Chapter 106: From Foes to Father and Son

"Are you saying those sick children were taken because they’re more likely to... mutate?"

Su Ze’s pupils contracted as he pressed the question.

Liou Wenxin nodded. "Compared to ordinary people, they have a higher probability of mutating after becoming an evolver. However, mutation itself is an extremely rare event. And as I’ve said before, mutation isn’t necessarily a good thing. You might become stronger, but you could also become weaker. There’s also the chance of terrible side effects."

"Like Feng Bqing?" Su Ze immediately thought of Feng Bqing. After mutating, he had grown stronger, but also madder. He had become something neither human nor tree—a truly bizarre creature.

Liou Wenxin sighed. "Ultimately, only a very small number of people mutate successfully. Those children were most likely taken to be used as test subjects. The ones who mutate successfully are considered successful experiments—they still have value. Those who fail are just... eliminated."

Liou Wenxin didn’t say what being eliminated entailed, but Su Ze could imagine.

Su Ze asked, "Who exactly is behind these experiments?"

Liou Wenxin said, "An individual or a minor faction couldn’t possibly have the resources and capabilities for these kinds of experiments. It would have to be an organization on the level of the Six Nations, at least. Perhaps even higher..."

Su Ze understood. The powers on the Lin Hua Continent stronger than the Six Nations were few; you could count them on one hand.

He sighed. "I wonder if we’ve heard the last of this."

...

Returning to his residence, Su Ze didn’t rest. He seized every moment to train, swallowing Future Flower Petals while performing the Swan Dance.

’He had to complete his second evolution before the new student assessment.’

Only by completing his second evolution could he take first place in the new student assessment and earn the Tier-3 S-rank extract as a reward. Otherwise, he would only get a Tier-2 S-rank extract, and the former was dozens of times more valuable than the latter.

Not long into his training, Su Ze received two calls in quick succession.

The first call was from Xu Sheng.

"Mr. Su, I’ve got the locations frequented by the Gravity Demon. This was a close call, though. The company almost found me out..."

"Thanks for the hard work. I’ll transfer the final payment to you in a moment."

"No rush, no rush. I’m sending the data over to you right now."

After hanging up, Su Ze waited for a while, but the data from Xu Sheng didn’t arrive. So, he went ahead and transferred the final payment of 8,000 points to Xu Sheng’s account.

The instant the points were sent, Su Ze received the data from Xu Sheng.

Su Ze opened the file. It was quite comprehensive, detailing every location where Evolutionary Technology had hunted a Gravity Demon over the past two years.

Su Ze saved the data. He wouldn’t make a move on the Gravity Demon until he completed his second evolution.

Immediately after, Su Ze received a second call. It was an unknown number from Mu Country.

When Su Ze answered, a very familiar voice came from the other end.

"Young Master Lingxiao, it’s me, Wang."

"Mr. Wang?" Su Ze recognized the voice of Zhao Yuanyi’s secretary. "Don’t call me that. I’m Su Ze, not that death-row inmate Zhao Lingxiao. Watch yourself, or I’ll sue you for slander!"

"Heh. Call yourself whatever you like, but you still have the blood of the Zhao Family in your veins. What Mr. Zhao means is..."

After hearing what Mr. Wang had to say, Su Ze was stunned. ’Zhao Yuanyi wants to acknowledge me as his son?’

’What is he thinking?’

’What a lovely idea he has for himself!’

’Is this because I’ve made something of myself, and the Zhao Family can’t touch me anymore? So now he wants to bury the hatchet and play dad?’

’Heh. You threw me in prison back then. Now, I’m beyond your reach.’

Su Ze agreed readily. "Tell Mr. Zhao that people get presents even for taking on a godfather. If I’m going to acknowledge my own biological father, surely he has to make some kind of gesture, right? Let’s see just how sincere—and bold—he really is!"

Hanging up, Su Ze casually tossed his phone aside.

’I wonder how Zhao Yuanyi got my number.’

Su Ze didn’t take the matter to heart. ’If Zhao Yuanyi really sends a few billion or so my way, what’s the harm in calling him ’Dad’ once? It’s not like I’ve never done it before.’

’As long as the money comes through, I don’t care how many times I have to call him ’Dad’ over the phone. But if he wants me to go back to Mu Country? Absolutely not!’

’Speaking of which, it’s been many days since my high-profile appearance in the Battle of Judgment. The King of Mu must know I exist by now, so why hasn’t he gone after Zhao Yuanyi to hold him accountable?’

Su Ze couldn’t figure it out.

He had always found the King of Mu’s actions hard to fathom.

’Others might not know the effects of the Evolution Divine Grace Skill, but how could the King of Mu be ignorant of them?’

’So why does he act so unconcerned about the skill?’

’And after learning his most beloved younger daughter was murdered by Zhao Lingxiao, he somehow restrained himself from killing him on the spot, instead just throwing him in prison.’

Unable to understand or figure it out, Su Ze didn’t dwell on it. Whatever the King of Mu was plotting, all Su Ze had to do was stay far away and focus on improving his strength.

’Once I reach Saint-level, I won’t care what the King of Mu is plotting. If he gets in my way, I’ll just slap him to death.’

...

Su Ze stayed up all night training. He had only been asleep for a short while when Liou Wenxin woke him.

"Han Xiaoke just contacted me. The police department has some results from their investigation. I’m heading over to the welfare institute. Want to come with?"

"I’m in!" Su Ze kipped up and sprang out of bed.

After quickly getting ready, Su Ze headed out, holding a breakfast rice ball Liou Wenxin had made for him.

The two hailed a cab to the Sunshine Children’s Welfare Institute, where Han Xiaoke was already waiting for them at the entrance.

"What did they find?" Su Ze asked eagerly.

Han Xiaoke said, "The officers from the police department said that woman—Ding Lan, or Chen Si Hui, whatever her name is—was involved in multiple child abduction cases across the country. In every case, the missing children all suffered from various rare diseases."

The three of them walked inside as she spoke.

The police officer from the day before was inside the room. When he saw Liou Wenxin, he handed her a file. "Mr. Liou," he said, "we did some digging yesterday. She’s appeared in the majority of disappearance cases at orphanages across the country for over a decade. Each time, she uses a different name to infiltrate an orphanage and then ends up as one of the ’missing’ children."

"She’s very cautious. After striking in one city, she won’t return for at least three to five years. Instead, she moves on to other cities and does it again."

Su Ze and Liou Wenxin looked through the file. In case after case, the six-year-old face of Chen Si Hui appeared among the photos of the missing children—always with the same expression, just a different hairstyle.

As he looked at the photos again and again, Su Ze felt a growing sense of unease. The face seemed to distort before his eyes, shedding all pretense of childish innocence, leaving only something ugly and terrifying.

Liou Wenxin closed the file. "Have you investigated the vehicles in the area around the time of the disappearances?" she asked. "Anything suspicious?"

The officer nodded and handed over another file. "We investigated all vehicles that passed through the surrounding area in the two-hour window before and after the children disappeared. We’ve recorded all the owners’ information, but so far, we haven’t found any suspicious vehicles. Would you like to take a look?"

"Good." Liou Wenxin took the file without hesitation. Her eyes quickly scanned the column with the vehicle owners’ information, and her finger soon landed on one of them.

"Look this car up for me. See where it’s been recently."