Chapter 43: The Game

The chill of champagne bubbles still seemed to linger on Yu Ling's fingertips. Yet, the aftertaste of that "friends' gathering" at the V.M. Manor felt like a freezing rain, thoroughly drenching the last shred of her illusion about living an "ordinary" life. The invisible barriers, the bone-deep reverence, and that breathtakingly colossal airship known as the "Galaxy"—everything weighed heavily back into the air of Apartment 1601. Even Zhao Chen's silent thoughtfulness—his precisely measured coffee, her favorite dinners, the blankets tucked around her in the dead of night—had become a part of this growing estrangement. The gentler he was, the clearer the massive, unfamiliar, and unfathomable shadow behind the veil called "Zhao Chen" became.

Fear, suspicion, anger, and a sense of grievance churned in her chest, leaving her appetite deadened night after night. She needed an answer. An answer that would tear away all the pretense. That "appropriate time" was nowhere in sight, and she could no longer wait.

The opportunity cracked open quietly on a freezing Monday morning.

Zhao Chen had an extremely early multinational conference at six-thirty. When Yu Ling was jolted awake by her alarm clock, he was already fully dressed, standing before the massive floor-to-ceiling mirror in the living room. A dark grey custom-tailored suit outlined his sharp lines, a platinum wristwatch reflected cold light in the morning sun, and his hair was meticulously groomed. The gentle man in the apron had vanished; before her stood a chillingly cold elite.

"Did I wake you?" He turned, the sharpness instantly melting into a gentle smile, "Want to sleep a bit longer?"

"No." Yu Ling's voice was hoarse. Her gaze swept over his flawless attire and then dropped to the closed study door behind him—the battlefield of the meeting. A thought struck her mind like a flash of lightning.

She stepped closer, raising a hand with deliberate intimacy to brush against the tie knot beneath his adam's apple: "It's crooked." The touch was warm.

Zhao Chen's body stiffened imperceptibly before relaxing, lowering his gaze to let her fiddle with it: "Thanks, Lingling." Warmth rippled in the depths of his eyes.

In that very instant! Yu Ling's peripheral vision was glued to the study door—that heavy solid-wood door actually had a crack thinner than a hair left open!

Her heart slammed violently against her ribs! Suppressing her racing pulse, she asked as if it were a casual thought: "So early, European acquisition?"

"Mhm, wrapping up." He glanced at his watch, his brows furrowing slightly, "I need to go in." He squeezed her hand and turned toward the study.

The moment he pushed the door open, his hand seemed to fumble for something in his inner pocket, pausing for a fraction of a second. The door was left trailing loosely behind him.

"Click."

The subtle sound was like thunder in Yu Ling's ears! The door had not fully closed! That crack was still there!

She froze in place, her blood congealing. Her ears became her sole weapon, capturing the sounds leaking through the gap: Zhao Chen's low, calm, and immensely authoritative English greetings, followed by muffled responses. The meeting had begun.

In the dead, silent living room, only her drum-like heartbeat remained. That crack was a devil's whisper, the keyhole of Pandora's box.

Go? Or not go?

This was the only key! The key to his true world!

The impulse to risk it all crushed her fear. Yu Ling took a deep breath, stepped lightly on her toes, and slid silently toward the door like a cat. She pressed her eye against the crack.

The morning light cast a grayish-blue, chilly tone over the study. Zhao Chen stood with his back to the door, facing split screens on a massive curved monitor, wearing a headset. His profile was cold and hard, his thin lips parting and closing as he commanded the meeting. But Yu Ling's gaze lingered on him for only a fraction of a second before it was violently snatched away by an open, ruggedly futuristic silver metal box next to the desk!

The box lid was propped open at a 45-degree angle, and several floating flexible screens emitted a chilling blue light! There were no conference visuals on the screens, only cascading torrents of green code pouring down like a waterfall, moving so fast they left trails of afterimages! In the gaps between the codes flashed complex three-dimensional dynamic charts—resembling the pulsing blood vessels of a financial model or the glowing neural network of a city. What made her scalp crawl even more was that in the corner of one screen, there was a satellite real-time surveillance feed so clear it could capture license plates!

This was by no means conference equipment! This was a military command terminal! The nerve center of an intelligence hub!

Yu Ling's breath was choked off instantly! A freezing terror poured down from the crown of her head! She clamped her hand tightly over her mouth, her nails digging into her palms! Zhao Chen... What on earth is he?!

Her gaze was fixed as if by a magnet, unable to move away. Sweeping across the inner side of the lid, in an unassuming corner, was a small label. The black regular-script characters were concise and chilling:

"Gu's Enterprises - Nirvana Project - Execution Phase - Core Key Alpha"

Gu's Enterprises!
Nirvana Project!
Core Key!

The three words were like red-hot iron rods, ruthlessly branding themselves into Yu Ling's mind! Instantly pulling her back to that freezing night at the hot spring resort! Gu Qianqian! The Gu Group! Zhao Chen's chilling pronouncement over the phone! Not only was he involved, but he was executing it right now?! Using something this terrifying?!

The immense impact made her vision black out, and her legs grew weak! Her body staggered backward uncontrollably—

Thud!

Her back slammed heavily against the cold hallway wall! The dull thud exploded in the dead silence of the morning!

"Who?!" In the study, Zhao Chen's knife-sharp query instantly tore through the air, carrying interrupted fury and bone-chilling vigilance!

Yu Ling's heart stopped dead! Her blood froze! It was over!

The door was jerked open!

Zhao Chen's tall figure blocked the doorway, hostility surging around him, his hawk-like gaze instantly locking onto Yu Ling, who was slumped against the wall, drained of all color!

Their eyes met.

The air froze.

The ferocity in Zhao Chen's eyes faded like the tide the moment he realized it was her, replaced by astonishment and a trace of... caught-off-guard panic! His gaze flashed swiftly to the crack in the door, then back to her pale face, and he understood instantly.

"Lingling?" His voice was taut, carrying an imperceptible hoarseness. He stepped forward quickly, reaching out to steady her, "Why are you..."

"Don't touch me!" Yu Ling felt as though she had been scalded by a branding iron. She violently batted his hand away, her body trembling violently from extreme fear and rage. She pointed at the silver magic box in the study, which was still emitting a gloomy glow, her voice piercing the air so sharply it split it, every word laced with icicles:

"What is that?! Tell me! Zhao Chen! What the hell is that thing?! What is Gu's 'Nirvana Project'?! What are you actually doing?!"

Tears mixed with immense grievance and terror surged forth. Her interrogation was a blade of despair, shattering all pretense.

Zhao Chen's outstretched hand froze in mid-air. Looking at her collapsed face, at the naked fear and accusation in her eyes, a roil of shock, anger, worry, and helplessness swept through his gaze... finally settling into a bottomless complexity. Faintly from the study came a questioning voice: "Mr. Zhao?"

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing all emotion instantly. His face switched to an expression of helplessness and doting indulgence, even tinged with a hint of exasperation. He sidestepped, blocking the horrifying sight inside with his body, and backhanded the study door closed.

"Lingling," his voice softened considerably, carrying a comforting magnetic resonance. He reached out to wipe away her tears, only for Yu Ling to fiercely dodge away. He didn't get angry, merely sighing helplessly, his tone as light as if he were coaxing a child frightened by a nightmare, "You scared me to death. That's no big deal."

He pointed casually at the closed door, a smile blooming on his face that suggested "you're making a mountain out of a molehill": "That's just an 'advanced toy' deposited by a friend of mine who's... well, a gaming geek. You know, one of those... hardcore strategy battle games, just with more complicated equipment." He shrugged, his expression impeccably natural. "'Gu's Nirvana Project'? Probably just the codename for some large-scale raid dungeon or faction quest in their game. Those game designers love coming up with all these flashy names. 'Core Key Alpha'? Eighty percent chance it's authorization code to unlock some ultimate level."

He naturally pulled her trembling shoulders into his embrace, guiding her away from the study door with an irresistible, gentle strength: "Those codes and charts? They're just real-time data calculations and dynamic map rendering in the game. Satellite imagery? Too common. Modern top-tier games build in live map modules for immersion, using public satellite data interfaces." His tone was as breezy as if he were explaining breakfast: "I was testing the equipment before the meeting and probably forgot to turn it off. I didn't expect you to walk in and get scared."

As he half-embraced her toward the living room, listening to this fluid, "logically perfect" explanation, an absurd and chilling draft rushed straight from the soles of Yu Ling's feet to her crown!

A game? Geek toys? Dungeon quests? Live maps?

What did he take her for?! An idiot with zero intelligence?!

That box's high-tech aesthetic, the crazy speed of those code streams, the startling clarity of those satellite feeds, and that cold, glaring "Core Key" label... Which of these remotely touched the borders of a "game"?! He actually managed to whitewash such a terrifying apparatus into a "game walkthrough" with such an understatement!

The humiliation of being thoroughly fooled and a monstrous wave of anger swept over her instantly! She jerked free from his embrace, staggering backward, her bloodshot eyes glued to Zhao Chen's face, which was plastered with "innocence" and "helplessness," her voice hoarse and torn from extreme rage:

"Zhao Chen! Do you take me for—"

Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

The sharp, hurried, nearly ear-piercing doorbell rang out like a rescue arrow, puncturing the tense, ready-to-snap strings in the living room without warning, instantly freezing Yu Ling's about-to-erupt interrogation!