Jiang Nuan looked around in confusion.
Towering buildings stood packed tightly together, filling her vision. Night had just fallen over the city. Vertical glass curtain walls sliced the drifting clouds and the outlines of distant buildings into countless fragments, while dazzling bands of neon light coiled around them.
The asphalt road was slick from the recent rain. Twisted, brilliant reflections shimmered in the puddles and stretched thinly across the pavement.
The scene seemed vaguely familiar, yet strange at the same time.
It was familiar because the architectural style resembled that of Whale Harbor City in some ways.
It was strange because these buildings showed little of the decay caused by the restricted zones. Only a few bore traces of damage.
She instinctively reached for the hand of the person beside her, but grasped nothing but air.
“Qi Sui? Jiang Ce?”
Jiang Nuan spun around.
There was no one behind her.
At the mouth of the alley, only the hazy glow of a yellow streetlamp remained, along with the faint sound of voices drifting from somewhere in the distance.
Her heart sank. To prevent spatial disorientation inside the restricted zone, she had held tightly to Qi Sui and Jiang Ce’s hands before entering.
The three of them had stepped into that gray mist together… At most, she had entered half a step behind them.
Now she was alone.
Forcing herself to stay calm, Jiang Nuan quickly surveyed her surroundings.
It was a street of modest width, lined on both sides with rows of shops. Their signs flashed in letters of different colors.
There was none of the usual stench of blood or dust in the air. Instead, she caught the scent of something…
Food.
People walked past along the roadside, dressed in clean, neat clothes, their steps unhurried.
This was not the Whale Harbor she knew.
At least, it was not the one she remembered.
“Cough…”
She gave a quiet cough and raised a hand to touch her face. The half-face tactical mask was still in place. Everyone had put one on before entering the restricted zone, in case of unknown gases.
The mask covered the lower half of her face, leaving only her eyes exposed.
A few pedestrians passed by in twos and threes. Some turned to look at her, clear wariness in their eyes.
Jiang Nuan avoided their guarded gazes and tucked herself farther into the shadows along the street.
Something was wrong.
This restricted zone was too strange. There were no distorted monsters or pervasive gray mist, no collapsed ruins…
Only a city that was far too intact, and people who were far too normal.
Her gaze unconsciously drifted toward a light screen on the right side of the street.
It was a huge electronic display mounted on the outer wall of a shop.
A stunningly handsome young man was singing to the screen. His upturned eyes held a careless smile, and when the corners of his lips curved upward, there was an innate, almost wicked allure to it.
Beside him was a line of large text:
Number One Male Star on This Year’s Newcomer Popularity Rankings
Jiang Nuan stopped dead.
For a brief moment, her mind went completely blank.
It was Qinian.
Though he had changed his styling, applied makeup, and carefully arranged his hair, she could never mistake him.
Those eyes, that profile, even the way the corners of his lips lifted when he smiled…
It was all Qinian.
But how could Qinian appear on an entertainment popularity chart?
He should have been following Lu Shiyan, with flames spilling from his fingertips and the corners of his eyes lifting even higher.
Not dressed in a meticulously tailored performance outfit, wearing carefully applied eye makeup, and appearing on a gigantic electronic screen.
Jiang Nuan was certain she had fallen victim to some kind of mental contamination.
She instinctively took half a step back.
“What are you?”
A voice suddenly came from behind her.
At the same time, the cold, hard touch of metal pressed against her back.
“Out alone at night, wearing a mask and acting suspiciously.”
The voice was young, with the disciplined hardness of someone thoroughly trained.
Jiang Nuan’s heart tightened as her mind raced.
Whatever the other person’s identity, a gun was being held to her back.
She slowly raised both hands to show that she had no intention of attacking.
“I have respiratory problems, so I’m wearing this to filter the air.”
The person behind her was silent for a moment, as if considering whether her explanation was believable.
Then another hand reached forward. The terminal on the person’s wrist rapidly scanned Jiang Nuan’s pupils.
The terminal immediately emitted two short warning beeps.
“Beep-beep! Confirmed Class C wanted—”
Before the warning could finish, Jiang Nuan moved without hesitation.
Almost the instant the terminal sounded, she drove her left foot backward, grinding her boot hard into the other person’s instep. At the same time, she twisted her waist and spun sharply to the right.
The sudden movement shifted the gun muzzle a fraction off target. In that brief opening, she drove her elbow backward with all her strength, striking the attacker’s gun arm directly in the joint.
“Ugh!”
The person behind her let out a muffled groan, and the gun was knocked completely aside.
Jiang Nuan followed through, turning as her right hand darted toward her waist. Without taking time to aim, she pulled the trigger on instinct.
Bang!
The bullet struck the attacker’s arm. Blood burst from the wound, and the handgun clattered to the ground.
She did not linger. She turned and ran.
She could set aside for now the questions of why this world felt so real, why Qinian had appeared on an entertainment popularity chart, and why she had been marked as a wanted criminal. Whatever the charge, staying put would be idiotic.
Angry curses rang out behind her, followed by the rapid tapping of someone operating a terminal.
A moment later, a shrill alarm echoed through the entire street.
The image on the huge light screen changed. Qinian’s smiling face was replaced by a photograph—an enlarged profile shot of Jiang Nuan wearing her half-face mask. Red text scrolled beneath it:
CLASS C WANTED CRIMINAL SPOTTED FLEEING THROUGH E DISTRICT. REPORT IMMEDIATELY IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION.
Without looking back, Jiang Nuan charged deeper into the alleyways.
The pedestrians on the street stopped one after another, looking up at the screen before turning toward the direction in which Jiang Nuan had fled. They murmured among themselves.
Jiang Nuan did not dare stop. She chose only narrow, dimly lit alleys, sprinting through their tangled maze.
The sound of her boots striking the ground echoed through the silence, while her heart pounded violently in her chest.
What about the others from Unit Zero? Ye Que, Shen Wu, Lu Shiyan—had they entered this restricted zone as well?
Or was it possible that…
She alone had been cast into this bizarre world?
Footsteps soon came rushing after her.
More than one person.
She abruptly turned into a dead-end alley piled with discarded junk and pressed her back against the cold wall, breathing hard.
The footsteps drew closer and closer.
Without hesitation, she vaulted onto a stack of construction materials on the right, trying to escape across the rooftops.
But just as she reached for the edge of the wall, a flashlight beam shone directly into her face.
“There she is!”
“Up there!”
Below, several people in matching uniforms had already raised their guns.
Jiang Nuan gritted her teeth and fired three shots in succession. As one person twisted aside to dodge, the others moved in from both sides.
She took down two of them.
But her experience fighting outnumbered opponents was clearly not enough to help her escape from so many well-trained pursuers.
A dark figure swept in from the side. The next instant, a rough, powerful hand clamped around the back of her neck, and tremendous force slammed her into the ground.
Her chin struck the bricks, sending a dull pain through her jaw.
Her gun was kicked away.
Her arms were wrenched behind her back, and cold metal cuffs snapped around her wrists.
Behind her head, the muzzle of a gun pressed against the back of her skull.
“You still dare to shoot? Are you looking to die?”
The person restraining her cursed angrily, his tone vicious.
“A wanted criminal, and you still have the nerve to act so arrogantly? You injured so many of my men. Today, I’m going to make you pay!”
Jiang Nuan was pinned to the ground, the handcuffs biting painfully into her wrists.
She rapidly assessed the situation before her.
The mechanism governing this restricted zone was completely different from all the others she had encountered.
This place was hardly just a restricted zone…
The city, the hurried residents, the wanted criminal being mentioned by the patrol officers—
It was more like… a fully functioning society.
Since they had no intention of killing her outright, there was still room for negotiation.
In that case, she might as well cooperate for now, observe how this system worked, and then figure out how to break out of it.
Just as Jiang Nuan’s mind was racing—
“What’s going on?”
A deep, steady voice rang out, accompanied by approaching footsteps.
The force pressing down on Jiang Nuan immediately eased.
The uniformed personnel around her hurriedly lowered their weapons and stood at attention, saluting the newcomer in perfect unison.
“Commander Gao!” The man who had subdued her instantly became respectful, even fawning. “Reporting in. We’ve apprehended a suspicious Class-C wanted criminal. She was carrying a weapon and injured three of our men!”
The footsteps stopped beside Jiang Nuan.
She turned her head and saw only a pair of black leather boots and the sharply pressed trousers of a uniform.
“I saw.”
The man known as Commander Gao spoke in a low voice, cutting off the report.
He crouched down.
Jiang Nuan turned her face and met a pair of unfamiliar eyes. His features were sharply defined, and a faint vertical line between his brows suggested years of habitual frowning.
“Governor Lu has issued an order.”
Commander Gao’s tone was utterly impassive.
“This person is to be taken directly under the command headquarters’ custody.”
He raised a hand and made a gesture.
“That’s enough. Hand her over to me.”
The men restraining Jiang Nuan exchanged glances, their faces revealing confusion and reluctance.
The uniformed man who had been cursing could not help speaking up. “Commander Gao, she injured our men. According to regulations, she should be taken back first—”
Commander Gao shot him a glance.
“Regulations?”
He enunciated each word.
“Do I need to repeat myself? Governor Lu, the highest-ranking authority, wants to interrogate her personally.”
The man immediately fell silent, not daring to say another word.
Commander Gao waved a hand behind him.
Two female officers in uniform immediately stepped forward, hauled Jiang Nuan up from the ground, and roughly locked their arms around hers.
They marched her toward the armored SUV parked outside the alley.
The other pedestrians nearby cast curious, startled looks in their direction. Some whispered among themselves:
“They caught her that quickly? Is that the wanted criminal on the holo-screen? She looks so young. How did she end up a Class-C wanted criminal?”
“Commander Gao… Isn’t he Governor Lu’s right-hand man? Why would he personally come to apprehend a Class-C criminal?”
…
“You don’t know who Governor Lu is? Tsk. A year ago, he was just the illegitimate son acknowledged by a wealthy businessman. Then he transferred to the command headquarters and rose through the ranks several times in less than a year, being promoted directly to governor despite the usual procedures. Now, in all of Whale Harbor City, he has the final say on everything, big or small.”
Jiang Nuan was forced into the black armored vehicle.
The door slammed shut behind her, cutting off every sound from outside.
The interior was pitch-black.
Only the low rumble of the engine could be heard as it started.
The handcuffs still clung to her wrists, pressing her skin until it reddened.
The two female guards beside her did not look at her once. They had no intention of loosening her restraints, either.
Jiang Nuan closed her eyes.
In the darkness, her thumb unconsciously brushed the inside of her wrist. The chip embedded beneath her skin lay there in silence, hidden so well that even a search had failed to uncover it.
Only one question kept circling through her mind.
Governor Lu.
The illegitimate son acknowledged by a wealthy businessman a year ago.
He had entered the command headquarters and risen rapidly through the ranks.
His surname was Lu.
Could it be… him?
Where…
exactly was this place?
