July 9, 2020, 11:00 PM, Gu Yima District.
After the solitary meeting on the path ended, Ji Minghuan swiftly weaved through the streets and alleys and between tall buildings, relying on the high mobility afforded by the restraint belt. His figure was reflected on the glass curtain walls; within the reflection, the metallic edges of his mask shone coldly under the moonlight.
From a distance, his silhouette looked like a swiftly moving dark cloud, soaring, spinning, and descending, the tail of his black tuxedo coat fluttering in the city breeze, billowing like a sail drifting over the Atlantic Ocean.
He avoided all surveillance areas and brightly lit places under neon lights, especially the bustling night market. At this hour, Li Jing's nightlife had just begun, with the long streets filled with a continuous flow of people, many stopping at the giant LED screens to watch the live news broadcast from downtown.
Fortunately, he managed to get home before Gu Qiye, or the situation afterward would have been hard to handle.
To be cautious, Ji Minghuan did not enter directly from the front door but instead used the restraint belt to distribute his weight, leaping to the second-floor eaves and entering his room through the open floor-to-ceiling window.
Without looking back, he walked toward the bed, using the restraint belt to close the window from behind, sealing off the noise of the city outside.
He raised his hand to his ear, removed the black mask with a built-in voice changer, and tossed the tailcoat onto the floor, too exhausted to move, collapsing backward onto the bed. The restraint belt helped him change into a clean set of sleepwear.
As if an intimate partner dressing him, the restraint belt, spinning by his side, picked up the mask and coat from the floor, placing them in a storage box at the bottom of the wardrobe before retreating back into Ji Minghuan's sleeve.
Honestly, though he appeared carefree in front of everyone, even managing to read while hanging upside down under a billboard, Ji Minghuan was genuinely perplexed. While hanging in mid-air, he had to use a restraint belt to keep the tail of his coat in place.
Otherwise, if he opened his mouth, the coat tail would droop down and completely cover his mask, a scene likely to amuse everyone.
"Our comrade Blue Arc hasn't returned yet, hasn't it been tough..."
Ji Minghuan yawned, murmuring in the dark.
He knew in his heart that Gu Qiye couldn't act so quickly, after all, Gu Qiye was different from him, being a superpower user affiliated with the authorities.
Gu Qiye needed to report the task, and report back to the Mutants Association, especially since he had just left Green Wing behind, choosing to leave Li Jing Square, heading to a remote path nearby to meet the Insect Pupa Man played by Ji Minghuan.
Although in that situation, Green Wing was already caught in a trap, surrounded by the Mutants Squad coming from all sides, Gu Qiye's actions were still up for debate.
After all, Ji Minghuan had just used some incendiary language like "Are you willing to meet with me," and spectators could easily infer that Insect Pupa Man meeting with Blue Arc alone was to discuss some unspeakable matters.
That place had no surveillance cameras, was far from residential and city areas, and their conversation went unnoticed. Therefore, the association would certainly question Gu Qiye rigorously to understand the background of this newly emerged superpower user.
Of course, Ji Minghuan was not worried this would cause any trouble for Gu Qiye.
He thought that Gu Qiye would play dumb in front of his superiors; in fact, that seemed to be his only choice.
After all, in Gu Qiye's eyes, the mysterious "Insect Pupa Man" held knowledge of his identity and motives. If he disclosed the details of their meeting in his report, then it wasn't Insect Pupa Man who was in danger but Gu Qiye himself.
Only a fool would fully disclose the recent conversation in such a situation.
Gu Qiye certainly wasn't foolish enough to make that error.
So, when faced with the association's questions, he would likely use excuses like "I got injured, slowed down, and couldn't catch him," especially after having participated in two superpower criminal apprehension actions and being severely injured. That would be like a lifesaver card.
Considering his injuries and past merits, the association would not push aggressively for answers and would soon let him go home to recover, temporarily shelving this matter.
It started raining outside the window.
The patter of rain was soothing, and Ji Minghuan opened his eyes, gazing at the window wet from the rain.
Large raindrops splattered on the eaves, shattered into mist, and climbed up the window.
After a while, he raised his hand to click on the gear icon in the lower right of his vision, opened the system panel, and brought up the main task.
[Main Task 1 (Phase Two): Establish a cooperative relationship with the Mutant "Blue Arc" and subsequently expand connections within the Mutants Association. (Not Completed)]
Getting Gu Qiye to trust him at this point was impossible, especially since their cooperation hadn't formally started, so this task currently remained "to be completed."
However, Ji Minghuan wasn't anxious at all, because the initiative was always in his hands.
As long as his real body hadn't been taken for experimentation by that group of bastards, he would have plenty of time to operate in Li Jing with this body.
Given his understanding of Gu Qiye, it was only a matter of time before he gained the other's trust.
If he couldn't gain his trust at all, Ji Minghuan might try something underhanded, presenting conditions the other couldn't refuse, changing "cooperation" into a unilateral "threat," since his real body was still in a precarious situation, he had no time to play games with them.
"Right... I just received the mission reward." Ji Minghuan's eyes lit up.
He recalled just completing the first phase of this main task, "Explore what Gu Qiye is hiding," and then receiving mission rewards, which were—1 Split Point, 1 Skill Point, 1 Attribute Point, sounding quite generous.
He climbed out of bed, opened his personal panel, and the densely packed text crawled before his eyes like ants.
[Character Name: Gu Wenyu]
[Character Type: Superpower User]
[Current Nickname: None (Known in the Real World, your nickname is coming soon, please be patient)]
[Character Age: 17]
[Character Gender: Male]
[Character Attributes: Strength (determines physical quality): C-level; Speed (determines neural response): C-level; Spirit (determines spiritual intensity): C-level]
[Comprehensive Rating: C-level]
[Current Event Cards Held: 0]
[Current Attribute Points Held: 1 point]
Seeing the annotation change in the nickname section, Ji Minghuan casually speculated:
"What kind of name will they give me, 'Alien'? Or maybe... 'Bandage Monster'?"