The cold, sharp edges of the metal cabinet dug into Su Wan's back, a slight pain that was nothing compared to the sight before her. Ajie lay on his side in the murky water, a dark crimson blood stain spreading silently beneath him, diluted into a more glaring pink by the firefighting water. His outstretched hand missed the red valve handle that could prevent disaster. The air was a mixture of burnt gas, ozone, steam, and a rusty, sweet, and overpoweringly nauseating odor. Su Wan dug her fingertips into the cold metal cabinet door, the sharp pain of her nails cracking, but it couldn't suppress the ripping, suffocating feeling surging in her chest. Her stomach cramped violently, and she doubled over, retching. A burning bitterness filled her throat, and nothing came out. Icy sweat instantly soaked the lining, sticking to her skin with a chilling chill.

"Seal off the scene. Check for any signs of physical damage, especially to the fire doors and power lines." Gu Chengxiao's icy voice echoed behind her, like a scalpel slicing through the frozen air. He directed the bodyguards with precise, efficient movements, a chilling calmness that seemed detached from the situation. The bodyguards quickly dispersed, donning gloves and expertly beginning their investigation, carefully avoiding Ajie's body as if it were merely an obstacle to be dealt with.

This calmness completely ignited Su Wan's suppressed despair and rage. She bolted upright, her face pale as paper, stained with black ash and cold sweat. Only her eyes, burning with a terrifying fire, stared intently at Gu Chengxiao. "Lockdown? Inspection? Ajie's dead! He died right here! To shut off that damn power supply! For your Gu's 'Ark'!" Her voice was hoarse and broken, each word ripped from the depths of her throat, dripping with blood. "If you hadn't stopped me! If it hadn't been for your damned order! I could have..."

"What could you have done?" Gu Chengxiao suddenly turned, his gaze piercing her like an icicle, interrupting her uncontrolled accusations. His towering figure took a step closer, his invisible pressure crashing down like a tangible hammer. "Rush in and get blown to pieces along with him? Or, worse yet, with your emotional breakdown and unstable strength, trigger a larger-scale outage? Bury the entire data center with you?!" His voice was low, but every word was like a knife, slicing at Su Wan's shaky nerves. "Su Wan, face the reality! His sacrifice was to stop the losses! To save more people! Your uncontrolled rage and senseless self-destructive impulses are the greatest blasphemy against his sacrifice!"

"Blasphemy?" Su Wan raged, as if she had just heard the most ridiculous joke. Her body trembled violently with anger and grief, the flames in her eyes nearly bursting out. "Gu Chengxiao, you're always like this! You always measure everything with your cold, optimal solution that only considers gains and losses! What does human life mean to you? What does Ajie's life mean?! An acceptable 'stop-loss' number?! He trusted you! He trusted this group! But the moment he rushed in, what did you do? You were just coldly calculating the risks! Calculating whether this 'high-risk item' like me would get out of control!"

Her accusation stung Gu Chengxiao like a poisoned arrow. A crack finally appeared on his face, frozen for millennia. His jawline tensed to the limit, and his bottomless eyes swirled with a complex undercurrent—anger, a sense of offended authority, and a subtle, piercing pain he himself was unaware of. He raised his hand, as if about to do something, but ultimately only clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white from the strain.

In this suffocating confrontation, like a bowstring stretched to its limit, about to break in the next second—

"drop--"

That gentle, yet snake-like electronic beeping sound, once again, exploded without warning deep within Su Wan's ear canal! Sharp, cold, and possessing an inhuman penetrating power! Following it, a sudden, excruciating pain erupted deep within his temple, as if a red-hot steel needle had pierced him fiercely!

"Ugh!" Su Wan was caught off guard, letting out a short, stifled cry of pain. Her vision was instantly filled with countless shimmering golden stars and distorted blocks of color. She stumbled backward, her back slamming against the cabinet with a dull thud. A wave of intense dizziness and nausea washed over her, nearly knocking her off her feet.

"Su Wan!" Gu Chengxiao's stern shout carried a hint of tension that he himself was not aware of. He instinctively took a step forward and stretched out his hand to help her, but when he saw her painful and twisted expression, his movements stopped abruptly, and his eyes instantly became as sharp as a hawk.

Su Wan's vision spun, and tears welled up uncontrollably. In this chaotic sensory hell, a line of cold, faintly blue text, like a ghost, forcibly projected onto her retina, ignoring her tightly closed eyelids:

[Extreme mood swings. Neural connection stability decreased by 12.7%. Recommendation: Forced sedation.]

[Target confirmed: Gu Chengxiao, threat level increased.]

[Cleaners deployed. Physical traces being removed... Progress 98%...99%...100%. Cleanup complete.]

"'Dawn of Omnics' awaits your return, Miss Su Wan. Chaos is not what we desire; order is the ultimate goal."

Below the text, the cold gear crescent emblem appeared clearly again, carrying a sense of absolute order as if looking down on ants.

It's them again! "Dawn of the Omnics"! Not only are they observing everything happening here, they can even monitor her physiological state in real time! Are they erasing any traces? Was Ajie's death also part of their "cleanup"?! The words "Order is the ultimate" chilled her blood!

"Get out!" Su Wan screamed silently from the depths of her consciousness, using all her willpower to resist the forcefully implanted information and the excruciating pain. She shook her head violently, trying to shake off the hallucination, digging her nails deeper into her palms, trying to use the sharp pain to keep herself awake.

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