Chapter 172 – Key (15)

◎ I will restart Operation Key ◎

New Asia Alliance.

District A1, Central Court.

As the political center of the entire Alliance and the most important city, the Central Court’s main function is administrative management. There are no residential areas within its jurisdiction, and entry and exit are only permitted with authorization. After Utopia ascended, most officials successfully transferred, but there were still some “inexperienced” individuals who stayed behind to handle ground affairs, working diligently and hoping to one day obtain a “ticket” to join Utopia.

The fully automated streets were clean and orderly, with modern skyscrapers standing in a grid. Two inspectors hurriedly disembarked from a starship, changed to a floating car, and flew to the majestic Parliament building in the city center. The glass elevator ascended smoothly and stopped at the entrance of a conference room spacious enough to accommodate a hundred people. Artificial intelligence guided the guests to their seats.

At this moment, an important meeting was taking place in the room. The two inspectors bowed their heads and walked around the edges, not daring to make any noise.

Both sides of the long table were filled with influential figures from various countries, including both awakeners and ordinary people. Each face was a regular feature in news reports, but they were all lifelike holographic projections. These people had long since reached Utopia, and at the moment, in the vast conference room, there were no living beings except the two inspectors.

The influential figures were discussing the development plan for Utopia in the next three years. Every policy announced was explosive news. The only two living individuals present sat nervously, wiping their foreheads with handkerchiefs under the immense pressure, feeling uneasy and anxious.

About forty minutes later, most of the projections in the room disappeared, leaving less than twenty people, including the leaders of the Cario Empire and Luce Federation.

A solemn and deep voice sounded from the head of the long table. The speaker sat in the shadows, and only a vague silhouette could be seen: “The reason you were asked to stay is that a few days ago, I happened to come across this photograph.”

The name tag displayed that he was one of the three titans of Utopia, once the leader of the New Asia Alliance.

A clear photo appeared, showing two researchers, dressed in lab attire, leaving the laboratory side by side. The older one had a cheerful smile at the corner of his mouth.

Whispers erupted from all sides, and everyone was puzzled. What was unusual about this photo?

“Please let the official in charge of this matter provide specific details,” said the figure from the head of the table.

The sweating inspector stood up nervously and said, “I… I provided the photo. The person on the left is Ning Rong, a core member of the Eternal Life Project who left the project team a year ago. I was ordered to track his movements. The person on the right is named Zhuang Qingyan. As far as I know, the two of them are secretly conducting research on cell division, and the specific purpose is unknown.”

“Cell division?” A holographic projection slammed the table and exclaimed angrily, “Are they trying to achieve human body self-repair? This is part of the Eternal Life Project, and Ning Rong has indeed stolen confidential information.”

Another older official murmured to himself, “Zhuang Qingyan? The name sounds familiar.”

The shadow raised a hand, and another photo appeared on the screen.

This photo looked a bit dated, with the same two individuals as the main characters. A young Ning Rong was flushed, engaged in a heated argument with another person. The researcher facing him had a handsome appearance, with a calm expression that seemed to completely ignore Ning Rong’s protests. He furrowed his eyebrows slightly when he saw the camera, leaving behind a graceful side profile.

“I’m sure this person’s name is well-known to everyone present. He is the most famous bio-scientist since the New Era, the pioneer of genetic engineering, and the leader of the Eternal Life Project—Vincent Zhuang.”

As if dropping a nuclear bomb on flat ground, most people didn’t react immediately, but a few had their faces change abruptly, almost standing up in shock.

The Eternal Life Project, once the aspiration of countless people in the Alliance, was now the most fervent pursuit of Utopia.

For security and confidentiality reasons, although Vincent’s name was widely known, what he actually looked like was rarely circulated.

Looking at the two photos again, the faces that appeared identical under different lighting conditions made even the slowest person realize something was amiss.

“Vincent… Vincent’s original name, isn’t it Zhuang Qingyan?!” exclaimed the older official, finally recalling where the familiarity came from.

The shadow gazed at the silhouette of the young man and shook his head slowly, “He is not Zhuang Qingyan. His real name is—Xie Zhuo.”

The air fell silent for a moment.

Xie Zhuo, the name behind this revelation, held a meaning that everyone in the room understood all too well.

Vincent had already passed away, and it was said that he was in a semi-demented state before his death. No one knew what he had experienced in the final stages of his life. All that was known was that after Vincent’s death, all research findings were sealed into a storage hub through a special means. Strangely, that hub had never been opened again, or more accurately, it could never be opened again—whether it was Vincent himself or the biological information of his close relatives (extracted from the genetic database).

In the end, the Alliance had to resort to some covert methods and learned from the residual memories of Vincent that the only condition for unlocking the hub was the “key.”

What was the key? A physical key? A virtual identity card? Or a secretive access code?

No one knew.

The only remaining clues back then pointed to Vincent’s lone son, Xie Zhuo.

In the last few years of Vincent’s scientific career, he rarely stepped out of the laboratory, and Xie Zhuo had been by his side, handling all matters for him. After Vincent’s death, Xie Zhuo mysteriously disappeared, and the whereabouts of the key became unknown.

This also became an unspoken fact among the Alliance’s high-ranking officials: the key to retrieving the key lay with Xie Zhuo.

The shadow silently observed the confident young man in the photo.

Over the years, he had been following the news of the Eternal Life Project, expending significant human, material, and financial resources for a thorough search. However, Xie Zhuo seemed to have evaporated from the human world. There was no trace of him even on the star network. Gradually, everyone assumed he was dead. Unexpectedly, he had resurfaced, changing his identity to “Zhuang Qingyan” and openly walking in the sunlight.

If it weren’t for the accidental capture of the photo during the surveillance of Ning Rong, the secret agent’s careful consideration in organizing and archiving it, and subsequently bringing it up, perhaps the existence of “Zhuang Qingyan” would never have been discovered.

“The Fire Seed project back then must have buried important results.”

After the Loak incident, Vincent publicly declared the failure of the Fire Seed project, but in the following year, he initiated version 2.0, naming it the “Eternal Life Project.” He wanted to continue the research of the Fire Seed, and during this time, he must have discovered something.

Unfortunately, a few years later, Vincent passed away, and the research progress of the original Eternal Life Project was indefinitely shelved. Later on, due to disagreements in understanding, some scientists voluntarily withdrew from the project, including Ning Rong, while another group shifted focus to hybrid experiments, attempting to break through from a different direction.

“All the answers are in that hub.”

They had tried countless methods to crack it, but the hub left by Vincent seemed like a formatted blank computer, devoid of any data.

“Only the key can activate the hub.”

The shadow sighed deeply, and his authoritative voice echoed through the room, “I will restart Operation Key. Does anyone here object?”

No one raised their hand or spoke. The influential figures present had complex expressions, exchanging covert glances. None of them wanted to be the one to step forward.

After a pause, a hoarse voice spoke up, “No objections. I fully support it.”

The projection on the opposite side couldn’t help but sneer, “Xie Ping, do you have the final say? Can you represent the Xie family of Beijun?”

Xie Lan was the true master of Beijun, and she was no ordinary woman. She had even refused the pass to Utopia. Moreover, Xie Lan still controlled the Azure Phoenix Army, a force that sent chills down people’s spines worldwide.

Xie Ping, the magistrate of Beijun, was not invited to the secret meeting today.

Xie Ping retorted coldly, “I can indeed only represent myself, but I can risk my life, can you?”

The person who tried to counter fell silent. Everyone knew that Xie Ping was already in the throes of a terminal illness and had been waiting for a breakthrough in the Eternal Life Project. The mindset of a dying person could be terrifying, capable of anything.

“Lu Qiusuo, what about you?”

Everyone turned to look at another special holographic projection, a large-scale AI.

This individual was also a remarkable figure, the dignified head of the Lu clan, Lu Qiusuo. He had abandoned his physical body, merging his consciousness into a supercomputer, achieving “eternity” in another way.

A line of text slowly appeared: “The Lu clan advocates neutrality and will not participate…”

In the blink of an eye, Lu Qiusuo’s statement paused, as if glitching. The original text disappeared and was replaced with:

“The Key wouldn’t disappear from the Star Network without a reason. Someone is covering his tracks.”

“The Lu clan will participate in the operation.”

With these two taking the lead, others hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement.

The shadow, still shrouded in darkness, slowly spoke, “How is the intelligence on the key?”

“Yes, yes,” another nervous inspector reported, “This… uh, the key, comes from the lower district and is currently settled in the Northern Base, District B10. The affiliated team is V587, led by an S7-level Attack-type awakener. All team members are A-level, and they have quite a close relationship with the local magistrate.”

“…Ye Zheng’s territory.”

The recent high-profile assassination attempt in B District had naturally reached Utopia. After this incident, the Northern Base became impregnable, with both military and civilians reaching peak cohesion. Whether it was infiltrating agents or launching a direct assault, it became a challenging task.

In the somber meeting room, a smooth voice suddenly emanated from the corner, and the name tag identified the speaker as someone from the Alliance Regional Affairs General Bureau, holding the position of Deputy Director, “Regarding V587 and Song Ke, I have some rough understanding.”

The composed face of Park Jae-woo slowly appeared. As a politically astute figure, he had promptly confirmed and concealed Song Ke’s whereabouts when he discovered it. Park Jae-woo, of course, wasn’t motivated by kindness. It was simply that revealing Song Ke’s origins at that time held no benefits for him, and he had a hunch that Song Ke’s existence could be a trump card, capable of securing greater advantages for him. And indeed, he made the right bet.

“Hmph, if it’s just a rough understanding, then there’s no need to speak, right?” sneered Simon, Park Jae-woo’s arch-nemesis, a middle-aged man with a hooked nose.

“Oh no, Director Simon, I believe you’d be interested. Let me think… this Song Ke once single-handedly killed an S7-level Dual-type awakener, someone called… the Bloody Killer, Punk.” Park Jae-woo nonchalantly adjusted his suit, his expression seemingly oblivious, as if he truly didn’t know that Punk had once been the most loyal lackey of the man opposite him.

Simon’s eyes dangerously narrowed.

*

Garden Apartments.

V587, who had finished a day of hard work, was enjoying a rare leisure moment.

Even though the Awakener Department had assigned a suite to each of them, all the team members preferred to squeeze into Song Ke’s luxurious penthouse.

Fang Zhixu, wearing an apron, was at the cooking counter preparing barbecue. Although the ingredients were all artificially cultivated, the freshness made up for it.

Xu Xing stood on tiptoes, peering into the pot, pointing and complaining, “I don’t want broccoli, and I don’t want carrots!”

“Do you know why you’re not growing tall? Because you’re a picky eater,” Fang Zhixu, with a lollipop in his mouth, said unclearly, “Keep complaining, and I’ll spank you again.”

“You’re the one who’s not tall!” Xu Xing exploded in anger, jumping up to create chaos, and the two of them began a lively squabble.

In the living room, Zhuang Qingyan clicked on the screen, quickly browsing, while Song Ke grabbed his other hand and placed it in front.

The background music of a palace intrigue drama played, with the beauties in distress crying, forming a tangled mess. Song Ke laid his head on Zhuang Qingyan’s sturdy thigh, sleeping soundly, his mouth shining with drool, unconsciously wiping it with Zhuang Qingyan’s hand.

Zhuang Qingyan hesitated for a moment, then turned his head to look at her, curling his fingertips, but ultimately didn’t pull it back.

On the balcony, Lu Xiaoyu rested with closed eyes. His metal arm connected to the small bee terminal, emitting a dazzling gloss. Recently, the consciousness link with the District B terminal seemed to have deepened. To be safe, his anti-intrusion check was changed from three times a week to once a day.

Another terminal next to him suddenly made two “beep beep” sounds, coming from an ancient device in the lower district.

Lu Xiaoyu didn’t open his eyes; his metal arm added an interface, and a massive amount of data flashed before his eyes. Two pieces of information were particularly eye-catching.

“I hope your anger has never extinguished.”

“Because I have embarked on a journey.”

A melodious humming came from the bathroom. Pink bubbles scattered everywhere as Lin Youyou opened her terminal to check the news.

The group chat for the “District B10 High-level Awakener Matching Conference” was exceptionally lively. People were discussing a newly released A-level mission. Despite the staggering reward, so far, no team had accepted it.

“Huangyuan? Isn’t that place heavily contaminated with nuclear radiation? Who would be willing to go there?”

“Moreover, there are not many people in District E to begin with. The Zombie King is just a Zombie King; it doesn’t come out and doesn’t bother anyone.”

“The points are indeed high, but it’s not worth it if you have to exchange it with your life!”

“Anyway, our team can’t handle the Zombie King.”

Lin Youyou was about to switch to the system platform to take a look at the mission they were talking about when, accidentally, bubbles blocked her vision. She slipped and fell with a cry, a high-pitched sound echoing as the pain in the tail vertebrae pierced her.

Outside the door, Su Cha heard the scream. He quickly rushed in and, upon seeing the alluring scene in front of him, stood stunned on the spot.

He pursed his lips, turned his head, closed his eyes in one breath, and covered Lin Youyou with a bathrobe. He lifted Lin Youyou princess style with his arms held straight, with no physical contact between them. The distance between them could even accommodate a 120-pound Lin Xiu.

Lin Youyou stared at Su Cha’s reddened earlobes and couldn’t help but laugh with anger: No, is she some kind of snake or scorpion? To be avoided like this.

Supporting her waist, Lin Youyou limped to the living room. Two seconds later, Su Cha followed, looking a bit lost.

“Song Ke’er, wake up, take a look at this mission.” Lin Youyou poked Song Ke’s cheek.

“… How many points?” Song Ke grumpily turned over.

“Enough to propel us to the top of the entire Alliance.”

Song Ke instantly perked up, rubbed her sleepy eyes, and jumped off the sofa. “So many? Let me see.”

Two hours ago, the platform released a territory-wide mission: “A-level mission: Suspected appearance of Zombie King in Huangyuan (District E172), all awakeners from various districts are requested to kill it.”

Only 4th-level zombies with advanced intelligence could be called Zombie Kings, like the one they killed in Haimen. Therefore, Zombie Kings are extremely rare. Unexpectedly, in just a few months, another Zombie King appeared in the lower district?

This mission was quite suitable for V587. Song Ke wasn’t afraid of low-level radiation, Lu Xiaoyu could pilot the starship to save travel time, and Su Cha was familiar with the environment in District E. With so many points, it was enough for them to climb to the top of the leaderboard!

Song Ke decisively clicked to accept the mission, then looked up to remind Zhuang Qingyan.

“Starting tomorrow, you can get off work by yourself, okay?”