Chapter 66 Making Ice from Boiled Water (4)
Shu Ningmiao quickly put the things in her hand into her pocket, vaguely sensing a strange atmosphere.
The car parked at the school gate wasn't the one Shu Changyan would drive; she had never seen it before.
She didn't rush forward, but looked at the open car door from behind the principal. The person who got out of the driver's seat was actually Yu Lu.
After a few days apart, the dark circles under his eyes were even more pronounced, and there were some faint bluish marks on the corners of his lips that hadn't been properly shaved.
The phrase "insufficient sleep" was vividly embodied in Yu Lu.
The principal shook hands with him, looking refreshed and full of energy, a stark contrast to Yu Lu, who appeared quite tired.
The two exchanged polite words when suddenly someone patted her shoulder. Shu Ningmiao looked up and met gentle blue eyes, as soft as the sea. It was indeed Shu Changyan, whom she hadn't seen for a long time.
Shu Ningmiao glanced at the two people still exchanging pleasantries in front and lowered her voice: "Why didn't you tell me beforehand?"
Shu Changyan pressed his hands on her shoulders, his eyes filled with a helpless yet calm smile: "You didn't reply to my messages, I thought you were still angry."
Upon hearing this, Shu Ningmiao stiffened, finally remembering what she had forgotten—she had forgotten to reply to Shu Changyan's message.
It's not that I have a bad memory.
She wasn't good at responding to concern and kindness, and didn't know how to reply to him, so she subconsciously put it aside, thinking she would deal with it later, but ended up forgetting because she was busy.
"Brother was wrong." Shu Changyan put his arm around her shoulder, gently rubbed her head, and apologized to him again, without any anger: "Don't be angry."
Shu Ningmiao struggled slightly, then turned her head away a little, saying, "I'm not angry."
Her anger always subsided quickly. In fact, she wasn't angry at all that day after talking to Shu Changyan. She knew that Shu Changyan hadn't done anything wrong; he was just worried about her. She didn't expect Shu Changyan to care so much.
But what's the situation now?
How did he end up appearing with Yu Lu, and even calling her along?
With other people around, Shu Ningmiao wouldn't think that Shu Changyan came specifically to coax her.
At this moment, Yu Lu had finished exchanging pleasantries with the principal and was walking towards her.
The young man glanced at her and Shu Changyan, his expression indifferent, and silently reached out to open the car door for her.
The principal came over to shake hands with Shu Changyan again; in fact, it was more accurate to say that he had come specifically for this purpose.
Shu Changyan was a man of few words. After greeting everyone, he turned around, bent down, and spoke softly to the people in the car.
There was actually another person in the car.
"It happened so suddenly." Shu Changyan patted her shoulder, gesturing for her to get in the car first, as Yu Lu suggested: "I'll tell you in the car."
Shu Ningmiao boarded the carriage as instructed, and looking down, she saw a pair of strong, thin hands clasped together, each finger adorned with a sparkling gemstone ring.
The ring's owner sat elegantly in the car seat, turning halfway to the side, intently watching her with a look of utmost seriousness, as if observing something very sacred.
The young man's short, silvery-white hair hung down naturally, with red highlights on either side of his bangs. Shu Ningmiao immediately recalled Shu Changyan's description of him as "a man with two tendrils dyed on his head," and his name seemed to be...
"I am Zhao." The man smiled and greeted her first, "Hello, little sister."
Shu Ningmiao nodded, her gaze involuntarily falling on his hands, which looked like they were carrying a heavy burden.
Looking again, I saw Yuji and Showa's older brother sitting in the car, and the atmosphere seemed very strange and eerie.
Yu Lu walked around to the driver's seat and got in the car. Instead of turning on the smart driving system, he handed a piece of paper to the woman behind him.
Unlike ordinary paper, the words on this paper glow with a white light that is almost imperceptible to the naked eye, much like the light on supernatural artifacts.
The text above states: "No information shall be disclosed in any way within 24 hours of the signing of this contract."
The contract was written very informally, with only "Party A" and "Party B" signed at the end. Party A's name was not Yu Lu, but a name she had never heard of.
Shu Ningmiao wondered to herself, could this be a contract made by a 'oath' type of ability user?
Although "oath" type abilities are rare, many people are aware of them.
Once you enter into a contract with such a superhuman, the contract's validity is protected by Pandora. Violating the contract's terms is not something that can be resolved by ordinary laws; it depends on the conditions at the time of signing, and in serious cases, it can even endanger your life.
Although contracts are limited to the two parties involved—the one with the superpower and the one with the contract—their written form allows for a wider range of applications.
For example, the contract she sees now.
"Oath" type ability users are more popular than healing type ability users. Most of them have been recruited by the authorities as soon as they appear, while a small number are sold in the private sector.
Zhao leaned closer and kindly pointed to the signature area: "This is a contract made by a superhuman. Just type Pandora here."
Shu Ningmiao didn't sign, and looked at Shu Changyan: "Where are we going next?"
Yu Lu's hand, which was activating the system, froze, and she frowned as she looked at him: "Didn't you say so?"
Shu Ningmiao didn't want to embarrass Shu Changyan in front of outsiders: "I didn't check the terminal during class."
Ke Zhao didn't give him any face, and, not wanting to miss out on the fun, smiled and said, "If you anger your sister, no one will listen to you."
“If she doesn’t want to, then there’s no need to drag her into this.” Yu Lu’s hands were on the steering wheel, his brows furrowed. “Do you think this is a good thing?”
“Yelü Qi is her teacher, and she cares about him a lot.” Shu Changyan pressed his fingertips against his brow bone, his expression indifferent in the face of Yu Lu’s questioning.
"Let her take a look." Shu Changyan turned his gaze back to her, speaking to her in a soft voice, "Sign it, it's fine."
Shu Ningmiao understood what they meant; they wanted to see Yelü Qi, so she no longer hesitated.
She had indeed subtly inquired about Yelüqi's affairs with Shu Changyan several times before.
The internal security regulations of the military are stricter than those of the regular army. She asked her question in a very subtle way, but she didn't expect that Shu Changyan would still remember it.
You An had previously visited Yelü Qi at the medical center, and he seemed to be doing well.
Now that she has to sign a confidentiality agreement as soon as she gets on the bus, Yelüqi's health is probably in serious trouble.
Shu Changyan went to great lengths to bring her along, perhaps because he felt... this was the last time she would see Yelü Qi.
She silently typed her Pandora into the contract, and her handwriting automatically appeared on it.
Only after handing it back to Yu Lu did she realize how serious the situation was with the people in the car: two drivers and a police chief. Was this car going to Yelü Qi's funeral?
The route planned for the autonomous driving system is indeed not towards the medical facility.
She lowered her head, swiped the terminal screen to find You An's contact information, and sent a message: "How was Teacher Yeluqi's health when you visited him last time?"
You An replied to her after a while: "He's fine now. He was already discharged when I went there."
He added, "It's a good thing you didn't come last time, otherwise it would have been a wasted trip."
Shu Ningmiao stared at the message for a while, when Zhao, who was next to her, interrupted her thoughts with a smile: "Would you like something to drink?"
He took a bottle of sparkling water from under the mini table between the two of them and poured it into a wine glass on the table.
Shu Ningmiao moved closer to the car window to prevent the cup from tipping over on her.
Seeing that his expression was normal, and that he didn't seem to be behaving like someone visiting the deceased, Shu Ningmiao felt a little relieved.
She politely declined the water Zhao offered, but Zhao remained enthusiastic: "Let me give you a little something as a gift."
Shu Ningmiao said, "That's not a good idea."
"How could that be? I'm your brother's friend, he's your brother." Zhao Yun said casually, only to be glared at by Shu Changyan in front of him.
The young man seemed to have prepared a "gift" beforehand. Ignoring Shu Changyan's warning look, he quickly stuffed the item into her hand. Shu Ningmiao turned it over and saw that it was a photo signed with a gold pen.
In the photo, Zhao is dressed in gorgeous clothes and holding something that looks like a scepter. The clean and bright environment makes his face look like jade. The scepter is resting on an indistinct black shadow, which is a very artistic way of treating the image. This black shadow probably represents the enemy.
This person also works as a movie director?
The clothes are spotless, and the surrounding scene is meticulously designed. It's obviously a staged photo. What's the difference between this and an artistic portrait?
The photo was signed with Zhao's name in neat handwriting, followed by the sparkling words "NO.1".
Is this an autographed photo? Should I give it to her?
"..." Shu Ningmiao didn't quite understand what he meant, and remained silent for a moment.
"This is a recently released limited edition 'Actor' themed photocard, a hidden design. It's not on the market yet, but it's very popular." Zhao's smile widened, revealing two dimples on his face, which weren't in the photo and were probably photoshopped out.
Shu Changyan, standing in front with his eyes closed, said, "Just throw it away."
"And this too." Zhao lifted his autographed photo, revealing a blue gem underneath: "A superpower item, you can keep it."
Everyone knows that the superpowered item is more valuable than this signed photo, but Zhao's words make it sound like the superpowered item is just an extra.
Shu Ningmiao picked up the blue gemstone.
She had owned many gemstones, but this one felt completely different to the touch. It had a warm feel and emitted a soft glow on its own, without the need for light.
"This is actually a superpower item? What effect does it have?" Shu Ningmiao asked curiously, noticing that the gemstone was very similar to the one set on the ring on his hand—could all the rings on this person's hand be superpower items?
"Surprise." Zhao Chao opened her arms, gesturing for her to pick it up: "You can try it."
Under his gaze, Shu Ningmiao picked up the gem, its soft light spilling onto her hand: "Aren't superpowered items disposable?"
“This isn’t a one-time use item.” Zhao smiled at her, a hint of slyness in his eyes.
The ability to create non-disposable supernatural items—is this the power of the number one ranked user?
Shu Ningmiao's expression also became serious, and she gripped the gem in front of her tightly, just as he had said.
It had no effect on protection or attack, but the terminal in Shu Changyan's hand vibrated.
"Pretty impressive, right? Just one use and your brother's terminal will vibrate." Zhao Fushou laughed. "You can use this to harass your brother."
"..." Shu Ningmiao felt like she had been tricked, and looked at Shu Changyan expressionlessly.
Shu Changyan said, "I threw them all away."
"You don't know what's good for you." Zhao leaned back with a nonchalant smile.
Is the person in front of me really the one who carries out the mandate?
Not only did he dress like a trendy celebrity, but he also spoke in a very mysterious way. Shu Ningmiao felt that he exuded a very unreliable aura.
But being able to create non-disposable superpowered items is really impressive, and it can even make Shu Changyan's terminal vibrate. Could he be a superpowered person like Lian Nagi and the others?
That's what she was thinking, and taking advantage of her young age, she asked the question aloud.
Zhao raised an eyebrow and smiled at her: "Oh, I put a tracking effect on Pandora on it. Every time you use it, Pandora on it will hit your brother's terminal, so if you're too far away, there might be a delay."
It turned out to be a physical vibration.
Shu Ningmiao decided not to respond to him anymore.
Yu Lu turned off the intelligent driving system, turned to her and said, "We've arrived."
There were four people in the car, but Yu Lu only spoke to her. Shu Ningmiao came to her senses and truly felt the subtle atmosphere between the Public Security Bureau and the executor.
Outside the parking area, many uniformed soldiers were walking around, their eyes fixed on them through their goggles.
Shu Changyan took her hand and walked in front of her. Shu Ningmiao looked around and realized that this place didn't look like a military area.
From where she was, she could only see a small part of the building in front of her. It was clear that the building was hemispherical in shape, and its exterior walls were similar to those of the Pinheit Union Building, using semi-transparent tempered glass, so that the inside could not be seen from the outside.
Using ring beams, a semi-circular building was constructed, and there were very few of these in the entire Pinheisburg region.
Shu Ningmiao whispered, "Is this the National Research Center?"
It's not even a medical clinic, could Yelüqi have already been dissected? She doesn't want to visit.
"It's nothing." Shu Changyan could easily read his sister's expression. He looked down and patted her hand. "There's a life science institute inside, similar to a medical institute."
“To be precise, it’s the Pinnechs VII National Research Center.” Zhao said this in his usual elegant tone: “Weren’t the first six destroyed due to improper experiments? What a terrible place.”
Of these six historical sites, it seems one of them is in Pingyi.
This was her first time visiting the National Research Center. As she walked along, she was surrounded by researchers in white coats and soldiers in uniform.
The researcher leading the way took them through a shortcut, passing through layers of automatic sensor doors, and stopped in front of a white door after a few minutes.
The researcher swiped his card on the wall next to him, pushed the door open a crack, and gestured that they could go in.
Shu Ningmiao glanced back and saw Yu Lu standing there, his back straight, showing no intention of entering.
“He’s just here to spy on us.” Zhao seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, and said with a smile, “Ignore her.”
He didn't immediately step into the room after he finished speaking.
Standing next to him, Shu Ningmiao noticed his silent inhalation and looked up. Zhao's face still held the same smile, as if he were very happy.
However, this joy seemed somewhat unreal in the light reflected from the corridor.
She looked at Shu Changyan again, who was looking at her with the same expression as usual.
Zhao pushed open the door and walked in first, her tone relaxed: "Senior, I've come to see you."
A group of researchers in white coats surrounded the hospital bed. Hearing the sound, they all turned around and looked at each other with different expressions, but none of them were friendly.
At this moment, Shu Ningmiao's pupils contracted, she frowned and turned her head to look in the direction where the researcher who had led the way had left.
Although her hearing was not as good as Shi Yu's, it was still better than the average person's. She heard the man whisper to a passing colleague as he left.
"Could the one inside be the first one to die because of...? I've never seen one like that before."
She heard it too, and his colleague coldly replied, "No."
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