Chapter 62#

Wandering Photos 08#

According to the recounting of the two interrogators and the restoration of surveillance footage, when the incident occurred, they were still interrogating the newly awakened individual.

—His name was Zhu Wenxin.

The interrogators wanted to know when and under what circumstances he had awakened his ability, and why, despite repeated official warnings against using abilities in the urban area, he had chosen to use his ability to retaliate against Tang Beihe.

Zhu Wenxin insisted it was an ability riot beyond his control. After the interrogators used surveillance footage and witness testimonies to puncture the holes in his story, he refused to speak further, only repeating that he wanted to see his brother.

“Why does he want to see his brother?” He Ziyue, who was observing, couldn’t help interrupting.

“His brother serves at the Central Base as the captain of the N-zone Third Squad. He’s also one of the earliest batches of Awakeners at the base,” the narrator patiently explained to her.

Before Shen Xuanyi and his group returned to reality—that is, before the earliest “Esper” appeared in the real world—those who could wield something akin to psychokinetic abilities with various attribute enhancements were an absolute, unmatched combat force.

As these individuals awakened their attributes, their physical capabilities also saw significant improvement, making them unquestionably battle-oriented talents.

Even now, as the number of Espers continues to grow, the average combat level of the old-era Awakeners is still capable of directly overwhelming the Espers.

At least for the present and the next three to five years, the main force active on the front lines will continue to be this batch of Awakeners, not the Espers with their varied and not necessarily useful abilities.

—That is a later story, but it’s also one of the reasons these people are valued and respected.

Just as the base forbids all Awakeners from using their abilities arbitrarily in the urban area—a measure meant to protect ordinary citizens—the administrators of the urban area also grant certain privileges to the relatives of base staff.

The relatives of Awakeners are even more of a priority.

Leaving aside the generous welfare benefits, even if those relatives go around causing trouble, the administrators turn a blind eye.

After all, they are the loved ones of heroes; punishing them casually would risk chilling the hearts of the defenders who risk their lives outside.

Administrators ignore it and sometimes even intentionally show favoritism, and ordinary people have even less courage to “discipline” them.

The thugs who loiter around the city causing trouble are basically these “heroes’ relatives.”

Their “hero” relatives either have no time to discipline them or simply turn a blind eye, letting their family members bully others by borrowing their authority, which only makes them more and more reckless and lawless.

Zhu Wenxin was one of them.

Whether his situation belonged to the former or the latter category was still unclear.

After the interrogators pulled up his file, they discovered that his brother had recently taken a mission and left the base. According to the estimated schedule, he was expected to return with his team within a day or two.

Murder and arson are considered serious crimes; there’s no way he could be let off lightly just because of his brother’s influence.

But when the outcome is already fixed, some minor concessions can be made.

For example, before sending Zhu Wenxin to prison, they could let his brother meet with him first, have a talk, and perhaps offer some guidance and education to prevent him from feeling too resentful behind bars.

So the two interrogators discussed it and applied to their superiors to postpone the interrogation until the next day.

Zhu Wenxin, thinking he had gotten the better of them, felt smug and imagined giving them a hard time once his brother returned.

One interrogator, irritated, taunted him, saying his brother might end up being dragged down by him in the end.

Zhu Wenxin wasn’t skilled at verbal sparring; after a few exchanges, he was so angry he nearly lost control.

Seeing the situation turn dangerous, the older interrogator quickly pulled his colleague out and shut the door behind them.

Then, after about ten minutes of clattering noises, the room fell silent.

Other supervisors who came to assist opened the door together and saw Zhu Wenxin lying face up on the floor, eyes rolled back, foaming at the mouth. His heart had stopped beating, and his body was as cold as if it had been dragged out of an ice locker.

In an instant, the criminal interrogation became a death investigation.

Chu Chenli and Mu Yanshen were once listed as suspects—they could be considered the last people to attack Zhu Wenxin.

Of course, the two interrogators were also under investigation.

But after the body was sent for examination, the preliminary report quickly cleared them of suspicion.

Zhu Wenxin had died from his own ability riot.

All the blood in his body had frozen solid. Even three hours after death, when the body was opened, the blood still contained ice crystals, more like slow-flowing slush than liquid.

Among everyone who had come into contact with him, no one had an ability matching those characteristics—except himself.

Shen Xuanyi, who had been buried in other work, took a break and took full charge of this incident. By the time he arrived at the laboratory, Chu Chenli and Mu Yanshen had just received news of their release and were also heading to the lab.

After a preliminary medical examination, the body was immediately sent to the research institute. It now lay quietly on the experimental table in the doctor’s personal lab.

The body was opened from chest to abdomen, exposing the internal organs, which were a gruesome mess.

Perhaps due to the effect of low-temperature freezing, the organs weren’t a bloody pulp like a typical corpse. Instead, they looked like frost-covered cotton wadding, splitting into pieces and lying messily in the abdominal cavity.

Considering this was a normal human body, the sight was even more horrifying than a bloody mess.

But having encountered many strange things, Shen Xuanyi was no longer fazed.

He glanced at the body briefly, then shifted his gaze to the doctor pacing around the lab and asked, “Did you have a grudge against him?”

“No,” the doctor said, glancing quickly before returning his attention to the report in his hand. “This is our first meeting. And it’s a one-sided one on my part.”

Shen Xuanyi was dubious. “Then what’s this all about?”

Without turning back, he pointed precisely at the body’s abdomen.

The doctor explained, “The abdomen was opened by the pathologist. Everything else is reportedly still in its original state.”

It was precisely because of this unusual condition that the body had been urgently sent to the institute.

Recalling the information from the briefing, Shen Xuanyi asked, “So his ability isn’t just ice formation? Something like a dual ability with an internal tornado?”

“No—the latest generation ability-monitoring devices can roughly differentiate ability attributes. While not extremely clear or accurate, if there had been a second ability, it would have shown up in the monitoring data. But this guy, from the first time he was monitored, only ever had one ability.”

As he spoke, the doctor paced to a corner of the lab, picked up an object from a test box, and held it up for Shen Xuanyi to see.

A black stone, about the size of two little fingernails.

Under the bright laboratory lights, the small stone appeared even darker and duller.

Shen Xuanyi’s breath caught. “This is…”

The doctor slowly placed the stone back into the box. “I just found it in his stomach—this is the most interesting part of the whole matter. Swallowing something this large is already very difficult. Accidental ingestion is nearly impossible. Besides, the damage to his esophagus wasn’t severe. He was very careful when swallowing, using various methods to lubricate it. It looks more like he swallowed it voluntarily.”

“I heard that he was only first monitored using his ability today, so his awakening couldn’t have happened much earlier than that,” Shen Xuanyi said. “Can you tell when he swallowed it?”

The doctor pointed at the body’s stomach. “Based on the initial coating material, it was at the earliest yesterday. The most likely timeframe is between noon and evening yesterday.”

Shen Xuanyi speculated, “So we can’t be sure if that stone caused his ability awakening?”

“Hard to say,” the doctor shrugged. “But I lean toward coincidence. However, his death is definitely related to that stone.”

Energy resonance, then from the inside out—boom—

The doctor made an explosion gesture.

“Lucky for him, his ability was freezing. Otherwise, the death scene would have been much uglier.”

Shen Xuanyi gave a noncommittal reply: “Just write the report truthfully.”

For him, the case was closed.

Once the final body examination report was complete, along with a summary report posted together, it would essentially prove that this was an unfortunate accident caused by his own misjudgment.

“A’li and Xiao Mu—”

“The dead deserve some dignity,” Shen Xuanyi interrupted the doctor.

The implication was that he wouldn’t bring up what happened in the urban area, and naturally wouldn’t drag A’li and Xiao Mu into it.

“I was going to say, there’s something you might want to see,” the doctor said, pulling out a few pages from his hand and handing them to Shen Xuanyi.

“These are the ability fluctuations recorded by today’s monitor. Four times in total. The strongest fluctuation belongs to our deceased friend. The next one is A’li, and the last two are Xiao Mu.”

It was hard to distinguish between the latter two just by looking at the intensity values, since all three of the later fluctuations were almost infinitely close to zero.

“I suspect the main reason is that their positions were too close to the monitor. If they had been a few dozen meters farther away, the monitor might not have picked up any values at all.”

Shen Xuanyi flipped through the thin pages from front to back and then back again.

“Maybe it’s because their control is better.”

As if expecting that response, the doctor turned and picked up a tablet from the desk, pulling up a past electronic analysis report for Shen Xuanyi to see.

“This is monitoring data from a month ago for Hua Jin and He Ziyue—He Ziyue actually helped refine this monitoring system.”

Both of them had awakened their abilities early in the game, and with healing and data-oriented support abilities like theirs, it stood to reason that they used their abilities far more frequently than the average attack-type Esper.

Even if they were exceptionally gifted, Hua Jin’s and He Ziyue’s control over their abilities shouldn’t be inferior to Chu Chenli’s—Mu Yanshen had a different background, so he could be considered separately.

But on Hua Jin’s and He Ziyue’s reports, even the lightest use of their abilities still showed clearly identifiable fluctuations within a three-hundred-meter radius.

Shen Xuanyi put the report down, looked at the doctor, and asked softly, “What are you trying to say?”

“If there’s any difference, it’s that Chu Chenli and Mu Yanshen have both been in contact with those stones for a longer time. This monitor can’t detect the energy fluctuations of the stones… I’m wondering, what will become of those Awakeners or Espers in the end? Will they pass on their abilities as a new genetic component generation after generation? Or will they eventually be assimilated?”

“Is that so?” Shen Xuanyi shook his head. “I think those things are simply responding to humans’ strong desires.”

But that doesn’t explain the final outcome.

The doctor put away his reports when an assistant knocked to announce a visitor. “I wish I could be as optimistic as you.”

Shen Xuanyi smiled. “We always need some hope for the future.”

Someone knocked on the door.

The doctor said, “Come in.”

Chu Chenli peeked in, saw only the doctor and Shen Xuanyi, and walked straight in, followed by Mu Yanshen.

Seeing the gruesome state of the corpse, Chu Chenli clearly froze.

For a moment, he almost thought he had fallen into that recurring dream again, but then he saw the corpse’s face.

Frozen blue and purple, but clearly not Tang Beihe.

The doctor’s voice came from the side. “When you saw him earlier, did you notice anything else unusual?”