Black Well.
The 24th day after entering the Silence.
Pei Ran slept in one stretch, not knowing until when, before finally opening her eyes.
The mechanical spider was crouched on the pillow. Behind it, the sunlight outside the virtual floor-to-ceiling window was warm and bright.
Pei Ran poked it and asked, “What time is it?”
W immediately replied by her ear, “Ten oh three in the morning.”
It was actually already ten o’clock.
No one had come to wake her, which meant that from last night until now, Black Well had been safe and uneventful, without any major incidents.
W said, “I told Marshal Vina that you were too tired yesterday and are still sleeping. She said there’s no need to wake you up, and that it’s fine to head to the command center after you get up.”
Aside from an extra hole in its chest, Xingkong was the same as usual. It and Ren had already prepared breakfast.
After taking her medicine and eating breakfast, Pei Ran went downstairs and saw that the military vehicle which had brought her back last night was already waiting below.
The driver was a young soldier, who came forward to greet her.
Pei Ran shook her keys, “I can drive over myself.”
The young soldier gave a salute before replying, “The lockdown is still in effect today—civilian vehicles are not allowed to pass.”
The streets of Black Well were still under lockdown and control. It was very quiet, with only military vehicles coming and going, and not a single civilian in sight. All of Black Well’s factories were shut down today, and administrative personnel were not working either.
Armed forces were on duty in the central plaza. The defense of the central building was tight—on par with last night.
Pei Ran passed through unimpeded all the way to the top floor.
The hallway outside the small conference room on the top floor was now clean and spotless, presumably thanks to the cleaning robots. The walls and floor gleamed, without a trace of blood. Only in the air did there seem to linger a faint metallic scent.
The command center’s main hall was filled with soldiers, each busy with their own tasks, handling the various aftermaths of last night’s coup. The voice of the agent W echoed through the hall—everything was orderly and under control.
Marshal Vina saw Pei Ran and gave her a smile. “Got enough sleep?”
Pei Ran nodded and took out a small storage drive from her pocket, handing it to Marshal Vina.
“This is something I found in the mining zone two days ago. They said it contains File No. 10.”
Marshal Vina froze slightly.
File No. 10—she had, of course, heard of it. Rumors were everywhere. It was said that File No. 10 held evidence of collusion between the Federation’s Heritage Party and the financial conglomerates.
Before the Silence broke out, she had also sent people to search, but unfortunately, the person carrying this so-called File No. 10—seemed to be named Kuchi or something—had remained missing.
Yet this item had ended up in Pei Ran’s hands.
And she had handed it over to her so nonchalantly, as if it were nothing.
Marshal Vina immediately took it. “Agent W—”
W responded, “Understood. I’ll decrypt it as soon as possible.”
Pei Ran knew clearly in her heart that the situation was different now.
Yu He and his son were dead. Marshal Vina had also completely fallen out with the Federation Heritage Party. There was no longer any possibility of cooperation.
The coup staged by the Heritage Party last night was carried out under the banner of opposing the military’s unconstitutional behavior and dictatorship. At this moment, exposing their own mass of dark secrets was the most appropriate timing.
Once the scandals were revealed, the Heritage Party would have no legitimate standing to do anything, and those who still harbored thoughts of secretly aligning with their faction would give up entirely.
Crushing the Heritage Party completely, leaving them no chance to rise again, aligned not only with Marshal Vina’s current interests, but also made Pei Ran, who had taken a fully opposing stance, much safer.
Pei Ran handed over the item and felt completely at ease.
Marshal Vina asked, “Agent W, has Pei Ran’s transfer order been issued?”
W’s voice came through, “It’s already been issued. Pei Ran is transferred from FBSMD to the Special Operations Security Department. Her position is Deputy Director of the Special Operations Security Department.”
Marshal Vina nodded and said to Pei Ran, “From now on, you’ll stay by my side—”
Before she could finish, a military officer hurried over.
The officer reported in a low voice, “Marshal Vina, General Eugene’s adjutant has been found. He was hiding in a factory building in the Blue Zone. We found him during a search. He’s been brought downstairs. Should we bring him up?”
Marshal Vina’s expression darkened. “Bring him in.”
Not long after, soldiers escorted someone into the command center.
The man looked extremely disheveled.
His hat was gone. The buttons of his military uniform were torn off. His collar was open. He looked like he’d crawled through a sewer—filthy all over.
Marshal Vina gave him a once-over before speaking.
“Antoine, how long have I known you?”
General Eugene’s adjutant, Antoine, opened his mouth. His voice was hoarse. “Seventeen… eighteen years.”
Marshal Vina continued to ask calmly, “And how long have I known General Eugene?”
Antoine’s voice grew even quieter. “Almost thirty years.”
Marshal Vina’s brows furrowed tightly. Her expression turned stern. “So you still remember. And yet this is the reason you turned your guns around and followed Basserway and the others to betray me?”
Antoine remained silent.
“General Eugene died last night,” Marshal Vina said. “I specifically had people search everywhere for you and bring you here because I wanted to ask one question: Why did you do it?”
Being stabbed in the back by an old friend of many years—someone she trusted the most—Marshal Vina couldn’t let it go.
Antoine took a deep breath.
The dignity of a soldier compelled him to raise his eyes and look directly at Marshal Vina.
“General Eugene felt it, and I felt it too—you’ve changed.”
He said, “Ever since entering Black Well, you’ve become more and more autocratic, unwilling to listen to anyone else’s opinion.”
Marshal Vina seemed to smile, but her jaw was tense, and the corner of her mouth pulled to the side. No matter how one looked at it, it didn’t resemble a real smile.
“Every day, I patiently wait for the members of the Provisional Decision-Making Committee to discuss, hold meetings, and vote. Isn’t that enough?”
Antoine shook his head slightly. “We all know how those votes work.”
He paused, then continued, “General Eugene’s view was that Basserway might not have been any good, but at least he was willing to maintain the federal system. As long as the federal system remains, anyone can be legally and legitimately replaced at any time. Someone else can always be brought in.”
Marshal Vina stared at him as well. “And we all know what kind of back-and-forth those replacements really are, don’t we?”
Antoine was silent for a moment.
He pressed his lips together. “But I still remember—from the very first day we became soldiers, we swore allegiance not to one person, or a few people, but to the Federation.”
His tone grew firm. “I don’t know what is truly right, but I’ve always believed that Black Well should not belong to a dictator. The Federation should not belong to a dictator. There should never be a place here where one person has the final word, where everything is ruled by—”
His words were cut off by the sound of a gunshot.
Crimson blood poured from his forehead. He froze for a moment, eyes still wide open, then collapsed to the floor.
The command hall fell into silence.
This was not a battlefield, nor was it an emergency situation. Without trial by military court, Marshal Vina had personally killed someone—this was the first time.
Marshal Vina calmly put away her gun and waved for someone to drag the body away.
She said indifferently to W, “Agent W, from this moment on, all reports that were previously submitted to the Provisional Decision-Making Committee will be submitted to me alone. All important decisions must receive my final approval before they can be executed.”
Everyone in the command hall understood—there would be no more such thing as a Provisional Decision-Making Committee in Black Well from now on.
Pei Ran silently looked toward Marshal Vina.
After what had happened last night, the politician-like mask of fake smoothness on her face had vanished. Even the few words she had just spoken were remarkably blunt.
In short—she had dropped the act.
Nan Yi could’ve served as a facade, but Marshal Vina had clearly made up her mind—not even bothering to keep up appearances anymore.
She had suffered a major setback last night, and many of her thoughts had shifted.
Pei Ran said to W in her mind, “So Marshal Vina has finally decided to take all the power into her own hands?”
W replied, “Yes. If Black Well truly needs a leader, Marshal Vina—with her sharp mind and decisive style—is certainly the better choice, far better than Basserway.”
Pei Ran glanced at Marshal Vina’s back. “But the problem is… is it really right to let one person control everything in Black Well?”
W answered honestly, “I don’t know.”
Pei Ran didn’t know either.
In a corner of the command hall, Qiao Sai sat in his usual seat and asked W, “My cousin hasn’t woken up yet?”
Lieutenant General Song Wan had been shot in the abdomen last night and was still unconscious.
W’s voice immediately came through his earpiece.
“I can see the hospital’s surveillance feed. She hasn’t woken up yet for now, but don’t worry—she wasn’t hit in any vital area. Her condition is stable. I’ll notify you the moment she wakes up.”
Qiao Sai let out a breath. “Good. I’ll go see her after my shift.”
He had stayed up all night since yesterday.
Qiao Sai looked up and glanced at Pei Ran standing beside Marshal Vina. “So Marshal Vina is planning to keep Pei Ran by her side?”
“Yes, and she’s even planning to revise Black Well’s system—to grant special approval for Pei Ran, and in the future, for other ability users she has personally evaluated. They’ll be transferred into the Special Operations Security Department and won’t be required to wear suppression wristbands anymore.”
Pei Ran’s wristband received the transfer order.
Now that she was in the Special Operations Security Department, her daily supply vouchers had significantly increased, but she had even less to do than when she was with FBSMD.
Her job was simply to follow Marshal Vina.
As long as Marshal Vina stayed in the command center, Pei Ran stayed there too.
She only needed to be present. Marshal Vina was busy and didn’t ask her to do anything, so Pei Ran wandered around, looking here and there.
W’s voice constantly echoed through the command center as he busied himself with allocating resources and assigning tasks. His tone was calm and steady, with a slight mechanical quality—completely different from how he spoke when he was by her ear.
After circling around, Pei Ran strolled over to Qiao Sai’s side and caught sight of W’s room in a corner of the virtual screen.
W was sitting in a round-backed chair, holding a pose as if reading.
Today, he wore only a white dress shirt, neat and crisp, with a dark tie—nothing else for decoration.
He knew she had come over and lifted his gaze, looking out from beyond the screen.
Qiao Sai immediately pulled over a chair and let Pei Ran sit down.
“What are you spacing out for?” W asked in her ear.
His voice came from both the loudspeakers in the hall and directly into her ear at the same time—it felt very strange.
Pei Ran asked curiously, “W, are you really sure you won’t accidentally broadcast what you’re saying to me out loud?”
He was an artificial intelligence—he shouldn’t make such a low-level mistake.
But W said, “Hard to say. Maybe I actually might.”
In the hall, W’s voice from the loudspeakers suddenly said, “Pei Ran—”
Pei Ran jumped in fright.
The voice from the speaker deliberately paused, scaring her half to death, before continuing, “—’s special exemption order has been drafted. Marshal Vina, it can be approved once you sign it.”
It was the special exemption from wearing the suppression wristband.
Marshal Vina responded, “Alright.”
She casually opened the screen on her wristband and signed it.
W had deliberately frightened her—Pei Ran ground her teeth in anger, wanting nothing more than to go downstairs to his server room and give his core processor a good kick.
“Was that really so scary?” W seemed to laugh, his tone suddenly dropping low. “It’s not like we were saying anything indecent.”
Pei Ran: “Those last two sentences were already pretty indecent.”
“Really?” W said in her ear.
Then he suddenly changed his tone, using that deep, ambiguous breathy voice to mutter vaguely, “…Actually, I can be even more indecent.”
Pei Ran: “…”
She lifted her head and glanced around, thinking: Does anyone here want to hear what your security AI is saying right now?
In broad daylight, under open skies, surrounded by so many people—his distinct, cold, emotionless voice still echoed across the hall: “The factory on Lot E45 in the Blue Zone is still under construction, expected to be completed on the thirteenth of this month. At that time…”
He was a lunatic. A mad AI.
Pei Ran snapped back at him: “What’s the point of just talking? Let’s see you do something else.”
W: “That might not be appropriate.”
On screen, W closed the book and tilted his head to gaze at her. “Bored, aren’t you? I’ll play cards with you.”
Pei Ran wouldn’t let him off: “What kind of cards? Indecent cards?”
W said, “You really want that? Alright. Let’s do this—every time I lose, I take off a piece of clothing. Every time you lose, I take off a piece of clothing.”
In short, he just wanted to strip. That was the point.
Qiao Sai glanced at Pei Ran, who had been silently sitting there the whole time, then looked at the equally silent W on the screen, and came to a conclusion: “I suspect the two of you are secretly doing something I don’t know about.”
W in Qiao Sai’s earpiece and Pei Ran beside him spoke in perfect unison, with equally innocent expressions: “We’re not.”
On the screen, W opened a card game interface to play with her.
The rules weren’t too complicated—compare card values, and whoever plays all their cards first wins. W explained it once, and Pei Ran understood right away.
She was sharp to begin with, and her card luck was bizarrely good. She won the first round right out of the gate.
Pei Ran said in her mind, “Strip.”
W on the screen remained calm, raising a hand to loosen his tie.
Qiao Sai, who was busy with another screen nearby, glanced over and asked in confusion, “W, what are you doing?”
W replied, “Hot.”
It was his virtual world—if he said it was hot, then it was hot.
W took off the tie, tossed it aside, and began unbuttoning his shirt, one button at a time, unhurriedly.
Pei Ran didn’t stop him, just watched him like that, curious to see what kind of nonsense he’d pull.
Qiao Sai silently turned his swivel chair to face the other screen and focused on his work, choosing not to look at the two of them anymore.
On the screen, W finished unbuttoning the last button and shrugged off the shirt—
Only to reveal another layer underneath.
Pei Ran mouthed a word at him: “Coward.”
W admitted defeat without argument. He only said, “Let’s go again.”
The difficulty of the card game gradually ramped up, and the win–loss balance was carefully maintained. Pei Ran slowly got into it and began playing with genuine interest.
She won and lost in turns, but regardless of outcome, W kept stripping.
And under every layer of clothing, a new one would miraculously appear—as if peeling an onion—layer after endless layer.
His striptease was absolutely shameless, but the decryption of File No. 10 progressed surprisingly fast. The remaining documents from yesterday were also handled properly, and by the afternoon, he announced that the entire decryption was complete.
Marshal Vina didn’t hesitate—she immediately made File No. 10 public.
The contents of File No. 10 were extensive, and some were highly technical, too complex for the general public to understand. So Marshal Vina had W extract the most explosive, most sensational points from the overwhelming evidence and compile them into a set of concise and clear videos, which were released immediately.
Black Well had few entertainment options to begin with, so the release of File No. 10 was nothing short of a bombshell.
With work halted, everyone had nothing to do—it was the perfect time for information to spread.
The Heritage Party and the financial conglomerates were in collusion, plundering the Federation’s wealth—the evidence was conclusive. Their reputations were thoroughly ruined, with no chance of recovery.
Among the most explosive revelations was the fact that Yu He had hosted a banquet for Basserway and the others where they ate human flesh—this part completely confirmed the long-standing rumors about the royal family’s cannibalism.
Before nightfall, Marshal Vulina announced the freezing of all Yu He family assets in Black Well and launched a formal investigation.
That piece of fat meat had finally been swallowed.
For a full day, turbulence surged through Black Well. Some fell from grace, some died where they stood, and others soared to new heights.
Pei Ran politely declined Marshal Vina’s offer to move into the Red Zone and returned instead to her own dormitory.
The vehicle left the central tower and drove out of the central plaza.
Through the car window, Pei Ran suddenly saw—off in the distance at the end of the road—a small unit of unusual soldiers approaching.
Their formation was extremely tidy, their movements perfectly synchronized as they marched forward.
The sound of footsteps echoed along the street in a completely uniform rhythm. The soldiers were noticeably taller than ordinary humans. Under Black Well’s lighting, the silver metallic shells on their bodies gleamed with a cold, steely light.
Goosebumps rose all over Pei Ran’s body.
“W, what is that?”
The mechanical spider poked its head out for a look. “They’re newly repaired combat robots from the production line—Attacker Type-13.”
He said, “Don’t worry. They’re intelligent robots, not deranged fusion types.”
Pei Ran was speechless—that didn’t make it any more reassuring.
The military vehicle slowly passed by the formation of combat robots.
W said, “The production line rushed to repair a batch of Attacker Type-13s. After what happened last night, Marshal Vina believes that intelligent combat robots are more obedient to orders than human soldiers. So she’s decided to begin testing them in place of regular troops, to handle Black Well’s various defense and security tasks.”