Tong Yang is unclear about the conditions for people from parallel worlds to enter the real world.
Maybe the conditions were really simple, not needing the complicated steps like they had, to prevent “Yan Qing” from escaping while they entered the parallel world. Before entering the parallel world for the second time, Officer Wan handcuffed him and “Yan Qing” together.
Worried that this person might be pretending to be harmless while hiding a tiger, he called seven or eight police officers to keep an eye on her at all times.
Then, under Ye Huai’s guidance, they entered the parallel world.
“Please choose whether to open your eyes.”
The location in the parallel world was still in an abandoned building. This place had gone through a self-destruction game, and those who survived here either successfully entered the safe zone or had already died at the hands of others, making it relatively safe.
“Oh my gosh!”
Tong Yang opened her eyes, saw the environment, and immediately rushed to A Li’s side, hugging her arm tightly.
A Li was knocked back by her and said irritably, “Didn’t we say to be mentally prepared?”
Yan Qing said with a pitiful expression, “Imagining it and seeing it with my own eyes feels different.”
“A Li, there’s a note here.” Xu Junyue bent down to pick up a piece of paper from the ground and handed it to A Li.
With the dim light around them, she could see the handwriting on the note, which should have been left by Meng Xiao. The content said she would be taken to District Ten for investigation and could not participate in subsequent matters, hoping they would take care of themselves and that they would have a chance to meet A Li in the real world in the future.
After reading the note, A Li folded it up and put it in her backpack.
“Let’s go directly to District One.”
“Let’s go.”
Before coming here, they had learned from “Yan Qing” about the locations of the twelve safe zones in the capital, which were located at the edge of Tianyuan District, near Shuangbai District.
The night was thick with fog, and people lurking in the nameless area hid in the darkness. Since they couldn’t see more than two meters around them, those people generally wouldn’t take the initiative to attack.
A Li and the others tried to make as little noise as possible to avoid attracting their attention, lest too many people gather around.
Without any transportation, they could only walk towards District One. Although they didn’t encounter any danger along the way, the late-night hours and long-distance running left everyone feeling a bit sluggish.
Yan Qing was in the best mental state among them, feeling both scared of the unfamiliar environment and incredibly curious. Sometimes, when she heard rustling sounds in the thick fog, she wanted to stretch her neck to take a look.
What would normally take half an hour by vehicle took them over three hours to reach the vicinity of District One by taking a shortcut.
By then, the sky was already dimly lit, and the thick fog was gradually dissipating. The group, exhausted, found a hidden spot to rest.
“I can’t take it anymore, I’m sleepy.” Yan Qing sat on the ground, hugging her backpack with sleepy eyes.
“Why couldn’t we just take a car to the location of District One in the real world? We wouldn’t have to walk so far.”
A Li said, “We don’t know the situation in District One, we can’t just rush in.”
The “elevator game” required a period of safe time, so they could only choose an absolutely safe place to enter the parallel world. Besides the abandoned building, they didn’t understand the situation in other places.
Along the way, the buildings and terrain they encountered were not much different from the real world, just that they appeared very desolate due to long-term neglect. Corpses and severed limbs were common by the roadside. At first, Yan Qing was startled, but later she became accustomed to it and no longer felt scared.
Yan Qing, dozing off, mumbled, “A Li, I feel like this is a scene from a horror story, where only a few of us are left alive in the whole world.”
A Li sat beside her against the wall, resting her eyes, and said lightly, “Cherish the present.”
Yan Qing immediately perked up and asked, “What do you mean? Is there something more terrifying than this?”
“There aren’t many normal people in the parallel world.”
“Really? I think the other me is pretty normal.”
Xu Junyue chimed in coldly, “Little girl, it’s much scarier here with people than without.”
They were sitting in a closed building, less than a thousand meters from District One, planning to rest and regain their strength before going in.
Chu Shiyu and Tang Shuyan had already fallen asleep, and the others also planned to take a nap to adjust their physical state. After all, you can’t rush to eat hot tofu.
A Li and Xu Junyue agreed to take turns standing guard, each sleeping for two hours to avoid sudden attacks.
As everyone gradually fell asleep, a sudden rustling sound broke the quiet environment.
“Who? Who’s eating something?” Yan Qing, like a dog with a keen nose, suddenly opened her eyes and looked towards the source of the sound.
Ye Huai was holding a plastic box, his fair and slender fingers had just popped down two small white pills, and he said, “Sorry, did I wake you?”
“What are you eating? Is it good?” Yan Qing licked her lips, asking curiously.
Ye Huai whispered, “Medicine.”
“Medicine? Is it tasty?”
Ye Huai hesitated for a moment and asked, “Do you want to try?”
“I want to…”
“Yan Qing.”
Suddenly, A Li’s voice came softly.
“Are you hungry? I have snacks in my bag.”
Yan Qing’s expression brightened, “I’m hungry!”
It was clear that this kid was really hungry.
“Give me some.”
“I want some too.”
“A Li, I didn’t expect you to bring snacks!”
In the darkness, voices kept coming one after another, probably because they had been tossing and turning all night and were all hungry.
A Li turned on her phone flashlight and took out the food she had prepared from her backpack, saying, “I didn’t know if there would be anything edible here, so I brought some.”
“All compressed biscuits? Why didn’t you buy something tasty?”
“This fills you up.”
After a nap, everyone was eager to eat, not caring whether it was good or not, stuffing their mouths. Ye Huai also ate some food with water from his thermos.
Although his body wasn’t in great shape, he wasn’t as weak as A Li imagined. He didn’t complain of fatigue or waste time, and when he really couldn’t hold on anymore, he quietly took a few pills from his bag and swallowed them.
“It’s only eight-thirty, let’s rest.” A Li said.
Tang Shuyan waved at them, saying, “You guys rest, I’ve had enough sleep.”
“Okay.” A Li nodded; she was indeed tired.
Then, Tang Shuyan took out a tablet that was only slightly larger than a phone from her cloth bag, opened a single-player game, and the colorful light reflected on her face.
“Wow, you actually brought a tablet in!”
“Speaking of which, you, an unremarkable Taoist, actually carry a baton with you, which doesn’t match your image at all.”
Tang Shuyan said, “Doing as I please is the Tao I pursue, no need to be surprised.”
“Tsk tsk tsk.”
Tang Shuyan took off his Taoist robe and handed it to a few girls, “You guys sleep, I’ll keep watch.”
“Thank you.”
A Li blinked, the oversized robe covering her, and as drowsiness hit, she fell into a deep sleep despite leaning against the hard wall.
“Aren’t you sleeping?”
Noticing Ye Huai’s gaze was fixed on the screen, Tang Shuyan asked in surprise.
Ye Huai said, “Not sleepy.”
“Want to play?”
“Thanks.”
Ye Huai took the tablet, his bony fingers danced over the screen like they were performing a dance.
“Not bad, you’re playing well.”
After finishing a round of the single-player game, Ye Huai said, “I want to see if there’s a signal here.”
“Signal? You want to go online?” Tang Shuyan looked surprised.
Ye Huai nodded, “That girl’s communication tool is the same as in the real world, and before we entered here, while she was in the real world, she could send information to the people in District One.”
“Maybe the signals from the two worlds can be shared.”
Tang Shuyan nodded, somewhat understanding, “Then you should try.”
Ye Huai was very familiar with electronic devices. He operated on the tablet, bringing up a screen full of code, then took out his phone from his bag and connected it to the tablet with an adapter.
“There’s only satellite signal here.”
“Satellite signal?”
Ye Huai lowered his voice, saying, “Satellite signals are commonly used in military fields and GPS.”
“Can we go online?”
Ye Huai checked the green codes on both electronic devices, his brows furrowing tighter, “The satellite signal in the parallel world is different from ours. If it connects, communication won’t be a problem, but the communication tool will instead become a monitor, reflecting our every move to other places.”
Tang Shuyan raised an eyebrow, “Like the stuff on the enforcers’ belts?”
“Exactly.”
“That girl’s communication device…”
Ye Huai said, “Her satellite signal in the real world would be interfered with, and after traveling between the two worlds, the signal she receives becomes extremely unstable, so she can’t provide accurate information to District One. Before we entered here, I had already blocked her phone signal, so it won’t affect A Li’s plan.”
“That’s good.”
Seeing him still lost in thought, Tang Shuyan asked, “What are you thinking?”
Ye Huai said, “After entering District One, we might encounter sudden events that separate us. It would be great if we could use our phones to communicate.”
“In that case, we would be monitored in reverse, right?”
Ye Huai pondered for a moment and said, “After we connect to the satellite signal, it will reflect the signal to other places. We need to find a way to adjust the device’s status to only receive signals.”
“How do we do that?”
Ye Huai shook his head, “I don’t know. I want a computer from the parallel world; maybe it can do it.”
“There must be one in District One; let’s find a chance to try it.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you still going to play?”
Ye Huai shook his head, returned the tablet to him, and then put away his things.
In a half-dream state, A Li felt a cold liquid dripping on her forehead.
She groggily opened her eyes, raised her hand to wipe her forehead, feeling the sticky texture.
Instinctively, A Li looked up, and a bloodied face appeared at the railing on the second floor, with a few drops of blood falling on her.
The person leaned over the railing, and with a “thud,” fell down.
“What? What happened?”
“What’s going on?”
“What’s happening?”
The people who had been sleeping were instantly awakened, looking around in confusion.
Suddenly, seeing the bloody mess on the ground, they quickly came to their senses.
“Whoa! It’s alive!” Yan Qing covered her eyes, seeing a mass of blood and flesh wriggling through her fingers like a caterpillar.
Xu Junyue pulled out a watermelon knife and slashed down, the blood and flesh bursting with a “puff.”
Yan Qing was so scared that she closed her eyes tightly, not daring to look further.
It was already noon, and the daylight outside was bright. The commotion in the building attracted the attention of other things, and chaotic footsteps came from all directions.
Tang Shuyan, who had volunteered to stand guard, was the last to wake up, looking around in confusion, “What happened?”
A Li quickly slung her backpack on and pulled Yan Qing up, “Let’s go!”
“Oh no! There are so many people outside!”
Tang Shuyan exclaimed, “Why are there suddenly so many people?”
A Li threw her Taoist robe to him, coldly saying, “Weren’t you awake?”
“I accidentally fell asleep…”
A Li shot him a glare as two figures had already climbed in through the window.
“Grab a knife, and if anyone gets close, act.” A Li handed a knife to Yan Qing, then she and Xu Junyue lunged left and right, quickly taking down the two people.
The resources enjoyed in the nameless area relied entirely on plunder, and resources were extremely scarce. Even if they could survive, their bodies would be severely malnourished. Besides looking pale and terrifying, they posed little threat.
“This way!”
Chu Shiyu stabbed one with a short knife, then turned to see someone approaching her being knocked out by Tang Shuyan’s baton.
More and more people came in response to the noise. Although they lacked lethality, their continuous presence would only drain their energy.
A Li took down another person and frowned as she looked outside. They hadn’t revealed their identities, and the reason these things attacked them might be out of whim or resource plundering.
Suddenly, A Li remembered something and took out “Yan Qing’s” golden identity card.
She had said that as long as she had this, no one would dare to harm her.
“Take this.”
A Li handed the identity card to Yan Qing.
Sure enough, after she received the identity card, the patterns on the card emitted a faint golden glow, and the crowd that had surged forward suddenly stopped, looking at them with some confusion.
Seeing them halt, everyone couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
“Get out, get out!” Yan Qing shouted fiercely.
The man closest to them had bloodshot eyes, staring at Yan Qing for nearly half a minute before finally turning to leave.
Seeing this, the others gradually left the building they were in.
But just as they stepped outside, one person immediately attacked another, stabbing a small iron rod through the other’s eye, then bending down to bite into his flesh. In no time, he raised his blood-soaked face, looking back at A Li and the others.
Yan Qing covered her eyes, cursing, “What a freak.”
A Li relaxed, “I didn’t expect the identity card to be so useful.”
Chu Shiyu said, “That girl said the identity card represents safety information; people outside the safe zone can’t harm those holding the identity card.”
Xu Junyue asked, “These people don’t seem afraid of death. So what if they attack us?”
Chu Shiyu explained, “I asked her, and it seems it’s because of the magnetic field’s influence. People living in the nameless area are affected by the magnetic field, and their understanding of the world is already different from normal people.”
A Li nodded in understanding, “That’s a good thing for us.”
Xu Junyue nodded, somewhat understanding, glanced at the blood on her clothes, and walked over to Tang Shuyan, pulling his Taoist robe to wipe the blood off her face.
“What are you doing? My Taoist robe is very expensive!”
A Li was careful not to get blood on herself while moving, but her legs still couldn’t escape unscathed. Thinking that it was fine if Tang Shuyan’s robe got dirty, she stepped forward and wiped her legs on it, wondering how expensive a Taoist robe could be.
“How expensive could it be?” Xu Junyue asked nonchalantly.
“130,000.”
A Li paused, silently putting the robe back and dusting off the dirt on it.
This wasn’t just a robe; it was 130,000 RMB.
“130,000? Are you a rich person?”
“I’m not rich; my dad is a second-generation rich kid.”
“Then you’re a third-generation rich kid, right? If you come out as a Taoist, won’t your dad make trouble for you?”
“He does. My dad urges me to get married every day, offering a huge reward for a daughter-in-law, 50 million as soon as we get the certificate.”
A Li crossed her arms, looking thoughtfully at Tang Shuyan.
“What are you looking at?” Tang Shuyan turned around, seeing her inscrutable expression, and felt a chill run down his spine.
“I was thinking,” A Li paused for a second, “what are the chances of me kidnapping you to get the marriage certificate.”
“You’re dreaming.”
Chu Shiyu said, “A Li, you can only get the certificate when you’re twenty.”
“Hey! I’ll be twenty next year! Taoist brother, wait for me; let’s get the certificate next year.” Xu Junyue exclaimed excitedly.
“Get lost! Don’t mess with my Taoist heart.”
A Li sighed regretfully; getting the certificate would give her 50 million, and she wouldn’t have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of her life. But she wondered when Ye Huai would be able to come up with that money.
Feeling A Li’s gaze, Ye Huai smiled slightly and said, “I will definitely give it to you before I die.”
Given his current physical condition, he might die in two years, and A Li nodded, thinking that a few years wouldn’t matter.
“Let’s go.” A Li said.
“Let’s go!”
The group walked out of the building, the clouds shrouding the sky, the buildings obscured by thin mist, only vaguely visible as outlines.
The road was desolate and empty, like a strong wind had swept through, with road signs toppled over and bloodstains and human remains visible everywhere, along with tire tracks on the road.
With the identity card, they made their way smoothly to District One.
It was a building resembling a bird’s nest, but it was several times larger than a bird’s nest. A huge glass dome covered the ground, forming an airtight transparent wall, and above the dome was a large golden sign—District One.
“This is District One? Why does it feel more like a prison?”
A Li stopped, looking at the massive building in front of her. Rather than a safe zone, it felt more like a refuge. Even though they could enjoy resources, being confined inside all day wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
The few benefits were that people in the safe zone could come and go freely, and carrying the identity card meant they wouldn’t be attacked, nor would they have to participate in the numb self-destruction game.
“That girl said we could use her identity card to get in.” Chu Shiyu said.
“Let’s go.”
They walked towards the entrance of District One, seeing four men in black uniforms standing like wooden posts in the distance.
Yan Qing held the identity card in her hand, feeling a bit scared, “Open the door; I want to take them in.”
According to “Yan Qing,” this wasn’t her first time bringing irrelevant people into District One. As long as she used her identity card, the enforcers wouldn’t make things difficult for them.
The four enforcers looked expressionless ahead. Upon hearing the sound, their eyes slowly turned, landing on her identity card.
“Please scan.”
At this moment, Yan Qing noticed a machine similar to a security check. She glanced back at A Li and the others, then pressed the identity card against it.
“Beep—Yan Qing, S-level identity card, identity verification successful.”
“Please enter.”
The machine’s door opened to the sides, leaving a passageway leading into District One.
“You all go ahead.” Yan Qing waved her hand behind her.
A Li was the first to step inside, with the others following closely behind.
After passing through the door, they finally saw the full view of District One.
It was a very ordinary street.
District One was just a regular neighborhood, except that all the doors and windows were tightly shut, and there was no one on the street.
Compared to the nameless area, it was just cleaner, without the blood and corpses visible everywhere; other than that, there was no difference.
A Li looked up at the towering buildings, above which was an endless glass dome. The sunlight shone through the glass roof onto District One, just like outside.
The door behind them closed again, and the group stood in the empty street, momentarily at a loss.
“This is the safe zone? Not a single person?”
Every shop on the street had its doors closed, and even the windows were tightly shut, leaving them unsure if anyone lived inside.
Chu Shiyu said, “That girl said people in the safe zone rarely leave their homes unless necessary. The enforcers deliver what they need to their door every morning.”
“What’s the difference from being in prison?”
“They can get resources without having to work, so what do they do in their rooms every day?”
A Li said, “The self-destruction game is probably being live-streamed; they might just be watching the show.”
Chu Shiyu continued, “She said that the instructors don’t force them to stay indoors, but they really dislike each other. Just meeting could lead to conflict.”
A Li nodded; if that were the case, information wouldn’t spread too quickly here.
“What are you doing?”
A voice suddenly came from the upper left, and everyone looked up to see a woman with loose hair standing by the window.
The window was half-open, and she stood by the window, her eyes wide open, staring at them.
At the same time, the windows on both sides of the street opened, and those people quietly watched them, their eyes unblinking, their expressions calm yet somewhat eerie.
There were no extra movements, and no one spoke; they just all stared at them.
Their calm gazes were chilling, different from the order-maintaining enforcers who had their brains extracted. You could clearly feel they were observing.
“Thud—” A stone hit the windowsill, and the woman slowly looked up, shifting her gaze away.
“Thud—” A dagger flew over her head and stabbed into her chest.
Blood quickly soaked her clothes, and after standing still for a moment, the woman jumped down from the second floor, her eyes fixed on A Li and the others as she passed by, going to the street opposite, slashing the rolling shutter door with a few strokes, and went up to the second floor.
Before long, the sound of the blade cutting through flesh and hitting bone echoed, and bright red liquid splattered onto the windowsill.
Half a minute later, the woman came out covered in blood, holding a kitchen knife in her right hand and a piece of human bone in her left, with the knife still stuck in her chest, returning to her room.
A breeze blew in from somewhere, moving the windows in her room back and forth, revealing a wall covered in bloody human bones.
Yet those standing by the window just looked on coldly, long since accustomed to it.
“A Li…” Yan Qing stood behind her, swallowing hard.
“What’s the difference between this place and the nameless area? They’re all crazy, right?”
“One wrong word and they throw knives; one wrong word and they swing kitchen knives.”
“Don’t say one wrong word; no one is even talking.”
“I thought the people in the safe zone would be like that little girl.”
A Li patted Yan Qing’s hand reassuringly, “Let’s go.”
Not knowing what was going on with these people, but since they weren’t threatening them, ignoring them was the best way to handle it.
They had already learned from “Yan Qing” about their residence, which was at 322 in District One.
After leaving that street, they heard the sound of wheels rolling by. Turning around, they saw an armored police vehicle parked in the middle of the street, and two enforcers got out, carrying cleaning tools towards the room of the owner who had been killed by the woman with the kitchen knife.
Moreover, they had no intention of punishing the woman.
It seemed that even in the safe zone, killing wasn’t illegal.
In other words, killing was still helping them reduce resource waste.
“This place is too bizarre,” Tang Shuyan sighed.
“I hope her parents are normal.”
“They should be pretty normal, right? ‘Yan Qing’ is normal anyway.”
On the way, they didn’t encounter any more strange occurrences.
Twenty minutes later, they finally found residence 322, a standalone villa with a garden.
Yan Qing took a deep breath, preparing herself mentally, then rang the doorbell.
“Ding-dong—”
“Ding-dong—”
According to “Yan Qing,” her parents didn’t know she had secretly slipped into the real world, and she was unsure if directly knocking on the door would cause unnecessary trouble.
However, they wanted to get close to the instructor’s study, and in a place full of surveillance, they could only choose to walk in openly.
Half a minute after the doorbell rang, a woman dressed as a nanny appeared behind the door.
“Aunt Liu?” Yan Qing exclaimed in surprise.
The person was indeed Aunt Liu from the parallel world.
Unlike the peaceful Aunt Liu from the real world, the woman had a serious expression, with slight bloodshot eyes and an unnaturally pale face.
“Qingqing.” She gently called from behind the iron door, “Who did you bring back?”
Yan Qing looked at the identical appearance of Aunt Liu but with a completely different expression, fearfully lowering her eyes, and mustering her courage said, “They are my friends, staying at my house tonight.”
Aunt Liu’s gaze swept over the group without any reaction. When she opened the door, she said, “Sir has told you many times not to bring outsiders home easily.”
“I-I will be more careful in the future.”
“Come in.”
Aunt Liu stepped aside, allowing them to enter.
“Sir and Madam noticed you were missing early this morning and are waiting for you in the living room. Go in.”
As they reached the front of the villa, Aunt Liu stopped, looking coldly at them.
Yan Qing felt increasingly terrified, finally understanding why A Li told her to cherish the times when there were no people around. These people looked exactly like her close ones, yet they felt extremely out of place.
She nudged A Li’s arm, feeling A Li’s warmth, and Yan Qing sighed in relief. Compared to being surrounded by strange people, having A Li around was comforting.
Gathering her courage, she pushed open the villa door and walked in.
The spacious and bright room had some decorations, giving it a somewhat ordinary family feel.
The sound of the television came from the living room, not too loud, and they couldn’t make out what was being said even if they listened closely.
Clean shoe covers were placed on the shoe rack, and everyone took a few pairs to wear.
Entering the foyer, they saw a spacious living room, where a man and a woman sat on the sofa with their backs to them, facing a 75-inch television.
The two sat very upright, but in a home meant for relaxation, it felt strangely out of place.
The television was showing a strange program, where a group of foreign-looking children were locked in a small space, with mosquitoes buzzing around them, whispering something continuously.
“Qingqing, you’re back.”
The woman’s calm voice rang out without turning around.
Hearing the familiar voice and looking at the woman’s back, Yan Qing’s feet felt like they were glued to the ground, not daring to move an inch forward.
“Mom…” she weakly called out.
“Qingqing, who are they?”
The man also asked without turning his head, still facing the television.
“Dad…”
Yan Qing swallowed hard and said, “They are my friends.”
Xu Junyue rubbed her arms, which were covered in goosebumps; even she found the scene extremely eerie.
The scene before them wasn’t bloody; instead, it was peaceful and serene, yet it made people feel even more creeped out.
Chu Shiyu also felt a bit uneasy and averted her gaze.
Ye Huai and Tang Shuyan, however, showed no change in expression.
A Li, needless to say, kept her eyes scanning the room for any abnormalities.
After answering, the two in the living room fell silent for a few seconds before suddenly turning their heads in unison.
“Just in time, it’s time for lunch.”
Two smiling faces appeared in their view, their smiles eerily similar.
Yan Qing trembled in fear, “N-No, it’s fine…”
The man squinted his eyes, almost closing them, and said, “Aunt Liu made your favorite cola chicken wings; we can’t waste food.”
The woman looked at A Li and the others, saying, “Since you’re here, let’s have a meal together.”
Yan Qing turned back, looking at A Li for help, silently asking her what they should do.
Three minutes later, they sat at a dining table with Yan Qing’s parents from the parallel world and Aunt Liu.
Fortunately, the food on the table wasn’t the bloody stuff A Li had imagined, but rather looked like perfectly normal food.
“Why aren’t you eating?”
The group hesitated to pick up their chopsticks, and Aunt Liu asked in confusion.
At the same time, Yan Qing’s parents looked up at them.
“Qingqing, eat.”
Yan Qing instinctively shook her head, “I-I don’t want to eat…”
“Eat!”
Suddenly, Yan Qing’s usually gentle father changed his expression, slamming his hand on the table in anger.
Yan Qing had never experienced such a thing, and tears streamed down her face.
“If Qingqing doesn’t want to eat, then she doesn’t have to.”
“Clang—”
The woman grabbed a dining knife and suddenly stabbed it into the back of the man’s hand, the tip piercing through his palm and nailing it to the table.
The sudden turn of events left them all stunned.
The man’s expression gradually faded, and without a word, he pulled out the dining knife and stabbed it into the woman’s cheek.
“Whoa…” Yan Qing shuddered.
A Li held her hand, signaling her not to speak.
Blood gushed out, but the woman didn’t fall; she grabbed a plate and smashed it over the man’s head. The shattered porcelain shards were incredibly sharp, cutting into the man again and again.
“Qingqing, if you don’t want to eat, just go back to your room.” Aunt Liu showed no surprise at the two’s mutual harm, looking up at Yan Qing.
“Qingqing, remember to eat.” The man, pinned down by the woman, still reminded her.
“Qingqing, if you don’t want to eat, then don’t.” The woman said.
“Let’s go, let’s go!” Yan Qing could hardly take it anymore; she pulled A Li up, fleeing the dining room.
Before leaving, A Li glanced back and saw a string of keys hanging from the man’s waist.
The key to the study’s safe should be among them.
Back in “Yan Qing’s” bedroom, A Li closed the door.
Yan Qing rubbed her eyes, her eyes moist, “Are they sick…”
“They’re not really my parents; my dad wouldn’t be so harsh with me, nor would he harm my mom.”
Chu Shiyu stepped forward to comfort her, “It’s okay; they aren’t really your parents.”
Xu Junyue sighed, “It’s definitely different from the real world. If my dad suddenly changed like that, I’d stab him to death.”
Tang Shuyan said, “They’re clearly not normal people; even if they mixed into the real world, it would be easy to recognize them.”
A Li shook her head, “Not everyone in the parallel world is like them, like Meng Xiao and ‘Yan Qing’.”
“It’s just that this might be their original selves; after entering the real world, they would disguise themselves as normal humans.”
“That possibility can’t be ruled out.”
A Li walked over to Yan Qing and asked, “Are you okay?”
Yan Qing sniffed, “I’m fine; I’m just a bit unaccustomed. I know they’re not really my parents.”
“Mm.”
Then, A Li surveyed the bedroom, which was styled similarly to the real Yan Qing’s room.
“I saw the keys on Yan Qing’s dad; we need to find a way to get them to open the safe in the study.” A Li said.
“They haven’t discovered Yan Qing’s identity, right?”
“Shouldn’t have.”
“If we can get the keys without being discovered, that would be great. If we are discovered, it might take a lot of effort.”
Ye Huai noticed a computer on the desk and walked over to turn it on.
“Come over here.” Ye Huai said.
“What’s up?”
“What did you find?”
The group gathered around the computer, confused.
“This computer is connected to the satellite signal in the parallel world and has no password.”
“So what?”
Tang Shuyan asked, “Can our phones also connect to the satellite signal?”
Ye Huai nodded, the blue light from the computer screen illuminating his face as his fingers moved the mouse, quickly generating a line of code to create a strange program.
After opening the program, a dense array of codes popped up.
He carefully reviewed and modified the code, his hands dancing on the keyboard.
“This villa’s computer can connect with each other.”
A Li’s expression froze slightly, “Can it connect to the study?”
“I don’t know which computer is in the study.”
“Try it.”
Ye Huai created another program, continuously debugging, and finally found several computers with the same IP. He then clicked in to check, and the computer connected to the satellite signal acted like a monitor, showing the scene in front of it.
After trying several computer addresses, a pristine desk appeared on the screen, next to which was a pen holder containing three or four pens, and behind the desk was a floor-to-ceiling window.
“This should be it.”
“Are we being monitored too?”
Ye Huai said, “No, I’ve already blocked the signal being sent out; we can only receive signals.”
“Wow, young master, I thought you were just a burden.” Xu Junyue exclaimed.
Ye Huai ignored her and continued moving the mouse, saying, “It seems we can connect to the study’s monitor.”
A Li nodded, “Try to see if you can open it.”
“I can. The room’s monitor and the computer IP are the same, using the same signal receiver.”
“So you blocked this computer, and the monitor in our room also became ineffective?”
“Mm.”
Ye Huai clicked on the last link, and a whole page of monitoring images popped up.
“Whoa? So many monitors in the study? Is this sick?”
“One, two, three… seven, eight! Eight monitors!”
Ye Huai clicked on a monitor with the least dead angles and finally saw the full view of the study.
“Not only that, there’s a red alarm light here. If anything abnormal happens in the monitor’s content, the alarm will automatically go off, notifying the command base of District One.”
A Li frowned, “If we make any strange moves, the monitor will automatically alert?”
“Pretty much. After that woman killed another person, it took less than two minutes for the enforcers to arrive, so the entire District One is likely under surveillance.”
“Then that’s bad?”
“If we open the safe, it will definitely trigger the alarm, alerting the enforcers and others in District One. Even if we use ‘Yan Qing’ as a threat to escape smoothly, it would be very difficult.”
A Li said, “I thought of that. However, I plan to get the gene drug and, if discovered, use ‘Yan Qing’ as a bargaining chip to let District One send us back. But after what just happened, I’m not sure if they would feel threatened.”
“Of course, there’s another possibility: ‘Yan Qing’ deliberately led us to District One.”
Ye Huai pondered for a moment and said, “To cut off the study’s monitor alarm, I must use the computer in the study. I probably won’t have the chance to go in. If I step into the study, the monitor will directly alert. The only one who can smoothly get the keys and approach the study and the safe is Yan Qing.”
A Li said, “Even if Yan Qing can enter the study and open the safe, we can’t rule out the possibility that there are alarms in the safe as well.”
“What should we do then?” Xu Junyue asked, confused.
Tang Shuyan said, “Create chaos?”
“That woman killed someone, and the monitor alerted. The enforcers arrived at the scene shortly after. If multiple monitors alert at the same time, we could buy more time to get the gene drug and leave. ‘Yan Qing’ could be used as a last resort threat.”
“We need a time difference.” Ye Huai said.
“Yan Qing entering the study and successfully getting the keys to open the safe without triggering the alarm would be best. The problem is we don’t know when or under what conditions the alarm will be triggered.”
Chu Shiyu’s expression became serious, “So we need to prepare countermeasures in advance; we can’t wait until the study’s monitor alerts before taking action, or it will be too late.”
“What should we do then?” Xu Junyue said helplessly.
Tang Shuyan said, “Before Yan Qing enters the study, we need to be ready to create chaos, and the tools we need are remote communication—basically, a phone.”
“But there’s no signal here; we can’t make calls.”
“I can help you connect to the satellite signal and then block the outgoing signal to avoid being monitored.”
The group was astonished, “Can you do that?”
“I can.”
A Li hadn’t thought of a better solution, and besides that, there was no more suitable way.
“If that’s the case, at least one person needs to stay here to monitor the study’s surveillance and keep an eye on the alarm situation, while the others need to find a suitable position to be ready to trigger alarms in different places at any time.”
At this point, A Li’s gaze shifted to Yan Qing.
This meant she might have to act alone, as no one else could enter the study.
Just as A Li was about to say something, there was a sudden knock on the door.
“Qingqing, the sir wants you to go to the study alone.”
Aunt Liu’s voice came coldly through the door.
