Failed mission
Li Ming's tense body finally relaxed. He moved sideways to make room for Shi Youchen and said in a low voice, "Please."
Shi Youchen reached out and touched Mollier's forehead, and found that it was icy cold. It didn't look like normal human skin, but more like a cold machine in dormant state. So he carefully injected a small amount of energy into the center of his eyebrows.
After a moment, he withdrew his hand and said to the slightly nervous Li Ming beside him, "She's fine. She's just running out of energy, like she's overused it. Fortunately, her brain and organs aren't physically damaged."
Li Ming finally breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against the handrail and slumping to the ground. "I was so scared! Not long after we came down from the mountain club, she suddenly fainted. I had no choice but to quickly request assistance from the association... I didn't expect the closest reinforcements would be you."
Shi Youchen glanced at the dimly lit sky and said, "The wristband monitoring system reported no abnormal signs, which means there's no danger to life." He recalled his mission and asked, "So what's your mission objective?"
Li Ming called up his task interface, which showed—
"C-rank mission: Recover 5 City A locators. Mission points: 120."
"Due to the Maintenance Bureau's concerns, the Association's Equipment Department has completely upgraded the old locators they were using. However, due to concerns about data being monitored or stolen, they've had to completely dismantle the old ones and bring them back to the Association." Li Ming said as he pulled out a black cylindrical object, similar in size to a beverage can, from his backpack. The cylinder had faint golden markings on it. "This is it."
Shi Youchen took a look and asked, "Does it require her abilities to dismantle this?" The implication was to ask where Mollier's energy was used.
Li Ming looked embarrassed, as if he didn't know how to start.
Shi Youchen remained silent, waiting quietly. After a while, Li Ming said, "Each city's old-style locators are generally distributed according to a coordinate system. For example, the five items in City A are arranged in a diamond shape with the city center as the axis."
"The coordinates were only known to the association and the participants. We were only informed after we received the mission. Therefore, we had no idea about the situation at each point beforehand."
Li Ming raised his head towards the east, and the earring on his right ear moved with it. "The one in the easternmost part of City A is placed in a mountaineering club. When we got there, we found that the people inside... were gathering together to smoke that stuff." He didn't need to explain it too clearly, Shi Youchen could guess roughly.
During the time he'd been studying and researching superpowers since returning from District 9, he'd become more familiar with some of the systems of superpowers he'd previously been unclear about. The detoxification and healing system was capable of dissolving any toxins and drugs that had a substantial impact on the central nervous system or cells.
"So, she took the opportunity to deal with the people in there?" Shi Youchen's tone was light and it was difficult to tell what his attitude was.
Li Ming frowned: "This is the biggest trouble. Those who can enter that club are either rich or noble. They are all well-known figures in City A. Even a supernatural family like ours has to give them some face." When he said this, his expression when he looked at Shi Youchen became much more complicated.
"Morril had her own considerations for doing this." I just didn't expect her to go to such lengths, even at the cost of overdrawing her own energy.
Since Li Ming had finally decided to tell the truth after much hesitation, it showed that he fully respected and trusted his teammates. Although this was somewhat inconsistent with his previous impression of him, Shi Youchen still stood up, smoothed his wrinkled trouser legs, and said, "I understand. So, what are you going to do next?"
Li Ming: "The mission contents cannot be revealed to anyone other than teammates, and we cannot return to the association until it is completed. Given the current situation, I can only go back to my house first and then make plans after Morrill recovers."
...
Somewhere north of City A.
To Shi Youchen's surprise, Li Ming, a scion of a powerful supernatural family, lived in an ordinary apartment. While it was quite large, it was deserted and far from the city center. The three of them waited in the park for over half an hour before finally hailing a taxi.
Li Ming settled the unconscious Mollier into the living room, breathing heavily as he sat down. He took a swig of water and said to Shi Youchen, "I don't know when she'll recover, but we need to complete our mission as soon as possible."
"The locator to the north isn't far from here. I'll go retrieve it first. Please keep an eye on it here." Li Ming looked down at the coordinates, then pulled out a jet-black card from his inner pocket and placed it in front of Shi Youchen. "This is the access card. I'll leave it to you. If nothing unexpected happens, I'll be back within a day. If anything happens, I'll contact you through the bracelet."
Shi Youchen took the card and put it away carefully without making any comment.
Up to this point, he and Li Mo were still relatively unfamiliar with each other. Given the mandatory mission, he preferred to wait with Morrill, who he could not communicate with, rather than going to an unknown location with Li Ming for practical training.
So Li Ming packed up simply, explained some matters regarding the use of electrical appliances, and then left the apartment alone.
There was only one sober person left in the spacious house, and there was silence all around. Being in such a relatively unfamiliar space made Shi Youchen feel a little at a loss.
He looked at the time. It was still too early. There was no way Lin Zhouze would get up at this time. Therefore, he had to flip through the photos and the notes on them one by one for the umpteenth time, trying to find new clues in the process of sorting out his thoughts.
Molly woke up in the evening. When she gently pushed open the door, Shi Youchen was considering whether to go to Tang Ke's house again, and if so, what reason to go.
The slight sound of "creaking" quickly pulled Shi Youchen back from last night. When he turned around, he happened to meet the eyes of the somewhat dazed Morrill.
"...So I've been unconscious for nearly ten hours." After listening to Shi Youchen's brief narration, Mollier rubbed his solar plexus with two fingers and sighed, "Well, now I can only wait for him to come back."
After the silence stretched on for about ten minutes, the two people's wristbands began to ring with new message notifications.
Molly received a message from Li Ming, and her expression changed drastically after just a glance. Shi Youchen, who was sitting opposite her, was even more surprised after reading the message. This was because he received two messages from different sources:
"A large domain has been detected in City A. The energy source is unknown. Do not approach the northeastern area. — Yan Zhiyuan"
"Li Luo committed suicide. Come back soon. - Lin Zhouze"
Molly's face, which had improved slightly after resting for most of the day, turned pale again. Her fingers trembled slightly as she touched her silver eyebrow stud.
"The locator in the north is missing." The cool touch of the eyebrow stud seemed to penetrate through the surface of her skin and into her body, so that her voice unconsciously took on a chill. "Li Ming... is trapped in the domain and has applied for help from the association."
The situation took such a sudden turn for the worse that people were a little at a loss for a moment.
Shi Youchen was a little dazed, not knowing whether it was the aftereffects of the drug overdose in Area 9, or the negative effects of not getting enough rest for a long time. He occasionally felt a dull pain in the back of his head, but the association's physical examination showed that everything was normal.
Just as he felt another pain in the back of his head, a notice from the association's task management center arrived.
"Number: 8463, Shi Youchen. Due to the termination of the Source C-rank mission 'Recover the Locator', the assistance mission has been merged and terminated. Please immediately terminate the current mission and return to the association base."
Elsewhere, Mollyl seemed to have received a similar notification, but her expression was uneasy, and she looked very dissatisfied with the arrangement. "The mission is over, you can go back." She retracted the electronic screen and turned to Shi Youchen, her tone very firm.
After receiving the firm order, Shi Youchen glanced at the water cup left by Li Ming on the table. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Hmm."
...
Shi Youchen hurried back to the base and went directly to Lin Zhouze's office, where he met Li Nuo, who looked as pale as death.
"It's all my fault." Li Nuo stared at the death report on the table with his hollow eyes. "It's all my fault for not noticing my brother's abnormality and telling him those things."
Her lips were pale and dry, her hair was sticky to her scalp, and her face didn't look as neat as usual.
"It was me who killed my brother...it was me." Li Nuo was still muttering in a low voice, his eyes fixed. He didn't react even when Lin Zhouze took the death report and handed it to Shi Youchen.
Shi Youchen opened the book in doubt and worry, and his eyes met with Li Luo, who was framed in a two-inch space.
"...Falling from the rooftop during the interrogation...Died on the spot...According to the subscription records, the body will be buried the next day..." Shi Youchen frowned and asked Lin Zhouze softly, "Subscription records?"
Lin Zhouze's eyes drifted cautiously to Li Nuo standing beside him. "The information center records show that more than two months ago, he used all his points to apply for the purchase of a piece of land in the cemetery in his own name."
"Oh." Shi Youchen lowered his eyes and continued to look through the death report. In the "Energy Detection" column, he saw "No residual energy fluctuations", which meant that Li Luo was not under the control of an invader or anything else, but made a choice based on his own wishes.
After reading all the records in the report, Shi Youchen shifted his gaze from the bright red seal in the lower right corner to the motionless Li Nuo. "My condolences, it's not your fault."
Li Nuo turned back sadly, "It's my fault." The whites of her eyes were already bloodshot, and her pupils were a little cloudy. "If I hadn't mentioned Mom and Dad that day, my brother wouldn't have left me so decisively."
In the 151st year of the New Calendar, ten-year-old Li Luo, holding his younger sister, who was less than three years old, swore an oath in the firelight: "Don't be afraid, Nuonuo. I will definitely protect you."
Li Nuo heard this sentence countless times during the more than 20 years that the brother and sister depended on each other.
But no one would tell her again.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
