Although the building looked like it would be noisy from the outside, the interior was the complete opposite. It was unsettlingly quiet, especially at this hour. Aside from the sound of the group’s breathing, there wasn’t a single noise.
Standing not far from Li Sang, the young man who had thrown the object listened to her words. Despite the swelling on his face that hadn’t quite subsided yet, he didn’t run. He simply stood his ground. He didn’t seem the least bit intimidated by Li Sang’s anger; he just stared at her blankly.
As Li Sang reached down to pick the object up off the floor, she heard the boy’s voice. “You aren’t allowed to bring strangers here.” It sounded almost like a warning.
Li Sang’s lips curled into a cold smirk. “You aren’t allowed to throw trash everywhere either, yet did you listen?”
The sticky, slimy glob was his latest research project. When Li Sang touched it, it had a fuzzy texture, likely modeled after a caterpillar. Normally, Li Sang loathed caterpillars and similar creatures, but right now, fear was the last thing on her mind. She squeezed the slimy mass hard in her hand, glaring at the person across from her.
She approached him step by step and slammed the glob back onto his face. Squinting at him, she asked, “Do you like this thing that much?“
The boy winced slightly as if in pain, but he didn’t get angry. Instead, he answered her question earnestly. “Yes. Don’t you?”
Seeing that he was about to launch into a detailed lecture on how wonderful his creation was, Li Sang cut him off immediately. “Stop. How many times do I have to say it? I hate it. Are you deaf?”
When Li Sang first moved in, he had tried to scare her with a six-legged dog. She had responded by kicking him and breaking two of the model’s legs in the process. Similar incidents had happened several times since; the palm print currently visible on the boy’s face was her latest handiwork.
But the man seemingly lacked any survival instinct.
Li Sang’s expression was grim as she addressed him by name. “Lu Tingfeng, you’d better not mess with the new guy.”
Lu Tingfeng looked genuinely puzzled, his handsome brow furrowing. “Why?”
Li Sang shrugged. “Because he could beat you into a pulp.”
While she didn’t know the exact extent of Ji Lin’s physical power yet, she knew that an average person couldn’t withstand a single punch from him—let alone someone like Lu Tingfeng, who spent all his time cooped up in a study. If Lu Tingfeng managed to scare him, he might be killed by Ji Lin before anyone even noticed.
Jiang Taian seemed accustomed to these scenes. He didn’t stop Li Sang, but he did turn to the boy. “Tingfeng, go back to your room.”
Lu Tingfeng, who looked like he had intended to keep prying, nodded immediately at the captain’s command and turned to leave. His footsteps were slow, echoing down the corridor and adding to the eerie atmosphere—especially when combined with the protruding eyeballs that served as elevator buttons.
Li Sang stared at one particularly blood-red eyeball, found it annoying, and simply pried it off and tossed it into a nearby trash can. “It’s a good thing no one visits this place,” she muttered as she walked. “Otherwise, they’d think we were filming a horror movie.”
As they walked, the previously silent Ji Lin suddenly spoke up. “Was that guy just now… named Lu Tingfeng?”
Li Sang nodded, exhausted. “Yeah, why?” If she weren’t so sleepy, she would have given Lu Tingfeng another beating.
Ji Lin seemed curious about the boy. His eyes darted around as he asked, “Why does he live here?”
He knew Li Sang and the others were part of a special squad, but what did that guy do? Did he just spend his days making grotesque models?
Li Sang didn’t answer; Jiang Taian did. After a few seconds of thought, the captain gave a brief explanation. “He is a genius engineer. A couple of years ago, for reasons unknown, he became obsessed with these things. Before that, many famous buildings you likely know were designed by him.”
So, the man was a legitimate genius.
“The state moved him here for his own safety.”
This wasn’t just any high-rise. The residents here were either people with extreme mental fortitude or individuals under high-level state protection. Although the building looked ordinary on the outside, the area within a one-kilometer radius was crawling with covert agents. Any suspicious person entering the perimeter would be flagged and monitored twenty-four hours a day.
Li Sang couldn’t help but snark, “You mean they moved him here so he wouldn’t get beaten to death by the public?”
“…”
Jiang Taian didn’t argue. He knew that was part of the reason.
Since Jiang Taian’s entire team lived on the 19th floor, Li Sang’s room was there as well. Naturally, Ji Lin’s room was assigned to the same floor—coincidentally, right next door to Li Sang’s.
Despite her exhaustion, Li Sang stepped inside to show him the place. After all, she was the one who had recruited him. She gave him a weary tour. “One kitchen, one bathroom, one bedroom, and a living room. All the appliances are included and brand new. Feel free to use them; even the mattress is a fresh replacement.”
It was essentially state-allocated housing that he could live in for the rest of his life. However, the layout made one thing clear: it was for single occupancy. Family members weren’t permitted to move in.
Ji Lin had expected something small, but his eyes widened when he saw the interior. The living room alone was three times the size of his previous rental apartment! The bedroom was incredibly spacious, featuring a bed over two meters wide. He could lie horizontally or vertically with room to spare. The kitchen and bathroom were also massive; the extra space could have easily been converted into two more rooms.
Ji Lin stood at the door, stunned. “The state even provides the housing?“
In his mind, he had already begun to fully believe everything Li Sang and the others had told him. Li Sang nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “They do. Here are your keys. Goodnight, and sweet dreams.”
She waved at him and stepped out of the room, though she returned a moment later carrying a colorful plastic bag.
“Oh, these are the snail noodles and stinky tofu. Eat these, and you’ll lose interest in the trash. You’ll have to cook them yourself, but the kitchen is fully equipped. I’m sure you know how. I won’t disturb you further.”
With that, she finally left for real.
Standing in the quiet, empty apartment, Ji Lin still felt like he was dreaming. Just as he was trying to clear his cluttered thoughts, a soft knock came at his door.
Ji Lin instinctively assumed it was Li Sang returning for something else. He walked to the door and pulled it open, only to be met with the pale face of the boy from earlier.
“What’s your name?” Lu Tingfeng asked.