Chapter 93

Crossing through layers of overlapping light and shadows, the wind in his ears stopped.

“Ka.” In an instant, an extremely thin blue-gold line lit up at his feet, sensing and lighting up all the way like veins from split fiber optics, spreading into lines across the ground.

Horne finally saw clearly what was in front of him.

A corridor about twenty meters long, with steel-blue anchored composite walls, silent and cold. Behind them was the place they had just come down from, but now when he looked up, he could no longer see the passage they had descended.

At the end of the corridor was a door, and they walked toward that door.

“So…” Horne pondered for a moment and reached the only conclusion, “The Underground Base of old Loch City is a decoy.”

It was an old underground city that humans had built over decades, specifically designed for the Aliens—an empty city stratagem.

Humans could not possibly have never considered resistance, but under the Tower’s surveillance, all resistance became nearly impossible. This alone was not enough to dispel their suspicions, so they monitored Mr. Hels and even tried to use Horne. Since they suspected, they confirmed those suspicions, making it seem as if humans were truly foolish beyond saving, full of vulnerabilities.

The light lines reached the end, climbed up the wall, and connected to the doorframe like a signal input. The tightly closed door emitted a golden glow, as if welcoming the people approaching slowly.

“Hm.” Mr. Hels nodded slightly. “Self-proclaimed cleverness is a kind of vileness, so what humans need is not cleverness, but wisdom.”

Their footsteps stopped in front of the door. With the sound of metal disengaging, the door slowly opened, and intense blue-gold light pierced through.

The true human Underground Base.

A massive circular hall with a blue-gold dome. Radiant light spilled down hundreds of meters underground, icy yet brilliant.

Some people hurried through the hall, holding computers or paper documents. No one paid them any attention, and there were no faces Horne recognized.

He gently pressed his chest and slowly exhaled.

The hall had direction signs pointing to various functional areas. As they walked forward to the edge, Horne realized that this circular hall was the central transportation hub. Standing at the edge of the hall and looking over the railing, there were several more floors below, stacked with corridors. Each level was covered in blue-gold light. It was a multi-layered radial composite structure, a honeycomb-style underground base with multiple partitioned levels.

“How does it feel?” Mr. Hels asked.

Horne placed his hands on the railing, the icy touch transmitting to his forearms as he looked down. Sparse figures passed each other on the corridors below.

Horne told the truth: “Beyond expectations.”

The Tower monitored people’s lives, and they were quite confident, factoring human resistance possibilities into their considerations. They spent so much time and energy suppressing human ambitions, and when they finally found it, they must have done so with victorious smiles.

Victory and pride were followed by celebration and relaxation.

“Come with me.” Mr. Hels gestured to the left.

They bypassed the hall and reached an open area. As soon as they stepped onto it, the floor sank, and all the scenery slowly rose.

The hall above gradually receded, while the overlapping arc corridors below drew closer.

“Technical District…” Horne glanced at the floor disappearing overhead.

The descending platform constantly had people entering and leaving. Some greeted Mr. Hels, while others focused on their computers until Horne spotted a familiar face.

Not truly familiar—they did not know each other—but their last meeting had left a psychological shadow on Horne, so he remembered the face extra well.

The limping tramp who walked with a hobble boarded the platform, glanced at Horne in confusion, and suddenly grinned at him: “The Colonel’s here?”

Horne stood straight, saying nothing, his expression indifferent.

Mr. Hels asked: “Did he offend you?”

The lame tramp waved his hand and answered for Horne: “We met in the Slum. Back then, Aibai tried to rob me, and the Colonel suddenly appeared, standing up for me. I was pretty touched, but there was no choice—the Recon Drone was watching nearby, so I… repaid kindness with enmity.” He sounded a bit embarrassed. “Sorry about that, Colonel. It wasn’t my intention.”

Mr. Hels probably knew what had happened. He smiled and said: “Don’t be mad. Sometimes they act like that. After all, if they don’t make it look like a city of sin, how would the Aliens believe humans have completely fallen?”

Horne pursed his lips, his expression still cold: “Is this how you deceive the Tower?”

“Something like that.”

At least the tramps in the Slum were. They represented the lowest point of Loch City’s depravity.

Since people from the Slum could enter Thunder Pavilion, it meant many residents of Loch City could enter Thunder Pavilion. The entrance to Thunder Pavilion was in the Holographic Game room—those individual cabins were actually entrances. Those depraved, mad people who could not survive and could only immerse themselves in false Holographic Games—perhaps they were not immersing in games; they were just in Thunder Pavilion.

But in the Aliens’ eyes, humans were addicted to falsehood and chaos. They never suspected that beneath the most depraved Red Light District lurked the true human city.

Horne walked beside Mr. Hels along the arc corridor and asked as they went: “Thunder Pavilion—do many people know about this place?”

He glanced at the sign at the front of the floor: Main Control Area.

Mr. Hels denied it: “There is risk assessment. After all, humans are a clever species, but cleverness alone is far from enough.”

He had just said that line. Horne followed up: “Oh, and they also need wisdom?”

Mr. Hels suddenly laughed. He winked at Horne and said softly: “No, they also need foresight. What we’re dealing with isn’t just the Aliens, but ourselves too.”

Their footsteps stopped in front of a door marked: Office of the Supreme Commander.

Mr. Hels pushed it open directly. Stale air surged out, and several gazes inside all focused over.

Horne’s figure also paused there, somewhat surprised.

Many familiar faces: Wang Wudao, Han Ya, Wen Yu, even Ye Shu and Wan Ji, plus some others.

As Horne’s gaze swept past, Ye Shu smiled faintly at him. She had not even removed her boxing gloves, which gave off an intense sense of power—like the gear of a professional boxer.

You Wenjie stood right by the door, as if he had anticipated their arrival. As soon as the door opened, he said naturally: “Mr. Hels. Mr. Horne, welcome.”

It was an office similar to the Command Room in the Military District. A massive interactive projection dominated the front, with a table in the center holding a model of an air force fighter jet that somewhat resembled a Falcon—Horne was not sure.

They were in a meeting. Horne followed Mr. Hels to the back and casually found a seat.

The projection screen showed a full panoramic model of the Tower District buildings.

You Wenjie stood at the front, concisely explaining everyone’s tasks, then finished the sentence that had been interrupted earlier: “The high-energy Particle has taken shape. Now we must find the Fate Community. Next, Ye Shu will continue gathering intelligence in the Red Light District, looking for possible candidates. Wan Ji will assist, and the technical team will keep strict surveillance on whether the Hermit responds.”

Mr. Hels leaned close to Horne’s ear and softly explained that finding the Hermit was the Technical District’s job; they were only responsible for the plan to rescue Ains. Horne crossed his legs and arms over his chest, sitting ramrod straight. His ears were filled with You Wenjie’s briefing and Mr. Hels’s explanations, but his gaze drifted outside the window.

One side overlooked the blue-gold hall they had just entered; the other showed blue skies and white clouds, sunlight streaming through the windows onto streets and shops below. It was a miniature city simulated on the surface through technology.

After a long breakdown of the plan, You Wenjie scanned the people below: “Five people infiltrate for the rescue. Time is short—get her out within three days. Any questions?”

No one objected.

Horne pulled his attention back. After a brief silence, he said in a not-too-loud voice: “I have one.”

“Mr. Horne.” You Wenjie looked at him.

The people in front turned to watch him.

Horne nodded slightly, his demeanor still like that unyielding Colonel from back then. He said gravely: “I’ve been thinking about rescuing Ains these past few days too. Before, Ais threatened me—if I didn’t do as it said, it would kill Ains, and it gave a ten-day deadline. Now forty days have passed. It knows I’ve fully defected, yet it has taken no action—no settling scores with me, no killing Ains.”

The words stopped there, and the office fell silent.

Everyone knew what came next.

What should have collapsed had not. Everything was terrifyingly quiet. Ains’s survival was not due to the Tower’s mercy—it felt more like a trap. It was waiting.

“Yes.” You Wenjie affirmed Horne’s point; this risk had long been factored in. “We have no other choice. There’s no second person in Loch City who can crack the Recon Drone mainframe.”

Even knowing it was a trap, they had to go.

“I’ll go.” Horne said it calmly. Some people in front looked at him with puzzlement, and Horne added flatly: “First, Ains’s capture is related to me. Second, I’ve spent my life fighting the Aliens—more experience than you all.”

And died more times than you all.

With that, he lowered his eyelashes slightly, his ice-blue eyes frozen over: “Any issues?”

No one questioned it. Mr. Hels shrugged: “Then I’ll go too.”

“The Tower is divided into three areas.”

No one opposed Horne’s proposal. The team was reassigned, and You Wenjie reintroduced the Tower District’s layout: “The East District is Alien residences, the West District is their work and tech area, and the center is the Plaza District. The Obelisk stands in the plaza’s center.”

Even though the Tower District was a complete city-within-a-city, not every Alien stayed in the Tower. Some mingled in the city disguised as humans. They were permitted to hide, which was part of their strategy—eroding boundaries.

“Ains is in the West District prison.” You Wenjie drew a specific route from the Plaza District. They could reach the prison in the shortest distance from behind some bushes.

“There are Alien guards at the door. Jia Lan will distract them then, but the prison’s internal structure and how to get Ains out will require improvisation.” You Wenjie circled the prison location, indicating extra caution. “On the way out, return the same path to the plaza, jump into the drainage channel—a rock-crevice style pipe—then back to the escape pod in Thunder Pavilion. Wen Yu provides cover, Jia Lan brings up the rear.”

Jia Lan stood in the corner with hands behind its back. Horne frowned slightly when he looked over.

“One more issue.” Horne interrupted at an inopportune moment.

“Go ahead.”

Horne’s icy gaze slid to Jia Lan, his fingertip pointing at it as well. He said coldly: “How do I confirm this Alien won’t betray us?”

The air froze for an instant.

Horne had already stood and slowly approached Jia Lan, closing in on it. The chill in his eyes nearly froze everything as he said lowly: “If that thing is destroyed, the Aliens will vanish, and you’ll die too. Exchanging your death for humanity’s victory? Why should I believe you?”

He had always felt Aliens were untrustworthy and never hid his hatred for them.

You Wenjie was about to speak when Jia Lan already did.

“Colonel, hello. This is what I understand least about you humans. Let me explain it to you.”

It did not retreat, merely standing silently and meeting Horne’s icy stare directly.

“Humans easily divide individuals into enemies or allies, drawing a clear line in between. ‘Not of my tribe, their hearts must differ.’ They see betrayal by kin and peace with outsiders as both incomprehensible and ulterior. They think survival is winning, death is losing. In truth, humans and Aliens are just body identities—our souls come from the same place. Whether Earth or the Tau Ceti Star System, it’s all just single-player game maps. I am a lifeform of the universe; I only want our souls to return to the cosmic frequency. My body turns to ash, but we gain peace.”

“Of course, most Aliens don’t think that way,” Jia Lan added. Its erroneous pauses and stiff wording dragged the speech out unusually long.

When the Aliens first arrived en masse on Earth, they only sought peace, but after humans massacred them, they changed too. They had gradually adapted to Earth’s frequency.

“I’m willing to help you not out of personal grudges or racial divides, but because all lifeforms should reconnect with the cosmic frequency. I understand your lack of understanding, because human thinking only grasps ‘understanding’ after witnessing it.”

You Wenjie had to step between Horne and Jia Lan, saying lowly: “Mr. Horne, you can trust Jia Lan.”

Horne frowned, neither affirming nor denying belief. He simply sat back down, his attention no longer on their rescue plan but turning again to the miniature city outside the window. Because at the bottom of that azure blue, he spotted cherry blossom treetops—pink and white, as if he could smell the floral scent.

These were plants that only appeared in books. Was the scent of real cherry blossoms like this?

“Want to go down and take a look?” Hels asked him in a low voice.

Horne nodded lightly. He just opened his mouth, then closed it again. He glanced around; everyone was listening intently to You Wenjie speak. Worried that his voice would be too loud and attract attention, he scooted closer to Hels and lowered his voice too: “Compared to the holographic map, which one has more scenes?”

Hels chuckled: “The holographic map.”

“Oh, then let’s go into the map.”

“After we rescue Ains, you should have some time to go take a look.”

“Mm.” Horne answered curtly, then his voice sank. “Aren’t you going?”

Hels paused. He crossed his legs and fully turned to face Horne, his tone carrying a smile: “I want to go with you.”

You Wenjie’s voice carried a slight echo, resounding and high-pitched: “Rescue Ains, crack the recon drones, find the Fate Community, destroy it.”

“Bang!”

The last laser bullet exploded on the target, simultaneously detonating a grenade.

“This is the arduous uphill climb on the path to salvation. Perhaps we will sacrifice many more people. Every sacrifice is a rebirth. We must persist. We must triumph!”

A fire dragon roared into the sky, charging into the deep blue clouds. The Tower District descended into chaos.

“After surrendering back then, we wanted to pass down our knowledge and skills generation by generation, to build something that could truly oppose the Aliens. We encountered many obstacles. Even as the supreme commander, I once wanted to give up, because to the universe, individual humans are truly insignificant. But humans…

“…are forever great.”

The Tower District issued an emergency notice: [West District fire.]

A sharp whooshing sound cut through the air. Another sniper grenade passed through a wall crack, tearing the air apart as it precisely pierced the sea of flames.

It was silent and traceless, but it made the fire burn even more fiercely.

At the altar of the West District Cathedral, Ais stood up, walked to the window, looked up at the rolling thick smoke, and curled the corners of its mouth: “They’ve finally come.”