After placing the location tracker in his mother’s office, Shen Siwei and Klet set off to the West Zone’s City Z.
Distorted monsters roamed the night, and there were many strange birds flying in the sky. The hovering flock of pigeons disappeared, and the hunting owls took center stage.
Dodging a bat that suddenly appeared, Klet raised the flight altitude and looked at Shen Siwei, who had not closed his eyes, and asked, “If you could break free from Moran’s control, is there anything you’d like to do?”
Shen Siwei thought carefully for a moment and moved his lips gently, saying, “I don’t know.”
He wasn’t sure if he could break free from Moran’s control,
Compared to that, he was more concerned about Amor’s whereabouts.
Although they were strangers to each other and had never met, Shen Siwei had read Amor’s diary and knew about the story with his lover. He couldn’t help but feel somewhat uneasy.
“Is your wound still hurting?” Klet asked again.
Shen Siwei lowered his head and looked at his wrist. The molecular material had already repaired the scars, and there were no traces of the cut.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore,” he said, adjusting the backrest of the chair. “I’ll rest for a while, and you can take over during the day.”
The next afternoon, close to evening, the two finally arrived in City Z of the West Zone.
The refugees had not yet come out , and there were only a few people on the streets. A distorted hyena wandered in an alley and accidentally triggered the defense system of a shop, getting riddled with bullets.
The aircraft landed near a partially destroyed building, with a small barber shop on the ground floor. Although the shop was empty, the three-colored lightbox at the shop entrance continued to flicker.
“This is Malken’s shop,” Klet said, using facial recognition to bring Shen Siwei inside.
“His side job is a barber?” Shen Siwei looked around. The barber shop was fully equipped, and there was no indication that it had any connection to a mechanic.
“No,” Klet replied. “Do you know why barber shops hang red, white, and blue lightboxes?”
Shen Siwei shook his head, only knowing that it seemed to be an industry tradition.
“During ancient Roman times, someone invented bloodletting, but people at that time considered it dirty work, so they entrusted it to barbers – using their razors. Therefore, barbers were equal to surgeons of that era. The red represents arteries, the blue represents veins, and the white represents bandages.”
“I see,” Shen Siwei said. “So, Malken is promoting himself as a surgeon.”
“That’s right.” Klet used facial recognition once again and led Shen Siwei to the basement. “After sending him the agreement yesterday, he went to the Tree of Life. He should be on his way here now and should arrive soon.”
The basement was divided into two parts: a living room on the left and a workshop on the right, which was much larger than the upper floor.
Shen Siwei was about to explore the workshop when suddenly footsteps echoed in the corridor. Malken, wearing pilot goggles, hurriedly came down from the upstairs.
“Hey, Negotiator,” he took off his goggles and greeted Shen Siwei. “Thanks for the agreement.”
Shen Siwei didn’t respond, simply nodding in acknowledgment.
While walking into the workshop, Malken said to Klet, “Why did you kidnap him again?”
Klet raised an eyebrow and asked, “What do you mean by ‘kidnap’?”
“Every time he comes down to carry out a mission, he always ends up with you,” Malken muttered quietly. Then he raised his voice and said to Shen Siwei, “Negotiator, let’s scan your body first.”
Compared to Dr. Chen’s laboratory, Malken’s studio, was much simpler, with electronic components scattered around. It seemed to have the same vibe as the basement of the old ghost.
Shen Siwei lay on the surgical chair, similar to a dental chair. But at that moment, the chair suddenly adjusted its angle, and he immediately became alert, trying to sit up.
“Don’t be afraid.” Klet stood beside the chair, holding Shen Siwei’s shoulder. “He’s adjusting it to scanning mode.”
The deep, smoky voice inexplicably brought a sense of reassurance. Shen Siwei nodded and lay back down.
After a short while, the sound of the scanner rang and a real-time perspective image appeared on Malken’s computer screen.
“Do you see it?” Malken frowned and pointed at the screen with the tip of his pen. He said to Klet, “There’s a chip here.”
Shen Siwei turned his head to look at the screen. He saw a chip the size of a fingernail located at the connection between the back of his head and his spine.
“Can it be removed?” Klet asked.
“Let me see.” Malken pointed the tip of his stylus pen at the chip, dragging it to the side to enlarge it. Numerous circuits were displayed on the chip, appearing quite complicated.
Malken leaned closer to the screen, looked at it for a while, then sighed and said to Klet, “It can’t be removed.”
He circled a few areas with the tip of his stylus and said, “Do you see these connections? They’re connected to his nerves. If we want to remove it, we would have to perform surgery to repair his nerves at the same time. The risks are too high.”
Klet crossed his arms and looked at the screen in silence.
Shen Siwei was prepared for that possibility and not particularly disappointed. He asked, “What is the main function of this chip?”
“Judging by the locations it’s connected to, it should be able to force you into sleep,” Malken rubbed his chin and carefully observed the circuit’s path. “It is also connected to the parts controlling your body movements, but that part hasn’t been activated.”
“What does that mean?” Klet frowned and asked, “Can they still control his behavior?”
“It seems so, but it’s likely that they haven’t successfully developed it yet,” Malken said.
Klet looked at Shen Siwei, with a hint of concern in his tone. “So, your superiors didn’t want to wake you up because the experiment isn’t complete yet.”
Shen Siwei couldn’t help but feel a bit scared. If it weren’t for Amor, perhaps when he woke up, he would have lost his own consciousness.
He asked again, “Can this chip also control the color of my hair and eyes?”
Malken leaned in front of the screen for a while and then shook his head. “It is only connected to your brain and cannot directly control your hair and eyes.”
“I see,” Shen Siwei breathed a sigh of relief..
His hair color and eye color were not controlled by the chip but by his own brain, similar to the magnetic particles.
When he kills someone, his eyes turn red because his adrenaline surges, and his brain unconsciously changes his eye color.
In other words, he can always control his physical appearance, but he thought that only the chip could do it.
Thinking of this, Shen Siwei closed his eyes, had a thought, and then opened his eyes and looked at the two of them. ‘What color are my eyes?’
Malken showed a surprised expression and leaned back slightly, while Klet responded calmly, ‘Red.’
Shen Siwei had another thought and asked, ‘And my hair?’
Klet raised an eyebrow and replied, ‘Matte blue.’
He didn’t like that color.
Realizing this, Shen Siwei reverted back to his initial chestnut hair and green eyes.
Malken discreetly nudged Klet with his elbow and whispered, ‘Damn, your lover is a chameleon.’
Klet narrowed his eyes at Malken, who immediately fell silent.
Shen Siwei pretended not to hear and asked Malken, ‘So there’s no way to remove this chip?’
Before Malken could answer, Klet interjected, ‘Ask your mentor first.’
‘That’s my plan too. But,’ Malken appeared hesitant, ‘she will give me more work to do and exploit me.’
‘Ask her to talk to me,’ Klet said.
Upon hearing the satisfying response, Malken’s worried expression vanished, and he snapped his fingers. ‘Okay.’
Malken stayed in the studio to discuss the chip’s structure with the Old Ghost, while Shen Siwei followed Klet to the adjacent living room.
The living room was similar in size to Klet’s room in the underground city. Although not large, it had all the necessary furniture.
‘Are you worried?’ Klet asked.
Shen Siwei shook his head. ‘No expectations, no disappointment.’
Klet nodded. ‘True.’
The two sat down on the sofa, and Klet turned on the television. However, when selecting a program, he paused and asked Shen Siwei, ‘Do you think I’m immature?’
The topic came unexpectedly, and Shen Siwei immediately realized that Klet was concerned about his previous comment, “I don’t like immature men.”
After a moment’s thought, he said, ‘ more like childish. How can someone your age still want to ride a Ferris wheel?’
Klet furrowed his brow upon hearing this and remained silent, but judging by the constantly changing TV channels, he seemed quite pissed.
Shen Siwei chuckled.
Klet turned to look at Shen Siwei and asked, ‘What’s so funny?’
‘Nothing,’ Shen Siwei suppressed his laughter, ‘it’s amusing to see you get angry and pout like a kid.’
Klet narrowed his eyes. ‘Are you teasing me?’
Shen Siwei casually replied, ‘Isn’t teasing kids what they’re for?’
He knew that saying this would make Klet angry, but who could resist finding someone cute when they were angry?
However, Shen Siwei forgot that Klet wasn’t a real child but a hot-tempered beast.
Before he could react, Klet suddenly pounced on him, pinning him down on the armrest of the sofa.
‘How do you know if I’m young or not?’ Klet frowned.
‘I know,’ Shen Siwei pretended not to understand the meaning behind Klet’s words and said leisurely, ‘You’re thirty this year.’
In other words, you’re younger than me.
Looking down at Shen Siwei from a higher position, Klet remained silent for a moment and then said, ‘Alright.’
He suddenly regained his usual calm and composure, but In the next second, Klet’s face suddenly turned blank, and he held Shen Siwei’s face mask in his hand.
Now it was Shen Siwei’s turn to panic. He quickly reached out to grab it. ‘Klet! Give me the face mask back!’
The sudden difficulty in breathing made Shen Siwei’s face turn red, and losing his face mask made him powerless. He could only gasp for air and stare at Klet. ‘see this is what i mean by childish?’
Shen Siwei decided to stop reaching out and calmly regained his breath.
Originally, his intention was to save his energy, but it seemed that his actions were seen by Klet as surrender. Klet raised an eyebrow and asked, ‘Are you going to cry again?’
‘Me, cry?’ Shen Siwei, gasping for breath, almost couldn’t speak properly. ‘Give me back the face mask, and then we’ll see who’ll be crying.’
Klet chuckled softly, put the mask down, and softened his tone. ‘Alright, here you go.’
However, instead of handing the face mask back to Shen Siwei, Klet gradually slowed down his movements and stared fixedly at Shen Siwei’s lips.
Shen Siwei , looking at Klet’s expression… It seemed like he wanted to kiss him.
But at that moment, Malken suddenly pushed the door open and said, ‘Boss…’
The tense atmosphere disappeared instantly as Klet snapped out of it, returned the face mask to Shen Siwei, and stepped back. Shen Siwei, for some reason, felt weird and looked away awkwardly.
Malken looked at the two of them inexplicably, wondering why they seemed so panicked
He wasn’t surprised by his boss’s behavior, but he didn’t expect the negotiator to be like that.
Putting aside his strange thoughts, Malken cleared his throat and said, ‘Removing the chip might kill the negotiator. Are you willing to take that risk?'”
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