50 Eternal Life
◎ Playing chess, the last choice◎
The freezing zone continued to cool, the temperature in the area very low. The corridor stretched straight ahead, the cold air emanating from the surrounding mechanical devices making her newly grown, delicate skin itch. Yan Xunzhi rubbed it against the fabric and quickly followed behind Kong Wei.
The passage was long, with an iron gate every seven or eight steps. The gate was heavy, with a small window slightly above the normal viewing area. Standing on tiptoe, one could barely see part of the view.
Kong Wei looked straight ahead, it was obvious that the rooms on either side did not have what she needed.
This is how people are. They look more when they want something, only when they see something useful, and they don't even glance at anything useless. Yan Xunzhi grumbled quietly, but he was curious and couldn't help but look through the small windows when he passed by.
There was no light in the room, and only the upper part could be seen. There were cabinets attached to the wall on three sides, and the cabinets were arranged horizontally and vertically. There were labels on them, and occasionally a few small words were marked under the labels. They were very standard morgue cabinets.
Kong Wei was walking ahead with big strides. He heard some strange footsteps and turned to see her falling. He frowned and said, "Follow me. Don't run around."
Yan Xunzhi took a quick glance and felt that some of the words seemed familiar, but he didn't have time to read them clearly.
After spending so much time together, and with Kong Wei repeatedly deceiving her, she could no longer distinguish truth from falsehood. Though she kept silent, she felt resentment deep within. She didn't dare to confront him directly, but she also didn't want to obey him as she used to. For a while, she procrastinated, deliberately dragging her feet and pretending to be slow.
Kong Wei looked at her and suddenly softened. "It doesn't matter. We violated the rules by entering the freezer. I'm interfering with the surveillance, so the backstage can't see it. After I leave, at worst, if I'm caught on camera, I'll go back and get you."
“…”
Why didn’t you tell me earlier? She thought I got in through a formal process!
Yan Xunzhi immediately became obedient, trotting away and following closely.
Kong Wei knew her curiosity very well. When she came closer, he pulled her in front of him and said, "Walk in front of me."
This time, there was no backtalk or delay. Yan Xunzhi was afraid of being caught, so he walked ahead obediently, but soon became awkward again, "...Can I walk behind you?"
"No." Kong Wei flatly refused, "I can watch you from the front."
"But I'm used to you walking behind me."
"..." Kong Wei tried to hold back, but couldn't help muttering, "Pretentious."
The position remained unchanged. Yan Xunzhi was driven a few steps forward and hummed softly, "It's not okay to be afraid."
Kong Wei was surprised. "What's so scary about walking in front of me? Shouldn't it be scarier to walk behind me?"
"If you walk in front of me, I can keep watching you and just follow you. I'm used to being behind you, so as long as I don't look back, it's not scary. It's the same path I've walked before. But the road ahead is unknown, and I have to be on edge the whole time, afraid that something might happen suddenly, or that if I turn around... you'll be gone."
Even though I have so many messy and confusing emotions towards her...dependence is inevitable.
Yan Xunzhi was embarrassed but couldn't deny that he was a spineless person. When he was with Kong Wei, he couldn't help but stick to her.
Kong Wei was silent for a few seconds.
Ever since Sentinel Yan knew he was illegally crossing the border again, he didn't dare stop in this corridor, fearing he would be discovered. Kong Wei didn't respond. She was worried about the risks if she continued for too long, so she just kept walking forward.
My wrist was suddenly grabbed.
Yan Xunzhi paused, and the hand slid down and clasped hers.
Kong Wei's fingertips were cold, and he covered the back of her hand with his five fingers. "I'm holding you, let's go."
Something in Yan Xunzhi's heart fell lightly.
Almost reaching the end of the corridor, Kong Wei stopped in front of a completely sealed iron door and expertly concentrated his mental power to unlock it. Yan Xunzhi, standing nearby, felt that the mental power was unfamiliar, as if it wasn't her own.
Kong Wei keenly caught her strangeness and said casually, "I stole it during the meeting. I'm not at the right level now, so I don't have the authority to come in."
Yan Xunzhi was dumbfounded.
No, sister, this is spiritual power! She has lived underground for twenty years since she was a child, and she has never heard of anyone being able to steal spiritual power!
What exactly is Kong Wei's ability? Is this the ability a healing type should have?
The rabbit thief narrowed his eyes, his eyebrows raised in a playful manner, "It's not difficult, just a little easy to be discovered. You want to learn? I'll teach you."
Yan Xunzhi waved his hands repeatedly, thinking, just don't forget to steal mine someday and use it to do something bad...
The next second, she immediately realized that they had already established a connection, and Kong Wei could have taken away her mental power at any time...
Entering the room, it was completely different from the other rooms I'd seen through the small window. A dozen or so frozen pods, stacked horizontally and vertically, were suspended in mid-air at varying heights. Each pod was square, connected by four steel wires at the top and bottom. These wires intertwined, and overlaid with spiritual power, served as both support and a warning.
Obviously, Kong Wei didn't expect to see the door like this. He was stunned for a moment, frowned and looked up and down the room, and told Yan Xunzhi, "Wait at the door, don't move."
Of course Yan Xunzhi wouldn't move, she was really afraid of being caught!
Without her identity, without her ability, and certainly without her psychological quality. Thinking that there was a surveillance camera at the door, and fearing that Kong Wei's attention was focused on the room and he had no energy to interfere with the surveillance, he cautiously moved inside, curled up half his body, and hid himself safely in a covered position.
Kong Wei was cautiously testing the waters by walking through the tightrope. Yan Xunzhi was puzzled. "You must have been at a very high level in your previous life. You've never been here? Is this difficult to get in?"
"Never been here before." Kong Wei's hand was already gripping the wire. Yan Xunzhi turned away with her heartbeat accelerating, ready to be alarmed at any moment. She didn't see the blue light flashing in her red eyes. "I could have entered in my previous life, but I could have been asked to leave directly. I never came here to see it."
“…”
It turns out it's too high.
Kong Wei, as light as a swallow, had already climbed to the top. He looked around, scanning the freezer compartments one by one, and stepped on the ground a few times, "It's not here."
Yan Xunzhi exclaimed, "What is that?"
"Xiao Mingran." Kong Wei rubbed his hand and pushed her out the door. "I could have taken it out directly before. I thought the level wouldn't be too high, but I didn't expect it to be placed in the very back. Let's go."
The room at the end of the corridor contained only three freezers, numbered but unnamed. Kong Wei opened the door but didn't rush in. He withdrew the mental energy he had used to open the door and replaced it with his own input.
There was a slight cracking sound in the air. Kong Wei smiled and retracted his mental strength. "She opened the door. Come in."
What?
Yan Xunzhi was confused. He followed Kong Wei into the house, closed the door, and saw that she had walked straight into the freezer.
She knocked on the cabin. "I told you I would bring you to see Xiao Mingran. This is it."
Yan Xunzhi found Kong Weiwei's only admirable point to be true: she didn't promise her much, but she generally kept her promises and rarely broke them.
The freezer compartment was opened after a dazzling series of verification operations. Sentinel Yan stretched his neck curiously to look inside, and was hit in the face by the sudden burst of cold air. He couldn't help but shiver.
When the mist cleared and he could see clearly what was in the cabin, he shuddered again and stammered, "This... is this Xiao Mingran?"
There was a foreign object more than one meter long lying in the freezer!
That alien creature was not even a human. It had a short snout, canine teeth, a long body and six limbs, two of which were claws and the other four were hooves. It also had long hair and a long tail. It did not look like a human at all. It lay on its side in the freezer. It was a real alien creature that could be seen at a glance!
If he is not a human, how could he be Xiao Mingran?
Kong Wei glanced at her and said, "Yes, it's her." He pulled her back and said, "Wait a minute, the cabin has just been opened and it will take some time to thaw."
Huh? Yan Xunzhi was dumbfounded. "...thawed?"
Is this her understanding of thawing? Is she really waiting for her to thaw?
Kong Wei smiled and nodded, "Yes, thawed. After invading the network, she was frozen here forever. Otherwise, people would either become physically weak or their mental strength would be exhausted, and eventually die. How could she live forever?"
Technology in the underground world has regressed, and humans themselves and technology have developed together. In order to build a network with faster transmission and normal use on the ground, researchers have tried to condense mental power into a physical form and weave it into optical fibers.
The research was successful. The entity's mental power can shield against magnetic field interference and can also emit mental fluctuations normally. Network communications can basically be used normally on the ground.
The only downside is that anyone can hack into the network.
But it is difficult to achieve this shortcoming, as not only the federation but also the entire human network in all regions are connected together.
Each person carries a sensor that receives network signals while also feeding back mental fluctuations to the tower to maintain operation. To invade, one must have a mental strength at least one-tenth that of all humans combined.
That is at least one-tenth of the thousands of S-class sentinels, nearly ten thousand A-class sentinels, and countless citizens of all sizes wearing sensors.
It wasn't until Xiao Mingran posted the news on the forum that the Federation exploded - Xiao Mingran's powerful mental power could indeed invade the Internet!
Even though the Federation had already been purged when Xiao Mingran invaded, losing half of its manpower, and communications had yet to be fully restored...
Then her mental strength is too terrifying.
The Federation suspected that she had been continuously hacking into the network and eavesdropping even when she was unconscious for the past three years.
After several discussions, the Federation used the latest technology to dissolve her body with potions, dig out her mental power, force out her spiritual body, and then stuff them all into a foreign body captured on the ground.
This alien object itself has the characteristic of low-temperature dormancy. After its mental power was severely damaged, it did not die, but was occupied by the mind of Xiao Mingran, who had lost his body.
The Federation shoved the alien into a freezer, forcing Xiao Mingran into hibernation. As long as she remained frozen, a hundred years would pass like a single minute within the alien's body. She could pose no threat to the Federation, and she would no longer die with the decline of her human body.
She then lived forever.
Yan Xunzhi digested the information in surprise for a while, then suddenly said, "This is what she wanted, right?"
Kong Wei turned around in surprise and approval. Yan Xunzhi met their gazes, then awkwardly looked away. "I just thought she wouldn't post something useless for no reason... Besides, she said at the time that she would live forever, and I thought it was some kind of rebellious spirit that kept her alive. Turns out the Federation has this experiment. She could hack into the network, so she probably knew about it a long time ago."
She knew that the Federation didn't dare to kill her, and she also knew that they had experiments in cryosleep.
She herself chose eternal life in silence.
Why?
【Author’s words】
Pickled Fish: I feel guilty about meeting Officer Kong, who treats rules and regulations like waste paper and is so capable...
Kong Wei: Thank you, you’re welcome.
Pickled fish: ...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
