The surroundings were eerily silent. Although the wall clock displayed 12:30 at night—a naturally quiet hour—this was far from ordinary. For Xiao Yi, even the faintest sounds, like the creaking of water pipes, the footsteps of patrolling guards, or the light snoring of guests in the adjacent rooms, would usually form a low-decibel symphony in his ears. Yet now, he heard absolutely nothing.

Xiao Yi dared not recklessly release his black threads to probe the situation. Instead, he stepped cautiously through the hallway and knocked on Huo Li's door while calling out, "Huo Li! Huo Li!"

However, no response came from the room. Only the sound of his knocking echoed through the empty corridor. He twisted the doorknob forcefully, but the door was locked tight and refused to budge. Raising his voice, he called again, "Huo Li, are you in there?"

Still, there was no reply. The youth thought about retrieving a handgun from his space but realized that he couldn't! Though the connection with his inventory had been severed, he could still summon his black threads. Yet, he could not manipulate them into synthesizing organic materials as usual. The 120,000 tons of black threads were like the numb legs of a paralyzed patient.

(Perhaps retrieving them might reestablish the connection?) But Xiao Yi dared not act rashly. Instead, he turned back and removed a small piece of shaping wire from the branch of the bonsai in the hallway, then began to crudely pick the lock. With no prior experience, it took him a while to succeed, leaving behind a mess of scratches before he finally heard a satisfying click. Twisting the doorknob gently, he pushed the door open and stepped inside, only to find an empty room.

Xiao Yi didn't switch on the light, so he relied on the dim glow of the cold hallway lights to confirm that the bed was unoccupied. Moreover, Huo Li couldn't be in the bathroom at that time without making any noise. As the youth approached the bed, he noticed the sunken pillow and the disheveled blanket. (But where was Huo Li?)

Xiao Yi slowly walked out of the room and refrained from picking the locks of other doors. After all, he made so much noise that if anyone were inside, they would have already come out to investigate. Yet, every door in the corridor remained tightly shut.

Xiao Yi opted for the stairwell instead of the elevator and quickly descended to the hotel lobby. However, it was just as deserted. The front desk and security guards on duty seemed to have vanished without him noticing. Meanwhile, the clock in the lobby displayed a different time: 00:47.

(Seventeen minutes had passed.)

At that moment, a faint vibration reached the youth's ears—it was a car! A car was driving along the street! Xiao Yi hurriedly ran outside but hesitated to transform into his alien form, uncertain whether the city's surveillance cameras were active. Clad in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, he reached the roadside only to see the car vanish into the distance.

Standing by the roadside, he looked at the empty street beneath the night sky. (What was going on? Had the entire neighborhood fallen into some bizarre trap? Is it possible to follow the normal cars to leave this area?)

Xiao Yi stood quietly at the roadside, straining to capture even the faintest vibrations around him. He felt as though he had waited twenty or thirty minutes before the sound of another car reached his ears. Looking toward the far end of the road, he spotted a silver-gray sedan.

Yet, just as he felt a sliver of relief at reconnecting with the normal world, his heart sank again: the silver-gray sedan had no driver!

Xiao Yi could see the steering wheel turning slightly as if an invisible hand were manipulating the car's direction. Suppressing the unease growing in his heart, he leaped as the car sped past, clinging tightly to its roof. With a forceful knee strike, he shattered the passenger-side window and slid into the vehicle.

Seated in the unmanned car, Xiao Yi observed the driver's seat. The accelerator and brake pedals moved on their own, operating just like any vehicle driven by a human, except for the glaring absence of a driver.

Sitting silently, Xiao Yi picked up a shard of broken glass and gently cut his arm, leaving a shallow scratch. He then discreetly tucked the glass into his pajama pocket. Observing the streets through the window, he noticed a few 24-hour stores still lit, silhouettes of late-night residents in the apartment buildings, and sporadic cars and buses passing by. Everything seemed like a typical city night scene.

Fifteen minutes later, the sedan turned into a residential complex, heading for an underground parking lot. Xiao Yi decided not to follow it into the enclosed area, so he opened the door and jumped out, retracing his steps toward the hotel.

The journey back seemed eerily quieter. Nearly an hour passed without him encountering another vehicle, and the traffic lights, which generally cycled through colors, were frozen, perpetually displaying either red or green. Returning to the hotel lobby, Xiao Yi immediately checked the digital clock on the wall: 01:03.

A night that should have been daytime, the sudden disappearance of people, the bizarre time… How could he restore everything to normal? Severing his connection to 99% of his body had left his intelligence at a standstill. Shaking his head, Xiao Yi quickly returned to his floor and saw that Huo Li's door was still ajar. Crossing the silent corridor, he returned to his room, shut the door, and climbed into bed. Pulling up the blanket, he closed his eyes, finding a comfortable position.

"Whatever," he muttered. "Sleep it off."

Exhausted from the past few days, Xiao Yi unexpectedly drifted back to sleep on the hotel's large bed. Perhaps his newly acquired 14 or 15-year-old body demanded more rest. He felt as though he was cycling through one dream after another. Occasionally, he woke halfway, glimpsing the unchanging darkness outside before falling back into slumber. It wasn't until a loud knock woke him after what felt like a long time:

"Sister-in-law! It's 7 o'clock! Time to get up!" came Liu Mo's voice from outside.

Xiao Yi got up with a jolt and noticed the golden morning light illuminating the roof of the opposite building. The sky had turned a pale blue.

“2d14?”

"Host, you're awake! Are we buying the hospital today?" The system's voice echoed in Xiao Yi's mind.

"What happened last night?" the youth asked.

System 2d14 sounded confused, "What do you mean? Host, you were sleeping the whole time!"

"I'm talking about the moment when the electronic clock showed 12:30!"

"Host, what are you talking about? You were asleep by then. As your system, I can only see what you see. I can't see the clock!"

Xiao Yi jumped out of bed and dashed out of the room in his pajamas. He stopped outside Huo Li's door, grabbed the doorknob, and barged in. The younger version of Huo Li, now several years younger, looked at Xiao Yi in surprise with his striking blue eyes while reaching for his shirt. The young Huo Li stood confidently in the warm morning light, dressed only in trousers. His strong muscles and strikingly handsome face made him look almost like a living work of art.

But Xiao Yi had no time to admire this sight. Urgently, he asked, "Did you notice anything unusual last night at 12:30?"

"What's wrong, Xiao Yi?" Huo Li asked. Seeing the youth's seriousness, he, too, became serious. "I didn't notice anything."

"Are you saying you slept in your bed the entire night?" Xiao Yi questioned as he walked to the bedside and inspected it closely. The bedclothes and blanket were just as he'd seen the previous night, but Huo Li smoothed out the indentations in the pillows.

Huo Li replied, "I went to bed at 11 PM and didn't get up until 6 this morning. Even when I'm asleep, I can sense anything unusual within several kilometers. But last night, I didn't detect anything strange."

"But I came to your room at 12:30, and no one was here," Xiao Yi said, recounting the bizarre events of the previous night.

After hearing the story, Huo Li quickly dressed and crouched by the door to inspect the lock closely. "Xiao Yi, based on your description, this lock should have been tampered with. But look—the lock is perfectly intact, without a single scratch. Before I opened it this morning, it hadn't been touched. And what about the piece of broken glass?"

Xiao Yi reached into his pajama pocket, only to find it empty. Everything from the previous night felt like a dream, while the current reality seemed solid and tangible.

Huo Li, noticing Xiao Yi's silence, stood up and called down the corridor, "Mr. Liu, Miss Aliena, and everyone else gather in my room immediately! Xiao Yi and I need to discuss today's hospital acquisition plans with you."

Twenty minutes later, eight people gathered in Huo Li's room. After Xiao Yi recounted his story, the group exchanged skeptical glances.

"I didn't leave my room all night!" one person said.

"I'm a light sleeper. If Xiao Yi had made that much noise in the corridor, I would have heard it," Britney remarked.

"To be honest, I stayed up watching TV until 2 AM because it's been a while since I've had time to relax," said Da Li, now a pale-faced boy with a sheepish smile. "If Xiao Yi had been in the corridor, he would have heard the TV since I live directly across from the boss."

"Sister-in-law, are you sure you weren't just having a nightmare?" Liu Mo, sporting a balding middle-aged man's appearance, teased.

The dark-haired boy smiled awkwardly, "Maybe I was just confused from sleeping too much. Let's focus on Today's plans and not waste time."

Huo Li seemed surprised at Xiao Yi's sudden change of attitude. After a moment, he said, "Today, the eldest and youngest masters of the Philip family will head to the Prosperity Auction House with the family assistant to exchange unused items from their space for start-up funds. Since this is a private action by the two masters, the Philip family has not provided any funding. Liu Mo and Aliena will accompany us to the auction house while the rest of the team will scout locations for the hospital. Prioritize areas away from government facilities, but pick locations in busy districts with enclosed spaces. Money is no issue as long as these three criteria are met."

"Got it, boss. Leave it to us!" Britney replied enthusiastically.

The group left in high spirits, ready to tackle the next step of their plan. None of them took Xiao Yi's 'nightmare' seriously.

As the youth stepped out of the room, Huo Li's voice echoed in his mind. "Xiao Yi, you left something unsaid, didn't you?"

Xiao Yi's gaze flickered briefly toward the small piece of iron wire still tied to the potted plant in the corridor. Every speck of rust on it was identical to what he had noted last night.

"A formidable enemy," Xiao Yi replied mentally, concealing the faint red scratch on his arm. "But I have no idea who they are."