"107%? Is that even possible?"
"And I thought 97% was already insane…"
"The whole world is going to lose its mind over this…"
Excited and shocked voices overlapped outside the glass.
Lin Wenzhi heard all of it but none of it really registered. Because his brain had stopped. Completely.
Slowly, stiffly, he looked at his hand still resting on the panel and pressed it again as if the machine might suddenly regain its sanity.
'Scan complete: 107% compatibility.' The mechanical voice was... Final.
Lin Wenzhi stared at the panel for a long second. Then let out a quiet, disbelieving scoff. "…bullshit."
He pulled his hand away like the panel had personally offended him and turned toward the door only for it to slide open.
Zimo walked in fast. Four armed personnel followed behind him.
Lin Wenzhi's shoulders tensed, his hands clenched.
His gaze flicked briefly.. counting.
Four inside. More outside.
…Great. So this was how it was going to be.
He shifted his eyes to the glass wall.
The others were staring at him with shock and disbelief.
Ru Yi looked worried. Duan Ze looked confused. And Gu Luhan looked like his world had just tilted off its axis.
Good. At least someone else was suffering.
"You…" Zimo started, voice tight before it broke into something bright, too bright. "You are perfect."
He laughed. Actually laughed. "You are an absolute miracle, Mr. Lin!"
He stepped forward quickly and stretched out his hand. "Here's to a long and productive cooperation. You'll be heading to Jing'an City immediately to retrieve our Esper before he destroys the country… the planet… and potentially everything else."
Lin Wenzhi looked at the offered hand. Then at Zimo's face. Then back at the hand.
Zimo slowly lowered it. "…Right. Not the handshake type. Understood."
"I'm not going." Wenzhi said flatly.
Zimo blinked.
Lin Wenzhi didn't even look at him as he pointed lazily toward the glass.
"He has 97% compatibility," he said, tone dry. "That's practically destiny, isn't it? Send him."
Gu Luhan stiffened outside.
Zimo's smile twitched. "…97% is not enough."
"It is," Lin Wenzhi cut in immediately. "For literally everyone else on this planet, that's more than enough. Congratulations, you found your guide. Problem solved."
He turned slightly, already preparing to leave. "I'll be going now."
A gun clicked right next to his head.
Lin Wenzhi stopped.
Slowly, he turned his gaze back to Zimo.
"…You're really pointing guns at a guide right now," he said, voice flat.
Zimo exhaled, running a hand through his already messy hair. The smile on his face was gone completely.
"Mr. Lin," he said quietly, "you read the reports, don't you?"
Lin Wenzhi didn't respond.
Zimo let out a sharp, disbelieving scoff.
"Shao Xinyuan is a disaster-class Esper," he said, voice tight, strained at the edges. "Do you understand what that means?"
He stepped forward, eyes locked onto Wenzhi. "He has never kept a guide alive for more than twenty-four hours. And now we finally found someone with 107% compatibility… and you want me to settle for 97%?"
Lin Wenzhi's jaw tightened.
In the novel, there was no argument about Gu Luhan. Everyone and everything followed the script.
But now... Now he was standing here alive and apparently… screwed.
Of course the plot would start breaking the moment he showed up.
He clicked his tongue softly. Annoyed. "I'm not going anywhere."
Zimo went still for half a second and inhaled slowly, dragging in a breath like he was physically holding himself back from snapping.
When he spoke again, his voice had shifted, forced calm, stretched thin. "We are being polite here, Mr. Lin..."
A loud, jarring alarm cut through the room. Red lights flooded the space instantly, flashing overhead in sharp pulses that painted everything in warning.
For a moment, everyone froze.
Zimo's composure shattered. He yanked his phone out immediately, pressing it hard against his ear. "What is going on?!"
Silence.
Then.. whatever he heard drained the color from his face completely.
Lin Wenzhi's eyes narrowed.
Around him, the armed personnel shifted, their attention splitting between the alarm and him, grips tightening on their weapons.
"We found a guide. Yes, sir. On it." Zimo ended the call abruptly and looked back at Wenzhi, his earlier restraint gone.
"There's a ship waiting on the roof," he said quickly. "Jing'an City is gone. And very soon there won't be—"
"Then take him." Wenzhi pointed straight at Gu Luhan.
"Take him," he repeated. "He's right there."
Gu Luhan's eyes widened.
"I am not going," Wenzhi continued, voice steady, unshaken. "And no one is forcing me."
Zimo stared at him. "…You don't understand the situation—"
"I understand it perfectly," Wenzhi said flatly. "You're trying to throw me at a monster and call it duty. I'm not interested."
Zimo's expression cracked. "You do not have a choice." He stepped forward again.
That was the mistake.
Wenzhi's hand shot out, grabbing Zimo's arm, twisting hard and flipping him straight to the ground.
"Ah..!!" A sharp cry tore out of Zimo as his body hit the floor. "Stop him!"
Guns snapped up.
Wenzhi didn't hesitate.
Of course they wouldn't shoot him. Not yet anyways.
He lunged forward, slamming into the nearest armed personnel, wrenching the gun from his grip in one clean motion and fired.
Bang.
Headshot.
Before the others could react... Bang. Bang.
Two more dropped.
The fourth fired but Wenzhi twisted sharply, the bullet grazing past him as he moved, already repositioning, already aiming, already out of the machine room...
"Wenzhi, what are you doing?!" Ru Yi's panicked voice cut through the chaos.
Wenzhi's eyes flicked toward her just for a second.
More guns were already trained on him now. Way too many.
His grip tightened around the gun. I am not getting out of this one.
A small dart thudded into his neck. Wenzhi's body jerked violently. "Fuck..."
His hand shot up, ripping the dart out instantly.
Pain flared, spreading fast, but he moved through it. His vision blurred, yet he still aimed and fired.
Bang.
The one who shot him dropped.
Duan Ze stepped forward now, his expression pleading. "Wenzhi, stop."
Wenzhi let out a breath that almost sounded like a laugh. His vision doubled, then blurred.
"…You've got to be kidding me." He looked down at the dart in his hand.
Then back up at all of them. At the guns. At the situation.
"I do not want…" he started, voice rough now, unstable at the edges.
His grip on the gun loosened. "…to guide a fucking disaster."
His knees buckled. The gun slipped from his hand. And darkness swallowed everything.