On the screen, Li Aotian-the special service elite they knew all too well, renowned as an unruly, iron-willed tough guy-was staring blankly into the camera, wildly twisting his body as he performed the dance that had taken the internet by storm... the Subject Three Dance.
A deathly silence fell over the office.
The expressions on Xu Tiannan's and Jin Yuansheng's faces froze completely.
The two stared, dumbstruck, at the figure on the screen frantically spinning his hands.
After a long while, they slowly exchanged a look.
In each other's wide eyes, they saw disbelief and horror so overwhelming it threatened to blow the tops of their heads off.
The office was utterly silent.
The maddeningly catchy music kept looping. On the screen, the man who radiated steely toughness was staring vacantly, his hands spinning frantically.
The expressions on Xu Tiannan's and Jin Yuansheng's faces seemed frozen in some bizarre instant.
Their brains had completely crashed.
As the men at the helm of the Northlake Guoan System, what hadn't they seen? Yet this scene unfolding before their eyes was like a merciless iron hammer, smashing the worldview they had spent half their lives building.
With a trembling hand, Jin Yuansheng switched off the tablet.
The music stopped abruptly.
Xu Tiannan turned his stiff neck painfully slowly to look at his longtime partner.
"Jin," he said, his Adam's apple bobbing, his voice so dry it seemed ready to throw sparks, "am I... dreaming?"
Jin Yuansheng said nothing. He merely removed his gold-rimmed glasses and pressed hard against his aching brow.
When he put his glasses back on and saw Li Aiguo's face, caught between embarrassment and eagerness for credit, he knew it was all real.
"What a talent!"
Xu Tiannan slapped his thigh, the sharp crack making everyone in the office flinch.