——A few minutes earlier—— In the dark and gloomy basement, a man in a black short-sleeved shirt slightly lifted his knocking hand, gazing at the metal door that had begun to tremble gradually. Amid the pitch-black silence, there came a rustling sound, as if a giant shadow was gliding under the deep darkness. "Is there something wrong?" A low, hoarse voice emerged from behind the tightly closed metal door. His voice came through the tightly sealed, airtight room, yet it felt as if it were booming right next to the man’s ear, so close and yet so chillingly cold. "Sir, a SUV has arrived outside; it seems to be from the military." The man in the black short-sleeved shirt, bending slightly, began to speak slowly. He tried to keep his words steady and clear, but the trembling of his teeth caused a fine vibration that interfered with his speech, making it not quite complete. It was as if a sharp and jarring noise came through the night, causing the people sitting in rows in the room to slowly look up at the man standing by the door. A bone-chilling cold enveloped the man’s body through the deep darkness, making his body uncontrollably tremble. His strong back and solid muscles seemed unable to support his body; he watched the slightly trembling door, and a silent chill seeped out from the darkness, soaked into his spine, and ultimately turned into pure fear. "Where is it coming from? The south?" The hoarse voice from behind the door sounded once again. "It seems to be from the north, from Saint Ilan District," The man in the black short-sleeved shirt, trembling, slowly explained, "The information I’ve gathered so far indicates that it is from the Saint Ilan District, with only two people." The voice from behind the door slowly asked. "The SUV is definitely from the Ilan City Defense Army; it’s a specially provided model by the Yiwis Space System. I’ve previously helped some people sell off the army’s vehicles, so I am very familiar with these vehicles. Not only is it a military vehicle, but this one has also been specially modified to be bulletproof," The man in the black short-sleeved shirt took a deep breath, pushing against the spreading fear at the pit of his stomach, and continued, "Based solely on the appearance, I cannot distinguish the modification level of this vehicle or how strong the bulletproof capability is, but such vehicles within the city defense forces are at least for high-ranking officers to use." "Are you saying, one or two high-ranking officers from the City Defense Army have come to the Southern District alone?" The voice behind the door asked, hoarsely, again. "Yes, it’s very likely," the man in the black short-sleeved shirt quickly explained, "They might have come through Saint Ilan District from the East Gate or were performing some mission there. They should be men of General Kewei of the Southern City; our command center in the Southern City is near our Southern District, so it’s possible they would pass this way." He paused slightly, speaking with a speculative tone, "However, usually such vehicles would bypass the Southern District entirely. Even if they are in a hurry and pass through the Southern District, they wouldn’t stop. They stopped this time outside the Low-rise District, and I wonder what they are planning to do." "Do you think something is amiss, and that’s why you have come to report to me?" The voice behind the door asked again, hoarsely. The man in the black short-sleeved shirt bowed respectfully, earnestly. Just then, the people previously sitting quietly in the dark on either side suddenly stood up neatly. This sudden movement made the already frightened man in the black short-sleeved shirt stiffen, his entire body’s muscles clenched instantly. But before he could react, the iron door in front of him suddenly opened. The deep darkness behind the door receded, revealing a skinny middle-aged man with sallow skin, his entire figure looking like a thin skin wrapped around bones. This skeletal figure, looking at the man with stiffened muscles in front of him, slightly opened his mouth, and a raspy voice akin to a broken gong emitted from his lips, "You didn’t make any decisions on your own, but came to report to me first. This is good. You have done well." With a voice and appearance that were completely at odds, his teeth were surprisingly white, his mouth filled with moist flesh, small strands of crimson meat still clinging between his pearly whites. As the man in the black short-sleeve shirt stared at the blood-red flesh in his mouth, those moist pieces of flesh slightly heaved, as if they were wriggling. That gaping mouth was like a deep cave, drawing him in, ready to devour both his soul and flesh. The man in the black short-sleeve shirt struggled to divert his gaze, took a breath, then completely lowered his head, not daring to look at the man before him again, speaking softly, "This is what I should do, sir." The gaunt man lowered his head, his eyes, dry and orange like the knots of a dead tree, turned downward, giving the man in the black short-sleeve shirt a glance. It seemed like a commendation for his actions, yet it also seemed to point at his behavior of just looking directly at him. With his head hung low, the body of the man in the black short-sleeve shirt trembled, not daring to raise it even slightly. The gaunt man walked past the man in the black short-sleeve shirt toward the stairs that were faintly lit, "Call your men, block the exit, and surround the SUV you saw earlier." Shadows in the surrounding darkness slowly converged, standing stiffly to either side, forming a narrow path. The trembling man in the black short-sleeve shirt stood up, using the weak light from the staircase to look toward the shadows to either side. Their skin was abnormally pale, dressed in uniform white prison clothes, seemingly prisoners who had always been locked up in darkness. They had normal flesh and breathing motion, but every one of their bodies was stiff as if they were puppets on strings. As the man in the black short-sleeve shirt watched these figures, their gazes also turned towards him. Those eyes were so cold and calm, just as puppets on a puppet show stage would watch the audience outside. They looked like humans, yet not quite human. His body trembling slightly, the man in the black short-sleeve shirt dared not keep watching these figures. He withdrew his gaze and followed the path formed by them, chasing after the gaunt man ahead. After a brief hesitation, looking at the gaunt man’s stiffly climbing steps, he whispered, "Sir, is that officer bad news? Are we going to deal with that officer?" A low and hoarse laughter echoed from ahead. The man in the black short-sleeve shirt felt something like the harsh winter wind sweeping across his body from the darkness. He opened his mouth, wanting to ask where he went wrong, but before he could make a sound, he heard the hoarse and sharp voice continue from the front, "In Saint Ilan District, customized bulletproof SUVs aren’t exclusively driven by the military." The dim sky showed no moonlight, and time also seemed to blend into the darkness, its traces unclear. The boy sat on a broken concrete slab at the top of the hill, his fingers brushing the vibrant green grass beside him, wrapping it around his finger a few times. He turned his head again to look at the road ahead; it seemed he had been waiting in this darkness for a long time, that skinny man and what followed were now nowhere to be seen. He raised his hand to check his bracelet; he was supposed to be at work. At that moment, some movement finally emerged at the brightly lit East Gate. Several fully armed figures rushed out from behind the gate, quickly heading towards the hill—more precisely, towards the direction of an SUV near the hill. The boy on the concrete slab stood up all at once, cautiously leaning against a standing wall, and patted the dirt and dust off his bottom. His gaze quickly swept around. On the other side of the hill, behind the SUV, it seemed another group was also quickly surrounding the vehicle. Seeing this, the boy looked back the way he had come, then hesitated before running down the opposite side of the hill. Quickly, he appeared below the hill, where a fence gap covered by a billboard came into his field of view. This was not the previously broken fence, but another ’entrance.’ Just then, bright lights came on in the distance. The boy immediately lunged forward, diving behind the dilapidated billboard. Far-off lights moved closer, belonging to several SUVs carrying gunmen. Just as the off-road vehicle was about to pass the billboard, another off-road vehicle stopped in front of it. A few gang members, wearing short sleeves and holding submachine guns, jumped out of the vehicle. They walked straight to the front of the billboard, and a young man kicked the already damaged billboard. With a loud ’bang,’ the rusty billboard fell down. The leader of the gang members turned around and slapped the young man who had kicked the billboard, "Crimson Claw told us to be careful not to make any noise, don’t you understand?" The young man immediately covered his face, trembling with apologies. Meanwhile, a few others quickly went forward, held up the falling billboard, and tried to let it fall slowly, making as little noise as possible. "You guys guard the inside, the rest guard the outside." The leader of the gang members waved his hand and arranged several people’s positions. At this time, in the alleyway between the low-rise buildings inside the fence, a boy clung to the wall, glanced at the people guarding the gap, quickly looked away, and ran toward the depths of the Low-rise District. He had just passed the billboard without stopping, running straight through the fence. Withdrawn his gaze, he looked down the alley and continued forward. Soon, after passing through two or three alleyways, he appeared in front of a low building. He looked back at the Depths of Darkness on one side. There was the direction of the broken fence he had exited earlier; outside the fence was where the off-road vehicles were parked. No gunshots had risen from the darkness yet; it seemed that the Prisoners’ Gang was still setting up the encirclement. A sharp sound of footsteps came from ahead; several armed figures were rapidly approaching. It seemed that they had begun "searching" within the Low-rise District. The boy quickly rushed into the low-rise building in front of him, sprinting up to the third floor. Then he looked at the tightly shut iron door, raised his hand, and knocked on the door quickly. Hearing the doorbell, people inside the clinic were momentarily startled. "Who could it be at this time?" The woman with the cane was somewhat puzzled. Kewis looked at He Ao, stretched out his hand to press a button on the table beside him, leaned forward, and asked softly, "Hello, who is it? We are closed now; if it’s not an emergency, please come back tomorrow." "Doctor Kewis, it’s me," The voice outside quickly spoke, "My wife picked up her medication today, but she forgot how to use it." The woman with the cane turned her head, looked at He Ao, and lowered her voice to explain, "We passed a welding shop when we first came here; that’s his place." "The red and white capsules three times a day, one capsule each time; the gray and white capsules twice a day, one in the morning and one in the evening; the soup is to be taken before sleep every night." Kewis leaned close to the microphone, explaining slowly. The person outside paused, hesitated a bit, raised his tone slightly, and said, "Thank you, Doctor Kewis." Then footsteps sounded from outside the door, as if someone had left. "Perhaps you should have chosen a doorbell that directly plays video," said the woman with the cane, looking at Doctor Kewis. "The voices around here are all familiar to me; the main reason I installed this intercom doorbell was to avoid yelling through the door, which is harsh on the throat," Doctor Kewis replied. Then, he turned his gaze to He Ao, who was thoughtfully looking at the door, "Mr. Lin En, is something wrong?" "Your patient," He Ao turned back to look at Doctor Kewis, slowly rising from his seat, "is very nervous." "Nervous?" Doctor Kewis was slightly taken aback. His intercom was the cheapest one on the market, and its quality wasn’t very good; it was good enough if it could transmit voices clearly, but he hadn’t paid attention to the caller’s tone. By then, He Ao had already walked to the doorway. He glanced at the clinic’s thick walls and sturdy iron door, then placed his hand on the doorknob and slowly pulled the door open. A blur of darkness unfolded before him. A street lamp in front of the clinic illuminated the surroundings, dimly outlining the contours hidden in the darkness. The sky under the night veil was a dull gray, the dim darkness obscured every corner beyond the reach of the light. The Low-rise District remained as eerily quiet as ever, seemingly indistinguishable from its past. Ahead, the low-rise buildings created various alleys of different sizes; the ’Welder’ who had come for medicine was nowhere to be seen. Just then, a figure burst from a narrow alley, barely passable for an adult. He looked up, and the moment he saw He Ao standing at the door, he immediately shouted, "Mr. Lin En, run!" It seemed as if the crisp sound of gunfire echoed through the night. In that instant, He Ao appeared in front of the boy. He reached out, touching the boy’s temple, and with the sound of a ’bang,’ a golden bullet appeared between his index and middle fingers, firmly pinched. Then, with a flick of his fingers, he shot the bullet into the silent darkness. The boy, not yet aware of what had happened, only felt a breeze brush his cheek. He lifted his head, his breathing hurried and his gaze confused, as he looked at He Ao standing before him. He Ao reached out, grabbed the boy’s shoulders, took a few steps back, then stood at the clinic door again. "Mr. Lin En," the boy finally caught his breath, looked at He Ao, and quickly explained, "The Prisoners’ Gang, many people, they’ve surrounded the place..." "I know," He Ao patted his shoulder gently, then pointed to the room behind him, and smiled calmly and gently, "Remember to close the doors and windows. Leave the rest to me." Jerin lifted his head, gazing at the elderly man under the bright streetlight, into those deep and calm eyes. The light of the night draped over the elder’s figure, sketching a faint and warm silhouette. The boy’s heart, originally anxious and tense, began to calm under this gentle gaze. Finally, he nodded gently, then turned and walked back into the clinic. As the door behind him closed slowly, He Ao planted his brass cane into the ground, pulled out a metal cigarette case from his pocket, flicked a cigarette out, and placed it in his mouth. He then turned the cigarette case upside down, and the lighter on the end emitted a bright red flame, igniting the pure white cigarette. A haze of smoke rose at the juncture of night and light, drifting over the elder’s gray hair. In the darkness afar, a sniper leaning on the edge of a rooftop bled from his forehead, falling backward.