Earth Defense Force Headquarters
Li Nanyi stood at the entrance of a small alley. Turning right along the alley, there was a large book café.
He repeatedly checked the location, confirming he hadn’t found the wrong place. While he was intently studying it, a loud, carefree voice suddenly sounded beside him: “Hi, bro! Are you here to find Sister Zhong Yi too?”
This person leaned in very close, completely lacking boundaries. Li Nanyi frowned, subconsciously moved a step to the side, and gave a soft “Mhm” to indicate he heard him.
But the guy didn’t care in the slightest and continued loudly, “Hello! My name is Xiang Zhengming. I live in Yujiang City, Linxia District, Zone B, Building 32, 10th floor…”
A crackling stream of words poured out like beans from a bamboo tube. Li Nanyi was stunned by his overly familiar attitude. Clutching his backpack straps, he moved several more steps away. Seeing that they had just met and Xiang Zhengming was about to spill his entire life story, a voice abruptly interjected from behind, high-pitched and full of arrogance: “Tsk, do you have no EQ? Can’t you see he doesn’t want to talk to you?”
Xiang Zhengming stopped, shutting off like a faucet, and whipped his head around to look at the person behind him. The newcomer had a 30/70 parted hairstyle, was covered in designer brands, and wore a black trench coat that fluttered behind him. With both hands in his pockets, he looked incredibly cocky.
“Hey, who are you?”
“Who am I?”
He wore an expression of disbelief: “Ha, today Lord Ze will be merciful and tell you. My name is Yan Hengze. I never change my name wherever I go.”
“Oh.” Xiang Zhengming pursed his lips. Turns out it was some chuunibyou young master from who knows where.
“Oh?!” Yan Hengze’s eyes widened even further.
He was about to say something else when the door to the book café happened to open. A “Welcome” broke the standoff. Li Nanyi quickly walked inside, getting away from this battlefield of roosters.
“Hey, what a mute gourd. Wait for me.”
Xiang Zhengming scratched his head and quickened his pace to follow, but was shoved aside by the little young master coming up from behind: “Don’t block the way.”
He rolled his eyes: “What’s with the attitude.”
The three of them walked into the book café together. Soft music was playing inside, but there was hardly anyone sitting down drinking coffee or reading books; the seats by the window were empty.
Click.
The sound of a lock engaging. Li Nanyi whipped his head around; the wooden door behind them had been locked at some point. Behind the reception desk on the left, a cherry wood bookshelf shook heavily and began to tilt backward and sink.
The curtains drew automatically, blocking out the light from outside. A heavy rumbling sound echoed in the pitch-black room. The books on the shelf bounced along with the movement, a few falling to the ground, but no one paid them any attention. Behind the bookshelf was an alloy door, one person high and three people wide, with a round valve like a steering wheel firmly embedded in it.
“Please enter through this alloy door, the three of you.”
A sweet female voice came from the speakers.
“Wow—”
Xiang Zhengming took off his headphones and hung them around his neck, his mouth gaping wide enough to fit an apple, letting out a heartfelt exclamation.
Li Nanyi looked a bit surprised as well, but he quickly composed himself. Yan Hengze seemed very familiar with this place; Li Nanyi glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Yan Hengze’s expression hadn’t changed much since the room started transforming, except for…
“Making a fuss over nothing.” The young master walked over smugly, skillfully turned the valve, and pulled open the alloy door. He nodded at Xiang Zhengming and wagged his index finger: “You unsophisticated guys wouldn’t understand.”
“Hey, you…”
Li Nanyi followed close behind, cautiously observing his surroundings. A long corridor stretched out, with white lights crisscrossing to illuminate the desolate space. The thudding of footsteps wove together until they reached the end. A scanner projected a green light, scanning the arrivals from top to bottom, and emitted a beep: [Identity confirmed. Please wait, opening the door for you.]
The alloy door rumbled open before them. Li Nanyi narrowed his eyes as his vision gradually cleared—it was a laboratory so spacious it felt empty. In the center stood a giant computer, three stories high. Data cables extended from the computer in all directions like veins, resembling an electronic giant with complete internal organs. Below a control console that spanned a walkway stood two people: one slightly taller, standing with hands behind his back and head looked up; the other slightly shorter, with hair tied up neatly.
They were both wearing uniform outfits. The shorter woman turned around and smiled at them: “Welcome. I am Zhong Yi, one of the persons in charge of EDFH, and your reliable logistics support.”
She didn’t look very old, having the appearance of a fresh-faced girl next door. She walked over and extended her hand: “Xiang Zhengming, Li Nanyi, very glad to meet you.”
Xiang Zhengming hurriedly reached out to shake her hand: “Oh, oh, hello Sister Zhong Yi, I’m very glad to meet you too.”
After letting go, she turned her hand towards Li Nanyi. Out of politeness, Li Nanyi extended his hand and shook hers symbolically. Zhong Yi raised an eyebrow at Yan Hengze: “Hengze, I don’t need to welcome you like this, right?”
“Of course not. I wouldn’t make a girl take the initiative to welcome me. Besides, we’re old acquaintances.”
Yan Hengze emphasized the words “old acquaintances” intentionally or unintentionally.
The person with his hands behind his back at the console finally lowered them, sighed, and turned around. The three of them subconsciously tensed up, but were stunned when the person rushed up to them. The middle-aged man before them had a serious face and was slightly chubby, holding the posture of a leader, yet he had the face of a comedian. As they watched, a smile suddenly bloomed on his serious face. He looked them up and down with smiling eyes, like he was looking at a batch of tender pork about to be sold at half price.
“Good, good, good! Young people these days really have drive. I can rest assured leaving it to you!”
He patted the three of them heavily on the shoulder, laughing loudly. Under everyone’s side-eye, he turned again and went up another staircase hidden in the darkness.
Zhong Yi pouted, looking speechless. Once the man’s back disappeared up the stairs, Xiang Zhengming tentatively asked, “Sister Zhong Yi, who was that chubby big leader?”
“Oh, he’s the general person in charge here. He idles around all day doing nothing serious, don’t mind him.”
Zhong Yi led them to sit on chairs by the console and pulled up a chair for herself, placing her hands on her knees: “Now is Q&A time. If you have any questions, ask away.”
“Um, I want to ask, what is EDFH?” Xiang Zhengming raised a hand like a good student.
“EDFH stands for Earth Defense Force Headquarters, also known as the General Bureau of Earth Defense. It’s a semi-official, semi-civilian organization. Initially, it was a research institute founded by a group of scientists. Ten years ago, it was officially recognized by the government and became an organization to counter alien xenomorphs.”
Xiang Zhengming: “Alien xenomorphs?”
Zhong Yi: “Alien xenomorphs are…”
“They are those monsters that hurt people, the ones that have been reported on the news recently. They came to Earth thousands of years ago and only woke up and started activity after the recent solar eclipse.”
Yan Hengze took over Zhong Yi’s explanation. Zhong Yi gave him an approving look and continued: “This is also the reason I contacted you to come here. Decades ago, a scientific expedition team discovered an oval-shaped gelatinous object in a certain deep-sea area. After expending great effort to retrieve it, they discovered technology inside that didn’t belong to Earth—four mechas made of special metal.”
“Mechas! Is it the one that appeared under the Klein Building that day? Its photos have gone viral on the forums!”
Xiang Zhengming was a bit excited. Yan Hengze crossed his arms and huffed, but he couldn’t suppress the corners of his mouth from rising.
Li Nanyi sat quietly on the chair hugging his backpack, neither asking questions nor participating in their discussion, only listening intently.
“According to research, the four mechas require suitable genes to be used. Coincidentally, human genes have many similarities with the genes it authenticates itself.”
“Then doesn’t that mean everyone can use them?” Xiang Zhengming said disappointedly. He had thought he was a chosen one, like Uzumaki Naruto or Luffy, and had been excited for quite a while before coming.
Zhong Yi glared at him for interrupting: “Let me finish. Even if an ordinary person can put it on, to truly pilot it, gene authentication must reach over 85%. Otherwise, it’s just a good-looking shell, flashy but useless. And you three are the ones we found among over a billion people through massive network computing power and hospital data who have the highest compatibility with the mecha’s authentication genes.”
“Oh yeah!”
Xiang Zhengming flashed a peace sign: “I am the chosen one.”
His hand blocked Yan Hengze, who slapped it away, his tone filled with extreme disdain: “Zhong Yi, are you sure it’s these two? One is a big, silly oaf who grins all day and has thick nerves.”
He pointed at the happily grinning Xiang Zhengming.
“The other is a gloomy freak who can’t fart out a word even if you hit him with three sticks, keeping a coffin face all day.”
He pointed again at the silent Li Nanyi.
“Just random goods grabbed off the street are my teammates?”
As soon as his voice fell, Xiang Zhengming stood up in anger and glared at him: “Hey, do you know what manners are? Did I provoke you or offend you? You’re addicted to targeting me, aren’t you? I’ve really had enough of you!”
Li Nanyi: “…”
The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
They suddenly started arguing. Li Nanyi kept a wooden face, abruptly stood up, and walked towards the exit.
Zhong Yi hurriedly chased after him: “Nanyi!”
“I said, I don’t want to get involved in these dangerous things. I’m returning this to you.”
He took off the wristband and handed it to Zhong Yi. Anxious and angry, Zhong Yi pulled her hand back, unwilling to accept it: “Why are you just unwilling to accept this responsibility?”
Li Nanyi stood up straight: “I have my own life. Only people who haven’t been beaten down by society or those who live happily with someone to fall back on can dream unrealistic heroic dreams every day. I can’t even take care of myself, so how can I talk about saving others?”
“You said it yourself, it’s a responsibility. Saving a person means bearing responsibility, bearing the weight of their life. That’s not a wild flower or grass by the roadside, nor a kitten or puppy, but living, breathing people. I don’t think I have the ability to bear that.”
“Tell me, what’s wrong with me!”
“One has no brains, the other is unhappy. Neither is good!”
The sound of the two arguing behind them grew louder and louder. Zhong Yi shouted in anger: “Keep it down!”
The background noise suddenly stopped. Li Nanyi pulled the corner of his mouth: “That’s it. Among over a billion people, there must be someone more suitable than me. I’m leaving.”
Zhong Yi: “Wait, Nanyi. Don’t you want to know the truth about your parents?”
Zhong Yi tried to make him stay: “Hengze said you saved that child. You actually didn’t want to see those parents lose their child either, right? You saw the power of the mecha that day. Will you really not consider it?”
Li Nanyi clenched his palm into a fist, continuing to walk forward in silence.
Yan Hengze couldn’t understand it. If he didn’t want to do it, then he didn’t want to do it. Just find someone else. Why did Zhong Yi keep stopping him?
“Zhong Yi, forget…”
“Our benefits package is very good! If you join, we can give you a monthly allowance, and we can also buy you ‘five social insurances and one housing fund’! Aside from missions and training time, you can arrange the rest of your time freely!”
Zhong Yi held her breath, her imposing manner like a rainbow, and the final word “freely” echoed in the silent space.
Li Nanyi’s footsteps stopped. He paused, seeming to be undergoing an intense internal struggle. He let out a breath, but didn’t turn back.
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