Through Restraint Sensing, Ji Minghuan caught a glimpse of the scene in the living room on the first floor and immediately confirmed an astonishing fact: Gu Qiye was none other than the renowned Mutant of Li Jing City - "Blue Arc".
A series of panels then popped up, flickering on and off in the pitch-black room.
[Main Quest 1 complete: Explore what secrets your "brother" Gu Qiye is hiding.]
[Quest Rewards Obtained: 1 Split Point, 1 Skill Point, 1 attribute point.]
[Main Quest 1 Updated: Establish a cooperative relationship with the Mutant "Blue Arc" to expand your network within the Mutants Association.]
In the darkness, Ji Minghuan temporarily ignored the panels that popped up in front of him, simply moving them aside, and then used Restraint Sensing to focus on monitoring Gu Qiye's every word and action.
Even though Gu Qiye was on the first floor and Ji Minghuan was in a room on the second floor, he did not act rashly, maintaining a state of stillness as much as possible to avoid making any sound — after all, he couldn't ascertain how sharp the hearing of a top-tier Superpower User like Gu Qiye might be. He might hear even the click of the room light being turned on from downstairs.
"He got away again, this is the second time..." In the living room, Gu Qiye sat against the wall.
He placed his metal helmet beside him, bandaging the wound on his neck as he muttered, "It's really hard to catch him… No wonder it took the neighboring Mutant division so many years without catching him. It seems I've overestimated myself."
Speaking of which, Gu Qiye sneered at himself sarcastically, "Since he's come to our territory, it's going to be busy from now on."
Ji Minghuan recorded Gu Qiye's mutterings through Restraint Sensing, his nimble eyes glancing in the darkness as he speculated:
"An Superpower user criminal who came from the neighboring territory? Gu Qiye's strength is well-known, and very few Superpower user criminals can defeat him... So, it must've been that 'Ghost Bell' mentioned in the news earlier. The host did say Ghost Bell had just arrived in this city, challenging the Mutants Association; Gu Qiye being 'Blue Arc', the representative of the Li Jing branch, is naturally the one assigned to investigate."
He looked at Gu Qiye's injuries, making another judgment: "It seems like they just fought, Gu Qiye was no match for his opponent and had no choice but to retreat home."
Thinking of this, Ji Minghuan opened his phone, searching the internet for information on "Ghost Bell" while continuing to use Restraint Sensing to monitor what Gu Qiye was doing downstairs.
"Ghost Bell," a notorious Superpower user criminal, in recent years has killed a large number of Superpower users in Ling City, neighboring to Li Jing, and destroyed several significant buildings.
But strangely, he has never attacked ordinary people nor carried out any looting, as if his criminal acts were purely for gaining attention. No one knows his true motives, perhaps only Ghost Bell himself is aware.
Considering this, Gu Qiye had just fought with the Superpower criminal codenamed "Ghost Bell", ultimately escaping with serious injuries, and had to return home to tend to his wounds. In Gu Wenyu's memory, there was never a time when his brother was this miserable. Of course, it might be because Gu Wenyu never discovered this other side of Gu Qiye.
"Is Ghost Bell really that formidable?" Ji Minghuan thought.
After bandaging the wound on his neck, Gu Qiye took a deep breath, pressing the back of his head against the wall, closing his eyes, sitting silently in the dark like a meditating monk, making Ji Minghuan suspect if he might never wake up once he falls asleep.
After a while, Gu Qiye's phone suddenly rang.
The opening theme of Doraemon rang sharply in the silence. He opened his eyes reluctantly, took the phone out of his pocket, and answered the call.
Tilting his head, he clasped the phone between his ear and shoulder. He asked, "What? Did you just call to laugh at me after knowing I lost?"
A cold female voice on the other end of the call said, "No, there's a criminal holding hostages at Li Jing Square. He specifically demands you to appear in front of him, saying he will kill one hostage every ten minutes at night."
Gu Qiye was taken aback for a moment, then probed, "Don't tell me... it's Ghost Bell again?"
"No, it's not him this time. Ghost Bell fled the port after his fight with you, and the other Mutants in the team are still pursuing him, so he doesn't have the leisure to appear at Li Jing Square."
"Then who is it?"
"The one causing trouble at the square is another Superpower criminal, codenamed 'Green Wing'." The female voice on the phone paused, "…You have too many enemies."
"Tonight is really endless."
Gu Qiye sighed in exasperation, taking off his upper uniform, exposing his strong physique in the darkness.
Through Restraint Sensing, Ji Minghuan could clearly see a shocking gash on his waist, surrounded by bright red blood, the untreated wound deteriorating — fortunately, Gu Qiye is a Superpower user; an ordinary person would've fainted from such an injury long ago.
"You better hurry, they're about to harm the first hostage." The voice from the phone continued, "If any hostage dies in public view, a video going viral would severely impact our Association branch's image."
"I know… You guys hold him off first, do your best to prevent him from harming the hostages, I'm on my way." Gu Qiye said, securing the phone between his shoulder and ear, his eyes drooped as he bandaged the blood groove on his waist, even before the wound was sterilized.
"Understood." The female voice on the phone paused, then asked in a low voice, "Are your injuries serious?"
"It's okay, I can manage..." Gu Qiye replied nonchalantly, as he forcefully tied a knot on the bandage around his waist with a low grunt.
Having barely stopped the bleeding, he let out a breath, and donned his blue and green metal suit, putting on the iconic helmet of the Mutant "Blue Arc", before heading toward the entrance.
Watching Gu Qiye's figure disappearing into the entranceway, Ji Minghuan slowly retracted the dark Restraint Belt from the floor, the perspective peeking through the floor vanishing, along with his superhuman hearing.
"Going even with injuries like that..."
Hearing the sound of the door closing downstairs, Ji Minghuan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, whispering with interest to himself.
From Gu Qiye's conversation, he could tell that Gu Qiye had just narrowly escaped from Ghost Bell, and now another Superpower criminal appeared at the central square of Li Jing City, specifically demanding his presence, or else would kill the hostages.
In such an extreme situation, as the face of Li Jing's Mutants Association branch, Gu Qiye could in no way ignore this, despite his severe injuries.
He must be there, not only to save the hostages but also to maintain the public's trust in the Mutants Association. Avoiding it, or having hostages die during this live crime broadcast, would undoubtedly cause a commotion difficult to quell.
Ji Minghuan didn't turn on his room light, to prevent Gu Qiye from noticing the lights were on in the upper-floor windows after leaving.
He gently got off the bed, crouching by the floor-to-ceiling window like a wildcat, his eyes lowered to the street under the moonlight.
As soon as Gu Qiye, clad in the Blue Arc Battle Suit, stepped out of the house, his figure turned into a dark blue arc of light, darting toward the darkness at the end of the street, disappearing from Ji Minghuan's sight in an instant.
"So fast... Even injured, he has such speed, truly deserving of being our Li Jing City's big star." Ji Minghuan sincerely admired in his heart.
After staring at the empty long street for a while, he retracted his gaze from the window, turning his head slowly. In the moonlight, his eyes glanced at the black mask casually thrown in the corner of the room, along with a folded tailcoat.
The next moment, Ji Minghuan suddenly stretched out his right hand toward the mask, the dark restraint strips extending forward like bandages, clambering to the edge of the mask, wrapping it tightly before pulling it toward him.
Holding the mask in his palm, he stood up and walked toward the door.
Passing by the wardrobe, he used the restraint belt to pull up the coat placed at the bottom, then slowly left the room.