Chapter 88
The most powerful bodyguard team in the world
The surveillance screen displayed footage of Su Jiqiao leaving his cell.
In the corridor outside the detention room, a guard seemed to be drawn by some invisible force. He suddenly stopped in his tracks and stared blankly at the metal door. A few seconds later, he inexplicably stepped forward and unlocked it using his iris and fingerprint.
As the metal door opened, Su Jiqiao simply walked out.
The guard appeared to be mesmerized by some kind of mental power. Due to the camera angle, his face was not visible, but his actions suggested he was talking incessantly to Su Jiqiao, like a fervent fan meeting their idol. It wasn’t until Su Jiqiao drew the guard’s gun from his waist and aimed it at his forehead that the situation changed.
Unexpectedly, the guard showed no signs of alerting anyone and even knelt down with a thud. Su Jiqiao shook his head regretfully and said something, which from the lip movements seemed to be:
“Even if I killed you, he wouldn’t be too upset.”
Then, Su Jiqiao swiftly knocked the guard out with the gun’s butt and, with a reverse motion, shattered the glass with a shot. Bang!
“—Who fired?” “What’s going on?” “Stop!”
The gunshot alarmed the guards, and footsteps could be heard approaching rapidly from afar. However, Su Jiqiao remained calm, effortlessly leaping out and disappearing from the high-level window in an instant.
The surveillance footage abruptly ended.
“One dead, one injured. Su Jiqiao likely escaped using an unknown S-class ability, presumably related to mind control.”
In front of the monitor, Shui Ronghua turned around, looking gravely at those seated around the conference table. “The injured person has been sent to Shenhai Evolutionary Specialist Hospital for treatment and is still unconscious. We’ll begin questioning his mental powers as soon as he wakes up.”
The atmosphere in the conference room was tense. Chen Miao quietly asked, “Any clues on Su Jiqiao’s whereabouts?”
The security captain replied, “After he jumped out of the window, he headed straight for the main entrance. The last sighting was on the sidewalk outside the supervision office, where someone used a spatial ability to rescue him. Because after the last time Rong Qi led an invasion into the supervision office, we spent a lot of money setting up anti-spatial ability devices throughout the building, so…”
So Shunsuke Noda couldn’t infiltrate the supervision office, even with his formidable spatial tunnel ability, and had to wait outside to rescue Su Jiqiao.
All eyes nervously turned to the head of the conference table.
In the shadows, Shen Zhuo showed no signs of anger, not even much expression, but anyone looking at him could feel the intense fury emanating from him.
“…ECNU2764582.” He lowly uttered a string of numbers.
The security captain looked up sharply.
“The ability tracking chip I had mixed into the high-dose nerve agent injected into Su Jiqiao.” Shen Zhuo said heavily, “As long as he leaves the Shenhai Supervision Office and uses his ability, his exact location will be displayed in real-time, with a global tracking range.”
The security captain was overjoyed and immediately stood up and said, “Yes, I’ll have the tracking activated right away!”
In fact, Shen Zhuo implanted the chip in Su Jiqiao purely to prevent Rong Qi from forcibly taking his ability, as he never considered the possibility of Su Jiqiao escaping on his own—with the concentration of that nerve agent, two doses would put even Shen Zhuo into a state of abnormal brain function, let alone a tenfold concentrated dose for Su Jiqiao.
Moreover, Shen Zhuo never intended for Su Jiqiao to wake up again.
He had set the injection frequency of the device to one dose per hour.
Such a terrifying injection rate was essentially aimed at rendering Su Jiqiao brain-dead.
Unexpectedly, Su Jiqiao managed to withstand the high-dose nerve agent that could knock out a herd of elephants, and the tracking chip, purely to prevent Su Jiqiao’s abduction, proved crucial at this moment.
“Supervisor.” The secretary put down the phone and quickly walked in, leaning down to report, “The family has been notified, and the professor’s relatives… are on their way.”
“What about the body?”
“In the morgue on basement level one.”
Shen Zhuo stood up and strode out of the conference room. The others hurriedly followed, watching as he went straight to the morgue on basement level one and pushed open the door with a swoosh. Director Gao was standing by the autopsy bed, his eyes red-rimmed.
The HRG researcher had a punctured abdomen, his body still covered in blood stains, and his eyes staring blankly upward.
Shen Zhuo stood there, his face like transparent ice. After a long time, he extended his hand, visibly trembling even under the black gloves, and gently closed the researcher’s eyes.
“Provide the highest compensation, arrange work and support for immediate family members, and handle the funeral with the highest standards.”
Under the stark white light, his gaze was dark and unclear, and after a moment, his jaw made a clear cracking sound.
“Notify the EHPBC to issue a global wanted order. From now on, if Su Jiqiao is seen, there’s no need to capture or interrogate—kill on sight.”
Shui Ronghua solemnly replied, “Yes!”
Shen Zhuo turned and walked out of the morgue.
At the end of the corridor on basement level 1, the escalator turned at a window. Shen Zhuo’s breathing grew increasingly rapid until he finally stopped in front of the window, burying his face in his hands and letting out a trembling gasp.
A hand heavily patted his shoulder from behind, pressing him into an embrace.
It was Bai Sheng.
Seeing Shen Zhuo emerge from the morgue, Bai Sheng had already anticipated all of his reactions.
Although it was hard to see on the surface, Shen Zhuo was actually someone who demanded very high and pure emotions. He was extremely stringent with those around him, repeatedly screening them, but once someone was considered “one of his own,” they received his full tolerance and favoritism.
Especially HRG’s researchers, who had been with Shen Zhuo for many years, sharing hardships and remaining loyal. Their mutual loyalty and importance to each other were unimaginable to outsiders.
Su Jiqiao casually killed a researcher, but to Shen Zhuo, it was akin to stabbing him.
“…He passed away very quickly, without suffering.” Bai Sheng pressed Shen Zhuo’s head against his neck, his voice calm and steady, “He went peacefully, without pain.”
He didn’t use phrases like “it’s over, it’s okay, just cry it out” to offer futile comfort because for the living, the pain and anger hadn’t passed, and any words would be pale and useless.
Shen Zhuo leaned on Bai Sheng’s shoulder, trembling slightly from clenching his teeth too hard.
“We will tear Su Jiqiao into pieces and send him down to atone for the sacrifice… and then fulfill the ideals the deceased couldn’t complete, walking the path he fell short of,” Bai Sheng paused, pressing his hand on Shen Zhuo’s back, and softly said, “It’s just a temporary farewell. One day, we’ll all go to that world and meet again.”
“…” It was unclear how long it took, but Shen Zhuo’s uncontrollable trembling finally stopped. He took a deep breath and stood up straight.
His eyes were bloodshot, but he had regained his composure with immense self-control.
“Su Jiqiao’s Fatal Strike shouldn’t be mind control; otherwise, the guard in the surveillance footage wouldn’t retain his self-awareness. I suspect it might be related to emotions,” he said hoarsely. “From now on, when dealing with Su Jiqiao, we must control our emotions and stay calm and stable; otherwise, we’ll give him an opportunity.”
Bai Sheng nodded and said nothing more, seemingly having completely forgotten the earlier discussion about the HRG agents in the car.
He simply said, “I’ll have the two kids come to the supervision office and be on standby. As soon as we track Su Jiqiao’s location, we’ll set out immediately.”
Shen Zhuo looked silently at the familiar man in front of him.
He knew Bai Sheng had not forgotten his previous suspicions and probing.
——Too smart, he thought.
Bai Sheng was always calm and reliable, handling everything with meticulous independent methods, and he held an almost limitless, unconditional tolerance for Shen Zhuo.
If there was one flaw to point out, it was that he was… too smart.
His interconnected reasoning, hawk-like keen observation, and terrifying intuition for the truth created suffocating pressure for anyone trying to hide secrets.
If not for knowing that this person’s love for him was uncontrollably deep, Shen Zhuo might have felt a chill under such scrutiny.
“…Actually, we’ve all written farewell letters,” Shen Zhuo said abruptly, gazing into Bai Sheng’s eyes.
“There are always a few paths in this world where death is the only relief. Family, friends, and loved ones might be dragged into unknown dangers by you, and only death can provide them with substantial compensation and a stable life. So if one day I too…”
“But those left behind suffer.” Bai Sheng replied gently, “If I live on without knowing the truth, perhaps even if I go to that world someday, I wouldn’t be able to see you again.”
It was like a scorching needle, piercing his heart and lungs.
Shen Zhuo abruptly stopped, then coldly said, “…You’re too young. Don’t talk about life and death so lightly.”
He hastily avoided Bai Sheng’s gaze, brushed past him, and walked towards the office.
·
“11:30 pm, the tracking chip has not sent any location information!”
“1:45 am, the tracking chip has not sent any location information!”
“9:30 am…”
The search continued for nearly 24 hours, with no sign of Su Jiqiao until the next morning. The on-duty security officer suddenly stood up from his chair with a clang, red lights flashing on the radar screen in front of him.
The geographical location zoomed in, then zoomed in again, precise within a hundred meters, and the analytical system automatically ran.
“Local time 12:35 pm, Palaung, Shan State, Su Jiqiao activated an A-class mental ability, purpose unknown.” The security officer turned his head in astonishment and said, “He escaped to Myanmar!”
·
Under the gray-blue sky, a black bulletproof car sped towards the airport, the tires screeching as they braked on the tarmac.
Before the car had fully stopped, Shen Zhuo had already opened the door and strode out, walking towards the private jet’s gangway in the strong wind.
“——Shan State, Myanmar?” Cameron’s puzzled voice came from the satellite phone.
“Yes. There have been several armed conflicts and bloody clashes in that area over the past three months, with intense ethnic strife. The danger level is extremely high. The A-class ability released by Su Jiqiao has a very large range. It should be a group mental attack.” Shen Zhuo quickly ascended the gangway and sternly said, “Have your people start monitoring the area immediately. I need to know what Su Jiqiao is doing there at all times.”
Cameron, dressed in a three-piece suit with a deep olive-green tie that matched his harsh gray-green eyes, was amidst the elegant atmosphere of a high-society ballroom, with the sound of a violin playing in the background.
“Allow me to remind you, Supervisor Shen.” Cameron took a fresh martini from a waiter’s tray, his tone as polite and smooth as a diplomatic statement, “EHPBC respects national sovereignty, never intervenes in internal affairs, and absolutely does not conduct illegal surveillance or invasions without local official permission…”
“Save it for the Afghans.”
“…”
Cameron was silent for a few seconds, then formally and methodically said, “No. EHPBC neither has the authority nor the capacity to privately monitor another country’s territory. Moreover, as an official, I have always been dedicated to enforcing the law and strictly observing discipline…”
“I know you can do it.” Shen Zhuo warmly said, “Brother.”
“Cough cough!” Cameron almost choked on his drink, angrily retorting, “You’re giving me goosebumps!”
“I believe in you, brother.” Shen Zhuo quickly hung up before Cameron could react further.
Facts proved that the word brother’s lethality was too great. Half an hour later, as soon as the special plane of the Shenhai City Supervision Office took off into the blue sky, a video was sent to Shen Zhuo’s mobile phone. It was the latest surveillance video retrieved from the Shan State area.
Even with the video at the lowest volume, the deafening noise could still hit you. There were huge crowds of people, and the crowd was excited. Countless blood-red slogans were flying under the sky. In the middle of the packed square, the opposition humans had erected two rows of tall wooden stakes, and dozens of ragged evolutionists were tied to the stakes. Their young faces were full of fear, and they were all underage children.
Thunderous slogans echoed from the video. Bai Sheng, leaning from the back seat, his brows tightly knit, stared at the video in Shen Zhuo’s hand, “What are they shouting…?”
“They’re shouting ‘Dr. Shen’,” Shen Zhuo said softly.
“They’re shouting my name.”
The satellite phone on the plane rang; it was Cameron calling.
“There is indeed trouble there, a protest is occurring.” Cameron’s tone was indifferent, as if the previous “I neither have the authority nor the capacity to privately monitor another country’s territory” was not his own words, “This is the latest real-time surveillance; the news media haven’t gotten wind of it yet. I suggest you don’t seek death by spreading it around.”
Shen Zhuo asked, “What are they protesting about?”
Cameron coolly replied, “The background is long. Myanmar originally had two S-classes. During an internal conflict, one killed the other. The victor went to Shenhai for a foolish and meaningless show of power and was publicly executed by a philosophy graduate, leaving the region leaderless.”
The philosophy graduate: “…”
“Without an S-class to oversee, a strong A-class evolutionist and his subordinates took over drug trafficking in Shan State, wantonly slaughtering humans, sparking public outrage. A few days ago, a human uprising occurred; local residents overran the local supervision office, using stolen special weapons to kill the A-class evolutionist, and slaughtered all evolutionists in the town. They also rounded up over sixty minor evolutionists, including local and Chinese children.”
“From the video, their demands are clear: they want Dr. Shen to personally appear and publicly declare to the global media that he will join the opposition and firmly stand with humanity.”
“Otherwise, by nightfall, they will kill all these children, leaving none alive.”
The cause of the riot had nothing to do with Shen Zhuo, but now the blame has suddenly been directed at Shen Zhuo. Su Jiqiao’s mental abilities must have played a role in fueling the flames.
“…What on earth is Su Jiqiao planning?” Bai Sheng murmured.
“My advice is to ignore it, and certainly not to go and offer yourself up foolishly.” Cameron said coldly, “You are just a little fool full of unrealistic idealism. Even if you go, it will not play any role. You will only cause trouble for others in vain…
“Thank you for your advice, Acting Director General.”
Shen Zhuo turned to look behind him. Bai Sheng had one hand on the back of his chair; his height of 1.9 meters plus his flamboyant hairstyle forced him to lower his head slightly in the private jet. In the back seat, the two children sat side by side; Yang Xiaodao was silently wrapping bandages around his sturdy knuckles, while Chu Yan was carefully wiping a pair of steel gloves that weighed over 200 kilograms.
“I have the most formidable bodyguard team in the world. Even if the road ahead is fraught with danger, it’s enough to capture Su Jiqiao and flay him alive.” Shen Zhuo replied politely, “So my suggestion is that you better not give suggestions.”
Cameron: “…”
Shen Zhuo hung up the phone.
·
The private jet flew above the clouds, and ahead were towering mountains and endless jungles.
Myanmar.
Palaung, Shan State.
“Execute the evolutionists!” “Execute the evolutionists!!” “Humans, take back our home!!”
…
The streets and alleys were crowded, and the parade was in full swing. The scorching square was packed with angry, twisted faces, numbering in the hundreds of thousands and stretching as far as the eye could see.
High above, on the rooftop of a building at the edge of the square, Su Jiqiao was spreading a red-black, intensely radiant glow from his palm down to the ground—
A-class ability, Emotion Transfer.
Collects high-intensity emotions from a large group of people and transfers them to another group, causing the second group to naturally develop the same demands, beliefs, or common enemies as the first group.
This ability requires a high level of emotional intensity, so it is only effective on groups, not individuals.
——The red-black, fiery glow was the intense emotions of millions of protesters against Shen Zhuo, collected earlier outside the council building by Su Jiqiao.
Countless points of light merged into the crowd, immediately creating an effect like adding fuel to the fire. People angrily demanded that Shen Zhuo come forward, demanding that Shen Zhuo, who had always been a tough representative of mankind, continue to lead them in killing the evolutionists. The thunderous slogans even made the ground beneath their feet shake slightly.
“Even a double-S evolutionist cannot avoid the biggest weakness in ability combat…” Su Jiqiao said casually, “A person cannot activate two abilities simultaneously.”
The last few black emotion points flew into the crowd, and he withdrew his hand.
“When a person activates an S-class ability, they cannot even add a small D-class ability simultaneously, and vice versa. So, whether it’s causality or tyrant abilities, they can be frozen for a moment in actual combat, as long as you seize the fleeting moment with precise timing.”
He turned to look at the rooftop, where a group of over a dozen high-level evolutionists were watching him warily.
“So, now it’s time to test your spirit of sacrifice.” Su Jiqiao’s eyes curled in a smile, “Whether you can accomplish Mr. Rong’s and your goals depends on whether you can hold off Bai Sheng.”
“They are all ready to sacrifice at any time, you just need to ensure you take Shen away.” Not far away, from a dark, deep fissure, Shunsuke stood in the spatial tunnel, coldly staring at Su Jiqiao, “If you play any tricks, I will appear and kill you instantly, understand?”
Su Jiqiao responded with an undisguised sneer, “Feel free to try anytime, A-class.”
“…”
This was not the first time Shunsuke Noda had seen Su Jiqiao.
But every time he saw this person, he felt like he was facing a venomous, aggressive snake.
Three years ago, Su Jiqiao had appeared before him without warning, with a smile and impeccable politeness, but with a thinly veiled contempt in his eyes—Shunsuke Noda knew what that was.
It was the hypocritical superiority of a being who considered himself superior, looking down on the ants beneath his feet.
“I heard you and your sibling believe in extreme evolutionism, making you outcasts in the Round Table. Are you planning to leave the Round Table? There is a very powerful evolutionist who wants to recruit people like you. I’m here to contact and recruit for him.”
“His name is Rong; you can call him Mr. Rong.”
At that time, the Noda siblings, feeling out of place in the Round Table due to their belief in extreme evolutionism, had long considered leaving. After being recruited by Su Jiqiao, they soon left the Round Table and went to the hospital in Quanshan County, as Su Jiqiao had specified, where they saw the wire bed with the black human-shaped ashes.
With skepticism, they waited there for years, finally witnessing the miracle of a person regenerating from ashes and receiving faith in taking Earth towards the ultimate evolution from a higher-dimensional civilization.
But Shunsuke Noda did not feel grateful to Su Jiqiao.
He knew that even Mr. Rong had an inexplicable fear and loathing for this seemingly innocent Su Jiqiao.
The world only saw his innocent, beautiful appearance, not knowing that beneath it was a venomous snake, trying to coil its cold, slippery body around the moon, dragging the pure, cold light into the abyss.
“I’ll be watching you.” Shunsuke Noda stared at Su Jiqiao with a grim expression, rasping in Japanese.
Then he retreated into the spatial tunnel, the dark fissure closing with a swish, disappearing into the air.
Only Rong Qi’s dozen A-class subordinates remained on the rooftop, looking at Su Jiqiao with guarded eyes. However, he was indifferent, merely looking back at the distant tide of protests.
“…Do you know I’m here?” Su Jiqiao’s eyes glinted with light, murmuring with interest.
“Will you be surprised when you see me?”
“I can’t wait to show you my Fatal Strike, professor.”
——Meanwhile, high above in the vast sky.
The Supervision Office’s private jet from Shenhai City sliced through the clouds, soaring over the massive protest army below, flying towards the military airport on the outskirts of the city.
