295: Dinosaur Man

Wei Ziqing and Wang Yu cautiously descended the old wooden stairs, which groaned under their weight.

In the darkness below, a faint but steady glow gradually emerged, resembling the yellow light of an old-fashioned incandescent bulb. It was accompanied by a stuffy, turbid air—an indescribable mix of old belongings and some kind of biological scent.

The two stopped at the bottom of the stairs where there was a corner. The light and the sound of voices were coming from the other side. Holding their breath, they quietly peeked around the corner.

Wang Yu's two Clones, who had descended before them, were crouching in the shadows of the corner, looking inside. They turned back to give the original body and Wei Ziqing a "shhh" and a "look over there" gesture.

The original Wang Yu and Wei Ziqing crept over silently. The four of them remained hidden in the shadows together, looking toward the light source.

It was a basement that wasn't very spacious but was kept relatively clean. The walls were rough concrete, and boxes and daily necessities were piled in the corners. Most striking was the center of the basement, where a sturdy cage welded from thick rebar occupied nearly half the space.

Inside the cage, a figure sat quietly.

It was indeed an individual that was difficult to define by conventional terms like "human" or "animal."

He had a body shape and sitting posture similar to a human child, but his exposed skin was covered in fine, lustrous dark-green scales, with prominent bony protrusions at the joints.

The contours of his head were closer to certain small dinosaurs or lizards, with a slightly protruding snout. His eyes were striking amber vertical slits, which were currently staring unblinkingly at a spot not far outside the cage with a pure and calm curiosity.

Outside the cage, a sturdy wooden chair had been placed in the open space. Sitting on the chair was the unlucky Boy in the baseball cap who had fallen from above. His eyes were tightly shut and his head was slumped; he was clearly still unconscious, firmly tied to the back of the chair with several loops of hemp rope.

A man stood by the chair, his back turned to Wei Ziqing and the others.

He wore faded old work clothes, his frame slightly hunched, and his gray hair was messy. Viewed from the side and back, his face was etched with deep wrinkles and exhaustion. He looked to be between fifty and sixty years old—not quite an old man, but time and some heavy burden made him appear exceptionally weathered.

He was looking down at the unconscious college student, then looked up uneasily at the broken black hole leading upstairs. His hands rubbed together helplessly as he let out a low, anxious mutter to himself:

"How... how did it get broken into... It's been fine for so many years... What do I do now... I've been discovered... What should I do... He saw... it was also seen... What am I going to do..."

His voice was filled with despair and helplessness, as if the sky were falling.

Meanwhile, the Dinosaur Person in the cage seemed oblivious to the man's anxiety.

It simply continued to use those clear amber vertical pupils to curiously and quietly observe this never-before-seen, strangely dressed, unconscious stranger—a "fellow being." It showed neither aggression nor fear, only a detached, calm observation.

Wei Ziqing observed for a moment and whispered, "It seems this is the place. Since we've found it, let's just go out and explain ourselves."

Wang Yu's original body pulled him back, reminding him in a whisper, "Brother Wei, our identities... is it appropriate to expose them directly? Especially with so many of 'me' here."

He gestured toward himself and the Clones beside him.

Wei Ziqing pondered for a moment and nodded. "Good point." His gaze sharpened. "Then we'll use 'that' identity."

As his voice fell, a biological armor with a plain white base, black patterns, and gold trim silently covered his entire body. Red goggles lit up—the Hero Shadow Form's transformation was complete in an instant.

He no longer hid, stepping out from the shadow of the corner toward the light.

The amber vertical pupils of the Dinosaur Person individual in the cage immediately turned toward him. Its curiosity grew even stronger, and it tilted its head slightly, though it remained quiet.

The weathered man, who had his back turned, heard the footsteps and spun around. His face was instantly filled with shock and a deeper dread.

Seeing the strangely designed and oppressive armored figure that had suddenly appeared, he instinctively took half a step back, shielding the chair of the unconscious college student. His voice was dry and trembling: "Who... who are you?! How did you get in here?!"

Wei Ziqing stopped and, from a distance, replied in a voice that sounded steady but clear through the armor's processing:

"Official personnel. We are investigating Old Records related to 'Abnormally Evolved Individuals' and followed the trail here. I didn't expect to 'meet' in this manner."

His gaze swept over the cage and the unconscious college student. "Now that we have met, it is impossible to turn a blind eye."

The muscles in the man's face twitched, and his eyes darted around frantically. Finally, as if making a decision, he spread his arms in a blocking gesture. His voice rose, but he seemed to be putting on a front:

"What... what do you want to do to my child?! I... I won't allow you to hurt him!" His body language, however, was not firm, and he didn't even dare to meet the gaze of Wei Ziqing's sharp goggles.

"You misunderstand," Wei Ziqing's tone remained unchanged. "The primary principle for official handling of confirmed, stable evolved individuals is evaluation and guidance, not harm.

Whether it is a human or another life form, as long as there is no uncontrollable active danger, we will not lightly resort to termination. We provide a safe environment, necessary observation, and... the possible choice to integrate into the outside world."

The man was stunned and blurted out, "You're... not here to kill him?" He said this too quickly. There was a flash of emotion in his tone that wasn't relief, but rather a sense of something falling through. Though extremely subtle, it was caught by the keen Wei Ziqing—it wasn't relief, but rather a hint of regret.

Wei Ziqing's heart sank slightly, but his voice remained steady. "No."

"No!" The man reacted as if his tail had been stepped on, his voice suddenly becoming intense, though it felt more like a performative resistance.

"I... I won't let you take him away! He only belongs here! Outside... it's too dangerous outside; it's not suitable for him! You don't understand!"

He repeatedly emphasized "danger" and "not suitable," yet he consistently avoided looking at the quiet figure in the cage.

"He only belongs here?" Wei Ziqing took a slight step forward, the red light of his goggles seemingly able to pierce through human hearts. "Have you asked him? How do you know he doesn't want to see what the 'outside' looks like?"

"I'm doing this for his own good! You don't understand!" the man almost repeated, his face a mix of anxiety, feigned toughness, and a deep-seated indifference. "He shouldn't go out! He can't go out!"

Wei Ziqing's voice came through the armor, steady yet carrying a penetrating inquiry: "'Can't go out'—is it because the outside is truly fraught with danger for him, or is it... that what you're afraid of is actually others 'seeing' him? Because seeing him means seeing you as well?"

The man's breath suddenly hitched. He opened his mouth but couldn't immediately make a sound.

Wei Ziqing's gaze was like a physical weight, sweeping over the man's panicked face before finally landing on the quiet figure in the cage. "What is his name? A name, a designation, even just something you call him in private. Have you ever given him one?"

Silence.

The only thing left in the basement was the faint hiss of electricity through the old bulb and the man's increasingly heavy, chaotic breathing. This silence itself was a deafening answer.

"You haven't," Wei Ziqing concluded for him. No emotion could be heard in his voice, yet it made the man feel a chill. "You aren't even willing, or have never even thought, to give him the most basic identifier of identity."

The last trace of forced toughness on the man's face began to crumble, revealing the panicked and helpless foundation beneath.

Wei Ziqing took half a step forward, the glow of his red goggles seemingly locking onto the tiniest flicker in the man's eyes. "And just now, when I said 'I won't kill him'... what you felt wasn't relief. What I heard was a hint of regret. Why?"