Chapter 130: The Return

Five minutes later, the noise on the shore ceased.

Unable to suppress his curiosity any longer, and with his lungs running low on air, he quietly surfaced.

"Damn it!"

Lu Shangbai, emerging from the lake in a bedraggled state, was completely stunned.

"You... you, you, how are you here?!"

He stared blankly at the person before him, then glanced at the massive, severed carcass of the rotor-dragonfly lying nearby. He never imagined that he would have to rely on Ji Cheng to resolve the situation yet again.

"I stole Old Yao's aircraft and was on my way back when I happened to see you swimming in the water as I passed by," Ji Cheng said, gesturing toward the "Hunter" aircraft parked quietly not far away. "So I came down to help."

After Shana detected Lu Shangbai with her biological scanning equipment and quickly spotted the rotor-dragonfly several hundred meters away—recognizing it as a Gate-level mutated animal—Ji Cheng immediately brought the aircraft down.

Despite the imposing names of these aircraft, such as "Osprey" or "Hunter," they were actually just utility vehicles meant for patrol and surveillance before the disaster, and they carried no weapon systems. After all, if any real trouble arose, one would simply report it to the planetary network for more professional intervention.

When Nanshang New City later acquired these craft, they didn't bother adding offensive capabilities, as doing so would have compromised flight balance and increased wind resistance. Consequently, whenever trouble struck, they had to land and rely on close-quarters combat to solve the problem.

"You’re something else, really. You took down such a terrifying mutated animal in just a few minutes," Lu Shangbai remarked, marveling as he stared at the rotor-dragonfly’s corpse, which was still emitting sparks. "No wonder an armor-piercing round whizzed past me earlier and missed. I was wondering how a rotor-dragonfly with such sharp vision could miss its target... It must have been fighting you at the time. That was a stray shot."

Ji Cheng, who had been about to offer an explanation, nearly choked on his own spit when he heard this.

In truth, Ji Cheng had launched his attack just as the rotor-dragonfly was excreting, exposing its Malpighian tubules. Lu Shangbai must have been right underneath it at that moment.

"Ah, yeah, that’s right," Ji Cheng said. He walked back with Lu Shangbai and tossed him a pack of tissues. "Maybe you should wipe yourself off first."

At that moment, apart from the whites of his eyes, every inch of Lu Shangbai was black and shiny—even his teeth were pitch-black. It was a comical sight whenever he opened his mouth to speak.

Lu Shangbai, well aware of how ridiculous he looked, wiped his face and body frantically, leaving a pile of sticky black machine oil on the ground.

"I’d also suggest you rinse your mouth out."

"Why?" Lu Shangbai asked dismissively. "It's just a bit of machine oil."

"Well, actually... I snuck up on it while it was using the bathroom."

"Huh?" Lu Shangbai froze. He instantly recalled the yellow particles he had seen in the water earlier and rushed to the riverbank to dry-heave. "It’s a good thing only you saw that, or my lifelong reputation would be completely ruined."

"Heh... heh," Ji Cheng chuckled awkwardly. He didn't have the heart to tell Lu Shangbai that his ship was packed with people, and everyone had seen everything.

Once Lu Shangbai had cleaned the grime from his face and mouth, Li Xiaoli and Qiu Ding approached them.

"Honey, you were definitely just bragging before!"

They had been watching from a distance, observing the entire process of Ji Cheng slaying the rotor-dragonfly.

"What do you mean bragging? I calculated that Brother Ji would come to help me, you know nothing!"

The married couple immediately began bickering.

"Councilor, sir..." Qiu Ding’s back seemed unable to straighten. Being significantly shorter than Ji Cheng, he had to look up at him, his face still etched with disbelief.

In all his life, he had never seen a mutated animal killed with such clinical precision. Every move was a lethal blow, targeting the opponent's weaknesses and flaws, and Ji Cheng retreated immediately after each strike, never greedy for more. By the end of the fight, he hadn't even sustained a single scratch.

The old saying goes that those involved in the fray are often lost, but under normal circumstances, it is nearly impossible to accurately identify an opponent's flaws during combat, let alone strike them every single time.

It was terrifying!

"Yes, you’ve worked hard," Ji Cheng said, patting Qiu Ding on the shoulder.

Because time was tight earlier, he hadn't used the stress-response method, opting instead to end the fight quickly with Shana’s assistance. He hadn't intended to scare Qiu Ding so badly.

After finishing their argument, Lu Shangbai pulled Li Xiaoli over to Ji Cheng. "By the way, let me introduce you. This is my dearest wife, Li Xiaoli."

Ji Cheng looked at the petite Li Xiaoli, remembered Lu Shangbai’s previous words, and straightened his expression. "Hello, sister-in-law."

"Nice to meet you, Ji-Bao!"

Ji Cheng: ?

Lu Shangbai shrugged helplessly. "It’s from that mine exam you participated in. I wanted to show off a bit and had my wife watching on the television, and who would have known..."

Ji Cheng sighed. "Alright, whatever. Hurry up and get your aircraft out of the hangar; it’s time to go."

Lu Shangbai shook his head. "I still have to go pick up the families of the others. We’ve already agreed on it."

Sigh, there was no hiding it anymore.

Ji Cheng gestured, and the cabin door of the "Hunter" slid open. Inside, a large group of dependents of the ability-users stared at Lu Shangbai with expressions that were polite but profoundly awkward.

Word had gotten out that you were showered in manure.

"Brother Lu, a good man must learn to be strong."

After saying this, Ji Cheng noticed Lu Shangbai’s expression was desolate, his grief as heavy as a specimen preserved in formaldehyde. Ji Cheng wanted to pat his shoulder, but he hesitated, his hand hovering in the air before he silently walked away.

Anyone could feel the thick, unshakable sorrow radiating from Lu Shangbai.

...

Seven o'clock in the morning.

Led by Huang Long, all the remaining ability-users—except for Fu Ting, who stayed behind to guard the base and look after the heavily injured Zhou Ze—set out for the rescue mission.

*Tap-tap—tap-tap—*

Their tactical boots struck the ground in a rhythmic, muffled cadence, thanks to the special cushioning pads on the soles. The goal was to minimize noise in the wilderness to avoid attracting the attention of mutated animals.

Inside the Grey Zone Guard Station, in the operations briefing room, the ability-users were fully armed and lined up in a row.

"The most likely place for Councilors Ji and Yao to appear is the nearest subway entrance. Once we head out, we will search in that direction first," Huang Long said, leading the team. "I believe everyone knows how dire the situation in Nanshang is. We have lost our Speaker, three councilors, the military, a large number of ability-users, and even our city."

"We must find the two missing councilors; everything else must take a backseat to this goal. However, in the process, please protect yourselves. We cannot afford any more losses."

The group nodded silently.

In truth, everyone knew deep down that they would likely only find one of the two missing councilors.

And—

Everyone was secretly hoping that Ji Cheng would return safely.

As for Yao Lun? Truly, no one was that close to him.

Centipede and Liu Fangjian hung at the back of the team.

"Old Liu, don't look so sour. Your kids will be fine," Centipede whispered, trying to console him. "There’s no need to doubt the defenses of an underground safe house; it has a three-layer structure. And there’s plenty of food."

The primary purpose of an underground safe house was to provide shelter during mutated animal attacks, so they were stocked year-round with large amounts of long-lasting emergency rations.

"I know," Liu Fangjian nodded slightly. He knew Centipede was right, and he owed Ji Cheng a huge debt of gratitude, so it was only right that they find the missing Ji Cheng first.

But he couldn't help but feel a flicker of worry in his heart.

*Clang, clang, clang, clang—*

They had just stepped out of the operations briefing room when the glass surrounding them began to rattle violently.