The man in sunglasses smoothed his short, golden-brown hair, finally receiving permission to enter the room.
He walked in, complaining:
"Lan, on the entire Grey Earth, who takes care of their hair as meticulously as I do, always combing it neatly? Uh, except for you.
"And you still嫌弃 it's not symmetrical enough."
The female voice sounded again, no longer so cold:
"Welf, remember, don't take off your sunglasses, or I will definitely dig them out.
"It's hard to believe that the effects of gene modification are so poor on you; you're simply a defective product."
As she spoke, her figure appeared in the living room.
She wore a white shirt, a blue denim jacket, matching trousers, and a wide-brimmed, high-crowned felt hat, every detail perfectly symmetrical.
This included her oval face, willow eyebrows, black hair, and bright eyes.
Normally, a human's face and body cannot be perfectly symmetrical; there's always a flaw, but Xu Lan was not like that. She was like a work of art by a master, which could be folded along the central axis, overlapping exactly, no more, no less.
This made her lack a natural feel, with more traces of artificial modification.
Welf, labeled as a defective product, felt a surge of anger but dared not show it, muttering:
"Lan, I don't really understand why you keep fine-tuning your body. You can't even see yourself, so you won't be controlled by that damned obsessive-compulsive disorder."
"Are you suggesting I never look in the mirror? What a cruel thing to say to a lady." Even her smile had been meticulously crafted, with the corners of her mouth curving up to the same degree.
Welf didn't dare to argue, changing the subject instead:
"But there's no need to spend so much time adjusting clothes and hairstyles. After a walk or a fight, it'll definitely be asymmetrical again."
Xu Lan chuckled:
"Stupid logic.
"You excrete everything you eat, so should you stop eating altogether?"
As she spoke, she turned her gaze to the glass coffee table not far away.
On the coffee table, there was an identical water glass on each side, along with the same red jewelry box, and a tablet propped up by a stand in the middle.
A dark red thin line hung down from the tablet's camera, perfectly bisecting the whole device.
Welf was resentful, deciding that he would never partner with this damned obsessive-compulsive woman on a mission again.
In his silent curse, he remembered his other colleagues.
They were all detestable in their own ways, leaving him speechless.
A timid and weak person always makes those around them want to bully him.
Welf composed himself, watching Xu Lan light up the screen and unlock it.
Then, this strictly symmetrical lady opened a telegraph simulation software and entered a string of numbers.
When the corresponding icon on the tablet showed no network connection, Xu Lan directly chose "Connect."
The LCD screen suddenly dimmed, as if it had instantly lost all power.
Not long after, the screen lit up again, revealing a blurry figure.
This figure stood in front of a floor-to-ceiling window, outside which the lights were bright, as if the Milky Way had fallen to the Earth's surface.
Further away, tall towers loomed, reaching straight into the clouds.
"Have you found the target?" the figure asked amidst frequent snow-like static.
"Yes, 'Doctor'," Xu Lan lowered her head, answering with considerable respect.
Her performance was partly to express her own respect and fear, and partly because she didn't want to witness the scene that made her blood rush to her head:
"Doctor" was not standing in the center of the floor-to-ceiling window but slightly to the left!
Welf didn't lower his head, speaking with equal respect:
"I've found where the target is hiding, but they seem to have noticed it too."
"So you retreated again?" The blurry figure clearly understood Welf's style.
He became serious:
"Lan, take this tablet and go with Welf to where the target is hiding immediately.
"Be sure to lock them down!"
"Yes, 'Doctor'!" Xu Lan answered without hesitation.
Amidst the buzzing sound, she picked up a red jewelry box from the coffee table and snapped it open.
Inside was an ancient-looking gold ring.
…………
Shang Jianyao led Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen back to the rented apartment where Genaweier was.
"Did you find anything?" Jiang Baimian's voice was a little faster than normal.
Genaweier moved his metal neck from side to side:
"No, everything is normal there."
Jiang Baimian nodded slightly:
"It seems that side is indeed a trap.
"The information we gathered are all memories that have been modified."
Without waiting for Genaweier's response, she directly issued an order:
"The target and his companions have locked onto us. We need to evacuate immediately.
"We'll discuss the details in the car."
Soon, the Old Task Force recovered some of the cameras and got into their jeep and the rented car.
This time, Genaweier followed Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao, listening to them talk about their gains at the Audick's home, the corresponding speculations, and the experiences of Bai Chen and Long Yuehong.
"One is an Awakened in the 'Last Man' domain, at the cost of timidity and weakness, with the ability to browse and modify memories on a large scale; one is an Awakened in the 'Golden Balance' domain, at the cost of obsessive-compulsive symmetry, with an unknown ability for now… Your deduction can indeed explain all the current problems." Genaweier analyzed all the details in a complete model as the red light in his eyes flickered repeatedly. "Our previous movements have been exposed. Since we don't know when the enemy will strike back or when they will launch an attack, transferring again is the best way."
Facing such a dangerous enemy, it is important to seize the initiative.
Jiang Baimian glanced at the alley the car was turning into, smiling as she said:
"So, this time, we will take more detours through unmanned streets and alleys."
This was to avoid being tracked by browsing memories.
The red light in Genaweier's eyes flickered once, and he said:
"The exits of these streets and alleys are actually relatively fixed; there are only a few.
"If the enemy doesn't care about their mental state and expands the scope, browsing the memories of every human near each exit, they will definitely be able to track us down.
"We should first camouflage the vehicles and ourselves in an unmanned area, and then go out when there are no 'witnesses' in a large area outside by sensing human consciousness.
"Unfortunately, 'Mind Guidance' doesn't involve memories; it only interferes with logical abilities and ways of thinking."
In Genaweier's view, the current plan could only delay the enemy for a while, buying the team more time to prepare.
Jiang Baimian looked sideways at Shang Jianyao, smiling as she said:
"No need to be so troublesome."
The red light in Genaweier's eyes flickered again, and he didn't speak.
After detouring from the Green Olive District to the Red Giant Wolf District, the Old Task Force returned to the Green Olive District again.
According to Jiang Baimian's instructions, Shang Jianyao parked the car in front of an ordinary five-story apartment building.
This was the True Self Church's base!
Long Yuehong in the jeep behind him watched with wide eyes, not understanding why.
At this moment, Jiang Baimian opened the door and got out of the car, saying to herself:
"Let's rent a room here tonight."
Ah… that's you… Long Yuehong roughly understood Jiang Baimian's intention:
Only a few people knew about the True Self Church's base, which was disguised as an apartment for rent to the outside world.
Therefore, it was reasonable to rent a room here.
When the Old Task Force truly gained an advantage and the True Self Church saw hope, they would definitely not be able to resist getting involved.
Of course, the premise was that the True Self Church would approve of the Old Task Force's actions, allowing them to rent a room here.
Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao took the lead in walking towards the apartment, unsurprisingly being stopped by a True Self Church member disguised as a guard.
"We want to rent a room," Jiang Baimian said very directly.
The guard was stunned for a moment, saying:
"Please wait here for a moment. I will go ask the owner of the apartment."
He turned his body, hurriedly searching for someone who could make the decision.
After about seven or eight minutes, he returned to the door, saying to the Old Task Force members without any expression:
"Come in, the tenant of a room on the top floor just moved out."
He didn't mention how much the rent was.
Jiang Baimian smiled, a very beautiful smile:
"Thank you."
After the Old Task Force found a place to park their vehicles and entered the room on the top floor, Shang Jianyao swung his tactical backpack in front of him.
He unzipped it and took out the Life Angel necklace.
To do this, he had to stand on one leg.
Shang Jianyao then threw the silver necklace to Jiang Baimian.
"Hmm?" Jiang Baimian caught it with her left hand, while her right arm hung down limply.
This was an item that the company had specified could be used to resist danger, and she felt that it should be in the hands of the strongest person in the group to maximize its effectiveness.
Shang Jianyao smiled at her:
"I'm afraid the target and his companions will use the power of 'Nightmare'.
"With this necklace, you can resist this risk to a certain extent."
The reasoning was correct, but… Jiang Baimian asked:
"What about you?"
Shang Jianyao didn't answer immediately, grabbing the Six Senses Beads from the tactical backpack again.
He threw them to Long Yuehong:
"You hold them."
"I can't even use them." Long Yuehong reached out to catch them, his eyes turning red instantly.
As an ordinary person, he would only suffer negative effects.
"It has some strange aura integrated from a Buddhist holy land, which has a certain probability of helping you reduce the impact of 'Nightmare'. Therefore, you have to wear it all the time, even when you're resting," Shang Jianyao said very seriously.
After saying that, he switched to who knows which personality and laughed:
"At that time, your dreams will be a mess, and 'Nightmare' might not even be able to stand looking at them."
"Okay…" Long Yuehong hesitated and agreed.
At this moment, the honest Genaweier said worriedly:
"Will this lead to congestive necrosis?"
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became a little awkward.
Fortunately, Shang Jianyao was not an ordinary person. With his expression as usual, he took out the small jade Buddha from his pocket and threw it to Bai Chen:
"It also comes with peculiarities."
Bai Chen thought for a moment and said:
"Why don't I switch items with Long Yuehong?
"I've suffered through that kind of torment before, so I'm used to it and can endure it."
This time, she spoke frankly about her past experiences, without the slightest bit of strangeness on her face.
"That's fine too," Shang Jianyao said readily.
After Bai Chen and Long Yuehong exchanged items, Jiang Baimian looked at Shang Jianyao with half-doubt and half-concern, saying:
"You've distributed all the items with peculiarities to us. What will you do?"
Shang Jianyao looked around, smiling as he said:
"I have Teacher Du Heng and Little Chong helping me."
He emphasized the words Little Chong.
Jiang Baimian immediately understood his true meaning:
In his Sea of Origins, there was indeed the residual aura of Little Chong!