Return trip
A dark, cold, suffocating, and silent place.
There are no living creatures here. In the corners where the dim light cannot reach, there are scattered piles of indistinguishable bones, with incomplete dead leaves scattered around. Some are left with only a piece of pole, lonely and draped over the bones.
There was a rustling sound as the soles of shoes rubbed against the ground. A circle of light shrank and expanded. Someone was coming.
"Have you found out?"
"Yes, the team in District 9 was organized by 03. The woman leading the team was very close to him some time ago, and she was the one who gave the silent order."
"Among the rare psychics they brought back, there's one with dual powers. Where is he being held now?"
"You're talking about Hexian, the only son of the couple who sabotaged the initial plan nine years ago. He's probably imprisoned in the cave with the others now."
07 placed Wuyan's thin and shriveled body on the black stone slab in front of him. The sixteen-year-old boy was in a stage of rapid development, growing rapidly like a shoot. He lay in 07's arms, his limbs swaying gently as he was carried over. From behind, he looked like a naughty child playing.
"Teacher, he is..." The person who spoke was the other man in black robe who had previously broken into Frovich's territory with 07 and quietly took the corpse away from the second floor of the house.
07 took off Wuyan's shoes and straightened his hands and feet. His eyes fell on his pale eyebrows and said, "Strictly speaking, I am your predecessor." He actually couldn't remember when it happened, but he could still recall the look in the childish eyes when he asked for help.
"At that time, I had just joined the Maintenance Bureau and was far from having the status I have now. He volunteered to go undercover in District 9 to help me." 07 leaned sideways on the stone slab, his eyes slightly raised, staring at the light green light at the top, as if recalling the difficulties he had gone through over the years to achieve his current position.
"I can also give everything for you, as long as you..." 07 quickly glanced at him and said calmly, "Sora, what I need now is not someone working for me, but to use all means to gain greater power. Do you understand?"
After being interrupted, Sora felt a lump in his throat, and then he heard 07 give an ultimatum: "So, don't say those stupid flattering words again."
"...Yes, Sensei."
"Let's go to the giant cave." After 07 led his men away, the last bit of light in the sky dissipated. The silent and cold body lay on the even colder stone slab, with a pair of sneakers next to it that looked like they had been worn for a long time. They were old models from two years ago.
......
When Shi Youchen opened his eyes again, it was already daybreak. He was lying flat on the back seat, covered in a dark gray robe, with only a three-finger-wide gap left in the car window. He stood up, and seeing no one else inside, he looked out the window and saw that the small car he had borrowed from the villagers was parked on the side of the road outside the branch base gate.
Of the thirteen regions around the world, Region 9 is one of the few with a relatively small number of registered esperians, and its overall strength is not strong. However, the prevailing environment of involutionary competition based on points and missions has also affected the esperians here. Therefore, when the Maintenance Bureau attacked, most of the esperians were either in the middle of a mission or on their way to one.
Those who stayed inside the base that day were primarily management personnel or those on business. When communications were cut off across the entire area, many people noticed something was amiss. Coupled with Jiang Da's provocation, all the psychics outside rushed back immediately. However, they were surprised to find that the enemy had managed to disregard the base's barrier and move freely, leaving them helpless outside.
Until Flovitch arrived.
Shi Youchen walked into the gate, clothes in hand, and saw the intact stone tablet. He looked around and found that many of the damaged buildings had been restored, at least in appearance. He thought for a moment and guessed that Flovitch must have arrived here first to assist with the reconstruction.
Shi Youchen hung the clothes in his arm, opened the bracelet and sent a message to Ying Yungui.
"Where are you? — Youchen" Ying Yungui had just finished reporting on his mission when the special reminder message popped up. He tapped the screen and replied, "In the conference room. I'll find you when I'm done."
Strictly speaking, Master Ying, who was saved by the person he liked for the second time, felt unprecedented frustration. After thinking about it all the way back from the south, he finally changed his original frivolous remarks after taking a look at Shi Youchen's sleeping face before getting off the car.
"Given the severity of the attack on District 9, the annual district-wide meeting will be postponed for half a month. Furthermore, new branch leaders and consular teams will be assigned by headquarters after consideration." A staff member from the Supreme Supervisory Department, who had rushed from the association's headquarters overnight, began to sort through the documents and spoke seriously. "Also, this S-rank mission will be incorporated into the battle plan, so you will no longer be required to carry it out."
Sitting in the second row of the conference room were the nine survivors, including Ying Yungui and Yan Zhiyuan. Except for Pei Chanbai, who was still sleepy and daydreaming, the others all had solemn expressions.
"All casualties and missing persons in this incident will be investigated by a headquarters investigation team. We emphasize again that no one must take any action outside of the regulations. Violators will be treated as fugitives."
...
"What?!" Even though Shi Youchen was usually calm, he couldn't help but be shocked after hearing this. "What will He Xian do if they issue such an order? Doesn't this mean they don't even consider the lives of those who were abducted?"
Yan Zhiyuan said coldly, "That's right. To them, the lives of a few people are of no importance at all. They only care about the so-called overall situation." "Once the Maintenance Bureau declared war, they shifted all their focus to fighting the Maintenance Bureau. They didn't care about the situation of the people who were hurt."
As he spoke, he clenched the water bottle in his hand, making a crackling sound. It was rare for him to be so emotionally exposed. Ying Yungui gave him a deep look and said, "The establishment of a corresponding team for the Maintenance Bureau is urgent. If you can join the first team, it will not be considered unconventional."
Ying Yungui paused for a long moment, as if pondering something. "I'll do my best to get in. I'm afraid the next period of time will be quite busy." Shi Youchen looked at him as if with a premonition, and sure enough, he said, "I'm afraid our one-on-one tutoring plan will have to be put on hold for the time being. You haven't been feeling well lately, so it's a good time to rest and recuperate." He then turned to Yan Zhiyuan and said, "Old Yan, he's one of your students, too. You have to ensure his safety."
He had made up his mind, and the other two could see it, so they didn't try to dissuade him.
Shi Youchen: "Okay." This way, when I investigate those things, I won't have to involve him.
The next few days passed quickly. Ying Yungui and Yan Zhiyuan completed the procedures for interrupting the mission and attended the memorial service for the four healing team members in the same group. Shi Youchen found Lan and had a long talk with her, getting some of the information he wanted. After comforting her for a while, he said goodbye to her.
"I'm sorry about this, too." He glanced at Lan's dejected face and said, "I'm leaving soon. I hope you can cheer up soon." After hearing this, Lan just drank the strong coffee in the cup without saying much.
That afternoon, Shi Youchen and the other two returned to He Xian's manor. Under the complicated gazes of the two, Ying Yungui slowly entered the password he had seen before, opened the door, and entered the house, but he felt inexplicably strange.
"Louis?" He tried calling the butler, but there was no response. As he stepped into the living room, he bumped head-on into the robot. "Louis?" Ying Yungui frowned and tried calling again, but the robot's round "eyes" didn't move in response as usual.
"What's wrong?" Yan Zhiyuan and Shi Youchen followed in and asked.
Ying Yungui: "Someone has been here before, and Louis' instructions have been changed." Suddenly he realized something and said, "Quick, check if there are any marks left in the house."
After some fussing, the three of them gathered in a cubicle. The 78-square-meter space felt a bit crowded with three grown men. Shi Youchen glanced at the futon on the floor, then at the empty hook on the front wall and said, "The things here... must have been taken away."
Ying Yungui said firmly, "It was He Xian. He's been back." "Only he can change the instructions of the smart housekeeper. Nothing else in the house is missing. It's possible that the things originally hanging here were taken away."
"And the gate's code hasn't changed. I can't think of any other explanation other than it's a message to us."
Yan Zhiyuan: "So his life is definitely safe. We can rest assured for the time being."
Ying Yungui's expression darkened. "Since the Maintenance Bureau didn't kill him and let him return to retrieve his belongings, it seems they're quite confident in themselves." Shi Youchen looked at the small window thoughtfully. "Perhaps they're telling us not to act rashly."
"Your plane is still here. He knew we would definitely return here. Since we had a chance to escape, we naturally had a chance to call for help, but he only left a subtle signal."
"It's like they're telling us, 'I'm still alive, don't worry about me.'"
Ying Yungui sneered: "He has always been independent and doesn't like to do unnecessary things. In this case, I can focus on my work."
That night, the three returned to the Area 8 base and gathered in Yan Zhiyuan's dormitory at Lin Zhouze's request.
Lin Zhouze: "I was discharged from the hospital just two days after you left. I was getting bored at home for a few days when the base was attacked. Luckily, many people came back to report on their missions, and the branch chief was there too. He dragged the maintenance bureau personnel into the dense forest space. Although he didn't kill them all in the end, he left behind a body, and he is planning to dissect it."
He had been holding it in for too long, and now that his throat had finally recovered and he could speak, he insisted on talking endlessly to the few people who had just returned.
"Although the damage from this attack wasn't significant, there were still some casualties." Lin Zhouze took a bite of the pear and mumbled, "Especially ordinary staff members like me without special abilities at the base. Many of them were affected and injured. That... who was that?" He held up the pear, rolling his eyes as he recalled, "Li Luo! The one who survived the second explosion at the Z City Emergency Center. Tsk tsk tsk."
"It is said that in order to protect his sister, his lower body was crushed and he is still unconscious."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
