novelraw Chapter 293: What Kind of Scene Will It Be?
Chapter 293: What Kind of Scene Will It Be?
These words continuously hammered against him.
They carried condescending pity.
They carried undisguised disgust.
They carried self-righteous judgment.
Su Zhan remained silent throughout.
These words could not shake him in the slightest.
These worldly insults, compared to the power and survival he pursued, were insignificant.
Su Zhan now had only one conviction.
To survive, to become stronger, strong enough to look down upon these masses of ordinary people, strong enough that no one could ever place him in such a situation again.
The humiliation of this moment meant nothing.Chewing the cold, hard food, Su Zhan shut out all the noise, leaving only the direction forward, as clear as ever.
...
At a certain branch of the Aberrant Purge Division.
Inside a brightly lit command center.
Han Xiao sprawled casually in the chair at the head position, his feet crossed and propped on the edge of the conference table, idly playing with a pen in his hand, a look of impatience on his face.
Beside him sat the Ice-Winged Woman.
Ling Shuang's expression was cold and stern as she carefully watched the constantly scrolling data streams on the light screen ahead.
Below them.
More than a dozen members of the Aberrant Purge Division sat rigidly upright, the atmosphere heavy.
A middle-aged officer in charge of intelligence summarization wiped sweat from his brow, pointing at the red marker on the light screen representing the last known location where "Chen Qing" disappeared, and reported:
"Special Agents Han, Ling, according to all our tracking records, after the target Chen Qing clashed with our forces on the outskirts of Dingyuan City, all traces of his activity... vanished as if evaporated into thin air."
Another data analyst added, "We reviewed surveillance from all transportation hubs in and around Dingyuan City, highways, even rural backroads, including records of unlicensed taxis...
No targets matching his physical description were found.
It seems he... didn't use any means of transportation at all."
"Bullshit! A living person, a high-risk Aberrant at that, with such severe injuries, how the hell could he just fly away?"
Han Xiao threw the pen onto the table. He glanced at Ling Shuang beside him: "Oh, right, he *can* fly. But didn't we have the skies covered too? Didn't you guys even welcome him with missiles? He couldn't have been blown to dust, could he?"
"The explosion zone was thoroughly searched. No biological tissue residue belonging to the target was found."
Ling Shuang spoke coldly, "He must have escaped using some method unknown to us and successfully concealed himself."
Han Xiao irritably ran a hand through his hair and took his feet off the conference table: "This isn't right, it's really fucking off! A living person, an injured Aberrant, how could he leave absolutely no trace? We had the skies locked down tight, we turned the ground upside down, could he have burrowed into the earth?"
An intelligence officer below spoke cautiously, "Special Agents Han, Ling, we've analyzed all possibilities, including him using some unknown spatial teleportation technology, or having external assistance..."
Another chimed in, "Or perhaps, he possesses an extremely advanced concealment technique that evaded all our detection."
"Nonsense! Spatial teleportation? If he had that ability, he'd have escaped long ago."
Han Xiao slammed the table abruptly, "No matter how advanced the concealment technique, could it leave not a single flaw? He has to eat, he has to move, right? How the hell did this kid do it? Could he really not eat or drink, just lie low for months?"
Ling Shuang was silent for a moment before saying slowly, "There's another possibility... he chose a mode of movement we completely didn't anticipate."
Han Xiao stopped pacing and looked at her, "What do you mean?"
Ling Shuang shook her head, "I don't know. But conventional search logic seems to have completely failed regarding him."
The meeting room fell into silence.
Everyone felt a sense of powerlessness.
They were facing an opponent far more cunning than they had imagined.
"Continue expanding the search area! Adjust the detection parameters!"
Han Xiao finally waved his hand in frustration, "I refuse to believe he can keep hiding forever. Go over every possible scenario, no matter how absurd!"
The orders were relayed.
This Chen Qing was proving much more troublesome than they had anticipated.
Where exactly was he hiding?
By what means did he vanish right under everyone's noses?
The stalemate in the command center lasted for several days.
They were unable to change the reality that Chen Qing had seemingly evaporated from the face of the earth.
Faced with this target who had completely slipped from their control and expectations, continuing the deadlock was just a waste of time.
During a high-level video conference.
Han Xiao, running his hands through his hair in frustration, finally brought up that name: "Damn it, this is no way to go on! I think... we need to get that guy Qin Bai over here!"
The moment that name was mentioned.
Even Ling Shuang, who had maintained a cold expression, had a slight flicker in her eyes.
On the other end of the video conference, an elder from headquarters pondered for a moment, "Qin Bai? He's currently handling several Transcendence Society hideouts in southern Daxia, and... you know his style."
"Is this the fucking time to talk about style? What's more important, face or catching that slippery eel?"
Han Xiao snorted, "Letting him escape right under our noses, *that's* what's truly embarrassing. That guy Qin Bai might be a freak, but his case resolution rate speaks for itself. The number of Aberrants and Transcendence Society scum who've died by his hand is more than all of us here combined."
He wasn't exaggerating.
Qin Bai was a name that commanded awe within the Aberrant Purge Division.
He was a graduate of Vermilion Bird Academy.
He was known for his keen insight and his ruthless, no-holds-barred methods.
Rumors said he once pinpointed a secret hideout where a target had been hiding for years, based solely on a faint residual aura on a discarded everyday item.
He once started from an ordinary, seemingly unrelated missing person's case, followed the clues, and ultimately dismantled a major, long-established branch of the Transcendence Society.
More rumors about his interrogation methods were filled with a bloody scent. It was said that any Aberrant who fell into his hands, no matter how tight-lipped, would eventually spill everything they knew, begging only for a quick end.
They had all heard these things.
It couldn't be helped. Anyone in the Aberrant Purge Division had heard Qin Bai's name.
The two of them were also here to assist the Aberrant Purge Division with the investigation.
Over so many days, they had heard Qin Bai's name and deeds countless times.
Now they happened to have a problem they couldn't solve.
Inviting him over.
They didn't feel the slightest bit embarrassed about asking for help.
They only felt that letting the target escape from under their own noses was the real embarrassment.
"I agree with Han Xiao's suggestion. The target Chen Qing's behavior pattern exceeds our current analytical framework."
Ling Shuang spoke in support, "Special Agent Qin Bai... might be able to provide a different perspective."
The elder at headquarters weighed the options for a moment and finally nodded, "Alright. I will issue a transfer order immediately, instructing Qin Bai to wrap up his current tasks and proceed to your branch with the highest priority to assist."
When the news spread.
The expressions of some agents in the command center became somewhat subtle.
Qin Bai's arrival meant the investigation would enter a more aggressive phase.
Han Xiao grinned, "Qin Bai... Heh, I'm actually a bit looking forward to it. You, the Aberrant hunter, against that slippery kid... what kind of scene will that be?"