Chapter 348: Yue Chengzhang: ... Never mind, let's try to understand

"Lost your memory?" Lei Zhao opened, his voice low.

Jiangdu was startled for a moment, then nodded instinctively.

"Hmm... right."

Lei Zhao's brows furrowed slightly as he stared at Jiangdu's face for several seconds, making Jiangdu feel his whole body was off, and finally he spoke.

"Now you're this stupid, maybe we should just dump you here."

Hong Ling, originally like a stray cat that finally found its owner, enjoyed Lei Zhao's petting, half‑closed her eyes, and let out a satisfied purr from her throat.

Upon hearing that, she immediately nodded, paying no heed to the fact that she had just been dragging Jiangdu for so long.

Jiangdu: "......"

What does "becoming this stupid" mean?

Was he not stupid before?

No, what kind of person was he before?

He was inexplicably dragged into this mess by Hong Ling, constantly pulled along, chased by the Supervision Bureau, nearly struck down by Lightning Chains, finally rescued with great difficulty, only for his savior's first reaction to be to drop him?

He looked at the man before him, still surrounded by lingering electric arcs, and suddenly realized a fact.

This man knows him.

No, more than just knowing.

In his gaze there was something very complicated.

It wasn't the look of a stranger seeing another stranger.

"You..." Jiangdu began, his voice a bit hoarse, "Can you tell me what I was before?"

Lei Zhao did not answer immediately.

He had once watched, eyes wide open, as this child turned into a soulless blade.

Now that blade has been broken by fate and reforged into a newcomer who knows nothing.

Is this... punishment or a blessing?

Lei Zhao didn't know.

But he knew he no longer wanted to be the one who sharpens the blade himself.

——————————————

When Professor Luo De'an arrived, the scene was locked in a stalemate like this.

From afar he spotted a particularly familiar figure, surrounded by undissipated electric arcs, standing in the center of a ground scarred with burns, with two child‑like students protected behind him.

Lei Zhao?

Luo De'an's steps faltered briefly, then quickened, cutting through the Supervision Bureau agents who were on high alert yet dared not advance, and walked straight to the center of the standoff.

Lei Zhao heard the voice, turned his head toward the elderly professor with white hair, and a non‑smile curved his mouth.

"Professor Luo De'an," he said calmly, "long time no see."

"Indeed, long time no see."

Luo De'an's gaze swept behind him, spotting a girl in a Mitra Academy uniform who bore obvious Mutation Features, while the boy beside her looked completely out of it.

Luo De'an's brows furrowed even tighter.

"You brought an Aberrant Species into Tianmian City and attacked Mitra Academy's students?"

Lei Zhao merely shook his head.

"Believe it or not, this is just a misunderstanding."

Strictly speaking, they were being set up.

Luo De'an said nothing.

Lei Zhao didn't mind his reaction; he simply reached out and pulled Jiangdu forward.

Jiangdu staggered briefly, and before he could react, he was pushed in front of Luo De'an.

"The person is yours now."

Lei Zhao seemed indifferent to Jiangdu's fate, "Unharmed."

Luo De'an pushed Jiangdu behind him, examined his condition, and aside from a pale complexion and some ash on his hair, there were indeed no injury marks.

He lifted his head again, looking at Lei Zhao, his gaze filled with confusion and caution.

"What does this mean?"

Lei Zhao gave no reply; he simply turned back to Hong Ling, pressed his hand on her shoulder, signaling her not to act.

Hong Ling stood obediently, but her eyes never left Luo De'an, as if assessing the old man's threat level.

Luo De'an watched the scene, his expression growing ever more complex.

He had known Lei Zhao for many years.

The idealistic youth of those days had now become this—protecting an Aberrant Species, standing on Tianmian City's ground, surrounded by Supervision Bureau agents, yet still looking indifferent.

What does he intend to do?

Luo De'an inhaled deeply, turned to the perpetually tense squad leader beside him, and lowered his voice.

"If we act now, we won't be able to protect those present; how long until reinforcements arrive?"

The squad leader, hearing this, hurriedly replied.

"Yue Chengzhang's team is already on the way; they were temporarily summoned by the Church earlier, but after receiving the news they rushed here immediately, at most... five minutes."

Luo De'an let out a slight sigh of relief.

Five minutes.

As long as we hold out those five minutes, once Yue Chengzhang arrives—

He lifted his head, looking at Lei Zhao.

Lei Zhao still stood in place, the electric arcs swirling around him gradually subsiding, leaving only occasional crackling remnants; he didn't look at Luo De'an, merely lowered his eyes, a hand resting on Red Ling's shoulder.

Red Ling's eyes still stared at Luo De'an, pupils slightly constricting, and Luo De'an felt a chill down his back.

He had seen too many Aberrant Species, but Red Ling gave him a different feeling.

It was not pure madness, nor simple bestiality.

It was something more dangerous.

—a beast with reason.

Luo De'an has dealt with Aberrant Species for many years in his life, but this is the first time he has seen an Aberrant Species that retains self‑awareness.

The Dome really does have this kind of technology......

——————————————

Yue Chengzhang is rushing at full speed to the scene.

He had just come out from the Church, and the Supervision Bureau uniform on his body still carried the distinctive incense scent of the sanctuary.

"Lei Zhao brought an Aberrant Species... attacked the students of Mitra Academy..."

Yue Chengzhang leapt across the rooftop while quickly running through various possibilities in his mind.

Suddenly, his steps halted.

Because in an alley ahead, he saw people he shouldn't have seen.

To be precise, five people.

No, three people, plus two being held by tentacles.

At the front was a man with white hair and red eyes; a few silvery tentacles dangled softly behind him, and the tip of one coiled around a blood‑soaked boy.

Luo Jinyou is still alive.

But death is not far away.

Unlike Luo Jinyou's plight, the other boy wrapped by tentacles seemed especially relaxed, apparently quite fond of being tangled up so he didn't have to walk on his own?

Ying Duo wore a hooded sweatshirt; the cat ears on the hood swayed slightly with the tentacles, and strands of Ying Guang Lu hair peeked from the brim, still conspicuous in the dim light.

His expression was very calm; a cluster of Ying Guang Lu lines wove rapidly in his hand, moving so fast that even Yue Chengzhang could barely see what he was doing.

But in Ying Duo's eyes, being tossed around by tentacles was clearly less attractive than what he was fiddling with in his hands.

Yue Chengzhang: "......"

Forget it, just accept it; the child's mind has always been problematic.