Shang Jianyao and Genaava stood not far from the apartment building, looking up at it.
The building before them was full of design, and viewed from the side, it was as if a blade was cutting straight into the dark sky.
Its exterior walls were dark black, with light spilling from every window, as luxurious as it was back then.
"Do you feel the vortex?" Genaava asked Shang Jianyao.
Last time in Koninmis, after they stirred up "ripples," they felt a huge vortex existed deep in the main city, slowly accelerating and expanding outwards.
Shang Jianyao shook his head:
"No."
His tone gradually carried an obvious sense of smugness:
"Didn't the vortex calm down when we left before?
"Our strategy was really successful this time. We even reached the source of the problem, and the vortex hasn't been triggered yet."
"But we still have to be careful next time." Genaava looked at the luxury apartment ahead and said, "Except for a few places, the rest are shrouded in light. Are there so many powerhouses from the 'New World' inside?"
According to the "Old Task Force's" previous experience, each light corresponds to one or two powerhouses from the "New World," and this luxury apartment is more than thirty stories high, with two rooms on each floor.
"Yes, yes." Shang Jianyao agreed with Genaava's previous statement, "I need to make some preparations."
He slung the "Berserker" assault rifle across his body and used his active right hand to take out the "Six Senses Beads" and the small jade Buddha from his tactical backpack.
Then, he put the former on his left wrist, side by side with the "Angel of Life" necklace wrapped around it.
As for the latter, Shang Jianyao chose to stuff it into the pocket of his gray camouflage uniform—the area belonged to his waist, which wasn't covered by armor or exoskeleton support.
Genaava thought his preparations would end here, but who knew Shang Jianyao took out something else.
It was a neatly folded piece of paper.
Shang Jianyao piously unfolded it, revealing childlike doodle-like stick figures on it.
The Protection Chart of the Celestial Worthies!
Of course, it wasn't complete yet, as it was missing a few.
Shang Jianyao then took out transparent tape and stuck the Protection Chart of the Celestial Worthies on the chest armor of his military exoskeleton device, facing outwards.
"Alright." He breathed a sigh of satisfaction.
Without waiting for Genaava to respond, he moved his body and muttered to himself:
"No, something's still missing..."
A few seconds later, Shang Jianyao suddenly realized:
"I know what's missing!"
He quickly stood up straight and shouted at the luxury apartment where the former "Son of the Celestial Worthy" lived:
"Who dares to kill me!"
Then, Shang Jianyao lowered his voice:
"Uh... that's too much of a paper tiger..."
He adjusted it and shouted at the building again:
"Who dares to stop me!
"Who dares to stop me!
"Who dares to stop me!"
After shouting three times, Shang Jianyao put one hand on his hip and smiled with great satisfaction:
"This is good enough."
Genaava glanced at the Protection Chart of the Celestial Worthies pasted on his chest and analyzed:
"Do the words you just shouted have the effect of 'thought implantation'?"
He felt that Shang Jianyao was crazy, but rarely did meaningless things.
Even if he liked to make the steps very cumbersome, he ultimately had his own purpose.
Shang Jianyao sneered:
"Old Ge, are you stupid? I can't sense any human consciousness in the building, so how can I use 'thought implantation'?"
"Can you sense the human consciousness of the target when you use a loudspeaker to increase the range of influence? That should exceed your sensing limit." Genaava had not discussed this aspect with Shang Jianyao before.
Shang Jianyao earnestly explained:
"After my power merges into the sound through radio waves, I can sense the human consciousness within a certain distance around me in the process of transmission."
"Understood." Genaava moved his metal-cast neck up and down.
He then asked:
"What did you shout those things for just now?"
"To embolden myself." The honest Shang Jianyao answered without hesitation.
Genaava chose to remain silent.
Shang Jianyao re-aimed the "Berserker" assault rifle and strode forward.
He said at the same time:
"Let's go, the Celestial Worthies are protecting us now!"
In a sense, this may be true, but the number of Celestial Worthies protecting you can't be that many... Genaava's eyes flashed red a few times.
He followed and walked towards the open door of the apartment with Shang Jianyao.
On the way, he glanced at Shang Jianyao and asked with some incomprehension:
"Why are you still holding an assault rifle?
"Even if you think that the enemies here can't be stopped by bullets, the military exoskeleton device itself has weapon modules and grenade launchers. You might as well hang up the assault rifle and free your right hand."
Shang Jianyao asked in astonishment:
"Don't you think it's cooler to walk forward step by step with a weapon in this environment?"
"I don't think so." The honest Genaava replied.
"Old Ge." Shang Jianyao became earnest, "This is the little thing you still lack to become a true human. You could even pick up on jokes last time, why have you regressed again today?"
"This isn't a joke." Genaava had already searched the database.
Shang Jianyao shook his head in disappointment.
At this time, the two had arrived at the door of the luxury apartment and stopped talking. They looked and observed inside in various ways.
What came into view was an extremely spacious hall with a modern style and a light gray color scheme. A crystal chandelier with an artistic temperament hung in the hall, and pure white light quietly illuminated the empty bottom floor.
The edges and corners that the light did not reach were filled with tumbling mist and thick darkness.
What was different from Shang Jianyao and Genaava's previous experience was that although there were lights here, there were no figures.
"Haha, I scared them away with my Protection Chart of the Celestial Worthies!" Shang Jianyao laughed.
"I can't tell whether this chandelier belongs to the 'New World' or Koninmis, and I don't know where its light comes from." Genaava very rationally brought the topic back to the right track.
This was completely different from the relationship between the "New World" projections and Koninmis that they had encountered before. There was no forced superposition of contradictions that could be seen at a glance. It was as if there really was such an artistic chandelier in this luxury apartment, and the area it illuminated was really what the original appearance of the same location in Koninmis looked like.
Here, it was difficult to distinguish between "New" and "Old."
Shang Jianyao expressed his satisfaction:
"That's right, it's worthy of being the source of the problem!"
Genaava's eyes flashed red a few times and said:
"Let's go to the elevator room first. It would be best if we could go directly to the top floor from there."
"The premise is that there are no projections of any 'New World' powerhouses inside." The calm and rational Shang Jianyao said.
He didn't mention whether to confirm if they were friendly or unfriendly, because there was no way to gamble on it. If they failed, he and Genaava would definitely be trapped here and basically be finished.
Therefore, his plan was to observe the situation in the elevator from a certain distance using various methods. If there was someone, he would consider climbing the stairs.
Without waiting for Genaava to respond, Shang Jianyao looked around and said:
"Before going up, let's check the situation on the bottom floor, mainly those places that the light can't reach and those places that are covered by the 'New World' projection."
"Okay." Genaava analyzed and deduced Shang Jianyao's purpose for doing so.
The two brought their own flashlights, slowly crossed the door, entered the hall, and walked towards the dark edge where the mist was tumbling.
On the way, Shang Jianyao occasionally took a side step and stomped hard on the ground, seemingly wanting to confirm whether anything was buried "under" the marble.
Genaava was also doing something similar—the electromagnetic environment here was abnormally chaotic and complex, and he couldn't use many methods, so he could only look up to Shang Jianyao.
A dozen steps later, the two arrived at a dark corner where the light from the chandelier was blocked.
As the yellowish beam of light shone in, a slightly curled-up corpse appeared there.
The corpse had rotted into white bones, and the gray camouflage on its body was very similar to the one Shang Jianyao was wearing.
With a thud, Shang Jianyao knelt down, put down the "Berserker" assault rifle, and reached out to grope through the pockets of the corpse's clothing.
He found nothing.
"This should be a member of that old task force, but not your father." Genaava next to him said.
Because he was coming to Koninmis this time to track down the whereabouts of the previous team, Shang Jianyao had righteously applied for various information about his father through Jiang Baimian before setting off.
Genaava used this to input relevant data, and combined with Shang Jianyao's memories and photos, he basically established a three-dimensional image of Shang Jianyao's father.
"Why?" Shang Jianyao asked.
Genaava patiently explained:
"First, the height is wrong, and second, he didn't leave anything behind except his clothes.
"The former special envoy from the Eighth Research Institute said that they found the bodies of many of your father's teammates. This should be one of them, and all the items were taken away by them."
Shang Jianyao stood up relying on the power of his military exoskeleton device and turned to ask:
"What was the cause of death?"
"Unknown." Genaava did an inspection but couldn't find the cause.
The two successively found seven or eight more corpses on the first floor of this luxury apartment, but none of them belonged to Shang Jianyao's father, and not all of them were even members of that old task force—they could be distinguished by whether they had the skeletal characteristics of Ashlanders. The items on their bodies had also been taken away by the Eighth Research Institute.
Without any other gains, the two cautiously approached the elevator room.
After observation, there was no one there either.
Shang Jianyao rushed over, heading straight for an open elevator.
Suddenly, he stopped.
"What's wrong?" Genaava also came to a sudden stop.
Shang Jianyao pointed at the elevator's LCD panel, unable to hide his disappointment and said:
"No electricity..."