Yue Shi slipped into containment vehicle X-04 and immediately destroyed the surveillance equipment inside.
Sparks flickered, and the cameras went completely dead.
With that step completed, he strode further inside, his gaze scanning the identification numbers on each of the containment pods.
He quickly found containment pod 6.
The door was tightly sealed with a complex security lock.
However, this was no obstacle for Yue Shi. His pitch-black Decaying Talons manifested once more, slashing ruthlessly across the pod's exterior.
The material of the pod seemed specialized, slowing the corrosion slightly, but it eventually succumbed with a soft sizzling sound, turning into a pile of brittle scrap.
With a slight push, the containment pod was completely breached.
A cold white mist dispersed, revealing the "item" inside—it was indeed a set of remains.
To be more precise, it was only a head.
The face was twisted, covered in horrific burn marks from high temperatures, and even had residues of various seasonings clinging to it.
One could vaguely recognize it as one of the minions from Lab 0 that Yue Shi had dealt with previously.
However, to Yue Shi's surprise, the inside of the head was empty!
The back of the skull had been pried open, and the brain tissue that should have been inside the cranial cavity was long gone, leaving behind only some dried, coagulated residue.
The brain had already been taken?!
“Did you find the body? Hurry up and destroy it!” The anonymous caller had never hung up, and their voice came through the phone with a sense of urgency. Even with the AI-processed voice, a trace of suppressed desperation was detectable.
Yue Shi remained expressionless, raising his hand to crush the empty skull with a single palm strike.
He spoke into the phone, deliberately lowering his voice to a mockingly calm tone.
“I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?”
The anonymous caller froze for a moment before snapping in frustration, “At a time like this, you’re still in the mood to joke? Tell me the good news first!”
“The good news is that I’ve successfully found the body you mentioned and destroyed it completely,” Yue Shi said.
“Stop beating around the bush! What’s the bad news?!” the anonymous caller demanded.
“The bad news is that before I found it, the brain was already gone. Someone... or something, got there first and took his brain.”
A deathly silence fell over the other end of the line.
After a full two or three seconds, the AI-synthesized voice spoke again, filled with disbelief and shock. “Empty?! Not good! This... this is almost certainly a trap!”
“Damn it, I should have thought of this! Since the Glory Association has transcendents who can read memories, they would have read it the moment they found the body. Why bother preserving it just to wait for someone to come and destroy the evidence? They deliberately leaked this news as bait!”
Yue Shi let out a soft tsk, his tone carrying a hint of mockery. “It seems your brain isn’t all that useful either. What I’m more curious about now is how exactly you discovered my identity?”
He steered the conversation back to the core issue once more.
The anonymous caller avoided the question, sounding as if they were provoked by his mockery, their voice rising sharply. “Cut the crap! We’re in the same boat. And what does this have to do with being smart? When it comes to something that might expose your own movements, wouldn't you be panicked too?”
Expose his own movements?
Yue Shi keenly picked up on something.
Judging from that sentence, this anonymous caller might have also been an experimental subject from Lab 0, hiding their identity while waiting for a chance at revenge.
Who could it be?
Two numbers quickly flashed through Yue Shi's mind.
Excluding the already insane Reveler, that only left the Mage and the Ghost.
Both of them had a much harder time surviving than Yue Shi. Changing their appearance or identity wasn't difficult, but their abilities were known to Lab 0, making them easy targets for a specialized manhunt.
To be able to dodge layers of pursuit and even attempt a counterattack, such a person was certainly no ordinary individual.
Once the anonymous caller calmed down slightly, they warned urgently, “Forget all that for now. You need to run! Leave that place immediately. Do not let the Glory Association catch you, and don't let them see your face! It’s best if you leave Amber City altogether.”
“But... then again, you at least have your identity as an investigator as cover. Even if the Glory Association suspects or even knows you're a subject, they won't dare to move against you openly for now. You’re safe for the moment.”
Yue Shi sneered inwardly. If he were just any other ordinary subject, his position in the Investigation Bureau might indeed be a protective charm.
However, once his true identity as an Otherworldly Visitor was exposed, the existence of a transmigrator would undoubtedly cause a massive uproar.
At that point, forget the Glory Association—even the Bureau headquarters would likely label him as a maximum-priority target and take him into custody without hesitation.
Naturally, Yue Shi wouldn't explain any of this to his elusive "ally."
He also didn't follow the other party's advice to flee in a panic.
As the saying goes, since he was already here...
Relying on his invisibility, he decided to treat the Glory Association's containment vehicle as a buffet cart.
He moved quickly to the other containment pods, his claws easily tearing through the doors.
Inside were mostly various supernatural severed limbs or intact corpses, along with the remains of several human transcendents who appeared to have died recently.
Yue Shi reached out, and an invisible vortex seemed to appear in his palm. The residual source essence on those corpses was drawn out, turning into trickling streams that surged into his body.
In the mysterious space, the progress bar from the Full Moon Stone Tablet advanced a small but clearly visible notch.
This predatory absorption brought him a sense of immense satisfaction.
However, just as he was immersed in this pleasure—
Boom!!!
A loud explosion suddenly erupted, and the entire containment vehicle vibrated violently.
Immediately following that, a massive force slammed into Yue Shi.
It was a pure physical impact.
Fortunately, Yue Shi was constantly protected by his demon feathers, so the strike only made him stagger two steps without causing injury.
Right now, he was more concerned about how the opponent had managed to hit him when he was still in a hidden state!
He whipped his head around. In the shadows of the vehicle's corner, a figure had appeared at some unknown point!
The figure wasn't tall and was even somewhat blurry.
Yue Shi looked over, wanting to see more clearly.
However, he was greeted by what looked like a bolt of black lightning!
It was a black snake with a massive, gaping maw and pale, sharp fangs. Its speed was incredible; almost the instant Yue Shi noticed it, it had already lunged in front of him, leaving him no chance to dodge.
But the expected impact or bite didn't happen.
The black snake rapidly coiled around his waist once, its body acting like a tough rope. A massive dragging force pulled at him, intending to forcibly haul him into the corner.
Rate on N.U.
