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Chapter 8
Yue Yang looked at Bai Sheng and felt that he had seen too little of the world.
“Shen Zhuo!” Yue Yang hurriedly followed down the steps, raising his voice.
The guard at the entrance of the supervision office initially thought he had seen it wrong and hastily raised his hand to salute, while some nearby staff whispered, “Is that Chief Yue?” “Why would he come to Shenhai?” “What happened?”
……
Shen Zhuo finally stopped and turned around, taking a deep breath. “What’s the matter, Chief Yue?”
Yue Yang, seemingly oblivious to any impatience in Shen Zhuo’s tone, calmly stared at him. “I heard about what happened last night. Your actions were too risky.”
“…”
“You are one of the top ten permanent supervisors globally, but your actions last night exceeded the typical safety boundaries for a supervisor. What if backup didn’t arrive in time? What if the other party outsmarted you and took you hostage?”
“There are many people in this world who want to take your life. You must always remember that safety comes first.”
The two stood just a step away from each other. Shen Zhuo crossed his arms and stared at Yue Yang with a slight frown on his face. After a moment, he coldly said, “The one in this world most eager to take my life is your Central Supervision Office.”
Yue Yang wanted to say something but was interrupted by Shen Zhuo. “Save it. Our relationship is not one where we can pretend to care for each other.”
“…” Yue Yang fell silent for a moment before saying, “Fu Chen wouldn’t want anything to happen to you. I have a responsibility to ensure that after he’s gone.”
“Sorry, but I can’t understand the loyalty and brotherhood among you evolutionists.” Shen Zhuo’s words carried undisguised mockery. “Why, did you come to Shenhai to personally mourn for Zhao Jun?”
Yue Yang, clearly refined through years of enduring torment, took a deep breath after a brief pause.
“The Central Supervision Office sent an invitation to an S-class named Bai Sheng, but he declined, saying he wanted to stay in Shenhai. So, I made an appointment to meet him later, hoping to persuade him to reconsider the Central District’s call.”
Shen Zhuo: “Go find him then.”
Yue Yang slightly emphasized his tone, “Bai Sheng told me he has already submitted an application to the Shenhai City Supervision Office, waiting for your approval.”
There was no one in front of the supervision office building; even the patrolling security guards had deliberately avoided the area, leaving only the two of them standing on the steps, one high and one low.
“He did submit an application, but I have already rejected it,” Shen Zhuo answered calmly after a moment, strictly adhering to official business.
“Most evolved individuals show signs of sociological regression, manifesting as a clear internal class system and an instinctive submission of lower-ranked individuals to higher-ranked ones. In other words, it’s very similar to the ecological model of a wolf pack. So, a higher-ranked evolved individual is like an alpha wolf, disrupting the order and balance of an entire region, just like Fu Chen ruled the entire Central District. And after Fu Chen’s death, the alpha position shifted to you.”
“…”
“Shenhai is the largest gathering place for evolutionists globally. Balance and order are paramount, and I will not allow an uncrowned king to appear in this city. If you don’t take Bai Sheng away, I will find a way to expel him.”
Yue Yang remained silent for a while and then replied in a low tone, “I understand. Thank you for reminding me once again of how discriminatory you are towards evolutionists.”
Shen Zhuo nodded in agreement and turned to walk up the steps.
His right hand was tucked into the pocket of his suit pants, while his left hand hung at his side, covered by a black leather glove that embraced his slender fingers. As the two passed each other, Yue Yang’s gaze fell on Shen Zhuo’s left hand, and he couldn’t help but raise his voice, “—Shen Zhuo!”
Shen Zhuo glanced at him from the corner of his eye.
After a brief moment, Yue Yang said, “Fu Chen’s third anniversary is approaching. Will you attend the memorial ceremony?”
The sounds of cars and pedestrians on the street were faintly audible, but in this small space, everything seemed eerily quiet, as if even the air had frozen.
Shen Zhuo stopped in his tracks, looking down at Yue Yang from above. After a moment, a smile, unmasked and genuine, appeared on his face. “You care so much about your brother resting in peace, Chief Yue.”
Yue Yang hesitated for a moment, “I just—”
Shen Zhuo leaned down, his lips forming an unreserved arc, and whispered in his ear, “If you keep going like this, I’ll have to wonder whether you’re concerned about your brother beneath the nine springs or if you’ve always harbored feelings for me.”
Boom! The roar of an engine echoed instantly.
A sports car drifted around the corner lightning-fast, its engine roaring, before abruptly coming to a halt in front of the supervision office building.
Amid the countless envious glances from the onlookers, the scissor doors of the twenty-million-RMB car lifted, and the handsome man behind the wheel took off his sunglasses. It was none other than Bai Sheng.
“Hey!” He warmly greeted them with a loud voice. “What are you whispering about? Take me with you?”
Yue Yang: “…”
Shen Zhuo: “…”
Bai Sheng took a long step, easily crossing the barrier gate, and casually waved to the guard inside the duty room, who was still jaw-dropped. This person seemed to have a certain social coolness syndrome, walking with his hands in his pockets, and in just a dozen meters, he walked as if he were in an international male model fashion show. When he reached the building’s entrance, he lifted his head and met the bewildered faces crowded behind rows of windows.
Bai Sheng greeted, “Hello, comrades! You’ve worked hard!”
Chen Miao from upstairs reflexively said, “For the people’s service… What are you all looking at? Why are you crowded in front of the windows? Go back to work!!”
The people snapped out of their daze and scattered immediately.
“This must be Chief Yue. I’ve heard so much about you.” Bai Sheng took the initiative to shake hands with the blank-faced Yue Yang and then turned to Shen Zhuo. First, he carefully examined Shen Zhuo from head to toe, his gaze unabashedly wandering from his hair to the soles of his shoes. Then he smiled and asked, “Did you sleep well last night, Inspector?”
“…,” Shen Zhuo’s tone was subtle, “Why are you here at the supervision office, Mr. Bai?”
In this day and age, some people really rely on their peers to showcase themselves. During the first meeting, Mr. Bai flexed his muscles while forcibly asking Supervisor Shen to button up his clothes. In the second meeting, he openly came out in front of Supervisor Shen, almost frightening his own uncle. However, by the third meeting, Mr. Bai, standing side by side with Chief Yue from the Central District, suddenly looked much more pleasing. Even his slightly improper tone of speech didn’t sound annoying when contrasted with the latter.
“Chief Yue said he flew over from the Central District today to invite me to dinner, so I took the opportunity to see if Inspector Shen had time. If you do, join us… I didn’t expect to bump into you two.” Bai Sheng playfully blinked at Shen Zhuo. “Come on, let’s have roast whole lamb. Interested?”
Yue Yang coughed and explained in a low voice, “Supervisor Shen never dines out. There are safety regulations from the General Administration…”
“Can you drive two cars, and I’ll sit on the roof of yours?” Shen Zhuo said coldly.
Yue Yang was momentarily stunned.
Ignoring them, Shen Zhuo turned and walked up the steps, entering the building directly.
“Oh, he’s angry.” Bai Sheng, incredulously, watched him disappear. “I was just about to say I’d drive for him. I could carry the car.”
Yue Yang finally couldn’t help but ask, “Are you two very familiar with each other?”
Bai Sheng paused in his movements, as if hearing an incredible question. “Familiar?”
“…”
“How can the relationship between people be defined by simple familiarity or unfamiliarity? Between Supervisor Shen and me, it’s like we’ve known each other for a lifetime, meeting each other late but feeling like old friends, like meeting a close friend after a long separation. You can’t simply use ‘familiar’ or ‘unfamiliar’ to describe it!”
“…”
Yue Yang looked at Bai Sheng’s serious expression and didn’t know how to react for a moment. Suddenly, he felt that the phrase “I will find a way to expel him” might have been an auditory hallucination on his part.
“Tsk, let me tell you.” Bai Sheng forcefully embraced Yue Yang, putting his arm around his shoulder as they walked toward the sports car parked at the roadside. He enthusiastically continued, “Let me tell you, Supervisor Shen and I recognized each other as bosom buddies from the first time we met. Do you know that? It was at the airport. Supervisor Shen took the initiative to bring a bunch of people to greet me at the aircraft door, help me with my luggage, and even let me ride in his private car back home. He said he would be very kind and friendly to me and even voluntarily revealed some contents of the supervisor’s handbook…”
Yue Yang’s steps paused. “He voluntarily revealed the contents of his handbook to you?”
“Yes,” Bai Sheng said nonchalantly, “Article 1, Section 1, and Article 1, Section 10.”
Each handbook was specially tailored based on the supervisor’s individual circumstances. From Yue Yang’s expression, it was evident that he had no idea what was in Shen Zhuo’s handbook.
“After wandering in a foreign land for many years, when I finally returned home, Supervisor Shen was the first person to open his arms to welcome me and the first person to put clothes on me. His silent and selfless care finally made me feel the long-awaited warmth, thoughtfulness, and love!”
Bai Sheng generously helped the small internet celebrities sitting on the car’s hood take pictures one by one, making scissor-hand poses, smiling, and waving to bid them farewell. Then, he turned to Yue Yang and said emotionally, “Tell me, Chief Yue, how can I bear to leave Shenhai for City B? How can I leave this land that nurtured me?!”
Yue Yang felt he should say something, but when he opened his mouth, a thousand words choked in his throat. In a daze, he felt that the world he had seen was still too limited.
“Let’s go; let’s have roast whole lamb.” Bai Sheng helped Yue Yang open the car door and clapped his hands with joy. “After eating, I’ll personally drive you to the airport, guaranteeing to safely, swiftly, and without delay send you back to City B!”
Yue Yang: “…”
The sports car accelerated and vanished into the distance, leaving behind a trail of dissipating smoke.
In the office upstairs, Shen Zhuo withdrew his gaze, murmuring to himself, “If I can live a hundred years in this lifetime, I must thank these two for leaving Shenhai together.”
One of the team members who had just finished the work report behind the office desk asked, “Ah? Supervisor, what did you say?”
“Nothing.” Shen Zhuo said indifferently, waving his hand to signal the team member to leave. He walked to the desk, put on his glasses, and turned on the computer.
According to Zhao Jun’s information, Shi San Yao stole the real Evolution Source from the client “Mr. Rong,” then deceived a considerable amount of money from Zhao Jun using a counterfeit product, and finally disappeared, whether dead or with the real Evolution Source; no one knew.
Leaving Shi San Yao aside, who is “Mr. Rong”?
Disabled, young, and in a wheelchair, but there was no matching object in the national database of evolutionists.
Could it be an ordinary person? Highly unlikely.
According to the experiences of supervisors from major jurisdictions worldwide, the main players in the black market trade of Evolution Source are usually evolutionists. Even if there were a few ordinary people involved, they could only play the role of middlemen—because evolutionists were highly united and extremely exclusive, and ordinary people had no way to access resources as rare and valuable as military weapons.
But the key was, why would an evolved individual be in a wheelchair?
The first step of evolution was an absolute enhancement of physical qualities, regenerating limbs, eliminating all diseases, and even instantly clearing cancer cells. To put it bluntly, even if the “Mr. Rong” in question was born without limbs, after evolution, he could instantly grow two legs. Evolution and disability are inherently incompatible contradictions.
So, did the disability have something to do with this person’s special ability?
A subtle sense of strangeness in his subconscious continued to warn him. In Shen Zhuo’s life, this kind of intuition has saved his life many times. But at this moment, he didn’t know where the danger was coming from.
Shen Zhuo exhaled silently and sent an inquiry to the International Supervision General Administration.
Typically, it would take several working days to receive a response to such an inquiry, so after sending it, he paid no attention, held a meeting, and dealt with the backlog of work. The sky outside the window transitioned from bright to dark. After finishing the last report, it was already nine in the evening. The supervision office had changed to the night duty team, and the driver stood outside the office. Seeing Shen Zhuo push open the door, he immediately stood up and saluted, “Supervisor, are you going home tonight?”
Shen Zhuo put on his coat and walked toward the stairs. “There’s a security seminar in the military district tomorrow morning. Notify the airport to prepare a special plane.”
A black bulletproof car was speeding on the highway, with rows of streetlights quickly passing by the windows. Shen Zhuo leaned back in the rear seat, closing his eyes to rest.
In the distance, the military airport was brightly lit under the night sky.
“Supervisor,” the driver answered a phone call and looked at the rearview mirror. “Captain Chen says they’ve created a portrait of ‘Shi San Yao’ based on Zhao Jun’s description and urgently identified his identity. The information has just been sent over.”
Shen Zhuo opened his eyes, his gaze clear and free of weariness. He reached for the tablet handed to him by the driver.
“Shi San Yao,” real name Liu Sanji, forty-one years old, migrant worker with multiple records of theft crimes. The tablet displayed his profile picture—a man with small eyes, a square face, and a short stature, exuding a vigilant and fierce demeanor.
Unexpectedly, he was a D-level evolutionist.
D-level evolutionists had very low-level abilities. If Liu Sanji was already a habitual thief before evolution, then attempting to steal the evolution source from an evolutionist would not be surprising, given the psychological desire for power. Zhao Jun’s testimony mentioned that they lost contact with Liu Sanji later, and if this middleman wasn’t caught and killed by “Mr. Rong,” he likely escaped with the real Evolution Source.
Shen Zhuo pressed his temples. “Have Chen Miao send out a cooperation notice to major supervision jurisdictions. This person may have important information about ‘Mr. Rong.’ Try to apprehend him and avoid killing him on the spot.”
“Yes!”
Shen Zhuo placed the tablet casually at his side, closing his eyes again against the back of the chair.
On the screen, Liu Sanji, wearing an orange prison uniform, glared at the ceiling of the car compartment.
At the same time, outside the car window.
On the undulating slopes beside the highway, a man gazed at the swiftly approaching black bulletproof car, squinting his narrow and fierce eyes. He wore a glowing Evolution Source meteorite on his chest.
It was Liu Sanji.
“—Bring Shenhai City Supervisor Shen Zhuo in Shenhai to me within half a month; otherwise, you and your ability will both be taken back by me with interest. Do you understand?”
The gentle and smiling voice of Mr. Rong echoed in his ears again, sending a chill from the depths of his bones. Liu Sanji gritted his teeth.
Dim moonlight leaked through the gaps in the dark clouds, illuminating the pale figures standing behind him. Liu Sanji took a deep breath, looking at the approaching car, and hoarsely uttered two words:
“Take action.”
The overpass was ahead, and after descending, they would reach the military airport. The driver skillfully turned on the lights and drove onto the empty bridge. Suddenly, a mobile phone rang in the back seat.
Shen Zhuo opened his eyes and saw the screen displaying an unknown number. “Hello?”
The next moment, Bai Sheng’s cheerful and warm voice came from the other end. “Hey, Inspector Shen, have you eaten tonight? Chief Yue and I just had roast lamb. I packed two pieces of lamb belly and a lamb leg for you…”
Shen Zhuo silently hung up the call.
The atmosphere in the car became as heavy as death.
After a while, the driver dryly chuckled, trying his best to lighten the mood, although it sounded more like a muscle spasm in his throat.
“Bai-ge never forgets to care about us at the Shenhai City Supervision Office, hahaha!”
Shen Zhuo calmly said, “Go back and find out who gave my phone number to Bai Sheng. Once you find out, deduct six months of bonus.”
“…………” The driver said, “Yes!”
Shen Zhuo put down his phone, and at that moment, there was a sudden “bang!” on the roof of the car!
The entire car shook violently, and both of them instinctively looked up. Shen Zhuo reflexively reached into his coat.
The driver’s face changed slightly. “Something fell down. Supervisor Shen, fasten your seatbelt tightly. I…”
Before he could finish, a pale, enormous face protruded from the car roof. The face was covered with dozens of eyes, staring at both of them through the windshield.
“!!”
The driver’s pupils contracted sharply. The steering wheel slipped, and the tires screeched against the ground. The scenery outside the window spun, and the bridge pillar rapidly approached.
Boom!!
The impact and darkness arrived simultaneously, and the senses seemed to disappear in an instant.
……
After an unknown amount of time, consciousness gradually returned. Sharp pain engulfed Shen Zhuo’s mind from the nerve endings.
Shen Zhuo opened his eyes, but his vision couldn’t focus due to the intense impact. After a moment, he closed his eyes forcefully and then opened them again. The surroundings gradually became clear.
The air was filled with the smell of rubber friction and gasoline. The car compartment was compressed and deformed, the seats were inverted, and blood trickled from his ears.
The car had overturned.
“Cough, cough, cough,” Shen Zhuo spat out some blood and called the driver’s name, “Luo Zhen?”
There was no response from the driver’s seat.
Shen Zhuo unbuckled his seatbelt forcefully, reaching out to push the tilted car door. However, his movements suddenly stopped.
From outside the car came the sound of a group of stiff, dragging footsteps, getting closer and clearer. Soon, the car was surrounded by these footsteps, and through the car window, he could see pairs of bare feet on the asphalt.
Those were definitely not the feet of living people.
They were pale and swollen, with scars from the top of the foot to the shin. Each scar was filled with small, swirling eyes. Dense and lively, all at once, they turned to look at Shen Zhuo through the car window.
Then the car window—
Bang!!
The bulletproof glass shattered, and several hands, filled with small eyes, eagerly reached inside.
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