Chapter 149

Chapter 149

Upon hearing the words "leather jacket," the only suspect that comes to mind for both Wu Yin and Jie LinYuan is Yan GuangYu.

The fact that Professor Xie would leave without resistance only adds up when Yan GuangYu, Jia Chen, and Jie YiCheng are considered, almost certainly equating them in this context.

Jie LinYuan had pondered where Jia Chen might go after leaving the zoo. However, no one could have imagined he would brazenly take Professor Xie away under everyone's eyes, nor how he knew the location of Professor Xie’s lab, hidden within a dilapidated factory that bewilders all.

Wu Yin could only speculate that a traitor among those sent from the Southern Camp had leaked the secret.

Xue Hongyi found himself unable to argue; after all, aside from a child and a dog, Wu Yin and Jie LinYuan's side had only five elusive mutants who diligently fought mutants outside, displaying extraordinary strength and setting a model for mutants wishing to integrate into human society in the future. Accusing them of being traitors seemed far-fetched even to Xue Hongyi.

Moreover, Professor Jie disappeared yesterday evening, but the news did not reach them until this morning. The hired mercenaries unanimously claimed that Professor Jie left voluntarily, showing no reluctance, and even refused to let them follow. If it came to negligence, the Southern Camp would be undeniably culpable.

"Why would Jia Chen kidnap Professor Jie at such a critical time?" pondered Wu Yin. "To hinder the progress of the calamity pollution vaccine research? But kidnapping Professor Jie alone seems pointless; why not just blow up the lab?"

"It does make a difference," Xue Hongyi couldn’t help but speak up for Professor Jie, defending his dignity, "Professor Jie holds an absolute core position within the research team, with other researchers conducting their studies based on his notes."

"And do you think everyone is like me?" Jie LinYuan joined in, "A humanoid weapon with ample ammunition reserves, ready to blow up anything at any time."

Wu Yin: "..."

Wu Yin: "Then where do you think Jia Chen could have taken Professor Jie?"

Xue Hongyi prepared for the worst: "Now that he has been missing for over 12 hours, I fear that Jia Chen might have..."

"It’s not necessarily... or at least not so quick to resort to murder," said Wu Yin. "After all, Professor Jie is his biological father."

"Blood is thicker than water, but that's for normal people. The Jia Chen you speak of is a complete psychopath, capable of anything," Xue Hongyi expressed with disdain, "To him, what’s a father worth?"

"…Right, didn’t your Southern Camp install any surveillance inside the laboratory?" Wu Yin whimsically suggested, "The kind used for real-time observation of scientific experiments that might have just happened to record Jia Chen and Professor Jie’s conversation."

"Don’t even think about it, we don’t have those resources," Xue Hongyi said, "Do you think everyone is Z1932, recording everywhere they go, revealing all secrets in a second?"

As he was jesting, a glance to his side showed Jie Linyuan’s left pupil rapidly switching interfaces, seemingly attempting to retrieve some file. Xue Hongyi paused incredulously, "Don’t tell me you actually had the foresight to install surveillance in the lab?"

"No," Jie Linyuan diverted a fraction of his attention to answer, but before Xue Hongyi could sigh in relief, he added, "However, when Wu Yin and I were there before, for safety, we activated and modified the surveillance system at the factory’s main entrance. I just don’t know how long the little power it had will last."

Xue Hongyi: "…"

Once again, Xue Hongyi deeply realized that in the face of practicality (Jie Linyuan), aesthetics (Wu Yin) were negligible. He chose—

Both!

"Z, ever consider settling in the Southern Camp after this is over?" Xue Hongyi pitched, "I’ll get you a detached house in Area A."

"Believe it or not, I can turn you into my detached house?" Wu Yin threatened with a smile.

“……”

Ten minutes later, they received both good and bad news.

The good news was the surveillance was still operational;

The bad news was that it being operational hardly made a difference. The one minute of footage featuring them only provided one usable clue: a frontal photo of Yan Guangyu and Professor Jie.

With the full effort of the temporary command center, Xue Hongyi finally found a working printer for Jie Linyuan, printing out this clear frontal photo to be posted in the most visible spot of the command center, urging everyone to pay special attention to these two faces.

Additionally, at the video’s end—just at the edge of the surveillance range—Wu Yin saw a black sedan. Jia Chen opened the rear passenger door, inviting Professor Jie to enter first, then got into the front passenger seat himself.

This detail could only prove that Jia Chen had an accomplice, but Wu Yin felt there were still questions, prompting Jie Linyuan to replay and pause the footage continuously.

"I find this car somewhat familiar…"

"I’m starting to develop a bit of PTSD towards the phrase 'somewhat familiar'," said Jie Linyuan, given that just an hour ago, a mutant was ranting about something being familiar while smashing a solid wood table into a crater.

But Wu Yin persisted in his view, so Jie Linyuan simply detached a projector from his arm and handed Wu Yin a remote control, allowing him to study it at his leisure.

Unexpectedly, within a quarter of an hour, Wu Yin actually recalled where he had seen this black car before. He pointed at a blurry spot on the screen, "See this? The driver is a woman, this is her wrist, very slender, belonging to a woman as thin as a rail."

Jie Linyuan listened quietly as he spoke.

"She's the woman who was waiting for me in the underground parking lot and took me to the experimental vessel after I parasitized Paulo that day of the peace conference. This car was the black car she drove," Wu Yin determined, "I was right, Jia Chen and the ferryman are in cahoots, and Professor Jie is likely in the ferryman's hands now."

As if to provide more evidence to support Wu Yin's assertion, Xue Hongyi entered with the young female intern saved by the gorilla, named Peng Qiao'er. She pointed to the frontal photo projection on the wall, "I saw that man on the ship two months ago, the assistant brought him to tour the mutant animal breeding room."

Jie Linyuan asked, "Two months ago, wasn’t that the first time the mutant animals showed collective unrest?"

"Yes!" Peng Qiao'er nodded, "I hadn't connected these two events before, but now that you mention it, his appearance was indeed coincidental. And after just showing up, he quickly left by boat. The teacher is very strict about the management of the experimental vessel; entries and exits must be thoroughly reported, it's rare for someone to freely come and go like that."

"Alright, we've got it," Xue Hongyi spoke officiously, "Thank you for the information, it's crucial."

Knowing her information was useful, Peng Qiao'er smiled, "I boarded the ship to make a living, working for the teacher, and I've always felt guilty about it. Later, I couldn't even leave if I wanted to. Now I can finally sleep peacefully. I'll be off then, call me if you need anything, I'll tell all I know."

After she left, Jie Linyuan suddenly smiled and looked at Wu Yin, "You really are clairvoyant, guessing everything right, whether it's Jia Chen being Jie YiCheng, Jia Chen parasitizing Yan GuangYu, or their cooperation with the ferryman, you didn't miss a thing."

Wu Yin accepted the praise calmly, "But I still don't understand why Jia Chen would cooperate with the ferryman, what does he want from him?"

"He once said his [core] isn't perfect," Jie Linyuan speculated, "Perhaps he wants to restart the parasitic experiment with the ferryman."

"Of all people to collaborate with, why choose the ferryman and his gang of brutes?" Wu Yin scoffed disdainfully, "And he might be lying. If his [core] isn't perfect, then where's the perfect one? Where is the [core] of No. 30 GuiSi now?"

Wu Yin didn't know, and Jie Linyuan was even less clear, but he could guess the ferryman's purpose in kidnapping Professor Jie: "Ninety percent for you."

"And the remaining ten percent?"

"For all of you," Jie Linyuan drew a circle with his index finger, "You, GengWu, GuiYou, he wants all three orbs."

As expected, just five hours later, the ferryman's demands were laid directly before Xue Hongyi, the person in charge of the Southern Camp's temporary command center.

The ferryman straightforwardly claimed that the perpetrators of the horrific attack on the ship yesterday had been identified as their group from the Southern Camp, adding that at the peace conference, they had spouted nonsense, presenting a fraudulent theory from a pseudo-scholar, deceiving the world.

Old grudges and new, 'forcing' them to protect their interests with a justified counterattack, they've arrested Jie Zai, the scammer, and will soon execute him for crimes against humanity.

"Of course, negotiations are also possible. By dusk today, hand over the real mastermind behind yesterday’s attack, and they will consider letting Jie Zai off the hook."

The ferryman added a footnote after 'mastermind': Captain Xue, you know what I mean, don’t try to bluff your way through.

"There’s another matter." Xue Hongyi placed a stack of curled letters on the table. With communication signals unreliable, battlefield communication relies half on the internet and half directly on messengers, "The immune rebel forces from the Northern Camp have also learned that Professor Jie is in the ferryman's hands. They've sent people to board the ship, demanding the immediate execution of Professor Jie. I even suspect they wouldn’t hesitate to bypass the ferryman to assassinate Professor Jie themselves."

The inability to resist calamity pollution is the fundamental premise behind all actions of the immune rebels. However, Professor Jie aims to break this premise, so it's no wonder the immune rebels are desperately jumping over the wall.

"…So why did Professor Jie have to run off like that?" Wu Yin lamented, "I just barely escaped from that cannibalistic hellhole, nearly killed by ultrasonic waves, and now you want me to walk back into the net? Damn old fool!"

As the hero who saved Wu Yin, the mutant philodendron behind him proudly sprouted leaf tips, with several root tendrils forming little fists, angrily waving above their master’s head.

"Understand him, it's his biological son after all," Xue Hongyi used Wu Yin's words from an hour ago to respond.

Wu Yin then used Xue Hongyi's own argument against him, "What does being his biological son matter? Jia Chen is a complete psychopath capable of anything, even a biological son should be disowned for righteousness."

"…Since we've decided on a rescue, let's start preparing early," Jie Linyuan said seriously. He could sense Wu Yin's determination and knew well Wu Yin’s resolute nature, understanding the value represented by Professor Jie. Rather than exhaustively trying to stop Wu Yin from risking himself, it’s better to work together to minimize the risk.

"I have an idea." Despite his complaints, Wu Yin didn't miss a beat in thinking of strategies, "Find someone to replace me."

"Find someone to replace you??" Xue Hongyi was astonished, "A beef ball soaked in saline? Would the ferryman believe that?"

“……”

Half an hour later, GuiYou, swaddled in blankets, appeared in the office.

These days, he has been relentlessly drained by mutants, leaving him emaciated and pale, always bearing an expression as if he's about to ascend to heaven. Xue Hongyi then saw a chubby-cheeked baby asking in a voice that seemed to have experienced lifetimes, "What do you want with me?"

Wu Yin presented a glass bottle in front of him, containing transparent saline solution: "Coward, get in. I'll take you to seek revenge on the ferryman and Yi Er."

Gui You: "..."