Chapter 15
The lights in D City Medical Center were as pale as bone.
Lin Yao sat quietly beside the bed, gently stroking the leg injury that had just been bandaged.
The wound was very shallow... With his self-healing ability, it could have been repaired instantly, but in order to maintain his image as an F-class waste, he deliberately kept the wound at just the right severity.
"Yaoyao, it's time to take your medicine."
Lu Cheng pushed the door open and walked in, holding a steaming medicine in his hand.
The wound on his shoulder had been bandaged, but his pale face showed that the effects of blood loss were still there.
Despite this, his eyes remained fixed on Lin Yao, as if the other person would disappear in the blink of an eye.
Lin Yao raised his head, tears welling up in his blue eyes: "Acheng...your injury..."
"It's a minor injury." Lu Cheng handed him the medicine, his movements as gentle as if he were handling fragile glass. "How about you, does your leg still hurt?"
The bitter smell of the medicine penetrated his nose. Lin Yao's mind instantly analyzed the ingredients - ordinary anti-inflammatory drugs, mixed with a trace of tranquilizer.
He pretended not to notice anything unusual, took small sips, and observed the changes in Lu Cheng's expression.
This lover whose memory was tampered with by himself has always had an imperceptible scrutiny in his eyes since he came back from the copy.
"Master Lu." The door to the medical room was pushed open again. Qin Mu leaned against the door frame, playing with an exquisite metal box in his hand. "The blood marrow crystal specially supplied by City B has a miraculous effect on wound healing."
He glanced at Lin Yao's leg meaningfully, "Especially... the injuries inflicted by psychic-type mutants."
Lu Cheng's body tensed instantly, like a thunder leopard ready to strike: "Don't worry, Yaoyao will just need the medicine from City D."
Qin Mu didn't care. He walked straight to Lin Yao's bed and opened the metal box.
A hexagonal red crystal within the box emitted alluring energy fluctuations. This precious healing material, a specialty of City B, was considered rare in the New World.
"Try?" Qin Mu leaned over, so close that they could almost smell each other's breath. "It's much more real than some people's empty words of concern, isn't it?"
Lin Yao's eyelashes trembled slightly, and at an angle that Lu Cheng could not see, his fingertips moved slightly, and a strand of spiritual thread quietly pierced Qin Mu's visual nerve.
In Qin Mu's vision, Lin Yao's blue eyes instantly became extremely deep, and the curve of his lips was just the right amount of fragile and alluring, like a silent invitation...
"Qin Mu!" Lu Cheng stood up suddenly, lightning flashing between his fingers, "Stay away from him!"
Qin Mu suddenly came back to his senses and was surprised to find that he had involuntarily moved a little closer.
He took a step back and coughed to cover it up: "Mr. Lu, don't be nervous, I'm just delivering some medicine."
He placed the box on the bedside table and said, "Consider my proposal, Lin Yao. The resources of City B... are far richer than you can imagine."
He looked at the two of them meaningfully, turned and left, but passed by Xia Wei who was rushing in at the door.
"Brother Acheng!" Xia Wei didn't even glance at Lin Yao and ran straight to Lu Cheng. "Professor Zhou has called an emergency meeting. E-427's monitoring data has shown abnormal fluctuations, and there is a suspicion of a large-scale migration of polluting beasts. The city lord wants you to go there immediately."
Lu Cheng frowned, looked at Lin Yao, then looked at the box of blood marrow crystals, and was in a dilemma.
"Go ahead, I'm fine." Lin Yao put down the empty medicine bowl obediently, "I'm a little sleepy... I want to take a nap."
Lu Cheng hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded: "I'll be back soon."
He leaned over and placed a light kiss on Lin Yao's forehead. When he turned around, he glared at Xia Wei warningly, "Don't disturb his rest."
Xia Wei's sweet smile twisted into resentment the moment Lu Cheng turned around.
When the footsteps faded away, she suddenly turned to Lin Yao and said, "Do you think you can keep Brother Acheng tied down by pretending to be pitiful?"
She lowered her voice, the unique blue light of the mental barrier radiating from her fingertips. "Next time, I will make you die an ugly death."
Lin Yao slowly raised his eyes, and the weakness he had just shown was gone.
His silver hair shone metallically in the cold light, and a silver gleam flashed in the depths of his blue eyes.
"Miss Xia," his voice was as soft as a whisper, yet it made Xia Wei feel as if she was falling into an icy cave. "Do you know? In other places, someone like you with murderous intent written all over your face... wouldn't even survive ten minutes."
Xia Wei's pupils suddenly shrank, and she instinctively took a step back: "You...what do you mean?"
Lin Yao had already lain down again, his back to her, as if the previous conversation was just an illusion: "I'm going to rest, please close the door."
…
Three days later, E-427 replica outer monitoring station.
"The number of mutants has increased dramatically!" The monitor's voice was distorted with fear. "At least twenty Soul Eaters and an unknown number of Phantom Beasts are moving towards the entrance."
On the holographic projection, red dots representing high-risk polluting animals surged like a tide.
Lu Tianheng's face was solemn: "Organize a cleanup team immediately! Those below S-rank are not allowed to participate!"
"Father!" Lu Cheng stepped forward. "Yaoyao's emotional perception can warn of the Phantom Beast's hallucinogenic pheromones. We need him."
Lu Tianheng's gaze swept across his son's determined expression and then fell on Lin Yao in the corner.
The silver-haired boy was wrapped in an oversized protective suit and looked frail, but his blue eyes were unusually calm.
"Take him with you," Lu Tianheng finally ordered. "Xia Wei will be responsible for his safety."
Xia Wei raised her head suddenly: "Lord City Lord! I..."
"This is an order." Lu Tianheng's eyes left no room for doubt. "Qin Mu will also be accompanying us. City B has provided a new type of mental protection device."
Lin Yao lowered his head to adjust his cuffs and hide the sneer on his lips.
What an obvious plot... Lu Tianheng wanted to use the polluting beast to get rid of him, Qin Mu wanted to show the strength of an A-level mutant to attract more of his attention, Xia Wei wanted to create an "accident", and Lu Cheng... He looked at the tall figure who was carefully checking the equipment, and his heart moved slightly.
Only Lu Cheng truly believed in his value.
"Set off!"
The moment he passed through the space rift, Lin Yao's spiritual core trembled violently.
E-427's energy field was even more violent than last time, and the air was filled with the unique smell of metallic rust that was characteristic of the Old World Psychic Association's laboratory.
His spiritual threads automatically unfolded, like a sophisticated radar, instantly scanning all living beings within a 500-meter radius...
Eleven Soul Devourers, three Phantom Sound Beasts, and... a familiar energy signature? Lin Yao's pupils shrank slightly. That frequency... was Su Rui's brother?
"Northeast, two hundred meters." He suddenly spoke, his voice trembling slightly with "nervousness." "There is... there is a strong sense of fear and hunger... a lot..."
Lu Cheng immediately raised his hand, lightning condensing in his palm: "Confirmed! It's a group of Soul Eaters! Prepare to fight!"
Before he could finish his words, the first wave of attacks arrived. Three Soul Eaters leaped out of the mist, their neural tentacles lashing at the team like whips.
"Thunderous!"
Lu Cheng's shout was crisp and clear.
There was no fancy gesture, no unnecessary accumulation of energy, just a bolt of lightning that struck with terrifying precision, hitting the nerve center of the first Soul Eater.
The monster fell to the ground without even a scream.
This was followed by the second and third lightning bolts. Each strike consumed the least amount of energy and caused the greatest damage without any waste.
Lin Yao raised his eyebrows slightly.
This fighting style...is exactly the same as that of the top warriors at the top of the Old World's leaderboard: efficient, precise, and ruthless. It is in stark contrast to Qin Mu's ostentatious use of fire abilities.
He silently filed this observation into Lu Cheng's behavioral analysis file. This tool's combat qualities unexpectedly matched his aesthetic taste.
"Be careful! Phantom Beast!" Xia Wei suddenly screamed.
A strange sound wave came from the side, and several team members' eyes instantly became dazed and fell into an illusion.
Lin Yao was prepared. His spiritual threads had already been woven into an invisible net, intercepting, analyzing, and disintegrating the phantom sound waves before they could reach him.
"Left front, fifty meters." He pointed weakly at the source of the sound, "There... the pheromones are the most concentrated..."
Lu Cheng did not hesitate. A bolt of lightning struck the direction Lin Yao pointed. A sharp scream was heard in the fog, and a phantom sound beast shaped like a giant bat fell to the ground with its wings charred.
"Well done, Yaoyao!" Lu Cheng turned around, his eyes full of undisguised pride, "Keep guiding me!"
The two of them worked together smoothly.
Lin Yao sensed the location of the contaminated beasts, and Lu Cheng killed them with precision. In just ten minutes, eight Soul Eaters and two Phantom Sound Beasts had fallen.
The team members' eyes gradually changed when they looked at Lin Yao... The warning from this F-level waste had indeed saved them more than once.
"Northwest!" Lin Yao suddenly raised his voice, "A big guy is coming!"
The ground began to shake. A dark figure, five meters tall, slowly emerged from the mist—a mutated Soul Eater, its body covered in a metallic carapace. Dozens of thick neural tentacles extended from its back, each tip gleaming with strange mental fluctuations.
"S-class...mutant..." Xia Wei's face turned pale. "We can't handle it...retreat!"
"It's too late!" Qin Mu gritted his teeth, his hands igniting with white flames, "I'll hold it back, you guys..."
"Shut up!" Lu Cheng interrupted sharply, "Everyone retreat! Xia Wei, open the mental barrier! Yaoyao, sense its weakness!"
Lin Yao's spiritual thread had already penetrated into the mutant's body.
The monster's core was located unusually, not in the usual head or chest, but... at the joint of its right hind limb? Furthermore, a familiar spiritual energy swirled around the core—the source code of the Old World. This mutant was likely connected to the Psychic Association.
"Right hind leg...inside the knee joint..." He spoke with difficulty, as if trying his best to feel, "There's something wrong there..."
Lu Cheng didn't hesitate for a moment. He transformed into a streak of lightning and circled behind the mutant at astonishing speed.
The monster roared, and dozens of tentacles simultaneously stabbed at him, but all missed. Lu Cheng's every evasive move was precise to the millimeter, without a single unnecessary energy consumption.
"Thunder!"
A blinding flash of lightning pierced the mutant's right hind leg joint like a sharp sword.
"roar--"
The monster let out a deafening scream, and a large amount of purple liquid burst out from under its metal shell. But it did not fall down. Instead, it was furious with pain, and one of its tentacle pierced Lu Cheng's back at an incredible angle.
"Brother Acheng!" Xia Wei screamed.
At the critical moment, a silver-blue mental barrier suddenly appeared behind Lu Cheng, and the tentacles hit the barrier, making a teeth-grinding friction sound.
Everyone was stunned - this mental barrier... was not Xia Wei's.
Lin Yao knelt on the ground weakly, his face pale as paper: "I... I just suddenly... was able to release the barrier..."
He fainted at the perfect moment, and the place where he fell made the completely absorbed remains of the Origin Core hidden in his sleeves roll out and be exposed to everyone's sight.
"It's the Origin Core!" a team member exclaimed, "He must have absorbed the Origin Core's energy and had a temporary breakthrough!"
Lu Cheng didn't care about the mutant anymore. He rushed to Lin Yao and picked him up with trembling hands: "Yaoyao!"
At this moment, the mutant suddenly changed its target, and one of its tentacle pierced straight towards the unconscious Lin Yao. Lu Cheng had his back to the monster and had no time to react.
"Bang!"
A crimson flame struck the tentacle, burning it to ashes. Qin Mu stood not far away, his hands still in the posture of releasing supernatural powers: "Deal with this beast first!"
Lu Cheng gritted his teeth, gently put Lin Yao down, and when he turned around, there was a cold murderous intent in his eyes.
The ensuing battle was a textbook massacre.
Without Lin Yao's sensory assistance, Lu Cheng seemed to have activated some kind of fighting instinct. Each lightning bolt accurately hit the mutant's wound, causing it to continue to expand.
Three minutes later, as the final blow penetrated its core, the huge mutant collapsed to the ground.
The battle ended with minimal casualties. Everyone was shocked by Lin Yao's breakthrough of his mental barrier and Lu Cheng's terrifying fighting skills.
Only Xia Wei stood at the edge of the crowd, staring at the unconscious Lin Yao, with disbelief and deeper uneasiness in her eyes.
The energy fluctuations of that barrier... are too strong, it doesn't seem like a newly awakened F-level at all!
Qin Mu, on the other hand, looked thoughtfully at the remains of the Origin Core that had rolled to the ground and had absorbed all its energy.
According to his understanding, an ordinary Origin Core should not have the special properties to allow a psychic who has not reached level 20 to temporarily break through.
Is it of higher quality... or is it a mutation?
When the medical team arrived and carried Lin Yao away, no one noticed the slight curl of his lips and the flash of silver light at his fingertips. The plan was going smoothly.
He proved his worth and gained the opportunity to come into contact with mutants, laying the groundwork for the subsequent reasonable improvement of his strength. He observed Lu Cheng's combat mode, which deepened Qin Mu's covetousness and Xia Wei's murderous intent.
As for that barrier? It was only one ten-thousandth of his true strength.
But it's enough to stir up this muddy water...
…
That night, Lu Tianheng read the battle report, his brow furrowed. Lin Yao's performance was... too perfect. Qin Mu's actions of urging the plan forward and actively raising the stakes made him even more wary.
Meanwhile, in the VIP ward of the medical center, Lin Yao slowly opened his eyes and met Lu Cheng's bloodshot eyes. Those eyes were filled with worry, heartache, and... something deeper.
"Welcome back." Lu Cheng's voice was hoarse, and his fingers gently brushed his silver hair. "You scared me to death."
Lin Yao curled his lips slightly, his blue eyes deep and unfathomable in the shadows. This game...is getting more and more interesting.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
