He took out all three vials, casually tossing the safe aside. One vial went into each of the outer pockets of his coat, while he held the remaining one in his palm, debating whether to keep it himself or hand it over to Si Di for safekeeping.
But Xiao Zhenyun soon had no more worries because, in the next second, the person guarding outside the door sensed something was amiss. With a fierce momentum, he swung the gun and pushed the door open, aiming at the two unexpected visitors in the room.
Both Si Di and Xiao Zhenyun looked at the man’s face simultaneously, and what surprised them greatly was that it was none other than Si Chu, who had voluntarily walked into the trap after cleaning his neck!
Xiao Nian had quietly crawled out of the underground passage, kneeling behind the desk with half of his face peeking out to observe secretly. When he saw Si Chu suddenly rushing into the room, he exclaimed in surprise and gestured frantically in the shadows to Xiao Zhenyun and Si Di, urging them to slip away before Si Chu recognized them.
Subconsciously, Xiao Zhenyun took a half step back, raising his right hand to touch the mask on his face, making sure Si Chu didn’t see his true face. At the same time, the cold glass vial of the drug touched his cheek as he lifted it to his face, Xiao Zhenyun instantly reacted, looking up at Si Di, meeting his gaze, those eyes hidden beneath the hood shining with a faint green light.
There was no need for detailed communication in the spiritual link, the two of them tacitly understood each other, a bold plan forming in their minds in an instant.
In less than half a second of eye contact, Si Di, like a fierce leopard, struck first, not giving the prey any chance to react. He pounced forward, using the fastest speed, no mercy in his attack. He wouldn’t underestimate the strength of an A-level sentinel.
So, Si Chu, in surprise, didn’t even have time to shoot, he was disarmed by Si Di and his arm twisted, pressed to the ground, Si Di’s knee against his waist, rendering him immobile for a moment.
“Quick.” Si Di deliberately blurred his voice, also covering Si Chu’s eyes with one hand to prevent any unexpected actions.
Xiao Zhenyun wasted no time, biting open the cap of the vial with his teeth, pressing the needle of the drug, the bright yellow liquid dripping onto Si Chu, who was struggling.
“Ugh—” Si Chu was about to shout, but his mouth was suddenly covered by a smaller hand. Xiao Nian’s reaction was fast too. Although injecting the spiritual body drug through this method was far from the original text, in the chaos of the moment, he couldn’t care too much. Injecting it to a passing grade would be good enough.
Although Si Di felt very sorry for his soon-to-be suffering brother, since the decision had been made, he wouldn’t hesitate or be soft-hearted anymore. The sentinel’s actions were sharp and decisive, forcing Si Chu’s neck to tilt back, exposing the vulnerable neck.
Next to the protruding Adam’s apple was the winding green vein. Xiao Zhenyun knelt beside Si Chu, not daring to touch the thickest blood vessel, the needle tip approaching the nearby thicker vein. After a brief psychological preparation, the needle instantly pierced the skin.
Nurse Xiao, with his clumsy technique, gave the patient a neck injection for the first time, without even disinfecting it. We can only hope that the A-level sentinel’s tough skin can withstand this punishment.
Si Chu struggled incessantly, breaking into a cold sweat as the icy drug entered his bloodstream. His hot breath sprayed between Xiao Nian’s wrist, causing Si Di to furrow his brows with pity, yet he remained resolutely silent, his grip steady as a rock, firmly controlling Si Chu.
Just as half of the drug had been injected, there suddenly came a rush of footsteps from outside the door, their purpose clear, just a stone’s throw away from the office. It seems that when Si Chu sensed something was amiss, he immediately reported it to his companions, who then broke in with guns.
Because the original text explicitly stated that the entire vial of drug was injected into the little dog without a drop spared, the trio of criminals could only grit their teeth and continue to inject Si Chu under pressure. Since rescue was on its way, gagging him was futile. Xiao Nian took the first step to disappear into the underground passage, leaving Xiao Zhenyun to silently accelerate the injection, coincidentally emptying the vial just as the rescue team arrived at the door.
The leader was also a familiar face, the long-unseen Ye Feiran, standing stern-faced at the door, the muzzle aimed directly at Xiao Zhenyun’s forehead, with quite a few black gun barrels also pointed at Si Di’s head.
“Raise your hands and put them where I can see them!” Ye Feiran ordered sharply.
Xiao Zhenyun dropped the glass vial, and Si Di silently released his grip. He felt that Ye Feiran’s tone and demeanor were somewhat strange, leaning more towards a military style…
Upon gaining freedom, Si Chu immediately clutched his neck in pain, rolling over on the ground, emitting meaningless low moans.
“Duan Pei.” Ye Feiran called out anxiously, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, it’s QTA…” the person on the ground answered between breaths, his cheeks showing a strange flush, speaking in fragments, “They… injected me with a vial… of QTA.”
QTA was the abbreviation for the drug developed by the professor specifically for the spiritual bodies of special individuals, harmless to ordinary people.
But… Duan Pei? Why did Ye Feiran call Si Chu Duan Pei?
Compared to Xiao Zhenyun, as the older brother, Si Di was more familiar with Si Chu. In the instant ‘Si Chu’ spoke, he sensed something was wrong. He quickly informed Xiao Zhenyun through the spiritual link:
Si Di: Oh no, this person isn’t Xiao Chu at all, he’s Duan Pei, and Ye Feiran isn’t himself either, he’s Duan Fei!
Xiao Zhenyun was stunned for a moment, then reacted abruptly: …Yes, Xiao Nian mentioned earlier that to deceive the professor, Hedgehog had some members of Duan Fei’s Team disguise themselves as members of Blaze Team. Oh no, I completely forgot.
Si Di: Me too, let’s go quickly.
Before the thoughts could fully transmit, Si Di had already lifted his foot and kicked Duan Pei, who was disguised as Si Chu, towards the door without warning. He took the opportunity to grab Xiao Zhenyun and, like an invisible hurricane that human eyes couldn’t follow, swiftly vaulted over the desk and leaped into the underground passage.
Just before Xiao Nian closed the password-protected door, Xiao Zhenyun heard Duan Fei, disguised as Ye Feiran, loudly shout their true identities: “Mr. Xiao, Captain Si! What are you—”
Duan Fei’s shouting was cut off by the sealed passage. Xiao Nian asked anxiously, “You’ve been exposed, why?… How did he find out?”
“I don’t know,” Xiao Zhenyun said, “but with someone as clever as Duan Fei, I’m not surprised by anything he discovers. If he comes to me tomorrow and claims he’s figured out I’m a time traveler, I’ll just laugh it off.”
As he answered Xiao Nian, Xiao Zhenyun reached for the remaining two vials in his pocket, perhaps the last two vials of finished drug in the entire town. Unexpectedly, the biggest problem now was the shortage of drugs. One vial had already been wasted on Duan Pei. The remaining two vials couldn’t afford any mishaps, one of them had to be accurately injected into Si Chu’s carotid artery.
“I won’t be laughing. I’ll kill him and then kill you immediately,” Xiao Nian said expressionlessly, turning on the terminal lighting and quickly flipping through the hardcover book.
Si Di, at the back of the group, removed his hood, revealing his wolf ears, and whispered, “The password-protected door of the underground passage won’t hold for long. Administrator, you need to hurry.”
“I’m trying,” Xiao Nian frowned, “There’s not enough time to code right now. We’ll have to deduce from the original text where Si Chu might be.”
“Instead of deducing from the original text, it’s better to make guesses based on reality,” Xiao Zhenyun said. In the dim underground passage, his blue eyes resembled distant mountain ranges shrouded in mist, emitting a hazy indigo hue. “Judging from Duan Fei’s responsibilities, which involve searching the entire research institute and gathering various data and experimental equipment, what could Si Chu’s Blaze Team be primarily responsible for? They are special individuals, with advantages in sensory perception and physical abilities. Let’s not forget, there’s still a big boss on the loose, although fallen from power but still at large. If Duan Fei isn’t leading the pursuit, then there’s only one possibility: Si Chu is in charge of that task.”
Listening to Xiao Zhenyun’s well-reasoned analysis, Xiao Nian was stunned for a moment before abruptly closing the hardcover book. “Xiao Zhenyun, I’ve never realized until now that bringing you along could be useful.”
Xiao Zhenyun: “…”
In a cold tone, he said, “Whether you believe it or not, I can smash all the vials right now.”
Si Di chuckled softly and, under Xiao Zhenyun’s gaze, coughed lightly, then said seriously, “Administrator, let’s keep the jokes to a minimum.”
Xiao Nian didn’t believe Xiao Zhenyun’s ineffective threat or Si Di’s insincere reminder. He waved his hand in a direction and said, “Follow me. I know where the professor will go after his defeat. The grand finale will be him being chased by the furious Ye Feiran, running alone to the grave of his wife and child, leaning against the gravestone, recounting many past events and provocative words, and finally laughing maniacally before committing suicide.”
They proceeded smoothly through the underground passage, passing by Lab No. 9 on the way, which was now silent. It seemed that Hedgehog had already left, or perhaps he was unconscious from being poisoned by his own spiritual body, viper. In any case, there was a high probability he wouldn’t die, so they didn’t need to worry.
Their footsteps never stopped as they left through another exit, with Xiao Nian leading the way towards the graveyard.
At first, Xiao Nian ran at the front, but as the footprints in the snow became clearer, Si Di quickly overtook them and took the lead. In the end, because he found them too slow, he carried one on his back and held the other in his arms, bearing the weight as they continued forward.
Alone, Si Di moved like a graceful elf in the snow, dancing in the vast white world. But with a group, he resembled a polar bear charging across a thousand miles for the hunt—heavy but exceptionally swift.
“From the footprints, I deduce that there are two groups ahead of us,” Si Di informed Xiao Zhenyun and Xiao Nian, still with energy to spare. “It’s different from what I guessed earlier. There are only two pursuers, while the fleeing group includes not just the professor but at least ten accomplices.”
…It’s not particularly surprising, after all, there’s a big difference between reality and the original plot. Duan Fei’s early arrival and sudden attack straight to the point are quite different from Si Chu gradually narrowing down the encirclement in the novel.
When Si Chu reached the professor in the original story, he really did beat everyone up, nearly emptying the Yao Town. So, it’s perfectly normal for a few die-hard loyalists outside the base to remain, trying to rescue the professor, given Duan Fei’s lightning-fast tactics.
“But the good news is, I’m a hundred percent sure of the identities of the special individuals in pursuit—they must be Si Chu and Ye Feiran,” Si Di continued. “First, I smelled residual guide element’s of Ye Feiran. Second, I saw a dog hair that fell from Si Chu.”
Xiao Zhenyun couldn’t help but laugh out of place at Si Di’s back, and Si Di also turned back to smile at him.
A huge dead tree appeared in front of them, and Xiao Nian tapped Si Di’s arm. The sentinel immediately knew they had arrived. He was about to gently lower Xiao Zhenyun to the ground when suddenly, Si Di sensed something unusual. Without hesitation, he swiftly fell to the ground nearby, pinning Xiao Nian underneath him. Xiao Nian dared not move, only conveying with fearful eyes asking what had happened.
Meanwhile, Xiao Zhenyun, lying on the other side, asked: “What’s wrong?”
Si Di: “…Um.”
Xiao Zhenyun: “…???”
Because of the spiritual link, Xiao Zhenyun keenly felt Si Di’s struggle and pain of wanting to speak but not being able to.
Xiao Zhenyun: “Can I move now?”
Si Di: “Wait another ten seconds.”
Si Di: “Okay, you can move now.”
Puzzled, Xiao Zhenyun raised his head, taking advantage of the cover of the small hill and thick snow. His position offered excellent visibility, and he happened to see Si Chu, Ye Feiran, and more than ten others confronting each other in the distance.
The two sides engaged in intense exchanges, but Xiao Zhenyun could only hear muffled voices, unable to make out what they were saying.
However, it was evident that Si Chu still intended to capture this group of people alive, but the professor definitely had thoughts of going all out, knowing that only one side would leave here alive.
Soon, the fight was about to erupt. Si Chu’s movements were somewhat stiff and sluggish, while Ye Feiran’s face was terrifyingly pale, almost blending with the snow beneath him. Both seemed to have been injured earlier and were gradually losing ground in the fight against more than a dozen armed ordinary people.
It seemed that the cunning professor was willing to stop and fight to the death with the protagonists because he knew Si Chu and Ye Feiran were injured, giving him the confidence to engage in this desperate battle.
From a distance, Si Di frowned as he watched everything, showing an incredibly patient restraint and not intervening.
At first, Xiao Zhenyun was surprised by Si Di’s cold-heartedness, wondering if he wasn’t worried that his brother might get hurt in this unexpected twist of the original plot.
But soon he understood the real reason for Si Di’s composure—
Amidst the chaotic fight, a flamboyant black figure suddenly descended from the sky. Dressed in a tight combat suit with a long coat, which seemed suspiciously stitched to his shoulders, the figure landed in the midst of the brawl. The coat’s sleeves flared as he jumped down.
Around his waist hung a row of explosive grenades, and in each hand, he held a light machine gun. He landed directly in the middle of the fighting area, and as soon as he touched the ground, the muzzles of the guns erupted in rapid fire, accompanied by the deafening sound of gunfire.
With his brown hair and black attire, the expressionless man spun in circles, spraying bullets. In the midst of the fluttering trench coat, the ordinary people who had been arrogant just moments before now lay defeated at his feet.
The author has something to say:
Little Dog + Little Chick: We’ve both been killed! Han Bang, where are you?!
Hedgehog, sewing the trench coat onto the combat suit’s shoulders: Almost done, I’ll be there in a moment. Just hold on a little longer.
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
