In a crossover anime, do you believe that a machine spirit can defeat a fake human?

"Call for help," Chen Yi gestured to his ear and said.

"Oh, oh..." Aoyama Nanami nodded, took out his phone to make a call, and casually turned on speakerphone.

"...We've received your message. Could you provide specific details about the biological threat?" The other party's voice was clearly transmitted to the three people present.

“They…they will lurk in people’s homes…” the man said first, his voice still trembling.

"Tall in stature, possessing a certain level of intelligence, and knowing how to evade surveillance." Chen Yi continued, trying to keep his description as concise as possible.

"Understood, we will dispatch a team to the scene as soon as possible." After listening to the report, the person on the other end of the phone was silent for a few seconds before decisively hanging up.

"Phew... Just hold on, the longer it drags on, the better for us." Chen Yi calmed down and comforted Aoyama Nanami.

"If you're scared, I'll stand inside." Sensing that Aoyama Nanami had always wanted to get away from that wall, Chen Yi kindly offered this suggestion.

"Thank you." Aoyama Nanami paused for a moment, then managed a weak smile.

The surveillance footage shows the dark figure scratching at the wall.

Because the surveillance camera was in the dark, it was possible that it went undetected, which allowed Chen Yi and his team to continuously pinpoint the location of the object.

"Chen-kun... seems very reliable." To ease the tension, Aoyama Nanami took the initiative to strike up a conversation.

"Haha." Chen Yi didn't know what to say, so he could only laugh a few times.

It can't be that he was blocked at the door by the fake people a few days ago, and had a close negotiation with the fake people before, so he's already exhausted, right?

"Um... is there a toilet here?" the man asked timidly.

"There's a toilet in the warehouse behind the convenience store," Aoyama Nanami pointed to the door in the corner.

Pushing open that door, the warehouse behind it was illuminated by only a few incandescent lights, casting shadows of varying lengths on the large quantities of supplies inside.

"Thank you, clerk... Um, could you take me with you?" The man shrank back shamelessly, turning around with a pleading look in his eyes.

“I’ll go with you to find it. Senior Aoyama, please keep an eye on the surveillance footage. If anything happens, come and meet us immediately.” Chen Yi handed the pistol to Aoyama Nanami, indicating that he should continue watching the surveillance.

"What kind of nonsense is it to ask a girl to accompany you to the restroom?" Chen Yi thought to himself.

......

The warehouse space in a convenience store is much larger than the convenience store itself.

The cardboard boxes on the shelves were stacked neatly, stretching from the floor to the ceiling. Some of the boxes had yellowed labels, as if they had been there for a long time.

Chen Yi took a moment to glance at the contents, which were mostly high-concentration aged liquor that he had stockpiled.

The employee restroom was at the very back of the warehouse, next to a roller shutter door that could fit a truck. Chen Yi glanced at it and found that it was welded shut.

Well, we've temporarily ruled out the possibility of a fake human infiltrating from the warehouse area.

This conclusion made him feel a little more at ease... Well, not really. A quiet environment only makes people overthink things.

Standing outside the restroom, Chen Yi pondered, his gaze gradually rising upwards.

Ventilation ducts.

Chen Yi suddenly thought of some games he had played before, where people could walk through ventilation ducts.

"Tsk." Chen Yi shivered; this guess had taken root in his heart even more deeply.

"This vent doesn't look that big; anyone slightly larger probably couldn't squeeze in." He looked up and stared at the vent for a few seconds, seemingly trying to reassure himself.

"Hey uncle, are you done yet—" After waiting for a while, Chen Yi turned around to urge him, his voice abruptly cut off.

The door was open, but no one was inside.

There were traces of blood in the cubicle, and the warehouse area was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"..." Chen Yi paused for a moment, then burst out of the warehouse area at the fastest speed he had ever seen, slammed the door shut, pulled down a shelf, and pushed it over to block the warehouse door.

"W-what happened?" Aoyama Nanami was startled, her voice trembling, before she quickly realized what was going on.

"That uncle...?"

"There are other entrances inside the warehouse." Chen Yi gasped for breath, his heart pounding uncontrollably.

Even at such close range, I couldn't detect it... not a sound. Chen Yi's face turned deathly pale as he looked up at Aoyama Nanami.

“I didn’t hear anything just now.” He shared this information with Aoyama Nanami.

"..." She was speechless for a moment, her lips moved slightly, but in the end she didn't say anything.

"Don't be afraid, phew...we can hold on." Chen Yi comforted the other person and tried to change the subject.

"How long has it been since we made the call for help?"

"...less than five minutes."

"...The fake mannequin at the door is still there."

The guy in the surveillance footage seemed to have given up scratching the wall and stood there blankly, waiting for something.

"In other words..." Chen Yi did not state his deduction.

At least two.

......

The wall clock in the convenience store ticked away.

Chen Yi stared at the second hand, watching it jump forward one tick at a time. With each tick, he silently counted a number.

One hundred and twenty times, two minutes.

Two hundred and forty times, four minutes.

"If only I could control time," Aoyama Nanami muttered softly as she counted with him.

"This way we can fast forward to the time when the rescue arrives."

“Senior Aoyama, if you could control time, why not just stop time and kill them all? Then we wouldn’t have to wait for rescue.”

"Hmm...that seems to be true."

The two tacitly tried to find topics to talk about, trying their best not to break down.

Then they fell silent. It wasn't that they didn't want to talk; they just suddenly didn't know what to say.

"Knock knock knock."

It was a knocking sound coming from the warehouse.

"Hey clerk? Why did you go back? And why did you lock the door? Open the door!"

The voice of the man from before came from behind the warehouse door.

P.S.: There will be two updates today, please wait a moment!

New Life: Chapter Nine - Sharing Life and Death

"Shop assistant?" came a puzzled voice from behind the door, as he knocked harder.

"Shop assistant?" It kept repeating this word and banging on the door.

Gradually, knocking turned into banging on the door, with the mannequin behind the door repeatedly ramming against the door panel and shaking the shelves blocking the door.

"Open the door," the other person repeated mechanically.

"Aoyama, the gun." Chen Yi pulled down another shelf to block the back door, then reached out to Aoyama Nanami.

"Oh, oh!" Aoyama Nanami handed him the pistol without hesitation and took a few steps back to a safe place.

"Bang—!" The back door was slammed open, and even though it was blocked by two shelves, it was still forced open a crack.

Peeking through the crack in the door, Chen Yi made eye contact with the fake man.

It was very ugly, but it was beginning to take on a human form.

Chen Yi seized the opportunity, quickly raised his hand, and aimed his gun.

"Click".

The bullet did not fire.

Grass!

A thought flashed through Chen Yi's mind—the legendary Fire King had finally let him down at the crucial moment.

No, that's not right. Accidental discharge is firing randomly, and jamming is not firing at all. That's even worse than accidental discharge.

He pulled the slide, ejecting the jammed bullet. The metal casing fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

"Pistol Bro, I'm not calling you a legendary fire-misfire king anymore, give it your all!" he roared inwardly.

"Bang—!" A short gunshot rang out, making the ears of the two men ring.

The dummy, which had been shot, paused for a moment, then unleashed even greater power, smashing through the two shelves blocking the door.

"Go to the other side!" Chen Yi shouted, telling Aoyama Nanami to run to the glass door with the roller shutter closed, while he quickly fired three shots.

Two out of three shots hit at close range, and the stopping power was insufficient, allowing the opponent to pounce instantly.

Chen Yi couldn't dodge in time and instinctively raised his right hand.

The sensation of being hit by something came instantly from my right arm, followed by a tingling pain that began to spread.

Chen Yi grabbed the cash register from the counter with his left hand and smashed it face-to-face.

The other person staggered and took a few steps back.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Chen Yi raised his gun, aimed, and fired two shots.

This time it hit successfully; the opponent tensed up suddenly and then fell to the ground.

Staring at the monster on the ground, Chen Yi hadn't even caught his breath when he saw Aoyama Nanami running back in a panic.

“That monster at the door…it’s trying to lift the roller shutter!” Aoyama Nanami stammered, but what she said still chilled Chen Yi to the bone.

"Head to the warehouse, there's no time to hesitate." After quickly glancing at the surveillance footage, she confirmed that what Aoyama Nanami said was true.

He raised his hand, aimed at the fallen dummy, and fired another shot. He then handed the gun to Aoyama Nanami and dragged away the dummy's body and the fallen shelves, clearing a path back to the warehouse.

"Aoyama, you go in first. I'll try to set up some more obstacles." Despite the dull pain in his right arm, Chen Yi said to Aoyama Nanami.

"Bang—" The sound of the roller shutter door being damaged became more obvious. The two knew that there was no time to delay, so they quickly entered the warehouse through the back door.

"It's so heavy!" I gripped the shelf tightly with both hands, but an electric shock-like pain shot through my right arm.

"Chen-kun!" The shelf crashed to the ground, and Aoyama Nanami exclaimed in surprise. "Your hand..."

"No problem." After catching his breath, Chen Yi pulled another shelf over to the ground.

The road leading to the warehouse had been blocked off, which, while not as effective as the roller shutters outside, still bought the two some time.

"Mr. Chen, what should we do next?" Aoyama Nanami's voice was tinged with tears.

"See that vent?" Chen Yi glanced at the welded-together warehouse roller shutter door and pointed to the ventilation duct above.

"Climb out from there."

“Okay.” Aoyama Nanami did not hesitate and placed her complete trust in Chen Yi.

Fortunately, there was a huge storage rack in the warehouse that they could use as a stepping stone, and in no time the two of them climbed to the top.

Two shots hit the corner of the fence, and Chen Yi jumped up and ripped the fence off.

The sharp edge cut my palm, but I couldn't care less at that moment.

"Mr. Chen, I don't think I can reach it." Aoyama Nanami stood on tiptoe, but his hands still couldn't reach the exhaust vent of the ventilation duct.

"I'll carry you on my back." Chen Yi squatted down without hesitation, gesturing for Aoyama Nanami to climb onto his back.

"You go up first, follow the wind to find the exit, and I'll catch up in a bit."

After glancing at Aoyama Nanami, who had already entered the ventilation duct, Chen Yi turned around and jumped off the storage rack.

"Chen Jun..." Aoyama Nanami called out.

"Those shelves won't hold it off for long. You go ahead, I'll catch up later." Interrupting what the other person was about to say, Chen Yi's eyes quickly scanned the warehouse.

Oh, and alcohol!

His gaze finally settled on the cardboard boxes with faded yellow labels, and a knowing smile appeared on his lips.

Without hesitation, Chen Yi roughly destroyed the cardboard box, smashing all the bottles of liquor inside onto the ground, splashing them onto his pants and clothes.