Mutation

When Shi Youchen returned to the dormitory, he felt that his hands and feet were gradually losing strength. He forced himself to move to the bathroom. Good hygiene habits forced him to wash his body before lying down to rest.

But he didn't expect that it would be two days before he opened his eyes again.

He recalled Lin Zhouze's arrangement in the first class and realized he had missed the second class. He had never missed a class in his more than ten years of schooling, so he began to worry.

Just as he was wondering why the teacher didn't come to look for the student when he skipped class without reason, a new message popped up automatically.

"Number: 8463, Shi Youchen, please gather in the lobby of the association management department at 13:00 today and go to Z City to carry out the A-level incident rescue mission. Mission points: 200. - Mission Management Center."

City Z. Even though he no longer had any relatives there, the sight of this place where he had lived for over twenty years still made his heart tremble. But he couldn't help but think about it. It was already 11:42, and he needed about an hour to replenish his nutrients and make necessary communications.

Fortunately, I had purchased some ingredients and put them in the dormitory refrigerator for convenience, so I could just make something.

After getting out of bed and washing up quickly, he walked into the kitchen. Just as he took out his things and put them on the chopping board, he received an internal call. The call screen displayed "Number: 6474." Shi Youchen didn't remember adding other superpowers.

The call connected and the outgoing voice was gentle.

"Shi Youchen, I'm Yan Zhiyuan. What I'm about to say is very important." His tone was quite serious. "First of all, I'm very sorry that yesterday's class was canceled at the last minute. The reason for the change is directly related to the upcoming mission."

Shi Youchen opened the information interface and found that there had been no course notifications since the end of the first day of training until today.

“The training session will be made up later. Before that, you should have received the news about the afternoon mission.

Normally, psychics who have not completed training are not assigned tasks, but this time the situation is special. This is the most socially harmful Class A incident in District 8 in the past five years. The command center requires all psychics nearby who have no tasks in progress to go, regardless of their level or nature. I just finished my mission and rushed to City Z.

The incident occurred at 4:14 am yesterday. A series of explosions occurred at a port in City Z, affecting an area of 15 miles. The civilian death toll reached over 800. The management center predicts that the person behind the incident was a fugitive of at least level 7.

At this point, his voice trembled, and he paused as if to calm himself down. Shi Youchen felt that he must have a lot more information to tell him, so he continued cooking while waiting for him to speak.

"Over 30 hours have passed since the incident, but the management center has not been able to track down any more information about the fugitives. This means that the other party may have at least one "Information Interference" user, and their level is not low.

Therefore, most of the Level 6 and above psychics with combat capabilities assigned to this mission were dispatched for tracking and elimination. However, the death toll among ordinary civilians continued to rise, so psychics with healing and auxiliary healing abilities were dispatched in batches for rescue efforts. Upon hearing this, Youchen had a general understanding of the entire incident and the reason for receiving the information.

As for the more detailed situation, I'm afraid I can only know it when I get to the scene. Shi Youchen put a bowl of noodles on the table and said to Yan Zhiyuan on the other end, "I received information that we should gather at 1:00 PM today."

"Okay, then I'll wait for you in City Z." Yan Zhiyuan left this sentence and the call was cut off.

——

13:00, in the lobby of the management department.

Shi Youchen looked at Lu Quezhi who walked to his side and nodded at him as a greeting.

Including the two of them, there were a total of six psychics who went on the rescue mission. The expressions on each person's face were different, but they were all silent.

Such a vicious incident was unusual. Since the beginning of the human era, the vast majority of superpowered individuals had been under the control of the Association, and the few who had escaped were generally eliminated during the intense pursuit. The few who had managed to escape were living in hiding, and it was absolutely impossible and incapable of causing such an incident.

Combined with the information provided by Yan Zhiyuan, this incident was probably premeditated and purposeful, but it is still unknown who would be so indifferent to the lives of the people and for what purpose.

The gathering time has arrived, and a group of people walked out from inside, among whom there was a familiar face.

Li Luo and another tall, muscular man walked side by side, and Chen Bushen followed behind them.

The two in front walked up to the six psychics who had already gathered, stopped at a distance, and bowed together: "Thank you all for your contribution to the order and stability of society."

Li Luo clenched his right fist, palm facing inward, and placed it over his heart. The man next to him did the same. "Everyone, please follow us to the mission area."

The association's mission vehicles have been specially modified, and it only takes about half an hour to travel from the branch base to the mission location.

Along the way, Chen Bushen took the information sent by the command center and explained the overall process of the incident and the specific form of the next task. His explanation was basically the same as what Yan Zhiyuan had explained during the call.

Shi Youchen sat alone on a single seat in the corner with a frown on his face. He had a strange feeling, and he didn't know if it was because no one spoke except Chen Bushen.

...

"The mission location is ahead. Please do your best." After a long silence, Li Luo finally spoke.

The subtle feeling lingering in Shi Youchen's heart reached its peak at this moment. The scene outside the window was blurry due to the fast speed of the car, but he could still vaguely see that he was about to enter a tunnel ahead. After passing through the tunnel, he should reach the mission location.

He took a deep breath, trying to regulate his fast heart rate.

It was dark outside the window, but it lit up again in about ten seconds. The car slowed down suddenly and slid forward smoothly. Finally, after the gate opened, it drove into an area.

Shi Youchen finally saw clearly that this was an emergency center near the sea. Because there were too many injured and it was impossible to evacuate them long distances, they had even erected tents outside. The ground was covered in layers of dried and fresh blood, resembling an oil painting in the scorching sunlight.

There were so many people around that it was hard to tell who were the injured, who were their family members, and who were the medical staff.

Chen Bushen spoke earnestly, "Because there were so many injured, we had no choice but to move some of them outside. These are those with minor to moderate injuries, and ordinary medical staff can handle them. Those who need assistance from psychics are the seriously injured and critically ill. According to the description in the previous data, the gas produced by the explosion was mixed with viruses. Although the scene was cleaned up immediately after the incident, some residents in the surrounding areas were still affected. These matters that ordinary doctors cannot solve, I'm leaving it to you to take care of them."

Li Luo and Du Li led a few people out of the car and walked through the crowded main entrance area towards the intensive care unit.

Shi Youchen didn't like the smell of blood, as it always brought back unpleasant memories, so he unconsciously moved a little closer to Lu Quezhi, which earned him a surprised look.

After sending six people to the intensive care unit, Li Luo and Du Li took Chen Bushen to carry out outdoor medical work.

Shi Youchen completed the preparations and was then taken to the intensive care unit on the third floor. The wounded here had all been detoxified and had their missing limbs restored, and they only needed him to heal their wounds.

He looked at these unconscious injured people and felt that they were both pitiful and lucky. If only his parents had been able to receive timely treatment from a superpowered person...

He was about to raise his hand when there was a loud "boom" and flames shot up into the sky outside the window, wrapped in thick black smoke, accompanied by crying, screaming, and chaotic footsteps. When the "buzzing" noise in his mind faded away, he realized that there was an explosion outside.

——

"There were nine people in total who were sent by the association's 8th district branch to assist, five of whom died and one was seriously injured."

"Death List: Du Li - Head of Group 6, Management Department

Chen Bushen - Deputy Head of Group 7, Management Department

Lin Ziqi - No. 8279, Level 3 Regeneration and Healing System

Lin Ruoyu——No.: 8280, Level 3 Detoxification and Healing System

Tong Shicheng - No. 8416, Level 2 Regeneration and Healing System

Seriously injured person: Li Luo - Head of Group 7 of the Management Department

"According to the on-site energy detection results, the three other psychics who were traveling with us have been ruled out as suspects. They can all be questioned one-on-one."

...

"Do you remember anything unusual on the way from the assembly point to the mission location?" Yan Zhiyuan poured a cup of hot tea and handed it to Shi Youchen who was sitting quietly on the sofa. He sat down next to him and asked as casually as possible.

Under normal circumstances, Shi Youchen would never keep such a close distance with others, but at this moment his mind was in a mess and he did not notice that Yan Zhiyuan had entered his guarded social area.

"There was nothing unusual during the gathering, and no one behaved strangely along the way. Only Chen Bushen was giving instructions along the way." Shi Youchen clasped his hands together and held the teacup, letting the rising hot steam blur his vision, as if he wanted to simulate the visual environment of someone who had just woken up in order to evoke his memory.

"After arriving at the mission location, we were taken to the intensive care unit. I didn't recognize the other people, but I remember Lu Quezhi was the fourth one, and I was the last. The three team leaders and deputy team leaders were always outside the intensive care unit." He narrowed his eyes, as if he was accidentally intoxicated by the heat. "I had just arrived on the third floor when the explosion occurred."

"I see. According to the final investigation, all six casualties were outside. This means that the only people who actually entered the intensive care unit were you, Lu Quezhi, and one other person." Yan Zhiyuan blew away the steam from his cup of tea, took a sip, and continued, "They were all at the center of the explosion. Li Luo was lucky enough to survive because Du Li protected him, but he's still unconscious."

Shi Youchen clenched his fingers and asked, "If all six of them were at the center of the explosion, then who were the other three who entered the intensive care unit before me?"

"Do you suspect that someone has disguised himself and infiltrated your group?" Yan Zhiyuan said in surprise.

"No, that's difficult. We were together from the time we gathered to the time we got off the bus and walked into the intensive care unit. There was no chance of us sneaking in. But that doesn't explain why those three people appeared outside." Shi Youchen denied this guess. He felt like he had missed something.

"It seems we can only wait until Li Luo wakes up. Fortunately, his life was saved and his injuries have been mostly treated. I'm just afraid that it will have some impact on his future life. After all, he's just an ordinary person." Yan Zhiyuan comforted Shi Youchen, "I'm very grateful that you and Lu Quezhi are safe. The Association will definitely get to the bottom of the second explosion incident. Until then, you should take a break and postpone the training course. Lin Zhouze happened to be busy with other things recently."

Shi Youchen actually didn't hear clearly what the other person said, and at this moment a scene appeared in his mind.

After getting off the car, Chen Bushen seemed to have spoken to several other psychics alone.

Five days later.

"'Li Luo is awake, in treatment room 31.' — Yan Zhiyuan"

Shi Youchen was on the treadmill when he received the message. He felt the need to exercise. After reading the content of the message, he picked up the coat that was always ready by the door and went out.

In Treatment Room 31 of the Association's Medical Department, Li Luo was awake, his upper body propped up on a cushion. He wasn't wearing glasses, and his head was slightly lowered, making his expression unclear, but it couldn't hide his pale face and bloodless lips.

"It's Chen Bushen." Li Luo said with his head down.

Shi Youchen pushed open the door of the treatment room and just heard these words.