Chapter 266: Red-haired Woman

Chen Ling's fingertips lightly grazed his chin, and his appearance instantly transformed.

The eight-striped enforcer's trench coat swayed gently in the wind, and a face seemingly devoid of emotional fluctuations settled over his original features. The moment he saw this face, Jian Changsheng's eyes widened in shock:"Deputy Chief Tan Xin? Hong Xin, are you going this far??""Wait for me on the third floor."A gentle voice emanated from beneath the transformed face. Chen Ling walked directly towards the fourth checkpoint, his black trench coat swaying, exuding a sharp, powerful aura.

Since the fourth checkpoint was "human," it actually expanded the room for maneuver for Chen Ling. He needed to reach the fourth floor, but even with Qiong Xuan's captain-level authority, it likely wouldn't be enough. Therefore, he decided to impersonate the person with the highest authority in the current enforcement system! As the "enforcement representative" frequently appearing in newspaper headlines and on radio stations, Chen Ling had seen Tan Xin's photos countless times. Before arriving, Chen Ling had also specifically searched for and listened to radio recordings featuring Tan Xin. Even without ever having met him in person, Chen Ling was confident he could perfectly replicate his persona. This was one of the trump cards he had prepared for the mission. At Aurora Base, what could be more effective than the face of Deputy Chief Enforcer Tan Xin?

Thus, under Jian Changsheng's astonished gaze, Chen Ling walked alone into the passage leading to the fourth floor. As he proceeded deeper, the surrounding lights gradually dimmed. Jian Changsheng was right; this passage was indeed unremarkable, without any mechanisms or sacrificial artifacts. However, after Chen Ling rounded a corner, a figure appeared in his line of sight.

The first thing he noticed upon seeing her was her deep crimson long hair, which flowed down naturally over her pristine white shirt like lava from the fringes of hell. A black tie was casually knotted at her collar, and loose yet formal suit trousers outlined the perfect curvature of her legs. Above this "worker's attire," which brought Chen Ling back to thoughts of the workplace, was a clean and indifferent face. She was beautiful, yet there was an unapproachable distance about her, like an untouchable ice mountain. In the hands of this "ice mountain" at that moment was a children's book, almost worn out from repeated reading:— *Panda Panpan's Wonderful Adventure: A Journey into the Magical World of Magnetic Fields*

A flicker of surprise crossed Chen Ling's eyes at this sight, but his steps didn't falter in the slightest. As if he hadn't seen her at all, he walked straight towards the door to the fourth floor."Are you sure?"Just then, a cool female voice came from beside him.Chen Ling stopped.

Those five short words set Chen Ling's mind racing. From the tone, it seemed she was an old acquaintance of Tan Xin, but what was the decision she referred to? How should he respond next? Was she truly the person he suspected her to be?"Yes." After half a second, Chen Ling replied with a single, understated word.Saying more risked making a mistake, and for Chen Ling at that moment, this was the best reply.

The red-haired woman continued to hold the book, reading intently. After casually turning a page, she continued:"Once you take this step, there's no turning back for you and the entire Aurora City...""I know.""The burden on you has been too heavy all these years." The red-haired woman closed her book, her eyes slowly shutting. "If someone absolutely has to do it, let me go instead."Chen Ling shook his head. "No, some things can only be done by me."The red-haired woman gave him a deep look, then said no more. She slowly stood up and walked towards the third floor, at the other end of the passage.

Chen Ling caught the scene in his peripheral vision and said nothing more, silently walking alone towards the fourth floor in the opposite direction.After passing through the door to the fourth floor, a cold sweat broke out on Chen Ling's back.He was through, just like that?

Although it was only a few brief exchanges, Chen Ling's mental energy was rapidly drained, and he had roughly guessed the woman's identity. It was no exaggeration to say that if he had made even one wrong reply just now, not only would the mission have failed, but even the Twilight Society might not have been able to easily rescue him.But... what did those words she said mean?It seemed that while he was bluffing just now, he might have inadvertently caused her to misunderstand something. He wondered what she was going to do? It shouldn't significantly affect his mission, should it?

Chen Ling continued to replay the encounter in his mind with lingering fear. At the same time, a fork in the path appeared before him. There were two paths available to Chen Ling. The left path seemed to lead to an unknown underground space, while the right path led to the lower level of Laboratory No. 0, which Jian Changsheng had seen, and where Aurora Lord was located.

Chen Ling glanced to the left, then turned and walked towards Laboratory No. 0 on the right. Before long, a spacious area appeared before him. It was a massive laboratory, nearly three stories high, covered in steel pipes. In the central area, there was a glass observation platform. The pipes running throughout the lab all connected to the exterior of a tall hibernation pod, resembling countless blood vessels connected to a heart. Faint ticking sounds of machinery could be heard.

Chen Ling's gaze settled on the central hibernation pod, and his mind subtly reeled. Within the mysterious liquid filling the pod, a white-haired figure in a lab coat floated head-to-toe inverted. Even after sleeping for over three hundred years, the face still retained a youthful appearance, as if an inexplicable magic drew Chen Ling's eyes."This is... Aurora Lord?" Chen Ling murmured to himself.

The current Aurora Lord was vastly different from the one Chen Ling had seen in photos from over three hundred years ago. Except for the unchanging facial features, everything else was poles apart. If the Aurora Lord from back then, when he was still a scientist, exuded a strong scholarly aura and the unique "stiff wisdom" of an engineer, the Aurora Lord before him now only emanated divine compassion and endless solitude.

Chen Ling's gaze swept around, particularly lingering on the observation glass for a long time. He already had a preliminary plan in mind. Although there was an observation window on the second floor, it was merely a vantage point for the lab-coat-clad personnel to monitor Aurora Lord. There were blind spots in their observation of the entire laboratory, so as long as Chen Ling was careful with his movements, he could avoid their gaze. Moreover, the people behind the observation glass now seemed to be sleeping and chatting, with no one paying attention to this area at all.

A sharp glint flashed in Chen Ling's eyes; he knew his opportunity had arrived. His figure darted forward, bringing him before Aurora Lord's hibernation pod.However, the moment his fingertips touched the glass front of the pod, an anomaly occurred!Aurora Lord, floating within the hibernation pod, suddenly seemed to sense something, and his eyelashes began to tremble violently!