On the shelves and scattered on the ground were all kinds of life-saving medicines, everything one could need.
The abundance of resources made Pei Ran’s heartbeat involuntarily quicken.
However, many medicine boxes were thrown on the ground, capsules flattened, tablets mixed with shards of broken glass from medicine bottles, all crushed underfoot.
Pei Ran felt a pang of heartache.
As she searched, she casually picked up these precious medicines that had fallen to the ground and placed them back on the shelves, also collecting a few common medicines that were missing from her home first-aid kit.
After making a round in the pharmacy, she still couldn’t find the JTN34.
Pei Ran did notice one thing: the packaging of JTN34 was completely different from that of the other medicines in the pharmacy.
The various medicines in the pharmacy had flashy outer packaging, covered with trademarks, manufacturers, indications, main ingredients, usage instructions, and so on. In contrast, the JTN34 box was very simple and plain, with nothing but the line of letters and numbers.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The sound of something being smashed echoed, quite abrupt in the quiet pharmacy.
Pei Ran looked up and saw a man in his thirties in the corner of the pharmacy, holding a round stool high and smashing it against a cabinet.
His navy blue coat was exquisitely crafted, made of fine materials, with a subtle sheen, yet the front was covered with dark stains.
There was no need to guess what those stains were, because next to him stood a girl of about fourteen or fifteen, her light beige short coat also stained with large patches of red, clearly blood.
The girl’s face was extremely pale, her gaze vacant, unfocused, motionless, as if she had lost her soul, her condition appearing very abnormal.
The two looked very similar, likely siblings.
The man in the coat smashed a few more times, then yanked hard on the cabinet door.
The material of the cabinet door was familiar to Pei Ran—she had kicked it before—
It was the same as the company door on the platform when she first traveled through time. Tea-colored, semi-transparent, looking like glass but as sturdy as a steel plate.
Despite the man’s violent treatment, the cabinet door didn’t even have a scratch.
The man was utterly frustrated and started kicking the cabinet door with all his might, over and over.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The noise also attracted the attention of others. A burly man, well over six feet tall and weighing at least two hundred pounds, heard the commotion and walked over. The man in the coat glanced at the strong man’s physique, quickly opened the virtual screen on his wristband, enlarged it, turned it toward him, and hastily typed something on it.
He was writing:
【I am looking for medicine.】
【My younger sister has a rare blood disease called IVO. She must take medication every day to keep it under control. She’s almost out of medicine—without it, she will die.】
【The pharmacy has locked away all the special medications. The staff is nowhere to be found. I know the medicine is in this cabinet. Please help me.】
He couldn’t speak, and perhaps out of urgency, his fingers flew across the screen.
The burly man beside him pressed down on his arm, signaling that he didn’t need to write any more. Then, he grabbed the small stool the man had set aside.
Taking a step back, the burly man took a deep breath, his arm muscles bulging as he swung the stool with full force.
“Bang—”
The stool couldn’t withstand such power—its seat snapped apart, shooting off and crashing into the wall.
The burly man gripped the cabinet door handle and yanked hard.
Yet, the cabinet remained firmly shut.
Pei Ran carefully examined the cabinet.
Through the dark, semi-transparent door, she could vaguely see numerous medicine boxes stacked inside. The man in the coat had said that all the special medications were locked up—perhaps JTN34 was in there as well.
On the cabinet door, there was a small display screen, just like the one on Pei Ran’s apartment door. It was a fingerprint lock.
Even though the power was out, the small screen was still illuminated—likely running on an independent power source. A fingerprint icon was displayed on the screen.
Unfortunately, the pharmacy staff was nowhere to be found—either they had fled, or their fingerprint had been reduced to a pile of flesh and blood.
The burly man wasn’t ready to give up. He gripped the remaining metal stool leg and started hammering at the cabinet.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Pei Ran stepped forward and gestured for the burly man to step aside.
Both men turned their heads and looked at Pei Ran, who was significantly shorter than them. They were momentarily stunned. But the burly man still moved aside and, out of habit, handed her the stool leg.
Pei Ran shook her head, refusing it. Instead, she clenched the cabinet door handle with her gloved right hand and yanked forcefully.
Crack.
This time, there was definite progress—the door handle came off entirely in her grip.
The burly man hadn’t expected her to have that kind of strength. His mouth instinctively fell open, but he quickly snapped it shut.
Pei Ran caught the movement from the corner of her eye and fell silent for a moment.
She turned to glance at the burly man, then lifted her hand and waved it in a fanning motion.
The burly man understood immediately and took a step back.
Pei Ran nudged her chin forward.
The burly man stepped back again, putting even more distance between them.
Keeping a safe distance was better—if he accidentally let out an “Ah”, she’d have to go through the trouble of dodging.
Pei Ran then turned back, carefully examining the cabinet again. She removed her glove, revealing a black, matte-finished mechanical hand.
She clenched her fist and punched forward.
Crack! The cabinet door shattered. Like a spider web, cracks rapidly spread across the surface with sharp, splintering sounds.
The burly man and the man in the coat both managed to keep their mouths shut this time, not making a single sound.
They had the same thought: If that punch had landed on someone’s head, their brains would’ve splattered everywhere, right?
Pei Ran didn’t hold back. She followed up with another punch, blasting a hole right through the door. Her mechanical fingers reached in and, with a few quick movements, tore the opening wider, finally revealing the neatly stacked medicine boxes inside.
One glance, and Pei Ran was slightly disappointed.
The medicine boxes were all too flashy—not plain enough.
Still, she carefully searched again. There was no JTN34 inside.
Pei Ran turned and motioned for the man in the coat to come over.
He had been standing at a distance but had clearly already spotted the medicine he was looking for. His eyes lit up as he hurried forward, mouth opening—
He seemed to instinctively want to say “Thank you.”
Saying “thank you” out of habit was a sign of good manners—but right now, it was deadly.
Pei Ran was startled and instantly leaped away from the cabinet.
Luckily, the man in the coat realized in time and shut his mouth. Instead, he gave Pei Ran a grateful look and silently reached in, taking out two small yellow medicine boxes.
He stuffed the medicine into the pocket of his coat, nodded at the burly man, and turned to leave. But after taking just one step, he suddenly stopped.
Opening the virtual screen on his wristband, he typed a message for Pei Ran to see:
【Are you looking for medicine too? What medicine are you searching for?】
Pei Ran pulled an empty medicine box from her backpack.
The man took the box, examined it for a moment, then quickly typed on the screen:
【Medications with only a serial number like this are all special drugs produced by Wolin Pharmaceuticals. You can’t buy them anywhere else—not even their own chain stores stock them regularly. They only deliver when someone places an order in advance.】
【Did you pre-order it? If you did, and it’s not here, I’d guess your medicine is still at the Wolin Pharmacy’s main store.】
That was highly possible.
The original owner of this body had been taking this medicine regularly—chances were, it had been pre-ordered. But with the Silence Outbreak happening so suddenly, the medication was probably still at the main store and had never been delivered.
Pei Ran immediately opened her virtual screen and wrote:【Where is their main store?】
The man in the coat replied:【It’s on Hank Street.】
Pei Ran had no idea where Hank Street was.
She opened the map app on her wristband, but as soon as she did, a notification popped up:【Please check your network signal.】
The network was down—the map was useless.
She had no choice but to ask:【How do I get to Hank Street?】
The man in the coat looked puzzled:【Hank Street is right in the city center. It’s a well-known street. You don’t know it?】
Pei Ran: 【I just arrived in White Harbor. I don’t know my way around.】
The man in the coat understood now. His fingers hovered over the screen as if he were thinking about how to give directions.
He hesitated for so long that the burly man watching grew impatient and started typing himself:【I know! It’s a bit of a distance…】
But the man in the coat shook his head at him, glanced at his younger sister beside him, and then finally typed: 【I have a car. I’ll take you there.】
Pei Ran immediately asked:【A hover car?】
Those cars were completely unusable now. They would explode.
The man in the coat: 【Don’t worry, no. It’s a vintage car I collect. It has no AI interaction system. That’s how we got here.】
He took his sister’s hand and tilted his head toward the door, signaling Pei Ran to follow.
The little girl silently clung to her brother’s hand. Though her body was here, it seemed like her soul had drifted elsewhere—she had no reaction to anything happening around her.
As they exited the pharmacy, Pei Ran turned back to look toward the supermarket.
She had been too focused on getting medicine earlier and had forgotten to exchange contact info with the girl in the black coat.
But the place where the girl had been standing was now empty. Fortunately, there were no bloodstains on the ground—at least she hadn’t died. Who knew where she had gone?
The man in the coat led his sister and Pei Ran forward a short distance before motioning with his chin toward a car parked by the roadside.
The vehicle looked completely different from any hover car Pei Ran had seen before. Instead of a smooth, aerodynamic design, it had sharp, intricate lines. It was well-maintained, its black paint gleaming under the dim light, and even the wheels were spotless—clearly a collector’s item.
The problem was, someone was already trying to steal it.
A thug stood beside the car, swinging a metal rod.
Crash!
Glass shattered everywhere.
This wasn’t modern reinforced glass—it was real, old-fashioned glass. A single hit, and the side window broke into pieces.
Right now, vintage cars were the only ones that could still run. Everyone wanted one.
The man in the coat immediately let go of his sister’s hand and rushed forward in a few quick strides.
Pei Ran was worried he might yell, but thankfully, he didn’t. Instead, he simply tapped the thug politely on the shoulder, gestured toward the car, then pointed at himself—as if to say:
This car is mine.
Pei Ran: “……”
This guy was way too polite.
The thug was already in the middle of smashing the car window to steal it. Did he really care who the car belonged to?
This man had just wasted a golden opportunity to bash the thug over the head from behind.
Sure enough, the thug turned around, gave the man a brief look of confusion—then immediately swung the metal rod at him.
The man in the coat quickly dodged, barely avoiding the heavy swing, and retaliated with a swift punch to the thug’s jaw.
The thug staggered back a few steps.
Now, he had gotten a clear look at the man—well-dressed, accompanied by two girls. Most importantly, he was holding something just as antique as the car—the car keys.
The thug had been wondering how he’d even start the vintage car once he got inside. Now, someone was handing him the key on a silver platter.
A wicked grin spread across his face. Without hesitation, he swung the metal rod again and charged forward.
No one spoke. No one made a sound.
Only the wind howled in the background—
A deadly, silent battle.
Pei Ran immediately saw it—the thug’s attacks were ruthless, every swing of the metal rod aimed directly at the man in the coat’s head.
If even one hit landed, blood would splatter on the spot.
The man in the coat seemed to have some boxing experience. He dodged quickly, but his movements had the structured precision of a competition—strictly by the book. There were no dirty tricks—no eye gouging, no groin kicks, no throat locks.
This wasn’t a competition.
Very soon, the thug gained the upper hand.
He spotted an opening, raised the rod high, and swung it down in a perfect arc, fully expecting this blow to crush the man’s skull.
Then—his foot caught on something.
His entire body lurched forward, and he crashed face-first onto the sidewalk curb.
Stunned, he struggled to turn his head, only to see that at some point, the slightly taller girl had silently crept up behind him.
She was now on his back—one knee pressed against his spine, pinning him down, her hand gripping his right arm—the one holding the metal rod.
Crack!
A sharp snap rang out.
The thug’s arm was instantly twisted into an unnatural angle.
Pei Ran’s attack was silent, sudden, and precise. The man in the coat froze in place, unable to move.
This was the first time in his life he had seen someone’s bone get snapped right in front of him.
The technique was so fast, clean, and ruthless—so practiced—it was as if she had done this a thousand times before.
He was still in shock when Pei Ran suddenly grabbed his arm and yanked him backward. He stumbled several steps away from the scene.
At the same time, the thug on the ground let out a piercing, earth-shattering scream.
It lasted only three seconds.
Bang. Everything stopped.
Many people on the street had already noticed the fight earlier, but in times like these, street brawls were nothing unusual.
But then, in the blink of an eye, they saw Pei Ran move like a phantom, pin someone to the ground, and the next second—the man exploded.
No one had even seen how it happened.
Even the little girl, who had been in a daze until now, was shaken awake. She stared at Pei Ran, wide-eyed in shock.
But Pei Ran felt something off.
Someone else was watching her.
Not the siblings.
Not the stunned bystanders.
It was that instinctive warning—the same feeling she had in the bunker when an enemy had locked onto her, moments before an attack.
The kind of feeling that made the hair on her back stand on end and sent chills down her spine.
Pei Ran turned her head.
And then—she saw it.
Across the street.
By the ruins of the collapsed Federal Library, amidst the rubble—something was floating in midair.
A silver metal sphere, gleaming faintly in the shadows of a nearby building. Painted on its surface was a stark white “DOD.”
It hovered there in absolute silence, its presence nearly blending into the darkness.
But Pei Ran could feel it watching.
With its one, deep, pitch-black mechanical eye, it stared at her—cold, unblinking, emotionless.
She had heard about this on the bus earlier.
The “Federal Security Agent”—a newly activated AI under the Federal Defense and Security Department.
Fully authorized to handle all national security matters.
Pei Ran suddenly recalled that indifferent, emotionless male voice:
“I can guarantee that every law-abiding citizen is absolutely safe.”
Yet, just now, she had forcibly broken into a pharmacy’s locked medicine cabinet, snapped a man’s arm in half, and indirectly caused someone’s death.
At this moment, she was deeply uncertain—
Had she broken this world’s ‘law’?
Did she still count as a ‘law-abiding citizen’ of the Federation?
She stood still, fingers subtly tightening as her mechanical hand emitted a barely perceptible hum.
Across the street, the Federation’s AI Security Agent remained suspended in midair, its dark, mechanical eye fixed on her, unmoving.
Watching.
Calculating.
Judging.