Chapter 177: Playing It Safe

Lin Mu was sent by the Guangdong Province Bureau of Awakeners to assist her work, A-rank, hydrokinesis of the force-field type. He was a gentle, shy boy, 22 years old, awakened for about half a year. He had started out as B-rank, but later, after a mission with the Bureau, he broke straight through his bottleneck and reached A-rank — a recognized genius within the Guangdong Province Bureau of Awakeners.

He was fair and pretty, the sort of well-behaved younger-brother type one would take an instant liking to at a glance. The Bureau had put some thought into sending him to assist Yang Yi this time.

"Where are the parasites?" Yang Yi asked in surprise. "Has it been reported to the Alien Life Research Institute?"

"These parasites are too powerful — they can't do anything about them." Lin Mu spoke as if hinting at something.

Yang Yi said nothing and gave him a careful look.

Spurred by that look, Lin Mu seemed a little nervous. He straightened up, clenched his fists uneasily, and said carefully, "How about, you… you come take a look with me?"

Yang Yi gave a small nod. "Lead the way."

##

"The parasites you mentioned are right here?"

Yang Yi and Lin Mu stood on a hillock looking down. Below, the vegetation was lush, and a six-story brick-red building nestled amid dense woods. Not far off was a large cluster of villas, but this one little building alone was encircled by trees, giving it an especially secluded air.

"Take a closer look," Lin Mu said.

The two of them were only two years apart in age, yet he kept saying "you" in the formal register. Yang Yi found it awkward. "Just say 'you' — drop the formality, it makes me uncomfortable. Or you could just call me by name."

Lin Mu took the suggestion readily. "Alright, Yang… Yang Yi."

After observing for a while, Yang Yi noticed what was odd about the building: its security was far too tight. Men in security uniforms kept patrolling the perimeter, and these were not the usual elderly uncles — they were young and middle-aged men who carried a distinctly military air in the way they sat, lay, walked, and carried themselves. Sentries were posted every few steps, and during shift changes there was not the slightest slackening.

What puzzled her most was that luxury cars came and went at the main entrance, and every person entering or leaving had to show a card — some sort of identity document.

Among the vehicles coming and going there were not only luxury cars but also low-key ordinary ones, yet the sentries checking documents were actually more deferential toward the people in those ordinary cars.

Yang Yi was puzzling over this when she suddenly saw a truck slowly driving into the rear courtyard of the red building through the back gate. Her brow furrowed slightly as she sensed the alien-life aura emanating from the vehicle.

Suddenly, the big truck that had been creeping forward jolted. A bulge appeared on the side of the cargo bed, and a muffled shriek came from within the truck.

A B-rank Awakener got down from the passenger seat, cursing as he flung open the rear cargo door. Several chaotic shrieks came from inside.

The truck kept moving, rolling into an underground parking garage until it gradually disappeared from view.

"What is this place? What are they catching alien creatures for?" Yang Yi couldn't help asking.

"Not just alien creatures — there's more! You… take another look," Lin Mu said, dodging the question.

Yang Yi shot him a glance and kept observing.

After a while, a black minivan showed its credentials and drove through the rear gate, heading straight into the underground parking garage.

Yang Yi's expression cooled. Her telekinesis swept over the minivan and she detected two unconscious girls inside — pretty-faced, very young, looking as if they had only just entered the workforce.

"Speak plainly. What is this place?" Yang Yi said evenly. "You had me see all this — what are you trying to achieve?"

Lin Mu gave a slight smile. "Didn't I say? There's a place with worse parasites — this is it. The brain tapeworm can only parasitize one person, and even if it causes chaos, it can be dealt with easily. But the parasites here feed on the masses, openly sucking their blood, eating their flesh… isn't that more terrifying than a brain tapeworm?"

It was the first time Yang Yi had really looked at the young man. Now he had shed entirely the gentle, pretty-boy air of the past few days; his smile seemed to hold a certain certainty and a faint, elusive mockery. His eyes were a deep amber, half-lidded as he watched her, and within them lurked something utterly at odds with his innocent, boyish face.

Yang Yi suddenly laughed. "Fine!" She pulled out her phone to make a call.

A lean, wiry hand pressed down on her phone. "Who are you calling?"

"The Supreme People's Procuratorate," Yang Yi said flatly.

"What? You're not going in to take a look yourself?" Lin Mu had switched back to the formal "you." He raised an eyebrow lightly. "Or do you feel it's none of your business? Or perhaps you're worried about overstepping, going against the image you've always maintained of not interfering in politics?"

Yang Yi's heart skipped a beat.

She gave a cold little laugh. "You know me well?"

"Not really well. It's just that you, as the foremost Awakener, every single move you make tugs at the hearts of all of us Awakeners. You're my idol, my goal — naturally I pay extra attention to you in daily life."

Lin Mu's smile was shy, yet this once-innocent, cute look now seemed affected and theatrical. "Ever since you returned from the other-dimensional passage, some people have worried — because of your immense power — that you might become a tyrant lording over all humanity. To avoid giving them that worry, you've deliberately cultivated an image of caring only about alien-life issues and never meddling in politics. So, faced with these parasites of the people, you want to play it safe and not get involved yourself — is that it?"

Yang Yi's face was expressionless. "Professionals handle professional matters. Some things absolutely cannot tolerate amateurs directing the experts. My telekinesis is strong, but I'm not omniscient or omnipotent. If these are parasites of the people, it's precisely the Procuratorate's job to deal with them."

"If the Procuratorate worked, this little red building wouldn't have existed for eight whole years…" Lin Mu suddenly sighed. "Given your status, perhaps your phone call might do some good, but I suspect the more likely outcome is that one call from you, and the real powers behind this little red building will swiftly sever their ties to this place, sacrifice the pawns to save the king, and put forward some obvious scapegoats. Once things calm down, another 'little red building,' 'little green building,' 'little blue building' will silently pop up somewhere else…

"An invisible web woven from money and power — even if you crush the web to pieces, as long as the spiders survive, they'll simply move somewhere else, spin a new web, and keep hunting those innocent prey as their food, their playthings…"

"Why not go see for yourself?" Lin Mu raised an eyebrow. "See what these alien creatures are brought in there for. See what becomes of those girls about your age inside. And while you're at it, see what these sanctimonious news figures are really like behind closed doors… What are you running from?"

"Not a bad attempt at provocation," Yang Yi said evenly. "Then let's go in and take a look."