Docking

Shi Youchen didn't know what Yan Zhiyuan was feeling at the time, but when he heard Lin Zhouze say this, he thought that people's life was probably just to live these moments.

"Later, he was vomiting profusely, and I had to help him back home and deal with the aftermath." Lin Zhouze chuckled, "But he really did go to the health consultation center. I waited outside all night, and he had a fever the next day."

"When I woke up, he was right next to me, and everything was normal."

"He came out of it intact."

It's said that the association's psychics have an unspoken "three no's" principle: "One, don't violate the association's rules; two, don't offend the district's aristocratic families; three, don't set foot in the health consultation office." This is because most psychics who emerge from it are either stupid or insane. Regardless of which type, the outcome is essentially the same.

Anything that has lost its usefulness to the family or the organization will be discarded.

And the very few who were able to remain safe and sound, without exception, had their abilities raised to a higher level.

"Later, he became very sensitive to these places, so I was the only one who came every time." Lin Zhouze rubbed his eyes. "I'm not here to commemorate the traitor. I just felt that since I brought these from so far away, they can't just be effective this time."

"Anyway, apart from us, no one knows who is buried underneath." The debris that was accidentally blown into his eyes flowed out under the tears he squeezed out. Lin Zhouze wiped away the remaining tears and said, "Now that I've told you all this, we're accomplices. If Yan Zhiyuan and I have a disagreement in the future, you have to stand by me."

A childish fight for favor. Shi Youchen felt helpless, as he was clearly the younger of the two.

"In that case, let me tell you something..." Shi Youchen was about to speak when the communicator suddenly rang, interrupting him. Lin Zhouze glanced at the incoming call and waved his hand to signal Shi Youchen to continue.

"Hello, branch chief, it's me." Upon hearing that the person on the other end was the head of District 8, Shi Youchen's breathing became heavier involuntarily. He tried his best to control himself and not show any clues in front of his friends, even though they had just become accomplices.

Not knowing what the branch director had said, Lin Zhouze's face turned serious. "Yes, he went out on a mission last week and hasn't returned to District 8." "..." "No news yet." "..." "Okay, I'll arrange it right away and send you a report when it's completed."

The call didn't last long. After the other end hung up, Lin Zhouze took a deep breath and said to Shi Youchen, "Sorry, Youchen, I have an urgent mission and need to leave right away. By the way, what did you say you wanted to tell me?"

If Lin Zhouze knew about Lu Quezhi's life experience, his supernatural power mutation, and even the problems of supernatural power inheritance and awakening itself, and did in-depth research, with his talent, he would surely be able to reach a higher position in the future even without supernatural powers.

"Don't worry, go do your thing first, and we'll talk in detail later." Shi Youchen thought for a moment and felt that it was a bit inappropriate for him to speak so rashly just now. This kind of thing couldn't be explained clearly in a few words, so he decided, "I'll walk you a little way, let's go."

Following the association's regulations, the two of them arrived at the assembly point for mission vehicles near the association's south gate. "Are you going alone?" Shi Youchen asked Lin Zhouze with some concern, glancing at the overcast sky.

"Deputy Minister Lin from the Ministry of Information?" Suddenly a voice sounded from not far behind the two of them. When Shi Youchen's body froze, the person who spoke had already walked in front of them.

"Hello, I'm the contact person over there. Let's go." The man didn't introduce himself in detail. He just asked Lin Zhouze to leave with him in a few words.

As soon as he finished speaking, his eyes turned to Shi Youchen.

"Yes, please lead the way." Lin Zhouze seemed to trust this person very much and planned to follow him without asking any other questions. "Wait!" At this moment, Shi Youchen suddenly said, "I'll go with you." This made Lin Zhouze quite confused. He looked at his friend in confusion, and then looked at the person who came to meet him with some embarrassment.

"this..."

"Sure, I don't mind. This doesn't conflict with the mission." The smile on the man's lips made Lin Zhouze even more confused, but when it was reflected in Shi Youchen's eyes, it made him firmly believe in one thing -

The contact person in front of him was the person who jumped from the building that he had seen outside the information center of the A City training base that night.

"Ah, oh, since you have no problem with it, then I naturally have no objection." Lin Zhouze didn't think much about it. With an urgent task at hand, he just wanted to go there quickly. He was also anxious to write a report and send it to the branch director after completing it.

So the three of them got into the same car in a subtle atmosphere. After driving along the familiar route for an unknown amount of time, Lin Zhouze's hesitant look was finally noticed by the person driving in front.

"What's wrong with Vice Minister Lin? Are you not feeling well?" The man's voice was very solid, as if it was free of air, but his tone was frivolous, so he was easily recognizable.

Lin Zhouze said with some hesitation: "I want to confirm the content of the mission with you." However, Shi Youchen was still in the car, and as a mission assistant, it was not easy for him to take the initiative to speak.

"It's okay. This is just an emergency mission, not top secret. There's no need to keep it secret from... him." In the rearview mirror, those eyes glanced at Shi Youchen who was sitting quietly with a smile.

Lin Zhouze felt as if he had been granted amnesty: "Okay. The order I received from the branch director is to supervise the entire process of updating the experimental equipment at the A City Training Base on behalf of Director Yan Zhiyuan." He began the usual pre-mission coordination.

"Well, since Mr. Lu Ming is out on a mission and it's inconvenient to interrupt the training base, the connection has been temporarily handed over to me." He still didn't introduce his identity, which now seemed to be a deliberate act.

Lin Zhouze: "What is the scope of the updated experimental equipment this time?" Because he had just received the notice at the last minute and the branch director did not give much description, Lin Zhouze had to inquire and prepare everything on his own.

"Testing." Water droplets began to fall on the windshield. It was raining outside. The man turned on the windshield wipers, checked the time, and said, "After the equipment is updated, it still needs to be tested by the experimental team. It will not be officially completed until the results come out."

"So I'd like to trouble Vice Minister Lin and your friend to stay at the training base for one night."

...

It was almost dusk when they arrived at the A City training base. As they passed through the gate before entering the base, the man feigned surprise when he saw Shi Youchen's ID card: "I didn't expect this gentleman to be a colleague for a long time."

Lin Zhouze knew that Shi Youchen had joined here, but he didn't pay much attention to it because he was busy recently.

Shi Youchen withdrew his hand: "It's not something worth publicizing, let's go." The three of them were guided into the mission area, which was the test area building that Shi Youchen was relatively familiar with.

Testing equipment is one of the most common types of equipment and occupies a relatively large area, so Lin Zhouze started inspecting everywhere as soon as he arrived, and he didn't pay attention to Shi Youchen who came with him.

"You are indeed very brave." This was the third time Shi Youchen heard this voice coming from behind him.

"Aren't you afraid of getting yourself into trouble?" the man whispered as he walked over to Shi Youchen. "Why don't you just pretend it's none of your business like you did that night?"

Shi Youchen looked at Lin Zhouze's back in the distance and said, "Which night? You must have recognized the wrong person. I don't know you at all."

“…”

"Haha, okay." The man was like a misfired gun, being blocked back. "Then I hope you can... do as you said, not knowing each other and not getting involved." The last few words were very cold, like a warning, and like an exhortation.

After several hours of work, Lin Zhouze finally had a break. He sat down at the other end of the bench with his back against Shi Youchen and said with some envy, "We always have access to the latest and greatest equipment here. Unlike the departments in our association, we have to apply for it with contribution points first."

Shi Youchen: "There's nothing good about it. The more preferential treatment you receive, the easier it is for you to become a target of public criticism." "What do you mean?" "..."

"At the beginning of the year, this place was attacked and bombed once."

"On the day Li Luo committed suicide."

Lin Zhouze paused. "I know, but the information reported shows that it was only damaged, and no important information was stolen. Moreover, the underlying data here is very complete, and with the support of a large number of psychics, the reconstruction will be completed quickly."

No important information was stolen.

Shi Youchen went to District 5 without knowing the result after the incident. Now after hearing what Lin Zhouze said, he was not relieved, but even more uneasy.

He didn't think the Maintenance Bureau would do things without any purpose. If there was no actual loss, then such behavior could probably be seen as a warning.

Maintenance Bureau, who are you warning?

"Deputy Minister Lin, the final update procedures for this part of the barrier detection equipment will begin soon. The test of the experimental group after completion is scheduled for tomorrow morning. You and Mr. Shi will stay in the reception building of the base tonight." The man walked quietly, and it was unknown whether he had heard the conversation between Shi and Lin.

After resting for less than ten minutes, Lin Zhouze stood up again and walked out of the building.

Shi Youchen was still sitting there, seemingly waiting for something. "Mr. Shi, what do you think about the attack on the base earlier this year?" Sure enough, the conversation had indeed been overheard.

"If there is no top-secret information here." Shi Youchen said in a very calm tone.

The man raised his eyebrows: "What?"

Shi Youchen stood up and stretched. "Maybe it was just a whim on the other party's part, or maybe there's someone here that he doesn't like."

"Hahahahahahaha." The man suddenly laughed out loud, "This joke is quite interesting."

"But you know what, there's some top-secret information here." He turned and leaned close to Shi Youchen's ear, whispering, "It's in the digital archive you often visit."

After he finished speaking, he left without even glancing at Shi Youchen's expression.

...

Late at night, Lin Zhouze got out of bed, sleepy-eyed, to relieve himself. He saw that the light in Youchen's room was still on. "Youchen, are you still awake?" he asked, thinking that his friend was bed-sick and insomniac.

Shi Youchen put away his electronic screen and responded, "Nothing, just a little indigestion, I'll be asleep soon."

"Oh..." Lin Zhouze rubbed his eyes, "Then you take care of yourself, I'll go back first." Normally he would not rest so early, but he was really tired today, so he rested extra early.

Shi Youchen was very clear-headed, even a little too clear-headed, and all this originated from that one sentence.

"Curiosity is the easiest thing to get you killed." Shi Youchen knew he shouldn't delve too much, but he couldn't suppress the urge. The other party had clearly told him this on purpose.

He walked to the window to take a breath, and looked out, only to see a little light spreading in the distance.

A strange smell drifted over, and Shi Youchen's awakening made him react immediately. He immediately turned around and went to the next room to wake up Lin Zhouze. "Lin Zhouze! Wake up! Get up quickly!"

What finally woke Lin Zhouze up was not his call, but the series of rumbling sounds outside.