Chapter 81: Heavenly Net

"What's going on? Wasn't the plan to act tonight?"

Xiao Peidong, shocked and incredulous, thought, "Could they be planning to capture Zhao Jiayi first? Won't that tip off the snake?"

But that thought only surfaced for an instant before he immediately realized he was wrong! Because—

"Boom!"

He saw 'Chu Tianyao', like a gale, turn his entire body into a blurred phantom and instantly dart into the patrol crowd.

Those cold eyes remained fixed on Xiao Peidong; as the sound of an air explosion rang out, his right leg had already become a blur, smashing through the air like a war axe and brutally chopping down upon his head! "How could it be me?!"

Xiao Peidong's pupils shrank to the size of needle points, his heart filled with endless terror.

Before that strike even landed, the oppressive wind pressure had already swept over him!

Facing this terrifying, heavy blow, he instinctively felt a despair as dark as falling into the abyss!

"No!!!"

In that moment, Xiao Peidong exerted all his strength to activate his battle technique; his arms instantly became covered in a metallic sheen, while dense black lines appeared deep within his eyes as he desperately resisted the strike! However—

"Crack!!"

Xiao Peidong felt the terrifying power of that strike far exceed his limits; the moment they made contact, his arms seemed like rotten, decaying wood, instantly snapping and shattering, with flesh and blood exploding outward in all directions.

Then, with the force of that kick not yet spent, he followed through with a hard kick to his skull! "Bang!!"

Xiao Peidong's skull was not as sturdy as his battle-technique-enhanced arms; it instantly burst open, with red and white matter spraying everywhere, while skull fragments hammered pits into the ground!

Only a headless corpse remained, falling weakly into the pool of blood.

In just an instant, he was dead beyond any doubt.

"Captain Xiao!!"

"Damn it!"

All of this happened in a blink; among the patrols, many hadn't even noticed 'Chu Tianyao's' appearance, but upon turning their heads, they found Captain Xiao already killed! Immediately, Zhao Jiayi and the other patrol officers drew their sidearms and frantically fired at 'Chu Tianyao'! "Bang bang bang bang!!"

Amidst the gunfire, they saw bullet after bullet of immense power spinning wildly as they tore through the air, all aimed at 'Chu Tianyao'.

And 'Chu Tianyao', with a indifferent gaze, simply had his right hand, clad in a black glove, vanish in an instant; flashing as a blur a few times, he blocked every single bullet with one hand! Immediately, 'Chu Tianyao' turned into a blurred phantom again, passing through the traffic-filled road, and quickly disappeared from the crowd's view.

Leaving the patrol officers on the opposite side of the road, shocked and furious, standing helplessly in place.

Chase? How to chase? The reason guardrails are set up on roads today is because autonomous vehicles run too fast.

If the speed were slower, it would be fine; the autonomous cars would stop automatically, but if the speed is high, the laser sensors of the autonomous cars can't react in time, and inertia would simply knock the person flying.

Only by moving as ridiculously fast as 'Chu Tianyao' just now could one easily slip through the gaps between autonomous cars.

And none of the patrol officers present could do that.

Moreover, even if they chased, it would only mean sacrificing another life.

"... This is a major incident."

Patrol Officer Group Leader Liang, his face pale, looked at Xiao Peidong's corpse in the pool of blood and said with a trembling voice, "Chu Tianyao... actually dared to publicly assassinate a patrol officer?"

"And Captain Xiao had just been discharged from the hospital; the satellite surveillance protection was only just removed, and he acted immediately?"

"This Chu Tianyao is even more ruthless than the legends say!"

"Arrogant... too arrogant!"

"The Patrol Headquarters will surely be furious; when they send people to investigate thoroughly, even if they turn over the entire Lin'an City or even Jiangnan, they will find Chu Tianyao!"

"This time... Chu Tianyao has made a huge scene..."

The patrols present also knew that relying solely on the power of the Xiaoshan Patrol Branch, they could do nothing against a madman with such terrifying strength as Chu Tianyao; now they could only strongly condemn him and place their hopes on the Patrol Headquarters.

"Using the Patrol Headquarters as a blade to deal with the Wuyi Red Society and the Primitive Research Institute? That seems a bit exaggerated..."

Zhao Jiayi muttered quietly in the crowd, while her telekinetic power spread far out.

Several hundred meters away stood the Xiaoshan District People's Hospital building.

In the corner between the gray-white walls of the building, a figure hidden under gray-white cloth was seen clinging to the wall like a gecko, climbing upward at a speed that was ridiculously fast.

In the blink of an eye, that figure had climbed to a window on the fifth floor.

And that window opened automatically; after the figure instantly wrapped itself in the cloth and crawled inside, the window closed automatically.

On the wall of the building not far away, numerous surveillance cameras were visible.

But the two surveillance cameras that could capture this angle: one had been smeared with a lump of bird droppings falling from the sky yesterday, and the other was currently blocked for just a blink of an eye by a falling leaf drifting past in the wind.

Everything remained as calm as usual, leaving not a single suspicious trace.

Inside a stall in the fifth-floor restroom of the hospital building.

'Chu Tianyao' instantly stripped off his already damaged clothes, shoes, hat, and the headgear disguising his bald head; then, his hands glowing with metallic sheen, he turned into a phantom, tearing those clothes to shreds and grinding them into powder with bare hands.

At the same time, his face and body shape began to change rapidly, quickly reverting to Lin Qing's original appearance.

In just over ten seconds, only a pile of powder, meaningless even if found, remained in the sewer, washed away by the turbulent water flow.

Then, Lin Qing quickly put on the patrol officer's uniform, tidied his hair and collar, and walked out of the stall with a calm expression, leisurely washing his hands at the sink.

"The cameras at the hospital entrance were also destroyed in advance; only the ones at a much greater distance remain, which can only capture blurry images, making it impossible to distinguish anything."

Lin Qing thought to himself, "It's just that these clothes aren't sturdy enough; my current strength is too great. Even the sturdiest clothes Jiayi stole for me couldn't withstand my burst of power for long. Fortunately, Xiao Peidong was weak, and I took him out in one strike..."

There might be fragments of clothing left at the scene, but they mean nothing.

The clothes he wore had completely turned to powder; after being flushed through the sewer, even if residual powder were found in the city's sewer pipes, it would prove nothing.

Unless there were traces of his skin tissue left behind, that would mean something.

But with his current physical constitution, and having specifically activated the battle technique 'Hard', killing a Xiao Peidong would not even break the skin.

Moreover, 'Chu Tianyao' fled in the direction opposite the hospital; under normal circumstances, no one would think he would loop back via a route that happened to be in the blind spots of all the cameras.

Of course, this was mainly because Zhao Jiayi's telekinetic power cooperated from a distance, altering the angles of some cameras in advance or disguising them as aged and damaged.

Even if pedestrians passed by on the road, Zhao Jiayi would use subconscious suggestion to make them conveniently turn their heads and avert their gaze at just the right moment.

Combined with his extreme speed, it was even less likely that ordinary people could see him clearly.

For today, he had rehearsed the plan with Zhao Jiayi several rounds in advance, only finalizing every detail of the plan after that.

Even his cousin's surgery time—he had Zhao Jiayi help plant subconscious suggestions in his cousin's mind, making it seem like a coincidence that it was scheduled for today.

"I'm innocent…a colleague was discharged from the hospital and I even had my subordinate send flowers, and I've personally been at the hospital accompanying my older cousin through her surgery…"

Lin Qing muttered to himself, shook the water droplets off his hands, walked out of the restroom, and casually took a few apples from a shy little nurse, leaving an impression on the witness, before finally returning to the waiting area outside the operating room.

Actually, from when he left to when he returned, only a little over a minute had passed.

Charging into the crowd to kill Xiao Pei and then retreating took only one or two seconds.

Taking a detour back to the hospital plus disposing of the evidence took a bit longer, but still not as long as a normal person's trip to the bathroom.

"Aunt, cousin, the nurse gave me a few apples."

When Lin Qing returned to the waiting area outside the operating room, his aunt and cousin Chen Ruizhe were both still waiting in silence.

He sat down on the bench, handed out the apples in his hand, and casually picked up the phone he had deliberately set aside when he went to the restroom.

—A phone constantly emits signals, leaving traces at every base station it passes through. As long as someone wanted to investigate, they could definitely find it, so naturally he wouldn't carry it on his person.

"An Inspector is different after all." Cousin Chen Ruizhe smiled and took the apple. "I saw that young and pretty Dr. Chi being quite proactive toward you."

"I'm still young, puppy love isn't good." Lin Qing waved his hand.

"……"

Chen Ruizhe was a bit speechless—you're already a First-Level Inspector, and you're still talking about puppy love?

"Get lost, stop giving bad ideas."

His aunt shot her own son a look. "Xiao Qing just became an adult, he's still innocent. That female doctor looks like an experienced one at first glance, we can't let Xiao Qing be tricked by her. I think Xiao Qing's assistant is pretty good—pretty and well-behaved, looks very innocent at first glance."

Lin Qing couldn't help but cough, pretending to be embarrassed and shy as he turned his head away.

His aunt and cousin couldn't help but laugh.

Although he was a First-Level Inspector and could pull strings to get them high-end mechanical prosthetic limbs they had never even heard of, in reality he was still just a shy, bashful boy…

Lin Qing, meanwhile, muttered to himself.

Makes sense—an innocent eighteen-year-old boy like me isn't worth suspecting at all…

"Beep beep."

At this moment, Lin Qing's phone suddenly rang.

The caller ID showed it was from Zhao Jiayi.

"Hello?"

"What did you say?"

"Alright, I'll head over now."

Lin Qing frowned. After ending the call, he looked at his puzzled aunt and cousin beside him and said, "Cousin, Aunt, something happened at the hospital entrance. I'll go take a look—you two stay here and keep watch."

Chen Ruizhe and his aunt clearly also saw that Lin Qing's expression was off, that something major had clearly happened, and immediately nodded.

"Alright, hurry and go."

……

Xiaoshan District People's Hospital entrance.

By now, temporary cordon lines had been set up in this area, and no vehicles or crowds were permitted to pass through.

'Tigerbee-Style Patrol Hunter' drones equipped with heavy-firepower machine guns had also been deployed, forming a net-like cordon pattern around the scene, having already laid down a fire network.

"What's going on?"

Lin Qing frowned deeply, looked at the corpse and bloodstains on the ground, and said coldly, "Captain Xiao was just discharged from the hospital, and Chu Tianyao came to launch a sneak attack?"

He abruptly turned his head, his icy gaze sweeping over the gathered inspectors. "The news of Captain Xiao's discharge and the specific timing—only the inspectors present here would know. How did Chu Tianyao time it so precisely?"

The inspectors responded in silence.

Everyone present understood this point. Chu Tianyao, like a madman, was purely a desperado—publicly attacking and killing an inspector on the spot, how insane was that? But in the end, he only killed Captain Xiao. Even when other Inspector Bureau personnel opened fire, Chu Tianyao didn't fight back.

This itself was a point of doubt.

Enough to suspect that among the inspectors present, there might be Chu Tianyao's informant.

"Just wait to be investigated."

Lin Qing said in a low voice, "With something this big happening, headquarters will send people soon."

……

Xiaoshan District Branch.

Inside the bureau chief's office.

"Chief Kou."

Lin Qing frowned as he looked at Chief Kou behind the desk and asked, "When will headquarters send people over?"

"They'll be here very soon." Chief Kou said in a heavy voice, "Headquarters is furious too. I heard they're sending one 'Inspector Envoy' and three 'Senior Inspector Chiefs,' along with high-tech instruments for wide-range searches, preparing to thoroughly investigate Lin'an City and the surrounding areas."

Very good…Lin Qing secretly praised.

The Original Research Institute had designs on him, and he had no way to deal with such a behemoth, so naturally he could only rely on Inspector Headquarters to handle it.

"Inspector Envoy? What rank is that?" Lin Qing asked curiously.

He had only heard that above Inspector Chief were the various Senior Inspector Chiefs—this was the first time he had heard of an 'Inspector Envoy.'

"It's normal that you haven't heard of it."

Chief Kou explained, "This is the highest rank in our inspector system, and even at headquarters they're considered true elites."

"Could it be a Gene Awakener?" Lin Qing couldn't help but ask.

"To be precise…they belong to the strong ones among Gene Awakeners." Chief Kou nodded slightly.

"It seems the Headquarters attaches great importance to this."

Lin Qing felt even more reassured, yet frowned as he added, "However... I worry, will Chu Tianyao escape before this?"

"He won't."

Director Kou said in a heavy voice, "At this moment, three near-Earth orbit super-resolution patrol satellites have already locked onto Lin'an City. Every major thoroughfare, even the sewers, are blocked and checked by drones. Under this net of heaven and earth, Chu Tianyao cannot escape."

Lin Qing nodded slightly and breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good. I still don't know why Chu Tianyao wanted to kill Captain Xiao."

"Perhaps it was revenge."

Director Kou sighed, "Not long ago, didn't Chu Tianyao ambush the headquarters of the Crimson Oriole Society? Clearly, he has a grudge against them. Today, killing Captain Xiao might be his way of ensuring Captain Xiao's death draws a thorough investigation from the Patrol Headquarters. In that case, the Crimson Oriole Society will also suffer a major blow."

"Truly insane," Lin Qing sighed.

South Bank Street.

In a hidden basement of a bar.

"Here it comes again..."

Chu Tianyao, bald and lean, looked at the urgent intelligence just received on his phone, yet the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, "Disguised as me and causing such a huge commotion? Truly audacious... Good, kill, kill, kill more..."

He watched the message with a cheerful mood, feeling even more expectant.

He dared not go this crazy because he knew that after such a bout of madness, he would be unable to escape.

But having someone else go this crazy for him instead gave him a sense of satisfaction.

Suddenly—

"Beep beep."

The phone received another message.

Chu Tianyao happily opened it and found it was an order from the BOSS.

【The Patrol Enforcer from Headquarters will arrive in Lin'an City in two hours. You must immediately capture Lin Qing and Zhao Jiayi, escape via the underground passage of Route Beta, and someone will be there to receive you at Point Three.】

"Are they abandoning me? It seems I cannot escape after all..."

Chu Tianyao's smile suddenly became brilliant, "Very well, then let's go a bit more crazy. They want me to capture Lin Qing and Zhao Jiayi alive? Then let's just kill everyone. Oh right... and his sister's entire family. We didn't kill them last time. A family should be complete and together."

(End of this chapter)