The moment her wrist was seized, Zhou Jiao's heart nearly stopped.
She instinctively reversed the grip, locking onto the attacker's hand, raising her electromagnetic gun to fire—
A hoarse voice came from the darkness: "Don't shoot. It's me."
Zhou Jiao didn't lower her weapon an inch. Who the hell are you? she thought.
A figure slowly stepped into the faint light filtering in through the floor-to-ceiling window, revealing a completely unfamiliar face.
He looked around forty but had the frailty of a man well into his seventies or eighties—gaunt, pallid, lips cracked, bloodshot eyes twitching with nervous exhaustion. He looked like he could collapse at any moment from some terrible disease.
But Zhou Jiao wasn't about to let her guard down just because someone looked fragile. She stared coldly at him. "Who are you?"
The man coughed harshly a few times and said, "My surname is Lu. Lu Zehou. You can call me Professor Lu—or if you prefer, 'When Will Biotech Finally Go Bankrupt.'"
That absurd old net-handle sounded deeply unsettling in the dim light.
Zhou Jiao didn't relax. "I don't believe you."
"I'll make you believe every word I say," Lu Zehou said, glancing at her gun. "A word of advice—if you don't want your wrist bones pulverized one day, you should probably ease off using company-issued weapons. Civilians' hands aren't built to handle that kind of recoil."
"It's an electromagnetic gun," Zhou Jiao replied coolly.
"Still," he said lightly, "be careful. Monopolies don't make perfect products—that's how they keep the money flowing. If someday, mid-firefight, your EM gun dies and you end up in the hospital, will you take a mega-corp to court and bankrupt yourself… or grit your teeth and buy a newer, 'better' one?"
Zhou Jiao stared at him for a few seconds. Then she said, "You should worry more about yourself. You look like you don't have much time left."
Lu Zehou chuckled, as if life and death meant nothing to him. He let out another racking cough. "Come with me."
Zhou Jiao didn't move right away.
She let go of his thin, cold wrist, folded her arms, and watched his every move with sharp detachment.
Lu Zehou walked to a nearby metal wall. A few seconds later, it split in two with a low hum, revealing a silver-white corridor bathed in scanning blue light.
"This way," he said.
After a pause, Zhou Jiao followed him in.
"When the 'Divine Descent Project' was exposed, they locked me in here," Lu Zehou said. "When he arrived, the containment systems failed. I was let out."
"Why do you call him a 'god'?" Zhou Jiao asked.
Lu Zehou countered with a question of his own: "Ever heard of Mercerism?"
"No."
"A sci-fi story, written over a hundred years ago," he began. "Part of humanity had been abandoned on Earth, and they clung to Mercerism to console themselves. Later, an android tried to expose it as a fraud—claimed the so-called Elder Mercer was just a washed-up actor. But even that didn't shake the faith people had built around it."
He paused.
"Whether a god truly exists has nothing to do with the god. It's about people needing something to believe in."
Zhou Jiao's voice was calm. "So. Are you saying Jiang Lian is a god?"
Lu Zehou didn't answer.
He led her through the corridor into a space that looked like a laboratory control center.
He stepped up to a console and tapped on a holographic keyboard. Instantly, countless glowing blue lines formed a massive 3D network. Each node became a floating screen, displaying news clips related to the company.
"...We regret to report that at approximately 7:20 a.m. today, a suicide bombing occurred on Subway Line 7. The incident has resulted in 37 confirmed casualties.
"Although the attack briefly paralyzed the city's transit system, thanks to the swift response of experts on the ground and emergency repairs by the subway authority, service on Line 7 resumed at exactly 3:00 p.m..."
Lu Zehou turned to look at Zhou Jiao. His expression twisted into a knowing smirk, as if to say:
See? Your parents' deaths weren't as important as keeping the trains running on time.
"...In medical news, Biotech Corp has successfully developed a drug that halts the progression of chip-related neurodegenerative diseases.
"The new medication has shown remarkable effectiveness—but at present, it is available only to senior Biotech employees and is not yet for public sale."
"...Due to a recent spike in shootings, authorities advise citizens to avoid going out after dark. If your job requires night shifts, please apply for company-provided lodging to ensure your safety.
"Experts stress there's no proven link between the increase in shootings and the rise in firearm advertisements. Citizens are encouraged to remain vigilant and stock their homes with ammunition and emergency medical supplies…"
The final screen showed a live interview program. The title read: "How Biotech Chips Are Revolutionizing Our Lives."
Halfway through the broadcast, a man suddenly burst into the studio, screaming:
"Why won't you tell people the truth?! Why won't you tell them the chip rewires their minds—warps their perceptions?! Why don't you talk about the dangers of those inhalable stimulants?! Do you even have the guts to publish the number of overdose deaths every year?!
"Stop listening to these corporate puppets! The chip is a LIE! Once it's implanted, your thoughts become company property! They can run any experiment they want on you—and you'll wake up with no memory, because the chip alters your brain! You're just a tool—a living test subject in a monster factory!!"
Security guards quickly hauled the man offscreen.
The host, unfazed, smiled coldly: "Ah, a little outburst from the audience—happens now and then."
"Every year there's some new 'scandal' or smear. As if the company were omnipotent, like a god. Folks give us too much credit. Corporate execs are just people too, you know…"
The footage froze on the host's flawless—almost disturbingly perfect—smile.
Zhou Jiao had kept her gun trained on Lu Zehou the entire time. Even when he deliberately played the footage of her parents' deaths, her hands didn't waver.
Lu Zehou, acting as if the barrel pointed at him didn't exist, began coughing and laughing at the same time.
"'Just people.' What a phrase. In this city, living past forty is rare—and yet they still believe the company's top brass, all pushing eighty and still looking twenty, are just 'ordinary people.'"
Zhou Jiao said flatly, "I'm not interested in your cynicism."
Lu Zehou smiled again. "Do you know why I'm still alive?"
Zhou Jiao hesitated. "Go on."
"About ten years ago, the company intercepted a smuggler ship belonging to interstellar pirates near the orbital station. On board, they found an unidentified organic compound. The pirates had no idea what it was, so Biotech brought it back to their labs for testing.
"They soon discovered it could be used to cultivate a completely new species. But the resulting organisms were highly aggressive and dangerously infectious. They could even parasitize plants.
"At the time, Biotech didn't have the tech to contain such a lifeform. So they forced it into a kind of 'hibernation.'"
Lu Zehou's smile twisted with contempt. "By the time I joined the research team, those creatures were already loose on Earth. No one knows how they escaped the station. And to this day, the company still hasn't given a credible explanation."
Zhou Jiao asked, "So what's Jiang Lian, then?"
"You need a little patience if you want the full story," Lu Zehou replied with a faint smirk. "At first, the company gathered us together with one mission: eliminate these alien lifeforms. They even created a special bureau for that purpose.
"But very soon, they realized those creatures couldn't be destroyed. They had extreme aggression, high infectivity, formidable defenses… and a strict, tiered hierarchy. Higher-level mutants exerted total control over lower ones."
He paused for emphasis.
"And that's when the company decided: they wanted an army just like that."
Lu Zehou took a breath.
"And thus… the Genesis Project was born."
"If it had succeeded," he added dryly, "every vagrant in the city would've gotten a brand new job—at the cost of forgetting who they ever were."
Lu Zehou's smile grew more mocking, and under the laboratory's dim, ghostly light, it took on a sinister hue.
"You might think I'm a good person, caring about the poor and the homeless. But no—I'm only caring about myself."
"Some people believe the organ trade only exploits the poor. But the wealthy aren't fools. If they can get fresh organs from high-IQ scholars, why would they settle for the poor?"
Lu Zehou spoke in a low, hoarse voice. "Likewise, who's to say the company won't set its sights on me one day? I'm not worrying about them—I'm worrying about me."
Zhou Jiao's expression shifted slightly, as if moved by his words.
She tilted her head, glancing around, as though recalling past news reports—but just as Lu Zehou's lips curved into a subtle smile, she suddenly lunged behind him, locking an arm around his neck and jamming her gun against his temple.
"Great speech," she said coldly. "I believe what you're saying is true. But you've left out one crucial detail—what exactly is going on with Jiang Lian?"
"…I hate how calm you are," Lu Zehou murmured. "The company found a lot on that smuggling ship, including a mysterious blank book that can communicate with people on a mental level. As a scientist, I didn't want to believe in anything supernatural. But regardless of what I wanted to believe… God exists."
The mention of "God" made his face twitch uncontrollably, muscles tightening in grotesque spasms, a mad gleam lighting up his eyes.
"Omniscient, omnipresent—once the ruler of the world. Its body could endlessly replicate, manipulate all living things. The company's 'Creation Plan' is just a poor imitation."
His agitation grew, eyes darting wildly, his tone slipping into manic fervor.
"My plan was perfect! Perfect! This world needs its salvation. Can't you see? Everything's rotting—gray, decayed. Everyone's been twisted by the company…"
He trembled as he ranted. "I tried to save them! I warned the sheep online not to trust the company's data. I found jobs for useless delinquents. I sent junkies to rehab…"
"But netizens called me insane. The delinquents just tried to scam me. And the junkies? Sure, they listened—but they weren't even sober for five minutes a day! The world is doomed, doomed, doomed! As long as humanity exists, the system won't change. Only when humanity dies can the world be saved. My plan was perfect! So perfect!"
His chest heaved violently, breath ragged.
"My plan was perfect… If not for you, It would've killed everyone by now. This should've been the closest humanity ever came to equality! The world is so unfair. High-tier employees and regular workers can't even use the same stimulants, let alone those prohibitively expensive neural blockers!"
And then—his head spun unnaturally 850° within her grasp, revealing a chilling smile.
"Once God descends, everything ends. This was supposed to be the moment of universal equality—but you ruined it, ruined it, ruined it, ruined it! You should die!!"
Zhou Jiao's heart jolted.
Now she understood—Lu Zehou hadn't escaped corruption. He'd already been corrupted before Jiang Lian's descent.
His breathing quickened, face twisting grotesquely. His chest visibly collapsed in one spot.
Zhou Jiao had a bad feeling. She immediately kicked him hard—sending him crashing into a metal console.
Bang!
He slammed into the controls and, by accident, shut down the 3D holographic network.
The ghostly blue glow vanished. Only the harsh white light remained, casting a cold pall over the lab.
Lu Zehou now looked even sicker.
He stared at her, temples throbbing wildly.
"You don't think It being interested in you is a good thing… do you?" he croaked, laughing.
Red spots bloomed grotesquely across his pale cheeks.
"If It had descended into a normal person, maybe that'd be fine… but It descended into Jiang Lian."
The moment he had flown backward, Zhou Jiao had already pivoted her gun, keeping it firmly aimed at his head.
Her calmness was terrifying—the kind that made enemies grind their teeth.
"So?" she said.
"Let me guess what happened," Lu Zehou coughed. "You noticed It started liking you. You thought you could control It. But It didn't fall under your control—instead, It became even more cruel, didn't it?"
Lu Zehou let out a blood-choked laugh. "Because the original Jiang Lian—the one I carefully selected to be the vessel—he was an outcast. The closest human match to It."
"It can't form obsessive feelings for humans… but Jiang Lian can," blood dripped from his lips as he spoke, his smile growing ever more twisted. "It doesn't have possessive desires… but Jiang Lian does. It doesn't need to control everything… but Jiang Lian does."
Lu Zehou coughed up more blood. "Likewise, Jiang Lian can't infinitely replicate—but It can. Jiang Lian isn't omnipresent—but It is. Jiang Lian doesn't stalk your every move or let obsession warp the minds of others… but It does."
He was clearly reaching his limit. His skin was corpse-pale, blood bubbling between clenched teeth, his eyeballs bulging unnaturally.
His mouth tore open wider and wider, unnaturally, grotesquely—inhuman.
"One body. Two monsters. Several layers of twisted emotions. Add in unlimited replication and the power to infect everyone around you… You really think you can bear being loved by a god?"
"That's your punishment for destroying my plan. You'll be played to death by It…"
Zhou Jiao stared at him. After a long pause, she suddenly smiled.
"Of course I can't bear it. That's why I'm leaving. If I'm not mistaken, after the last mutation breach, every biotech lab was equipped with an emergency escape route to the sea. Thanks—you just solved a big problem for me."
Lu Zehou froze—then burst into coughing laughter, wheezing as he spoke.
"You… you'll never get away…"
Before he could finish, his eyes turned vacant. His nose twitched violently. Then came that deranged, lovesick smile.
"So fragrant… you smell so fragrant… Did you know? This place was supposed to be immune. The company let me live so I could continue studying It here. We had so many countermeasures—but I was still infected. Your influence on It may be greater than It even realizes…"
"…You won't escape. It will find you."
With that, he went limp. Head slumped at a grotesque angle. Dead.
Zhou Jiao stood there, full of complicated emotion.
She'd just sat through a tirade of anti-corporate rage—and watched her long-sought target die.
Truth be told, Lu Zehou was a respectable rebel.
He'd clung to his ideals in a world drowning in filth.
Maybe he summoned the god with good intentions. But he had overestimated his own mind.
Through contact with that unknown force, he had lost his sanity day by day, until the only thing left in his head was destruction.
Zhou Jiao, just to be sure, fired a final shot into his body to prevent any form of resurrection.
Then she walked over to the control panel, pulled up the lab's map, and activated the escape tunnel.
The metal floor groaned open, revealing a corridor glowing with faint emergency green lights.
No matter what twisted feelings Jiang Lian—or whatever now wore his skin—had toward her, no matter whether she could withstand it, the path to a new world was opening before her.
And once she escaped, she swore—she would never look back.