226: Chapter 9 A Disadvantageous Start 226: Chapter 9 A Disadvantageous Start The interior of the car fell into an unprecedented silence.
On one side was the shadow-like depth, and on the other, the intangible oppression.
The small space was clearly divided by the two atmospheres, giving Mr.
Shiyu in the driver’s seat the illusion of experiencing both ice and fire for his psyche.
The two individuals who brought about such oppressive feelings were seated right next to the doors on their own sides, looking at the scenery outside the window, decidedly not planning to say a word to each other, not even exchanging glances.
This exceptionally tense atmosphere couldn’t be separated from their terrible past, but the chief culprit that had made it so heavy was undoubtedly the little thing on Shiyu Ling’s neck.
Gongsun Ce had seen this thing on Dust Explosion’s neck last month; it was said to be able to blow a person’s head clean off in a flash.
He thought there must be a button or a switch of some kind to activate it until Qiluo texted him on the phone screen the method of control.
[[(･∀･)ﾉ It’s me, it’s me, Gongsun Ce.
You’ve got a microcontroller hidden in the bottle of water you drank 3 minutes and 15 seconds ago.
Now, you can activate specific functions within the collar with designated commands.
See the attachment for the command syntax.]]
[[(;ﾟДﾟ) Important reminder: For the sake of maintaining the secrecy of the plan under extremely unfavorable conditions, the collar will start a countdown to explosion when the distance between you and Alice Adar exceeds 5 meters; when the distance exceeds 7 meters, the collar will explode immediately.]]
[[つД`) Personal reminder: I think this feature is too much, so…
if there’s an emergency that requires us to separate, I’ll try to think of a way…]]
Even using emoticons, enough is enough.
If you keep it up, I really will start treating you as if you are AI come to life.
Compared with the lively Qiluo, Miss Alice was not in such a good mood.
He could understand completely; at this moment, he knew exactly how she felt—damn it, on this mission, he couldn’t even act separately from this woman; what kind of inhumane safety device was this, even having Dust Explosion, that idiot, as a partner would be better than Shiyu Ling, this vicious and ruthless woman!
Gongsun Ce, not in a good mood himself, forced a sneer:
“As the saying goes, you reap what you sow, Miss Ling.”
“Ha, want to try who has quicker reactions?”
After these two exchanges, the two of them said nothing more.
The ash-haired young man thought, I wouldn’t really use this thing to blow up your head; why are you so hostile, who owes whom, the blue-haired woman thought, even if I’d rather give the detonator to Yan Qi than hand this thing over to you, I’d rather be destroyed together.
The driver, Shiyu Lianyi, felt that the two in the back seat were like petulant children, and undoubtedly, the peacemaker would have to be himself.
“Don’t call me by that name!” Shiyu Ling’s response was like touching a raw nerve.
The young man in the suit sighed internally, then turned to ask, “Gongsun?”
“Forgive my bluntness, Mr.
Shiyu.” Gongsun Ce looked motionless at the fast-moving streetscape outside the window, “I trust in Miss Alice’s abilities and believe that with her character, she would never defect, but I simply cannot trust a woman who just tried to kill me not long ago.”
“The feeling is mutual,” Shiyu Ling retorted, “I also can’t trust a simple partner like you.”
“Great, it seems like we agree on the difficulty of trusting each other.
Why don’t we skip the boring verbal fencing and just fight it out?”
“You’re resorting to violence to solve the problem now, ha ha!
I remember someone once saying one of the things they hated most was the misuse of violence—see how at ease you are with your double standards.
Why not activate the safety device now, then we can truly feel at ease.”
The two in the back finally began to interact, but unfortunately, the more they talked, the stronger the smell of gunpowder got.
They might be able to converse awkwardly, hiding their hostility when they occasionally bumped into each other in daily life, but once they met in a serious situation, there was no way they could maintain even a façade of peace, and the collar as a safety device only made things worse—this was an insult to the extremely proud Shiyu Ling.
The young man in the suit had no choice but to say, “Please give me some face, both of you.”
The two adversaries suddenly fell silent: On February 13th, they had fought each other fiercely, but they were also both saved by Shiyu Lianyi.
One his dear friend, the other his sister, but being in the middle, Mr.
Shiyu felt the worst of it.
What on earth was the high command of the Sky Capital thinking, to make these two people undertake a secret investigative mission together?
It would have been better even to have Shiyu Lianyi accompany them!
“Sorry, but I have my own reasons for not being able to leave,” Shiyu Lianyi gripped the steering wheel tighter, “I too want to settle scores back on Zero Island.”
The word “settle scores” made Gongsun Ce’s heart stir.
He thought of the siblings’ common background, remembering the first time he heard the name “Shiyu Ling.” Shiyu Ling was wanted for committing a massacre…
Because she had slaughtered everyone in the Shiyu Research Institute.
He stole a glance at the blue-haired woman on the other side.
Shiyu Ling’s profile betrayed no emotion, leaving him clueless about whether the woman was angry or resentful at that moment.
“Regret not being able to kill everyone?”
“Ah, yes, it’s a pity,” Shiyu Ling’s voice was light, “I thought I had wiped them all out, but it turned out I was used again.
The lives of so-called elite researchers are just as cheap in their eyes, disposable when they are of no use.”