482: Chapter 478 Congratulations, I've congratulated you.

The next morning, people were already in the Training Area.

Wei Ziqing was in the corner performing that slow set of boxing; his movements were steady and his breathing was even. Lu Jianchuan was at the other end lifting dumbbells, one after another, faster and heavier than usual. Sweat flowed down his forehead, but he didn't wipe it.

Shen Mingyuan walked in through the door, yawning, his hair sticking up in a way that made him look like he hadn't fully woken up yet.

Wei Ziqing finished his routine and glanced at him. "Lawyer Shen is here? It's rare to see you exercise; I'm surprised you came this time."

"I have to exercise occasionally." Shen Mingyuan stretched and walked to an empty space nearby to start warming up. His movements were lazy, clearly just going through the motions.

Wei Ziqing leaned in and lowered his voice. "I heard from Ye Ouyang. Weren't you monitoring Li Mo? How's the situation?"

Shen Mingyuan spoke while stretching his legs, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness. "No evidence. He stayed in the laboratory all last night and didn't even return to the dormitory. I stayed with him through the night."

He switched legs and continued, "Anyway, it's just like that, monitoring him every day. He probably realized we suspect him because of those questions Ye Ouyang asked before."

The thing is, I don't know how he'll react—whether he'll continue to stay put or try to run. Once he runs, we can be certain. Let's keep watching for now."

Wei Ziqing nodded. "Alright."

Lu Jianchuan, who was nearby, hadn't spoken the entire time. Dumbbells up, dumbbells down, up, down—he repeated the motion mechanically. His breathing was heavy, but his expression remained unchanged. Shen Mingyuan glanced at him, then at Wei Ziqing, gesturing in that direction with his chin.

"What's wrong with him?"

Wei Ziqing briefly explained what had happened yesterday.

Shen Mingyuan fell silent for a moment after hearing it.

"So that's how it is."

Lu Jianchuan put down the dumbbells and picked up his phone from the rack. The name on the screen was a former colleague from the police station; he pressed answer.

"Brother Lu, something happened." The voice on the other end was very low but fast-paced. "The body of that mother from yesterday... it's gone."

Lu Jianchuan's hand paused.

"The surveillance caught it." The voice on the phone continued, sounding a bit strained. "She crawled out on her own. The posture... it was terrifying. On all fours, like an animal, she crawled out of the morgue. We checked all the exits and couldn't find her."

Just as Lu Jianchuan was about to speak, a scream suddenly came from the other end of the phone.

"No—!"

It was the voice of that female colleague, far from the microphone but very shrill. Then came the sound of chair legs scraping the floor, followed by something falling and rolling on the ground.

A male colleague's voice came from further away, sounding tearful:

"I finally managed to buy those! Where did all my snacks go? Where's my little cake? How are the little cakes I put in the drawer all gone?"

Lu Jianchuan held the phone without hanging up. The noise on the other end continued; someone was shouting to "check the surveillance," someone was rummaging through drawers, and the female colleague's voice drifted back from a distance, intermittent, as if she were talking to someone nearby.

Lu Jianchuan hung up and put his phone away. Shen Mingyuan leaned against the equipment rack, seeing that his expression was off. "What happened?"

"The body is gone. Surveillance caught her... crawling out on her own," Lu Jianchuan said quickly, as if he had already processed it several times in his mind. "I have to go look for her. Your perception ability is useful; coming with?"

Shen Mingyuan didn't answer immediately. He stood there, tapping his fingers on his arm a few times.

"I need to think." He glanced at the entrance of the Training Area, then back at Lu Jianchuan. "If we don't find that monster over there this time, there'll be another chance."

If we don't keep an eye on Li Mo's side, he might create a second or third thing like that. If he really is the culprit."

He paused. "I will try to view him as innocent as much as possible. But the necessary investigation will not be lacking."

Lu Jianchuan nodded. "Alright. I understand." He turned and walked toward the door.

Ye Ouyang had appeared at the door at some point, leaning against the frame with a small spray bottle in his hand.

"I'm going too," he said.

Lu Jianchuan glanced at him. "When did you get here?"

"While you guys were chatting." Ye Ouyang set the spray bottle aside. "Since you're going to look for that baby, take me with you. I should go too."

"Baby." Lu Jianchuan repeated the word without correcting him or asking further. "Fine. Let's go."

Ye Ouyang turned to run down the other end of the corridor, then looked back after a few steps. "I'm going to water the plants first! Be right back!"

Lu Jianchuan didn't wait for him, heading straight for the bike shed. "Fine, I'll go find my wind of the end first."

Lu Jianchuan walked straight toward the bike shed. Shen Mingyuan followed behind and suddenly spoke.

"wind of the end?"

Lu Jianchuan's footsteps paused, but he didn't look back. "...wind of the end."

"Oh, wind of the end." Shen Mingyuan's tone carried a hint of understanding, a bit of gratification, and a touch of irrepressible smugness. "Dear Senior, you're finally willing to accept this name."

Lu Jianchuan didn't answer. His silhouette disappeared around the corner of the corridor, and a few seconds later, the low hum of a motorcycle engine echoed.

Ye Ouyang ran back from the direction of the dormitories, his hands still wet with water droplets, which he shook off as he ran.

"Coming, coming!" He hopped onto the back seat, and the motorcycle silently glided out of the base gates.

Shen Mingyuan stood at the entrance, watching the silver, black, and red motorcycle disappear around the street corner before turning to walk toward Li Mo's laboratory.

Li Mo sat at the Experimental Table. The test tube in his hand had been put back a long time ago; his notebook was spread open in front of him with a pen resting on the edge, but not a single word had been written.

Do they suspect me? He slowly mentally reviewed the details of the past few days—Ye Ouyang suddenly running over to ask those things, asking if he could resurrect the dead, and asking what stage his research on the elixir was at.

That kid wasn't good at lying; he didn't even dare to keep eye contact while asking. Was it intuition? Or was it simply because the term 'Immortality Serum' made them associate it with coming back from the dead?

Ye Ouyang's cells did indeed have that capability, and the New Federation had used them to resurrect ancient creatures. It wasn't strange for them to think of him along that line.

But it didn't matter. They had no evidence. He was certain. That mother was dead, the baby had run off, and everything in the laboratory that needed to be cleared had long since been cleaned.

As long as he didn't proactively show a flaw, no one could do anything to him. Without absolute evidence, they couldn't touch him.

He would stay here for a while longer.

What a pity. They were smarter than he imagined, suspecting him so quickly. But he couldn't leave now; leaving now would be like sticking the word 'culprit' on his forehead like a total idiot.

He wouldn't do something like that. What he needed to do was hide those things even deeper—those experimental data, those records, those things that shouldn't exist—hide them all in a place only he knew.

Li Mo came out of the laboratory. The light in the corridor was bright, and he immediately saw Shen Mingyuan leaning against the wall.

Shen Mingyuan nodded to him, and he nodded back, not stopping his pace as he walked past. There were no footsteps behind him, but he knew Shen Mingyuan was following.

He knew Shen Mingyuan. A lawyer who dreamed of being a Detective; once a case like this fell into his hands, he wouldn't let it go.

Lu Jianchuan might also have come to watch him, but Lu Jianchuan's sense of responsibility would push him in another direction—to chase after the baby that had turned into a monster. So the one following him now could only be Shen Mingyuan.

The preparations he wanted to make probably wouldn't be that easy anymore.

The experimental Materials were hidden in the dormitory, but organizing them and finding an escape route under Shen Mingyuan's nose would not be a simple task.

There is no wall that doesn't leak wind; he had to make full preparations so that even if he were discovered, he could leave immediately.

In that case, he had to contact that person again. When he first joined the The Authorities, he thought he could temporarily break away from that side; now it seemed he still needed to keep a backup plan.

He pushed open the dormitory door and walked in without looking back. He wasn't sure if Shen Mingyuan was using ultrasound or thermal vision to watch him, so doing nothing was the safest course of action for now.

He hung up his coat, changed into slippers, washed his face, and lay down on the bed. He fell asleep.