Xie Zhe, what the hell are you doing?"
This strangely dressed man was Xie Zhe, Yan Anqing's childhood friend—a typical genius with high intelligence and low emotional intelligence.
Back when Yan Anqing was still an undergraduate clinical intern, this guy had already become a visiting professor of neurosurgery at a Grade A Tertiary Hospital-affiliated university.
"This is a huge deal!"
Xie Zhe took off his sunglasses and spoke at a rapid pace. "My eyes suddenly turned gold!"
"Do you know what that means?"
"My value as an experimental subject has surpassed my value as a researcher!"
"If Shang Yin, Crazy Jiang, and the others find out about this, they'll definitely slice me up!"
"Wait! When you listened to me, the left side of your body leaned forward. Your rational cerebral hemisphere is thinking... You're not planning to betray me, are you?"
Yan Anqing had long grown accustomed to his friend's intermittent bouts of insanity. He merely narrowed his eyes at him. "The things you're saying make you sound more like a fringe scientist than a visiting professor at Capital Medical University."
He had never met Shang Yin or Crazy Jiang, but Xie Zhe mentioned them often.
Birds of a feather flock together.
In Yan Anqing's mind, both men had already been labeled "mentally abnormal" and "mad scientists."
Xie Zhe completely ignored Yan Anqing's words and continued, "I'm resigning tomorrow. I'll go back to the village to raise sheep, while also researching exactly what happened to me."
"Also, don't use me as the prototype for a character in your new novel!"
"The Information Section has already updated the XieZhi System to version 2.5. Once it compares the big data from online writing, I'll immediately be put on the suspect list!"
XieZhi was a mythical beast from ancient legend, capable of distinguishing right from wrong and discerning good from evil, loyalty from treachery.
The "XieZhi 2.5" Xie Zhe mentioned was a nationwide super data analysis and integration system specifically used to screen for criminal suspects.
"If you don't trust me, why tell me any of this?" Yan Anqing deliberately asked, hoping his childhood friend might say something heartfelt.
Yet Xie Zhe merely widened his eyes, looking thoroughly justified. "Are you kidding? You're my only friend. Who else am I supposed to tell?"
Yan Anqing sized him up from head to toe, his tone faint and eerie. "Does your brain not have a 'shut up' option?"
The moment those words left his mouth, Xie Zhe looked as though he had been struck by lightning.
After a long silence, he finally replied, "That would suffocate me to death."
Knock, knock, knock!
Someone knocked on the door again.
Yan Anqing looked at Xie Zhe with an expression that said, May heaven help you.
A pleasant female voice came from outside. "Doctor Xie, please cooperate with our work."
Xie Zhe hid behind Yan Anqing, poked his head out, and replied in a shrill fake voice, "Xie Zhe isn't here! You've got the wrong place!"
"Doctor Xie, please rest assured. The state will not lightly turn a research talent of your caliber into experimental material. We have better options at hand."
After that farce, Yan Anqing opened the door.
A young woman in white stockings and silver-rimmed glasses appeared before them.
Two valiant armed women in military uniforms stood guard at her sides.
"Dongfang Zhi, Level 2 Researcher at the National Academy of Sciences."
After briefly introducing herself, the young woman in white stockings began persuading him.
After a long while.
She concluded, "...In summary, centralized management of the Golden-Eyed Ones, in order to prevent outside repercussions, would benefit the maintenance of social stability."
"Moreover, Golden-Eyed Ones can receive twenty thousand yuan in special state funding every month."
"If you are willing to provide research samples such as hair, urine, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and so on, you can also receive additional nutritional subsidies at different levels. This is mutually beneficial."
Yan Anqing gave Xie Zhe a sympathetic glance and smiled strangely. "You can't become Hawking or Einstein anyway. Maybe taking a step back will open up a whole new world. A sick clam produces pearls—perhaps your identity as an experimental subject will one day leave your name in history..."
After a moment's thought, he added teasingly, "Dolly the cloned sheep, the HeLa cell line, Xie Zhe's premium golden eyes?"
Xie Zhe's face turned livid, his lips purple-blue, and the light in his flecked-gold eyes dimmed. He looked as if he might drop dead on the spot at any moment.
Watching the two bicker, Dongfang Zhi covered her lips and chuckled.
After handing the struggling-no-more Xie Zhe over to the two female soldiers beside her, she looked at Yan Anqing with a half-smile. "Doctor Xie's only friend? Hello."
"I've read your résumé and personal file. You're both brave and resourceful, with broad thinking. The country is in need of talent right now, especially people like you. If you're interested, you can add this WeChat."
Yan Anqing raised an eyebrow.
"WeChat?"
He had thought she would leave behind some kind of disposable SIM card, or simply give him an internal confidential phone.
That would have been more mysterious, and obviously much more impressive.
Dongfang Zhi's eyes were clear as water. As she stared at Yan Anqing's phoenix eyes, they seemed to speak. "It's an official account. The greatest recluses hide in the marketplace..."
Xie Zhe stared blankly at her for a while, his bright golden eyes rolling around in their sockets.
A look of sudden realization appeared on his face. Recklessly interrupting Dongfang Zhi, he said, "Forgive my bluntness, but your progesterone and female hormone secretion seem somewhat excessive. Are you currently seeking a mating partner?"
"Based on my years of observation, Yan Anqing is not suitable as your prospective sperm donor. You have no chance."
The smile on the white-stockinged young woman's face gradually froze. Embarrassed and enraged, she shot Xie Zhe a fierce glare.
She had not left Yan Anqing her contact information merely because of his looks, but because...
Yan Anqing's height did not match the data in his file!
Although Yan Anqing was not a Golden-Eyed One, the change in his height was also something worth noting.
According to information Dongfang Zhi had pried from her best friend, cases of non-Golden-Eyed Ones undergoing drastic bodily changes in a short period of time had occurred in many places around the world after the Blood Moon.
Her friend firmly believed these people were Latent Qualified individuals from the Scarlet Moon Incident.
Unfortunately, as an obscure homebody scientist, her friend had little say in the matter. For now, those above only valued the Golden-Eyed Ones.
Dongfang Zhi wanted to establish communication with Yan Anqing first.
Taking a deep breath, she quickly adjusted her expression and gave Yan Anqing an apologetic smile. "Sorry to disturb you!"
With that, she waved her hand, and the two female soldiers dragged Xie Zhe toward the door.
Xie Zhe wore the desperate expression commonly seen on bankrupt Wall Street financiers and shouted, "Remember to come save me!"
Yan Anqing made a pinky-promise gesture at him and mouthed, "It won't be long."
Having received his promise, Xie Zhe finally stopped wailing and obediently allowed himself to be taken away.
Yan Anqing was the only one left in the room.
He rummaged through boxes and cabinets.
After a long time, he finally found the long-dust-covered microscope...