Chapter 228: Senior

This inevitably brings up the stone‑people Aberrant Species we killed last time; considering these things are part of the Aberrant Species, even though they don't look like fur or anything that can be processed, Ying Duo, boasting a large backpack, still stockpiled quite a few.

Later, although a portion was handed over to the Supervision Bureau for research, who is Ying Duo?

Sneaking away and hiding "a portion" is still very easy.

Ying Duo casually snatched a small robot nearby that had just completed its launch mission and was on standby; since these little robots are originally Aberrant Species core drives, combined with high‑purity Mutation powder made from stone‑people corpses, they're incredibly useful.

Yang Yixie had long thought that simple explosive destruction, for the resource‑rich Church and Supervision Bureau, merely means repairing the tracks and the train can still run; even if buildings are blown down, they can be rebuilt.

But Mutation is different.

It strikes not at facilities, but at people, at order, at a sense of security.

Bai Mu Yun led him to stage so many "terror attacks," yet never truly used them as the Aberrant Species' most essential weapon—that is, deploying Mutation itself as a strategic terror.

Oh, Ying Duo himself is not from the Aberrant Species.

So what? That doesn't stop Yang Yixie from thinking that Bai Mu Yun and Lu Mu haven't made good use of their positions.

Look, the effect of his doing so is immediate.

He could never go to the front lines to sacrifice himself; at most he can give the Supervision Bureau a debuff, give his own people a positive buff, and the rest depends on Bai Mu Yun and Lu Mu's own actions.

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"This isn't fireworks!" Yue Chengzhang shouted loudly at the first sign of something wrong, "All personnel, activate energy shields to prevent inhaling Mutation factors!"

But it was already too late.

Those seemingly harmless "fireworks," even tinged with festive cheer, at the moment of their most dazzling burst released the high‑purity Mutation powder that Ying Duo had meticulously prepared, spreading with the fireworks' "bloom."

"Cough! Cough cough!"

A few slower‑reacting or completely energy‑incapable Supervision Bureau agents were the first to feel ill; due to the opponent's peculiarity, each of them wore a portable device that measures their own Mutation Value.

Their skin began to tingle with burning and itching, and some even saw blurry double images and heard phantom sounds—signs that Mutation had already affected them.

Yue Chengzhang's golden energy formed a filtering barrier around him, keeping the Mutation mist outside.

He instantly grasped Co‑Absorption's intent: they wanted to create a massive Mutation upheaval.

Within Tianmian City, especially in densely populated civilian districts, the fallout of Mutation contamination is far more severe and harmful than a simple explosion.

At this point, we can only trust our teammates.

After all, the Flame City Cannon was designed for exactly this—to distract Supervision Bureau personnel, giving Lu Mu and Bai Mu Yun a chance to slip away, right?

Bai Mu Yun and Lu Mu reacted almost the instant Yue Chengzhang was distracted.

As mentioned before, when the surrounding Mutation factors rise, they become a restraint for the Supervision Bureau, but for them it's like a fish in water.

Lu Mu transformed into a rolling, dense shadow, sweeping toward a breach on the other side created by internal personnel affected by Mutation; countless sharp raven‑feather blades protruded from the shadow, mercilessly tearing through the Supervision Bureau's defenses.

"Stop them!"

Yue Chengzhang forced his mind to focus, redirecting most of his golden light swords like a downpour toward the two attempting to break out.

A long sword made purely of energy simultaneously materialized in his hand; Yue Chengzhang's figure flickered as he prepared to rush forward and strike down.

Just as Yue Chengzhang's blade swung toward the Lu Mu who had just emerged from the shadow, it seemed he intended to cut him down outright.

"Swoosh—!!!"

A purple bolt of lightning suddenly cracked down from the side above, landing precisely on the tip of Yue Chengzhang's long sword.

Golden light clashed with the purple thunder, and a raging energy shockwave radiated outward, temporarily dispersing the smoke and thin Mutation mist filling the corridor.

Yue Chengzhang's forward thrust halted; even his light sword emitted a strained hum, its glow dimming slightly.

He jerked his head up, his gaze fixed on the direction from which the purple lightning came.

At the edge of a damaged ventilation shaft above the corridor, a figure had appeared, timing unknown.

The person sat there with a slightly lazy posture, one hand casually resting on a knee, showing little interest in the fierce battle before them, even yawning.

Their disguise was rudimentary, just a scrap of cloth thrown over the face, not even covering the distinctive heterochromatic eyes.

Yue Chengzhang's fingers tightened slightly around the light sword; although he had long heard rumors from the Saintess, seeing it with his own eyes felt different.

"…Senior Lei Zhao?" his voice dropped low, realizing that today's Co‑Absorption operative he probably couldn't catch.

The man known as Lei Zhao gave no response to Yue Chengzhang, not even glancing at him.

His mismatched eyes shifted down to the newly steadied Bai Mu Yun and Lu Mu, and in a hoarse, flat voice he urged,

"Still standing there? There's no tea for you to drink."

Lu Mu wiped the blood‑foam spilling from his mouth after the recent energy shock, saw Lei Zhao sitting there with a weary face, opened his mouth as if to speak.

Bai Mu Yun reacted even faster; after a deep glance at the figure in the ventilation shaft, he said nothing and yanked Lu Mu, who still seemed about to speak, away.

"Go!"

Before the words finished, he whisked Lu Mu away like two arrows released from a bow, charging toward the previously identified breakout direction.

A few Supervision Bureau agents trying to block them were also repelled by the raven‑feather shards Lu Mu casually flung.

Yue Chengzhang watched helplessly as the two vanished around the corridor corner, his complexion gradually darkening.

He didn't pursue immediately, because the person crouched in the ventilation shaft had already slowly stood upright.

"Senior..." Yue Chengzhang inhaled deeply, his golden light sword reigniting with dazzling brilliance, its tip slightly raised toward Lei Zhao.

"Although I've long heard that you now work in the Dome's Field Operations Department, why involve yourself in this matter, shielding the Co‑Absorption villains?"

Even within the Dome, the reputations of the Field Operations Department and the Mutation Division differ vastly.

And Lei Zhao's act of aiding Bai Mu Yun and Lu Mu undeniably confirmed the worst suspicion Yue Chengzhang harbored.

This once‑renowned senior master of the Church has truly and completely broken away from the Church.

Lei Zhao finally fixed his mismatched eyes fully on Yue Chengzhang, his gaze somewhat hollow, as if looking through Yue Chengzhang at something else, or at nothing at all.

"The Church's interior has long rotted to the core, stinking beyond measure."

Lei Zhao's voice remained hoarse and flat, as if stating an objective fact unrelated to himself.

"The Supervision Bureau is merely a slightly cleaner veil, and you are a good seedling—principled, talented, and with a bit… of untimely persistence."

It's only a pity that you were born at the wrong time; as long as you continue staying on the Church's turf, your 'sword' will eventually rust, will break, and even....... become blackened.