The security officers surrounded the villa completely. Looking at them, Luo Ning asked Lu Xinghe with some sadness, "Do you also think I did it?"

Only he knew that the scarf belonged to her; no one else could possibly know. Yet, he brought the scarf and surrounded her with his men.

Lu Xinghe walked to her side, his boots crunching on the fallen petals. "I never doubted you, and you were in this villa all night, but your things were left next to Old Master Feng's body. That's the most terrifying thing."

"We are not here to monitor or supervise, but to protect."

Luo Ning took the scarf and gently smelled it. It had the old man's scent, as well as the scents of Wen Rong and that man.

"It's them. I don't know what grudge they have against Minister Feng," Luo Ning sighed.

"Do you know who it is?" Lu Xinghe asked solemnly.

"Mm." Luo Ning nodded, and then told him in detail about how she met Wen Rong and that man.

“Wen Rong is a rare mutant who interacts with both humans and winged beings, which may be why the sonic device is useless to her,” she added.

Her information was quickly relayed to the military headquarters, and a new round of inspections was immediately launched.

"But why did they know that Wen Xi and I were here?" This was what Luo Ning didn't understand. Along the way, neither she nor Wen Xi had sensed Wen Rong and that man's presence again. Moreover, the Winged Evils were not sensory Evils, so Wen Rong shouldn't have been able to sense her and Wen Xi's whereabouts.

After thinking it over, she said to Lu Xinghe with some concern, "There might be someone inside the base contacting them. Xiao Ruo has probably been exposed too. You should send someone to protect her quickly."

Faced with immortality and absolute power, the alien race would never allow people like An Xiaoruo and Wen Xi, who could threaten them, to exist.

Lu Xinghe replied, "We have increased the security. It's safe there now. Xiao Ruo and Wen Xi are the ones we need to protect the most."

Luo Ning nodded: "May I go and take a look at the place where Old Feng was murdered?"

"Okay," Lu Xinghe agreed.

Exogenous Research Institute.

Luo Ning entered the old man's residence. It was a room that was originally quite spacious, but it was crowded with books. The old desk was piled with notes, all of which showed the old man's painstaking efforts during his lifetime.

She looked at the notebook spread out on the table, which was still filled with her stories and many small annotations, such as: she wanted to become human, she controlled her appetite, she had ideals, she wanted to make changes, and she was powerless to do so...

Every word is simple, yet every word reflects her inner journey through those experiences.

Her eyes welled up again, and tears streamed down her cheeks. Although the old man had only met her once, it was as if he had seen her entire life.

She then looked at the books on the shelf: "The Selfish Gene," "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind," "Evolution"...

She walked slowly along the bookshelf, wanting to learn about the old man's life. She stopped when she saw a group photo, because she saw the man with Wen Rong in the photo.

“This person…” she said to Lu Xinghe, pointing to the photo, “This is the man who was with Wen Rong.”

After glancing at him, Lu Xinghe immediately called over Old Feng's assistant: "Who is this person?"

The assistant replied, "His name is Han Ling. He was Professor Feng's most outstanding student. He left the base with the foreign language research team seventeen years ago, and we haven't heard from him since."

Luo Ning recalled that the old man had also asked this person that day. It turned out that he had always been concerned about this student, but the person he cared about most had killed him.

"Foreign Language Teaching and Research Team? He's in the same team as An Xiaoruo's parents," Lu Xinghe said.

Luo Ning was stunned for a moment: "They are actually on the same team, but when I met Han Ling, he was very young, he looked to be only about thirty years old."

"He was about twenty years old when he left. Now, seventeen years later, he should be thirty-seven years old," the assistant recalled.

"Maybe it's because he looks young. Do you remember what their external research project was?" Luo Ning asked her assistant. She was becoming more and more certain that Han Ling was the one who artificially modified Wen Rong.

The assistant shook his head: "I only joined the exogenous research department three years ago, so there are many things I don't know. Moreover, exogenous research projects are all classified projects, and only the higher-ups know the specifics."

Luo Ning called Lu Xinghe aside: "Although I don't know why Han Ling wanted to kill Elder Feng, his appearance this time is definitely not just for revenge. He may be on the side of the alien race."

Although humans fear alien species, it cannot be ruled out that some fanatics want to become as powerful as them, especially now that awakened aliens have emerged. They will no longer be like walking corpses, but will be able to have their own thoughts.

If it weren't for the fact that awakened beings are a rare occurrence, Luo Ning believes that many people would want to become mutants, even if it meant spending their lives eating other people, their own kind, or even themselves.

"By the way, the villa you're staying in now is the one Han Ling used to live in. He's a genetic genius, and the base has always kept that place for him," the assistant reminded him as he walked over.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xinghe immediately contacted Du Lu via communicator: "Go to the villa right now to protect Wen Xi."

"What happened?" Du Lu replied from the other end.

"Wenxi is in danger. Don't leave her side, immediately."

At this moment, no one but Du Lu would be willing to risk their life to protect Wen Xi and the child.

This murder might have been a diversionary tactic to separate Luo Ning and Wen Xi, but unfortunately they didn't know about the connection sooner.

"All security officers near the White Mountain Villa, proceed to the villa immediately, immediately." He quickly arranged for other security officers to provide reinforcements.

"There's a secret passage in the basement of the villa. Everyone should keep an eye out for it." Luo Ning also felt uneasy. If Han Ling really had ulterior motives, then his targets would definitely be An Xiaoruo and Wen Xi. However, An Xiaoruo was currently in a contradictory state and it wasn't worth the risk for him. Therefore, Wen Xi was his primary target.

The car sped towards the villa. Luo Ning looked out the window at the sky. The sky after the rain was cloudless, and there wasn't even a single ordinary bird in sight.

"Wenxi, stay in your room and don't go out. Wait for me to come back," Luo Ning said nervously to Wenxi through the communicator.

"Okay, I'll wait for you. But what happened? There are so many security officers here all of a sudden," Wen Xi asked, looking at the people coming and going in the courtyard.

"Your sister has arrived and is at the base now."

Wen Xi paused for a moment, then immediately recalled that rainy night when her own sister tried to strangle her because of a man's words, and a chill ran down her spine.

After putting down the communicator, she sat quietly on the bed, telling herself not to be afraid, that she would not be hurt a second time.

Just then, the door was pushed open, and a female security officer walked in: "Miss Wen, there has been an alien invasion. The villa is no longer safe. We need to transfer you to the military headquarters. Please leave with us immediately."

Wen Xi shook her head: "I'm not leaving. I'm waiting for my friend and Major Lu to come back."

The female security officer walked anxiously to her side: "They are on their way to the military headquarters. Miss Luo will be waiting for you there. You are too conspicuous here."

Wenxi picked up the communicator: "Let me check with my friend first."

Just as she bent down to pick up the communicator, the female security officer held a blue reagent in her hand. Just as she was about to inject it into Wenxi's body, a bullet pierced through the glass and struck her chest, and the reagent fell to the ground and shattered.

Wenxi covered her head in terror. She was most afraid of sudden gunshots. However, a long, strong hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her outside.

It was Du Lu; he was the one who fired that shot just now.

"I'm not leaving. Luo Ning told me to wait for her here." Wen Xi was unwilling to leave.

Du Lu did not let go: "Go to Luo Ning's room. Even if the inhibitor breaks, it will still restrict your movements."

Wenxi then noticed the inhibitor on the ground, and the female security officer who had been there earlier was lying on the ground, bleeding profusely, looking at them with barely clinging to life.

Du Lu pulled her to Luo Ning's room, and the female security officer was immediately carried out; clearly, she was the mole.

Du locked the door and drew the curtains, gripping his gun tightly and watching his surroundings closely. The security officers outside also watched their former comrades warily, wondering if one of them was a mole.

"Can you sense any alien species?" Du Lu asked.

Wenxi shook her head. She had just inhaled an inhibitor, and her body felt cold and somewhat sluggish. It seemed that this inhibitor was more potent than the ones she had used before.

But she heard a faint beeping sound coming from the yard, like the timer of a time bomb in a police movie she had seen before.

Just as she was about to tell Du Lu, there was a sudden loud bang, and a ball of orange flame licked at the villa like a venomous snake. The glass shattered, and the bodies of the dutiful security officers in the yard flew into the air and fell heavily back down.

The scorching flames rushed towards her, but a figure shielded her from everything.

She and that figure crashed heavily to the ground. The world seemed to fall silent for a moment, followed by a sharp ringing in her ears.

Amidst the intense cries, warm liquid dripped onto her face. She opened her eyes and saw Du Lu lying above her, blood trickling from his mouth.

His body was covered in blood, especially his back, which had been shielded from the flames and was charred black, with not a single piece of intact flesh.

She stared at him blankly. He didn't have to save her at all; she wasn't really going to die. She was a different species, after all.

“You…” She got up and hugged him. His body was burning hot, but he was losing his life.

Amidst the glaring blood, her reflection was mirrored in his amber eyes.

"Wow, little sister, you're so lucky! A man is willing to die for you." Wen Rong walked in from the firelight, a smug smile on her face.

Wen Xi didn't look up, but stared blankly at Du Lu. She never knew he would do this, even though he hated her so much.

Wen Rong kicked Du Lu away, then lifted Wen Xi up by the neck. This time she wore several layers of gloves, not afraid that her biting sister would bite her again.

"Come on, my dear sister, your older sister has come to pick you and the baby up," Wen Rong said emotionlessly.

Wen Xi tried to pry Wen Rong's hands apart, but the difference in their strength was too great.

Wen Rong dragged Wen Xi towards the basement, where there was a secret passage to leave, and her father was waiting for her there.

But the man, who was clearly about to die, got up and hugged her tightly, while holding a dagger in his other hand and stabbing her in the head.

She scoffed, "Like an ant trying to shake a tree."

She dodged the man's attack, then ran her finger across the wound on Du Lu's face. In an instant, the cold, icy blue tinged the pure brown.

Killing a severely wounded human is easy, but it's not fun at all.

This man, the man who loves her sister, she wants to turn him into a mutant and keep him by her side.

That's what makes it fun.