Chapter 144.2 – Fire Seed (13)
◎ Who kidnapped Song Ke? ◎
Zhuang Qingyan brazenly hinted, “Miss Ye, why don’t you use your permissions to check if there were any unauthorized individuals in the building this morning?”
Ye Zimei took a deep breath and cut the video feed, saying, “Please wait a moment.”
A few seconds later, she returned with a decisive tone, “I have confirmed that there is no abnormal entry or exit in the Awakener Department. We are a legitimate and compliant organization. We wouldn’t detain an S-level without cause. Why do you think Song Ke would be with us?”
Zhuang Qingyan carefully observed Ye Zimei’s subtle expressions. Her face displayed anger, grievance, and the resentment of being misunderstood, appearing completely unaware.
Zhuang Qingyan raised the corner of his lips, devoid of any hint of a smile. He suddenly changed the topic, “What is Commander He busy with today?”
Ye Zimei’s anger abruptly stopped, and an idea that made her scalp numb flashed like lightning.
Perhaps… Zhuang Qingyan’s true suspicion wasn’t directed at her.
“…I apologize, Commander He’s schedule is confidential to the outside world,” Ye Zimei’s voice quieted down. After some thought, she continued, “But she has a tight schedule today, personally attending all the meetings. She wouldn’t choose this time… for something like that.”
Accused of being involved in a kidnapping early in the morning, Ye Zimei grew increasingly displeased with her thoughts, raising her voice, “Song Ke and V587 were both brought into the Northern Base by me. Rest assured, I will follow up on this matter and give you an explanation.”
After saying this, she abruptly ended the communication with a “click.”
Zhuang Qingyan looked at the dark screen and tossed the terminal to Lu Xiaoyu.
“I want information on all S-level awakeners in the Northern Base, including detailed classifications, types of abilities, and… their current locations.”
Lu Xiaoyu didn’t catch the terminal, and a rare trace of hesitation appeared on his face.
Zhuang Qingyan and Lu Xiaoyu were the only two in V587 who hadn’t switched to District B terminals. These two individuals lived like primitive people, one rarely using electronic devices, living like a caveman every day, occasionally borrowing Song Ke’s terminal to catch up on some news. The other immersed himself in various instruments, using only the outdated District C terminal, and in his words — for safety and pollution-free purposes.
Lu Xiaoyu stared at the sparkling little bee, his voice showing no fluctuations, “Are you asking me to establish a deep consciousness connection?”
Zhuang Qingyan nodded, “Yes.”
To crack the location of an S-level awakener, it required breaking through the District B firewall and hacking into the District B network. In other words, Lu Xiaoyu could only accomplish this using the District B terminal.
“…She will find me,” Lu Xiaoyu uttered a mysteriously profound statement.
Zhuang Qingyan remained impassive, “What’s this? Six years ago, you could cripple her during her peak, and now you’re trembling just standing in front of her?”
Lu Xiaoyu’s ice-blue pupils suddenly stood up, the veins on the back of his hand protruding, revealing a sharp combat stance. Zhuang Qingyan confronted him without giving an inch, his eyes resembling the deep mouth of a volcano, ready to spew out scalding lava at any moment.
“Letting you play the driver a few times, messing around with some parts, living in comfort for too long, and you start considering yourself useless?”
“Have you forgotten— you’re also an early awakener.”
The tense atmosphere between the two scared the other members into silence. It felt like if Zhuang Qingyan said one more word, Lu Xiaoyu would break ties with him.
In the dead silence, Zhuang Qingyan asked one word at a time, “In her presence, can you find Song Ke, erase any traces of intrusion, and retreat without a trace? Can you still do that now?”
Lu Xiaoyu’s face showed no expression. Without uttering a word, he picked up the terminal. His chromium arm slightly shimmered as he connected to the data port.
With his movement, the entire living room was covered in a dazzling silver light. Vast amounts of data, like a galaxy, flowed slowly above their heads. It seemed as if everyone had stepped into a virtual world, surrounded by various intricate and jumping lines of code.
Lu Xiaoyu slightly closed his eyes. The silver hair flowed without wind, and with his body as the center, tendrils of data barbarically grew, expanding their territory unscrupulously, gradually occupying every corner of the apartment.
Unable to hold back, Xu Xing mumbled, “He looks like a tree…”
…
In a city far away from the Northern Base,
Inside a spacious greenhouse, the environment was silent, and only a withered giant tree stood. Suddenly, it sensed something, and its roots emitted a cherry blossom-colored glow. A pair of inorganic eyes slowly opened, calm yet ancient, whispering words like a murmur:
“I see you, my child.”
However, the faint light vanished in an instant, quickly fading into the boundless ocean of data, leaving no trace.
Yet, the almost withered giant tree lit up. Its branches rustled, sounding like countless children clapping in joy. Tiny signs of life sprouted, one after another, and a soft cherry blossom glow surged into the sky, enveloping the entire city in a hazy halo of light.
…
Back at the Garden Apartment, Lu Xiaoyu still had his eyes closed. However, apart from Song Ke, the information of the eight other S-level individuals in the Northern Base appeared before him.
Thanks to the special terminal that He Qiuhong had sent to S-level awakeners and the good habit of carrying it around by B District personnel, under the tracing of the top-level hacker Lu Xiaoyu, the positions of these individuals were nowhere to hide:
– Ken Oda: S2-level Engineering-type, located ten kilometers away in the Ocean District.
– Ling Yan and Ling Yue: S6-level Double Attack-type, located in the Awakener Department building. Today happened to be their regular reporting day.
– Zhao Yuqing: S2-level Water-type, located a few thousand kilometers away in District C.
– Zhigler: S3-level Constraint-type, located somewhere in the city.
– Xi Ze: S3-level Domain-type, located somewhere in the city.
Two unknown S-level individuals: Located at the Governor’s Mansion, where the firewall level was the highest. Lu Xiaoyu didn’t bother continuing to crack it because the answer was already clear.
Zhigler and Xi Ze, one with constraint ability and the other with domain ability, were currently in the same location. Typically, S-level individuals would have a sense of territory. Unless like the Ling siblings, who were twins, they rarely gathered together outside of missions.
Various scenarios of the two coordinating their abilities to catch Song Ke off guard immediately surfaced in Zhuang Qingyan’s mind.
“Where is this?” he asked with a deep voice.
“The map doesn’t have a label, only showing it’s a controlled area. Risk level: H (High Risk),” Lu Xiaoyu replied.
Zhuang Qingyan stood upright, exhaling a long breath.
“Let’s go.”
“Captain has always been the one to save us, but this time, it’s our turn to save the Captain.”
Su Cha carried a box of spiritual weapons out of the room and quickly attached them to his arms and legs. Fang Zhixu pulled out several bags of hot weapons specifically purchased for completing missions, clumsily attempting to assemble them. Lu Xiaoyu took over silently and, with six arms moving in unison, quickly assembled the weapons.
Zhuang Qingyan led the five of them out of the apartment, and the others followed behind him, keenly aware of one thing:
—He wasn’t in a wheelchair.
*
Brightly lit laboratory.
Song Ke’s arms were being carried by the twins, gliding through the long corridor. Since she couldn’t escape for the time being, she decided to close her eyes and pretend to sleep.
She appeared to be asleep, but in reality, she deliberately let the enemy relax their guard, secretly using her awakened energy to sense any movements outside.
After a while, Song Ke was brought into a sealed capsule. Inside, it was empty with no furniture; even the tables and chairs were absent. The personnel here were informed that she could use transformations with her ability, so they cleared the space in advance.
Ling Yue opened the terminal across the transparent glass, and on the other end of the line, a holographic image of He Qiuhong appeared:
“Song Ke, I have another meeting. To keep it short, Dr. Ning is an expert in genetic engineering. He will conduct a comprehensive examination on you while ensuring your personal safety. Please cooperate in any case.”
He Qiuhong, accustomed to being in a superior position, employed a mix of soft and hard approaches in her speech, leaving Song Ke somewhat speechless.
In her mind, Song Ke couldn’t help but sneer: Cooperate? You’ve already captured me, and there’s an S-level eyeing me. How is this not considered “cooperating”?
After He Qiuhong finished speaking, she quickly ended the communication, appearing genuinely busy.
With the Ling siblings having completed their task and leaving gracefully, only Zhigler and Xi Ze remained at the scene. The two of them intertwined their abilities, showing no signs of interruption. They guarded Song Ke vigilantly from the outside.
After lingering in place for a moment, Song Ke slowly yawned and sat down, cross-legged.
Feeling bored, she looked around, left and right. Suddenly, a glint of light flashed across the corner of her eye. Song Ke paused slightly, then suddenly lifted her head. In the completely sealed and narrow space, a glaring light shone from above, and a bright red dot flickered intermittently in the high air. It was the light from a surveillance camera.
Song Ke stared at it intently for a while, somewhat in a daze. Her pupils gradually contracted due to the strong light, and in the all-white background, her two eyes appeared remarkably black.
