386: Chapter 383 Alright, another ruined basement.

The next few days were unnervingly calm.

There were no attacks from Evolved Creatures, no new cases, and even the mutant animals that would pop up from time to time seemed to have collectively vanished as if by agreement.

Lu Jianchuan went to the archives room to flip through files as usual every day, wandered around the city as usual, and kept an eye out for corners where Li Jianguo might be hiding—nothing. That eighteen-year-old youth had vanished like evaporated water, leaving not a single trace.

On the afternoon of the fourth day, his phone rang.

It wasn't a normal ringtone; it was the soft sound of a water droplet falling into a deep pool.

He tapped the icon with a gray background and white border. A new message popped up in the group chat.

**：Ye Ouyang's Transformation Device is ready.

**：@Ye Ouyang Come take a look, it's in your room.

Lu Jianchuan stared at the screen, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. A few minutes later, another message lit up in the group.

Ye Ouyang：！！！

Ye Ouyang：I got it！！！

Ye Ouyang：Thank you, The Forger！！！

Ye Ouyang：What is this—so cool—

Ye Ouyang：I'm gonna try it now！！！

Lu Jianchuan couldn't help but chuckle.

A little while later, Ye Ouyang sent a photo.

It was a belt. The base color was interwoven black and white, with a round golden gem embedded in the center, giving off a warm luster under the light. The overall design was simple, but the quality was clearly not ordinary.

**：Just press the golden gem to transform.

**：The specific specs and forms, I've already sent them to you. Read them yourself.

Ye Ouyang：Received！！！

A few minutes later, Ye Ouyang sent another message.

Ye Ouyang：Finished reading, finished reading！！！

Ye Ouyang：A golden suit of armor, and that cell—so awesome—

Ye Ouyang：So I can transform now too? Just like you guys?

Lu Jianchuan：Mhm.

Shen Mingyuan：Welcome aboard.

Wei Ziqing：Welcome, welcome!

Ye Ouyang：Thank you, Seniors！！！

**：Also, this group will be your communication channel from now on. Ye Ouyang, you're in it too.

Ye Ouyang：Okay！！！

Shen Mingyuan：So the team has grown again.

Wei Ziqing：Four now.

Lu Jianchuan：Good.

Ye Ouyang silently thought to himself: OK, I'll put it on right now.

He took the black-and-white interwoven belt out of the box. It felt lighter than expected, yet had a substantial weight to it. The round golden gem embedded in the center felt cool to the touch.

He wrapped the belt around his waist and fastened it.

Then—

A sting.

Very faint, like a mosquito bite, coming from the point of contact with the belt. Before he could react, the sting disappeared, replaced by a strange sense of connection—as if something had extended from the belt and linked with his body.

It wasn't unpleasant. Instead, it felt... reassuring.

Ye Ouyang looked down at the belt, his eyes slowly lighting up.

"Woo—"

He clenched his fists and took a deep breath.

"Soon I'll be able to transform too!"

He bounced on the spot once, then again, before suddenly remembering something. He pulled out his phone, tapped the gray-background, white-border icon, and scrolled to his chat window with Lin Yuan.

Four days.

After adding each other as friends last time, neither had sent many messages. Lin Yuan's avatar lay quietly in the contact list, the last message still being the "Goodbye" from the day they parted.

Ye Ouyang thought for a moment and typed:

【Hey, how's it going? Are you okay?】

After sending it, he stuffed his phone into his pocket, ready to go out for a stroll.

Just as he reached the door, his phone vibrated.

He pulled it out to look—Lin Yuan had replied instantly.

【I'm doing great! I feel like I've been incredibly happy these past few days!】

Ye Ouyang paused for a second, then typed:

【Did something good happen?】

Another instant reply.

【Of course! I've been over the moon these past few days!】

Ye Ouyang stared at the screen, his mind conjuring up a bunch of guesses—a promotion? A raise? Won the lottery?

He typed:

【That happy? Did you get a promotion or a raise?】

【Ah, not exactly.】

【To be precise, I quit my job.】

Ye Ouyang's fingers hesitated over the screen.

【You quit? What are you doing now then?】

【I started doing something else. This thing is like 24/7, constant part-time work.】

Ye Ouyang was even more confused.

【What is it?】

Silence on the other end for a few seconds.

Then a message popped up:

【Oh, sorry. I can't really tell you.】

【Mainly because this thing is confidential,】 Lin Yuan sent another message, 【Anyway, I'm really happy, really joyful. Compared to my previous job, this is what I truly want to do.】

【That old job was just for making ends meet, for survival, for putting food on the table. This new job is what I really want.】

【You could say it's... a spiritual high. Perfect.】

Reading these messages, Ye Ouyang could almost feel Lin Yuan's excitement overflowing from the other side of the screen.

He typed: 【So are you making money?】

Lin Yuan instantly replied: 【Quite a bit.】

【At least more than I made before.】

【Anyway, I'm really happy.】

【And in this—】

A pause on the other end.

【Alright, alright, gotta stop chatting, I need to get back to work.】

Before Ye Ouyang could reply, another message popped up:

【Oh, right, thank you.】

Then the avatar went gray.

Ye Ouyang stared at the screen for a few seconds, then suddenly remembered something and typed again:

【Actually, I found a pretty good job too. Also 24/7 non-stop.】

After sending it, he was just about to put his phone away when, unexpectedly, Lin Yuan's avatar lit up again.

【Huh? But you're not an adult, are you?】

Ye Ouyang chuckled and typed:

【Just like yours, it's a job based on interest. And I'm my own boss, no employer involved.】

Silence on the other end for a few seconds.

【Oh—no wonder.】

【No wonder you're looking for work at such a young age.】

【Let's encourage each other then,】 Lin Yuan sent the final message.

Ye Ouyang stared at those two words for a couple of seconds, a slight smile curving his lips as he put his phone away.

He glanced down at the Transformation Device on his waist—the interwoven black-and-white base, the round golden gem, now resting quietly against him. He reached out and touched it; the cool sensation was still there.

"Encourage each other," he repeated softly, then pushed the door open and walked out.

——

At the base entrance, the four of them met up.

Lu Jianchuan leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets, no files in hand. Wei Ziqing was next to him, flexing his wrists as if he'd just come from the training area. Shen Mingyuan was the last to arrive, still holding half an uneaten steamed bun.

Ye Ouyang ran over and stopped in front of the three. The Transformation Device on his waist glinted faintly in the sunlight.

Shen Mingyuan swallowed the bite in his mouth and glanced at him.

"Alright, everyone's here," he said. "Now we need to go find that Li Jianguo. As a new member, you'll come along when the time comes."

Ye Ouyang nodded vigorously: "Great! So where are we going to look?"

Shen Mingyuan and Lu Jianchuan exchanged a look.

"Don't know," Lu Jianchuan spoke up. "His movements are indeed covert. Of the bases that the Left and Right Hand disclosed, there's one last location we haven't searched yet. If we're going to look, we'll just have to try our luck there."

Ye Ouyang was taken aback: "Just... try our luck?"

"Just try our luck," Shen Mingyuan stuffed the remaining bun into his mouth, clapped his hands, and said, "Let's go, take a look."

"Okay! Let's go!"

The four of them turned and walked out of the base.

Sunlight shone on their backs, casting four long shadows.

According to the Left and Right Hand's confession, the last base was located in an abandoned construction zone in the east of the city. On the surface, it appeared to be a long-stalled unfinished building, but there was something fishy underground—the construction crew had been bribed to secretly dig a basement, with the entrance extremely well hidden.