52: reason

Just as the Combatant was pulling Li Zhe up from the ground, preparing to forcibly take him away, another anomaly occurred!

A shadow as swift as black lightning darted out from the shadow of a nearby large tree without warning! It was Big Orange, returning once more! This time, it wasn't completely invisible; instead, it maintained a semi-visible state while moving at high speed, its dark fur flashing with a streamlined cold light under the sun.

Its target was crystal clear—the Combatant holding Li Zhe!

"Watch out!" Zhan Yong's warning had just left his mouth when Big Orange pounced through the air!

The Combatant felt a sharp pain in his right arm. The sleeve of his combat uniform, along with the flesh beneath, was instantly shredded. Three deep wounds, visible to the bone, appeared, dripping with blood. In his pain, he subconsciously released his grip on Li Zhe.

Big Orange's attack didn't stop. Using the momentum of its pounce, its glowing claws traced a lethal arc, aiming straight for the opponent's throat!

At the critical moment, the Combatant demonstrated excellent psychological resilience and reaction speed. Enduring the intense pain in his arm, he jerked his head back while blocking with his left hand!

"Screech!" The claws grazed the side of his neck, tearing a large hole in the collar of his combat uniform, narrowly missing his vitals.

Seizing this brief moment of chaos, Li Zhe felt the grip on his arm loosen. He froze for a second, then his survival instinct kicked in, and he turned to flee.

By now, Big Orange had landed gracefully, positioning itself right between Li Zhe and Zhan Yong's squad. It didn't attack again but lowered its front body, letting out a continuous, threatening low growl from its throat. Its cold vertical pupils were locked onto everyone ahead, assuming a standard defensive posture.

It was protecting Li Zhe behind it!

This scene made Zhan Yong and his squad members, who were about to step forward to regain control, stop dead in their tracks.

"It's... protecting the boy?" Chen Xing whispered in disbelief. On the detector screen, the high-concentration evo factor signal representing Big Orange and the ordinary life signal representing Li Zhe were huddled close together. This sight overturned their inherent impression that most evolved entities were aggressive and lacked social cognition.

The injured Combatant retreated quickly, and his teammates immediately stepped forward to provide emergency treatment for his wounds. Everyone's expression was incredibly solemn. They didn't dare use sonic weapons again because the invisible area-of-effect attack might affect Li Zhe, who was being protected behind—their rules of engagement strictly limited harm to ordinary civilians, especially minors.

"Another one... that can be 'tamed' or... establish a symbiotic relationship?" Zhan Yong's eyes were sharp as the highly valuable possibility flashed through his mind. This was far more significant than capturing a purely destructive entity.

Li Zhe looked at the familiar yet strange massive back blocking him, listening to the deterrent growls it made for him, his heart filled with indescribable shock and complex emotions. He no longer hesitated, seized the precious gap, and turned to run desperately toward the path behind the teaching building!

The moment Li Zhe turned to flee, Big Orange's continuous low growl stopped abruptly. It gave the prepared Zhan Yong squad a deep look, and its body was once again enveloped by invisible ripples, quickly becoming transparent and finally disappearing completely into the air, as if it had never been there.

This time, it had truly left without any lingering attachments.

"Target invisible again! Lost track!" the Combatant reported immediately.

"Pursue! Follow the boy!" Zhan Yong decided instantly, and the squad immediately chased in the direction Li Zhe had fled.

Li Zhe ran recklessly, his heart nearly jumping out of his chest, the footsteps and shouts behind him getting closer. Just as he was about to be caught, a figure suddenly darted out from a side path, pulled him over, and shielded him firmly behind.

Li Zhe looked up, still shaken, and saw Lu Jianchuan's steady and determined profile.

"Brother Lu!"

Lu Jianchuan shielded Li Zhe behind him, calmly meeting the charging Zhan Yong and the others. On this quiet campus path, both sides once again formed a standoff.

Lu Jianchuan firmly shielded the shaken Li Zhe behind him, his gaze calm as he met the charging Zhan Yong and the others. On this quiet campus path, both sides formed a standoff.

"Officer Lu?" Zhan Yong stopped, his brow furrowed and his eyes sharp as knives. "I recall we clearly informed you that this case is under our full jurisdiction. Why are you appearing here again?"

Lu Jianchuan remained unfazed, his tone steady yet carrying an unquestionable power: "Investigator Zhan, I am not standing here as a police officer right now. Li Zhe is the only son of my fallen comrade, Li Ming. Both professionally and personally, seeing him being chased by you like this, I cannot sit by and do nothing. I need an explanation. Why are you pursuing a minor?"

"They want to catch me! Brother Lu!" Li Zhe shouted from behind Lu Jianchuan with a mix of tears and anger. "They also want to catch Big Orange!"

Lu Jianchuan shielded Li Zhe even more tightly, staring at Zhan Yong. "Did you hear that? If you cannot provide a legal and reasonable explanation, I will never let you take him away easily."

Zhan Yong's gaze swept between Lu Jianchuan and Li Zhe. He could see Lu Jianchuan's determination and understood that using conventional means to forcibly take someone might cause even greater trouble, especially when facing a firm police officer. He fell silent for a moment, seemingly weighing his options. Finally, his gaze bypassed Lu Jianchuan and landed directly on Li Zhe's face, as he uttered a world-shaking sentence:

"Li Zhe, do you want to know how your father, Li Ming, actually died?"

These words were like a thunderclap exploding in Li Zhe's ears! He jerked his head up, the color draining from his face, his pupils shrinking from the massive shock, and even his breathing stopped for a moment.

Lu Jianchuan was also deeply shaken! What were they trying to do?! Did they really intend to tell a child the truth about monsters and the evo factor?! But he couldn't show a hint of it on his face. His current persona was that of an ordinary police officer who knew nothing of the truth; any excessive reaction might draw GUPA's suspicion. He could only forcibly suppress the stormy waves in his heart and maintain a surface of calm, but the muscles in his arm shielding Li Zhe were already tensed.

"What... what do you mean?" Li Zhe's voice trembled violently, filled with disbelief and a touch of vulnerability from his deepest inner wound being touched. "My dad... didn't he die in the line of duty?"

"Some truths are far more complex than what's written in the files." Zhan Yong's tone carried a deliberate, intriguing depth. "Come with me, and I can tell you what really happened in that warehouse the night your father sacrificed himself. What exactly he was facing."

This temptation was too great for Li Zhe. His father's mysterious death had always been an unhealed wound and an obsession in his heart.

"Li Zhe, don't listen to him! Come back with me!" Lu Jianchuan immediately spoke up to stop him. He could not stand by and watch Li Zhe step into GUPA's realm filled with the unknown and danger.

Li Zhe looked at Lu Jianchuan, his eyes filled with struggle and pain, tears welling up again. "I'm sorry, Brother Lu... I really... I really want to know how my dad died..." He turned to Zhan Yong and asked with a final hint of caution: "You... you won't catch me, right?"

A hint of a nearly formulaic, cold "gentleness" appeared on Zhan Yong's face. "Of course not. We've seen something... unique about you. Perhaps you have more potential than you imagine." His words were meaningful, his gaze sweeping over Lu Jianchuan again as his tone turned commanding: "Lu Jianchuan, your mission is over. Now, please leave."

Lu Jianchuan stared deathly at Zhan Yong, then looked at Li Zhe beside him, whose will was already wavering and completely bewitched by the "truth." He knew he had no standing or power to forcibly stop them at this moment. Before official procedures and this lethal temptation, his personal interference seemed so pale and powerless.

Li Zhe gave Lu Jianchuan one last look—a gaze filled with apology, confusion, and a desperate resolve—and then, step by step, walked toward Zhan Yong.

Zhan Yong stopped looking at Lu Jianchuan and gestured to Chen Xing. Chen Xing immediately stepped forward, leading Li Zhe in the direction they came from with a posture that seemed guiding but was actually impossible to refuse. Two Combatants stood guard alertly at the side and rear.

Lu Jianchuan could only stand there, his fists clenched, his knuckles turning white from the force. He watched helplessly as Li Zhe was taken away by the GUPA people, disappearing around the corner of the campus, his heart filled with a sense of powerlessness and immense worry.

He knew that Li Zhe had been drawn into a vortex far deeper and more dangerous than campus bullying. And he himself had to quickly find out what GUPA intended to use Li Zhe for, and what connection that evolved cat had to all of this.

The upgraded armband on his left wrist seemed to sense its master's mood at this moment, sending out waves of heavy and fiery pulses.