At three in the morning the next day, Zhu Man opened his eyes.

He rose, activated the holographic computer, severed the link to the villa, and logged into the Anti-Intelligence Alliance dark web, prompting a dialogue box.

[Jiang Huai: Notify before departure, meet in the backyard upon arrival.]

Zhu Man furrowed his brows, replied with a [.], and closed the dialogue box.

The smartwatch indicated He Feng Hui was charging, with one more hour needed. Zhu Man then typed a few lines of code on the computer, releasing his room’s door lock from the villa’s control and linking it to the signal source where Fan Zimo and Tang Yuan were.

With everything ready, Zhu Man changed into a leather jacket and combat boots, half of his face covered by a black veil, and weapons strapped. He flipped through the window.

The night in City A was silent and deserted. The spring-born foliage lost its vibrancy in the night, only producing a faint rustling sound.

Zhu Man followed the smartwatch’s guidance, trotting along the way. The surveillance cameras ahead of him extinguished in advance, a result of Fan Zimo’s manipulation in the base.

He reached Jasmine Road 2.

Zhu Man tapped his smartwatch a few times, sending a message to Jiang Huai. In the next second, he received a reply: [Enter through the backyard, surveillance has been dealt with.]

Staring at the towering two-meter-high wall, Zhu Man almost rolled his eyes to the heavens.

However, this eye roll carried a hint of personal emotion towards Jiang Huai. Two meters were a piece of cake for an outstanding Executor of the Anti-Intelligence Alliance.

Taking a half-step back with his right foot, Zhu Man bent down, sprinted, leaped, kicked onto the wall, extended his arms and easily grabbed the top railing. Performing a backflip, he landed, and Jiang Huai appeared less than a meter away from him.

“Excellent,” Jiang Huai said with a smile.

Zhu Man didn’t spare him a glance, passing straight by him, leaving only his back. “Where is she?”

“Master bedroom,” Jiang Huai quickly replied, “Charging. I tampered with the charging device; no electricity will go in. She’s defenseless. The access to this villa have been severed from the outside and are now linked to the team leader and others—”

“No need for the chatter; wasn’t this all planned?” Zhu Man coldly interrupted, lifting his chin to signal him to open the door. “Remaining battery?”

“5%.”

Zhu Man squinted his eyes, and a beautiful arc formed at the corner of his mouth.

It seemed that all he needed to do was drain that 5% of her battery, a mere 5%, an easy task.

The two arrived at the entrance of the master bedroom.

“Jiang Huai? Jiang Huai?—” Lin Lang’s voice echoed from behind the tightly closed master bedroom door.

Jiang Huai placed his hand on the doorknob, looked at Zhu Man and whispered, “I’m going in.”

Zhu Man leaned against the wall with crossed arms, chuckling coldly, “Be careful, don’t die.”

Jiang Huai smiled at him and pushed the door open.

Their Plan A was to deplete Lin Lang’s battery, causing her to enter a natural shutdown state – the easiest way to handle the situation.

However, the sole flaw in Plan A was that while they could disable surveillance along the way and the systems within Lin Lang’s villa, they couldn’t penetrate Lin Lang’s own neural network, hindering her from communicating with the outside on her own.

At present, all AI with identity IDs were equipped with the government’s standardized blue chips. These chips differed from the intelligent systems used in physical devices, boasting higher confidentiality and security, yet they remained uncracked by the Anti-Intelligence Alliance.

So, if Jiang Huai couldn’t stabilize Lin Lang’s emotions, they would execute Plan B, where Zhu Man would enter the room and shoot directly.

Jiang Huai hadn’t fully closed the door, leaving a gap. Zhu Man leaned against the door, listening to the faint sounds emanating from inside.

It was Lin Lang’s voice, “Jiang Huai, is there anything unusual at home?”

Jiang Huai replied, “I apologize, Master. I was reading in my room and only heard your call just now, I came late. As for anything unusual… I don’t think so. I can still control the lights and home appliances. Master, what’s wrong?”

Quite the actor, Zhu Man thought. Perhaps this was how he managed to deceive the Alliance and reach this point. Once Lin Lang is dealt with, he might settle the score right here and now.

When did the rift between him and Jiang Huai begin? It started with Ye Ying’s death, intensified by the incident with He Feng Hui that night…

A slight pang hit Zhu Man’s heart. He realized that he had developed a rift because of two AIs and one human.

Was his suspicion towards Jiang Huai correct? Could it be that He Feng Hui was the—

“Then why can’t I recharge?” Lin Lang asked from inside the room.

Zhu Man immediately cast aside his unwarranted thoughts and focused his attention.

“I…ai—”

It was the sound of an AI falling.

“Master, don’t try to get up on your own. Your battery level is too critical!”

“You… you help me up. I want to check if there’s an issue with the charging device.” Her voice sounded very weak.

“Alright, Master.”

Zhu Man took a step closer to the wall, peering through the gap in the door.

Jiang Huai helped Lin Lang up, positioning her in front of the charging device with her back to the door.

Perfect.

Zhu Man’s hand reached into his leather jacket, gliding from his waist to his hip, finding the handgun and gripping it.

Lin Lang’s hand rested on Jiang Huai’s shoulder, her tone becoming extremely sluggish. “Why… can’t I connect to the home system?”

Jiang Huai supported her waist, gently and considerately asking, “Is it because your battery level is too low, Master?”

“…Impossible.” Lin Lang slowly shook her head, seemingly pondering something. “When my battery was low before, it never—”

Her words suddenly stopped, and she abruptly raised her head, staring wide-eyed at Jiang Huai.

It’s over.

She grabbed Jiang Huai’s collar. “You—”

“Bang—” Zhu Man kicked the door.

“Click—” The gun loaded, and a shot was pressed against Lin Lang’s forehead.

Zhu Man coldly said, “Let him go.”

“Let her go,” another voice, bearing down on him, echoed.

Who?!

Zhu Man turned around.

A group of uniformed AI police officers were pointing numerous guns at him and Jiang Huai.

How is this possible?!

Zhu Man immediately turned, positioning Lin Lang in front of him, the gun pressed against her temple—behind that temple, beneath a layer of synthetic skin, lay the vital core, the central chip for all AIs.

Zhu Man stared at the AI police ahead, lowering his voice to the person beside him, “It was you.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Jiang Huai, who had also pulled out a gun at some point, aimed it at the opposite police.

Zhu Man sneered, “Still pretending, are you tired? Go over there, stand with them—”

“Zhu Man.” Jiang Huai’s voice suddenly grew heavy.

Zhu Man subconsciously diverted his attention for 0.01 seconds, catching a glimpse of Jiang Huai. Sweat had formed on his forehead, streaming down to the corner of his eye, as if he were crying.

For a brief moment, Zhu Man’s heartstrings loosened. Somehow, he thought of the dream he had not long ago, where a light chestnut-haired boy often said to another chestnut-haired boy, “Little cousin, don’t cry.”

“If it becomes unbearable later, run through the window. I’ll cover you,” Jiang Huai said to him.

Zhu Man tightened his grip on the gun. “Shut up. You, with a body as thin as a sheet of paper, capable of covering our retreat? You run first. Don’t hinder me from killing these stupid machines.”

The leading AI police officer across from them spoke, “Release her on the count of three, or we’ll open fire!”

Zhu Man laughed boisterously, proclaiming, “Officer, my gun is already at her forehead. If you shoot, do you want her dead?”

The chief officer’s eyes darted up and down, then refocused on Zhu Man. “Are you a human from GOV01? Did he send you? What’s his scheme?! Make it clear, and we can spare your life!”

Zhu Man was shocked. He was masked; how could they know…?!

Oh no, it’s voice recognition technology!

Zhu Man’s heart tightened. His immediate instinct was not to have any connection, even remotely, with He Feng Hui.

He tightened his grip on the gun, assessing which AI police officer’s head to target first.

“Shoot, then run,” Jiang Huai whispered to him again.

The AI police officers across were still warning, “Count to three, surrender, or we’ll open fire!”

Jiang Huai’s tone grew urgent, “There are too many of them. If both of us stay, we’ll both die!”

“Three!”

“So, why didn’t you run when I told you?” Zhu Man tightened his grip on the gun. “Don’t think saving my life will erase my suspicions. You still can’t explain why these group of police suddenly appeared—”

“Two!”

“Leave me alone!” Jiang Huai interrupted him. “I contracted liver cancer in the Human Pool. I was going to die anyway!”

…Liver cancer?!

“One!”

Zhu Man’s pupils suddenly widened—

“Watch out—”

The next second, Jiang Huai tackled him against the wall.

“Bang!—”

The next second, he felt the person pressing on him shudder heavily. Then, the second after, Jiang Huai slumped weakly into his arms. The second after that, he smelled the metallic scent of blood, warm and moist, spreading onto his hands.

Little cousin-ge…

Zhu Man quickly turned, laying him down behind himself, protecting him, shouting, “Laozi won’t let you die, do you hear me!”

At the same time he grabbed his gun and loaded it, one shot with each hand, and bellowed at the opposite side, “Are you f*** looking for death!”

“Bang!—Bang!—Bang!—”

Gunshots rang out, and several police officers fell to the ground.

A bullet flew toward him. He immediately crouched and rolled to the already critically low-powered Lin Lang, using her body as a shield. At the same time, he pushed Jiang Huai down, retreating while shooting at the opposite side.

Glancing back at Jiang Huai, he saw him clutching his stomach, his complexion gradually paling.

“Bang!—Bang!—Bang!—”

Zhu Man vented his frustration by firing several shots at the opposite side, yelling to Jiang Huai behind him, “Don’t you dare die!”

“…Forget about me, run quickly…” Jiang Huai grabbed the corner of his clothes from behind.

“Nice try!”

“Xiao Man,” Jiang Huai suddenly called him by this name, “My life was originally yours. Without you, I wouldn’t have made it to today…”

What? What does that mean?

Zhu Man momentarily diverted his attention to look at him. When he turned back, a bullet was already flying towards him!

The air stirred by the bullet brushed against the tip of his nose, and Zhu Man instinctively closed his eyes—

“Bang!—”

Zhu Man was surprised; he didn’t feel any pain.

Opening his eyes and turning around, he saw that the bullet, originally headed straight for him, suddenly changed its course, grazing past the corner of his eye and hitting the wall nearby.

“Plat!—”

Zhu Man reflexively turned around, only to see all the AI police officers in front of him collapsing in place, shutting down with closed eyes.

His gaze shifted upward, revealing a tall figure in a black coat emerging at the dim end of the staircase. The figure advanced steadily, the “clack—clack—” sound of polished shoes on the floor echoing coldly.

Zhu Man raised his gun, aiming at the shadow in the darkness.

But the next moment, his gun fell to the ground with a “clang.”

Finally, the light illuminated the newcomer–It was He Feng Hui, walking through the chaos.