Chapter 467: Schemes and Intrigue

Before that thing fully stepped out of the shadows, Sha Yufeng pulled the trigger.

The bullet struck the Aberrant Species' head, its head tipped back, dark red fluid gushed from the wound, yet its body remained firmly on the ground.

It slowly pulled its tilted head back, and Sha Yufeng's bullet seemed to have caused little harm.

But this Aberrant Species with astonishing self‑healing was only the beginning; in the shadows behind the trunk, within the dense canopy, beneath the thick layer of dead leaves, countless scarlet specks were all startled by that gunshot.

Logically, such a number of Aberrant Species could not have all been quietly hidden here without the Dome detecting them.

Unless someone deliberately concealed them here, but could that be possible?

The Aberrant Species are a bunch of completely twisted monsters; even if they retain some biological habits, their insane nature remains unchanged.

And this fundamentally determines that these Aberrant Species cannot stay quietly concealed in one place.

As far as the Butterfly Speaker knows, even the Co‑Absorption lunatics cannot achieve it.

While a few of them tangled with the Aberrant Species, someone silently took a photo, and that photo eventually ended up on Xie Jingnian's desk.

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"The new colleague has become a trouble."

Mei Weisi's voice came through the communicator, carrying a faint, barely noticeable fatigue.

She rarely speaks in this tone; in Bai Mu Yun's memory, Mei Weisi is always a woman with a proper smile at the corners of her mouth, speaking at an unhurried pace.

"What did she do?"

Bai Mu Yun hadn't expected the new one to revive so quickly; before he could mourn the new colleague's future, she had already become a trouble.

Was he lately too lax and idle? Why does Bai Mu Yun feel he's always moving to someone else's rhythm?

"She kidnapped Xie Jingyan," Mei Weisi's voice sounded hollow, oddly chilly, "the daughter of Xie Jingnian."

Bai Mu Yun's finger paused, squeezing out two words from between his teeth, "... madman."

The Mutation Department is really becoming more promising; do they have some unwritten new‑person rule that everyone must offend a department head to death before joining?

Do they really think everyone is Ying Duo? With Fang Zhiyan guarding them from behind.

He switched the communicator to his other hand; he had just found a secluded café with decent coffee to relax, and now his leisure time was completely ruined.

"What does our minister say?"

"Let the two of us handle it, and we must also investigate Xie Jingyan's whereabouts, rescue her, because time is tight; let's split into two groups first."

"You've already met her, so you take charge of negotiating with the Huamei to stabilize her; if necessary, killing her is fine, and I'll look into Xie Jingyan's location."

Bai Mu Yun had no objection; it's rare for Mei Weisi to proactively take on the errand.

"Do you have any leads over there?"

"None for now, but since the Huamei dared to move Xie Jingnian's daughter, there must be a backup," Mei Weisi paused, "send me the full transcript of your earlier conversation, not a single word omitted."

Bai Mu Yun agreed, could only recall the situation then and sent the dialogue to Mei Weisi word for word.

After sending, he leaned back in his chair, staring at the crystal lamp on the ceiling.

The warm yellow light swirled and refracted within the lampshade, casting a field of tiny, star‑like specks on the ceiling.

"You must have heard it too?"

Bai Mu Yun closed his eyes to rest for a few seconds, then opened them again and looked at the other communicator.

That was the private communicator Han Huan had given him earlier, said to employ a newly developed technology from the Weapon Development Department, capable of resisting a certain degree of energy intrusion.

Probably because Ying Duo's previous free‑wheeling, reckless behavior in the Dome had frightened him.

"There's something you need to do."

Han Huan also heard the entire recent conversation between Bai Mu Yun and Mei Weisi; of course, even if Bai Mu Yun didn't actively open the communicator, he still had means to learn the situation.

After all, the Huamei's arrival was indeed flamboyant, but unfortunately the Co‑Absorption's casually fabricated cult proclamation poisoned them so deeply that they actually believed that "new human" nonsense.

"Xie Jingyan is now in the Huamei's hands?" Han Huan's voice was relatively gentle, but the words were especially cold‑hearted.

"Since that's the case, let her die there, let Co‑Absorption take the blame; the Intelligence Department and Mutation Department quarreling would actually be more advantageous for us."

Bai Mu Yun's expression remained unchanged, clearly unsurprised by Han Huan's methods.

So, which is truly more terrifying: self‑aware Aberrant Species or humans?

Is there really any basis for comparison......

"Minister Xie's side—" Bai Mu Yun began, but Han Huan cut him off.

"Xie Jingnian won't know, and after this, I'll take you directly from Fang Zhiyan."

Han Huan left Bai Mu Yun no way out; previously, when Fang Zhiyan's ideas were thrust upon him, Bai Mu Yun would have chosen to pledge allegiance to Han Huan, but now the sudden emergence of the Huamei as a buffer gives Bai Mu Yun no chance to backtrack.

"…I understand." After hanging up, he casually placed the communicator on the coffee table, pinning it to the unfinished magazine.

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After arranging Bai Mu Yun's and Mei Weisi's destinations, Fang Zhiyan also sent a copy of the personnel assignments to Ying Duo.

At this moment, Ying Duo was assembling a newly modified sniper rifle; he had already practiced on the Mutation Department's Xunlianchang, and with the aid of the game system, long‑range kills were not difficult.

The bullet was freshly made, engraved with a Rune concerning the "Annihilation Principle," a castrated version of the Rune from the previous Cannon.

Ying Duo also considered taking Luo Jinyou straight to the front lines; Luo Jinyou's shield could block those guys without issue, but Min Tianyou rejected his proposal.

…and the reason…

"That's our hunting ground,"

The detective said so.

"So, where is that idol?"

Ying Duo asked Min Tianyou, since it was to kill Mei Weisi, Min Tianyou should have chosen a decent kill spot.

"Unfortunately, the previous plan went awry, and she didn't inform me of Xie Jingyan's whereabouts,"

In the original plan, Xie Jingyan was supposed to be poisoned, but in fact she emerged unscathed, and instead all the people the Huamei had sent ahead to Heavenly Dome City to set up were captured.

Perhaps in the Huamei's eyes, Xie Jingyan is their most important hostage, so even Min Tianyou wasn't told.