Chapter 10
#NewUrbanLegend: Hela Art Exhibition#
[Soft Bun: Isn’t this the night exhibition from a few days ago? What’s the tea? Camping for updates.]
[Careful Meat Lover: I’m camping too. Parking my butt here.]
[Passerby A: Where is the OP? Why haven’t they turned on their mic yet?]
[OP: Coming, coming. Let me tell you, my mom got off her night shift that day and happened to pass by the museum. When she went by, she saw police tape everywhere and several ambulances parked there!]
[Passerby B: Didn’t the news say they found the missing people? Apparently, there was a mezzanine in that museum corridor, and those tourists weren’t paying attention and fell into the employee channel. They were trapped for days before being found…]
[Passerby C: You believe that, upstairs? In such a huge museum, not a single employee went to check? So many people piled up in the employee channel without making a sound—what level of soundproofing is that?]
[Passerby D: By the way, I heard something was stolen from the museum. My mom saw a really tall shadow that day, almost taller than the door frame. Could it be a Return of the Soul Night situation?]
[Passerby E: Sounds a bit related to that monster attacking people on the street last time.]
[Passerby F: So exciting. Elaborate, please.]
…
This thread has been locked. Administrator reminder: Please do not spread rumors.
“Sigh, public opinion online is getting more and more intense. Director Qin, when do we plan to go public? This matter will have to be disclosed sooner or later; we definitely can’t hide it for much longer.”
With so many defy-logic events happening around them, no matter how they tried to hide it, it was impossible not to leave a trace. Moreover, human curiosity and rebelliousness were powerful forces; the more you tried to keep them in the dark, the more they wanted to investigate. Coupled with those alien xenomorphs frequently strutting around, Zhong Yi’s eyebrows were knitted together in worry. Several threads on the forum on her phone had already been marked red and locked.
Qin Dayu lifted his thermos cup, blowing on the goji berries floating on the surface before taking a sip. “Don’t rush. Wait for news from the official side. How are those young people doing recently?”
“They’re alright, I guess. They show up for training on time, but this adjustment period is taking too long. It’s been so long, yet Xiang Zhengming and Yan Hengze still argue like children every day.”
“It’ll get better with more friction. Oh right, about that matter regarding the kid, Chixiao—I helped you look into it. It might take a little more time. It involves classified secrets from over ten years ago, so we need to deliberate further.”
“Director Qin.”
The corridor door slid open, and a young man in a plaid shirt stood under the light, pushing up his glasses.
“Little Tao, you’re here.”
Zhong Yi pursed her lips and stepped aside. This young man was Tao Lang, a genuine technical talent of the EDFH, proficient in various electronic technologies. The damaged surveillance footage from the museum had been handed to him for recovery, and it seemed there were results.
Tao Lang pulled up the restored high-definition footage, highlighting the segment from the employee channel. He cleared his throat, and words poured out of his mouth like beans from a bamboo tube: “I performed data restoration based on comparisons. The restored footage shows that three hours before the operation, the suspect entered the museum’s employee channel via the underground garage, then entered the central exhibition hall through that channel. The entire process was very fast, taking less than five minutes. Furthermore, he avoided most areas with surveillance probes along the way. It is evident that he understands the route and structure of the entire museum very well.”
On the screen, a blurred human figure flashed out from behind a door and walked quickly toward the central exhibition hall without pausing.
“Can we see the face and build clearly?”
Qin Dayu hugged his thermos, peering closely at the screen.
Tao Lang paused, pushed his glasses up with his index finger, and shook his head. “No. He must also be a high-level xenomorph carrying a special magnetic field that interfered with the entire surveillance system. Also, his anti-reconnaissance awareness is very strong; he almost never passes directly under a camera.”
Qin Dayu nodded and remained silent, seemingly deep in thought.
Finally done talking. Zhong Yi sighed, looking at the looping video on the screen, then at Tao Lang, who stood silently with his hands behind his back after finishing his output. She feared that if he had to speak any more, he might suffocate himself. usually, he was like a mute gourd, but once it touched upon his profession, he couldn’t stop.
“Continue the in-depth investigation. It’s too dangerous for these alien xenomorphs to hide among the population. We must find them.”
Li Nanyi stared at his phone screen, his gaze resting on the top two chat logs. One was their mecha squad’s four-person group chat—aside from necessary notifications and leave requests, it was always the four of them talking past each other—so he had put it on “Do Not Disturb.” The other was a message from Lu Xiuan; the chat history was still stuck on him reminding Li Nanyi to eat.
Today was a rare weekend. There was nothing going on at the EDFH, and the crowdsourcing delivery platform happened to be on holiday. He was wondering if he should message Lu Xiuan and treat him to a meal.
He typed and deleted in the chat box, unable to send a single sentence for a long time. Will it disturb him? He heard that some companies worked overtime on weekends, and besides, they weren’t that close.
It was just a very simple message, yet he lacked the push to press the send button.
“Hehehe, my robot is the strongest!”
“Mine is! Don’t run!”
Just as he was hesitating, a huge force slammed into him. Li Nanyi’s finger trembled, and the message was sent.
[Do you have time today?]
He wanted to recall it, but the signal wasn’t great at that moment. The message kept spinning in a circle, and by the time the circle finished and he went to cancel, it was too late to recall.
Great, no need to struggle over it now. Li Nanyi silently turned off his phone, sucking his teeth as he looked at the two kids who had bumped into him and run far away.
He had a sudden urge to smack some children.
The phone vibrated. Li Nanyi waited a few minutes before lifting it to look. The simple avatar of gold-rimmed glasses popped up with a message:
[I do. Why, are you treating me to dinner? (: ]
Followed by a smiling emoticon—it was clearly a tease.
The heart Li Nanyi had been holding up in his throat suddenly relaxed, and he typed quickly.
[Yes, do you have time tonight?]
[Really? So generous. If you’re treating, I definitely have to go. You pick the place ￣﹁￣]
Lu Xiuan watched the “typing…” indicator on the other side of the plain text avatar, the corners of his mouth hooking up. It was rare for him to find a human on Earth he found pleasing to the eye. The long wars across the stars had long since worn down his disposition, leaving him with little interest in matters unrelated to survival.
But chatting with Li Nanyi last time, listening to him look forward to his ideals—despite the rugged road ahead and layers of difficulties, he still walked forward with firm conviction—Lu Xiuan had glimpsed a flickering spark beneath that calm, undisturbed face. It was fleeting, yet very attractive, making one unable to resist probing further.
Will his wish come true? What kind of person is he exactly? Why is there such a huge contrast in the same person under different circumstances?
Lu Xiuan was very curious.
He liked to prioritize efficiency, yet he could steal a moment of leisure for Li Nanyi, doing something he considered trivial.
[This evening, at this restaurant. Do you think it’s okay?]
A location pin followed the message. Lu Xiuan smiled and replied:
[Ok, I’ll follow your lead. I trust your choice (灬´qw´灬)]
Li Nanyi put away his phone as if a great weight had been lifted from his heart. He rode his bike over, planning to reserve a seat first.
At a street corner bustling with traffic, inside the entrance of an alley, was a small restaurant. It was distinctly Chinese style, serving home-cooked dishes. The owner also grilled some iron plate beef and teppanyaki. It had a good reputation; Li Nanyi had discovered it when handing out flyers there last time.
The owner and his wife were busy. Being the weekend, there were quite a few people. He arrived at a lucky time, just as the last seat by the window was available.
After reserving the seat and sitting down, Li Nanyi propped his chin on his hand on the table covered with a cloth, tilting his head to look at the street outside the floor-to-ceiling glass window, teeming with people coming and going.
The hour hand ticked past a small half-circle. Lu Xiuan packed up his things ahead of schedule and came down the elevator.
“Director Lu!”
He looked toward the voice. The receptionists at the front desk were greeting him: “Leaving so early today?”
“Yes, I have a dinner appointment with a friend, so I have to head over early. You’ve worked hard; I’ll treat you all to milk tea next time.”
Lu Xiuan smiled as he replied, glancing down at his wristwatch. Upon hearing he would treat them to milk tea, the receptionists all smiled and said, “Director Lu is so generous. Safe travels, Director Lu. Be careful on the way.”
He nodded, turned, and walked quickly out of the company entrance.
“Say, do you think Director Lu is in a relationship?”
“Unlikely, right? A while back, the young miss from the company across the street chased him for quite a while, and Director Lu didn’t agree. Everyone says he’s going to spend his life married to his work.”
“But he’s never left work on time before. He always works overtime until late at night. Today is really rare.”
“Just a small gathering with friends, it’s normal. But honestly, if some god actually manages to catch Director Lu, I definitely want to observe and learn. This type of man, who looks good to everyone on the outside, is actually the hardest type to get close to.”
Lu Xiuan was outstanding in both work ability and appearance, once the most popular existence in the company. There were plenty of girls chasing him, and men too, making all the bachelors seethe with envy and jealousy daily.
But regardless of gender, no one could catch him. He was smooth and slick, a good talker, always wearing a perfectly appropriate smile, pleasant and amiable. Yet, if you really wanted to get close to him, you could feel his detachment.
He looked easy to talk to, with great popularity, but he maintained a certain sense of distance with everyone. No one had seen him being particularly close with anyone, nor had anyone seen him dating after work. Even at company team-building events, he would just show his face and leave.
Even in a dating sim game, he would be in the “Hell Difficulty” tier.
A female colleague looked at his retreating back and concluded: “Our Director Lu is probably destined to be single forever.”
The location Li Nanyi sent wasn’t far from the company. That section of the road happened to be near a busy intersection with heavy traffic, so Lu Xiuan didn’t drive and walked there on foot instead.
Turning into the alley entrance, a small shop with a quaint, rustic sign came into view. Lu Xiuan spotted Li Nanyi immediately; he was staring out the glass window in a daze, still wearing that black sports jacket.
Lu Xiuan entered the door, walked slowly to the seat in front of the familiar back, sat down across from him, and knocked his knuckles on the table.
Li Nanyi snapped out of his trance. Seeing the smiling person across from him, he hurriedly opened his mouth to apologize: “Sorry, I didn’t see you come in.”
“It’s fine. The environment of the place you found is quite nice.”
“I found it by accident. Their food is also very popular. You order first.”
Li Nanyi pushed the menu at his hand toward Lu Xiuan. Lu Xiuan took the menu, paused in his movements, and looked up to ask, “Then, I’ll order whatever?”
“Order whatever you like.”
“Is it all on you?”
“Of course.”
Seeing his serious face, Lu Xiuan couldn’t help but curve his eyes in a smile. “Alright, then I won’t be polite.”
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