53: Stakeout

Lu Jianchuan stood frozen in place, his long, lonely shadow stretched out by the afternoon sun. When Li Zhe was taken away, that backward glance—a look mixed with guilt and desperation—felt like a cold needle piercing deep into his heart, bringing a long, sharp ache.

Stop him?

On what grounds? He was merely a Senior who was acquainted with the boy's father; this connection was too fragile to shake a teenager's obsession with finding the truth behind his parent's death. Forcibly stopping him would only seem overbearing and unreasonable.

In Aunt Liu's name?

The thought was extinguished as soon as it arose. That would be equivalent to using the grief of a mother who had not yet recovered from the loss of her husband as a weapon to attack her equally wounded son. The very idea filled Lu Jianchuan with a wave of self-loathing.

Reveal the truth?

Explain the bloody, inhuman scene in the warehouse, and give a full account of his own unexplainable armor powers?

No, that wouldn't be saving him; it would be pushing Li Zhe from ordinary grief directly into a supernatural abyss of madness filled with hatred and danger. That mysterious organization would never allow such a "truth" to be leaked.

Let things take their course?

Leave him entirely to those official personnel with their secretive actions and unpredictable methods? The way they looked at Li Zhe didn't seem like they were looking at a teenager in need of help, but rather like they were evaluating an "object" of special value. He could not trust them.

His thoughts felt stuck in a quagmire, every direction shrouded in thick fog with no exit in sight. An unprecedented sense of powerlessness seized him, as if he were caught in a giant spiderweb; the more he struggled, the tighter he was bound.

No, there is still one thing I can do now—and must do!

Amidst this suffocating confusion, a cold and clear thought struck his mind like lightning breaking through dark clouds—

That Orange Cat! Big Orange!

It was no longer just a pet that only knew how to act cute. It possessed the ability to turn invisible, claws that could easily tear through flesh, and it had already shown a clear, targeted desire to attack! Last night it was those three bullies, today it was at school... if left unchecked, heaven knows who its claws would strike next? It had become an extremely unstable source of danger roaming the city's shadows!

Find it, control it, or at least... stop it from hurting more people!

This goal was pure and direct, dispelling all redundant hesitation. The confusion in his eyes evaporated instantly, replaced by a near-cold focus and determination. The hunter had found the only target he could, and must, lock onto for now.

So, where to find it? Its targets were very clear—those three bullies. It attacked them, which must be because they did something to it. Perhaps because they bullied Li Zhe, and it sensed Li Zhe's kindness toward it, leading to retaliation? Regardless, those three were the focus of its hatred.

The hospital!

Target locked.

Lu Jianchuan no longer hesitated. He moved, blending naturally and inconspicuously into the crowd of students who had just finished school, like a drop of water joining a river. He used the students' noise and moving bodies as a natural screen, walking at a moderate but exceptionally steady pace away from the school area.

He didn't choose to go straight home, but instead turned into a large shopping mall. Inside, the lights were bright and the crowds were bustling.

He acted like an ordinary stroller, sometimes stopping in front of electronic counters to gaze at screens, sometimes browsing through clothes on racks. However, his steps inadvertently moved across different floors, from the noisy clothing section to the relatively quiet home goods area, then into another dining area with dense entrances and exits.

He used mirror reflections and shop window shadows to keenly observe what was behind him. Through repeated, irregular movements and pauses, he washed away any traces that might have attached to him, as if rinsing them in a stream.

Only after confirming that he was like a drop of water scattered into a sea of sand, with no possibility of being followed, did he leave through a remote exit. He took a bus, got off after three stops, walked for another ten minutes, and finally circled back to the old residential area where he lived.

He didn't go upstairs immediately. Instead, he hid in the shadows of the alley entrance, lit a cigarette, and scanned the scattered pedestrians, parked vehicles, and potential prying eyes from opposite windows like a probe. When the cigarette butt was extinguished, he finally walked quickly into the stairwell.

The furnishings in his home were simple. He quickly took off the police uniform that symbolized his identity and changed into a featureless dark grey hoodie and matching sweatpants. From the depths of his wardrobe, he pulled out a somewhat old black baseball cap and pulled the brim down below his brow bone.

Facing the narrow full-length mirror behind the door, he adjusted his posture. The person in the mirror instantly transformed from a straight-backed policeman into an unremarkable, slightly tired urban youth who blended into the crowd.

Stepping out again, he chose the least conspicuous method—walking. He avoided main roads, specifically picking back alleys with few surveillance cameras and sparse pedestrians. Sometimes he would ride a shared bicycle for a stretch, dropping it off early as he approached his destination to continue on foot.

In the deepening twilight, his figure was like a flickering ghost, making full use of every corner's shadow and every billboard's cover, circuitously approaching the City First Peoples Hospital with steady stealth.

When he finally stopped in the shadows of an alley filled with trash cans and clutter across from the hospital, the sky was already dark and the city's neon lights had begun to flicker. He leaned against the cold, rough brick wall, pulled his cap lower, and revealed only a pair of eyes as sharp as a hawk's in the dim light, calmly scanning the hospital's brightly lit entrance, the side fire exits, and potential infiltration points along the walls.

His breathing was steady and long, but his senses were heightened to the limit. He was waiting—waiting for that invisible hunter that might come to complete its revenge. Stopping it was not just a duty; perhaps it was also the only clear thread he could grasp in all this chaos.

Lu Jianchuan merged into the shadows like part of the darkness, silently slipping into the City First Peoples Hospital. He didn't take the brightly lit, bustling main entrance, but chose a relatively quiet fire exit near the side inpatient wing. The air here was cool with the smell of disinfectant, and the light was dim, with only the green "Emergency Exit" signs emitting a faint glow.

He leaned against the cold wall, appearing to be just a tired family member of a patient taking a short break. He fished a high-energy chocolate bar from his hoodie pocket, tore open the wrapper, and chewed in small, quick bites under the cover of his cap. The sweetness and high calories turned into a tangible warm current, soothing a stomach cramped from constant tension and pre-storing precious energy for the battle that might follow.

"Sir, do you need help? Are you unable to find a ward?" A Nurse pushing a medicine cart passed by and, seeing him alone in the dark, asked out of professional habit.

Lu Jianchuan pressed down his cap and looked up, revealing a perfectly timed smile tinged with fatigue and embarrassment. "Ah, no, thank you. I'm waiting for my friend; his family is still getting an exam. I just came out for some air; it's quieter here."

His tone was natural and his posture relaxed. The Nurse had no suspicions, nodded, and pushed her cart away.

Lu Jianchuan maintained a high state of alertness. He didn't stay in the same position for too long. Every so often, he would naturally stand up and walk as if aimlessly, moving from a stairwell landing to a corridor bench on another floor, then from the bench to a waiting area outside a department. He kept his head down to avoid the surveillance cameras capturing his face clearly, moving through the hospital's internal monitoring net like a fluid, inconspicuous ghost.

Time passed slowly amidst the smell of disinfectant and the occasional sound of footsteps and carts. Outside, the sky turned completely dark, and the flow of people inside the hospital gradually thinned. The daytime bustle receded, and the silence of the night began to spread.

At that moment, the "signal" he was waiting for appeared.

In the corridor of the third-floor surgical ward, a familiar figure limped out—it was the bully nicknamed "Green Skin." One of his arms was in a cast and a sling across his chest, but his legs seemed fine. He was muttering something foul under his breath, seemingly bored in the ward and wanting to wander out or find a vending machine.

Lu Jianchuan's nerves tightened instantly, his gaze like a hawk locking onto its prey as he closely followed Green Skin's figure. He moved silently, maintaining a safe distance and tailing him within the shadows of pillars and corners.

Green Skin was completely unaware. He strolled to a relatively dim part of the corridor near the restrooms. Just as he stopped and was about to reach into his pocket for a cigarette—

A sudden change occurred!

A faint, almost inaudible tearing sound seemed to come from the air.

"Green Skin" suddenly let out a shrill scream! Without warning, three deep, bone-deep gashes exploded on his right thigh. Blood instantly soaked his patient trousers as if a sharp, invisible blade had slashed him! He screamed as he clutched the wound, stumbling and falling to the ground, rolling in agony.

The few scattered bystanders were terrified by the sudden turn of events and began to scream.

Lu Jianchuan's pupils constricted—it was here! It was nearby!

Without any hesitation, he knew every second was vital. There was no time to find a hidden corner to strip and transform.

"Now!" he roared in his heart.

[Consciousness Space]

At almost the same moment Lu Jianchuan made his decision, Han Chengyu's consciousness also tightened to the limit.

"System!" Han Chengyu said urgently. "Quick, hack into this hospital's surveillance System! Delete and overwrite all relevant footage, especially from this area, including all records from today! Immediately! We can't let anyone capture the appearance of the armor!"

[Command confirmed. Accessing local network... breaking through permissions...] The System's electronic voice was calm and efficient.

[Successfully infiltrated the core database of the City First Peoples Hospital security System.]

[Initiating global-coverage data erasure program... Target: All surveillance nodes. Time range: From 00:00 today to present.]

[Overwriting data stream... Overwrite complete. All specified surveillance records have been permanently deleted. Real-time monitoring terminals are showing signal loss.]

"Good job!" Han Chengyu stared intently at everything happening in the outside world.