Chapter 97

Chapter 97

From the moment he heard Mr. Long's name, Jie Linyuan intuitively felt this person must be connected to Wu Xin in some way, distinguishing mutant plants, calming mutant animals, plus the appearance, and importantly, a zodiac in his name, a veritable clone of Wu Xin.

Even if he hadn't met Mr. Long here today, they would have made time to visit him soon. It was just too coincidental that just upon entering the zoo, without even taking a few steps, they ran into the person himself.

Long is for Chen, in the cycle of sixty Jiazi years, Wu Chen, Geng Chen, Ren Chen, Jia Chen, Bing Chen – a passionate choice out of five. Jie Linyuan quickly selected a lucky year, not expecting to actually catch a hint of something unusual in Mr. Long's eyes when he uttered "Jia Chen."

"Ah... So it is Mr. Jia Xiaolong?"

Jia Chen silently observed Jie Linyuan's lips, his gaze slowly moving up to meet his crimson eyes. Suddenly, Jia Chen looked down, chuckled softly, and placed a hand on Jie Linyuan's shoulder, gently patting, smoothing out the creases on his clothes, "Oh my, you're actually not hitting on me? ...What a pity, it's rare to find someone who matches my tastes so well."

"..." Truly frivolous, Jie Linyuan thought unexpectedly. He glanced sideways at Jia Chen's hand still resting on his shoulder, straightened up, avoiding further contact, and put his hoodie and sunglasses back on.

Feeling his rejection, Jia Chen could only smile and withdraw his hand, his demeanor still gentle and courteous, "It's crowded here, how about we find a quieter place to talk in detail? You are—"

"Jie Linyuan."

"Mr. Jie Linyuan."

"I have urgent matters to attend to," Jie Linyuan said expressionlessly. "Give me an address, and I'll come find you later."

"Sure." Jia Chen reached out for paper and pen from the shopkeeper, who had been watching for a while, and quickly jotted down a line of text, "Here, make sure to keep this note safe. Hand it to the gatekeeper; otherwise, you might not be let in."

Jie Linyuan glanced at the handwriting on the paper, skilled fountain pen script, utterly different from Wu Xin's elementary scrawl, despite their identical appearances and use of the same bionic body, revealing utterly opposite souls within.

"Thank you," Jie Linyuan pocketed the note, adding, "Does Mr. Geng Xiaoma live with you?"

With his back to him, as if to resume their earlier conversation with the shopkeeper, Jia Chen waved his hand in irritation upon hearing Geng Wu's nickname, grumbling, "Alright, alright, I know you're well-informed about us... I'll tell Xiao Wu to come back early."

Geng Wu, Xiao Wu? The nicknames of these experimental subjects are like layers of an onion, revealing more beneath each one.

"Hmm."

Jie Linyuan turned and left the shop under the curious gaze of the onlookers. It was clear that Mr. Long held high esteem among these people; an unknown man, hugging and whispering to Mr. Long, sparked everyone's curiosity about his identity.

Hui Lan lingered under the eaves for a while before finally seeing Jie Linyuan emerge from the crowd, hurriedly waving at him secretively, then carefully pointing towards a deserted corner of an alley.

Following his direction, Jie Linyuan saw a vibrant, green vine plant rooted in a recessed cobblestone puddle, its leaves trembling under the falling rain yet striving upwards.

"Jie Ge, could that be...?"

"Yes." Jie Linyuan's left pupil displayed three overlapping scanning interfaces, capturing and analyzing the image, "It's that mutant Pothos."

Hui Lan was still unnerved by the earlier commotion, "How, how could it be here..."

"It seems," rows of code and formulas flashed across his pupil as Jie Linyuan concluded, "it's resting."

"Resting?"

"The rest is over."

"Ah?" Hui Lan's wolf ears perked up sharply, turning quickly to look at the Pothos in the puddle.

Jie Linyuan's assessment was correct; after a brief respite, soaking up ample water in the rain, the Pothos pulled its roots from the brick crevice, its lush vines reaching into the air, looking around as if to recognize the direction, and quickly, it determined its destination, its many roots twisting into four "legs," scurrying along the wall base.

Truly a creature that flirts with danger, never giving him peace...

Jie LinYuan chuckled lightly and pursued without a word, leaving Hui Lan stunned at the scene, realizing that Jie intended to use the mutated green vines to track WuYin, hastily following suit.

……

A few blocks away, WuYin couldn't help but sneeze.

Heaven knows, he not only flirted with danger by mingling with flowers and grass, but also inadvertently invited deadly trouble—currently, a loaded Browning pistol was pressed against his temple.

The one-eyed Z1068 angrily pressed the gun against him, furiously questioning the others, "What were you thinking? Didn't you find him odd? Despite not knowing him, everyone was insanely kind to him! Even offering him a meal, have you all lost your minds?"

He had sneaked away in plain sight but was actually hiding and eavesdropping on their conversation until he discovered that the woman in the cheongsam also fell under the strange "hormonal" influence of the man in the mask. Alarmed, Z1068 impulsively ran out and aimed the gun at the stranger's head.

This person wasn't targeting him, but the mutants!

"Brother Lu, calm down..." A’Cheng, the girl, couldn’t help but urge.

"It’s you who should calm down!" Z1068's expression grew even more ferocious, "He can influence your minds, he must not stay."

In the hanging birdcage in the corridor, a six-winged dove flapped its wings excitedly, trying to break free; a newborn brown bear with three eyes, one in the middle of its forehead, stepped out from the corner's shadow. All its eyes wide open, it stood up and roared uneasily at Z1068.

His Highness, enraged, tried to rush to protect WuYin but was held down by two mutant beings, Blue and Black. These mutants didn't want to harm WuYin but wouldn't allow anyone to harm Lu Ba. His Highness struggled incredulously on the ground, finding himself immovable under the pressure of two humans, thinner than his own legs.

Z1068, vigilant, looked around and sneered, "It seems your 'hypnosis' can only affect mutants. Surprised? Even the lair of mutants has a normal human."

"..." WuYin grew increasingly displeased with Z who was pressing the pistol against his temple.

He would avoid his own troubles but daringly stand up for his friends; indeed, a commendable trait, but what does it have to do with him, WuYin? The audacity to aim a gun at him and press against his temple was a sin in itself.

Adhering to a tit-for-tat mentality, WuYin deliberately played mysterious when a few words could have easily clarified everything to everyone's satisfaction.

Leisurely crossing his legs, he tapped his fingers on the mahogany table, his face mask soaked by the rain and uncomfortable to wear. Yet, he remembered Jie Linyuan's repeated admonitions before entering the park and never took it off, "But don't forget, Z, you too were once contaminated, then forcibly self-destructed under the highest command from the Northern Camp during a state of chaos, leading to your current state."

Initially, Jie Linyuan intended to replicate this pattern, purposefully get contaminated, and then plan to self-destruct as a drastic means to gain freedom for the next two or three decades.

WuYin knew this but was unclear about the identity of the previously abandoned Z until today, seeing the blindfolded Z1068, he realized the eye mask probably hid a pitch-black eyeball-shaped display screen, and the gloves were meant to conceal the metallic arm, confirming that Jie Linyuan's previous attempt at self-destruction was inspired by this man's experience.

He provocatively lifted his eyes, threatening, "How do you know you won't be influenced by me?"

Z1068's pupils trembled slightly, his teeth clenched, his expression taut, the hand holding the gun showing brief hesitation and fear, but soon, years of death and combat training made him more defiant when cornered, revealing a ruthless smile, pressing down on the trigger, "Let's see if you can control me!"

In an instant, a green gust carrying the scent of rain and fresh grass swiftly swept in, vines wrapping around Lu Ba's hand, numerous slender roots penetrating the barrel, blocking the path of the bullet.

WuYin turned his head, curious about the incoming entity, only to be embraced by a familiar figure, then whisked away from the armchair, landing far from the one-eyed Lu Ba and all other mutants.

"You're too late," WuYin looped an arm around Jie Linyuan's neck, impatiently saying, "Any later and I would have been shot in the head."

"Serves you right, it must be your fault, always causing trouble for me outside," Jie Linyuan said, his face cold as he cautiously lifted his gaze, his left hand gripping a dagger backwards, hostilely scanning the rest of those present.

Following the mutated green vines to this courtyard, vaulting the wall to see someone pointing a gun at WuYin, he had no time to assess the situation before hastily jumping in.

Upon clearly seeing the last person's face, Jie Linyuan's pupils dilated, his lips parting in surprise.

Z1068 wore the same expression, his mouth agape in astonishment, gazing at the person who suddenly appeared.

WuYin looked left and right, having always wanted to witness this scene of the Z-series mechanical warriors recognizing each other with teary eyes. He wasn't disappointed; the scene was spectacular, with Jie Linyuan and Lu Ba's mouths wide open in disbelief, hesitant to acknowledge each other.

The Pothos wrapped around Lu Ba's hand quickly retracted its vines, shrinking back into a seedling form, excitedly scurrying to WuYin's side, joyfully wrapping around his leg and climbing up to his shoulder.

His Highness also hurriedly freed himself from the mutants' grasp, running back to stand in front of WuYin and Jie Linyuan.

Golden Retriever—Ah, I'm so useless, I fell before my master did when he was in danger, what a disgrace to dogs, I don't want to live!

Border Collie—Okay, I agree, I'll hang myself at their door tomorrow.

"They're all mutants, it's not your fault," WuYin comforted, patting the Golden Retriever's head.

"Mutants?" The sudden keyword triggered Jie Linyuan's PTSD, reminding him of Xue Hongyi, another mutant, instantly making his first impression of everyone present exceedingly poor.

Z1068, Lu Ba, asked blankly, "1932?"

Jie Linyuan gathered his scattered attention, nodded towards Lu Ba while putting down WuYin, "1068."

The mutants, puzzled, scratched their heads, unable to comprehend what had happened, until WuYin, very sensibly, stepped forward to explain, "Z1932, Jie Linyuan, and your friend Z1068 were colleagues. I've heard about him from Jie Linyuan, so I recognized him at a glance. It's that simple."

"Then you, why...?" The woman in the cheongsam struggled to find the right words, still unsure how to describe it.

"I don't know," WuYin evaded revealing his identity, answering everything with ignorance, unawareness, or incomprehension, "I've always been naturally beloved by mutants."

Saying this, he playfully flicked the Pothos's leaves, delighting it into rolling ecstatically over him.

"Isn't that just like Mr. Long?" said the mutant with blue eyes, "Mr. Long Number Two."

"No, no, no, Mr. Long on steroids," said the mutant known as Xiao Hei, "Mr. Long never had such an influence. You saw how the bear ignored everyone else, but did you see its 'I'll fight you' stance when Lu Ba pointed a gun at him?"

As if to prove his point, WuYin suddenly felt a weight on his foot and looked down to see a three-eyed brown bear cub clinging to his leg.

"...Really is a zoo here."