"Secure the scene. Can we access the surveillance footage?" Gong Su asked.
"No, the Blood Race's Dark Barrier cut off all the circuits from the very beginning."
"Understood. Continue the investigation and report if anything cos up."
After ending the call, Gong Su looked at Li Xiye and Xia Lan, her expression turning serious. "You two, please tell everything that happened, in detail."
Li Xiye had no choice but to give them a summary of the events.
"So he's the Ascender who saved you from the Corrupter that night?" Gong Su looked a little surprised. She mulled it over for a mont but didn't waste any more ti on the question. "You two should go to the hospital with the ambulance. Miss Li Xiye, after you've recovered, we'll have soone test your Extraordinary Abilities. You might have to stay with the Star Association for a while. Is that alright with you?"
"I don't mind." Li Xiye was also eager to learn the details of her own Extraordinary Abilities.
Once in the ambulance, Li Xiye leaned back wearily against the seat. She had gone through intense emotional turmoil, nearly losing control. Although Zhou Chen had managed to pull her back to her senses, the ntal toll was very real. On top of that, she had just fought in a massive brawl against the Blood Race. She was not only physically injured and exhausted but also ntally drained.
She looked at Xia Lan, who was staring blankly, still not having recovered from the incident, and couldn't help but pull her into a tight hug.
"Sister Lan..."
Li Xiye murmured, feeling the warmth from Sister Lan's body, confirming that this wasn't so fignt of her imagination. She truly hadn't lost her dear sister.
"I'm here." Xia Lan hugged her back, her body trembling slightly. Everything that happened tonight was like a terrible Nightmare to her. She was scared, terrified. She wanted to curl up into a ball, shiver, and let out all her fear with a loud wail.
But she held it in, because Li Xiye had already started sobbing in her arms. 'If I break down and cry too, who will be there to comfort Xiye? Who will be there to give her warmth?'
So she couldn't cry. It was simply her responsibility as an older sister.
"...Sister Lan."
Li Xiye's voice was muffled against her chest as she spoke softly, "I'm so, so lucky I t you, really... If it weren't for you, I'd probably be dead by now. Or I would have beco one of those spoiled rich kids who uses their family's na to cause trouble everywhere, or maybe a street punk who just hangs out at bars all the ti..."
"When you fell, it felt like soone had stabbed in the chest and carved out a gaping, drafty hole. It turns out that a heartache so bad you can't breathe is a real thing... It was only then that I realized you are a very, very important person in my life."
"—So."
Li Xiye lifted her head. Her eyes were red-rimd, but her gaze and tone were unshakeably firm.
"From now on, let protect you."
Xia Lan froze, her vision suddenly blurring.
Tears stread down her face uncontrollably. She gave her usual gentle smile and ruffled Li Xiye's hair, filled with relief and pride.
"You've grown up..."
·
·
"Hey, fellas."
On a street far from Rainbow City Center, across from an abandoned hospital.
Zhou Chen found a group of street loiterers hanging around late at night instead of being ho. He pulled a pack of cigarettes he had just bought from his pocket and enthusiastically offered them around.
"Hey guys, I'm new to Hong City and don't know my way around. I was hoping to ask you all a few questions."
"What's up?" Thanks to the cigarettes he'd just handed out, the young punks' attitude was decent enough.
Only one of them waved him off, refusing. "Nah, man. I'm with the new school. I don't smoke traditional cigarettes, only vapes."
As he spoke, he pulled a RELX 5 from his pocket and took a drag.
'Ah, this...' Zhou Chen pointed at the abandoned hospital across the street. "What's the deal with this place?"
The gates of the hospital across the street were shut tight. The sign for "Love Hospital" was dilapidated; a piece of the final character had broken off, changing its aning from "Hospital" to "The End."
The hospital itself was completely dark, a pitch-black silhouette. Even with the brightly lit surroundings, it looked exceptionally grim.
If you looked closely, you could see that the abandoned hospital bore the marks of a great fire. Large, charred patches marred its once-white walls.
The punks all started talking at once:
"Oh, that place? A huge fire broke out there a year ago. A lot of people died."
"We were pulling an all-nighter at an internet cafe back then and just happened to step out for a snack. Man, you have no idea how big that fire was. It felt like we were in a sauna, it was so hot our faces were burning. I heard you could see it from five kiloters away."
"I rember it burned all night before they put it out. When they brought the people out, they were just skeletons. They'd crumble if you even touched them. After seeing that, I had fucking Nightmares for days. I even stopped eating barbecue for over a month."
"The news said almost a hundred people died. Apparently, it was caused by a short circuit. The ergency exits were locked, so a lot of patients couldn't escape in ti. A bunch of people got arrested and went to jail. Oh, right, it was a private hospital. After the incident, the owner tried to skip town but got caught at the airport. He paid a ton of money in compensation and got locked up too."
"After that, the place was just left to rot. There's been no news about rebuilding it. It's a pretty remote area, after all. They'd probably lose a fortune if they threw more money at renovating it."
'A fire a year ago...' Zhou Chen smiled and nodded. "Thanks, guys."
"No problem... Oh, by the way," one of the punks with green-dyed hair threw down his cigarette butt and coughed. "Since it's your first ti in Hong City, you wanna go have so fun? I know a few spots with high-quality girls. Tell you where for the price of a pack of smokes."
"..." Zhou Chen didn't want any trouble with them, so he just took a twenty-yuan bill from his pocket and handed it over, throwing in the remaining half-pack of cigarettes for good asure.
After getting away from the punks, Zhou Chen made his way to the rooftop of a nearby office building. Standing in the night wind, he looked down at the eerie, ominous hospital below.
The location ping for the Blood Race Saint Child, Pansi, was inside the hospital—or to be more precise, underneath it.
'If I'm not mistaken, the fire a year ago was deliberately set by the Blood Race. The owner of this private hospital was probably connected to them. It was all a ploy to establish a hidden base after the fire. Compared to a hospital bustling with people, a lifeless, abandoned building is obviously a better choice, less likely to be exposed. And for the Blood Race, with their financial resources, excavating a separate space underground wouldn't be difficult.'
Zhou Chen observed the surrounding streets. The retreating Blood Race mbers didn't enter the hospital directly; instead, they used various hidden passages to get to the separate underground space. He had already morized a few of their routes.
Charging in there by himself was unrealistic. The Blood Race Saint Child, Pansi, was enough of a headache on his own, not to ntion the other High Level Blood Race mbers.
But as luck would have it, just yesterday, soone had said to contact them with any clues about the Eternal Life Project, and they would provide a generous reward.
Zhou Chen let out a cheerful whistle. His troublemaking heart began to stir.
·
·
The black market was always most lively at night. After all, most of the business conducted here was shady, and the daylight didn't offer the sa sense of security as the darkness.
The black market was bustling with people, a motley mix of all sorts. Most wore masks of various shapes to disguise their identities. You had to keep a low profile here. If you happened to offend so big shot in disguise, you could easily get yourself killed.
Zhou Chen, wearing a steel mask and dressed in plain black clothes, walked through the black market, looking around.
The surrounding shops had all kinds of decor. So looked like antique stores, others had a very modern style. One shop was even just selling snacks, and its business was booming. The most straightforward vendors were the ones who just laid out their wares on a blanket on the ground. They'd set up their goods, plop down on a stool, and start cracking sunflower seeds while chatting and bragging with the neighboring stall owners.
After walking for a short while, Zhou Chen stopped in front of an antique shop.
A smile ford on his lips beneath the steel mask, and he pushed open the door and went inside.
Xia Bo and Xia Qi were inside the shop watching a live stream of a lingerie show. When they saw a custor enter, they were about to get up. But when they saw how the custor was dressed, the two brothers, in perfect sync, felt their knees go weak and sat right back down. They didn't manage to stand up.
'That mask, that aura...'
"S-Sir..." The two brothers scrambled to their feet, forcing ingratiating smiles. Internally, a thousand F-bombs were going off in their heads.
'Shit, why is a Steward from the Eternal Fire here...'
Zhou Chen cut right to the chase, his tone cold as he stated his purpose:
"I'm looking for Mandala. Tell her I have sothing that will interest her."
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