Chapter 33: The Gray-Black Vortex

While in the car, Xia Mi wanted to use the travel time to charge her phone and play the new game. However, when she tapped on “Illegal Laboratory,” she received a prompt: “Prerequisites not met. Unable to start game.”

She recalled that “Hani Apartments” had only appeared after Building 6 was covered by the nest. She theorized that “Illegal Laboratory” required her to enter the Pharmaceutical Factory or encounter other relevant clues before it would unlock.

She plugged her phone into the car charger, planning to wait until she met Shield and gathered more intelligence from her before trying the game again.

Taking advantage of the downtime, she fell into a deep sleep in the car.

In her dream, Xia Mi vaguely saw a pair of eyes. There was no emotion in them, they were simply observing her in silence.

When she woke up, Xia Mi wanted to tell Liao Tianhua about the dream. But when she tried to describe the specifics, the details slipped away like most normal dreams. She could only remember the feeling it left behind.

“What exactly did you dream about?” Liao Tianhua asked. Since Xia Mi likely possessed some form of precognitive ability, he took her dreams very seriously.

Xia Mi tried her hardest but could not recall the specific content. She could only give Liao Tianhua a vague description: “It was like… the feeling of someone constantly using a watch to monitor my vital signs.”

Liao Tianhua thought for a moment and asked, “How many Zhuo-infected people have you scanned lately?”

“I checked everyone alive in Building 6,” Xia Mi said. “I even checked the corpses.”

“It is probably just a dream born from repetitive stress,” Liao Tianhua suggested.

Xia Mi felt that made sense, so she did not pay much more attention to the small interlude.

Once they arrived at the safe house and found the intelligence left by Shield, Xia Mi checked her phone. She discovered that “Illegal Laboratory” was finally playable, so she immediately sat down to start.

Knowing her game contained critical information, Liao Tianhua did not disturb her. Instead, he contacted a helicopter to wait at the nearest helipad, ensuring they could head to the Pharmaceutical Factory as quickly as possible once she finished.

Liao Tianhua had wanted Xia Mi to play while they traveled, but since the game would not open on the road earlier, he did not want to risk it. He could not be sure if the game would remain playable once they left the safe house or Shield’s vicinity, so he chose to wait on the spot.

The gameplay mode for “Illegal Laboratory” had changed. Right at the start, the game asked Xia Mi if she wanted to carry heavy equipment.

Xia Mi chose to carry equipment, and the game informed her that there were two options. One was a self-following Medical Kit, and the other was a humanoid prop weighing 55 kilograms. The humanoid prop’s current function was unknown, and she could choose to carry only the Medical Kit.

Xia Mi could not help but look back at Liao Tianhua and the unconscious Shield.

Liao Tianhua felt a chill from her gaze and asked, “What is it?”

“Nothing.” Xia Mi shook her head.

She was not the one treating Xiao Liao like a medical kit, it was the game. It had nothing to do with her.

Xia Mi silently repeated a few words of denial to herself, then used her body to block the screen so Liao Tianhua could not see.

As for whether to carry the 55kg Shield, Xia Mi thought for a moment and decided against it.

This was a game, not reality. The most important thing right now was gathering intelligence, which required speed and efficiency. It was better to shed the dead weight and move light. She could decide whether to bring Shield along after she found some solid clues.

In the game, Xiao Mi and the Medical Kit arrived at the gates of the Pharmaceutical Factory. The entire factory had turned into a vortex of interwoven gray and black. The gray mist swirled clockwise, while the black mist spun counter-clockwise.

The Medical Kit spoke a line of dialogue: [This is the first time I have seen a dual-colored Domain.]

A self-following prop that could talk? How strange.

Xia Mi could control Xiao Mi’s speech through text input. Xiao Mi asked: [What do the gray and black mists represent? Do they represent the strength of the Zhuo? Does a darker color mean it is stronger?]

The Medical Kit replied: [No. The mist is merely the dimension of the nest, it has no direct correlation with the power of the Zhuo itself. Gray represents a Domain that is very close to reality. Even if there is no Qing inside, we can still find a path to enter. Black represents a fully sealed Domain. If there is no Qing inside to construct a passage, we cannot enter. Those inside can only wait for death.]

Xia Mi remembered that the mist surrounding Building 6 had also been black, meaning outsiders could not get in. No wonder Liao Tianhua had tried everything to send messages to everyone in the building, searching for anyone who was still sane.

Xiao Mi: [The mist outside the factory is a vortex of gray and black. Does that mean there are two Zhuo inside, two Domains?]

The Medical Kit: [No. When a Zhuo meets another Zhuo, they devour each other to form a more powerful entity. They do not form two Domains.]

Recalling the four Zhuo killing each other in Building 6, Xia Mi nodded at her phone.

Liao Tianhua, standing behind her, was completely baffled. “Who are you nodding at?”

“I am nodding at the version of you in the game,” Xia Mi thought.

She kept that thought locked away and made an excuse. “Nothing, it is just a subconscious habit when I play games.”

Xiao Mi observed the perimeter of the factory for a moment, then led the fully automated Medical Kit toward the gray area.

The gray and black were two tangled but unblended mists. The Medical Kit ran ahead, occasionally bumping its casing against the gray mist. After a short while, it told Xiao Mi: [We can enter here.]

Xiao Mi and the Medical Kit successfully entered the Pharmaceutical Factory.

Before the Second Team arrived, they had already evacuated the regular workers under the guise of a chemical leak. The factory was now empty of people, containing only pharmaceutical machinery.

Xiao Mi held a map of the factory, which also contained markers left by the Second Team. She followed the marks and found the entrance to a basement. The basement door was slightly ajar.

The basement was a massive space divided into several rooms. Each room contained suspicious laboratory benches, glass containers, and various pipes leading to unknown locations.

However, all the equipment was empty. Everything inside had been moved out long ago. Xiao Mi did not even encounter any danger.

Just as Xiao Mi was feeling completely lost, she encountered a member of the Second Team. The characters in the game were all chibi-style figures, so Xia Mi could not see the man’s face clearly, but Medical Kit provided his information.

His name was Fang Zihan, a member of the post-2000s generation, only nineteen years old this year.

The frontline personnel of the Disposal Bureau were all young. Liao Tianhua was the oldest, born in 1999, making him part of the post-90s generation and leaving him with a bit of a generation gap between himself and the other members.

Supposedly, they had all undergone special training since childhood. They joined the team at eighteen, and by twenty-five, they were already seven-year veterans. After twenty-seven, a member’s physical fitness would begin to decline, so they had to avoid frontline combat as much as possible. By thirty, they were required to transfer to civilian roles.

Xia Mi and Liao Tianhua had actually known each other for less than three hours, so there were many things she did not know. Fortunately, Medical Kit was talkative and loved sharing trivia, helping Xia Mi identify new characters as they appeared.

Xia Mi kept Shield’s warning firmly in mind: trust no one. Xiao Mi first used her watch to check Fang Zihan’s vital signs. Only after confirming he had not been parasitized did Xiao Mi follow him.

According to Fang Zihan, the Second Team had quickly found the basement after entering the Pharmaceutical Factory. But just like Xiao Mi, they found the Underground Laboratory had already been cleared out by the time they arrived.

However, they had Eye.

Xia Mi knew nothing about Eye, and Medical Kit did not offer an introduction this time, as if it took for granted that Xiao Mi should already know about Eye’s intelligence.

Xia Mi quickly turned and asked, “What is ‘Eye’?”

Liao Tianhua looked surprised. “Did the game tell you that? Your game knows far too much. This level of foresight is unprecedented. Eye is also a Rong. His ability is very special, he can see the past path of any object, including people.”

“Explain his ability in detail,” Xia Mi said.

Liao Tianhua gave an example. “For instance, if you type a message on your phone but delete it because you do not want anyone to see it, Eye could take that phone and see the text you deleted.”

“Like a playback function in a movie or TV show?” Xia Mi asked.

“Exactly,” Liao Tianhua said. “Eye calls his ability ‘Reality Playback.’ He can look back as far as one year.”

“Is his ability passive or active?” Xia Mi asked.

Liao Tianhua replied, “It is passive. That is why he usually wears a blindfold, to prevent himself from going insane from an information overdose.”

“So even if the Pharmaceutical Factory was cleared out, as long as Eye is there, the Second Team can find key clues,” Xia Mi realized.

“Yes,” Liao Tianhua confirmed.

Xia Mi thought back to the observation reports for the Y-Series subjects she had obtained in the Hani Apartments. Zhang Xun and his people would have certainly taken those documents with them when they moved, they would not have left them in the lab.

Therefore, the information displayed in the game was the Reality Playback seen by Eye.

Her game seemed a bit too comprehensive.

Xia Mi continued playing. Fang Zihan told them that Eye had been injured while viewing certain data and was clutching his eyes in a frenzy. Fortunately, Eye had been wearing a Protective Suit at the time. Shield had timely revealed her ability to remotely manipulate the suits, she extracted an anesthetic needle from within the suit and forced Eye to inject himself.

Before falling unconscious, Eye told everyone to run. He said there was still a modified Rong subject in the Underground Laboratory that had not been evacuated, and that the lab was now extremely dangerous.

The Second Team members were not reckless. They immediately hoisted Eye onto their backs to flee, but it was already too late. A nest had appeared outside the Pharmaceutical Factory, cutting it off from the real world. They had to eliminate the experimental subject before they could leave.

The subject used the terrain of the Underground Laboratory to its advantage, playing hide-and-seek with them. Many people were injured.

Fang Zihan said that Shield had held up a safe zone of about thirty cubic meters to prevent the hidden subject from continuing its sneak attacks.

To maintain this absolute defense space, Shield could not return to her original body, her consciousness remained trapped in the Pharmaceutical Factory.

However, Shield’s power could only last for seventy-two hours. If she exceeded that time, she would die of exhaustion.

They had to escape the factory within seventy-two hours.

Fang Zihan said the subject could absorb their Zhuo-based weapons, rendering them useless against the monster. However, Shield believed Xiao Mi would come to save them, and the Second Team leader believed Liao Tianhua would not abandon his teammates. So, they waited steadfastly.

Everyone was still alive, but several were heavily injured. Their wounds were infected, and ordinary antibiotics were ineffective, they needed treatment immediately.

Upon hearing this, Medical Kit followed Fang Zihan toward the safe house. Fang Zihan led Xiao Mi to a hidden room within the laboratory. The moment she entered, the phone screen went black. Clearly, Xiao Mi was dead.

Xia Mi was not surprised.

Shield had already warned her not to trust anyone. That “anyone” definitely included the members of the Second Team, and perhaps even Shield herself.

Fang Zihan said there was a monster in the lab that harmed people, yet the ordinary people at the factory had not encountered any accidents. The monster only appeared after the Second Team entered. That did not make sense.

Unless the monster was left behind specifically to deal with the Second Team and prevent them from leaking key intelligence.

To deal with the Second Team, Zhang Xun and the Etornit organization behind him must have left even more terrifying traps.

Xia Mi wanted to play the game again, but it would not open. A prompt told her to reach the destination before opening the game again.

It seemed her game only functioned at its full potential within a nest.

Xia Mi relayed everything she had experienced in the game to Liao Tianhua.

Liao Tianhua said, “I have had people prepare several power banks for you to ensure that within these seventy-two hours… well, there are only sixty-two hours left now… you will have plenty of power for the remaining time. Once we reach the factory, I will protect you to make sure you can focus on playing the game.”

Since Liao Tianhua was handling the supplies, Xia Mi did not worry about those details.

She only needed to bring one more “item.”

While Liao Tianhua went to get the car, Xia Mi walked to the bedside. She hoisted Shield onto her shoulder with one hand and carried her into the vehicle.

“What are you doing?” Liao Tianhua asked. “Shield can stay in the safe house. Staff will come to look after her later.”

“I am taking her to the Pharmaceutical Factory,” Xia Mi said.

“You are taking an unconscious person into a nest?” Liao Tianhua countered. “Do you have any idea how much energy it takes to look after a comatose adult? It is too dangerous for both of you.”

“Of course I know,” Xia Mi replied. “With her on my back, I won’t even be able to hold a gun. But I feel like I have to bring her.

“The game asked if I wanted to carry a humanoid item. I think that is a critical hint. It is telling me that I must bring Shield.”

Liao Tianhua studied Xia Mi for a long moment before nodding. “I trust your game.”

Twenty minutes later, the three of them boarded a helicopter. The pilot had already evacuated, leaving behind the supplies Liao Tianhua needed.

Liao Tianhua took the controls himself. In less than fifteen minutes, they arrived at the Pharmaceutical Factory, where the Second Team’s logistics personnel were anxiously awaiting rescue.

Looking down from the air at the massive vortex enveloping the Pharmaceutical Factory, Xia Mi felt that sensation of being watched once again.

She felt as though, within that grayish-black swirl, an Eye was silently observing her without emotion.

Xia Mi suddenly remembered the dream she had in the car, the one where a pair of eyes had been watching her.

She realized then that the dream was not a side effect of over-testing. It was a premonition of this Eye within the Pharmaceutical Factory.

She did not know if this Eye was the “Eye” itself watching her, or if some other power within the Pharmaceutical Factory was observing her every move.