Chapter 169: Control
Sky City is not a big place, but the offices are all gathered together. Because of the encounter with the T5-level wanderer in the Devil City yesterday, the Monitoring Institute held a special meeting. The chief director looked serious, and his deep voice reached everyone's ears through the microphone:
"Although the Wanderers have been advancing, their speed is usually behind ours. When the highest level of the esper in Sky City was level 5, the highest level of the known Wanderers was only T4. Yesterday, I received news that T5 Wanderers have appeared in the contaminated area, which may mean that their advancement speed is catching up with humans."
The Wanderers' advancement speed is surpassing that of humans? !
This piece of news was like a bomb dropped into the water, causing a commotion in the originally peaceful conference room. Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, finding it hard to digest this fact:
"How is this possible?"
“Will wanderers replace humans at the top of the food chain?”
"It is probably just an isolated case and does not represent a general trend."
While others were discussing the matter, only Xing Yuan sat at the table indifferent. He curled his lips slightly, probably finding this conclusion a little funny. Before Lu Yan appeared, he was the first and only fifth-level psychic in Sky City. From that time on, the advancement speed of Wanderers had surpassed that of humans. The chief dean actually discovered it only now.
Boring.
Xing Yuan was quietly playing with his phone under the table, scrolling through his message list out of boredom. He couldn't help but feel a little resentful: Lu Yan, that bastard, sent him several messages to apologize yesterday, but he ignored them. This morning, he seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth, without a single message from him.
It’s better not to meet in person. At least before the meeting, the other person’s good morning and good night are as punctual as punching in at work.
The more he looked at it, the angrier he became. Xing Yuan simply turned off his phone and threw it on the table.
At this time, someone suggested, "I think it's time for Sky City to recruit some new blood. Recently, there is a popular anchor on the Internet. It is estimated that his strength is at the fifth level of the lightning system, which is quite rare. He is also very popular online. If we can recruit him, it will be beneficial to the Special Power Zone."
He was almost about to report Lu Yan's ID number.
Secretary He Zhuan was sitting nearby. He glanced at the silent director, then glanced at Xing Yuan who was sneering. He thought that this guy was simply an idiot. If they could be recruited, they would have been recruited long ago. Why did he still need to give orders here?
He Zhuan coughed softly and said, "We have also heard of this lightning-type esper, but if we recruit him, we must provide him with certain benefits. This is too complicated, so let's discuss it later."
This kind of thing must not be discussed in front of Xing Yuan. Everyone knows that the Lei family is a mortal enemy and they can never coexist under the same sky. Even the director's moves were made in private, so who would dare to expose this openly?
Xing Yuan liked to embarrass others. He raised his eyelids and looked at He Zhuan. He thought it was a bit ridiculous to use this trick on himself. He raised his mouth slightly and said sarcastically, "Sky City is in need of people. How can we discuss such an important matter later? We should clarify their welfare benefits as soon as possible so that we can recruit them earlier. Secretary, don't you think so?"
He Zhuan laughed awkwardly twice, thinking that it was no wonder that the chief dean wanted to support the newcomer to check and balance Xing Yuan. The other party was simply too arrogant. His gentle tone was inevitably a bit harsh: "If we really talk about it, I'm afraid I have to be on the same level as Captain Xing."
Xing Yuan raised his eyebrows lightly: "Isn't it unfair to treat him as an equal? It would be better for me to abdicate and let Xian take over. What do you think?"
This was a bit too serious, and He Zhun didn't dare to respond.
Luoyang and Yanfeng exchanged glances, wondering what this young couple was playing again. The sheets were already rolled up, so why were they trying to tell who was the boss and who was the second?
Finally, the chief director came out to end the topic, saying with a smile: "Xing Yuan, you are the leader of the Special Power Zone and an indispensable pillar. Don't say such words of abdication in the future. I am still holding on to my post at an old age, how can you back down?"
If it were in the past, Xing Yuan would definitely get rid of that Thunder Master. He would never dream of letting him set foot into the Sky City. Otherwise, if they met on the battlefield in the future, it would be like burying a time bomb for himself. But it happened that that Thunder Master was Lu Yan.
Tricky.
Then everyone saw that Xing Yuan, who was always sharp-tongued, frowned, but said nothing and walked down the stairs given by the president. It was not known whether he was worried that the other party's support for the newcomer would affect his position, so he lowered his temper a little.
The topic returned to the T5 Wanderer. Professor Mo said worriedly, "The contaminated area has always been an unknown area. We have not been sure to set foot there for so many years. A T5 appeared yesterday for no reason. If there are more high-level Wanderers hiding in it, I am afraid it will explode sooner or later. The red sun phenomenon may be foreshadowing something. We must make plans early and find a way to settle the residents of Devil City and Sky City."
Someone said coldly: "Sky City is already busy with its own affairs, so who has the energy to arrange for those people in Devil City? It's good enough if they can save themselves. In this world, huh, it's a pain for the poor to live!"
Professor Mo was furious when he heard this. He found out that it was Minister Liu who was speaking, and he slammed the table and stood up: "What nonsense are you talking about? We are all human beings, all compatriots. When the disaster comes, are we going to watch thousands of people in Devil City die? They have no ability to protect themselves. At this time, they need capable people to protect them. Otherwise, why do people with superpowers exist?!"
Minister Liu said sarcastically, "Superpowers? How many superpowers are there in Sky City? There aren't enough for Sky City itself, and you actually want to meddle in the affairs of Devil City. Professor Mo, nature is a process of continuous elimination. Only the fittest survive. Even if they die, it is the result of fate's selection."
"You farted!"
Professor Mo, who was always gentle, suddenly became angry and his face turned red, his hands were shaking: "Are you a human being?! They have the same blood as us and believe in the same ancestors! They can die from poverty and wealth, from exhaustion of life points, but they can never die under the cold eyes of their compatriots! Even if we take out some weapons from the arsenal and squeeze the space of Sky City, we can save countless people!"
"Do you think the Wanderers will let us go if all the people in Devil City die? Do you think Sky City can still operate normally without Devil City?! Humans can stand at the top of the food chain because of their wisdom, but your idea of self-preservation is extremely stupid!"
Minister Liu was so angry that he slammed the table and said angrily, "Professor Mo, I think you are too old to care about this. Don't be so shameless!"
Seeing that the two of them were about to fight, everyone stood up to stop them. Even Xing Yuan said coldly, "Professor Mo, calm down. Minister Liu's son just died yesterday. You should also be considerate of him."
Minister Liu glared at him when he heard this. His chubby figure looked like a blasted pufferfish. "Whose son did you say died?!"
Xing Yuan spread his hands and smiled: "Calm down, this is the result of fate's selection."
Everyone knew that Minister Liu's son was killed in his home yesterday after being attacked by vagrants. The whole town was in chaos early in the morning, and the patrol team went out to check for vagrants hiding in the crowd. Although Xing Yuan was confident that his rank was high enough and he would not be found out, it did not prevent him from disliking Minister Liu.
"How dare you insult my son?!"
Upon hearing this, Minister Liu was furious. He didn't care that Xing Yuan was the most powerful psychic in Sky City. He rolled up his sleeves and was ready to fight him. Just when the meeting room was in chaos, a patrolman suddenly ran in hurriedly, holding the door and breathlessly said:
"Report... Report to Chief Liu! The wanderer who attacked Chief Liu yesterday has been caught!"
"What?! Caught?!"
Minister Liu, who was still angry, suddenly came to his senses. He rushed forward, grabbed the patrolman by the collar and asked in a stern voice: "Where is the wanderer? Is he dead or imprisoned?!"
The patrolman was startled and stammered, "He's locked up, in prison!"
Upon hearing this, Chief Liu rushed out of the door like a gust of wind and headed downstairs. Xing Yuan heard that the patrol team had caught a wanderer and raised his eyebrows, saying in an ambiguous way, "You are quite efficient. You caught a wanderer in less than a day."
The patrolman said, "We caught more than one. There was also a young girl pretending to be a wanderer among the crowd."
Xing Yuan didn't take the words to heart. The Wanderer could change into many forms, so what was a little girl? However, because of the interruption just now, today's meeting was doomed to be cancelled, and the president directly announced the adjournment of the meeting.
Xing Yuan, Luo Yang and others walked out of the conference room slowly, only to find an unexpected person waiting in the corridor.
No unauthorized personnel were allowed to enter or leave the Executive Building, and no one knew how Lu Yan managed to get in. He wore a white short-sleeved shirt, black trousers, and a baseball cap. With his slender figure, he looked inexplicably lazy and seductive as he leaned against the wall waiting for someone. Only half of his face was revealed under the shadow of the lowered brim of his hat. When he saw Xing Yuan coming out, he raised his head with a hint of smile in his eyes.
Luo Yang exclaimed in surprise: "Lu Yan, why are you here?"
He seemed happier than Xing Yuan.
Xing Yuan stood there with a gloomy face, and turned around to leave. Lu Yan quickly stepped forward and pulled him back. He inexplicably thought that the other person's angry look was quite cute. He wanted to laugh in his heart, but he had to hold back his smile:
"Don't leave so soon. I have something important to tell you."
People passing by were looking at them curiously, even the chief dean and He Zhuo stopped in their tracks, looking terrified and doubtful. They obviously had no idea how these two thunder masters were related. One of them was smiling as if he was trying to coax someone, while the other had a dark face as if he had seen an enemy.
Xing Yuan shook it off twice but failed, and said coldly: "Let go!"
Now that I know to look for him, what were you doing yesterday?!
Lu Yan: "Then listen to me first."
Xing Yuan couldn't bear to fight with Lu Yan in public, so he frowned and asked, "What do you want to say?"
Lu Yan has deceived him for so long, don't think you can coax him back by saying a few nice words.
Lu Yanhuan looked around and said, "It's not convenient here. Let's talk somewhere else."
He ignored Xing Yuan's struggle and directly chose a corridor with few people to drag him away. Xing Yuan, the King of Lively Yan who always walked around in Sky City with his head held high, was actually dragged away by the opponent, staggering. Although he struggled, it seemed to be ineffective.
Luo Yang's mouth twitched, and he said to himself: "Oh my god, today I really had a small knife cut my butt, and I opened my eyes."
He had seen Xing Yuan twisting steel bars with his bare hands, but how could he be dragged away by Lu Yan with just one hand? Are people in love so strange? Not only do their IQs drop, but their fighting strength also drops.
Xing Yuan's fighting power was indeed very low, otherwise he would not have been pinned against the wall of the private office by Lu Yan. In order to avoid onlookers, Lu Yan checked the nameplate at the door again and again before entering, and confirmed that it had the name "Xing Yuan" on it, and then pulled people in. The lights were not on, the curtains were drawn, and the atmosphere was dim and ambiguous.
Xing Yuan knew that Lu Yan was up to no good, and said angrily in a low voice: "Let me go!"
Lu Yan used to act pitiful. She lowered her head and rubbed his face with her nose. The cool touch made her heart itch. "I didn't go home yesterday, and you didn't care where I slept."
Xing Yuan sneered: "I don't care where you sleep. It's none of my business whether you sleep in a wanderer's nest."
Lu Yan bit his earlobe, and the hot breath sprayed on the earlobe, and the other person's fair skin was visibly flushed with red. "Are you still angry? I admit my mistake. I promise that I will never lie to you again."
Xing Yuan turned his head away and said, "You asked me to come here just to tell you this?"
Of course not.
Seeing that Xing Yuan was still angry and his attitude did not soften, Lu Yan had to calm down and let him go. He took out his cell phone from his pocket and showed a photo to Xing Yuan. It was a photo of Xiao Rou trapped in a cage with a painful look on her face. "This little girl is a wanderer. The patrol team accidentally found her when they searched the city today. She said..."
Lu Yan paused, glanced at Xing Yuan, and then said slowly: "She asked me to help find a person named 'Xing Yuan', who might be able to save her."
…
Wanderers were imprisoned in underground prisons. Some of them needed to be destroyed in batches, and some needed to be left behind for experiments by the Monitoring Institute. If one of them escaped by accident, the consequences would be disastrous. Xing Yuan's level was K1, and he could enter and exit anywhere freely, but it was a bit troublesome to bring Lu Yan in, so the latter simply waited at the door.
Most of the wanderers were the product of resentment. The prison was dark and gloomy, and their angry roars echoed in the air, which made people's scalps numb. Xing Yuan ignored the noise and walked straight to one of the cages under the guidance of the guards. Xiao Rou was imprisoned in it.
Xing Yuan said to the guard without being able to tell what was going on: "You go out first."
The guard raised his hand and saluted: "Yes!"
The moment he turned and left, Xing Yuan tilted his head to look at the surveillance camera. A faint blue light flashed in his dark eyes, and the picture suddenly became blurred.
"You look for me."
This was the first sentence Xing Yuan spoke when he saw the woman in the cage. It was not a question, but a calm statement. The prison was too empty, causing his low voice to have a few faint tail sounds. The air was damp and humid, and the coldness invaded his bones and made them ache.
This feeling is very bad because it reminds Xing Yuan of a bad place.
Xiaorou saw Xing Yuan, and with great difficulty she stood up and slowly crawled to the cage: "No. 1...save me..."
Xing Yuan tilted his head when he heard this long-lost title, which made him look like some kind of mechanical product, as if he was thinking about something, but his tone was mocking: "Should I call you No. 3275?"
Xiaorou was silent for a moment: "I have a human name, my name is Xiaorou."
Xing Yuan chuckled: "Really? I have one too."
Xiaorou said hoarsely, "I escaped from the place where I was born a long time ago."
Xing Yuan calmly stated the facts: "But now you are locked up again."
Xiaorou raised herself up slightly, looking like she was about to fall: "There are several people outside waiting for me to save their lives. Xing Yuan, please, find a way to help me and get me out!"
Xing Yuan heard this and slowly raised his eyes. He pointed his slender index finger at her and drew an ambiguous circle in the air: "Save humanity? But you are a wanderer."
Xiaorou looked at him with red eyes, and some salty liquid fell uncontrollably: "But I want them to live..."
Xing Yuan's nonchalant expression finally showed some interest. Could a wanderer actually shed tears? "What benefits did those humans give you?"
After a long silence, Xiaorou suddenly said, "They gave me... ten seconds of life."
When she escaped from the place where she was born, she was seriously injured and curled up in the corner, dying. A group of poor people with terminal illnesses lived in the dilapidated building next to her. They found Xiao Rou and each of them gave her ten seconds of their remaining life.
Just ten seconds.
But it seems heavier than a long life.
"Ten seconds?"
Xing Yuan chewed on these two words expressionlessly, and no one knew what they meant. After a while, he raised his eyebrows slightly and said lightly, "I know."
He stood up and left the prison, snapping his fingers and the surveillance screen returned to normal. Lu Yan had been waiting outside for a while, and when he saw Xing Yuan come out, he stood up slightly from leaning against the wall: "How is it, is it solved?"
Xing Yuan was a little absent-minded, so he didn't notice the trap in this sentence. Hearing this, he just hummed and said, "It's solved."
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly realized that something was wrong. He raised his eyes and looked at Lu Yan. As expected, he saw an intriguing look on his face: "You actually know that wanderer?"
Xing Yuan: “…”
Damn, I was careless.
Lu Yan fell into thought: "What is the relationship between you two?"
Xing Yuan: “…”
Lu Yan finally confirmed something: "You are hiding something from me."
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