Su Ming’an didn’t move; he even tilted his head, allowing the dagger to co closer to his neck.
The dagger was sharp enough to cut through his skin, drawing a very fine line of blood.
Shadow was startled, her hand trembled, and she quickly pulled the dagger back a little.
After regaining her composure, she exclaid sharply, "You aren’t afraid of dying?"
Su Ming’an laughed once.
"You don’t even dare to kill , yet you threaten with my life..." Su Ming’an said, "Alright, Ado, turn on the lights."
The watch on his left wrist lit up quickly, its light like a searchlight in the night, causing Shadow’s eyes to squint and tears to flow.
With a "snap" sound, before Shadow could react, soone grabbed her from behind by the shoulders and pushed her down to the ground.
The dagger hit the ground, emitting a clear sound.
"Who!" Shadow turned her head and saw a youth with black hair and black eyes, his eyes filled with an amused look.
That was Cloning.
As soon as night fell, Su Ming’an had summoned his cloning, Cloning, to guard him. Su Ming’an did not trust Dong An’an, did not trust Yamada Machiichi, and did not even trust his accompanying AI, Xike.
... This was probably a "Xiber syndro."
He had been deceived enough to trust only system prompts and skills inherent to him. For the task of guarding, he dared entrust only his cloning.
Shadow was pinned to the ground by Cloning, struggling constantly.
Using the light, Su Ming’an saw her wild, grass-like black hair, a pair of jade-green eyes, a slender and petite figure dressed in quality cotton clothes.
... This was Dong An’an.
During the day, this extrely timid mute woman displayed a completely opposite side at night.
Her anger just now did not match the 60 favorability points she had during the day. The current Dong An’an seed to be in a special state, like... "possessed by sothing," or "dual personality."
"Dong An’an could recognize , which is strange. I always wore a mask, never showed my face, and few people knew that Dr. Aceto needed to sit in a wheelchair; theoretically, I shouldn’t be exposed," he pondered.
"How shall we deal with her?" Cloning still had a smile on his face, pressing down on "Dong An’an" like he was catching a chicken, easily able to break her neck at any mont.
"What do you think we should do with her?" Su Ming’an asked in return. He wanted to see what sort of decision Cloning, who always acted like a knight in shining armor, would make.
Cloning looked down at the desperately struggling "Dong An’an."
"— Yasa Acto! You will not die a good death!! If it weren’t for you, the world would never have turned into this hell... Before the ’Century Catastrophe,’ humans were living well!! It’s all your fault! You are the sinner of this world!" Dong An’an’s eyes were red with fury. If not for the sound of gunfire outside, her high-decibel scolding could have drawn people from hundreds of ters around.
The ’Century Catastrophe’ she ntioned had occurred over a hundred years ago.
The Ruined World had once experienced a trendous catastrophe a hundred years ago, with only a third of the population surviving. For so reason, history had deeply covered up this catastrophe, leaving people to know only that it had occurred, without knowing the specifics of what had happened.
After the catastrophe, ten cities were born. Years later, Doomsday City erged, renad the City of asurent, and entered the current situation where eleven cities stand in equilibrium.
In Ann’s eyes, had Acto not modified the Dawn System to establish eight personas, so many people wouldn’t have been harshly segregated into classes and locked in shelters, laboring like animals. Many tragedies wouldn’t have occurred.
She lay on the ground, continuously spewing filthy words, the vulgarity of her language comparable to that of Dan Shuang, the leader of the Revolutionary Army in the Fifth World.
"My suggestion is..." Ming’an thought for a mont, then lifted his head with a smile, "kill her, the original body."
Seeing such a decisive Ming’an, Su Ming’an was sowhat surprised.
"Although the her at this mont might not be the sa her from the dayti, since she has recognized your true identity, to prevent the secret from leaking, it’s better to eliminate the threat," Ming’an’s hand firmly grasping the girl’s delicate shoulders, a gentle smile still in his eyes, yet the words he spoke were particularly cold, "If it mistakenly kills the dayti her, there’s nothing that can be done, it’s just considering the bigger picture. If you can’t bring yourself to do it, I can help you, after all... your safety cos first."
"I don’t really have any qualms," said Su Ming’an, "just a bit surprised."
...Indeed, Ming’an wasn’t exactly a pure good person, his nature was also dark.
Moreover, Ming’an was better at disguising himself; he could act like a good person while committing the most evil acts and not even regard them as evil.
Previously, many viewers had said they wanted Ming’an to be the righteous and virtuous Number One Player. The piano piece "Destiny" that Ming’an had played during the human self-rescue conference, his composed deanor in the highest eting room had many people believing he was a suitable, magnanimous leader.
If not for Su Ming’an turning off the live stream to sleep, those viewers, seeing the collapse of their idol’s image, would probably howl in grief more than anyone.
"You—" "Ann" gasped in anger, her body seemingly about to spark electricity.
But the next mont, her breathing suddenly hitched, her eyelids rolled back, her lips quivered, and before she could finish her sentence, she fainted.
She didn’t seem to be feigning unconsciousness; she genuinely fainted suddenly.
"...What caused her to faint suddenly? A persona switch?" Ming’an was startled, retracting his hand, "Is this a ruthless persona that appears at night? This seems sowhat similar to the previous Miss Lin Jiang."
Su Ming’an glanced at the unconscious Ann, her jacket dirty from the struggle, her neck crimson from being pinched.
"Let’s take her back to her room to sleep; she should wake up as the timid Ann tomorrow," Su Ming’an lay down again, pulling the covers over himself.
"Not going to kill her? The nightti her knows your identity," Ming’an said.
"We haven’t reached the point of killing her; having escaped from the Third Ring District, she definitely has many secrets," Su Ming’an turned onto his side, "Alright, take her back then, good night."
He didn’t kill Ann, because she possessed the Dawn Code, and he did not believe that killing her would yield the code.
But, of course, he couldn’t disclose these thoughts to Ming’an; the Dawn System had awakened, and anything related to the Dawn Code had to be kept inside his own mind.
"... Good night," Seeing this, Ming’an spoke no further, carrying the unconscious Ann disappearing into the night.
As Ming’an’s footsteps faded away, Su Ming’an gradually drifted into slumber, a deep sense of fatigue surged to his mind, enveloping him.
He sank into the bed as if he was sinking into an endless ocean, his senses gradually starting to fade...
...
"—You were a bit late today, Mr. Acto."
Su Ming’an suddenly opened his eyes.
A rectangular table stood before him. He sat in a chair, his fingers resting on the tabletop.
The room was a perfectly square tal hall, its pillars of a chanical icy white texture, the walls assembled from iron plates with seams perfectly straight and horizontal, giving off a neatly pieced together aesthetic appeal in its decor.
With no windows and no doors, the hall resembled an iron box, only leaving a rectangular table and nine people seated around it.
Four people sat on each side of the table, and he was sitting at the head, his forearms and elbows flush against the tabletop, his fingers clasped together as if in thought.
...What’s going on?
...Wasn’t he just sleeping in a cabin?
He blinked, looking at the eight people seated, most of whom he did not recognize, but one looked very much like Treya, his assistant in Central City, and another resembled Che, the leader of the combat team, the other six were n and won of various ages.
"The final person has arrived, so let’s begin tonight’s eting," a woman in a silver uniform, with "Number Three" floating above her head, said softly.
The others nodded slightly in agreent.
Though Su Ming’an was unclear about the situation, he nodded along with the others. He guessed that he must have been suddenly pulled into so high-level eting by so kind of space technology. It must be a eting he was part of as the lord of Acto City, similar to a video conference, so there was no need to be overly nervous.
"The Dawn System has just been updated, and there’s practically no issue with the data. Does anyone have any questions?" the woman in the silver uniform with Number Three said.
The other seven shook their heads; Su Ming’an followed suit.
"Then... regarding the developnt of the ’Hawk Hound’ production line for manufacturing M-09 combat defense robots, does anyone have any reservations about this decision?" the woman in the silver uniform with Number Three said.
The other seven shook their heads; Su Ming’an followed suit.
"That settles it from my side. Everyone, please proceed," the woman in the silver uniform with Number Three said.
A blond man with a square soft cap and a tallic badge on his shoulder stood up, the emblems on his shoulder, two shiny olive branches with a blooming black rose, indicated he was from one of the top three organizations of the City of asurent, "Eden." His head bore the "Number Four."
Su Ming’an speculated that these numbers probably represented the hierarchy among these nine individuals because, through the system mirror, he saw "Number One" floating above his head.
"The trade with Arterro City is ongoing, and based on analysis, this transaction could provide us with 120,000 people. After modifications in the bio-engineering chambers, it is preliminarily estimated that one-tenth of them could beco combat forces," the blonde man with Number Four said, "Artero is a shrewd person; he understands the principle of mutual dependence, providing us healthy and strong individuals unlike the mixed quality of the last ti. We should consider expanding our trade with him, provided that his target isn’t the long-range annihilation artillery we’ve recently developed, which is a strategic weapon."
"Understood," a black-haired woman sitting nearby, responsible for recording, nodded. Her fingers tapping on a transparent keyboard, lines of text transmitted into the transparent panel in front of her. A "Number Nine" floated above her head.
Then, the woman who resembled Teresa, with sandy blond hair, began speaking. She had "Number Two" floating above her head.
Her fingertips brushed her bright red lips, as if saring a glaring swath of blood, and she smiled elegantly, "Then, regarding the selection at Caius Tower, I suggest a postponent. The ’Dream Making’ Group has yet to definitively determine the circuits and nurical values of the Red Stone World, and there could be errors in spatial positioning."
"Understood," the woman with Number Nine who was responsible for records responded again.
"Caius Tower has made the necessary preparations; if the selection is postponed, the ti fra should ideally be three to five days," a thin, stern-faced young man said, identified as "Number Six."
"Understood," as soon as the thin, stern-faced young man with Number Six finished speaking, the woman with Number Nine responsible for recording responded.
"For the postponent period... I believe three days would be optimal," the woman with sandy blond hair and Number Two said.
"Additionally, regarding the recent explosion in the Core Area, we need to urgently deploy twelve mbers of the Tribunal to conduct a search..." a red-haired man began, identified as "Number Eight."
"Understood," the woman numbered nine continued to respond.
Su Ming’an silently watched these eight people discussing.
Or rather... it would be more appropriate to describe it as a "report."
The others were responsible for reporting, and whatever they said was recorded by Number Nine, who confird it with the word "understood."
The production status of high-level technology, the secret codes for confidential information, the most intricate core relationships among the three top organizations, and many high-level decisions he could not understand... Between their words, they settled the situation of the world.
It was a very high-level eting. Many decisions he could not understand due to a lack of information, he just morized silently.
Finally, he heard about sothing related to the Fringe.
"According to chip monitoring, Che Kylstia of ’Battle Group’ seems to want to approach Central City. If he truly becos the final victor of the Caius Tower, should we, by the victory rules, allow him access to Central City?" the woman with beige hair numbered two said.
"Of course, the rules should not be broken," the thin man numbered six said.
"Yes, the rules that have been established should not be broken. Before this, soone among us has already paid the price," the man numbered four said gravely.
When this topic was addressed, everyone looked serious, and so slightly sighed.
"...He always likes to be such a pioneer," the woman with beige hair numbered two said after a pause.
"...Ever since the Century Catastrophe, I advised but could never persuade him. Our divergence has always been the root of our conflicts," the man numbered four said with a bitter smile and a shake of his head.
"...Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore," the woman in the silver suit numbered three diated, turning to look at Su Ming’an who had been silent the whole ti.
Her slender fingers ca together, and those beautiful elongated silver eyes looked at him with a smile: "Mr. Acto, do you have any comnts about this eting?"
This marked the conclusion of the eting.
As the woman in the silver suit numbered three asked this question, the others turned their heads to look at Su Ming’an sitting at the head of the table.
...The woman numbered two who resembled Treya, the man numbered four with golden hair and a black rose badge on his shoulder, the silent white-haired man numbered five, the thin and tall man numbered six, the man numbered seven who closely resembled Che, the man numbered eight with flaming red hair, and the woman numbered nine responsible for recording...
Su Ming’an morized their appearances one by one; these people were all high-end leaders of the City of asurent, and he should be able to et them during the day in the future.
He shook his head to the woman numbered three: "Let it be, I have no comnts."
...Yasa Acto must have often held these kinds of routine night etings; this group must have been quite familiar with Acto. The less said, the better, as he could not afford to be seen as abnormal.
"Then, tonight’s eting will end here. With the Caius Tower selection approaching, we will reduce the interval between etings to every night, until the end of the Caius Tower selection," the woman in the silver suit numbered three said. "Mr. Acto, do you have any comnts on this?"
"None," Su Ming’an shook his head again.
"Then—good night, everyone," the woman in the silver suit numbered three stood up, her faint smile accompanying a slight bow, the snow-white long hair falling like flowing silver:
"...May you all have good dreams in the silent white night."
...
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