Escape

Underground City [Sun City], Radiance District, top floor of Grace Tower.

"Don't tell me about the process or the discoveries. I need you to tell me what exactly happened at No. 7 Test Site!"

In the office carpeted in wool sat an exquisite antique clock. Beneath a lavish crystal chandelier, the head of Tian'en Company's Sun City branch, dressed in a suit vest, white shirt, and purple striped tie, watched the secretary reporting before him with an icy expression.

The secretary bowed again, lowering her head deeply.

"According to the report from the company's internal security, the test subject at No. 7 Test Site killed the two researchers acting as his adoptive parents. In the end, he was instigated by Miss Feng Zi, and the two escaped the site together."

The director lowered the leg he had been crossing, his face turning utterly grim.

"But just one hour ago, I received a report from No. 7 Test Site! They said they had publicly destroyed the test subject injected with the key, exactly as I ordered!"

"Company security found a kidney confirmed to belong to the test subject in the basement of the warehouse where the test subjects were destroyed. They also lifted the fingerprints of the test subject's adoptive parents from a preservation case. The head of security inferred that the adoptive parents had violated company regulations and intended to hide the test subject away, profit by dismembering him and selling his organs, but were ultimately killed by the test subject instead."

The secretary answered dutifully.

But the director's gaze became even more dangerous.

"You mean to say that test subject had a kidney removed and was still capable of killing two adults?"

"Although we have yet to determine the exact sequence of events, the result appears to be just that."

"Useless!"

The fury the director had been suppressing could no longer be contained!

"A bunch of useless fools!"

He swept every document from his desk and rose from his chair, then kicked over a nearby shelving unit, still unable to vent his anger.

"A biological human was given the key and wasn't successfully destroyed! Do you know what kind of disaster this will cause if word reaches the Central Scientific Management Tribunal?!"

He glared fiercely at the secretary, who remained bent over with her head lowered.

"And you let him escape! Feng Zi escaped with him! What the hell is company security even for? Are every one of them corpses?!"

"Feng Zi is the biggest idiot of all! Does she really think that biological human is some kind of good person?! He's a ticking time bomb! He should have been sent to the Extreme Research Control Pavilion and locked in the innermost cell! Yet she dared inject him with the key and run off with him!"

His roar echoed through the office. The director forcefully loosened his tie and panted heavily. Once he seemed to have vented enough, he gradually calmed down and sat back in his chair.

"Report everything to the manager immediately."

"We can't possibly conceal Feng Zi's escape. Don't send the security department to look for her. Send someone to find a Sunlight Council member. Tell them Feng Zi was young and foolish, seduced by a biological human, and the two eloped together. Have the Police Department launch a citywide manhunt immediately. The biological human may be taken dead or alive!"

"Once they hear Feng Zi escaped, they should be the ones most anxious."

"When Feng Zi was first captured, I remember the manager had security secretly place a tracker on her. Request authorization from the manager to access that tracker."

"As for the test subject at No. 7 Test Site being given the key, lock down all information completely. Burn that test site down at once. Also, how many personnel were involved at the site?"

The secretary quickly opened the folder in her hands and found the relevant figures.

"It was the largest test site under our branch. There were thirty-eight researchers and 1,078 participants."

Expressionless, the director personally began picking up the documents he had swept to the floor, placing them back on his desk one by one.

"Deal with all thirty-eight. Send the other thousand-plus people to [Zhulan]. They've always been short on manpower there."

This method of handling things clearly unsettled the secretary. Her lips had gone pale, but she still lowered her head and promptly acknowledged the order.

Having restored his desk to its original state, the director looked up at the secretary, who was still standing there bent over, with an unfriendly expression.

"Why are you still standing there? Get to work."

The secretary hurriedly pulled out another document.

"The person in charge of the Barrier Field District has once again pressed for compensation funds for the deceased laborers."

With an impatient look, the director casually tossed the compensation applications for the deaths of more than ten laborers back to the secretary.

"Tell the factory manager that because of headquarters' assessment quotas, this year's death quota has already been used up. The company will not pay another cent in compensation."

The secretary accepted the applications with a bow, then hesitantly asked.

"What if those laborers cause trouble?"

Reclining sideways in his broad chair, the director propped his leather-shod feet on the desk and casually lit himself a cigarette.

"Aren't those site managers already familiar with the procedure for this sort of thing? If only a few people make trouble, send some thugs to deal with them privately. If it gets bigger, push out a few foremen with bad reputations and say they were abusing their authority and oppressing the laborers, then throw those foremen's money to the ringleaders and let them divide it up. Make them the new foremen. Do I really need to teach you this all over again?"

"Understood."

Li Wei found a small cart in the test site and had Feng Zi, whose legs made it difficult for her to walk, sit inside. He pushed her out like that.

The once quiet and peaceful town had already fallen into complete chaos.

Construction crews entering the area were continuously tearing down buildings, while the people who had originally lived here packed their belongings and left their homes.

Thanks to Li Wei's deliberate efforts to avoid attention, they encountered almost no obstacles and smoothly escaped the prison that had deceived and bound "Xin Cheng" for seventeen years.

But what Li Wei did not know was that less than twenty minutes after their successful escape, the bodies of "Dad and Mom" were discovered by Doctor Fang. Ten minutes later, the entire test site was sealed off, every participant forcibly recalled. Not even a fly could get out!

After leaving the test site, Li Wei pushed Feng Zi through a desolate gravel flat and soon found a residential community.

This place was nothing like the bright, beautiful, peaceful world constructed by that false test site.

Beneath the dim sky, ramshackle low huts stood everywhere. Most were wooden, and only a few had walls made of stacked bricks.

The ground was filthy and worn. Under Feng Zi's guidance, they traveled only along paths hidden in shadow. In these dirty, chaotic streets and alleys, there was scarcely anyone to be seen, aside from a few skeletal old people going about their daily chores.

"Where are we going now?" Li Wei tried to ask what they were supposed to do next.

The mission description in the player information was worse than useless. He could only gather the mission details himself.

This lousy game was bare-bones to the extreme. It was real enough, sure, but did people who played games really come looking for reality?

Sitting in the cart, Feng Zi pointed toward the distant horizon.

Thick, low clouds pressed down so heavily it was hard to breathe. At the end of the sky, towering stone walls connecting heaven and earth surrounded the entire city, making those who lived here seem as though they had been locked inside a prison with no windows, no doors, and walls on all four sides.

"We're going beneath the barrier. There are still people there who can help us evade the company's pursuit! Help us reclaim what Dad left behind!"

Feng Zi's voice was filled with determination, as though she were pointing toward a new hope.

But after hearing that, Li Wei immediately wanted to quit!

The distance between them could not possibly be measured in mere dozens of kilometers. Even with his exceptional physique, he could run himself to death and never make it there!

"Isn't there any transportation?"

Feng Zi pressed her lips together.

"There's a train that transports laborers there, but only laborers can board it."

"What does it take to become a laborer?"

His question caught Feng Zi off guard, but she quickly answered.

"There are no requirements. As long as you can work, someone will take you."

Li Wei made his decision without hesitation.

"Then we'll become laborers. At least laborers get to ride a train!"