Chapter 544: What a Pity

But how could this be possible?

The pictures shown on TV are mostly blurry, but one can still see a faint figure collapsed in the snow, wearing that skirt outfit, which is exactly Mei Weisi's favorite combination.

He didn't see a death notice that seemed to involve Bai Mu Yun, but he did see another rebroadcast news report.

"Because the Aberrant Species resisted violently during transport, the Field Operations Department chose to kill it on the spot."

This time, not even a picture could be attached.

Yet an inexplicable premonition somehow kept Lu Mu propping up his broken body, slowly leading him to Ying Duo's location.

After hearing Ying Duo's words, he finally exhaled slowly, slumped against the nearby wall and slid down into a powerless sit.

Whatever he said, it could never be true.

Isn't this the Dome's usual tactic? They degrade them through Co-Absorption, make them shoulder all the blame, then just toss out some scapegoats or simply have them act out a play, and by night they're still the ones drinking on his turf?

If he ran all the way in such a ragged state, it would probably be laughed at when it reaches Bai Mu Yun's ears.

Thinking of that, he glared warningly at Ying Duo.

"Hey Little Ghost, you must not tell anyone about what just happened, understand?"

Yang Yixie remained silent, merely standing beside him, looking down at Lu Mu from his height.

Although he looks rather miserable, Lu Mu did emerge from a temporal rift, then plunged straight into an Aberrant Species nest and survived; claiming he made no progress at all would certainly be false.

【Lu Mu Lv. 48】

At this rate of progress, it seems that through this ordeal Lu Mu truly squeezed himself to the limit, forcing out potential he hadn't been able to develop before.

He can even catch up to the former Bai Mu Yun.

Yang Yixie's right hand clenched into a fist, then relaxed; his golden eyes fixed on the barely surviving Lu Mu. After receiving the answer, the pain he had ignored in his haste surged all at once, making him grit his teeth in agony.

It also tugged at the wound on his face, twisting Lu Mu's entire expression with pain.

Whenever he looked up, he could see that Ying Duo, who had seemed like a puppet beside him, was making an unusually humane move.

His rhombus-shaped pupils locked onto Lu Mu; the Ying Guang Lu lines from his right hand had manifested in the air several times, yet never coalesced.

Although the instance granted him plenty of experience, the focus was still on refining gear and grinding skill proficiency; besides, experience is never too much.

The Lu Mu before him was like a clueless rabbit to a hunter, unaware that the hunter's gun was already primed.

From any angle, Lu Mu epitomizes the saying "the fool's luck."

If he had returned earlier, in that earlier internal strife of the Dome, the most foolish and stupid among them, he would surely have been the first to fall, yet he chose to come back when all the dust had settled and the factions were mutually restraining each other.

Moreover, he was still bearing a body that, if it got any worse, would die, needing a huge amount of time to heal before coming back.

Thus, for this expedition to the Eternal Silent Abyss, Lu Mu could not be taken along.

Perfectly avoided all death traps......

At least that was how it was originally.

But why does it have to appear before him at this very moment? Isn't that blatant baiting?

In the end, the pistol still appeared in Ying Duo's hand; he slowly raised it, pointing the barrel at Lu Mu's head......

Only then did Lu Mu, as if sluggishly sensing the imminent danger, look up and see the pitch‑black muzzle.

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"About this list, Director Fang, don't you have anything to say?"

Xie Jingnian stared at the Fang Zhiyan before him, dressed in a white lab coat, clearly just out of the lab, with a carefree expression, and clenched his teeth.

He never imagined he would see that extremely familiar name on the list submitted by the Mutation Department.

Although he and Han Huan had already said that their Mutation Department could take anyone they wanted, this outcome still clearly surprised him.

"What's wrong with it?" Unlike his anger, Fang Zhiyan still looked somewhat cheerful; seeing Xie Jingnian's angry expression, his usual displeasure at having his experiments interrupted was greatly reduced.

Xie Jingnian took a deep breath and tried to speak in an official, businesslike tone.

"Although Han Huan and I said that the Dome's internal personnel are at your disposal, there are also some people here who aren't Dome staff, right?"

"Yes, so what's the problem?" Fang Zhiyan said with a bright smile.

Xie Jingnian looked at the list and saw that a separate 'Other' section had been specially drawn out for Xie Jingyan, containing only Xie Jingyan's name.

If his intel is correct, Fang Zhiyan handed over the full authority to assign the mission's team members to Ying Duo.

So this would be Ying Duo's doing? Impossible—Yang Yichen is still in his hands, and Yang Yixie could not have done such a thing.

Then it can only be that Fang Zhiyan staged it himself, deliberately adding Xie Jingyan's name at the end to target him.

"Those who aren't Dome staff, we naturally have no right to interfere with her freedom; just cross out that name."

"That won't do," Fang Zhiyan bluntly rejected Xie Jingnian's suggestion, unsurprisingly receiving his angry stare.

Honestly, when Fang Zhiyan saw the list, he himself was a bit surprised.

Although he guessed that Yang Yixie might bring a few people from the organization called 'Entropy Increase' outside, the result was non‑Dome members; he only took Xie Jingyan.

And it was Xie Jingyan, of all people.

Fang Zhiyan's smile grew a few shades more intriguing, but that grin became increasingly glaring in Xie Jingnian's eyes.

"Overprotecting a child will make you a parent the child despises."

Fang Zhiyan pretended to gesture with his hands.

"I heard Minister Xie's relationship with his daughter has always been poor; perhaps you could learn from how I interact with Ying Duo's child—whatever he wants, I never stand in his way."

"Just like now, if Minister Xie really wants to stop someone, why not ask your daughter yourself whether she's willing to join?"

"Oh, let me guess, you've probably already asked, and she refused, right?"

Fang Zhiyan shrugged, his face still wearing a smile, but his eyes were icy.

"What a pity."

If he had discovered the problem early, there could have been another test subject.