Chapter 13 – A Creepy Stalker

Within only three short days, various vehicles gathered from different regions and successively entered the Chen Mountain Cave lookout post area.

The complete failure of the A25 series weapons had undoubtedly drawn significant attention from above. In addition to elite personnel from the nearby city’s Investigation Department and the defense support team from the neighboring cave, even the Third Squad and the Ninth Squad, currently carrying out missions overseas, were reportedly already on their way back.

With all squads assembling, Chen Mountain Cave became more bustling than ever before.

Since the Seventh Squad had been operating in this area for some time, they had naturally become the first group to arrive on the scene.

The constant sound of footsteps outside agitated the Sentinel’s extremely sharp hearing, causing Su Fengzhou, focused on his computer, to feel a fierce throbbing at his temples.

He finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and shouted, “Shen Wenyan, I told you to close the door earlier, didn’t you hear me?”

“Boss, can’t you just turn around and take a look yourself? The door’s been shut for a while, and even the windows are sealed up tight. Your five senses are way too sharp, there’s really nothing we can do about that, right?” Shen Wenyan looked quite aggrieved, pausing his fiddling with the phone as he suggested, “How about I go ask Rong Yun and the others for a few pairs of noise-canceling earplugs? They bought a bunch on an online shopping platform recently, and the reviews made them sound like the best thing in the universe. Why not give it a try?”

“Forget it. Just let it go.” Su Fengzhou rubbed his temples, making an effort to pull his focus back.

Ever since that unusual sleep the other day, Su Fengzhou’s spiritual realm had remained strangely balanced, which greatly helped stabilize his condition that had been on the verge of collapsing.

Overall, it was certainly a good thing, but it couldn’t shake the eerie, lingering feeling in Su Fengzhou’s mind.

How could he possibly have fallen asleep while under so much tension?

A faint voice seemed to whisper in his mind, telling him that the truth behind it all had to be linked to Ying Xize, the only person who’d been there at the time.

He wanted to find out.

A sharp screech of tires echoed again in the distance. As the vehicle drew closer, it jolted slightly from the bumpy ground.

Each noise from the impact seemed unusually loud, ringing sharply and clearly in Su Fengzhou’s ears.

He tried his best to push away all distractions and quickly skimmed through the screen, processing the information at high speed. Just when he finally calmed down, Shen Wenyan, who had been playing with his phone the entire time, suddenly yelled, “Boss!”

The nearby shockwave of sound startled Su Fengzhou with a thud to his chest.

He gritted his teeth without meaning to. “What are you yelling for? Are you in that much of a rush to be reborn?”

Shrinking his neck at the clearly unfriendly tone, Shen Wenyan said, “Um, Boss, I’ve got two things. First, my friend finally managed to get the information you wanted on Researcher Ying. It’s at the guard post now, and I’ll go grab it in a bit.”

He looked over at Su Fengzhou. “Also, the third group of people meant to come to the cave today just showed up. One of them is… that person.”

“Who do you mean?” Su Fengzhou was still confused by the vague words when he looked up and saw Shen Wenyan exaggeratedly winking at him. “…Just say it already. Why are you squirming like that?”

Shen Wenyan let out a few purposeful coughs. “Obviously, the one you’re staring at on the screen right now.”

Su Fengzhou: “…….”

In accordance with the previously issued plan, he had spent the last few days immersing himself in background research, since there wasn’t much else to keep him busy. The photo now showing on his computer screen was taken when Ying Xize had just entered the Ning City Research Department.

Back when he had just arrived, Ying Xize looked a lot younger than he did now. Although that cold, distant air was already there, he still knew to offer a slight smile when facing the camera.

But whether it was years back or now, one thing stayed the same. Just with his looks alone, Ying Xize’s photos always turned out so impressive that even a plain ID picture meant for documentation looked like a professional portrait, easily matching those of famous celebrities.

Hearing Shen Wenyan’s words, Su Fengzhou, who had been concentrating on the document, finally turned his eyes to the photo.

No one knew what he was thinking, but he suddenly seemed a little distracted.

After waiting for quite some time and seeing that Su Fengzhou still hadn’t budged, Shen Wenyan finally spoke in a tone that mixed persuasion with a hint of disappointment. “The people from the Research Department came carrying all kinds of bags and packages. They probably brought loads of experimental equipment. That stuff’s really heavy, and most of them are either Guides or regular people who can’t even lift a chicken. So… maybe we should…?”

Su Fengzhou looked confused. “Didn’t the Defense Force members on reception duty already go help them?”

He remembered that when the whole Seventh Squad first arrived, both sides had kept up appearances, even though they never really got along. It didn’t make sense for the Research Department to suddenly be left completely unattended.

Shen Wenyan was briefly at a loss for words, but soon tried to explain more clearly. “The Defense Force members are super clumsy. If they end up damaging those expensive and sensitive tools, that’d be a total mess. There’s no way they’re as quick and careful as we are, right, Boss?”

As he spoke, he exaggerated his movements toward the door and glanced dramatically outside, putting every bit of his acting skills to use. “No doubt about it, Researcher Ying indeed brought a ton of stuff. Looks like those Defense Force brats are tripping over themselves to win him over, crowding around like that, tsk, tsk, tsk… I can’t deal with their shady little thoughts. I’m heading over to give Researcher Ying a hand. What do you think, Boss? You coming too?”

“If you want to go, then go by yourse—”

The final word ‘yourself’ froze at Su Fengzhou’s lips as his gaze unintentionally shifted outside.

From a distance, he spotted a few people in Defense Force uniforms gathered together. The Sentinel’s sharp senses picked up even the slightest hint of flattery in their expressions.

Su Fengzhou’s brow furrowed slightly. He casually clicked save and closed his laptop, putting on an air of reluctant nobility. “Fine then. Since there’s nothing else to do, and it’s all about helping our comrades, I’ll go too.”

“Got it!” Shen Wenyan looked so relieved, like his own grown son had finally grown up. Fighting back a teary smile, he headed out and asked, “By the way, do you still want that information on Researcher Ying? Or should you go help while I run off to grab it?”

Su Fengzhou said, “Go get it. Leave it on my desk later.”

　　-

Since this trip to Chen Mountain Cave had a clear purpose, Ying Xize had packed quite a lot of experimental equipment.

He had never been fond of physical labor, so having others around to help carry things should have been a good thing. But that only applied if they weren’t always trying to butter him up every chance they got.

Not every kind of enthusiasm was easy to handle.

Xiang Jiayan had just carried a batch of equipment upstairs.

Without anyone there to help hold them off, Ying Xize’s frown deepened more and more.

Seeing his colleagues, who had wanted to help, gradually pushed aside by the Defense Force members, Ying Xize slowly brought his fingertips together.

While he was still debating whether to try some nonviolent strategies that would make it easier to work as a team, a casual voice called out from the direction of the stairwell. “Yo, the Defense Force brothers seem pretty free today?”

Su Fengzhou spoke without much emotion, but his words were enough to wipe the smiles off the Defense Force members who had just been grinning at Ying Xize.

Being suddenly greeted by this jinx, and considering the squad’s subtly tense relationship with the Seventh Squad, everyone figured it couldn’t lead to anything good.

Sure enough, following Su Fengzhou’s gaze all the way through, they saw that it finally landed on Ying Xize.

After a brief moment of surprise, the Defense Force members quickly understood and forced some stiff smiles. “Captain Su, you know him?”

“Yeah, I know him. Pretty well. Extremely well.” As Su Fengzhou spoke, he watched Ying Xize’s face closely. When he reached him, he looked down from his usual height advantage, the corners of his lips lifting into a knowing smile. “Wouldn’t you say so, Researcher Ying?”

Ying Xize was 1.8 meters tall, which would normally be seen as quite tall, but he still came up half a head shorter when standing next to Su Fengzhou.

At those words, he looked up a little. Since the other had stepped in to keep him from being disturbed, he didn’t argue. “Captain Su, we meet again.”

Su Fengzhou raised an eyebrow, sensing something familiar in the tone. After a short pause, he recalled it was the exact same greeting he’d used that night while dropping off the samples at the Research Department.

All he could say was that the guy truly lived up to being from the Research Department. The memory was sharp.

Su Fengzhou slowly turned his head. The Defense Force members, who had stood frozen, finally seemed to come to their senses, let out a few awkward laughs, and quickly dispersed.

Only when he saw that everyone had scattered did Su Fengzhou feel slightly satisfied.

He lowered his gaze and looked over the many boxes around Ying Xize. “This much? Moving house or going on vacation?”

Ying Xize ignored the teasing in the conversation. As he bent down to pick up the relatively small black suitcase beside him, a hand suddenly appeared in his field of vision and pressed him back upright.

“All right now, this kind of dirty and tiring work isn’t suited for top researchers like you. Leave it to me.”

Ying Xize paused for a moment. When he withdrew his hand, his fingertips brushed right across the back of Su Fengzhou’s hand.

His fingers were always cold.

With such a sharp contrast, the burning heat from the Sentinel’s hand became impossible to miss.

When Su Fengzhou turned back, he caught the momentary distraction in Ying Xize’s eyes. His tone became a bit more proper. “Shouldn’t you be telling me your room number?”

Ying Xize had already returned to his usual calm expression. “C512.”

Su Fengzhou blinked in surprise, then burst out laughing. “Teacher Ying, looks like we’re neighbors.”

Ying Xize also found it rather baffling that he had been assigned to a room right next to Su Fengzhou’s.

However, by comparison, what made him think even more was the way Su Fengzhou had just addressed him.

What did he call him? Researcher Ying?

There was nothing technically wrong with it, but as soon as Su Fengzhou said ‘Teacher’ in that voice, something about it felt off all around.

Xiang Jiayan was a little surprised when he saw Su Fengzhou, but when it came to keeping Ying Xize from carrying things on his own, the two Sentinels were completely on the same page.

Half an hour later, Ying Xize was leisurely sitting in Su Fengzhou’s room, sipping tea.

His main task was simply watching the two figures outside bustling back and forth.

“Boss, I’m bac—” Shen Wenyan hadn’t looked around when he came in, but the moment he saw who was inside, he had to quickly hide the surprise in his eyes. “Researcher Ying, it’s you.”

What the hell? The boss, who was always particular about scents and surroundings, really let someone else into his room?!

Although Su Fengzhou was in the next room handling equipment, his hearing was frighteningly sharp.

From afar, he had already shouted, “What is taking you so long to grab a thing? Get over here and help!”

“Coming, coming!” Shen Wenyan responded, but didn’t move right away. Holding the folder in his hands, he found himself locking eyes with Ying Xize’s gaze. Suddenly, the thing in his hands felt a bit too hot to hold. Doing his best to stay calm, he asked, “Boss, where do you want me to put this?”

Su Fengzhou replied irritably, “Just throw it on the table, and get over here already!”

Shen Wenyan glanced at Ying Xize, who was seated right at the table, and swallowed lightly. “…Are you sure you want me to put it on the table?”

“Put it there like I said. Why are you talking so damn much?!”

The shout from the next room made Shen Wenyan instinctively toss the folder onto the table.

He immediately bolted out in a flash.

Ying Xize was still holding his thermos. His sitting posture was completely unchanged.

Judging by Shen Wenyan’s uneasy actions, the folder likely held confidential documents from the Seventh Squad, but nothing about it caught Ying Xize’s interest.

However, Shen Wenyan had ended up leaving rather hastily after getting yelled at by Su Fengzhou.

At the exact moment he dashed out of the room, the folder he had tossed onto the table failed to land securely and slid off to the floor moments later.

Clatter—!

The photos inside were scattered neatly across the floor.

Ying Xize wasn’t someone particularly prone to curiosity, but at this moment, even if he hadn’t meant to look, he had ended up seeing everything clearly.

His motion of taking a sip paused slightly. “?”

“What happened? Did something fall?” Su Fengzhou’s hearing was sharp. The second he heard a small noise, he came straight from the next room.

As soon as he entered the room, he saw Ying Xize picking up the photos from the floor.

The way he leaned forward slightly and looked up at the sound made the sharp line of his jaw stand out even more.

And there was unmistakably a hint of questioning in those clear, aloof eyes.

Photos lay scattered messily across the floor. Each one showed the person in different outfits and from various angles, but the expression in every shot was the same, as indifferent as the man standing in the room.

The photos of Ying Xize that had once been seen in the media were now slowly blending with the real, three-dimensional figure standing before him. It gave Su Fengzhou the strange illusion that countless versions of Ying Xize were staring at him all at once. It left him momentarily frozen, completely stuck in place.

Ying Xize raised an eyebrow slightly. “Captain Su, your taste is… quite unique?”

That tone, caught between amused and not quite amused, carried an unspoken message that felt exactly like someone questioning a creepy stalker.

The Seventh Squad’s captain, who had never blinked even in high-risk situations, unexpectedly stammered for once. “Uh… let me explain.”

Ying Xize leaned back slowly in his chair, his long index fingers folded in front of him. The way he sat was completely relaxed, and his expression clearly said, ‘I’ll just quietly listen to how you try to talk your way out of this.’ “Mm, please go ahead.”

Su Fengzhou: “……”

Shen Wenyan, I’ll kill you!