Chapter 319: Did You Manage to Contact Them?

Soon, Meng Kexin's side sent a favorable reply.

The Chen Family's black sedan stopped in front of the Academy's main gate; the door opened, and Shen Zexi was the first to get out.

Few students entered or left the Academy, and the guard in the gate pavilion was bent over, flipping through some records.

Yet, he caught an incongruous figure at this tranquil Academy entrance.

A person stood at the side of the Academy's main gate.

The man wore an old‑style coat, his hair a lifeless ash gray; he stood there in silence, his back slightly hunched, yet his eyes were captivating.

The man lazily glanced toward them, his gaze lingering on Ying Duo's flamboyant Ying Guang Lu short hair for less than two seconds before losing interest.

Shen Zexi's eyebrows twitched imperceptibly; that face… he seemed to have seen it somewhere.

Qi Hengyu hopped out of the car right after Shen Zexi, and casually loosened his shoulders, which had become stiff from sitting.

He glanced at Ying Duo, who was sluggishly crawling out of the car, and couldn't help urging aloud.

"Hurry, hurry, while no one's watching, get inside and finish it quickly."

Ying Duo ignored him, steadied himself, and looked up at the familiar gate of Mitra Academy.

"Let's go in first," Shen Zexi said, averting a potential argument between them.

As they passed the gate pavilion, Shen Zexi halted and casually asked the guard.

"Who is that person over there...?"

The guard lifted his eyes from the log, glanced in the direction Shen Zexi indicated, and replied unsurprisingly.

"That person, they say is a student's parent, but everyone knows Mitra's rule: parents without prior registration cannot enter the teaching area, so they've just been waiting there.

They claim a student will come out later; probably the leave paperwork got messed up."

Shen Zexi nodded, said no more, and briskly entered with Ying Duo and Qi Hengyu.

————————————

Someone must have called ahead; the few of them moved freely through the laboratory area and went straight to Professor Luo De'an's lab.

The door was ajar.

They pushed the door open; only one person was inside.

Lin Xin turned at the sound of footsteps, and his eyes behind the lenses scanned the visitor.

It was teaching assistant Lin Xin.

Not Professor Luo De'an.

"Where is Professor Luo De'an?"

Shen Zexi asked bluntly, while calmly surveying the room; aside from Lin Xin, no other researchers were present.

Lin Xin turned, his hands slipped into the pockets of his white coat.

"Professor Luo De'an went to Luo Jinyou's side; I'm currently in charge of the research here."

He paused, his gaze passing Shen Zexi and landing on Ying Duo, who was looking around; this fellow isn't a docile type, perhaps he intends to tear the lab apart.

"Ying Duo, get ready; we'll start the examination as soon as possible."

After speaking to Ying Duo, he turned to address Shen Zexi and Qi Hengyu.

"The examination will be lengthy, at least two hours; if you just wait here it may get boring, you can come back later to pick up Ying Duo."

Qi Hengyu's eyes lit up at the suggestion.

He'd just spent the morning gaming at the Chen Family, and now he'd have to sit here for two hours? What a joke.

"Then I'll head to the Xunlianchang," he interjected before Lin Xin finished, "I haven't done today's daily training yet; my hands are stiff, Shen Zexi, want to join?"

Shen Zexi shook his head slightly; he thought Lin Xin might not be able to watch over Ying Duo.

"I'll stay here..."

"By the way, Shen classmate," Lin Xin seemed to recall something, "did you go collect the school uniform today?"

Shen Zexi was startled; so today was already the uniform distribution day?

Being busy indeed makes one forget the time, and on top of that they were running around off‑camp, so they completely missed it.

"... Fine." Shen Zexi finally nodded, turning to Lin Xin, "Then I'll trouble you, Teacher Lin; we'll get the uniforms and come back. In the meantime... Ying Duo is up to you."

"No rush, take your time," Lin Xin nodded, the reflection on his lenses obscuring most of his gaze, "The examination procedure is cumbersome; haste won't help."

Qi Hengyu was already eager, walking toward the door, and called back.

"Ying Duo, don't mess with anyone's equipment; if you break it, we'll leave you here!"

What kind of kid‑scaring routine is this?

Ying Duo ignored him, but his hand had already withdrawn.

Shen Zexi gave Ying Duo one last look, but Ying Duo didn't even give him a glance; hopefully the lab will still be standing when he returns.

The door closed gently, their footsteps receded down the corridor, eventually cut off completely by the heavy gate.

The lab fell silent.

Lin Xin didn't urge Ying Duo to lie on the instrument and begin the examination; instead he stood still, watching Ying Duo, who simply returned his gaze quietly.

Lin Xin's fingers, tucked in his white coat pockets, tightened slightly; his eyes behind the lenses lingered on Ying Duo's face for a few seconds, as if finally realizing that pressuring a lunatic would yield no result.

"... Lu Mu came looking for me."

Lin Xin finally spoke, his voice low; Ying Duo obediently nodded at the words.

Lin Xin subconsciously frowned; he expected that at least Ying Duo would react—perhaps with surprise—upon hearing him.

"You already knew," Lin Xin said, using a declarative sentence.

"Mm," Ying Duo nodded.

So concise—no explanation, no retort, not even bothering to specify what was known.

Lin Xin fell silent again for a few seconds.

He thought he was well hidden; during these years in Mitra, he silently proliferated and observed in various unnoticed cracks, neither being noticed nor overstepping, while playing his part just right.

Even Professor Luo De'an hadn't noticed his abnormality.

....... Bai Mu Yun just trusts this kid like that?

He took a deep breath and decided not to probe this issue further; after all time was tight, he had to first inform Ying Duo of the situation on the Academy side.

"He told me the plan is about to start."

"Originally we intended to use the pretext of this inspection to pull you back, then you would find a chance to invite Luo Jinyou alone, and finally directly transfer Luo Jinyou."

He paused, not using the terms "capture" or "recovery", but the meaning was clear enough.

"But now something unexpected happened."

"Luo Jinyou accidentally came into contact with a high‑risk Mutation Source, and his own special constitution…" Lin Xin's voice was flat, like stating an experiment report.

"Just this morning, while patrolling the Academy's northern district, he partially underwent Aberrant Species transformation; the Mutation Value surged to at least 70, multiple Mutation Features appeared, and Supervision Bureau agents seized and took him on the spot."

He took off his glasses and slowly wiped the lenses with the cuff of his white coat, a motion that made him look a bit weary.

Within the Church's sphere of influence, trying to snatch someone from the Supervision Bureau was simply too difficult.

"In short, do you have any means to get in touch with Bai Mu Yun and his group?"