Chapter 65: Accidentally Entering the Imperial Household~

“Officer Luo, your lunch is here.”

A young nurse in a pink uniform pushed a small white meal cart into the hospital room. She found Luo Shaotian leaning against the bed’s headboard, staring blankly out the window, lost in thought.

“What’s wrong, Officer Luo? Thinking about work again?”

She placed a steaming insulated lunch box on the bedside table and muttered,
“Seriously, don’t overwork yourself like our department head did—he stressed so much about a patient’s surgery plan that he ended up with appendicitis! You’re a hero now, the pride of Xinhai City! You need to take care of yourself first.”

Her voice was crisp, bright, and filled with unguarded kindness.

Luo slowly blinked back to reality. His practiced smile—the one he used to get through small talk—resurfaced as his eyes drifted to the label on the lunch box.

“Oh? What’s the flavor today?”

“Curry pork cutlet! Our hospital’s nutrition meals are outsourced to RuiKang, you know—the menu changes daily, all calculated by an AI dietitian model. Totally scientific and healthy!”

The young nurse was quite the chatterbox. As she adjusted his IV drip, she continued brightly,
“But Officer Luo, you’re really something. I’ve never seen a patient recover as fast as you! When they brought you in, we all thought you’d be in intensive care for two weeks at least. But look at you now—if the girls online knew, they’d probably line up outside with flowers!”

Luo only gave a polite smile.

(Recovery… strong?)

He clenched his fist.

There was no pain—only a dark, endless surge of strength coiling under his skin, pulsing through every muscle fiber like a sleeping beast.

(“Strong” isn’t the word. This is… monstrous.)

When the nurse finally wheeled the cart away and softly closed the door, his smile vanished like a discarded mask.

He opened the lunch box.
Golden-brown pork cutlet bathed in rich curry sauce, flanked by broccoli florets and carrot slices shaped like rabbits—fragrant, nutritious, and perfectly balanced.

But he couldn’t taste any of it. His mind was far from this sterile room.

Pollutants. Subspace. Spirit energy. Celestial Dust…

These insane words looped endlessly in his head like restless ghosts.

He remembered the stack of “black files” his mentor Zhang Zheng had once handed him—cases all marked solved, but never truly closed.
Now, those cases no longer seemed random. They were fragments of a hidden war, fought beneath the illusion of normalcy.

And then came Lin Yu’s voice from last night, still echoing in his mind—

“Luo Shaotian, listen to me carefully. I’m not joking, and I’m not mad.

The world is far more complicated and dangerous than you think. Some walls, once crossed, can never be climbed back over.
I’ve already crossed mine. But you still have a chance.

So, for your own safety—and for the sake of my miserable job—let’s not see each other again. Pretend I never moved into your building.

And one more thing: whatever I told you tonight, keep it buried. Don’t tell anyone, don’t investigate.
Because if you do… someone will come for you. And believe me—unlike the Akagi gang, their methods are cleaner. Much cleaner.”

Luo let out a dry, bitter sigh. The curry in his mouth tasted like ash.

(Ah Yu… just what kind of life are you living?)

Xinhai University — a “university” in name, but in truth, an isolated academic citadel.

It had no grand gates to symbolize “openness,” no selfie-friendly architecture to attract tourists.
Situated in District D’s core, it enforced the strictest entry protocols, sealing itself off from the noise of the world.

And right now, Lin Yu stood awkwardly before its security gate, looking every bit the outsider.

Sunlight filtered through the environmental film overhead, reflecting off her soft gray hair, making it appear nearly translucent.
Her [Daily Schoolgirl Outfit]—a white hoodie paired with denim shorts—gave her a clean, harmless look.
But what really sold the act was her wide-eyed, lost expression.

“Gray Crystal, focus.”

Su Xiaoli’s calm yet commanding voice came through the tiny communicator in her ear.

“I’ve already used the company’s official channel to submit a ‘technical inspection request’ to Xinhai University. You have temporary access clearance.

Walk to the visitor terminal and perform the face scan. Don’t look around too much. Act natural, like you’ve done this a hundred times.”

“Oh—right!”

Lin Yu quickly tried to hide her dazed, small-town awe and did as instructed.

A soft blue light scanned across her transformed, delicate face.

Beep.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

[Access Granted]

Welcome, Gray Crystal — External Technician, Aurora Labor Services (Xinhai Branch). Have a productive day at Xinhai University.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

The alloy gates slid open silently—like a tamed beast parting to reveal the path toward a forbidden paradise.

“Good. Step one complete,” Su Xiaoli’s voice purred in her ear.

“When the cleanup begins, I’ll have to go silent. For now, walk toward the academic wing—we’ll chat on the way. Think of it as a warm-up.”

Lin Yu nodded and stepped forward into the pristine campus.

“My, my, Gray Crystal—you sound nervous,” Su teased.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never been somewhere like this before?”

“…Pretty much.”

Lin Yu’s eyes darted around, drinking in the gleaming architecture and the subtle air of elitism that hung in every corner.

“Huh, so this is the kind of place where people’s side glances could probably expose ten flaws in your thesis…”

Her voice carried the weary humor of a public university survivor.

“My old college? Let’s just say… the dorm building was built back when my grandpa was in school. Paint peeling, fans wheezing like dying birds, six sweaty guys crammed into a coffin-sized room…

And the principal drove a luxury MPV to work every day! But sure—no air conditioning builds character.”

Su Xiaoli let out a small, confused laugh.

“That sounds… awful. My middle school wasn’t like that at all. We had single dorm rooms and buffet meals…”

(Middle school?!)

Lin Yu nearly tripped.

“Okay, okay, enough small talk,” Su said, smiling in her voice. “Let’s move on to the mission briefing.”

“Xinhai University is District D’s beating heart. It’s home to the city’s brightest researchers—and also where companies like RuiKang Biotech and XinNong United keep their most confidential labs.

Our target today—the F Building—houses RuiKang’s largest campus research base, the School of Life Sciences and Genetic Engineering.

We’re here to clean up what’s left of a ‘Mirrorborn’ entity. Don’t panic—the main body was neutralized last week.

But [Curiosity-class] pollutants are like computer viruses. Even after deleting the source, fragments linger—feeding on human emotions like jealousy, insecurity, or obsession.
Your job as the ‘janitor’ is to wipe out the leftovers before they hatch again.”

Lin Yu nodded quietly, following the map projected from her [Contract Wristband].
The silver ginkgo leaves rustled above as she reached the destination—

F Building.

Unlike its futuristic neighbors, this one was quaint and ivy-covered, its red brick walls breathing history.
Above the gothic oak door, a brass plaque read:

School of Life Sciences and Genetic Engineering.

(So this is it…)

She took a deep breath, touched the grip of her standard-issue spirit pistol in her hoodie pocket, and reached for the door handle.

And then—

“So, Dr. Reed, based on our latest test data, I believe the Alpha protein undergoes a reverse transcription phenomenon when exposed to a specific spirit-energy frequency. That might explain the instability in the high-activity medium…”

Her hand froze midair.

(Wait. That voice…)
(That tone… no way—)

She quickly ducked behind a corner as the doors opened automatically.

Two women stepped out.

One was tall and graceful, with golden hair and ocean-blue eyes that radiated intellectual authority—clearly Dr. Reed.
The other…

The other was someone Lin Yu could never mistake.

Long black hair. White lab coat. That perpetually calm, cold expression.

Her younger sister—Lin Xue.

(You’ve got to be kidding me! What are the odds?)

As Lin Yu’s mind raced for an escape plan—

A hand suddenly landed on her shoulder.

“You. What are you doing here?”