Unconventional security

really!

Upon seeing the location message, Chen Bei was immediately alarmed.

Without further hesitation, he immediately rushed to the location, which turned out to be a factory.

A few minutes later, Chen Bei found Ye Zhixue in a corner of a tall building outside the factory.

"Why are you hiding? Where's Miao Yun? Is she with Song Ming?"

When faced with Chen Bei's question, Ye Zhixue didn't turn to look at him, but pointed to the door in the middle of the factory building ahead.

"It's inside. The door was just closed."

Looking in the direction she pointed, there was a factory building made of matte white nano-polymer material. Three huge main doors were lined up in a row on the front. They were pure white and blended seamlessly with the wall material. There were no hinges, locks, or frames in sight. The doors were heavy but not bulky, with clean and crisp lines.

The surface of the door was shimmering with a faint silver-blue holographic light, like a thin and translucent smart film. The door in the center displayed the words "Closed" in light blue.

"How do I get through this door?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Didn't you watch them go in?"

"Brother, even if I could see clearly from this distance, I wouldn't recognize any of that high-tech stuff. Times have changed!"

Chen Bei asked a question, and Ye Zhixue retorted.

Both of them were over two hundred years old and had never been to such a technologically advanced urban area before; they were completely lost.

The target was right in front of them, but they didn't even know how to get in!

"This plot seems familiar, like something I've seen on an adult website before."

Chen Bei couldn't help but grumble to himself, "How are we supposed to get in now? Are we supposed to wait for them to come out on their own?"

When will we have to go?

But how exactly do you open this factory door...?

Chen Bei slapped his forehead. He had a phone; he could just search for it.

Thinking it over, Chen Bei took out his phone and started searching for relevant information.

After searching extensively online, Chen Bei couldn't find a similar factory. Finally, he found an explanation in a post.

[Custom-built factories, where all functions and information, including operating methods, are customized by the owner. A list of the 10 largest civilian custom-built factories in the 9 districts (with pictures)...]

Chen Bei was stunned. The factory that Song Ming had entered was one of the ones listed in the post.

With a sigh, Chen Bei stared at the factory gate and began to think of a way to break the deadlock. Violent destruction was definitely out of the question; this was not as easy to deal with as the door of a hotel.

However, this is a civilian factory. A civilian factory cannot use a high-threshold access control system, otherwise how would the workers get in?

This place is basically filled with robots that work for humans, not even androids, which means that it's not based on iris or facial recognition.

Is it a key card? A specific sensing area? Or something else?

If it's a key card, then you have no way to open the door unless a factory employee appears there and can snatch the key card.

But since the other party has chosen this place as a hiding place, it's unlikely that these unexpected situations will occur. The factory employees are probably already on paid leave.

With that thought in mind, Chen Bei strode forward and left the hiding place.

Where are you going?

Seeing Chen Bei leave, Ye Zhixue quickly asked.

"Go try opening the door. What's the point of waiting here?" Chen Bei said, waving his hand at her. "Go check if there are any suspicious people around. You don't need to follow me."

Even knowing that the other party was right in front of him, Chen Bei still felt uneasy, and there were some things he just couldn't explain.

Putting everything else aside, let's just talk about why Song Ming jumped off the building.

You're only doing this because of what he said? Those things are probably all lies, just a ploy to lure Chen Bei and the others into investigating and wasting their time.

Chen Bei walked to the factory gate, but he didn't dare to get too close. He paced back and forth between the three gates.

The absence of any cameras or similar detection devices further confirmed Chen Bei's conjecture.

"I didn't see a card reader, a keyhole, or a PIN pad. Could it be a hidden control panel?"

Chen Bei carefully examined the area, gripped the long knife in his hand tightly, and took a step to the front of the factory building in the middle.

Suddenly, a blue light curtain appeared before my eyes.

Chen Bei reached his hand through the blue light screen, but nothing happened. Just as he was about to withdraw his hand, a message popped up on the screen.

The door panel has reached the bottom.

Ok?

Chen Bei was taken aback, looking at his hand that had passed through the light screen and moved to the right.

[Door is locked; action error.]

So this light screen is a control panel? Or is it motion-sensing?!

These high-tech gadgets are really amazing, Chen Bei thought to himself. It's such a simple thing, yet he's acting like a spy.

Chen Bei tried clicking on the words "Banned" but nothing happened. "Can't I just raise my hand?"

[Door is being sealed; incorrect action detected, warning issued!]

The subtitles suddenly became much larger, and Chen Bei's eyes widened in surprise. Was this an alarm?

How do you even open this damn thing?!

Chen Bei began rapidly making various hand gestures, but the information panel kept popping up "action error" messages until he tried to raise his knife to strike, at which point his other hand also passed through the light screen.

The lockdown has been lifted, and the door has been opened.

As the subtitles disappeared, the factory gate in front of us slowly opened.

The first floor of the factory, which should have been filled with machines, was completely empty except for a person dressed entirely in black sitting on a stool, facing Chen Bei.

The man in black was holding an iron bar with obvious knife marks on it.

"We meet again."

The man in black spoke; his voice was an AI-synthesized electronic voice, but one could still discern his emotions.

Chen Bei scanned the surroundings. The several hundred square meters seemed particularly spacious. Behind the man in black, there was a staircase leading to the second floor, which consisted mostly of office rooms.

The man in black, carrying an iron rod, stood up and said, "Leave now, and I'll pretend you were never here."

"Where is Miao Yun?"

Chen Bei bluntly stated that the latter, seeing that he didn't respond, also coldly said, "Kill me, and I'll tell you."

Having said that, he didn't wait for Chen Bei's response and charged forward with the iron rod.

The two closed the distance instantly, and the clash of the knife and stick produced the sound of a pool table, echoing loudly in the vast open space.

After only a few exchanges, Chen Bei's fifth strike severed the iron rod in his opponent's hand.

With a flourish, the blade shot straight toward the black-clad man's heart.

Pfft!

The blade pierced his heart, but instead of the expected spurt of blood, a hissing sound of mechanical short circuit was heard.

The man in black kicked the two men aside and pulled himself out of the way, only then did Chen Bei see that his chest was full of mechanical components.

He has no heart.

"Songming, you're just a cybernetic cyborg, how could you not have a heart?"

The man in black looked at him without saying a word, then silently walked behind the load-bearing pillar and picked up another iron rod.

Chen Bei frowned slightly. The opponent's iron rod was not made of cheap material; it was no easy feat for it to withstand five of his blows.

But how many of these iron rods does he have? If he had a lot, he might as well buy a good weapon. Why is he unwilling to negotiate?

"We have no choice but to end this quickly."

Chen Bei's eyes were sharp. The other party was risking his life, but he couldn't really kill him, otherwise how would he find out where Miao Yun was?

But if he keeps stalling for time, and this gives Miao Yun a chance to escape, then Chen Bei will lose more than he gains by continuing to drag things out.

With a powerful leap, Chen Bei shot towards the man in black like an arrow. The man raised his stick to block, but this time he couldn't even withstand a single blow.

The iron rod snapped in two with a snap. Chen Bei, with all his might and the added momentum, made this strike much more powerful.

Just as the blade was about to strike the man in black's neck...

boom!

A bullet struck the blade precisely, deflecting the last bit of force from the longsword.

Chen Bei was startled and turned his head to look. Another man in black was standing on the second floor, and the muzzle of his silver revolver was emitting wisps of white steam.