settled

After Ying Yungui left Treatment Room 27, Shi Youchen held the black pendant for a long time before he came to his senses and remembered that he had not answered his question.

Why did he return to District 8 so promptly and rush to City Z? And why did Yan Zhiyuan know that he was attacked and even tried to rescue him?

These questions were answered after the conference three days later.

The association-wide review has yielded results, and the personal files of all association members have been updated and improved. However, some of them and their information were quietly erased, while the files of some others remained at the previous version forever.

Also announced was important news regarding the Maintenance Bureau. "From its formation to its disbandment, Team Alpha made significant contributions to the Association's efforts to combat and weaken the Maintenance Bureau's power. The team efficiently scanned and destroyed hundreds of unidentified energy sources and unknown areas around the world, eliminating dozens of fugitives. They also confirmed key social information: the Maintenance Bureau's influence has spread to parts of ordinary society, and some ordinary citizens have been misled by it to spread its ideas, intent on smearing the Association's image."

"...In response to the above-mentioned phenomena, the association will comprehensively strengthen supervision and do its utmost to maintain social stability. Effective immediately, all cross-region activities will resume normal operations, the mission section will be open as usual, and the reward points for actual combat-related missions will be increased across the board."

Shi Youchen finished watching the speech video of President Frovich in his hospital bed, and Ying Yungui put away his lunch box which he almost never left.

The atmosphere between the two of them, ever since their kiss, had been somewhat awkward. Ying Yungui had become much more reserved, though he'd become even more attentive in his care for others. Shi Youchen, on the other hand, hardly ever spoke up except for necessary requests that were beyond his ability.

However, he wiped his mouth and asked, "So after Alpha officially disbanded on the 17th, the review had already begun, right? My whereabouts were actually under the control of the association, which is why you and Yan Zhiyuan arrived in time."

Ying Yungui: "Well, the notification was just a superficial effort. Everyone's movements during that half-day were monitored, and any anomalies were reported immediately. Furthermore, what we did on the 18th was actually more of a cleanup."

"Purging those who are judged as betrayers and prohibiting them from crossing districts is also a strategy to facilitate the purge."

"That's it." Shi Youchen responded lightly and began to eat the fruit after dinner. "How is Yan Zhiyuan?"

Ying Yungui peeled the fruit for him, cut it into pieces, and plated it. "No news yet. I don't think he'll have any major physical problems, but I'm not sure about his mental health. He looked quite shaken when I found him."

Shi Youchen took a bite of the juicy pear: "Ah Xian...that fugitive was able to injure Yan Zhiyuan so badly. Has his interrogation yielded any results?" From Shi Youchen's perspective, he would of course think that Yan Zhiyuan was attacked by Ah Xian's mental invasion when he was rescuing him.

However, Ying Yungui told him: "He... does have a very complicated story, but he is far from being the one who could injure Old Yan so badly. It must be someone else." When Ying Yungui rushed to the bridge, Yan Zhiyuan was already seriously injured and unconscious, so he did not learn from him about the appearance of the masked man. This conclusion was entirely based on Ying Yungui's own practical experience.

"You mean, there was a stronger fugitive at that time, and we couldn't find his whereabouts." Shi Youchen slowed down the movement of picking up the pear.

"Not necessarily. We'll know when Old Yan wakes up."

Ying Yungui changed the subject and said more seriously, "The 'Ah Xian' you mentioned is his alias for social activities. There's no record of him in the association's archives. However, his biological age is 23, slightly older than you. His supernatural power is indeed 'mental invasion' as you said, and his energy fluctuation is at the peak level of Level 5."

Although such strength is nothing compared to Ying Yungui, it should be noted that even Lu Zhiqi, a talent awakener with huge family resources behind him, is only level 5 at the age of 24. This shows one thing -

"Whether he's a gifted or naturally awakened person, this level of ability is rare in the entire association." Ying Yungui expressed his greatest concern after learning the interrogation results. "He's a psychic who hasn't appeared in the association's field of vision since his awakening. He must have a considerable force behind him."

"Maintenance Bureau." This was the answer they both came up with.

The difference is, Ying Yungui said: "It seems that the Maintenance Bureau not only has people with special abilities who defected from the association and some ordinary people who mingle in various sectors of society, but also has people with special abilities that they have personally cultivated."

Shi Youchen was thinking, "If Ah Xian is really from the Maintenance Bureau, then that means someone in the bureau wants me dead. Is it 07? No, if it was 07, he could have easily taken Yan Zhiyuan and me on the day of the simulated battle in the dense forest and lake, and wouldn't have gone through so much trouble. It's not 07, but he's from the Maintenance Bureau. Could it be that 07 has a rival or an enemy and mistook me for one of his?"

Shi Youchen had so many things to think about based on the fact that "Ah Xian is from the Maintenance Bureau" that he didn't hear Ying Yungui's call, still immersed in his own world. "But when I was investigating Lu Shen in City A, it was indeed Ah Xian who deliberately gave me instructions and the next step. If his goal was just to kill me, he could have done it then, but he didn't."

"In other words, Ah Xian really wanted to push me to investigate Lu Shen at that time. So what made him want to kill me?"

Shi Youchen was thinking and unknowingly called out Lu Shen's name.

Ying Yun, who had been ignored after calling his name several times, had calmed down and was looking at the person in front of him intently. He was shocked when he heard the sound: "What?" Shi Youchen was puzzled by his reaction at first, but then realized: "I mean, is there any connection between Ah Xian and Lu Shen, and between Lu Shen and the Maintenance Bureau?"

"That's what I wanted to tell you. He has a very complicated story," Ying Yungui confessed. "The interrogation results showed that he was only accompanied by his mother during his infancy and childhood, and his father was never around. It seems that he was influenced by his mother and has some mental illness."

"He suffers from a personality disorder." Ying Yungui pointed to his head. "One of his personalities calls himself 'Ah Xian' and is characterized by an extreme desire for family affection."

"And the other personalities are mostly extremely antisocial and aggressive." Ying Yungui paused here. He knew that Shi Youchen must have thought of someone - the female mind-invading mutant in District 10.

Could such a coincidence be possible? In the space of less than a year, the reverse supernatural power of mental invasion had frequently appeared in the events surrounding them. Considering the primary method of awakening supernatural powers, "bloodline inheritance," an idea seemed to explain it all.

"You mean, Ah Xian's ability to invade the mind was inherited from his mother." Shi Youchen began to feel a little cold.

Ying Yungui nodded, "Not only that, his mother is most likely also from the Maintenance Bureau."

...

"Because my father was a man who indulged in the pleasures of life, I have always had a...how should I put it, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but I have a strange feeling towards places like this." What Ah Xian said at Tang Ke's house echoed in Shi Youchen's mind.

If, if what he said as "Ah Xian" was true, then the family affection and fatherly love he longed for, and the father he talked about who was indulged in romantic affairs, could it be that he was the one who disappeared in his childhood - Lu Shen?

"Do you still remember Jiang Da?" Shi Youchen suddenly asked. Ying Yungui thought for a long time before he could barely recall some relevant information. "I remember you said that Lu Shen's best friend was called this."

Shi Youchen: "He also joined the Maintenance Bureau because of Lu Shen. But when the Maintenance Bureau declared war, I showed him a photo of that woman, but he didn't recognize her."

Ying Yungui: "...and if Ah Xian was Lu Shen's child, he wouldn't be so clueless and even so decisive as to commit suicide." He cut up another plate of fruit and, with a click of his finger, it was sent to the refrigerator in the corner of the treatment room. "Maybe I'm overthinking it. Ah Xian might just be a gifted mind invader with special abilities, and he has nothing to do with that woman or Lu Shen."

"Yeah." Shi Youchen agreed with him, "Let's put Lu Shen's matter aside for now. We have more important things to do right now."

Ying Yungui was puzzled: "What's the matter?" He thought that α had disbanded, and what else was important besides helping Shi Youchen become stronger.

"Didn't I promise to help you get back the points you were fined for opening a new zone without permission in District 10?" Shi Youchen swallowed his honeydew and looked at him. "Won't I be free soon? This can also serve as a form of practical training for me."

Because he had completed all the dispatch tasks stably and well during his time in α, and received the highest level of rewards and commendations, Ying Yungui, whose ranking on the points list has now increased instead of decreasing compared to before returning from District 9, suddenly realized that Shi Youchen had never forgotten his goal.

Thinking of this, he immediately turned around and cleared his throat, almost unable to suppress the smile. In order to retain a last bit of composure in front of his sweetheart, he stood up and walked to the refrigerator and took out the fruit plate he had put in earlier.

Lately, Shi Youchen's appetite has been much smaller than before. Even forcing himself to eat a few more bites would still make him nauseous all day long. However, the doctor had ordered a variety of nutritional supplements, so the two of them decided to replace some of the hot food with fruits and vegetables. Shi Youchen had always preferred icy, crispy food, so Ying Yungui requisitioned the treatment room's refrigerator, which had been used to store some specialized medications. To minimize the smell and taste, they even moved the bottles and jars of liquid medicine to the dormitory kitchen, allowing him to retrieve them when needed.

He removed the fruit slices that had softened during their conversation and replaced them with fresh ones. "I'm really touched that you still remember this, but we have to wait until you're fully healed. Then we'll take on any missions you wish to take."

After the meal, Ying Yungui left the association base for some business and returned to City A. Shortly after he left, Shi Youchen wrapped himself in several layers of clothes and went to the snow-capped mountain area in the north square, carrying the black pendant.

In front of the boundary marker in the snow-capped mountain area, Shi Youchen was squatting with his back against the guardrail. He was wearing a teddy bear hat on his head, which was given to him by Li Nuo when he came to visit him. He just happened to use it when he went out today.

This area is a purely artificially created and maintained environment, and is even colder than the area near the real snow-capped mountains in nature. Unlike the other areas in the square, the Snow Mountain Area was established by the association after the incident at the Maintenance Bureau simply to simulate battles in extreme environments, so usually no one comes here.

It was still early, but Shi Youchen had already been squatting there for over two hours. The snow absorbed both light and sound, so the surroundings were eerily quiet. Shi Youchen only heard the crunching sound of footsteps approaching when they were quite close. He opened his eyes, which had been closed for so long, and his eyelids were frozen stiff.

"You are really not afraid of death." 07's joking voice came.