350: Chapter 350 (=^･ｪ･^=)

Lu Jianchuan stepped out from the door of the observation room that he had kicked out of shape and walked a few steps down the corridor.

He didn't deactivate his transformation, but simply switched from Explosive Combustion Form back to the basic state. The agitation burning from deep within his body gradually subsided as the dark red energy conduits dimmed.

He raised his wrist and glanced at it—two bracelets, one on each side, silver-gray, reflecting a faint cold light in the dim corridor.

He didn't linger, walking down the stairs; his footsteps were mostly muffled by the armor, sounding dull like the footfalls of a nocturnal animal.

Outside the first-floor foyer, over a dozen beams from tactical flashlights intersected, piercing the darkness.

(Like sunlight piercing through the night, dawn quietly streaks across the horizon.)

Lu Jianchuan stood still at the threshold, his silver-white figure fully exposed in the light. Half of the muzzles opposite him were raised reflexively, but after seeing that iconic streamlined armor, the leader immediately raised a fist—with a swish, all muzzles were simultaneously lowered to the ground.

"silver skeleton!" The Squad Leader hurried forward, mask still on, but his tone was clearly relieved. "After headquarters issued the attack order, we broke in from the south. The experimental zone is under control, and we've just made our way up here."

Lu Jianchuan nodded without much small talk. He raised his right hand and pressed his thumb against the touch zone of the bracelet on the inside of his left wrist.

The silver-white biological armor rapidly vanished from his body like a receding tide, retracting and falling silent into those two slender silver-gray metal rings, revealing the gray hoodie underneath that he had been wearing since last night, its collar sweaty and wrinkled.

Then, the sense of emptiness that had been forcibly suppressed by the armor for nearly twenty minutes hit him like someone giving him a hard shove from behind.

His figure swayed.

The Squad Leader instinctively reached out to support him, while his other hand pulled a bottle of milky-white High-energy Nutrient Solution from a tactical pouch at his waist, unscrewed the cap, and shoved it directly into Lu Jianchuan's hand. Lu Jianchuan didn't stand on ceremony, tilting his head back to gulp down most of the bottle. The cold, viscous liquid slid down his throat like a spoonful of cold oil poured onto an over-revving heart. He leaned on the Squad Leader's forearm, eyes lowered as he panted for a few breaths; it took about half a minute to suppress the weakness that felt like it was trying to press him into the ground.

He shoved the empty bottle back into the other man's hand and straightened up.

"Over there," he pointed behind him toward the building where scattered lights were still on, "the observation room on the east side of the sixth floor. Six investors, none escaped, all lying inside. I knocked them out; they're not dead."

He pulled the silver recording pen from his pants pocket, its metal casing stained with blood that had dried to a brown color, and casually handed it toward the Squad Leader's chest.

"They confessed personally. The connections to the Evergreen Group, the quantity of consumables, and the coordinates of the cremation points are all inside. Take it and arrest them."

The Squad Leader took it with both hands and immediately handed it to the signalman behind him. Lu Jianchuan glanced around: "Where's Wei Ziqing?"

"Two teams have already been sent to search toward the back mountain," the Squad Leader answered immediately. "Civilians there reported sightings of a large amount of Evolutionary Creatures, and the survivors Captain Wei was leading likely moved in that direction. The Communications Team is trying to make contact; there should be word soon."

Lu Jianchuan listened, remained silent for two seconds, and then nodded.

"Alright then," he said, his voice dropping slightly, carrying the weariness of someone who had finished their tasks and could finally relax. "I'll leave this to you; I'm going to rest for a bit."

He stepped aside, leaning against the cold concrete pillar by the porch, and didn't move again.

Lu Jianchuan leaned against that cold concrete pillar and closed his eyes for about ten minutes.

The nutrient solution slowly took effect in his veins, and the emptiness rising from deep within his bone marrow gradually receded into a dull, bearable weariness. He opened his eyes, pushed off the pillar to stand up, and walked a few steps out of the porch.

Then he saw Wei Ziqing.

The other man was sitting on the lowest concrete edge of the porch steps, leaning against a railing post with his legs stretched out casually. His plain white armor had long been deactivated, revealing the dark gray tight-fitting training suit underneath. His left forearm up to his shoulder was wrapped in white emergency bandages, with a small patch of pale pink seeping through the edges. Hearing footsteps, he looked up.

"Brother Lu."

Lu Jianchuan stood beside him, looking down at the thick bandages and then at Wei Ziqing's face, which appeared paler than usual under the streetlights.

"What happened?"

"It's nothing." Wei Ziqing even managed a smile as he spoke, though it quickly vanished when it pulled at his wound. "I won. That Mantis Leader was tougher than I thought; I got pierced once by its sickle, but it didn't hit any organs. I'll definitely live; I just need to recuperate for a few days."

Lu Jianchuan was silent for two seconds, then nodded.

"As long as you're okay."

The night wind blew from the back mountain, carrying the scorched smell of burnt vegetation. Neither of them spoke again. After a while, the Squad Leader who had met them earlier walked quickly out of the building, the walkie-talkie in his hand still crackling.

"silver skeleton, Hero Shadow," he stood before them. "The cleanup on the island is expected to take another four to six hours. The technical team found two more unregistered detention cells on the bottom floor of the lab and is performing a Breakthrough on the access control. Headquarters has instructed us to handle the cleanup; if you two are tired, you can return to the base to rest first. Of course, if you want to participate in the subsequent clearing, we won't stop you."

Lu Jianchuan didn't respond, glancing sideways at Wei Ziqing.

"I don't mind," Wei Ziqing said. "With these bandages, I can't crawl through sewers anyway."

Lu Jianchuan gave an 'en' of agreement.

"Let's go back then."

The Squad Leader nodded immediately and arranged a return Assault Transport Plane via his walkie-talkie. Ten minutes later, the two boarded at a temporary landing point on the west side of the island, the roar of the propellers filling the cabin.

Wei Ziqing leaned against the cabin wall, his head resting against the night view outside the porthole; before long, his breathing became heavy. Lu Jianchuan watched him; the pink stain on the edge of the bandages didn't seem to be spreading further. He withdrew his gaze, sank his back into the narrow, hard tactical seat, and closed his eyes as well.

The plane traced a long arc over the sea.

It was 2:00 AM when they landed. The two parted ways on the first floor of GUPA Headquarters; Wei Ziqing went to the Medical Department to change his dressings, while Lu Jianchuan walked alone through the corridor requiring iris recognition and swiped his card to enter his assigned single dormitory.

The door closed behind him.

He didn't turn on the light, walking into the inner room in the dark and sitting on the edge of the bed. He took off the two silver-gray bracelets and placed them on the nightstand. The metal felt cold to the touch. He lay down, staring at the ceiling for about ten seconds, then rested his arm across his forehead.

Faint light from the corridor's floor lamps filtered in through the window.

Three minutes later, Lu Jianchuan's breathing steadied.