bookcurios Chapter 426 - 411: Some Skills
Chapter 426 - 411: Some Skills
The fact that the Starfire Plan of years past had a survivor wasn’t exactly a secret within certain circles.
After all, when Zhou Jinyu led his team to the underground hall to receive and dismantle that batch of Hibernation Chambers, Gu Xi had mentioned it for one reason or another.
Zhou Jinyu had even secretly obtained some biological samples of this guardian through Gu Xi back then.
As for what results came from the subsequent research? Gu Xi had no idea.
After all, Zhou Jinyu had been off the grid for a long time.
So, when the investigation team saw Gu Xi release the sole surviving guardian of the Starfire Plan, they were surprised, but they quickly understood.
This might be the only person, besides Gu Xi herself, who had ever come into contact with a Superpower Seed!
A glimmer of excitement flashed in everyone’s eyes.
Even Shen Zhennan’s eyes revealed a hint of keen interest.
The members of the investigation team all subconsciously looked up at the surviving guardian, and then... they fell headlong into his bizarre eyes, and that was the end of that.
The guardian stiffly turned his head and nodded at Gu Xi, signaling that she could begin her questions.
Gu Xi raised a hand and tapped the little green sprout dangling from her fingertip, letting out a casual "Mm-hmm."
Half an hour later, Gu Xi recalled the guardian to her space. At the same time, Yabao used an almost brutal method to SLAP everyone present, who had been hopelessly lost in negative emotions, back to their senses.
Not even Shen Zhennan was an exception. At least on the surface, his treatment was identical to everyone else’s.
The group had just snapped out of their terror, confusion, and utter bewilderment. Before they could even process the dual pain originating from both body and soul, they heard Gu Xi ask, "Now, do you have any more questions?"
The group, their faces contorted in pain: "..." ’How the hell are we supposed to ask anything? Can’t you see our mouths are too swollen to even open?’
’And even if some tough-talking hero did want to ask, you’d probably just let that monster out to put us through it all over again, wouldn’t you?’
’No thanks. No, thank you.’
’We’re not complete idiots.’
’We’re all just trying to make a living here. There’s really no need for this.’
Seeing that no one was speaking, Gu Xi stood up. She gave a slight nod to Mr. Shen, who was sitting in the corner rubbing his swollen face and lost in thought, and to the middle-aged man beside him, then turned and left.
The vast conference room instantly fell into silence.
Finally, Shen Zhennan let out a long sigh. He turned to the man next to him, his expression somewhat complicated. "Zhou, I told you before, this approach of yours wouldn’t work. Gu is no ordinary person, after all. But look at you... sigh. What a mess. What am I even supposed to say?"
Shen Zhennan began to sigh dramatically, looking very troubled by the current situation.
’That old fox.’
Zhou’s gaze landed on Shen Zhennan’s slightly swollen face. His own swollen eyes were forced into slits. He couldn’t figure it out. ’We all have pig-swollen faces, so why does it seem like this old bastard Shen Zhennan isn’t in any pain at all?’
’Could he have been given special treatment?’
HISS.
Zhou was just about to speak and probe the matter when a sharp pain made him suck in a breath of cold air.
He glanced at the row of young people who had been slapped so hard their own mothers wouldn’t recognize them... ’Forget it. In their ghostly state, they look even worse than I do.’
’I’d better not subject my eyes to that sight any longer. It’s not easy at my age.’
’But that old bastard Shen Zhennan... we both have sausage lips, so how can he open his mouth to talk?’
For a moment, Zhou’s gaze on Shen Zhennan grew more scrutinizing and probing.
Shen Zhennan thought to himself, ’What are you looking at, you old coot?’
Outwardly, however, he sighed sorrowfully, patted Zhou’s shoulder, and said in a heartfelt tone, "Zhou, it’s not my place to criticize, but this won’t do. We men of the military can’t be so delicate."
"Look at you. This is nothing. Compared to the seriously wounded soldiers on the front lines, we’re at least still in one piece, aren’t we?"
"And don’t look at me like that. How about we find some time to send you to the front lines for a little while? Then you’ll know that an injury like this is really nothing..."
Mr. Shen kept a hand on his shoulder, rambling on like two close brothers having a heart-to-heart. Zhou remained expressionless, his face a clear ’thanks, but no thanks.’ Inwardly, he began to wonder, ’Am I really that much weaker than this old rogue?’
’It shouldn’t be possible. We’re superpower users of the same rank, and I’m several years younger than this old fox.’
The pain must have been too much, because Zhou could finally sit still no longer. He hastily opened his personal terminal and, swallowing his pride, called for backup.
Fortunately, there was a Healing System superpower user among the personnel who had accompanied them this time.
Half an hour later, the group that had suffered Yabao’s brutal treatment could finally open their mouths.
For a moment, however, no one spoke.
This time, their joint investigation team had come to question Gu Xi about a few things. How had it turned into Gu Xi interrogating them in the end?
Although they had just been forced into a state of inescapable, terrifyingly negative emotions, the strange thing was that their minds had remained clear the entire time.
In other words, while they couldn’t control what they had just experienced... they remembered everything that happened with perfect clarity!
That included the questions Gu Xi asked, as well as their own and their colleagues’ answers.
’This is a disaster.’
The team members looked at each other, and for a moment, no one knew what to say.
After all, just now... it seemed like every single one of them had spilled some unspeakable secrets.
"Shen, I really envy you," Zhou finally said, breaking the awkward silence. He shot a glance at Shen Zhennan and added sourly, "I envy you for having such a good son!"
Before, everyone’s injuries had looked more or less the same, but as soon as the user with the Healing Ability took action, Zhou noticed the difference—
Shen Zhennan’s injuries only looked intimidating; in reality, his were the lightest of them all.
Zhou wasn’t a fool; you don’t get to his position by being one.
It was obvious this had something to do with that rascal Shen Yue.
"Ah, Shen, they say you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs," he said sarcastically. "You really went all in this time, didn’t you?"
’He only has one son, and he eagerly sent him over just like that?’
’That old fox is surprisingly ruthless.’
’But why didn’t I think of using a honey trap back then?’
’You know, I actually have seventeen or eighteen illegitimate sons, and quite a few of them are good-looking... ahem. Well, genetics is a very particular science, after all.’
’I might not be much to look at, but my children’s mothers were all great beauties, the likes of which are rarely seen in this day and age.’
’It’s just a pity... not a single one of my illegitimate sons is as capable and infuriating as Shen Yue.’
Zhou felt a deep sense of regret.
Meanwhile, Shen Zhennan burst out laughing. "Zhou, you’re a grown man. Why are you acting like a catty woman, all sour grapes?"
Zhou’s face instantly darkened. ’Who’s acting like a woman? Have you ever seen a woman as burly and masculine-looking as me?!’
Perhaps because of this banter between the two big shots, the atmosphere in the conference room visibly lightened.
A few of the younger members also began to chat quietly amongst themselves.
"This Miss Gu," said the Spiritual Element superpower user from the Superpower Union, looking toward the door and remarking to his companion, "seems to have some skill, huh?"
The few people nearby who knew Gu Xi’s true identity: "..." ’Where did this moron come from? "Some skill"? Does he have any idea who he’s talking about?!’