MCL CH110

Chapter 110: A familiar scent.
 

Yan Xingzhou had also followed him and stood behind without saying a word.

Evidently, he had also recognized the boy.

The last time they saw this little boy was at the airport in N City.

At that time, the little boy had gotten separated from his mother. He had even used candy to coax him. The child was incredibly sweet, calling him “pretty brother” as soon as he saw him, which put him in a rather good mood.

The next time they met was on the plane to J City.

If he remembered correctly, the child’s mother was just an ordinary person who had not awakened any supernatural abilities. After the plane rift incident, she should have been transferred to a safe place with the other passengers. He never expected to run into them again here at Shen Nanyang’s place.

Lin Xi didn’t mind the little boy’s dirty hand. He let him pull on the corner of his clothes and slowly crouched down in front of him. “Don’t be anxious, speak slowly. If you want me to save your mother, you have to tell me where she is.”

His calm words were like an invisible hand, falling into the little boy’s ears and slightly calming his anxious and chaotic emotions.

He looked straight into Lin Xi’s calm eyes and sobbed, “Up… upstairs. My mom… she’s right upstairs. They want to take her away… sob, you can’t let them take my mom away.”

Upstairs?

Lin Xi followed the direction the little boy was pointing and a rare look of astonishment appeared in his eyes.

Compared to other places, the contamination radiation above that building was significantly more severe. This child’s mother—was just an ordinary person.

Lin Xi thought for a moment and confirmed one more time, “Are you sure your mom is still alive?”

Paired with this expression, it seemed as if he were about to start consoling the boy to mourn on the spot.

This one sentence made the staff members who were hesitating on how to take the boy away choke. “…”

Is that question really polite?

“She’s alive! I can feel it, Mom is definitely still alive!” The little boy cried even louder. “Believe me, I can really feel it… The scent coming from over there, it’s all hers! Her scent is getting stronger and stronger. Please, hurry and save her… If you don’t go now, they’ll really take her away… You can’t let them take Mom to that place.”

The little boy’s emotions were clearly chaotic, and his words were somewhat incoherent, but it was enough for Lin Xi to catch some details.

Scent… referring to contamination radiation?

“I understand.” Lin Xi met the little boy’s confused and dazed gaze and smiled as he ruffled his hair. “You go with those uncles to a safe place first. Brother will go and see how your mom is doing for you, okay?”

The little boy’s expression looked a bit hesitant.

Lin Xi fumbled in his pocket, took out a piece of candy, and handed it to the little boy. “Be good.”

The little boy finally, hesitantly, retracted his hand and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. “Brother, you have to… sob, bring Mom back.”

“Mhm, I’ll do my best.” Lin Xi ruffled the boy’s hair again before turning to the people beside him. “You can take him away now.”

Lin Xi’s appearance had been too sudden, and the others hadn’t figured out his identity yet. But they recognized the United Administration uniform he was wearing. Not daring to say much, they very cooperatively led the little boy away.

Watching the group walk away, Lin Xi turned back to Yan Xingzhou. “For the sake of that suddenly piqued curiosity, I might need to be a little nosy.”

Though it sounded like a question, it carried no room for negotiation.

Yan Xingzhou: “Go on, together.”

Although the little boy had only pointed in a specific direction, Lin Xi quickly found the mother’s location.

After all, the group of researchers in white uniforms gathered there was a bit too conspicuous.

Someone noticed Lin Xi’s arrival and subconsciously wanted to stop him, but upon seeing Yan Xingzhou behind him, the words on the tip of his tongue were swallowed back down.

Now looking at Lin Xi who was with him, combined with the recent rumors, they obviously guessed the specific identity of this person accompanying President Yan.

Lin Xi didn’t care about the others’ scrutiny. The first thing he did upon approaching was to look at the figure surrounded by the crowd.

The somewhat unexpected scene made his eyebrows raise slightly.

He did remember that face. It was indeed the little boy’s mother. It was just that besides her face, the other parts of her body could clearly no longer be considered purely human.

The dense contamination radiation around them seemed to be coming from her, that was certain. Compared to the ordinary person she was when they first met, severe mutations had clearly occurred on her body now.

No.

It seems… there’s a slight difference from ordinary mutations.

She was surrounded by a group of people, curled up quietly in a corner. The blood vessels on her neck bulged in layers, and her empty eyes were filled with helpless terror. She was clearly trying hard to hold back the whimpers that threatened to escape her throat.

There were many obvious non-human struggles on her body, and she couldn’t control the dense contamination radiation emanating from her. But even in this state of very strong mutation from every angle, she still retained a trace of human rational cognition.

She was very quiet.

She didn’t attack anyone.

Lin Xi’s gaze swept over the identification tag hanging around the woman’s neck and beckoned to a nearby researcher. “When did she come here?”

“Are you asking about No. 55466?” The researchers here were clearly used to using codes instead of the test subjects’ names. Not daring to be slow, he quickly checked the file records and handed them to Lin Xi. “You can look at it directly. The specific information is all here.”

Lin Xi gave it a simple glance.

Judging from the time she arrived at the institute, it was about what he had guessed. Although the plane accident at that time was handled properly, a rift of that level was still too much for ordinary people to bear. This child’s mother was probably found to have a tendency for mutation after being transferred to a safe zone. It was just unknown what value was discovered during the continuous treatment that led to her being brought to the Central Research Institute.

However, the Central Research Institute was not a medical facility.

Just as the researcher addressed her, an ordinary person who came here naturally became a test subject replaced by a string of code.

[Huh, isn’t this scent…]

The voice in his mind suddenly emerged. Lin Xi gave a noncommittal low hum in his mind. “Oh, you’re awake.”

[What do you mean, I’m awake? It’s because of your rough treatment just now!]

Calamity was clearly very dissatisfied with Lin Xi’s nonchalant words, but it was angry and didn’t dare say much more. It took the initiative to change the subject before provoking this ancestor again. [Can’t you feel it? The scent on that woman, don’t you find it very familiar?]

“Mhm, it’s very familiar.” Lin Xi casually swept his gaze over the figure in the corner, his eyes narrowing slightly. “So, coming here for a look really does yield some good rewards. The things Shen Nanyang is up to, hiding in this research institute, seem much more interesting than I thought.”

[Interesting? You call this kind of thing, stealing my ability, interesting!?]

[Ahhhhh, what on earth has that mad scientist done!]

[I cannot accept those lowly humans having my scent on them, damn it!!!]

A continuous stream of furious curses from a certain contaminant came from his mind. Lin Xi, as usual, chose to ignore it.

But just as Calamity said, this was the most interesting thing he had just discovered. Perhaps because the aura was too faint, he hadn’t noticed it downstairs. But at this moment, after getting closer upstairs, he did indeed notice a faint trace on this woman, a scent very similar to a certain crystal core inside him—the scent of Calamity.

This made him think of the crystal core that Shen Nanyang had taken from Yan Xingzhou.

Lin Xi returned the file in his hand to the researcher beside him. When he looked up again, there was a deeper curiosity in his eyes.

Shen Nanyang, what exactly is he doing with that crystal core?

“What do you plan to do with her?” Lin Xi asked, feigning carelessness.

“Ah, we’ve just conducted an assessment over here,” the researcher replied. “Although No. 55466’s condition is a bit unstable, it’s still within a reasonable and controllable range. As long as she can be completely stabilized after receiving treatment, no special measures should be taken.”

“‘Special measures’?” Lin Xi savored the term playfully. “If she can’t be stabilized, or if she completely loses control, what kind of special measures would be taken?”

He asked very sincerely, and his eyes were full of curiosity when he looked at the researcher, as if he were genuinely curious about this matter.

However, the researcher choked on the question. “…Uh, with my authority… I’m actually not very clear.”

Lin Xi smiled. “Not clear, or not allowed to say?”

The smile was perfectly pleasant, yet it made the researcher break out in a cold sweat.

Just as the researcher was desperately about to ask his other colleagues for help, a voice came from behind. “They indeed are not clear. If there’s anything you want to know, you can ask me directly.”

Lin Xi turned around and saw a group of people walking around the corner.

Shen Nanyang had changed into a clean and tidy white lab coat. He led a group of researchers to Lin Xi and said slowly, “I am very willing to clear up any doubts for Director Lin.”

[Oh oh oh, the mad scientist has appeared! I knew this damn mess must have been his handiwork!]

Calamity’s tone was filled with indignation, clearly still unable to accept this reality: [No! I cannot tolerate those foolish humans having my scent on them! Absolutely cannot tolerate it!]

“…”

Lin Xi felt a bit speechless and reminded it in his mind, “I seem to be human too.”

[You’re different. At least, you have my approval.]

“Oh, then thank you so much for your approval.”

Lin Xi gave this contaminant a most perfunctory reply, looked at Shen Nanyang, and asked very directly, “Is Professor Shen really sure that you can answer whatever I ask?”

“I’m sure.”

Shen Nanyang’s gaze swept past Lin Xi and landed on Yan Xingzhou beside him. “You two, please come with me.”

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