Deviant: No Longer Human

"You two make me sick," she muttered, not really caring if they heard. She shifted slightly, the cool air brushing against her bare skin as she turned her head toward the door.

Thud… thud… thud.

The sound was unmistakable—someone was slamming on the door, and it had been going on for a while now.

"There\'s someone banging on the door," Eveline remarked dryly, her voice cutting through the room with a hint of annoyance. "Or are you two too lost in your little love nest to notice?"

Wang Xiao\'s brows furrowed, his amusement fading as he finally heard the persistent knocking. "Hm?"

He had made it very clear that no one was to disturb him unless it was something truly important.

His gaze shifted toward the door, a faint frown settling on his face. "Didn\'t I tell them not to come unless it was urgent?"

The knocking continued, more frantic now, each thud everberating through the room.

Wang Xiao could feel it—a sense of panic in the air, a desperation that seemed to seep through the walls.

His senses sharpened, and he could feel Anran outside, her emotions swirling like a storm.

Desperation. Anxiety. Fear.

It all poured from her like an overflowing dam, palpable and suffocating.

"She looks… desperate," he murmured, his voice softening as he sat up.

"What the hell is going on?" he muttered under his breath, sliding out of bed with a fluid motion.

His bare feet hit the floor with a soft thud as he crossed the room.

Eveline stretched lazily behind him, her lips curling in amusement as she watched him move. "Whatever it is, it better be a good news," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

But Wang Xiao wasn\'t listening.

Something was wrong, deeply wrong.

And it was about to shatter the peace they had created.

"Xiao!" Anran\'s voice rang out sharply as the door swung open, her presence enough to jolt Wang Xiao out of his relaxed state.

He blinked, stunned, as he saw Anran not standing tall and confident as she usually did, but prostrating on the floor, her forehead pressed against the ground.

This was unlike her.

"What happened?" Wang Xiao asked, his voice filled with confusion.

Anran lifted her head slowly, her eyes filled with hesitation. She glanced into the room, her gaze sweeping over Eveline and Ji Xuehong, both naked, tangled in sheets on the bed.

Normally, a scene like this would provoke a comment or a few teasing remarks from Anran, but today there was no trace of her usual sharpness.

Her eyes were distant, distracted.

Without a word, she stepped inside and closed the door behind her, her movements stiff and unnatural.

"??" Wang Xiao frowned, feeling a sharp headache coming on.

Anran\'s behavior was completely off.

He could feel something looming, an ominous tension thickening the air between them.

Whatever was bothering her, it was big.

Too big for her to speak of here.

Minutes later, they were on their way to the South Atlantic Ocean.

Anran had insisted, and despite his mounting frustration, Wang Xiao agreed to follow her.

Ji Xuehong, though still puzzled, quietly joined them.

The wind was sharp, biting at their faces as they approached the distant waters of the South Atlantic.

The volcanic island of Tristan da Cunha, its rocky cliffs towering over the ocean like sentinels.

The nearby islands, Inaccessible Island and Nightingale, formed a triangle around their destination.

Right in the heart of that triangle, far below the surface of the ocean, lay Athena\'s Cube—one of the world\'s most advanced, secretive facilities.

Hidden deep beneath the waves, it housed some of the darkest secrets known to mankind.

Wang Xiao\'s eyes narrowed as they descended toward the ocean\'s depths.

As they arrived inside Athena\'s Cube, the sterile, futuristic halls greeted them.

It was eerily quiet, too quiet for a facility like this.

They passed through secured partitions, entering the network known as the X-Files—a hidden branch of the Illuminati.

Inside, Sakura, a young researcher with a sharp mind and quick reflexes, sat hunched over a bowl of noodles, slurping them loudly as she scanned the screens in front of her.

She didn\'t expect company—not at this hour.

When the doors suddenly opened and Wang Xiao, Anran, and Ji Xuehong appeared seemingly out of nowhere, Sakura choked.

Splurt!—

Noodles flew out of her mouth as she struggled to keep herself composed. "What the—" she sputtered, quickly wiping her face.

"Cough, cough "P-Prince?!" Sakura\'s voice trembled, her eyes wide with shock.

It wasn\'t like this was her first time seeing Wang Xiao—in fact, she had found herself under him more than once, her nerdy look never bothering him.

Her short pink hair had always looked great disheveled, and her body… soft and inviting. She gulped nervously, trying to steady herself under the sudden tension.

But Anran didn\'t care for the pleasantries. "Get away…" she snapped, shoving Sakura\'s chair aside with a swift motion.

Before Sakura could even process what was happening, Anran had placed herself at the terminal. Her eyes were sharp, and her voice, cold. "Where are the call logs of my daughters?"

Sakura froze. "Uh… that…" Her voice wavered, clearly unsure of what had prompted Anran\'s sudden outburst. "I can\'t access that," she stammered, glancing nervously between Anran and Wang Xiao.

She could feel the pressure mounting, like a noose tightening around her neck.

Anran\'s eyes went dark, her patience thin. Without a word, she leaned forward, the quiet sound of leather shifting as she reached down, pulling a small knife from her boot.

The blade gleamed under the harsh lights of the facility. "What about now?" she asked, her voice dangerously soft, the edge of the knife lightly grazing the terminal as she spoke.

Sakura\'s heart skipped a beat. \'This is bad.\' She shot a pleading look at Wang Xiao, silently begging for mercy, but she knew better than to expect intervention.

After all, Wang Xiao had made it clear before—Anran was a force of her own, and crossing her was akin to suicide.

Sighing in resignation, Sakura mentally cursed her luck. \'It\'s not my fault,\' she thought, biting her lip. \'The boss himself asked for the logs, not me…\' With a shaky hand, she began typing on the console, accessing what little she could of the system.

Wang Xiao stood quietly behind them, observing. He didn\'t interfere, but his eyes were fixed on Anran, studying her.

She was unusually on edge—far more than he had ever seen. Whatever was happening, it was serious.

As the logs began to populate on the screen, Anran\'s eyes narrowed, her fingers tapping impatiently against the armrest of the chair.

Her daughters\' phones were typically untouchable, untraceable, but that didn\'t mean there wouldn\'t be records of attempts, patterns, or something hidden in the system.

The screen blinked, lines of encrypted data appearing.

Sakura worked quickly, decrypting it in silence.

Anran\'s fingers moved swiftly over the controls, her eyes glued to the screen as the decrypted data began to load.

She found the call logs, and with a quick glance at Wang Xiao, she tapped on one of the recordings.

The soft \'click\' of the play button echoed in the tense room, and then, a familiar voice filled the air.

"...I miss you.."