Chapter 12
Shen Zhuo: “I’m dirty. Lend me the bathroom, please.”
“Three days ago, I heard that you were attacked, so I immediately dispatched a medical team to Shenhai.” Director-General Nielsen glanced at Shen Zhuo, then turned to Bai Sheng with a smile. “But it seems it’s not needed.”
Bai Sheng, surprisingly polite in front of his S-class peers, replied, “It was just a small effort.”
Nielsen nodded, his tone steady and gentle. “Trafficking of evolution sources is a very serious crime, almost equivalent to smuggling arms. So when I received Supervisor Shen’s request for assistance, I immediately had people conduct a detailed screening in the global database of evolutionists. Unfortunately, there were no clues about the mysterious ‘Mr. Rong’—but.”
He paused, changing the topic. “Regarding the two accomplices, the male and female, I can provide you with a lot of information.”
Shen Zhuo leaned back in a large chair on the opposite side of the desk, making a gesture for Nielsen to continue.
“These two are siblings. The brother is named Shunsuke Noda, an A-class evolutionist with a rare spatial ability. The sister is Yoko Noda, a B-class plant-type evolutionist. Both are extremely radical evolutionist protectionists, showing strong discrimination and hatred towards ordinary humans.”
Saying that, Nielsen paused, smiling as he turned to Bai Sheng. “Mr. Bai has been living in North America for many years. Have you heard of the ‘Round Table?”
Bai Sheng, looking surprised, raised his hand to his chin: “Round Table?”
The gazes of the other two people all fell on the Roger Dubuis Knight of the Round Table wristwatch worth over two million on his wrist.
Nielsen fell silent for a moment. “…I’m not talking about the watch.”
“Oh—” Bai Sheng suddenly realized this, putting his hand down and sitting up politely.
Nielsen looked hesitant, his expression suggesting that he wanted to ask Bai Sheng if he had ever hit his head as a child. Fortunately, he restrained himself, relying on his excellent upbringing.
“These siblings were both members of the ‘Round Table Society,'” Nielsen explained. “The ‘Round Table Society’ is a European organization dedicated to the protection of evolutionists. The founder is known as the ‘Bishop’ and once proposed a very famous concept called the Alpha Wolf—calling on young high-level evolutionists to protect their lower-ranked peers to prevent persecution by humans.”
“Bishop,” Bai Sheng repeated with interest, “I’ve never heard of this organization before, haha.”
Nielsen shrugged it off: “It’s a good thing you haven’t heard of it. Most radical organizations tend to harbor some form of hatred, discriminating against ordinary people who cannot evolve and claiming that humanity is destined for extinction… but it digresses. Compared to those extremist groups, the Round Table Society is relatively rational and compromising. They always emphasize the importance of avoiding war with humans.”
Bai Sheng, legs crossed, asked knowingly, “Since the Noda siblings were part of the Round Table Society, does the assassination attempt against Supervisor Shen last night have any connection to the Round Table Society?”
“It’s unlikely,” Nielsen replied. “The Noda siblings were too radical in their hostility towards humans, which didn’t align with the Bishop’s philosophy of coexistence. They were expelled from the Round Table Society three years ago.”
Bai Sheng let out a prolonged “Oh—,” nodding in understanding.
Shen Zhuo asked, “Where did the siblings go after being expelled?”
“The specifics are unclear, primarily in Asia.” Nielsen motioned toward the full touchscreen desk. “I’ve retrieved all the sighting records of the siblings from the past three years. I’ve emailed them to you. Take a look when you get back.”
Shen Zhuo was absentminded, not responding.
Bai Sheng glanced at him from the corner of his eye.
Outside the office window, the daylight passed over the snow-capped peaks, casting Shen Zhuo’s silhouette like ice and snow. His eyelashes fell in a clear and elegant curve. With his arms crossed and leaning back in the chair, this posture made his shoulders appear relaxed, or perhaps too relaxed.
The Chief Supervisor of the Shenhai City Supervision Office has never shown such a casual sitting posture to the outside world. It was so casual that it seemed a bit deliberate.
This was unusual, considering that Nielsen was his immediate superior and the notorious “Wolf of Odin” was known for being difficult to get along with.
Following Shen Zhuo’s gaze, Nielsen looked at a penholder on his own desk.
In that mahogany double-decker pen box, more than twenty pens of various styles were carefully stored, including some valuable limited-edition pieces by renowned artists. Some pen caps were even engraved with different sets of initials.
“The secretary just brought them out, getting ready to send them for maintenance,” Nielsen explained to Bai Sheng with a smile. “I personally enjoy collecting writing instruments, so I often receive pens as gifts. Please excuse the extravagance!”
“…”
Bai Sheng’s gaze fell on the first row, right in the center of the pen box—the most prominent position. There was a Montblanc pen with Damascus steel inlay and a sky-blue stone, and the sword-shaped clip was engraved with slender gold characters–Shen.
“Carefully preserving gifts from others is a commendable quality,” Bai Sheng replied with a smile after a three-second pause.
Nielsen was about to say something when, suddenly, there were two light knocks on the door. Shortly after, the secretary’s respectful voice came from outside, “Mr. Nielsen, are you there? Someone from the impeachment meeting is here to remind you to go back.”
Shen Zhuo snapped back to attention, “Impeachment meeting?”
Nielsen couldn’t help but chuckle, “They’re impeaching me.”
“…”
“The members of the United Nations Security Council, those humans, always believe that evolutionists must be supervised by humans. They think the International Supervision General Administration should not be controlled by evolutionists themselves, or it will lead to great oppression of human rights… and so on, the same old story.” Nielsen stood up, straightened his suit, and self-mockingly said, “I’ve been stuck in that meeting, listening to a bunch of old men drone on for three whole days. It was so boring that I almost fell asleep a few times. Just as I heard from the secretary that you were here, I used it as an excuse to go to the restroom and come out to see you and take the opportunity to get a breath of fresh air.”
He said it casually, but Shen Zhuo stood up, “Impeachment is not a trivial matter. You should go back quickly. Mr. Bai and I won’t disturb you.”
Nielsen nodded, but he didn’t seem to take the impeachment meeting too seriously. He walked around the desk to shake hands with Bai Sheng again, sincerely saying, “If it weren’t for your intervention that night, Supervisor Shen would have been in danger. Please accept my personal highest gratitude!”
Bai Sheng smiled in response, “I don’t deserve it. It’s the least I can do; it’s just part of my duty.”
The eyes of the two S-class individuals met briefly. Nielsen let go of Bai Sheng’s hand with a smile, stepping back half a step.
Shen Zhuo, pretending not to notice, was about to turn around to leave but heard Nielsen seemingly remember something at this moment, “Supervisor Shen!”
Shen Zhuo paused.
Immediately afterward, right in front of Bai Sheng, Nielsen reached out, placing his hand on Shen Zhuo’s shoulder and giving him a tight hug.
“For the incident last night, I grant you full authority to handle it as you see fit.” Nielsen switched to German as if there was no one else around, his voice deep. “When you took office three years ago, I warned you that this path is fraught with danger, but I will always protect you. This statement remains effective today.”
Shen Zhuo was somewhat surprised, and he glanced at Bai Sheng from Nielsen’s shoulder.
The two locked eyes, and Bai Sheng squinted his eyes slightly, seeing a rich, indescribable expression in Shen Zhuo’s eyes.
The atmosphere froze for a moment, and then Shen Zhuo suddenly laughed.
That smile was diplomatic, flawless even under a microscope; his beautiful face instantly thawed, and even the curve of his lips pulling apart was perfect. He then extended his hand, patting Nielsen on the back and stepping back, looking at the Nordic man earnestly:
“I understand, Director-General. I will always stand by your side. Go to the impeachment meeting.”
He stepped back, looked at Nielsen with a smile, and his figure gradually faded away.
He logged out right there.
The office returned to silence, with only Nielsen standing still, unmoving, watching Shen Zhuo completely disappear into the air.
Click. The door was pushed open.
“Director-General, Cameron’s people have been urging several times. The trial is about to begin…” The secretary looked a bit anxious and suddenly saw the open pen box on the desk, momentarily frozen.
Why was it taken out? Has the situation become so critical?
Nielsen slowly turned his head back, his ice-blue eyes looking deeply at the Damascus steel and gold pen, focusing on the character “Shen.”
Three years ago, it was a thank-you gift from Shen Zhuo when he took office.
Nielsen pulled out that pen, tightly gripping it in his palm, and walked out of the office with firm steps.
After passing through the corridors of the building, the elevator ascended to the top floor. Two evolver guards respectfully pushed open the brass door for him, revealing a vast conference room surrounded by metal walls and bulletproof glass. The long table was filled with members of the United Nations Security Council.
All were humans; each face was a familiar figure from various countries’ newspapers.
Hostile glances from all directions were directed at Nielsen, and the air was filled with a palpable sense of menace.
“At such a crucial moment for a show of hands vote, you still have the leisure to spend so long in the restroom. Your blindly confident spirit is truly admirable,” a short, stout Italian official glanced at his watch, sarcastically remarking, “It seems like you’re completely indifferent to the fact that you’re about to be dismissed.”
Nielsen pulled out the chair at the end of the long table, smiling, “No matter how you plan to kick me out of the position of Director-General, until the vote results come in, I remain an untouchable figure for all of you, right?”
His unusually relaxed demeanor instantly ignited the suppressed anger in many people in the conference room. “Stop struggling, Fritsch Nielsen! You are well aware of how biased you are towards your fellow evolutionists. We have endured you for five whole years!”
“The Supervision Office is an institution for supervising evolutionists. How can it fall into the hands of evolutionists themselves?!”
“The Security Council will not tolerate you any longer!”
The atmosphere on both sides of the long table was intense. However, Nielsen ignored everyone and looked straight to the other end of the table, where a silent figure sat in the shadows.
“Indeed, someone will be expelled through that door today, but that person won’t be me.” Nielsen faced that shadowy figure directly, smiling: “Want to bet, Cameron?”
The person in the shadows remained silent, offering no response.
A loud bang echoed as the Italian official who spoke earlier slammed down some documents, “Nielsen, you forcefully intervened in our country’s proposal for Armed Evolutionist Forces. We haven’t settled the score with you yet! You—”
Nielsen suddenly stood up, drawing out a pen.
In a flash of cold light, the Italian official’s hand was impaled on the table by the pen!
“Ah—”
A piercing scream tore through the air, and blood sprayed around. The expression of the people around immediately changed, shouting, “What are you doing?” “Stop!”
The Italian man desperately writhed and screamed, and Nielsen licked the blood from the back of his hand. Like a magnificent white wolf from the Nordic ice fields, he smiled with clear cruelty, “Settle the score with me?”
He casually threw the pen cap onto the conference table, and the Damascus steel clashed with the table, making a clear sound. The engraved “Shen” on the pen clip was now clearly visible.
At the other end of the long table, in the shadows, the person named Cameron finally moved slightly, unexpectedly staring at the pen cap.
“Sorry to keep you all waiting. When I went out just now, an intimate friend suddenly came to visit me and gave me this pen—everyone here must have heard his name.”
Nielsen looked down at everyone with a bloody smile, “He is the mastermind behind the Human Regeneration Plan, also known as the HRG Plan, from years ago, Shen Zhuo.”
The air suddenly fell silent.
It was as if an unexpected nuclear bomb had been dropped. Most people didn’t react immediately, but a few high-ranking officials turned pale and almost stood up abruptly.
“…How did you do it?” Cameron finally spoke in a low tone.
“How did I manage to summon Shen Zhuo at my beck and call?” Nielsen completed the unspoken second half of the sentence, looking mockingly at the figure in the shadows: “What do you think, Cameron?”
“Three years ago, Shen Zhuo was subjected to torture due to the Qinghai incident, breaking 19 bones in his body, but he refused to admit that he killed Fu Chen even when he was on the verge of death. It was I who sent people to rescue him from those thugs. Without me, he would have died. It was from that moment that Shen Zhuo became my closest and most steadfast ally.”
“Ironically, it wasn’t until today, three years later, that the HRG plan fell into a complete deadlock, and humanity finally realized the value of Shen Zhuo.”
A profound silence filled the massive conference room.
Everyone’s faces looked exceptionally grim, and only the Italian official still had one hand pinned to the table by the pen, emitting painful and fearful sobs.
“You can kick me out of the International Supervision General Administration, you can throw me into prison, and you can even devour evolutionists like a swarm of carnivorous ants until only bones are left. But don’t forget, as the last hope of the HRG plan, Shen Zhuo is in my hands.”
“If I don’t let him return to the research institute, you will be like desperate rats in the sewer, forever dreaming of that faint glimmer of hope for the Human Regeneration Plan.”
Nielsen raised his hand in a gesture of “please.”
If you ignored the blood that covered the table in front of him, his smile could indeed be considered perfectly courteous and graceful.
“Now, gentlemen, please vote. You’d better start praying right now that you can cast a vote that satisfies me.”
No one raised their hands, and no one spoke. The usually commanding officials showed expressions close to suffocation, glancing covertly and pleadingly toward the other end of the long table.
Cameron, who had been sitting in the shadows all along, finally stood up. In the light, he revealed his face, adjusting his suit with a calm and collected tone:
“Three whole days of impeachment… it’s truly a case of careless moves leading to total defeat.”
Cameron, approximately in his forties or possibly even older, but it was hard to tell, had distinct features of both Eastern and Western descent. He had black hair and cold gray-green eyes. When he spoke, there was a smooth diplomatic charm and a nonchalant tone.
Nielsen stared at his greatest adversary, smiling coldly, “You concede, Cameron.”
“Don’t misunderstand; I didn’t lose to you. I lost to my consistently high expectations for weak human nature.” Cameron’s lips curled slightly, a diplomat’s false but impeccable smile. “Stupid obedience and excessive sentimentality have indeed been Shen Zhuo’s personality traits since childhood. I should have anticipated that.”
With a polite nod, he turned and walked toward the conference room’s exit. Behind him, Nielsen sneered, “Next time, I won’t let you walk out of this door upright, Cameron!”
Cameron stopped in his tracks, turning back.
From this angle, the shape of his eyebrows and eyes, even the profile of his face, bore a terrifying resemblance to Shen Zhuo. Only the mocking smile at the corner of his mouth covered this resemblance, “Having dreams is a good thing, Nielsen.”
He adjusted his suit and strode out of the metal door.
Shenhai, a high-end residential community.
In the same instant the lifelike projection disappeared, Bai Sheng found himself back on the living room sofa, exhaling a deep breath.
The tablet was still on, with a new email in the interface containing the whereabouts of the wanted suspects, the Noda siblings. Shen Zhuo glanced at it and was about to stand up from the sofa, when suddenly his whole body was forcefully pushed backward:
“Supervisor…Shen.”
Bai Sheng placed both hands on either side of Shen Zuo’s ears, one leg bent and pressing against the sofa, trapping him in front. His tone was so gentle, it could almost melt:
“Do you happen to have any peculiar fetishes, darling? Setting up an office romance and forcing me to watch. Are you planning to invite me to film your wedding in North America later? Do you also want me to stand in front with a camera to witness that once-in-a-century moment? Tell me, what benefits do I get from having my S-level dog eyes witness your affair, hmm?”
The distance between them was no more than half an inch, and Bai Sheng’s audacious eyelashes almost seemed like they would brush against Shen Zuo’s face.
“…” Shen Zhuo’s expression was complicated, struggling to find words. After a moment, he used two fingers to push Bai Sheng’s chest backward and sincerely said:
“I’m dirty. Let me borrow the bathroom for a quick shower. Otherwise, I might throw up on you later.”
Bai Sheng: “?”
Shen Zhuo pushed him away, stood up, and walked directly toward the master bedroom’s bathroom.
Baffled, Bai Sheng was about to make a sarcastic remark when suddenly Shen Zhuo stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked at him with an indescribable tone:
“Every time I’m about to lose patience with you, some extraordinary things happen out of nowhere, making you appear absolutely normal… Could your most powerful ability be luck?”
Bai Sheng: “Huh?”
Without looking back, Shen Zhuo walked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.
After a full half-hour, the sound of rushing water ceased, and the bathroom door opened again.
Bai Sheng and Chen Miao were huddled over the tablet, completely engrossed in studying the Noda siblings’ whereabouts. When he heard the sound, Bai Sheng turned around and asked, “Do you have a cleanliness obsession? How many times were you planning to scrub yourself…” His words came to an abrupt halt.
Shen Zhuo’s shirt collar was open, his hair slightly damp, and water droplets from the tips of his hair trickled into the collar. He casually wiped the water using a towel, and Bai Sheng recognized his familiar face towel from the distinctive pattern.
“What’s wrong?” Shen Zhuo asked casually.
Perhaps because he had just taken a shower, his skin seemed like translucent porcelain soaked in water, and his eyebrows and eye corners were as clear as ink. After the water vapor evaporated, a slight blush appeared at the corners of his lips.
“…”
Bai Sheng looked at the towel in silence for a moment and slowly said, “Nothing. Suddenly, I felt that this humble abode was radiating brilliance… I won’t sell this house in the future.”
Chen Miao’s gaze shifted between the two, sensing a significant increase in his senior’s tolerance index toward his Bai-ge. So, he cautiously coughed:
“Um, Senior, we’ve been looking at the travel records of the Noda siblings in Asia over the past three years, and Bai-ge found something strange.”
Shen Zhuo, with his collar open, wet hair, and a towel thrown over his shoulder, asked casually, “Oh?”
“Quanshan County Health Centre, which was destroyed by a major fire three years ago,” Chen Miao raised the tablet and pointed to the map. “But after Yoko Noda was expelled from the Round Table Society, she immediately came here, and later, she was repeatedly spotted wandering around the ruins of the fire and the surrounding mountains. The last time she was seen was about half a year ago in the vicinity, and she hasn’t been seen since.”
“This abandoned hospital is located near Shenhai, about 200 kilometers away, a two-hour drive from us.”
