This was a naked threat.
Basserway was not dead yet, and he had no desire to become a “dead member.” His face was ashen, and he took a deep breath. “I’ll do it myself.”
On the screen, in the camera feed, he still looked as well-dressed and composed as always.
Basserway spoke: “All citizens of Black Well, I am Basserway, Chief Executive Officer of the Federation…”
Pei Ran was tired. She slung the spider over her shoulder and sat down on the table beside him.
She had never heard Basserway give a speech before. For this man to still speak so fluently under such circumstances—clearly, what Team Leader Li said about him being able to move audiences to tears during his usual speeches was probably true.
At this moment, on the giant screen in the central square, as well as all the virtual screens in public areas throughout Black Well—whether it was the ground-floor lobby of the dormitory buildings or inside the elevators—Basserway’s statement was being broadcast live.
In the square, the assembled soldiers all looked up, filled with doubt and alarm.
The officers were frantically contacting their superiors, and the entire scene was in chaos.
In the small meeting room on the top floor, Basserway obediently said everything he was supposed to say, ended the broadcast, and shrank back into his chair.
From time to time, he would sneak a glance at the corpse on the floor, then lift his eyes to peek at Pei Ran—sitting on a chair pushed up to the conference table, casually spinning the gun in her hand, looking utterly bored—his heart full of unease.
He had first heard this killing demon’s name back when they were discussing First-Class Medal recipients.
Later, when she went down into the shield tunneling machine’s tunnel to blow up the Thinker’s combat command center, he remembered he had asked, “Pei Ran? Who’s that?”
A name like that shouldn’t have even been worth remembering.
So what if she’d received a First-Class Medal from the Federation? Even that medal was merely a tool to motivate people to defend the Federation—he could authorize one with a wave of his hand.
He had far more important matters to think about.
But gradually, this name began to haunt his life like a ghost that wouldn’t go away.
The Vanguard Party’s Nan Yi had been rescued by her from the island. According to intel from their informants inside the royal family, Yu He and his son had gone missing while trying to find her. Most terrifying of all—File No. 10 had somehow gotten entangled with her too.
This person absolutely must not be left alive.
And yet, she couldn’t be killed. Not only could she not be killed—she came back, and turned this place upside down with bloodshed.
Basserway knew the power gap between them was too great. Resistance was pointless, so he cooperated fully. But even if he cooperated—could he really survive?
At this point, Basserway began to think that as long as he could stay alive, even if he had to go to the Blue Zone and screw bolts on the assembly line, it wouldn’t be so bad.
Outside, there was a sound like the elevator arriving—ding.
Pei Ran immediately looked up.
W said, “Marshal Vina and the others are here.”
Hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor, approaching this direction—it sounded like quite a few people.
The door to the meeting room was pushed open, and a group of people appeared at the entrance.
Pei Ran saw Marshal Vina.
The last time she saw her was at the medal ceremony—her silver hair was perfectly in place, her posture as straight and sharp as a fine sword. But tonight, several strands of hair had fallen over her forehead, the nasolabial lines beside her nose were deeply etched, her brows were furrowed, and her eyes revealed clear anxiety and fatigue.
Pei Ran also saw Qiao Sai among the group. He seemed mostly fine, except for a bruise on the left side of his face—it wasn’t clear whether he had been punched or had bumped into something.
Marshal Vina glanced over the corpses strewn across the room, then strode inside quickly.
She completely ignored Basserway, who was sitting there, and asked Pei Ran directly, “They’re all dead?”
W had clearly already reported the situation here to Marshal Vina.
Pei Ran got down from the table. “Lieutenant General Delsa is still alive.”
He was the military leader behind this coup. Pei Ran had held back when striking him, fearing she might need him as a hostage later to deal with the military. But now, that wasn’t necessary.
Marshal Vina nodded. “Good.”
She ordered someone to take Basserway away and lock him up in the isolation center for now.
Basserway stood up. “Marshal Vina, what happened this time was because I was misled by Lieutenant General Delsa—I made a mistake. From now on, no matter what you ask me to do, I will fully cooperate.”
Marshal Vina didn’t even spare him a glance—she simply waved her hand to have him taken away.
He was escorted out. The unconscious Lieutenant General Delsa was also dragged away.
W’s voice came through: “All major officers involved in this incident have been brought under control. The guards at Black Well’s entrance have also been replaced.”
Marshal Vina let out a breath of relief and looked at Pei Ran.
Too many upheavals had taken place tonight. Years of painstaking effort within the Federation had nearly been destroyed in an instant.
She looked earnestly at Pei Ran. “Agent W has already briefed me on the situation. We still have many things to take care of tonight. Stay with me.”
It was because of Pei Ran that she was able to turn things around completely. At this moment, Pei Ran was actually more reliable than anyone else by her side.
Pei Ran politely declined: “Marshal Vina, someone broke into my dorm. I want to go back and take a look first.”
To check on Ren and Xingkong.
Marshal Vina hesitated for a moment, but still nodded. “Alright. Then tomorrow morning, come find me at the command center.”
She gestured to the person beside her. “Send a car to take her back.”
Pei Ran set down Lieutenant General Delsa’s gun and walked out of the meeting room.
Outside the door, the ground was covered in splattered blood and flesh—there was barely a place to set foot. It was all the remains of the Northwest Military District’s special forces soldiers.
Pei Ran swept her gaze across the scene, her expression pained.
The surveillance camera above her was rotating. W saw the look on her face.
“Pei Ran, they were about to break down the door at the time. You had no choice.”
Pei Ran walked down the corridor.
“I know. The situation was urgent, and we were racing against the clock. ‘Shatter’ was a function I’ve used before—it takes effect quickly and is reliable. It was the safest option. I’m not blaming myself.”
She said, “I just think, outside is buried in silence, with those frenzied fused forms everywhere… and even in such times, Black Well is still consumed by power struggles. People dying meaninglessly like tonight—it’s absurd.”
But Black Well was like a black whirlpool, dragging people into its chaos.
Staying uninvolved was impossible. If you wanted to survive, you had to act.
And it wasn’t just her—Basserway, Marshal Vina—they were all the same.
The elevator arrived. Pei Ran stepped in and suddenly remembered, “W, your core processor is still in my backpack.”
W couldn’t possibly have forgotten, but he hadn’t reminded her either.
W replied leisurely, “I was planning to stay in your backpack a little longer.”
Pei Ran had wanted to take him with her too, but whether she kept it on her or left it in the dorm, it wasn’t safe. It was still better to return him to the control room.
Now that Black Well was back in his hands, the control room would be much safer.
Pei Ran pressed the button for B3.
No one was on Basement Level 3. The control room door opened automatically.
The small table W’s core processor used to sit on had been left behind in the mining zone. Pei Ran dragged a table over from the adjacent room and placed the core processor on it.
She then went to the storage room, retrieved his repair kit, put the tools back in place, and casually pulled out an energy block, slipping it into her backpack.
It was more reassuring to keep one on her.
W was already used to her various L4-level theft behaviors—he clearly saw it but didn’t say a word.
Pei Ran placed the repair kit next to the core processor, glanced over everything once, then stepped back. “Alright, close the door.”
The inner and outer doors closed automatically.
Pei Ran said, “From now on, no matter who it is—admiral or lieutenant general—don’t let them in here casually anymore.”
W calmly replied, “Alright. From now on, only Pei Ran can enter my control room.”
The military vehicle arranged by Marshal Vina was waiting outside the building.
The soldiers in the central square had already been replaced with a new batch.
Same uniforms, same weapons, same armored vehicles—on the surface, it didn’t look any different from earlier.
Black Well was still under lockdown. There were no pedestrians or civilian vehicles on the streets, only military convoys speeding through.
This was a sleepless night for Black Well. All civilians remained inside their dormitories, too afraid to come out.
Pei Ran’s car drove through the empty streets, passing through several newly set up checkpoints along the way. Only after verification was she allowed to return to the Yellow Zone.
Pei Ran hurried upstairs.
On the twentieth floor, the door to Room 2016 was still open.
Ren and Xingkong were still curled up in the same spot—after all this time, they hadn’t moved at all.
The sound of Pei Ran entering startled Ren, who jerked his head up. When he saw who it was, giant cartoon tears welled up and streamed from his wide, expressive eyes.
“Master… Xingkong is dead…”
He sobbed, hiccuping, “…it won’t move… no matter how I call it, I can’t wake it up…”
Even small robots could cry.
Pei Ran knew Ren’s language settings had always been natural. Qiao Sai had configured him with the most human-like expression modes.
Now, it had chosen the saddest one.
The virtual tears streamed down continuously.
His own chest was also damaged, exposing some wires, but it didn’t look serious.
“There were so many of them… I don’t know who… suddenly they just broke in…” Ren complained to Pei Ran, “…I was about to reason with them, but Xingkong rushed over, grabbed me, and ran. Then it got shot.”
Ren cried, “It must’ve hit the core processor… it won’t move anymore… when it’s like this, that means it’s dead, right?”
Pei Ran crouched in front of him and placed her hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t cry,” Pei Ran said. “I’ll figure out a way to fix it.”
Ren nodded slightly, staring at the dark screen of Xingkong in his arms.
It suddenly asked, tentatively, “But even if it’s repaired… will it still be the same Xingkong as before?”
Pei Ran looked at it, unable to speak.
Ren pouted, his face full of sorrow. “…I want the original Xingkong. I don’t want Xingkong to die… If it’s dead, then nothing’s left, not even itself, right?”
It had finally come to understand what death was.
Pei Ran reached out and gently took Xingkong from Ren’s arms.
“Everyone dies. You will, and so will I. You might even live longer than I do. Life ends, species go extinct, planets vanish, even the universe will eventually perish. Everything that begins will end—that’s a truth we have to accept.”
Pei Ran examined the hole in Xingkong’s chest.
W hadn’t turned off the camera today. The mechanical spider crawled onto her shoulder and peered down with her.
Pei Ran asked, “Where are the tools?”
The question was directed at both Ren and W.
“I’ve got them,” Ren said. “Our model comes with built-in repair tools.”
With a pop, a small silver cylindrical case sprang from the back of its calf.
Pei Ran opened it and found a strangely shaped screwdriver. She used it to remove the panel on Xingkong’s chest.
As soon as the panel came off, all three—one human, two machines—brightened visibly.
The blue glow of Xingkong’s core processor was still on.
The shot had severed an entire bundle of connecting wires. That was all—it just couldn’t move or show expressions.
Ren let out a cheer and leapt to its feet.
“It’s not dead!”
“Xingkong’s not dead!!”
It spun in place in a flurry and babbled excitedly, “Once it’s fixed, I’m going to teach it all the housework!”
“I was kind of keeping secrets before,” it muttered, then quickly raised its voice, “But I won’t anymore! I’m going to teach it everything!!”
Pei Ran: Teach it your special technique for cutting meal kit seals perfectly in one snip with scissors?
Xingkong’s damage wasn’t serious—Pei Ran could handle the repairs herself.
She sat down right there on the floor and buried her head in the work.
Ren stopped spinning and squatted down again, watching eagerly from the side.
Pei Ran carefully examined the damaged section and said to W, “I can only do a rough fix for now, just enough to get by. It’d be best to replace the parts.”
W replied, “Don’t worry. The Loyal Follower Model S581 is a common type of smart robot—repair shops will have the parts. I’ll have someone bring them over for you tomorrow.”
But in any case, the wires had been reconnected.
Pei Ran finished reconnecting the lines, and suddenly, Xingkong’s facial display screen flickered and lit up. The cartoonish big eyes reappeared on the panel.
It blinked.
“I could hear your voices just now, but I couldn’t move.”
With the wires severed, it had lost control of its body—like a person in a vegetative state. The brain was still functioning, and it could hear, but the body wouldn’t respond.
Pei Ran helped it sit up.
“As long as you’re okay. Tomorrow we’ll replace your parts, and swap out the chest panel. Ren also needs a new panel.”
Ren reached out a mechanical finger and cautiously poked Xingkong’s chest.
“Xingkong,” it called its name.
Xingkong: “Hm?”
Ren solemnly raised one metal hand. “I swear, I’ll make you the most outstanding housework robot in all of Black Well—second only to me!!”
It looked at Xingkong with hopeful enthusiasm, like a sword master gazing upon a once-overlooked disciple who had, by some twist of fate, come back from the dead—suddenly awakened to a profound sense of mentorship and kinship.
Pei Ran turned to look at Xingkong—and for the first time in her life, she saw an awkward expression on a robot’s face panel.
But Xingkong quickly changed it into a smile and politely said to Ren, “That’s really wonderful, Ren. Thank you.”