The descent took longer than Xia Li had expected.
A full half hour passed before Xia Li felt empty space beneath his feet. They'd landed in an underground cavern.
Not far away was a cluster of buildings, preserved by being buried away from daylight.
"That's the research institute?"
Xia Li gazed at the buildings. He'd been unearthed from there by the Company, though he had no memories of it.
"Yes. Our mission is to investigate the secrets within."
"Speaking of which, since this research institute was abandoned, what served as the power source to keep me preserved?"
Human cryogenic technology required maintaining the body at extremely low temperatures. Sustaining such an environment was no small challenge for any power source.
"Nuclear fusion reactors, of course. By the time this research institute was built, fusion technology was relatively mature. A small independent fusion reactor filled with fuel could power this institute's cryogenic storage for over a thousand years."
"I see..."
Xia Li nodded. He really had to thank technological progress. After the spiritual energy revival, all of humanity was too busy to care for themselves. Saving the living was hard enough—how could anyone have the resources to care about frozen people?
"Keep maintaining the anti-detection field. I need to prepare some other things..."
Ke Xiao began waving her hand through the air again—apparently she preferred projecting a screen in her mind to operate, while Xia Li preferred direct voice or mental commands.
Before long...
Xia Li suddenly felt cold, and strange rainbow-like light mist appeared around them.
"I've activated optical camouflage, then had the Heaven Chip micro-adjust temperature based on the environment. This can fool thermal imaging and X-rays, but not direct observation by electronic eyes."
"Be careful not to be spotted by the Company's fully-mechanized security personnel. This place is full of the same mech-soldiers you encountered before."
"Mm..."
Xia Li nodded, and the two carefully infiltrated the research institute.
Shortly after entering, they encountered two security personnel. The guards didn't notice them and simply patrolled their route.
Ke Xiao then demonstrated her professionalism as an intelligence operative, quickly finding the building's internal map and using it to mark several locations that needed investigation.
On the way to those locations...
"Mechanical dogs ahead. The anti-detection field can block our scent and sound. Stay still."
"There are mech-bugs in that corner. I'll go hack them."
"Hidden camera over there..."
"The magnetic field felt wrong just now. Remember that feeling—it's magnetic wave radar. Good thing we're using organization-issued Heaven Chips, or the magnetic wave radar would have found us."
Ke Xiao taught Xia Li how to handle everything they encountered along the way.
Waging intelligence warfare in this new era wasn't easy. Various technologies could now do more than find a needle in a haystack—they could count exactly how many needles were in an entire ocean.
Under such difficulty, only an organization specializing in this field like Hidden Wing had the capability for silent infiltration.
Two hours later.
They arrived at the archives room, which contained records of the cryogenically frozen subjects—all paper documents.
"Good... the Company didn't destroy the paper archives. Guess they were too lazy to bother."
Ke Xiao casually walked to a cabinet and pulled out files to examine. The archives were organized by year.
So Xia Li went directly to the cabinets at the very back—the year when human cryogenic technology truly became viable.
2030.
Xia Li found the ninth file in the first row, first column, and opened it. The first page showed his photo and basic information.
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Name: Xia Li
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Number: 009
Condition: Small cell lung cancer with multi-organ metastasis
Cryogenic Date: May 8, 2030
Transfer Records: 2042 transferred to Kexian Cryogenic Storage, 2067 transferred to Huafei University Affiliated Research Institute, 2090 transferred to Jinhai City Life Research Institute.
Revival Attempts: 2042 revival attempt, no brainwave response, neural reactivation technology ineffective. 2067 revival attempt, simulated consciousness technology ineffective. 2086 revival attempt, neural regeneration technology ineffective.
Revival Personnel Records: 2042 Xia Shu, 2067 Xia Shu, 2086 Xia Shu.
"Little Shu..."
Looking at his records, Xia Li felt an inexplicable wave of intense sorrow.
Xia Shu was his younger sister by one year—clingy and afraid of the dark, inseparable from him since childhood.
But the last record was 2086. By age calculation, Xia Shu would have been 75 years old then, already elderly, yet still hoping to revive him.
Unfortunately...
He hadn't awakened even by the time of the spiritual energy revival, only waking from his slumber five hundred years later.
"Xia Li, what are you looking at?"
Ke Xiao had somehow appeared beside Xia Li. After glancing at what he was reading, she sighed inexplicably.
"My condolences."
She didn't know what to say. Xia Li's relatives were certainly long gone, never having met him again in the end.
"Wait... I remember over there..."
Trailing off, Ke Xiao immediately took action, bringing back a metal box from another row of cabinets.
"Here. This is a keepsake box. It should contain things your family and friends left for you."
Ke Xiao handed the small box to Xia Li. With a heavy heart, he accepted it and opened it to find many photographs.
Photos of his parents, his sister, the family dog, group photos of friends grown up, photos of relatives...
And many messages.
*Brother, Dabai passed away today. You brought him home. Before he went, he was still looking at your room. I kept his collar.*
*Son, Mom probably won't be able to wait for you to wake up. When you do, live well. Remember to eat on time, remember to...*
*Brat, your old man can't hold on anymore. When you wake up, remember to burn paper offerings for me...*
*Nephew, your father passed last year. I don't know when you'll wake up...*
*Old Xia, your brother has to go first...*
Reading these messages, Xia Li's tears flowed without him knowing when they'd started.
Besides the photos, there weren't many items inside. Xia Li picked up a cloth collar and held it, his mind conjuring the image of a white stray puppy.
The other items were all things full of memories.
The bracelet Mom always wore, the walnuts Dad had polished for years, the pen he'd given his best friend...
There was also a USB drive, probably containing video recordings.
Ke Xiao stood quietly beside Xia Li, watching. Until Xia Li pulled out a small glass case containing a thumb-sized crystal chip.
"This is..."
Ke Xiao immediately leaned in, staring at the chip in the glass case with amazement.
"A first-generation Heaven Chip?"
"How is that possible... this is from five hundred years ago..."
"Heaven Chips existed five hundred years ago?"
"No, it's not a first-generation Heaven Chip. The technology predates Heaven Chips..."
"Could it be... a Source Code Chip?"
Ke Xiao was so excited she instinctively tried to snatch the glass case for a closer look, but Xia Li pushed her away firmly.
"Sis Ke, this is mine."
"Sorry... I just got too excited!"
