"I’m sorry, no one except the doctor is allowed in this room."
Two fully armed police officers were about to pull Han Fei away when one of Li Xue’s senior brothers stepped forward: "Han Fei is the teacher’s final student, he’s one of us."
Seeing Han Fei’s surprise, Li Xue’s senior brother took out his phone and projected a video in the corridor: "The teacher seems to know what you’re doing. He used the honor accumulated over his life to vouch for you, asking us to accept you unconditionally and trust you."
The video had been pre-recorded. At the time, the old man’s condition was already severe. He suppressed his pain to express his opinion of Han Fei and explain why he chose him as his final student.
"But..." Han Fei opened his mouth, unable to voice his doubt. He looked toward the window of the intensive care room, watching the comatose old man: "Did he say anything to you before he went into a coma?"
"No." Li Xue’s senior brother slightly shook his head: "But from a few months ago, the teacher was already preparing for this day."
He swiped his phone, and the holographic map of Xinhu Old City, Smart New City, and five distant suburbs appeared in the corridor, marking thousands of red points.
"All crime organizations in Xinhu have been thoroughly mapped out. It took three years and seven months, and now we’re just waiting for the Big Fish to enter the net."
The red danger markers on the holographic map were connected by dotted lines. Han Fei seemed to see an old man simulating everything countless times in his mind, with those dotted lines continuously overlapping and diverging, finally converging at the heart of Deep Space Technology’s seventh-generation Smart Brain.
"When the teacher fell into a coma, he locked himself in the room. No one knows what he was thinking, but the first person to find him said the teacher had a look of relief on his face. He had done everything to the best of his ability, and now it’s our turn." Li Xue’s senior brother handed Han Fei a black communication device: "The teacher gives each student a gift. This is what he left you. Take care of it, don’t lose it."
Han Fei accepted the black communication device. He wanted to ask something more, but Li Xue’s senior brother had already turned around: "The task is complete, and we should also set off."
The officers in the corridor followed behind Li Xue’s senior brother, while Han Fei opened the communication device. After the static noise disappeared, the old man’s words echoed in Han Fei’s ears.
"I don’t know if I should call you Han Fei, Blood-colored Night Survivor, Zero Player, or Sunshine Boy? You have so many identities that it took me an hour just to destroy your records."
"Including you, I have had seven students, and I’ve prepared a gift for each of them."
"The first student was an orphan from the Welfare Home. He longed for a warm home, so I adopted him and taught him carefully until he was selected at the police academy to become bait to catch Butterfly."
"I’ve never been married. He was my student and my child."
"The second student yearned for Love. As his teacher, I helped him with strategies until he won over the girl he admired. But the following year, he was buried in the Garden."
"The third student was severely injured during a mission. I arranged for him to undergo the most advanced biotechnology transformation at Eternal Life Pharmaceutical. I saved him, but since then, he has never been seen again. Everything about him became a blank space, and even his parents believed he was dead..."
"I’ve prepared gifts for each student, but my gifts seem not to have fundamentally changed anything. If you still want to accept this gift, walk up through the corridor on the left side of the hospital and kick open the iron door on the top floor."
Han Fei didn’t hesitate, charging upstairs with the communication device, the old man’s voice continuing to play from it.
"The timing should be just right, I hope you gift and will always remember this moment."
Sprinting up the stairs, Han Fei got closer and closer to the iron door. As he approached, he kicked open the door leading to the rooftop!
On the city horizon, the first light of dawn was rising, its warm glow dispelling all darkness. It was daylight.
The vast city slowly awakened, countless ordinary people beginning their day, and it is precisely these unremarkable, mundane days that make up the entire Mortal World.
"Isn’t it beautiful?"
The light of dawn spilled over Han Fei, and the communication device in his hand went silent as though the old man had given him the most beautiful gift.
Overlooking the skyscrapers, Han Fei felt as if the old man had never left. It seemed as though he was standing beside him, as usual, coming to the rooftop to gaze at Xinhu.
Grasping the railing, Han Fei let the morning breeze gently tousle his hair.
The sound of police sirens wailed downstairs, as Li Xue’s senior brother and the officers moved with determined steps, entering the shadows against the light.
Those who love and protect this city have never left, they’ve always been here.
When the sun fully rose, Han Fei prepared to leave, but as he turned, he noticed another person standing on the vacant rooftop of the hospital. The person wore a blank mask, and Han Fei had no idea when he appeared or how long he had been there.
Putting away the communication device, Han Fei appeared defenseless, but in reality, his muscles were tense.
"I can’t get to the floor where he’s located. Can you tell me how that old man is doing?" A hoarse voice emanated from beneath the mask, giving the impression of maturity, yet his body seemed, due to some biotechnical reason, to remain perpetually at about eighteen years old.
"Not very optimistic. Maybe he’ll never wake up." Han Fei maintained a distance of three meters from the blank mask man.
"As long as he’s not dead. With such a commotion that even the Divine Spirit is pleased, I thought something had happened." The man with the blank mask, having heard the desired answer, turned directly and walked toward the door, exposing his entire back to Han Fei, without a hint of defense.
"Within three meters, it would be easy for me to take your life. Aren’t you afraid I’ll make a move?" Han Fei’s memory was excellent; he had seen this man before.
"The teacher said to accept you unconditionally and trust you." The man with the blank mask glanced back at Han Fei: "Live well. If you die, no one in the world will know I’m a police officer."
Sunlight streamed over Han Fei, while the man with the blank mask stepped into the corridor ahead of him.
"Looks like I have yet another reason to keep living."
Han Fei, who always traveled the Deep World alone, didn’t know how long he could hold on, but at least for now, he absolutely would not give up.
"The elders of the last era are leaving one after another, the Unspeakable Ghost is stirring, the three major crime organizations want to topple this city, and ’Perfect Life’ will become the source of disaster. Everything seems to have reached the worst and most desperate point."
Facing the sunlit city, Han Fei curved his fingers to form a smile on his lips.
"The only good news is, I’m still here."