Chapter 209

Li Cheng put down the Glock, casually pulled out an electronic pet egg, and tapped it against the table.

Hui Yu stretched lazily and materialized out of thin air; she glanced at Caroline in her bathrobe, then at the baby on the bed, and exclaimed in surprise to Li Cheng: "What year is this? How come I've been gone a while and you already have a child?"

"Space… space-type superpower?"

Caroline's mouth fell open in shock; even among all psychics, space-type abilities were among the rarest. And this man had apparently stored a living person inside an electronic container.

"Just assume I am."

Li Cheng was not a psychic, and Hui Yu was not a living person. He had no intention of correcting Caroline and quickly said: "You only need to understand one thing: we will help you escort this baby to its destination."

"Now you must tell us: how long have you been fleeing from that company? Where is your destination? Is there anyone waiting to meet you along the way?"

Caroline hesitated. Her baby, Angelica, in her arms, possessed the innate ability to sense hearts; since Angelica showed no aversion toward the two before her, perhaps—maybe, possibly—they truly were here to help?

"I executed the plan after everyone had left work, escaping from Pioneer Corp in Chicago. It's been about five hours since then. If we're lucky, they won't discover it until tomorrow."

"Our final destination is Angel City on the West Coast. There, people from Avalon will meet us."

Caroline added: "Avalon is a non-governmental organization composed of psychics, based on a Pacific island, opposing and exposing government and corporate persecution of psychics."

It sounded a bit like Marvel's Magneto's island of Krakoa. But the NPCs in this narrative world should be nowhere near as terrifying as Magneto.

Li Cheng thought to himself and quickly said: "Grab your things. We leave now."

Thud-thud-thud!

A muffled knock came from outside the door; a man's voice called out: "Hello? Is anyone there? I'm the motel staff. The guest below complained this room is leaking. May I come in to check?"

The late-night knocking was deeply odd. Caroline turned pale, clutching Angelica tightly. Hui Yu rolled up her sleeves, eager to act.

"Get down."

Li Cheng considered, then told Caroline and the others to crouch under the bed. He gently sliced Caroline's shoulder with his fingertip and drew a bit of blood.

The worm gene activated. Li Cheng transformed into Caroline's appearance and opened the door.

Outside stood a man with sparse stubble, wearing the uniform of a motel front desk clerk, holding a toolbox—looking perfectly normal. "Hello, I'm here to check the bathroom leak—"

Before he could finish the word "condition," Li Cheng punched him in the abdomen. The terrifying impact made his eyes bulge nearly out of their sockets, and he passed out instantly.

Li Cheng grabbed him by the collar, dragged him into the room, and threw him onto the floor. He leaned out to glance down the hallway twice, confirmed no one was watching, then closed the door, opened the fallen toolbox, and indeed found inside a SIG Sauer pistol with its serial number removed.

The pistol had no silencer, proving this man was not a professional.

"It seems your whereabouts have been discovered."

Li Cheng glanced at Caroline's ashen face. His integrated information glasses had just clearly indicated the motel clerk was a Level Two psychic.

Gulp.

Hui Yu swallowed hard—not from fear, but because Li Cheng now wore a crisp suit, glasses, and Caroline's exquisitely beautiful face. She lowered her voice: "Uh… I think to confuse the trackers, you should keep this look for the whole journey."

????

You're not right.

Li Cheng's forehead darkened with black lines. He picked up the remote control lying on the floor and gave Hui Yu a light but firm tap, then reverted to his own face and reached out to feel the motel clerk's carotid artery.

The man was not dead—his entire skin rippled slowly, transforming into a young man with shifty eyes and a sly look.

"Shapeshifter."

Caroline whispered: "Someone who can change their appearance into others' within seconds."

Her doubts deepened. This man claiming to help her had first revealed a space-type ability, then a shapeshifting one—was he an extremely rare dual-ability user?

Li Cheng had no time to answer Caroline's confusion. He slapped the shifty-eyed young man twice, forcing him awake.

"Don't kill me! I'm just a small-time drug dealer!"

The young man groaned in pain: "I've been staying at this motel for days. I saw you in the parking lot during the day. Check my room key if you don't believe me!"

I saw a bounty on the psychic dark web for a woman with a baby, posted by Pioneer Corp, so I got greedy."

"Look."

He trembled as he pulled out his phone. The screen showed a crude webpage with clear photos of Caroline and Angelica, along with detailed data: height, hair color, last known location.

The bounty was posted ten minutes ago.

Reward: eight million U. S. dollars. Note: capture alive.

Li Cheng raised an eyebrow, tossed the phone to Caroline, then pulled from his 3D storage a handcrafted bomb vest and slipped it onto the young man.

"Wait, what are you doing?!"

The young man struggled violently—uselessly.

"I won't kill you. But you must do these things."

Li Cheng took tape and tightly bound the bomb vest to the young man, then slipped a loose hoodie over it to conceal the vest.

"You're a shapeshifter, right?"

"You'll turn into her appearance, wear sunglasses and a mask, drive north on the highway for ten straight hours. Keep your phone's video call active the entire time—I'll monitor you through the feed."

Li Cheng spoke rapidly: "Do exactly as I say. After ten hours, the bomb will deactivate automatically."

"Otherwise—if you abandon the car and run, the bomb explodes. If you touch your phone, the bomb explodes. If you ask strangers for help, the bomb explodes. If you alert Pioneer Corp, the bomb explodes."

"Understood?"

The young man felt the heavy weight of the bomb vest and was too terrified to speak: "I—I'm only a Level Two psychic. I can only maintain transformation for seconds at a time. I can't hold it continuously."

He wasn't lying. If his shapeshifting ability were stronger or lasted longer, he'd already be a full-time employee of Pioneer Corp—or at least a high-end male PR specialist, turning into celebrities to drink and play cards with rich women.

Why would he waste his life in this shabby motel, dealing in illegal drugs?

"Irrelevant. I already told you to wear the mask and sunglasses. Just change your appearance every so often."

Li Cheng took back the phone from Caroline, opened the video call function, and handed it to the young man.

He rose from the floor with a miserable face, but hadn't taken two steps before the vest beneath his hoodie emitted rapid beeping sounds—he scrambled backward, transformed into Caroline's form, sprinted downstairs, jumped into his battered pickup truck, and sped north.

Caroline stared at the fleeing figure, her mind slow to process. She instinctively turned to Li Cheng and asked: "That bomb vest… it's fake, right?"

Li Cheng glanced at her and smiled: "Relax, it's just a carb bomb."

Aren't humans made of carbs too? So basically, it's a real bomb vest, right? Isn't that right?

Caroline had no words left; under Li Cheng's urging, she rushed to the bathroom, quickly changed clothes, collected the used towel and toothbrush, and sprayed bleach, disinfectant, and deodorizer on every surface she had touched in the room.

The shapeshifter who found Caroline earlier will eventually lead other psychics and Pioneer Corp employees here.

More importantly,

"The bounty has been updated."

Li Cheng glanced at his phone; two new descriptions had been added to the darknet bounty targeting Caroline and Angelica.

【All personnel must note: the target is likely accompanied by a powerful, ability-unknown Level Four psychic.】

【That Level Four psychic will also be considered a target. No need to capture or kill these three—merely providing leads will earn you one million from Pioneer Corp.】

"Hah."

Li Cheng let out a light laugh; Pioneer Corp alone could never have learned of his existence this quickly.

It only proves one thing: the unknown enemy player has already borrowed Pioneer Corp's "influence."

At the same moment, in Pioneer Corp's headquarters intelligence command center in Chicago, Michigan, Cervantes of the Madcap Troupe let out a light laugh.

Cervantes knew that the moment these two new descriptions went live, the unknown enemy player would instantly become aware of his existence.

But it didn't matter; there was a vast gap in information between both sides.

This cat-and-mouse chase would end with his victory.

【I've been locked up by the Special Affairs Bureau for so long, interrogated every day—doesn't the dogfight deserve me a win?】

(End of Chapter)