Chapter 53

Chapter 53

The person beside me... Jie Linyuan knew the answer but pretended to be confused, even considering throwing out a random name from among Qin Yue, Yang Mo, and Lao Hu to mislead Xue Yue.

But he didn't. It would have been futile and only made things more obvious.

Xue Yue wasn't a foolish goldcrest, chirping without any evidence. If he was here, calling Jie Linyuan by his code and negotiating for someone, he must be well-prepared and confident.

Thus, Jie Linyuan lowered his gaze and closed his mouth. Sometimes, silence speaks louder than words.

"First, it was the peculiar Wang Sui, then Yang Mo, and now Shiwu. They all share a common secret," Xue Yue said, placing his porcelain teacup on the wooden table. "Frequent personality changes, recurrent memory loss, and... they are exceptionally attractive to mutant creatures, be it aberrations or mutant animals. We believe they can communicate with these creatures without any barriers."

Once Jie Linyuan realized he wasn't Xue Yue's target, he stopped pretending to be a frightened rabbit showing his panic. He listened to Xue Yue's analysis with a usual expression, picking up his cup of tea, and took a sip.

"It seems they're not intentionally hiding their special traits. Whether it's themselves or the people around them, there are flaws everywhere. With just a casual observation, it's like looking through a sieve, seeing everything clearly," Xue Yue remarked. "Is it that they can't hide, or are they so confident that they don't bother to conceal themselves? Or perhaps, their truly unique aspect is still buried deep beneath what we think we see?"

A very sharp and accurate conjecture, getting ever closer to the true nature of the matter...

Jie Lin Yuan gave a brief smirk, lifting his gaze with a hint of irony, "I don't know Wang Sui, and I've just met Shi Wu. The only person I'm familiar with is Yang Mo, who lacks any sense of subtlety in his actions. He acts solely on his whims. It would be truly odd if he ever learned to hide his uniqueness."

He had been pondering the reason behind Xue Yue's invitation for a private meeting.

One possibility was his special identity as part of the Z series mechanical war gods, but this was not enough leverage for Xue Yue to coerce Jie Lin Yuan into doing his bidding.

Thus, there must be another reason. Jie Lin Yuan had a rough guess and deliberately threw out bait.

As expected, his negative attitude confirmed Xue Yue's thoughts. The marshal, confidently leaning back with crossed legs, said, "Z, after observing and subtly inquiring about the man and woman with you, we've learned that your relationship with Yang Mo and Shi Wu is not good. It seems you're not willingly accompanying them, but are instead in a state of... oppression, coercion, threat? Is it because they hold your prime directive?"

Jie Lin Yuan didn't respond, but his silence, to some extent, signified consent.

"So you have nothing to disclose," chuckled Xue Yue, his voice deep and resonant, characteristic of a powerful middle-aged man. "I understand your caution. But if you keep hesitating to communicate, you might miss great opportunities to break free from your restraints."

"Marshal," Jie Lin Yuan frowned, forced to speak, "Your guess is spot on, and I understand why you wanted to meet. But believe it or not, I'm not fully aware of their capabilities. Since you know my relationship with them is one of coercion and submission, you must also understand that I might know less about them than you do. They are very wary of me."

Xue Yue was skeptical. He observed the subtle changes in Jie Lin Yuan's facial expressions and continued to employ a soft approach, "In that case, let me share my hypothesis with you." He paused, then slowly began, "Polluters, mutants, immunes, mutated flora and fauna - these four categories are the most known types of infection post-calamity. But there are two other rare types: the Mutated and the Espers.

"We suspect that Wang Sui, Yang Mo, and Shi Wu are Espers."

"That seems far-fetched," Jie Lin Yuan disagreed. "I'm aware of Espers, but as you know, they're rare. How could there be a cluster of them?"

"No, they are all Espers, but only one at a time," Xue Yue said, contradictorily, then slowly explained, "Or rather, each of them became an Esper in different time periods, but at any given time, there's only one Esper. We speculate that the ability might be a unique form of contagion, not fixed to one person, but constantly transferring. It shares the same origin as the calamity pollution. Espers are also infected, anchored by personality changes. First, Wang Sui was infected, then it spread to Yang Mo, and now the source of the Esper contagion is Shi Wu."

"..." Ha, Jie Lin Yuan thought with schadenfreude, I should have let Wu Yin hear this. His true colors are nearly exposed, yet he's comfortably playing Tetris on the couch.

"Z, I need to know how the Esper contagion spreads," Xue Yue said seriously, sitting upright. "Work with our Southern Camp. Tell us everything you know, and we can help you retrieve your prime directive. On a smaller scale, you can rid yourself of trouble and gain freedom; on a larger scale, understanding the transmission of Espers can provide significant breakthroughs in researching the source of the calamity pollution, saving countless suffering brothers and sisters worldwide."

Jie Lin Yuan sighed, "Marshal, it's not that simple."

"At least, having stayed by Yang Mo and Shi Wu's side without getting infected, you must know how to resist contagion."

Jie Linyuan neither admitted nor denied it; after a brief moment of contemplation, he looked directly into Xue Yue's eyes. "How can I be sure whether you genuinely want to cooperate with me or if you'll betray me once your goal is achieved? The supreme command is my lifeline; whoever possesses it can easily order me to do anything. Once you get the supreme command, will you really let me go?"

"You can rest assured on that front," Xue Yue said. "As I've mentioned, I only want the psychic and his powers. If you're willing to provide clues, we can even take care of your concerns first, then discuss capturing the psychic."

……

Wu Yin's daily routine always synced with the sun; he got up early in the summer when the days dawned early. When Jie Linyuan returned from his night shift, Wu Yin was already playing video games on the sofa in a very tricky posture.

Bizarre sitting positions, the unchanging Tetris game.

Jie Linyuan handed him a steaming hot bun. Apart from him lounging around, everyone else had already gone to work. Jie Linyuan, unconcerned, unzipped his pants, "I'm going to take a shower and get some sleep."

"Hmm," Wu Yin paused the game, grabbed a yellowed bun, and stuffed it into his mouth. The crust was hard, tasteless. "Aren't you switching to the day shift tomorrow? From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.?" He had seen Jie Linyuan's shift schedule, constantly alternating between day, night, and swing shifts.

"Yes, what about it?" Jie Linyuan took off his shirt, his skin coating receding, revealing a clear demarcation between robust muscles and machinery.

Wu Yin turned around, his eyes as clear as jade, quietly observing him, "Tomorrow, I want to go with you."

Jie Linyuan's movements paused, his heart sinking heavily. His mind raced, feigning calmness, "Why? Haven't you always said that going up and down the stairs is too tiring and you don't want to leave the house?"

Why choose this particular time to go out with him?

...Did he discover something?

He remembered the gaze that fell from above last night when he left the house. Was it just his imagination?

This elusive and omnipotent parasite, capable of silently hiding inside anyone...

"Because it's boring staying home alone," Wu Yin tossed the game console onto the sofa cushion, his tone as usual, "Your job seems quite interesting, so I thought I'd join you on patrol."

"You're sweating a lot, is it that hot?" he suddenly remarked, his attention drawn to Jie Linyuan's chest.

Jie Linyuan, panting, lowered his head, a fine sheen of sweat coating his chest and abdominal muscles, glistening like delicate honey oil over the undulating muscles, inducing a thirst in the onlooker.

"Yes, it's a bit warm," he replied, wiping the sweat from his chin, lifting his gaze only to find Wuyin still intently observing his body. Seizing the moment, Jie Linyuan slightly parted his lips, deliberately stretching his shoulders, puffing out his chest as his muscles subtly rippled, "Still looking? Is my body that appealing to you?"

Met with a strikingly attractive and provocative beauty, Wuyin, unmoved, met his gaze squarely, focusing elsewhere, "Are you nervous?"

Cursed emotional perception, Jie Linyuan thought bitterly, puzzled why a parasitic experiment subject would develop such an ability.

He composedly curved his lips into a suggestive smile: "Of course, I'd be nervous being stared at shirtless like this by you."

"Nervous about what?"

Jie Linyuan leaned in closer to Wuyin, bending over him, the heat and dampness suddenly enveloping them: "I'm scared... scared that you'll devour me."

Wuyin blinked, then, under Jie Linyuan's gaze, opened his mouth and bit the muscle just below his collarbone, firm and slightly resilient. Wuyin didn't bite hard, leaving a faint tooth mark on Jie Linyuan's chest, which would disappear within a minute.

Jie Linyuan, stunned that Wuyin actually bit him, watched as Wuyin savored the moment.

"Not bad," Wuyin commented. "It'd be better if you took a shower though."

"Where did you learn that?" Jie Linyuan asked in shock.

"When I was still inhabiting Wang Sui," Wuyin briefly recounted an incident at a rudimentary lodging, where he overheard a couple whispering in a corner. The man told the woman, 'I'm going to eat you,' then proceeded to playfully nibble all over her, saying, 'like this.' Finishing the story, Wuyin asked, "I didn't misunderstand, did I? It's this kind of 'eating'?"

Jie Linyuan nodded, his feelings incredibly mixed.

"It's quite fun," Wuyin remarked.

Jie Linyuan's thoughts took a mischievous turn as he asked, not without ulterior motives: "Do you know about kissing? It's when you press your lips against someone else's, an entangling embrace that feels even better than the 'eating' we just did. Want to try?"

"Really?" Wuyin frowned suspiciously, "With you?"

"Otherwise, who else is here?" Jie Linyuan approached him, "Close your eyes, I'll show you."