Chapter 597: Hunt God Project Countdown

The sunlight is too glaring.

Su Ming squinted, his pupils taking three seconds to adjust. The noisy chatter in the classroom flooded his ears; some were debating what to eat for dinner, others were complaining about the physical training assigned by the Instructor.

The date on his phone screen—

One month.

A full month.

The Time Marrow Worm inside him curled deep in his spine, exhausted to the point of being barely perceptible. Su Ming's hand still trembled, his fingertips cold, his palms slick with sweat.

He stood up. The chair legs scraped the floor, producing a harsh screech; a few trainees glanced at him before looking away.

Su Ming left the classroom, his steps quickening.

At the far end of the Corridor, in front of the training room's one‑way glass, a figure in a black Windcoat faced his own reflection, striking an extremely dashing yet absurdly foolish sword‑drawing pose.

"I am the King of the Dark Race... the end of darkness... is my coronation ceremony..."

Liang Wen.

Alive.

Warm.

Staring at the glass, winking.

Su Ming's steps halted.

Liang Wen saw him in the glass reflection, instantly dropped the cheesy pose, turned, his peach‑blossom eyes flashing: "Yo, why does your face look like you just crawled out of a grave—"

He didn't finish the sentence.

Su Ming walked over, raised his hand, and clutched him tightly.

There was no warning, no buildup.

Both arms wrapped around Liang Wen's back, tightening, the force so great his bones rang.

Liang Wen's whole body went rigid.

"WTF?"

His voice rose a half‑tone, his hands hovering mid‑air unsure where to go: "Su Ming, what are you doing? We don't do this, buddy... are you possessed by something? L! Come quickly! Someone's kidnapped my chastity—"

Su Ming didn't let go.

His forehead pressed against Liang Wen's shoulder, breathing rapid, his whole body trembling.

Liang Wen finally sensed something was wrong.

He slowly lowered his hand, gently patting Su Ming's back. The teasing in his peach‑blossom eyes faded, replaced by an uncommon seriousness.

"What's wrong?"

Su Ming gave no reply.

He simply stood there, gripping the back of Liang Wen's Windcoat as if clutching something about to shatter.

A long time passed—so long that Liang Wen began to feel the fabric on his shoulder soaking through with sweat.

Su Ming released his grip and stepped back.

His eye sockets were red, but no tears fell. Deep within those profound pupils churned complex emotions, which he forced down.

"... It's fine."

Su Ming's voice was a little hoarse.

Liang Wen stared at him for two seconds, raising an eyebrow: "Are you sure?"

Su Ming gave no response.

He was already thinking rapidly.

One month. From now, Chu Che has not been exposed, Lu Yu has not retrieved the Eye of Truth, and everything continues to run step by step on that man's board.

He must break this situation.

But he cannot alert the snake by trampling the grass.

How far does Chu Che's perception reach? Can he detect anomalies in the timeline? Liang Wen's final strike—the short‑dimensional Rewind that Chu Che denied on the spot—but Liang Wen burned himself clean and leapt a month forward.

Is this scale enough to escape that person's surveillance net?

Su Ming didn't know.

But he has no second chance.

"Liang Wen."

"Hm?"

"Come with me."

Su Ming's tone changed. It was no longer his usual bland, water‑like perfunctory manner, but something Liang Wen had never heard from him—urgency, weight, and a strange solemnity.

Liang Wen's smile faded.

"Where to?"

"Headquarters." Su Ming already pulled out his phone, tuned to the frequency only a Core Captain is authorized to dial. "I need to trigger the top‑secret alert."

Liang Wen's peach‑blossom eyes widened sharply.

Top‑secret alert. Since the Federal Weird Investigation Bureau was founded, it has only been sounded twice: once for the Blood Moon Descent, once for the Fake Person Infiltration Exposure.

"Su Ming, are you crazy?" Liang Wen instinctively lowered his voice, "The top‑secret alert requires S Ji threat confirmation, you—"

"I'm back."

Su Ming cut him off.

Five words, clean and crisp.

Liang Wen was stunned.

Su Ming looked into his eyes and said word for word: "Time Reversal. Me, one month later. You burned yourself clean, then sent me back."

The corridor was very quiet. In the distance, the footfalls of trainees running could be heard, and someone on the field was shouting commands.

Liang Wen's Adam's apple moved slightly.

He didn't ask the nonsense "Are you kidding?"

Because Su Ming's gaze would not allow such a possibility to exist.

"…Has the king died?" Liang Wen's voice softened, carrying a strange tone.

Su Ming did not answer the question.

He had already dialed the frequency.

"L, this is Su Ming, connect to Wei Gong immediately and trigger the top‑secret alarm."

There was a two‑second silence on the other end of the phone.

L's voice came, flat as always: "Permission confirmed. State the threat level."

"Super S Ji."

Another two seconds of silence.

"Received. In thirty minutes, the headquarters top‑secret conference room."

Thirty minutes later.

Federal Weird Investigation Bureau headquarters, top‑secret conference room.

Not many were present: Wei Gong, Jiang Yuan, Qin Zhixia, L, plus Su Ming and the forcibly‑dragged Liang Wen.

When the door closed, six layers of anti‑eavesdropping inscriptions activated in sync, sealing the entire room off from the outside.

Wei Gong sat at the head seat, his back straight, his aged eyes calmly sweeping over Su Ming.

"Speak."

A single word.

Su Ming stood at the center of the long table. He did not sit.

"I have returned from one month later."

His voice was even, like reporting a routine mission, yet the content he uttered made everyone's breath pause.

"One month later, Chu Che—Qiu Ce Yuan's school physician Chu Che—will voluntarily expose himself. He is the creator of all Weird. Sai Men is his avatar. Gospel Church, Blood Moon game, Smiling Dummy, Midnight Nightmare—all originated from his hand."

The air in the conference room was sucked out.

No one spoke.

Jiang Yuan's finger unconsciously rested on the card bag at his waist. Qin Zhixia's mechanical prosthetic arm emitted a faint electric crackle—she had clenched her fist.

L's keyboard clacking stopped.

"Who did you say?" Qin Zhixia's voice squeezed out between her teeth.

"Chu Che." Su Ming repeated the name.

Qin Zhixia's face turned pale.

Her right hand—the mechanical prosthetic arm that Chu Che had personally tuned countless times—now gripped the chair armrest tightly, leaving dents in the metal surface.

"Evidence," Wei Gong's voice was flat.

Su Ming had already thought out how to prove himself.

"First, the Time Marrow Worm inside me is currently in a severe overdraft state; L can test it on the spot, and the data will show an energy void far beyond normal consumption—this is the physiological cost of long‑range rewind."

L was already operating. Three seconds later, she looked up: "Confirmed. The Time Marrow Worm's energy reserve is 3.7% of the normal value. According to the current decay model, that corresponds to a span of about twenty‑eight to thirty‑two days."

"Second," Su Ming continued, "the events one month later: Lu Yu will apply to enter the North American ultra‑dangerous Weird Domain to obtain the Eye of Truth; thereafter we will use the Eye of Truth to rewind footage of Zhang Yuanqing's former residence and discover that Chu Che is the Behind-the-Scenes Mastermind. That night Chu Che is captured. Then—"

He paused.

"Then he broke all restraints in the Interrogation Room, single‑handedly crushing every S-Class Combat Power present. Liang Wen, to send me back, burned himself out."

When the final sentence landed, not even a breath could be heard in the conference room.

Liang Wen sat in the corner, his peach‑blossom eyes staring at Su Ming's back. He didn't interject, nor strike a pose. Rarely, he was completely quiet.

Jiang Yuan spoke up: "How…strong is he?"

Su Ming looked at him.

"The Dark Shadow Court fully opened, combined with Qin Team's Oblivion, my Time Marrow Worm, Liang Wen's Rewind; even the four of us together wouldn't be enough for him to push his glasses."

Jiang Yuan's hand moved away from the card bag.

Not because he relaxed, but because his grip was too tight, his fingertips went numb.

Wei Gong did not pursue further details.

The elder stood up.

In those cloudy old eyes, something was whirring at high speed. Not fear, not panic. A pure, calculative coolness.

"L."

"Here."

"From now on, all Federation S-Class‑and‑above combat power allocation permissions are under my direct command. All surveillance data concerning Chu Che will be archived via covert channels, bypassing headquarters systems. The Research Department's Suppress Spook Bullet production line will be tripled, reported under the reason 'conventional reserves'."

"Received."

"Additionally," Wei Gong turned to Su Ming, "from this moment, the operation codename—"

He paused for a second.

"Hunt God."

When the two words fell, everyone's spine in the room stiffened a few notches.

Wei Gong's gaze swept over everyone: "Chu Che's perception range is unknown, his methods unknown, his trump cards unknown. Our only advantage is that he doesn't know we already know. This information gap was bought with Liang Wen's life."

He looked at Liang Wen.

Liang Wen froze for a moment, then, completely out of place, pointed at himself: "Huh? The king is still alive now......"

Nobody laughed.

Wei Gong continued: "So, on the surface everything stays the same. Everyone attends work normally, reports normally, and maintains normal contact with Chu Che. Whoever shows a flaw won't just die—it will be the whole of humanity buried as sacrificial victims."

Understood?

"Understood." Jiang Yuan spoke first.

"...... Understood." Qin Zhixia's voice was very soft.

L tapped the Enter key: "Archived."

Liang Wen raised his hand: "Um, I, the prince, have a question."

Everyone looked at him.

"Since I, the prince, will die heroically in a month," Liang Wen cleared his throat, his peach-blossom eyes blinking once, "does that mean I'm actually the best-looking here? After all, handsome people never live to see the grand finale."

Su Ming turned his head to look at him.

He looked for a long time.

Then he said: "Shut up."

Liang Wen, unusually, did not retort.

——

Three days later.

Qiu Ce Yuan, infirmary.

In the surveillance footage, Chu Che sat beside the treatment chair wearing a Doctor's Lab Coat, his Gold Thread Glasses reflecting the soft indoor lighting. Qin Zhixia sat opposite, the maintenance panel of her left mechanical arm opened, revealing its intricate inner workings.

Chu Che's fingers were long and fair, gently calibrating a tiny gear set with an alignment tool.

His movements were gentle, meticulous, focused.

"How's the joint mobility lately? Any stiffness?" he asked without lifting his head, his tone as gentle as usual.

"No." Qin Zhixia's voice was steady.

"Good. Last time I adjusted it, I worried the third bearing's lubrication might be insufficient, so I'll check again today." Chu Che raised his head and smiled at her. "Bear with me—it might get a little cold."

"Mm."

In the monitoring room, Su Ming, Jiang Yuan, and L stood shoulder to shoulder, eyes fixed on the screen.

In the footage, Chu Che was still smiling.

Warm, considerate, harmless.

Jiang Yuan's fist slowly clenched.

Su Ming's gaze fell on the hand that Chu Che used to push up his glasses.

That hand, in a month, will lightly tap his cane and nullify all of their attacks.

"He doesn't know anything." Su Ming said.

His voice was very soft.

But each word carried a chill that had been building for a long time.

"This time, it's our turn to strike first."

On the screen, Chu Che closed the mechanical arm's panel, said something to Qin Zhixia. She nodded, stood up, and moved her arms a little. Chu Che handed her a cup of warm water, his smile still perfect.

As if he didn't know——

The countdown for the God-Hunting Plan had already begun.