Chapter 207

Chapter 207

An entirely unexpected answer had everyone exchanging stunned looks. It took a while before they all recalled simultaneously:

Before the apocalypse, an unexplained internal accident had occurred at the "Special Phenomena Management Experimental Research Base," killing many people.

Cheng Jing had previously informed his teammates about this after his conversation with Department Head Wang, so they were generally aware of it.

The survivors of that incident—namely the professors with brain-domain evolution superpowers—had kept completely silent about it to this day.

Did this have something to do with Gao Xuyang?

Did Gao Xuyang awaken his superpower too early, causing illusions that triggered the accident?

But then, how does his death in that operation two years back fit here?

Moreover, even if the professors refused to disclose the cause of the accident, they would've at least kept tabs on Gao Xuyang. Why had they not mentioned him at all?

And Department Head Wang—he had received the relevant support documents back then. Even if he hadn’t acted in time, wouldn’t the special rescue documents have stated the reason? If not, how top secret must that have been?

If they had, Department Head Wang would have known Gao Xuyang was still alive. Yet, even after the apocalypse, he never told Yang Kai, nor did he give any warning when arranging for them to come to Guan Shan Prison...

No matter how they thought about it, none of this added up!

It was as if those who should have known the truth were all unaware that Gao Xuyang was still alive!

If none of them had deliberately concealed it, that was downright chilling to think about.

For now, they decided against going to the basement. Chu Yi had the soldiers pitch tents for shade while he, Cheng Jing, and the others kept grilling Second Brother Qi. Based on his account, everyone connected a lot of dots.

This time, it was Jiang Nian’s turn to ask:

"Did Gao Xuyang awaken his superpower before entering Guan Shan Prison?"

Second Brother Qi thought carefully before nodding:

"I think so... In fact, the accident at the 'Special Phenomena Management Experimental Research Base' might have been related to his superpower."

The team didn't confirm or deny, instead turning to Yang Kai—after all, he was the one who knew Gao Xuyang best.

"......"

Yang Kai remained silent for a long time, apparently sorting through memories before speaking slowly:

"Our line of work required rock-solid mental toughness. Psychological training was essential, but beyond that, we also needed specialized counseling based on actual circumstances..."

"He was the toughest-minded guy I knew. His psych evals in the files always showed perfect results... But he got these headaches. Before accepting me as his partner, he always worked alone."

Everyone nodded. Chu Yi remarked:

"Some people have unique traits or extraordinary talents in certain areas, and resilience is no exception. You think there was something off about him?"

"I didn’t think so before, but now... Maybe..."

Yang Kai sounded unsure:

"I never saw him suffer from a headache. He said it only happened occasionally during missions when he was tense. That was why he disliked bringing teammates along—if one of ours was around, he’d find a way to send them away or leave himself."

Even when we were undercover against Second Brother Qi’s group, Yang Kai didn't catch on then. Only later, when we debriefed, did he notice that Gao Xuyang had clearly picked up on something wrong and made up an excuse to split up from him.

Cheng Jing understood and took over the conversation:

"You mean Gao Xuyang's headaches during extreme mental stress were a passive trigger for his mental powers? He could protect himself but couldn’t protect his teammates—or might even harm them by accident—so he pushed them away."

Yang Kai shook his head helplessly:

"...I’m not sure, because I’ve never seen it... I’m just speculating based on what we know now. But doesn't this theory hold water? We'd need to see him to confirm."

Honestly, he wanted to go to the basement right away to verify, but rushing in would just put his team at risk, so he held back.

Second Brother Qi added:

"I agree with Officer Yang’s guess. Mental powers don't just affect others but also the user themselves... His headaches were real, but they might’ve also provided cover."

"Your organization knew he’d have episodes under stress yet still sent him on missions—that’s suspicious in itself. Maybe he was an ordinary undercover on the surface but secretly a special operative for a covert group, or even a test subject."

The world has those freakishly talented people—otherwise, why would all those strange government departments exist?

"..."

No one refuted him because, absurd as it sounded, it now seemed the most plausible explanation.

"Pff..."

Yang Kai lit another cigarette and glanced at Second Brother Qi, who was bleeding pretty badly:

"You ‘killed him.’ Tell us what happened back then."

"..."

The others kept quiet, listening intently as Second Brother Qi spoke:

"Back on the yacht, after he knew he was burned, he rescued two hostages before fighting us. He was shot multiple times, but none hit anything vital. We wanted to capture him alive—it was him resisting to the end, shooting himself and jumping into the sea."

Yang Kai lashed out with a kick to his stomach:

"Your goddamn statement said otherwise! You claimed you killed him and dumped his body!"

"Ah—ugh... cough..."

Second Brother Qi doubled over in pain:

"I... forgot... at the time!"

Then he froze abruptly, his face turning purple, pressed to the ground. After wheezing for breath a few times, he said:

"No... I only remembered the details of his death when I saw Gao Xuyang again. I didn’t fire the last shot—he shot himself and jumped!"

Though, under those circumstances, he was still responsible, the key detail was this:

Before seeing Gao Xuyang again, he’d always believed he was the one who shot and dumped him.

Only after seeing Gao Xuyang did he recall the truth—yet, weirdly enough, he hadn’t even noticed this shift in his own memory!

If not for Yang Kai’s kick and the mention of his statement, he might never have realized this memory gap.