Prev | Table of Contents | Next
Chapter 10
Under the glove
The violent current was destined to shred everything in its path, but at the critical moment, a deep black hole suddenly opened in the half-empty space behind Liu Sanji.
Chen Miao exclaimed, “Spatial power?”
A short-green-haired woman’s figure flashed into view, presumably a plant-based ability user. Her hands transformed into vines, reaching out to grab Liu Sanji and pulling him away. Just as Bai Sheng was about to catch up, another man leaped out of the spatial tunnel, wielding a shining samurai sword and swiftly slashing down.
Clang!
A deafening sound echoed, and Bai Sheng, with one hand supporting Shen Zhuo and the other directly facing the hurricane-like blade, managed to intercept the attack.
A trickle of blood slowly ran down his palm, and the eyes of the spatial ability user reflected on the cold blade back. The young man in his twenties had a formidable and sharp physique, but his facial expressions naturally exuded fierce hostility. His gaze glanced at Shen Zhuo’s face, then shifted to Bai Sheng. With a grin, he spoke in Japanese:
“Until we meet again…”
Before Bai Sheng could respond, he had already sheathed his sword and left, pulling the green-haired woman and Liu Sanji back into the spatial tunnel.
Bai Sheng suddenly waved his hand, and a violent lightning bolt shot through the sky, but it was a half-second too late.
The spatial rift disappeared instantly, leaving the electrical cascade to hit nothing, shattering half of the elevated bridge with a thunderous roar!
Beep, beep!
The earth shook, black smoke filled the air, and sharp alarms from dozens of cars echoed in all directions. When the smoke slowly dissipated, the three figures on the other side vanished, leaving only charred steel and concrete debris on the ground.
“Wh-where are they?” “Was that spatial teleportation just now?” “It’s my first time seeing spatial abilities…”
……
The surveillance officers looked around anxiously, while Bai Sheng stood still, exhaling a hot breath. He looked down at Shen Zhuo in his arms, squinting his sharp eyes.
Dazed, swaying, bustling.
The hospital corridor was brightly lit, and Shen Zhuo felt as if he were being pushed forward on an emergency bed at lightning speed. The surroundings were filled with indistinct voices; it was a chaotic murmur like water, difficult to decipher.
“…Internal organ rupture is not a problem, but traces of the ability virus were detected in the blood…”
“Shenhai doesn’t have the conditions to detoxify; he must be sent to the central district immediately to extract serum based on the analysis results!”
“Chief Yue urgently dispatched a helicopter, but it will take fifteen more minutes to arrive. What do we do?”
“Blood oxygen has dropped to the limit! Doctor, doctor!!”…
The entire world seemed to be enveloped in a halo of glaring white light, and the voices gradually faded away, leaving a quiet and vast emptiness.
After an unknown amount of time, Shen Zhuo opened his eyes. His gaze was blurry and unable to focus, and in a daze, he saw a tall figure standing by the operating table, wearing a white coat. Behind the mask, deep and handsome eyes were revealed.
In his right hand, he held a blood collection needle, and with the left sleeve rolled up, he was drawing blood from his own sturdy arm.
“Look, Inspector Shen.” Bai Sheng stared at his own crimson blood flowing into the blood bag, smiling as he glanced at him, “No matter how many times they call your Yue-ge, in the end, the one who can save you is still me, right?”
His consciousness seemed to be immersed in the deep sea, hazy and unclear, fluctuating between weight and weightlessness. In the haze, Shen Zhuo couldn’t recognize who the figure in front of him was, but he sensed the distinctive aura of an S-class evolutionist.
Without blinking, he looked at Bai Sheng, but his gaze seemed to pierce through the void, and each murmured word carried a hint of blood:
“In the end… was it you… who did it…”
“Fu… Chen…”
Bai Sheng paused.
The operating room was very quiet, with only the mechanical and rhythmic dripping sounds of instruments.
After a while, Bai Sheng chuckled and said, “You still remember to call names at a time like this. What exactly is the unswerving relationship between you two till death do you part?”
The blood bag gradually swelled to full, and Bai Sheng finally pulled out the blood collection needle. He casually moved his arm, then leaned over to lift Shen Zhuo’s chin, bringing him face-to-face.
“Lying in bed and calling me by another man’s name is too much. Remember to call my name next time, okay?”
Shen Zhuo closed his eyes. Under the shadowless light, his profile was icy to the point of transparency, but his eyes were an ink-like black. The collar, usually tightly fastened around his throat, was now undone, revealing a long neck and deep-set collarbones. The thin white shirt was almost dyed blood-red.
He was clearly in such a miserable state, but there was a kind of captivating and shocking tension.
Bai Sheng’s gaze fell on the black gloves that Shen Zhuo always wore, and suddenly he felt a stir in his heart.
Despite numerous media reports, Shen Zhuo’s hands had never been captured on camera. This globally renowned chief supervisor, known for his beauty and authority, seemed unwilling to let the public see even a trace of his skin below the throat.
Was it OCD or mysophobia? Could there be some kind of deformity hidden?
Bai Sheng glanced at the empty operating room, reached out, and took off those gloves, calm but somewhat surprised.
—The right hand was normal and intact, but on the back of the left hand, there were two grim old scars, forming a fearsome cross.
Someone had used a knife to carve this.
Bai Sheng knew what this represented; it was a humiliation method that had been popular in the past. Because the back of an evolutionist’s left hand or left chest was usually marked to indicate their level, some extreme Darwinists would forcibly capture ordinary humans and carve crosses on their hands, indicating that this person had inferior genes and could not evolve. It implied the eventual elimination of humans by evolutionists.
A highly influential and untouchable beauty, the globally renowned chief supervisor with a tough iron fist—who dared to use a knife to leave such humiliation on Shen Zhuo’s hand?
“…It seems like you’ve suffered a lot too.” Bai Sheng stood up and looked down at Shen Zhuo, murmuring thoughtfully.
……
“He’s awake!” “He’s awake, finally awake…”
The monitoring instruments beeped, and the hospital room was filled with the sound of footsteps and voices. Shen Zhuo slightly opened his eyes after a coma that lasted for half a month.
The prolonged unconsciousness left his consciousness blurred. He only saw numerous figures frantically moving by the bedside, as if many people were breaking free from the nurses’ restraint and rushing towards him, yelling. Some even tried to pull him off the bed but were held back by approaching security guards.
After a while, those roaring voices finally slowly entered his ears:
“…Why did it explode? Why did the Qinghai test site explode?!”
“Fu-ge is dead! Fu-ge is dead! All for protecting you!”
“Why isn’t it you who died?!”
……
Ah, Fu Chen is dead. Shen Zhuo’s confused mind registered this statement.
Fu Chen died in that explosion.
“Half a month ago, a task force composed of you, S-class evolutionist Fu Chen, and A-class evolutionist Su Jiqiao, led by you, was involved in an accidental explosion during an Evolution Source recovery mission at the Qinghai test site. Do you have any explanation for this, Director Shen?”
The hospital room was illuminated by a harsh white light. Two rows of investigators from the Central Supervision Office sat across, each sitting upright. The air was filled with the rustling sound of pens on paper.
Countless surveillance cameras were pointed at Shen Zhuo in the hospital bed, capturing every detail of his calm and pale face, the curve of his drooping eyelashes, and even the subtle changes in his facial expressions.
“I don’t know,” Shen Zhuo answered hoarsely.
There was a slight stir across from him, and everyone started whispering. Then an investigator raised his voice, “How could you not know?”
“In this three-person team, Fu Chen died on the spot, Su Jiqiao is still in a coma, and only you, an ordinary person, miraculously survived. Yet you tell us you don’t know what happened?”
“Fu Chen died protecting you!” Someone from the back row stood up abruptly. “He activated absolute defense to take all the damage for you. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have died!”
“It was a simple mission. Fu Chen and Su Jiqiao have partnered on similar tasks over a hundred times without any issues!”
“Who made the operational mistake that caused the explosion? Do you really think we can’t figure out who it is?!”
……
Amid the heated emotions, a trace of something unusual finally crossed Shen Zhuo’s expression.
Su Jiqiao didn’t die?
Why?
“…What happened to Su Jiqiao?”
Shen Zhuo’s hoarse voice was too weak in the midst of the commotion. Only the elderly investigator in the middle of the front row, with a serious expression, answered him, “He is in a deep coma due to a severe brain injury, and the chances of him waking up in the future are not exceeding 5%.”
—There is still a 5% chance.
Shen Zhuo murmured, “I see.”
He closed his eyes and, after a long while, opened them again. He took a deep breath and looked straight at the investigators in front of him and the numerous surveillance cameras.
This scene was later scrutinized repeatedly during the hearing, with every insignificant detail magnified under a microscope. This included his calmly deep eyes, his pale and handsome jawline, and his ice-cold yet steady tone when he spoke:
“At the time of the incident, Fu Chen was the one responsible for operating the Evolution Source.”
“He caused the explosion.”
The air froze for an instant.
Then, like a bomb suddenly detonating, everyone jumped up simultaneously, their roars almost tearing through the roof.
“Impossible!” “Framing, blatant framing!” “Shen Zhuo, do you still have a conscience?” “Do you have even a trace of humanity left?!”…
Accusations and condemnations echoed, reaching a boiling point.
However, Shen Zhuo’s pale face showed no expression. With an almost condescending demeanor, he coldly stared at the riotous crowd, as if he could already see a more dangerous and elusive future through them.
……
One month after the May 11 Qinghai test site explosion, Chief Director Shen Zhuo of the Central Research Institute was demoted and held accountable. The secretive research project he had led was forced to be abandoned.
Just as Shen Zhuo was about to be taken to court, another shocking piece of news surfaced.
The International Supervision General Administration, against the global opposition of many evolutionists, unilaterally appointed Shen Zhuo, an ordinary person, as the Permanent Chief Supervisor of the United Nations. His status was unparalleled, and he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Fu Chen.
No one knew what the International Supervision General Administration was thinking, but this appointment letter ignited the anger of everyone.
On the day the news broke, Fu Chen’s closest group of friends stormed into the hospital, forcibly taking Shen Zhuo from his ward. Subsequently, an unknown scandal involving extrajudicial punishment unfolded that year—
“Why did Fu-ge die instead of you?!”
The air was filled with the scent of blood and rust; the overhead lights were dim, and shadows crowded around. Soon, the interrogation turned into a fervent wave of unrest.
“It’s because you made a mistake in trying to evolve! It’s your fault that the operation failed and caused the explosion!”
“You only survived because of Fu-ge’s protection. How dare you shift the blame to him!”
……
Shen Zhuo was tied to a chair, his throat filled with blood. He spat out hoarse words from between blood-soaked teeth: “It was Fu Chen who made a mistake in the operation. He reaped what he sowed.”
A loud bang echoed as he was punched in the face, causing him to turn his head. His oral cavity was filled with an even stronger smell of blood.
“Kill him to atone for Fu-ge’s death!” “Kill him!”…
The roars from the crowd grew louder, but they were not clear because his ears were covered in fresh blood. Shen Zhuo gasped violently, and with each breath, a cough mixed with blood froth erupted from his chest. Laughing intermittently, he said, “Come on, kill me.”
He raised his head, his face covered in blood, and looked weak and disheveled. However, he didn’t hide his provocation: “Fu Chen is dead; Su Jiqiao has become a vegetative. Even if you kill me today, you won’t find any evidence to convict me.”
As if a drop of cold water had fallen into a hot pan, the surroundings erupted.
Everyone was furious; everyone was roaring. Faces were filled with grief and indignation. If someone hadn’t forcibly held them back, they might have torn him to pieces already.
“Do you really think evolution comes without a cost? These so-called superior evolutionists are just a group of beasts who have degraded human nature.” Shen Zhuo said disjointedly and contemptuously, his voice filled with mockery. “Stupidity, violence, incompetent rage—worthless indignation…”
All his internal organs were in intense pain, and droplets of blood fell into his collar.
The cacophony of voices converged into fragmented and surreal pieces, flickering violently in his field of vision, creating an absurdly inverted scene.
He couldn’t see the hate-filled faces clearly, and only his heavy breath remained in his ear canal until the icy touch of a blade awakened his senses—
His left hand was being held down, and he felt an excruciating pain.
“We won’t kill you, but you can’t just walk out of here today.” The executioner’s low voice came from above. “Remember, Shen Zhuo, this scar is proof that you owe us evolutionists a blood debt.”
The surroundings were chaotic and bizarre; blood-soaked down from his temple, and Shen Zhuo’s eyes revealed an undisguised mocking smile. He looked up at the silhouette of the executioner under the harsh white light. “It doesn’t matter, Yue Yang.”
“You evolutionists just make me sick.”
……
The chaotic background, bizarre roars, and faces filled with animosity quickly distorted, disappearing like surreal color blocks being soaked in water, vanishing into a dream.
On a large bed, Shen Zhuo opened his eyes.
Sunlight penetrated through the floor-to-ceiling curtains.
It was an elegantly styled, bright, and airy bedroom with modern artistic decoration. The high ceiling created an unbelievably spacious view, and there was a soothing and relaxed breathing sound coming from beside him.
“…” Shen Zhuo turned his head to look.
He saw Bai Sheng, with his sturdy upper body exposed, turning over in a drowsy manner. He reached out, habitually wrapping his arm around Shen Zhuo’s waist, and patted him soothingly. His voice was laced with drowsiness:
“Let me sleep a bit more, babe. You’ve been quite troublesome these past few days.”
Shen Zhuo’s pupils contracted slightly. He abruptly sat up to get out of bed, but then a rushing sound came from his ear. His left wrist was shackled to the bedpost with a pair of stainless steel handcuffs.
“…” Maintaining that motion, Shen Zhuo turned his head and asked slowly, “Could you explain this, Mr. Bai?”
Bai Sheng finally lazily opened his eyes. “Last night, when you were holding onto my neck and wouldn’t let go, you didn’t have this attitude, Inspector. You conveniently forgot at the break of dawn?”
Car accident, impact, Liu Sanji, the monster with eyeballs all over… Scenes from the highway suddenly flashed in his mind. Shen Zhuo lowered his head to take a look.
His white shirt was open, and the wound that had been pierced through his abdomen had already healed. Only a fierce and gruesome scar remained on the surface of his skin.
“When you need me, you lie in my arms and call me handsome; when you don’t, you just address me as Mr. Bai. What’s the matter, just wants to use me?”
Bai Sheng sat up lazily, the blanket sliding down from his chest. Without any hesitation, he unabashedly displayed his long and robust figure in the morning light. From shoulders, arms, and back to abdominal muscles, every inch of his contour exuded an indescribable impact. His handsome face with messy hair, that tuft of silver hair arrogantly raised on top of his head.
“Falling into my hands means you’re mine. Still want the people from Shenhai City to take you away?” Bai Sheng sneered slightly. “You won’t get away that easily after sleeping with me.”
Bai Sheng leaned in slowly, and Shen Zhuo was forced to lean back until their breaths intertwined—
Clang! The iron chain suddenly collided.
Shen Zhuo unexpectedly broke free from the handcuffs, flipped over, and pressed Bai Sheng onto the bed. He knelt on his lower back, using a beautiful grappling technique to twist his hands behind him. In a flash, a crisp “click!” of handcuffs followed.
The situation was reversed in an instant. Shen Zhuo kept Bai Sheng’s neck pinned down with his elbow, leaning down to whisper in his ear:
“Thank you for helping me, handsome. But please forget whatever I said last night. After all, we’re both adults. What do you think?”
Bai Sheng’s face was pressed into the pillow, and he was unusually quiet and docile, without any struggle.
Before Shen Zhuo could feel that something was wrong, the bedroom door was pushed open, and Chen Miao carried a bowl of soup: “Bai-ge, didn’t you say that this soup only needs two minutes in the microwave? I—”
Chen Miao’s words abruptly stopped.
On the messy bed, Shen Zhuo’s upper body shirt was open, the hem just covering the base of his thighs. He knelt on both sides of Bai Sheng’s lower back, leaning down towards his ear.
Bai Sheng’s sleeping pants hung at his waist, his upper body was bare, and his hands were cuffed behind him, resembling a pitiful little white rabbit that had been abused.
The distance between the two bodies could probably only accommodate a thin sheet of paper.
The scene completely froze. Supervisor Shen’s expression was blank, and outside the door, Chen Miao and several other equally blank subordinates looked at each other in confusion.
“……………”
After a while, Chen Miao squeezed out a smile, flattery mixed with extreme fear: “Senior, take your time. We’ll go outside and keep watch for you.” Then, with a bang, he eagerly closed the door.
The bedroom became quiet, and only the sound of a falling needle could be heard. On the large bed, only the two of them remained.
“……” Bai Sheng’s body trembled strangely. Finally, unable to hold back any longer, he burst out laughing: “Hahaha—”
The author has something to say:
Bai Sheng: You and I are the only ones in the room. You were unconscious, your subordinates were not here, and there’s no surveillance in the room.
Supervisor Shen: So?
Bai Sheng: Whether or not you called me handsome while you were delirious is ultimately up to me. xixi
Prev | Table of Contents | Next
For every Ko-fi received for a perticular novel, I will release a new chapter!
