Chapter 8 – The scene would’ve looked exactly like a knight rescuing a damsel in distress

The area around Delong Business District had already been strictly controlled, and all entrances were completely sealed off.

Within the perimeter, gate-like security checkpoints were set up at locations used to guide the crowd. People who were originally inside the business district had to pass through these checkpoints and could only leave once the signal turned green.

At the same time, a spiritual barrier erected by more than ten cooperating Guides had already surrounded the massive business district within moments.

Most of those present were regular people without awakened Sentinel or Guide attributes. When they looked toward the business district, all they could see was an empty expanse of land—none of the interior was visible anymore.

Even though they knew the police had set up the perimeter to capture the rumored high-profile fugitive, the intense measures still made the whole atmosphere feel tense.

Many people tried to stay and watch, but they were quickly driven away.

The otherwise orderly evacuation scene became a bit chaotic with the commotion, and the images from various camera angles were transmitted to the monitoring center of the business district, densely filling up the giant LCD screens.

The Investigation Department had completely taken over this monitoring center, relocating all the original staff to other locations. Inside the room, the main special task squad responsible for this operation was also waiting—the Seventh Squad.

Due to the sheer number of surveillance feeds, the area had been divided into five sections, each assigned to someone for thorough inspection.

The report that an infected person had entered Delong Business District came in one hour ago.

Achieving this level of control in such a short time could only be called a lightning-fast response.

They had been pursuing the alienated person for several days, also coordinating with logistics to manage the increasing web of victim relationships. Every member of the Seventh Squad was already feeling extremely exhausted.

And among them, the one bearing the most responsibility was undoubtedly their captain.

Ever since the Chen Mountain Cave incident, Su Fengzhou had been working nonstop and had barely closed his eyes.

Rong Yun glanced at the man sunken into the sofa and asked, “Captain Su, do you want to rest a bit before the operation starts?”

“No need.” Su Fengzhou rejected it without even thinking. He lightly rubbed the center of his forehead with his fingers. After being on call nonstop, his voice sounded a bit hoarse. “Hurry and find that thing. Once it’s dealt with, we can all wrap up and go.”

As he spoke, his gaze casually swept over the wall of surveillance footage—then subtly paused.

“Captain Su, over here!” At that moment, someone finally spotted the infected person, who had mutated beyond recognition, in one of the surveillance feeds.

“Move out.” Su Fengzhou calmly withdrew his gaze and tightened the weapon holster on his side.

After assembling the team in moments, he led them in long strides out the main doors of the monitoring center.

In the surveillance footage that had just caught Su Fengzhou’s attention, a tall figure could be seen speaking with the staff responsible for that area.

Ying Xize held the research institute’s work badge in his hand and calmly introduced himself, “We’re researchers from Team E of the Ning City Research Department. We heard there was an ‘incident’ here, so we came over to take a look—maybe there’s a chance to collect some useful samples.”

The Investigation Department officer managing this checkpoint looked quite young. After dealing with a few loud elders, he seemed a bit frazzled and was slightly distracted by Ying Xize’s appearance. “Ning City Research Department? I don’t think… our captain mentioned anyone from the institute was coming.”

Ying Xize lowered his gaze toward him. “We came on our own. There wasn’t enough time to report this in advance. We rushed over mainly to collect samples immediately. Sorry, are we causing too much trouble?”

“No, not really.” The young officer’s heart skipped a beat under that look. “Please wait a moment; I’ll ask the captain.”

Ying Xize nodded cooperatively. “Alright.”

Watching the officer flee with his communicator, Xiang Jiayan couldn’t help but speak up. “Next time you talk to someone, maybe keep a little more distance.”

Ying Xize: “Why?”

Xiang Jiayan: “…Touch your face and you’ll understand why.”

Ying Xize: “?”

A few minutes later, the young officer finally returned after barely regaining his composure.

His face remained red. To avoid being further distracted by looks, he spoke entirely to Xiang Jiayan without even turning toward Ying Xize. “Our captain said you two can rest in the nearby lounge area. After the Seventh Squad finishes handling the ‘incident,’ someone will escort you to the site for sampling.”

Ying Xize furrowed his brows slightly. “Seventh Squad?”

The young man nodded. “Mhm, this whole operation is being coordinated by Captain Su from the Seventh Squad. It should be resolved soon. Wait here for now. See that green temporary tent? That’s the rest area. I’ve still got work to do, so I won’t walk you over.”

Xiang Jiayan: “It’s fine, we can go ourselves. Thanks.”

The young officer smiled. “You’re welcome.”

On the way to the green temporary shelter, Ying Xize slightly turned his eyes and glanced toward the large business district not far away.

The crowds had already been evacuated. The once bustling business district was now eerily quiet—so quiet it felt unnatural.

No wonder there had been a string of disappearances in Ning City over the past two days. Looking back, they were probably related to this ‘incident.’

As for whether today’s operation would go smoothly, Ying Xize didn’t know. However, one thing was certain—Su Fengzhou’s presence was a major problem for him.

Ever since their first encounter, that man had felt like a persistent shadow.

Everyone was busy with their own missions, and there was no one else inside the green temporary tent.

Ying Xize handed his work badge to Xiang Jiayan. “If someone comes looking for me later, help me handle it.”

Xiang Jiayan frowned. “Where are you going? I’ll go with you.”

“What’s the point of you coming with me, no matter where I go?” Ying Xize glanced at him, a hint of teasing lurking behind his calm expression. “Assistant Xiang, those aliens don’t pose a threat to me. But for you, it’s a different story. I’m not a Sentinel, and I don’t have the reflexes of the Investigation Department. If something goes wrong, I won’t have the strength to protect you.”

Xiang Jiayan was momentarily speechless.

His expression clearly showed reluctance, but deep down, he knew every word Ying Xize said was true.

Before he could respond, Ying Xize shoved the badge into his hand.

Then he pulled a pair of lab gloves from his pocket and slowly put them on his slender hands, tightening the cuffs.

He lifted the curtain and walked out, leaving behind only a sentence. “Wait for me to come back.”

Just like he’d observed earlier, there were barely any figures left in the business district.

The quick response had reduced the damage from the ‘incident’ as much as possible. Still, the many surveillance cameras all around were definitely Ying Xize’s biggest problem at that moment.

After all, he had come without authorization. The fewer complications, the better.

Without knowing the exact situation in the monitoring room, Ying Xize quickly mapped out the optimal path to avoid visible cameras and slipped past them silently.

Delong Business District was vast, and based on that silhouette from the video, Ying Xize couldn’t even be sure the target was still here.

However, as long as there was even a sliver of possibility, he had to search.

The first thing he needed to do now was determine the target’s location.

Ying Xize stood still at the first-floor emergency passage and slowly closed his eyes.

In the next second, a Guide’s spiritual perception burst out with the expansion of his own spiritual power.

If anyone else were present, they would surely be stunned by the sight.

Normally, releasing spiritual power inside a spiritual barrier created by other Guides would already require overwhelming strength. However, to do it on such a large scale, without alerting anyone, revealed a level of spiritual power that could only be described as unfathomable.

Even Rong Yun, the only Guide in the Seventh Squad, might not be able to pull this off.

Under the command of his consciousness, the spiritual tendrils spread outward at an unprecedented speed, rippling layer by layer as they continued to expand.

The spiritual barrier around Delong Business District had been linked together by over a dozen Guides, yet Ying Xize alone was now gradually filling the entire area with his own spiritual power.

Under the heavy spiritual strain, a noticeable layer of fine sweat had unknowingly formed on his forehead. It slowly slid down the side of his face and gathered into a glistening bead at the edge of his jaw.

From the first floor to the top, in a short time, every corner of the space was already within Ying Xize’s consciousness.

He could clearly sense the silhouettes of the Investigation Department members moving through each floor, feel the fully mutant being slowly cornered under their siege, and also sense an incredibly bright and distinct presence within this entire spiritual space.

It appeared as if it were the sole source of light in a world dominated by darkness.

Different levels of Sentinels and Guides manifested differently in this spiritual space, and Su Fengzhou’s overwhelming strength made his presence almost impossible to ignore. He made everyone around him seem dull in comparison.

Just as Ying Xize had mentioned before, even in this spiritual space, the man still had a sharp edge that was hard to miss.

However, top-level Sentinels were more sensitive than others. Ying Xize had his reasons for being here and had no intention of stirring up trouble with Su Fengzhou.

To avoid being noticed by getting too close, he steered his spiritual tendrils silently away from the man as the alien purge operation was about to begin. Following a faint and sharp intuition, he focused his attention on exploring the upper levels.

The stronger the spiritual power, the more it drained the body. Within just a short time, Ying Xize was already drenched in sweat.

In a moment of distraction, he didn’t notice that as he was withdrawing his spiritual tendrils, Su Fengzhou—who was on the second floor—suddenly turned his head as if he had sensed something, looking toward the empty corridor behind him.

Shen Wenyan, who was also taking part in the operation, asked curiously, “What is it, boss?”

Su Fengzhou’s brows furrowed slightly. “Not sure… I had the feeling someone was watching me.”

Shen Wenyan paused, then chuckled. “Who’d be here? Don’t tell me you’ve been on edge for too long and are finally starting to hallucinate?”

Su Fengzhou knew very well it wasn’t his imagination. He frowned slightly but didn’t explain, instead slapping Shen Wenyan on the back, cutting off his usual chatter cleanly and decisively. “Stay focused. Move on.”

Shen Wenyan: “……”

Damn it, wasn’t it you who zoned out earlier?!

With coordinated efforts, the fully mutant were nearly driven into the far northern corner of the third floor.

In the past few days, it had devoured several unlucky pedestrians in the city. Its body had noticeably grown larger after becoming a mutant. As the team closed in from all sides, the squad would be able to complete the operation perfectly as long as the infected person kept retreating along the planned route.

However, just as it passed a certain corridor, the mutant person—until now completely under control—unexpectedly seemed to be drawn to something. Without warning, it changed direction and sprinted wildly toward the staircase.

No one knew why it suddenly went berserk, but its rapid pace quickly left more and more people behind. What was meant to be a calm capture operation instantly turned into a chaotic game of cat and mouse.

“Goddamn it!” Su Fengzhou cursed uncontrollably, quickly adjusting the team formation and pressing down on his weapon holster as he pursued the mutant creature.

At that moment, Ying Xize had just pushed open the rooftop door.

Guided by his spiritual perception, he had sensed the presence of a black hole-like void here. Yet when he stepped out, all he saw was an empty rooftop.

Ying Xize paused for a moment, his eyes sweeping quickly around before he abruptly strode toward the edge of the railing.

When he reached out, his fingertips trembled slightly. With extreme restraint, he pulled down the piece of paper stuck to the railing.

Worn and crumpled, it had a few crooked lines written with who-knew-what tool: [Long time, no see. Please enjoy the special gift prepared precisely for you.]

The handwriting was all too familiar, sending an even stronger chill down Ying Xize’s spine.

His sharp senses immediately detected a sticky, watching gaze. He turned his head up, only to glimpse a figure vanishing around the rooftop corner of the building across from him.

Exactly like the scene he had seen earlier in the video.

Ying Xize clutched the note tightly in his palm, barely managing to force himself calm and suppress the intense tremors flooding his body.

After working to steady his emotions, he stuffed the note into his pocket and finally looked up calmly toward the direction of the approaching footsteps.

Confirming the target’s presence—in a way, he had achieved what he came here for.

As for that so-called ‘special gift’? He didn’t even need to think to know—it wouldn’t be anything pleasant.

Sure enough, the moment a figure appeared at the door, it was already roaring and charging straight at him.

It was moving so fast that Ying Xize barely had time to raise a spiritual barrier—just enough to dangerously dodge the incoming fatal bite.

However, the sheer force of impact sent him crashing hard to the ground simultaneously.

Ying Xize let out a low hiss.

His body had already reached its limit, and for a brief moment, his vision turned black.

That note had taken too much of his attention; he hadn’t even realized that the infected person they were hunting had somehow made it up to the rooftop.

Ying Xize shook his head forcefully, trying to drive away the dizziness.

When he looked up again, he was face-to-face with a wide, drooling mouth full of teeth.

Yet even in such a critical moment, he still took time to observe the specific form of this mutant creature.

His gaze paused shortly on the small mutated tendrils sprouting from the creature’s shoulders.

A glance was enough. At the last possible second, Ying Xize raised a spiritual barrier again.

When he was about to act, a figure burst out from the rooftop door, delivering a swift and clean kick that knocked down the mutant creature. Then, without hesitation, reached out and pulled him up.

The next second, Ying Xize crashed hard into an incredibly broad chest and was immediately locked tightly in a firm embrace.

If not for the words that followed, the scene would’ve looked exactly like a knight rescuing a damsel in distress.

Su Fengzhou’s low, hoarse voice drifted right past his ear. “I’ll ask you later what you’re doing here, Researcher Ying. I hope you’ll have a good explanation for me when the time comes.”

Ying Xize: “……”