80: Chapter 80 The Gatekeeper of the Shelter

"However, I can never be like them."

The Ye Nanxing before his eyes was like a completely different person from the calm, decisive girl Zhou Xiao had met before.

For some reason, Zhou Xiao felt a twinge of heartache.

"You are fine just the way you are. You don't need to be anyone else."

Ye Nanxing gazed into the distance; it was a vast expanse of white, with nothing but wind and snow.

"The fault doesn't lie with any single person, but with the entire stage."

"I can kill. I can execute, order, and collect bodies without blinking an eye."

"But I cannot bear to watch them be auctioned off with a smile, packaged as some kind of 'resource' and placed on shelves."

Ye Nanxing's voice remained calm, yet it carried a sharpness that pierced to the bone:

"They will die."

"But not on the stage."

"I want them—to die meaningfully."

"Not for me, but so that those who dare to do this to them in the future will watch how they die."

"Remember that outcome."

Zhou Xiao fell silent for a few seconds, watching the silhouettes of the two wrapped in the cold wind, before finally shaking his head and smiling:

"...You are still you."

"Others treat people as cargo, but you treat them as a warning."

"I don't understand your set of principles; I only know how to leave no future trouble."

Phoenix City top-floor Shelter.

Lin Wanru leaned against the door, holding her breath.

Outside, there had been knocking for a full three minutes.

At first, she thought it was Ye Nanxing and the others returning.

She called out softly, filled with surprise:

"Is that you? Sister Nanxing?"

But what responded to her was not the concern of Sun Hao or Zhao Wei, nor the cold tone of Ye Nanxing's "Don't move."

Instead, it was a voice she knew all too well, one that made her scalp tingle—

Property Manager Wang.

The man who, a few days ago in the dark corridor of 307, had smiled at her most greasily and had the most wandering hands.

"Oh my—Wanru, is it you?"

The voice was as syrupy-sweet as molasses.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, we aren't bad people."

"I heard those people in your place have all left. A few of us brothers and sisters came to check on you—just wanted to ask, do you need any help in there?"

"Living all by yourself, how dangerous and lonely it is."

Another voice chimed in, full of fake kindness:

"Don't worry, we won't mess with you. We're just... the boys are hungry, we wanted to borrow some hot water, some biscuits."

"Just open the door a crack will do."

"Look, we're sort of... acquaintances, right?"

Lin Wanru leaned against the door, her fingertips turning cold.

She knew these voices, knew that the "hot water" and "biscuits" they spoke of were not the point; the point was—she was all alone.

She said nothing and dared not move, only quietly adding another layer to the door lock.

The people outside received no response for a long time, and the atmosphere slowly changed.

Wang's laughter gradually became hypocritical and suppressed: "Tsk, Wanru, we've known each other for so long, you aren't... really not going to let us in, are you?"

"Didn't you used to make coffee for us in 307 all the time?"

"You were quite sensible back then, weren't you? Why have you learned to put on airs now?"

A younger voice started to get impatient: "Damn, she doesn't actually think she's Ye Nanxing, does she? Guarding such a big room all by herself?"

"I told you that day, sooner or later we'll take turns with her! Let's see how many days she can hold out."

"You're alone, no guns, no teammates. If we really decide to act, who can help you?"

The voices outside grew increasingly rampant.

At first, it was coaxing and trying to get close, then it turned into mockery and threats, and now, they had completely torn off their masks.

"Hey Wang, didn't you see her stripping quite happily in that room 307 last time? That little waist, that little face, so tender you could squeeze water out of it, right?"

"Squeeze what? I almost charged in that day, it's just a pity that Nanxing and her group came back fast."

"Tsk, I remember she was crying so pitifully back then, crouching in the corner, not daring to move, like a dog."

"If the door doesn't open, we'll just light the explosives. Whether she lives or dies after that, we'll leave it to fate."

"Hey, little beauty, why don't you come out and open the door now, and we'll... be a little gentle, get it?"

"Beg us, just one plea, maybe Wang might just leave you a way to live—"

"Hahaha—"

The group's laughter was sharp and unpleasant, like a knife scraping against iron in the extreme cold.

Lin Wanru leaned against the door, her face deathly pale, her fingers clenched so tightly they turned blue, her nails digging deep into her palms.

She closed her eyes, and scenes flashed through her mind like a movie.

That day, she was dragged into 307.

She struggled with all her might but was pinned down in the pile of people, her eardrums pressed by the laughter, surrounded by the smell of smoke and spit, humiliated in public.

No one came to save her.

She didn't even dare to cry, only able to tremble like an object.

At that time, she knew that her life—was worthless.

Until Ye Nanxing saved her.

Not like an angel, but like a knife, like a gun, like an iron rod in a blizzard.

She scanned everyone with cold eyes and asked her: "Do you want to live?"

She nodded.

"Then don't be so soft anymore."

...

She opened her eyes.

Her tears had dried, and only coldness and hatred remained in her eyes.

She grabbed the spare terminal from the corner of the table and brought up the security controls.

She confirmed that the door lock was engaged in three stages and the anti-explosion system was activated.

Then, she pulled the spare energy rifle from the secret cabinet, disengaged the safety, sat down against the wall, and stared fixedly at the light shining through the reserved hole in the door.

Outside in the hallway, someone began to count down.

"5—"

"4—"

"3—"

"2—"

"—"

"—Fuck!!!"

"Who the fuck shot from inside?!"

A loud bang.

It was the cracking sound of an energy bullet piercing the hallway wall.

Lin Wanru had fired.

The bullet streaked through the hole reserved in the door, hit the hallway ceiling, and accurately struck the main intercom control—

Sparks flew, and electricity crackled loudly.

"She really acted?!"

"Damn her! A little woman dares to use a gun?"

"She's crazy!"

"Blow it up again! See if she dares to fire again!!"

Boom—!

Another shot.

Lin Wanru's eyes were red; she gritted her teeth while steadily reloading.

Her voice trembled but her words were clear; she roared through the door:

"If you dare to take another step closer."

"What I hit won't be the wall anymore."

"Don't you want to see me cry? Want me to beg you?"

"Then remember this—today, either you die, or I die."

"But if I die, I will definitely drag you all to hell with me."

Outside, it was quiet for a moment.

Then, there were hurried footsteps—someone had panicked and retreated.

There were also angry roars:

"This bitch is crazy!"

"Go, go, go! Didn't succeed today, we'll come back tomorrow! She can't hold out for many days!"

"She fired, let's retreat first! We'll deal with her slowly later—!"

Lin Wanru leaned against the door, her whole body like a bowstring about to snap.

She didn't know if that group would come back.

She only knew that she had fired—

And without hesitation.

She was no longer the little lab rat that had been dragged into 307 and only knew how to tremble.

She wanted to be the gatekeeper of the top-floor Shelter.

A gun in her hand, a wall behind her, and her life beneath her feet.

If she didn't want to die, she had to carve out a path.

For the first time, she realized:

That "guarding a door," could also be a war.

It was a qualification, and even more so, survival.