Chapter 485: Chapter 322: Qian Dai Temple (Part 2)
Dongdong jumped off the box and shook his head: "Your sister really has a tough life..."
...
In the Municipal Center District, the tallest building in all of New Moon City, the "Heaven-Reaching Tower," stands mightily in the core area. Three interconnected towers soar into the clouds, as if to pierce the sky.
Outside the Iron Blood Alliance branch, a guard was on duty at the gate, his prosthetic eyes constantly scanning those coming in and out, identifying any potential danger.
At this moment, a passenger vehicle exclusive to the Municipal Center District stopped in the distance, and a petite figure stepped out when the door opened.
The guard glanced at her and immediately widened his eyes in surprise, looking stunned.
Dongdong walked up to the guard, looked up at him, and said, "Hey, big guy, I’m looking for your boss."
The guard snapped back to reality and asked respectfully, "Which department’s boss are you looking for?"
Dongdong: "The biggest one."
Guard: "Oh, oh, oh, you’re looking for Mr. Alexander, right? I’ll notify the secretary right away, please wait a moment."
He promptly reported the message through a quick channel and then stood there waiting, occasionally sneaking glances at Dongdong.
Dongdong noticed the look and asked unpleasantly, "What are you looking at?"
The guard quickly lowered his eyes: "Nothing, nothing..."
Dongdong was a bit puzzled but didn’t think much of it.
Before long, a female secretary hurried to the door and nodded respectfully at Dongdong: "Miss Dongdong, I apologize for the late reception. Please follow me."
Dongdong, straightforward by nature, never bothered with pleasantries, and walked inside with her hands in her pockets blowing bubble gum.
While Dongdong waited for the elevator with her back to the guard, the guard secretly took out his phone, switched to the front camera, and took a selfie with her in the frame.
He then posted it to his social media:
[Wow! Awesome! Saw my idol while on duty today, Waku Waku!]
After the elevator arrived, the secretary led Dongdong inside and used biometric authorization to unlock the command to the upper floors.
For security reasons, the ground floor elevator cannot directly reach the top floor and requires multiple transfers and security checks at higher levels.
But today, it seemed like the people at the security checkpoint received some instruction, as no one stopped Dongdong or checked her, allowing her to pass through unimpeded.
"Miss Dongdong, please, Mr. Alexander is waiting for you."
Dongdong followed the secretary’s guidance to the top floor, entering the most prestigious office, where she met for the first time the legendary Chief Executive Officer of New Moon City’s Iron Blood Alliance branch, Alexander.
He was a middle-aged man with graying hair, slender figure, wearing glasses with gold frames, looked very much like a cultivated scholar, making it hard to associate him with such an esteemed position.
Seeing Dongdong enter, Alexander put down his pen and greeted her with a friendly smile: "Hey, Miss Dongdong, nice to meet you."
Dongdong looked him up and down and teased: "Uncle, are you really the boss of Iron Blood? You don’t look like it, I thought you’d be a super tough guy."
Alexander returned the banter with a smile: "Before seeing your file, I never thought someone with a ’military-grade’ prosthesis handling a ’second-level overload’ would be a 15-year-old girl."
Dongdong shrugged: "It’s all about having a good leader and a great teacher."
Alexander shook his head with a rueful smile: "That has nothing to do with who leads or teaches you; it’s pure talent."
"It’s just a pity the people back then didn’t have foresight. Such a promising team as yours wasn’t properly taken care of and was easily taken by the Hegemony Company."
Dongdong said indifferently: "What’s the point of talking about this now, back then the boss was made miserable, and your guys refused to help, saying they were teaching him a lesson."
"Look now, what’s that saying? Today you ignore me, tomorrow I’ll... well, not that you can’t reach me, but tomorrow I’ve already left with someone else."
Alexander laughed heartily: "You know, sitting in my position, all I hear every day are eloquent words, and even among my subordinates, few dare joke with me. Talking to you is truly amusing."
"So, what brings you here today? You already have Zhao Yiming backing you, yet you still come to see Iron Blood, I’m quite curious."
"Because only Iron Blood can handle this, Zhao Yiming has no say in this matter," Dongdong said directly without beating around the bush, "Do you know someone named Qian Dai Temple?"
"Qian Dai Temple... Qian Dai Temple..." Alexander repeated the name, then after a while, tapped his temple with his finger, "Oh... Chiyoda Shinnai’s sister from Spirit Star."
Dongdong: "Yeah, is she here with you?"
"Got it, Chiyoda Shinnai sent you," Alexander revealed a mysterious smile, stood up and gestured Dongdong to follow him outside.
The two took the elevator to the 13th basement floor. Unlike the other bright floors, this one was underground without any windows to the outside, looking eerie and oppressive, with a faint smell of chemicals lingering in the air.
Looking through the corridor’s internal windows, the rooms on this floor were all laboratories. The cold mechanical tables reflected a chilling glimmer under the lights, and electric currents could occasionally be seen flashing.
Many mechanical beds still had human subjects lying on them, with various strange sensors and wires inserted into them. Multiple parts showed a construction of mechanical and flesh integration, though unconscious and unaware, their faces were frozen in painful and twisted expressions.
The researchers donned white lab coats, recording the feedback data from the experiments, with only indifference left on their faces, seemingly numbed by these cruel human experiments.
Clearly, this was a high-security experimental forbidden zone.
Walking past the labs, Alexander slowly said: "You see, most mercenaries often lack a clear stance; today helping you, tomorrow helping them, making a living from several sources simultaneously."
"There’s nothing wrong with that, though unpleasant, it’s understandable from a rational standpoint, and we usually don’t say anything."
"But all this presumes our authority is not violated."
At this point, Alexander shifted the conversation, saying slowly: "People in this world, especially those in power and position, can’t control their lower bodies. Chiyoda Shinnai should have felt this deeply in her childhood."
"Many years ago, a high-ranking executive from within Iron Blood saw that young little beauty and had some improper thoughts."
"Just as Little Shenai was about to fall victim, the executive was accidentally killed by the Chiyoda family who came to stop him."
"Who do you think was at fault here?"
Dongdong gave him a glance: "Of course, that executive was at fault."
Alexander shrugged: "That’s right, I agree it was that executive’s fault. But it’s no use, fault is one thing, Iron Blood’s authority cannot be violated. Even if it was clearly our mistake initially, it doesn’t mean outsiders are entitled to punish us."
"So, the situation back then became very clear: regardless of whose fault it was, the Chiyoda family couldn’t escape doom. And to protect her family, Chiyoda Shinnai stood up to shoulder everything."
Alexander glanced playfully at Dongdong: "In some ways, what you did is very similar to hers, sacrificing yourself to protect those behind you, heading into Hell, only you did it far more spectacularly."
Dongdong said nothing, just asked expressionlessly: "And in the end? What happened to her?"
Alexander: "Unlike you, she didn’t have a reliable leader willing to risk everything to save her, so naturally she paid a painful price."
Dongdong: "Did she die?"
Alexander: "She’s still alive, or to be more precise — existing."
The two came to a door at the end of the corridor, and after biometric recognition, they entered.
This room wasn’t large, only a few dozen square meters, with a closed mechanical cabinet in the center. Through the transparent glass, a light blue life-support liquid could be seen inside.
In the center of the sustaining liquid floated not a human body, but a seemingly intact human brain, connected to a central spinal column and various life organs, with dense nerves and blood vessels intertwined like branches.
Dongdong was stunned on the spot: "Is this?... "
Alexander: "As you can see, this is the current state of Qian Dai Temple."
