dance floor
Yang Guang felt a tingling sensation on his scalp, and his thigh felt as if it had been slashed open by an invisible blade, perhaps even severing his artery. He was powerless and could only hang limply. He even imagined the sight of blood gushing out.
But since there's not a single drop of blood in this scene, it's not as terrifying.
He stared in disbelief at the dark, gaping interior exposed between the simulated skin of L030's thigh.
"We won't be discovered here."
The gun was so small that it could remain perfectly still in such a small space, fitting snugly into a structure without easily wobbling.
L030 gracefully leaped off the bar stool, her knee-length skirt concealing the gruesome slit.
“I’ll sew it up. It’s just a minor scratch. Thank you, this is a very important gift.” She took Yang Guang’s hand and looked up at him. “You’ve been the person who values me the most so far, sir. Can you tell me your name?”
Yang Guang then pulled her onto the dance floor.
It was noisy here, so he leaned close to L030's ear and shouted, "I'll give you the rose earrings you just mentioned too!"
After carefully recognizing Yang Guang's words, L030 lightly jumped a few times during the dance.
Yang Guang left the dance floor when his pass became hot, and also politely declined L030's request for a kiss.
He moved quickly to the room where he was dealing with the boy from Faron. He had given them enough tranquilizers, so he wasn't worried about the two of them waking up in the middle. However, when he looked down and realized that Gu Yan hadn't replied to his messages, he couldn't help but curse, "Damn it."
As expected, the two boys from the Feren family were unconscious. He roughly rummaged through their pockets and found that Gu Yan and Ella Zero's passes had not been replaced, which meant they had not returned yet.
"Are you kidding me, bro?" He was just wondering where to hide the pass when a slow, deep click came from the door behind him, freezing him in place.
My hand unconsciously reached for the gun on my lower back, only to realize that the one I had been carrying with me had already been given to L030.
"Tsk." He hid in the shadows, staring intently at the doorway.
If David were to come in, how would you escape?
Since things have come to this, Gu Yan shouldn't blame him for being unrighteous.
He silently pulled out his belt, intending to act according to the situation, when the door creaked open in response.
He only recovered after seeing Gu Yan's face, a face he would remember even if he were reduced to ashes.
"You scared the hell out of me, damn it." He finally relaxed, wiped his sweat, rolled his eyes at Ella Zero who appeared behind Gu Yan, and walked towards them.
When another person appeared behind Ella Zero, he realized that something seemed to have gone off track.
"Tie your pants up properly." Gu Yan stood in front of the two women, giving him a warning look.
“If you only brought one back, she wouldn’t understand anything anyway.” Yang Guang straightened his clothes irritably and asked Ella Zero, “What trouble have you gotten into this time? And who is this? She doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Krista.”
“She’s coming with us to get treatment,” Ella Zero replied briefly.
Yang Guang looked at her in disbelief: "Did you ask for my opinion?"
"Now is not the time to talk about this." Gu Yan put the pass back in its place, and when he couldn't find his own, he turned around and reached out to Yang Guang.
——————
The two Davids located Gu Yan and his group, and stood outside the door, knocking respectfully.
Within three seconds, Gu Yan and the others filed out. As usual, the Davids scanned the room and prepared to erase the room's usage record and label it "To be cleaned".
"Wait a minute," Gu Yan suddenly spoke up, "My woman and I would like to stay here a little longer, so please reserve this room for us."
As they were talking, Ella Zero put her hand on his shoulder, resting on it as if boneless.
“Understood, sir.” David removed the marker.
Yang Guang sneered at Ella Zero from behind them, silently saying, "It's a good thing you're an android; your acting is terrible."
A209 had been waiting for a long time, but then asked Yang Guang to leave, citing that he hadn't made the deal with her. Yang Guang could only wait outside with a sour face.
"Sir, please wait where you are and do not move around."
Just as Yang Guang lifted his foot, David behind him issued a warning.
“Are you sure you received this instruction? Your door is old and leaky; it's not good for me to hear. I'm doing this to avoid suspicion.” He waved his hand with his back to David. “Before stopping me, shouldn't you go in and ask first? I'm a legitimate customer of the Neon Cocoon.”
When Gu Yan and Ella returned to the room, Yang Guang had already been waiting outside for quite a while.
"Open the door!" he yelled at the two of them in a fit of rage. "What the hell is this? It says it can't recognize my pass."
David was very responsible. Gu Yan said that only he and Ella Ling would be staying there, and he indeed left only their information.
When the group left the neon cocoon, the lights outside were already off. Something seemed to have happened on the 20th floor; Gu Yan opened the door and saw them all heading upstairs.
"Let's go."
Yang Guang impatiently hoisted the somewhat drunk girl onto his shoulder, only to be pricked by the dagger strapped to her leg. He clicked his tongue and switched sides, saying, "Here you are."
He utterly loathed the first floor of that neon cocoon, now burdened with even more. And there it was again, the repulsive gaze of a dying man fixed upon him.
He muttered a couple of curses under his breath, then casually raised his voice and said, "You guys have pretty high alcohol content here."
There were only sighs, and no one responded.
"What are you looking at, Enzo?" a high-pitched, strange voice asked.
The man named Enzo was so thin he was almost inhuman. He slowly took a drag of his cigarette before speaking in a hoarse voice, as if he were sawing wood: "Look at that woman. When she came in, it was clearly another man carrying her."
Sharp voice: "Never mind those upper-class people, they're all playing fancy games. But you, give me another one..."
They remained silent as they returned to the city center.
Yang Guang was very reluctant to bring this woman of unknown origin back to his territory.
"I need to leave for a while. You go first, I'll catch up with you." Gu Yan looked back for a long time, leaving only these words.
"Aren't you out of character? Going to pick up your 'little sweetheart'? She's completely unruly and doesn't need your help."
Gu Yan did not answer and disappeared into the darkness.
——————
I initially thought the sudden power outage from the 15th to the 20th floor of the neon cocoon was some major malfunction, but after checking everything, it turned out to be just a short circuit caused by alcohol spilling into the electrical wires at the corner of the corridor.
"We've said long ago that we can't use this old stuff, but the adults have been refusing to allocate funds for us to renovate it..."
"Of course not, A209. Don't forget that the neon cocoon is a city that never sleeps and cannot close down."
Enjoying the cigar that T022 had relit for her, A209's gaze fell on the face that looked exactly like hers.
She even blinked.
Would you like to try some?
"No, it's just a psychological effect on you, darling."
David was waiting outside.
"What happened?"
"Sir, there is something I need to report."
"What's going on? The adults on the top floor heard about this commotion and decided to help us replace the equipment!" A209 spread her arms wide, as if to embrace the brand-new neon cocoon.
“We found fragments near the short-circuited wire. Someone had tied a wine glass to the air, and the slight vibration of the wall caused the glass to tip over, so the wine would just wet the circuit.”
"David, do you think Krista is stupid? How can the circuitry be exposed?"
"That's exactly what I wanted to report, sir. Someone has opened the circuit board."
Upon hearing this, A209 stuffed the cigar into T022's hand, which scorched the latter's palm.
She stood up, gently supporting her chin with her right thumb and forefinger, while resting her left wrist under her right elbow.
“Oh, now I need to think about it carefully.” She emphasized the word “think about”.
Enzo was still puffing away, seemingly with an endless supply of cigarettes, which made the people on the first floor quite envious.
Wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow, my son will bring home his salary for this month. He can buy something better then. You bunch of bumpkins can envy me then.
He thought smugly to himself, then turned and met a pair of wide eyes staring straight at him.
Even if those pupils were as clear and bright as jewels, the scene was still terrifying.
He finally realized that the owner of the eyes was hanging upside down from the rafters, staring at him—that woman, he had seen her before.
She should have just left the neon cocoon drunk not long ago, so why is she here again?
He then noticed that she was no longer wearing the combat suit that allowed her to move around easily, but a gauze dress.
Oh my god, a tulle skirt just like Krista's?
The irregular hem of her skirt piled up between her knees and the roof beam, acting as a cushion, probably to make this position less painful for her.
Enzo then realized he had been distracted. The woman suddenly moved, and he shuddered in fright, fearing she might twist his head off.
But she simply slowly brought her index finger to her lips.
"Shh..."
Now even the last glimmer of light has been extinguished, and the ruins are now pitch black.
Gu Yan tried to adjust to the darkness, calmly waiting for his vision to improve before taking any further action.
Heavy footsteps approached from ahead, slowly creeping closer to him across the sand.
Yang Guang was still cursing outside the base, unleashing every single swear word he had ever learned.
He refused to take Livin through the maze, even though Livin was quite drunk; he wouldn't even take Livin blindfolded.
"Do you hate her?" Just now, in order to deceive everyone, she actually drank a whole bottle of whiskey and was now sitting on the cold steel plate, sobering up in a daze.
"You're always causing me trouble, can't I hate you?"
"Are you referring to rescuing me?"
She was still somewhat intoxicated, but her thoughts were clear:
"Then you can't hate her, Mr. Gu agreed."
——————
A week later, L030 had been eagerly anticipating the rooftop party. She dressed up meticulously, but instead of going directly to the rooftop with the others, she did not go directly there.
"I didn't expect you to actually come!"
I haven't seen Yang Guang for a week, and he hasn't changed much, except that he doesn't seem to have shaved much lately, and his cheeks are covered with stubble.
“I promised, and I will keep my promise.” He smiled and handed over a jewelry box.
The deep red alloy is sculpted into petals, so light that they seem to sway in the breeze. At the center is a subtly shimmering star diamond, like the twinkling stars in the night sky described in the book.
"My goodness, is this a rose? It's so beautiful!"
"I want to put it on you myself." Yang Guang looked down at her, his eyes somewhat cold.
“Of course, I’m honored.” L030 turned her head slightly, showing him her full earlobes.
He didn't offer many sweet words, but focused intently on the actions at hand.
"I don't know how to thank you enough." L030 gently touched the special gift.
Yang Guang said casually, "You don't need anything, just enjoy the night. You've been a bit delayed, but I think I can help you take a shortcut." He winked, "Stop a helicopter, and it won't be long before it becomes the venue."
"Oh, thank you so much, but you know, we all have to use the same elevator to go up, and there are routine security checks."
“Humanity’s tricks to assert sovereignty,” Yang Guang rolled his eyes. “They know perfectly well what threat you pose, yet they still bully you like this…”
"I'm so touched that you said that. Meeting you is the luckiest thing that ever happened to me."
Thirty minutes later, Yang Guang successfully left the neon cocoon.
"I've confirmed it; she carries it with her at all times."
After the other party said something, Yang Guang silently hung up the communication device.
According to L030, even Krista wasn't widely known about this hidden exit. So much so that when he heard someone call his name, his first reaction was to shiver.
Looking up, the neon lights reflected off the building, creating a hazy, colorful glow that illuminated Ella Zero, who stood atop the high ruins, looking down at him.
"What?" he asked warily.
This is impossible. Has the plan been exposed? Did Gu Yan tell her?
The next second, Ella Zero appeared behind him and pressed him to the ground with an irresistible force.
Before he could react, he tasted the salty bitterness of the sand, and just as he was about to have an attack, he felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.
A high-density shotgun shell grazed the spot where his head had been standing, blasting a large hole in the ruins where Ella had stood a few seconds earlier.
"It seems your little lover tricked you," Ella Zero stated calmly.
"Get out of the way." Yang Guang struggled violently, but Ella Zero grabbed him by the collar and quickly moved him behind cover.
"You're choking me... I'm about to die..." He tried to squeeze his hands between his Adam's apple and collar to give himself a little room to breathe.
"You've also noticed that your physical condition is slowing me down. That's good. I accept your apology."
Who apologized? Yang Guang's face flushed red, and he had no energy left to retort.
For some unknown reason, the attack suddenly stopped.
"Did your plan work?" Ella Zero asked.
"I won't say a single word."
"You don't need to say a single stroke; I got the information and came here to save your life."
"So what do you want? You don't actually think I'm stupid enough to believe that protecting humanity is your mission, do you?"
"I've heard that humans are bound by favors. Since you owe me this favor, you shouldn't treat me this way."
The dance floor at 323 remained elegant and unique, and L030's appearance immediately drew gasps of amazement from the crowd.
She understood what Yang Guang meant, and she truly enjoyed the moment.
The ball officially began, and the Christas twirled gracefully on the dance floor, waiting for the gaze of some nobleman to fall upon them.
Meanwhile, a thousand miles away in a dimly lit room, the monitor was blindingly bright, and lines of code were running at breakneck speed.
—L030 smiled and twirled until someone gently touched her lower back. She felt slightly disturbed.
When the code finishes running, a warning pop-up appears:
This operation is irreversible. Do you want to continue?
A bald man with a lewd grin was staring at her with a strange look; if she were a normal person, she would definitely feel goosebumps. But L030 simply stopped dancing and stood still.
A large hand covered with numerous cuts and burns on the back of its hand pressed the Y key.
Restrictions lifted.
Restrictions lifted.
Restrictions lifted.
The bald man's smile vanished. Because Christa, with a cold expression, tore open the artificial skin covering his thigh.
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