David had just poured himself a full glass of beer when the prison break alarm blared throughout Sector C.
His hand jerked, spilling half the beer, and he shot to his feet.
"Shit! Little bro, you really screwed me over!"
He sprinted back to the cell at top speed, but it was already empty.
Several groups of guards, supervisors, and logistics personnel were crammed into the room, frantically searching every corner.
The table was strewn with drawing paper and brushes; the paper house was gone, leaving only a messy scatter of paper scraps and glue stains on the floor.
No fight. No forced entry.
Zhuang Fan had simply, under heavy guard, worn David's "face," deactivated the security identification, and strolled right out.
"That kid's memory… how did he get my iris…"
David thought back and suddenly realized—those few times Zhuang Fan had stared at him before, his gaze had been off, as if it could see right through a person.
A humanoid walking camera?
He suddenly felt a chill. This kid had a photographic memory; he probably held grudges too.
Soon, the full surveillance footage was pulled up, and David checked it immediately.
On screen, "he himself" walked out from the paper house, back to the camera, arrived at the cell door, and let the recognition system above the door scan his iris and face.
With a *click*, the door swung open smoothly, and "he" left calmly under the watchful eyes of all.
David watched, his guts churning with regret. Had he known this kid was so unnerving, he should have thrown him straight into a fully sealed black cell back then.
The "Iron Guards" outside were special—they had all undergone hypothalamus removal surgery. They possessed no subjective emotions or reasoning capabilities, acted rigidly, but would strictly carry out their superiors' orders.
When "David" appeared before them, facial and iris recognition passed smoothly, so they let Zhuang Fan leave.
David grabbed a subordinate by the collar, his face full of confusion. "If the Iron Guards couldn't tell, what about you lot? All blind?"
"Boss, we activated the recognition system too. There really was no issue. The person who came out was you."
David's head began to throb. "Body language? Gait recognition? All passed?"
"They all passed."
One of the guards thought for a moment. "But… your expression at the time was very stiff. You didn't say a word before leaving. It was a while before we received the alarm."
"Bullshit! I was drinking in another sector; how could I have flown here? Can't your stupid brains think? There's only one person locked inside. Besides the prisoner, who else could come out?"
"Boss… you'd gone in several times before, so we…"
"Shut up!"
David's face was dark throughout, none of his usual jesting expression remaining.
The prisoner had escaped from his jurisdiction; he had to bear the greatest responsibility. Now he had to think about how to make up for his failure.
"You've really done your big brother in."
David rubbed his face and said in a low voice, "Has Sector C been searched thoroughly?"
"Boss, still searching."
"Check all the ventilation ducts, wiring conduits, and storage depots again. He's definitely still in Sector C; he can't get away."
Thinking of this, David grew depressed again.
He had repeatedly requested increases to the security budget back then. One of the items was to customize exclusive identity chips for everyone.
But the review team insisted on cutting it, saying the budget wasn't enough. Well, now look—they had cut their way into a catastrophe.
On the other side, Max had reacted even faster. Shortly after the alarm sounded, he revoked all of David's access permissions and designated him "high-risk personnel."
Only by doing this could they cut off all of Zhuang Fan's escape routes.
Thus, David was forced to halt. He couldn't go anywhere and could only stand outside the cell, staring blankly with a few subordinates.
"This little friend is slippery as a loach."
Xu Renyi was not overly surprised to learn of Zhuang Fan's escape. Instead, he was rather curious. "How did he imitate David?"
"Mr. Xu, it was drawing paper and glue. He made himself paper clothes, paper skin, and a paper face mask. As for the iris… he also fabricated that on the spot."
Max was a man of few words, concise and to the point.
"Oh, interesting."
Xu Renyi carefully recalled and realized that these past few days, Zhuang Fan's exaggerated behavior had all been an act.
He had pretended to draw, obtained paper and pens, then glue, bit by bit testing the supervisors' limits, carving out private space for himself, ultimately executing this flawless escape plan.
"With such meticulous methods, it seems this little friend is no ordinary researcher. He's hiding some secrets."
Xu Renyi's fingers tapped the armrest rhythmically, his expression deep and unreadable as still water.
Max knew the old man well. At this moment, Xu Renyi's mood was probably not good—after all, he had been deceived and kept in the dark by a "fellow townsman."
"Mr. Xu, this won't delay your surgery."
"Hopefully."
The surveillance center operated at full capacity and soon locked onto the suspected "David's" figure, last seen in the common lounge area.
Just as the footage was being zoomed in and frozen, the monitors suddenly went black. The system showed that the area's network had disconnected.
Max frowned. "What happened? Get it back online, now!"
"Commander, the tech team is still working on it!"
Max strode swiftly toward the destination while issuing new orders:
"Seal every entrance and exit immediately. No one is allowed out. I'll be there soon!"
He arrived outside the cell, glared at David, and said coldly, "Follow me. Don't leave my sight."
David nodded hurriedly, knowing his former superior was trying to protect him, and quickly followed.
It happened to be mealtime. The personnel in the common lounge had received the alarm and were all sitting frozen in their seats.
Max led his men in screening the scene, then rushed into the adjacent dining area to check each person one by one, but there was no trace of Zhuang Fan anywhere.
"Where could he have gone…" Max frowned. It was only a paper disguise; Zhuang Fan should have been easy to spot.
"The surveillance still isn't back? What the hell are you people doing!"
"Reporting, Commander! Our system privileges have been revoked! Currently, we can only confirm that Gate C163 had an access record three minutes ago, but we can't identify who it was!"
"It was definitely him. But the problem is, where did these new privileges come from…"
Max looked at David sternly, who immediately distanced himself. "Max, you already stripped my access a long time ago. I have no idea!"
"I know. Shut up."
In a flash, Max keenly identified the problem. His expression changed slightly, and he quickly turned back.
...
Xu Renyi had just taken his medicine. His spirits were low, and he was preparing to take a short nap when he saw Max return and barge straight in.
"Mr. Xu, sorry to disturb you. The situation is critical. I need to obtain the shelter's highest authority."
"Oh? That little friend hasn't been caught yet?"
Max's expression was extremely grave. "This time, he disguised himself as you. He has already obtained partial access and control rights. If we delay any longer, I'm afraid the entire shelter will fall into large-scale chaos."
Xu Renyi was rather surprised. "He made two paper faces?"
"Yes. This person can even accurately mimic your body language. He didn't trigger a single alarm throughout."
Xu Renyi nodded. "Very well. But there's no need for such trouble. I can just reset the permissions."
He reached for his pocket but found it empty. Then, as if realizing something, he looked toward Xu Shanshan nearby.
"Shan, where is the Phantom Eye?"
"Old Master Xu, last time you said the Phantom Eye was malfunctioning. It was sent back to headquarters for repairs. It'll take another week before it's sent back."
"Oh…"
The "Phantom Eye" Xu Renyi spoke of was a holographic control chip shaped like a contact lens that could be worn directly on the eyeball, powered by the sympathetic nervous system.
With the Phantom Eye, he could control everything in the corporation, and no one could fake his biological features.
The problem now was that with the Phantom Eye missing, it meant Zhuang Fan could unscrupulously compete with Xu Renyi for control of the shelter.
Even more troublesome was that this shelter had been built long ago; its systems were old, and its security rating wasn't high.
Back then, fearing an android rebellion, the system AI's authority had been drastically weakened. It simply could not actively strip "Founder Xu Renyi" of his supreme control.
And so, things became thorny.
Max settled for the next best thing, having Xu Renyi manually revoke the fake "Li Gui's" permissions while he continued to lead the team in pursuit.
Xu Renyi agreed.
After Max left, the wrinkles on his face were deep, like withered old tree branches. After a moment of silence, he said:
"The Phantom Eye being left at headquarters doesn't sit right with me. Have Xu Tiansheng arrange for someone to deliver it."
Xu Shanshan nodded and immediately carried it out.
A game of cat and mouse was playing out intensely within the shelter's systems.
Whenever Max tracked and located Zhuang Fan, Zhuang Fan could immediately restore his stealth, always staying a few minutes ahead of the main force;
When the pursuers tried to flank him, they were met by "rebel" armored soldiers and mechanical guards.
Xu Renyi's task was simple: constantly undo the disruptive orders Zhuang Fan issued.
Thus, the two "Xu Renyis" began to wrestle back and forth for control: request, deny, request, deny...
"This old thief dares to fight me."
Zhuang Fan quickly changed tactics. Whenever he requested a stealth command, he would simultaneously issue a dozen or so irrelevant orders.
Xu Renyi was immediately thrown into a panic. If he wasn't careful, he would make the wrong choice:
Deny [Cancel Stealth]
Approve [Activate Drone Swarm Combat]
Deny [Coffee Machine Self-Cleaning Function]
Approve [Revoke Max's Permissions]
Deny [Prohibit Security System Restart]
Approve [Service Android Dance]
...
Zhuang Fan savored the thrill of getting revenge on the old man. Under the "Operation: Saturated Sniping of Senile Dementia" he was executing, Xu Renyi truly couldn't keep up.
"You animal…"
The old man truly broke down. After cursing a few times on the spot, he coughed continuously, his spirit growing ever more exhausted.
Xu Shanshan hurriedly brought over a smart chip and inserted it into the back of the old man's head to help him with auxiliary judgment.
The flood of conflicting orders caused many devices in the shelter to turn on and off frequently, and the damage rate shot straight up.
Fortunately, the base facilities were backward; many sections were independent systems requiring secondary verification, which prevented even greater destruction by Zhuang Fan.
Along the way, Zhuang Fan activated large numbers of drone swarms, mechanical dogs, and sentry guns; the armored soldiers also turned coat on the battlefield.
These armored soldiers had likewise undergone excision of the frontal lobe and hypothalamus, resulting in sluggish thinking and rigid obedience to commands.
They brandished rotary machine guns, loyally gunning down the pursuing soldiers, then ceased fire and shut down. After a while, they resumed attack mode, toggling back and forth endlessly.
Some of the armored soldier models were old enough to be forcibly disconnected from the network. Thus, they became Zhuang Fan's loyal guards, executing the last command before being cut off:
[Protect the subject. Eliminate any intruders.]
The shelter's alarm blared continuously, hardly stopping. The engagement escalated steadily, Max's advance grew slower and slower, and the mess grew bigger and bigger.
The more David watched, the more frightened he became. He couldn't help muttering:
"Is this really an escape? Why does it look like… the horn of counterattack has been sounded?"