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Chapter 3
“Beauty truly is the most persuasive weapon in this world… Now I believe it.
“Prepare for the third urban air defense alert!”
“The population in the target area has been evacuated completely!”
“The jamming device is in position, and the guided missile is ready to launch!”
……
One instruction after another spread rapidly in all directions through the radio waves from the control room, like an invisible umbrella slowly opening and covering the vast sky over the city of Shenhai.
“Supervisor,” Chen Miao put down the satellite phone, cold sweat already soaking his temples: “We still can’t establish contact with flight MN538. The situation is unclear. What should we do?”
Shen Zhuo stood quietly in front of the control desk, and from the perspectives of those around him, his profile was handsome, with a cold and profound gaze that seemed bottomless.
“Call the military district.” He said slowly, “Without my approval, the missiles cannot be launched until the last moment.”
Bang–Clang!
The barely recognizable hijacker flew out of the cockpit door, leaped over the entire aircraft cabin, and crashed through two barriers before landing near the tail of the plane, close to the feet of a flight attendant.
Three seconds later, all the passengers and the flight attendant screamed in unison: “Aaaaaahhh—!”
“No, it’s impossible…” Zhang Wenyong trembled and stared at the special symbol “S” on Bai Sheng’s chest. “It must be fake, it must be…”
In fact, there have been rumors about S-class evolutionists in the civilian world, but there have been very few documents about them. Some declassified information indicated that only 20 people globally had evolved into S-class evolutionists. However, what exactly they looked like, what abilities they possessed, and even whether they were still considered humans, remained unknown.
“I don’t believe it!” Zhang Wenyong roared, erupting into a frenzy of madness in desperation. He swung his hand fiercely—
Outside the aircraft window, heavy leaden clouds surged, and thousands of thunderbolts struck down, shattering the windshields of the cockpit.
“Ah, climate control?” Bai Sheng rubbed his chin.
“…No one can catch me!” Zhang Wenyong’s expression contorted fiercely in the thunderstorm: “All of you can go die with that damned supervision office!”
The plane shook violently and then suddenly lost altitude, plummeting toward the ground.
The co-pilot’s head smashed into the instrument panel, and fear-filled cries erupted from the passengers.
Bai Sheng tightly covered the co-pilot’s forehead, which was bleeding profusely, with one hand, while the other hand was raised with a firm grip. “Hey buddy, you’re too impatient. Can you relax a bit?”
He suddenly spread his five fingers.
Zhang Wenyong hadn’t realized what had happened when he heard four crisp explosions in his ears: snap! snap! snap! snap!
Blood splattered from all four limbs, and his body bent back into an unimaginable spherical shape, with his whole person hanging like a bloodied lantern.
“Ah—”
Zhang Wenyong let out a heart-rending scream, but everything abruptly stopped as Bai Sheng made a quiet gesture, and the airflow instantly blocked his vocal cords.
With a loud bang, the plane stabilized, and all the passengers fell back into their seats.
“The difference between you and me is probably similar to the difference between a paramecium evolving into a human,” Bai Sheng said calmly.
Snap! The submachine gun fell to the cockpit floor.
The last remaining hijacker, who had pointed the gun at Bai Sheng just moments ago, trembled all over and crawled backward as if he had encountered a living demon. “I-I’m sorry… Spare me, spare me…”
At that moment, his hand accidentally touched something behind him. Subconsciously, he looked at it, and it turned out to be the book that had fallen on the ground earlier.
The book’s title was incredibly long and filled with a sense of nonsense, but the only eye-catching part was the flying kiss from the bunny girl and the words “Bai Sheng, the author.”
In an instant, the hijacker felt enlightened.
“A-amazing book!” He frantically opened the book and held it up to his eyes, looking at Bai Sheng with fear, trembling as he said, “The thoughts of the author are incredibly sharp! I-I’ll buy a hundred copies right away!”
Bai Sheng turned his face to the side, looking down at him from a high vantage point, and suddenly, a smirk appeared on his lips.
“Too late,” he smiled and said, “Delayed affection is more worthless than grass.”
With a slanting motion of his palm, blood splattered everywhere, and the sound of bones breaking and screams filled the entire cabin.
On the ground, in the tower control room…
“Hello? Hello?” The communication device, which had been disconnected for a long time, suddenly began to crackle, followed by a lazy voice, “This is Flight MN538. Can you hear me?”
In the busy control room, all the hurried footsteps seemed to have been paused by the remote control.
Everyone’s expressions froze as they turned back to look at the control desk, finding it hard to believe their own ears.
Shen Zhuo’s pupils tightened slightly. After a few seconds of pause, he hung up the military district’s satellite phone and reached for the intercom. “Who are you?”
“I am a passenger who has suffered from this mess and is prepared to bankrupt this airline at any time.” Bai Sheng sat in the captain’s seat, holding the intercom while mouthing words to comfort the critically injured co-pilot, silently emphasizing, “I’m just kidding—.”
Co-pilot: “……….”
“Three hijackers have been subdued. However, the captain is seriously injured, and the co-pilot seems to be passing out soon. The fuel is still…” Bai Sheng furrowed his eyebrows as he observed the flight instruments. After a few seconds, he finally said, “Can’t see clearly. The co-pilot just smashed the instrument panel with his head.”
The struggling co-pilot, unable to endure any longer, tried to sit up, but all he managed to do was to “cough!” and spit out a mouthful of blood.
“We need to make an emergency landing right now, but I am not familiar with the operation of a B777-300ER civilian aircraft. Can the ground tower assist with the landing permission?”
In the control room, there was a loud “bang”.
Countless people were in a state of panic and chaos, and countless voices were shouting loudly. Through the radio, the clamor reached the cockpit, and Bai Sheng patiently waited.
After a moment, he finally heard a clear and steady voice coming from the other end of the intercom.
“I am the tower control.” Shen Zhuo stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking up at the endless sky, “Permission granted for the emergency landing. Please follow the operational instructions.”
Ten minutes later…
The massive civilian aircraft roared and gently landed on the tarmac. Over a hundred evolutionists from supervision office stood in formation, their gun muzzles gleaming with silver-cold light.
Shen Zhuo wore a tactical earpiece, his index finger already resting on the trigger, his deep eyes reflecting the closed cockpit door.
Every minute and every second felt unbearably long, and after a while, the cabin door was finally pulled open with a loud “whoosh.” Everyone’s expressions tensed simultaneously.
A young and vigorous figure appeared behind the cabin door; it was Bai Sheng.
This person was probably close to 1.9 meters tall, with a travel backpack slung over one shoulder that had a boxing glove and a basketball keychain hanging from it. He changed into a shirt on his upper body but only fastened the two bottom buttons, revealing the solid muscle lines on his abdomen.
Below his left collarbone, the blood-red “S” leaped into everyone’s eyes.
“……”
A complete silence fell around them.
Bai Sheng’s eyes naturally had a sharp shape. The blood splattered on his brow had not completely dried, and as he looked down from his high position, there was a glint of cold scrutiny in his eyes.
“S-class…” murmured voices spread among the crowd.
The next moment, Bai Sheng’s expression miraculously changed. He smiled in a friendly manner, like a gentle breeze brushing against their faces, and waved at the multitude of gun muzzles. “Hey there, hello everyone!”
Then he leaped down.
From the cabin door to the ground, a distance of over three meters, he landed without making any sound, but the heavy objects he was dragging made a thud! Thud! as they hit the ground.
They were two climbing ropes, each tied to a tangled mass of limbs, the shapes of which were indistinguishable. On the left was the accomplice with broken bones all over, his hands and feet entangled together, while on the right was the main culprit, Zhang Wenyong, whose torso had been twisted into a spiral.
In an instant, everyone’s hearts jumped, and even the experienced evolutionists of the supervision office almost vomited. Chen Miao quickly covered his face and refrained from looking closely, signaling his subordinates to help him escort the criminals.
However, before a few people with guns could approach, Bai Sheng stopped them. “Wait, answer my question first.”
Chen Miao’s eyes pleaded with him to hurry up and ask.
“Before the hijacker fired at me, I heard someone on the intercom saying that they never negotiate with criminals; that high and mighty bastard is…”
“Me.”
Bai Sheng turned his head and met Shen Zhuo’s gaze.
The chief supervisor of Shenhai City always dressed the same way—a well-fitted black suit, a white shirt, a clean and pale face, and his thin, beautiful lips habitually pursed.
The black leather gloves on his hand were thin and tight, revealing the slender knuckles, and his index finger rested steadily on the trigger.
The surrounding atmosphere seemed to have frozen. No one dared move, and even the guns in many hands were visibly unsteady.
“……”
Under everyone’s gaze, Bai Sheng’s expression underwent a very complicated change, seeming a bit resentful yet somewhat relieved. After a moment, he finally sighed and murmured, “Beauty truly is the most persuasive weapon in this world… Now I believe it.”
“I forgive you, Inspector,” Bai Sheng raised his voice and gestured to Shen Zhuo with a chin lift, saying, “Come and make a deal with me!”
Shen Zhuo’s dark eyes didn’t reveal any ripples.
Bai Sheng gestured to him, showing the climbing ropes he held in both hands, saying, “I can’t free my hands. Come over and help me fasten the buttons, and I’ll leave these three bandits to the Shenhai City Supervision Office. At the same time, the account between us will also be settled. How about it?”
Is it that simple?
If you only looked at his face, Bai Sheng might even give people the feeling of being handsome and approachable, but everyone knew that an S-class evolutionist’s close combat abilities were comparable to a humanoid weapon. Even if he just stood there with a smiling expression, there was a sense of hidden oppression.
“…” Shen Zhuo tilted his head and gave a signal to Chen Miao, indicating that he should come over.
“I’m talking about you, Inspector,” Bai Sheng emphasized his tone.
Then he raised an eyebrow and smiled, saying, “I just like being served by beauty.”
At that moment, everyone unconsciously stole glances at Shen Zhuo’s figure, trying to guess his expression, but they were destined not to get an answer.
“……”
Shen Zhuo stood still in place for a full few seconds before finally exhaling, handing his gun to Chen Miao, and calmly walking over to stand in front of Bai Sheng.
Shen Zhuo was already considered tall, but when standing face-to-face, his gaze only reached Bai Sheng’s chin. Lowering his eyelids, he silently started buttoning Bai Sheng’s shirt from the bottom up.
“I’m very curious about one thing,” Bai Sheng slightly turned his head and whispered in Shen Zhuo’s ear, “If I weren’t on this flight today, how would you have handled this situation?”
“…In the process of coexistence between humans and evolutionists, there has never been any conflict that has been handled properly,” Shen Zhuo replied after a moment.
“All methods of dealing with human captors and negotiation techniques have been proven to be ineffective. As a result, in every evolutionist crime case, a large number of civilians lose their lives, and I must strictly follow the first clause of the work manual to handle it.”
The wind blew over the spacious tarmac, and through the high aircraft windows, the terrified and confused faces of the passengers could be seen.
“So,” Shen Zhuo raised his eyes, “The cost of sudden mutation falls on the heads of every civilian, and it’s a catastrophic disaster.”
The two men locked eyes in such close proximity, and Bai Sheng could even see his own reflection in Shen Zhuo’s pupils.
“Is that the reason why you, as a staunch opponent of evolutionists, are so unfriendly to them that you’ve become globally renowned for it?” Bai Sheng’s lips curled, “Inspector Shen Zhuo?”
Shen Zhuo didn’t answer. He fastened the last button below Bai Sheng’s collarbone, took a step back, and raised his head to look at him calmly.
“Abide by the law; don’t commit crimes. Article 1, Section 10 of the Supervisor’s Handbook requires me to be very friendly to you,” said Shen Zhuo.
Bai Sheng: “…”
Chen Miao held his breath, mustered up his courage, and led the team forward. He carefully took the climbing rope from Bai Sheng’s hands and dragged the three completely lifeless hijackers onto the riot control vehicle.
Another rescue team quickly entered the aircraft, preparing to search the cabin and rescue the injured.
“On behalf of the Shenhai City Supervision Office, I thank Mr. Bai for his contribution to the city’s safety,” Shen Zhuo said politely, tilting his head slightly, “Welcome back home. Your luggage has been retrieved, and the supervision office sent a car to escort you from the airport.”
A bulletproof sedan slowly approached and stopped beside them. Shen Zhuo opened the door and made a gesture of “please.”
Very nice and friendly.
Bai Sheng touched his chin, and sat in the car, and just as Shen Zhuo was about to close the door, Bai Sheng stopped him with his hand, “Wait, your supervisor’s handbook… Can I borrow it to have a look?”
Through the car window, the two men locked eyes, and Bai Sheng’s face was full of explosive curiosity.
“Each handbook is different depending on the personality of the supervisor,” Shen Zhuo replied coldly, “Mine is lengthy and uninteresting, and I prefer that only I know its contents.”
Bang!
The car door closed, and the vehicle slowly drove forward.
Watching Shen Zhuo’s figure get farther and farther away in the rearview mirror, Bai Sheng couldn’t hold back anymore. He opened the mobile banking app on his phone and asked the driver, “Hey buddy.”
“Mr. Bai, please speak.”
“There’s a private job with a 1 million cash reward; are you interested?”
“…” The driver turned around to look at him, finding it hard to believe. He was moved and said, “Bai-ge1Term used for elder brother, the money doesn’t matter; what matters is that I admire your character—I can do anything, even if it means going through fire and water. Just say it!”
Bai Sheng patted his shoulder encouragingly: “Steal Supervisor Shen’s Handbook for me to take a look. When can you get it done?”
A silence fell inside the car.
The driver said slowly, “Ge, this kind of whole-family extermination job has a separate price.”
The setting sun gradually tilted to the west, and the tarmac was bustling with people. The passengers were checked and escorted off the plane by the supervision office staff. Many of them were unsteady, supporting each other.
“Waah-waaah!” A four- or five-year-old girl got separated in the chaos, crying with a flushed face, and accidentally bumped into Shen Zhuo’s leg.
“…”
Shen Zhuo remained silent, stooping down to pat her head and picking her up.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” A young woman rushed over, following the guidance of the staff, and kept expressing her gratitude. She took the little girl from Shen Zhuo’s arms with the utmost respect and hurriedly carried her away.
“Supervisor Shen,” Chen Miao walked over quickly, whispering, “The Central Supervision Office just called, asking for your statement on this hijacking incident. The official car is waiting outside.”
—The difficulties between the Central Supervision Office and Shenhai City had been ongoing since Shen Zhuo took office on his first day, and they had never changed.
Shen Zhuo nodded but didn’t immediately leave. He quietly looked at the tearful passengers huddled together not far away and suddenly asked, “How is the situation of the injured?”
“Only the two pilots are more seriously injured, with significant blood loss, but their conditions are stable. Miraculously, their lives are not in danger.”
“…That guy named Bai should have some healing abilities,” Shen Zhuo said in a low voice.
Healing abilities were a rare type of power, and the chance of their existence on Earth could be said to be one in a thousand. However, for Bai Sheng, an even rarer S-class, there was nothing surprising about whatever chaotic abilities he possessed.
Chen Miao thoughtfully touched his chin and said, “I didn’t expect that we’d suddenly have an S-class in Shenhai City. After Fu-ge passed away, this is the first time I’ve seen a living S-class…”
Then he caught Shen Zhuo’s gaze and shivered, realizing, “I’m sorry, Senior! I didn’t mean it!”
Shen Zhuo’s cold, lifeless black eyes stared at him without saying a word.
“…” Chen Miao nervously met his gaze, and after a while, he couldn’t hold back and asked in a low voice, “S-Senior, if we have an S-class in our supervision office, those people from the central supervision office will definitely not dare to trouble us again. Would you consider recruiting him?”
Shen Zhuo withdrew his gaze, turned around, and walked across the tarmac toward the black car in the distance.
“No, I wouldn’t,” he coldly replied. “Every year on my birthday, my wish is for evolutionists to stay away from my life.”
“—What?!” Chen Miao was dumbfounded. “Including me? Senior! Senior—”
The sun was setting, and darkness gradually enveloped the vast city. The nightlights began to illuminate the distance. The huge metropolis was gradually shrouded in darkness, and at the end of the deep blue sky, two or three stars twinkled with faint light.
At 9 p.m., on the news channel:
“Today, there was a serious attempted hijacking incident at our city’s airport. After confirmation, all three hijackers were identified as the bank robbers who recently robbed the Shenhai City Bank. They have all been captured and brought to justice…”
Inside an abandoned ward, an old-fashioned television flickered with a dim light.
The scene kept changing, and before the camera were passengers and family members sobbing and crying. Amidst the reporters’ cameras, a black bulletproof vehicle with the license plate “111111” slowly drove away from the airport.
In the back seat of the car, a man in a black suit and a white shirt sat with a calm and expressionless side face. In a fleeting moment, the car window rolled up.
In front of the television, a young man with a slender figure sat in a wheelchair, a hint of a smile in his eyes. He supported his chin with one hand and murmured, “Shen Zhuo…”
The room was old and dilapidated, as if it had been scorched by a massive fire, with blackened walls and tiles still bearing stains from the 1980s. However, the man’s attire was refined, with a well-tailored shirt and trousers, and his fair and handsome face featured deep, gentle eyes resembling obsidian.
He exuded a restrained air of nobility that contrasted with the surrounding environment.
As the screen turned, the next international news began to be broadcast, and the young man casually withdrew his gaze, saying, “Let’s go.”
Two people were standing at the door. One of them, a woman with short green hair, immediately stepped forward and turned the wheelchair, pushing him out of the shabby door.
—Outside, the sky suddenly cleared, and not far away, the mountains and forests stretched, surrounding a village deep in the heart of the mountains.
In the open space, rows of off-road vehicles had been waiting for a long time. Dozens of car lights illuminated the building behind them, surprisingly a health center that had already turned into a charred ruin in the big fire.
Dozens of evolutionists with loaded guns stood solemnly in front of the vehicles, while a man was being escorted and forced to kneel on the ground. He looked disheveled, with half of his left ear torn off and fresh blood gushing down his cheek like a running stream.
When he saw the young man in the wheelchair being pushed out, his eyes lit up, and he rushed forward, trying to hug the young man’s legs: “Mr. Rong! Mr. Rong, I was wrong! I was just greedy for a moment, please, I don’t want to die!…”
With a swooshing sound, the woman with short green hair suddenly transformed her hands into vines, and they swiftly swooped down from above, whipping the man and making him roll on the ground.
The young man in the wheelchair, referred to as Mr. Rong, waved his hand to stop the woman with vines.
“Where is it?” he asked gently.
One of his subordinates immediately came forward, snapped off the pendant hanging around the man’s neck, and handed it over with both hands.
The pendant was an isolated, transparent tube containing a black stone the size of a fingernail. Its surface was rough and jagged, yet it emitted a shining blue light, ethereal and mysterious, like stars twinkling in the night sky.
It was a meteorite.
Five years ago, over 4,000 meteorites like this fell to Earth, triggering sudden evolution in a hundred thousand people worldwide and causing chaos in human society. Since then, these meteorites have been thoroughly searched and confiscated by governments worldwide and stored in top-secret research centers, never to be seen in public again.
Ordinary people with potential would evolve upon contact with these meteorites, earning them the nickname “Evolution Sources.” They became highly valuable commodities on the black market.
“I-I didn’t intend to steal and sell it. My ability is too weak, I just wanted to gain more power…” The man trembled violently, tears streaming down his face. “I won’t dare to do it again, please, please don’t kill me!…”
“Do you want to gain power?” Mr. Rong leaned slightly forward, interrupting his incoherent begging.
The man covered his bleeding left ear and stammered, “Y-yes!”
Mr. Rong smiled and leaned casually against the back of the chair. He tossed the meteorite upward and caught it lightly, as if contemplating something. After repeating this action four or five times, he casually threw the meteorite forward, landing it on the sandy ground in front of the man.
“Bring Shen Zhuo, the chief supervisor of Shenhai City, to me within half a month, and it’s yours.”
The man widened his eyes, hardly believing his ears.
“Complete the transaction within half a month, and you will forever gain the power of evolution, becoming a powerful member among us. Otherwise…” Mr. Rong gently paused, looking down at him.
“—You and your ability will both be taken back by me, with interest. Understand?”
The man gasped heavily, holding the meteorite, and a determined light flashed in his eyes. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few hoarse words: “I-I understand.”
Mr. Rong patted his shoulder encouragingly, and the wheelchair passed by, heading toward the off-road vehicles.
“—Mr. Rong!” The man suddenly remembered something, crawled a few steps forward, and knelt on the ground urgently, asking, “That Shenhai city supervisor, that Shen Zhuo, can I bring you his body?”
Seemingly not expecting this question, Mr. Rong paused for a moment.
Then he burst into laughter, turned around to look at the man for a moment, and said, “If you can kill him, I will grant you the highest reward… I will make you immortal.”
The man’s eyes widened.
Mr. Rong smiled and turned away.
Under the vast night sky, dozens of off-road vehicles formed a line, speeding along rugged mountain roads, gradually disappearing into the silent depths of the mountains.
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For every Ko-fi received for a perticular novel, I will release a new chapter!
ooh huai shang novels never disappoint, I’m excited to see how the plot unravels
can you pleaseee consider picking up this project back again as the other translation hasn’t been updated in three months? T^T
even if it wasn’t dropped, I’d love to read /your/ translation c: tyy