The next mont, a young man—tall, handso, and with an incredibly cold deanor—appeared on Gu Xi’s Light Screen.
Ye Junhan.
Gu Xi was taken aback for a mont, then she arched an eyebrow.
She’d guessed that Wei Heng was probably in a bad spot to take a call, but she hadn’t expected Ye Junhan to be right there with him.
No wonder Wei Heng had sounded so strange.
’But why is Ye Junhan in South City, and why would he be looking for Wei Heng?’
’Was it because Wei Heng’s abnormal ability had recovered, or...’
In that instant, countless thoughts raced through Gu Xi’s mind.
But what surprised her most was that Ye Junhan, a man who radiated an aura of cold detachnt, would actually take the initiative to say sothing like that—’ask directly if you need sothing’?
But Gu Xi wasn’t one to be coy. Since he had made the offer, she wasn’t going to be polite.
"Mr. Ye, I heard you ca to Yu City a while back?"
The man lifted his narrow eyes slightly, his voice frosty. "Who told you that?"
Gu Xi aid the cara at the mountains behind her, her expression calm. "I’m at the Yu City Base right now."
Ye Junhan’s deep gaze rested on the young woman on the screen. After a long mont, he asked, "You’re investigating this matter? Why?"
Gu Xi replied, "It’s nothing. I just want to confirm sothing."
"What is it?" Ye Junhan’s gaze suddenly sharpened, his presence becoming imposing.
"That has nothing to do with you, Mr. Ye." Gu Xi sighed internally. ’It looks like he has no intention of sharing intelligence with .’
’Then again, that’s to be expected. The Special Service Team is a highly disciplined unit, after all.’
’Since Zhou Jinyu ca to deal with the Yu City Base situation personally, the confidentiality level must be high. It might even involve a power struggle between the upper echelons of the Central Base and the Yu City Base...’
’As a military man, Ye Junhan got dragged in to execute the mission, so his attitude is understandable.’
’We’re on different sides. It’s understandable.’
Ye Junhan frowned slightly. Just then, Qi Xiang’s voice suddenly chid in, "What brings Mr. Ye here? Did you miss ?"
Qi Xiang walked over to Wei Heng and subtly nudged him aside, then looked at Gu Xi on the screen. "Gu Xiaoxi, when are you coming back? While you’ve been gone, Wei Heng has been skimping on our als..."
Wei Heng was having none of it. He stared at her, deadpan. "Is that so? In that case, how about you all sort out your own lunch today?"
Qi Xiang inwardly cursed. ’Oops. Looks like I’ve gone and offended the head chef.’
But this was Qi Xiang, after all.
She shot Wei Heng a defiant glare before turning back to snitch to Gu Xi. "Captain, you have no idea. These past few days, while you were tricked into being away by Shen Yue..."
Her voice was so coquettish and alluring... Gu Xi thought to herself, ’Good thing I’m not a man. Who could possibly stand a chance against that?’
The two chatted for a bit. Once Qi Xiang felt she’d passed along all the necessary information, she ended the video call without a second thought.
She wasn’t about to give a certain soone an opportunity.
Just then.
"So this is where you all are! I had a hard ti finding you."
A clear, cheerful female voice laced with a hint of playful complaint sounded from behind them.
Qi Xiang frowned at the sound of the voice.
’She got here fast!’
Qi Xiang and Wei Heng exchanged a quick glance. Then, she turned with a grin and said, "Did you install a radar on our Mr. Ye, Miss Ye?"
Qi Xiang cleverly pushed Ye Junhan into the spotlight.
Ye Junhan’s long lashes drooped. His gaze swept past Qi Xiang as he looked up at the newcor.
As if she hadn’t heard Qi Xiang’s teasing remark, Ye Nan walked up to the group and greeted them with a smile. "Jun Han. Wei Heng."
Only then did she turn to Qi Xiang. "I could hear you laughing happily from the foot of the mountain, Miss Qi. Is there so happy occasion?"
’That assistant of Mr. Zhao’s who suddenly rushed out to stop ... that must have been Qi Xiang’s doing, right?’
’She’d been delayed for a bit and arrived late. She had only vaguely heard Qi Xiang talking with soone, but Qi Xiang had ended the call before she could see the other person.’
But... Ye Nan’s gaze shifted subtly to the handso, aloof man beside her, and she lowered her eyes.
’Judging by Jun Han’s expression... he must know that person, too.’
"Of course I’m happy." Qi Xiang shot Ye Nan a aningful look, then turned and gave Ye Junhan a playful wink. "It’s because Mr. Ye is here, after all..."
The deliberately drawn-out lilt in her voice made Ye Nan sick to her stomach.
She instinctively looked up at Ye Junhan.
Ye Junhan remained silent. ’Just before Qi Xiang ended the call, the figure of a man seed to flash across the screen.’
’...Who was that?’
Ye Junhan’s brow twitched almost imperceptibly, and his fingertips, resting on his scabbard, paused for a mont.
Just then.
"Why is everyone gathered here?" a gentle, scholarly-looking middle-aged man asked as he approached from the other side of the mountain, followed by several mbers of the Special Service Team.
It was Zhou Jinyu.
At the sound of his voice, the hairs on Qi Xiang’s body stood on end. She subconsciously leaned closer to Wei Heng, who nonchalantly pulled back the slender fingers resting on his personal terminal.
Ye Junhan lowered his gaze, glanced at the two of them impassively, and turned. "Mr. Zhou."
Zhou Jinyu had co to South City this ti to investigate the prior "Incident 176."
Incident 176 had major repercussions and involved nurous factions. After a great deal of political maneuvering, the investigation ultimately fell into the hands of the Abnormal Ability Research Institute.
And one of Ye Junhan’s missions on this trip was to lead a team to ensure Mr. Zhou’s safety.
"Jun Han, things here in South City are a bit complicated. I’ll probably need to stay for a few more days." After greeting the younger group, Zhou Jinyu found a large rock nearby and sat down, looking up at Ye Junhan. "What are your plans?"
Ye Junhan replied, "Before we set out, Mr. Xiao stated that your safety is our top priority on this trip. Therefore, I’ll leave half of my team mbers at the South City Base to protect you. Ye Nan will also stay behind..."
"Jun Han," Ye Nan said, surprised. She clearly didn’t want to be separated from him.
But Ye Junhan rely gave her a cool glance, and Ye Nan lowered her head.
"Then I’ll have to trouble you to make the trip, Jun Han," Zhou Jinyu said with a gentle smile.
"It’s my duty." Ye Junhan’s gaze was cold, his expression unreadable.
Zhou Jinyu smiled and didn’t press him further about his mission.
He knew full well that Xiao Yu had used his escort mission as a pretext for sending Ye Junhan’s team to South City. The real goal was the object inside the NX1984 ruin zone.
Zhou Jinyu also knew he would never be allowed into the NX1984 ruin zone. The Military Departnt would never let soone from the Abnormal Ability Research Institute get their hands on that object.
By having Ye Junhan personally escort him to South City to "assist" with the Incident 176 investigation, Xiao Yu was also tacitly ordering Ye Junhan to keep an eye on him.
This was an unspoken understanding between him and Xiao Yu.
But Zhou Jinyu wasn’t worried about the object falling into the Military Departnt’s hands.
After all, even if he couldn’t go to the NX1984 ruin zone, there were others who could.
"Xiaoxiang," Zhou Jinyu said, looking up at Qi Xiang, who was standing with Wei Heng. He smiled gently. "I just spoke with Dr. Qi. From what he said, it seems you’ll also be going to the NX1984 ruin zone?"
Qi Xiang nodded with a wry smile. "Mr. Zhou, I really don’t want to go, but you know... everyone says my abnormal ability is special..."
’That was just a polite excuse. In truth, her adoptive father wanted her to be his eyes on Ye Junhan.’
’And Mr. Xiao probably agreed to let her co along for reasons beyond her ability potentially helping Ye Junhan find the object.’
Qi Xiang sighed internally. She didn’t want any part of this, and she especially didn’t want to get caught up in the grudges of the older generation.
’But this ti, she had no choice.’
’Although she didn’t know what Ye Junhan was looking for in the NX1984 ruin zone, she could guess from the bits and pieces her adoptive father had let slip that the object was extrely important.’
’But sotis, knowing too many secrets wasn’t a good thing.’
’Case in point.’
Looking at Zhou Jinyu’s gentle, smiling face, the hairs all over Qi Xiang’s body stood on end.
It was an instinct granted by her abnormal ability, a primal intuition that scread of danger.
Zhou Jinyu nodded, the corners of his lips curved in a smile. "It’s good that you’re going. Perhaps you really will be able to help Jun Han."
He had a peculiar quality about him. It was once said that if Zhou Jinyu wished it, he could make anyone he spoke with feel completely at ease, as if they were old, dear friends.
Qi Xiang’s feelings at that mont were a mass of contradictions.
In a daze, she felt the man before her was kind and trustworthy, yet an alarm bell was blaring in the back of her mind, relentlessly warning her that he was dangerous.
Qi Xiang instinctively avoided his gaze and looked toward Ye Junhan and Ye Nan. "I hope I can be of help to Mr. Ye, too. I just worry that so people might not be happy about it..."
"Why would that be? You’re all young people..."
Zhou Jinyu’s gaze drifted between Ye Nan, Qi Xiang, and Ye Junhan. A thought seed to occur to him, and he changed the subject with a gentle smile. "I heard you’ve made a new friend here as well?"
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