Chapter 39: Lu: Young lovers, stay away from me
Yu Yan didn’t take this minor incident on the road to heart; it was merely a common tactic of using weak-looking object to lower the vigilance of passersby in order to achieve the goal of deceiving or robbing them.
The little rabbit looked pitiful, but judging by the health of its skin, fur, and teeth, it had been living quite well, at least not going hungry.
The Rainbow Cage Manor was now in sight, with the most striking feature being the outer barrier walls, resembling a scaled-down version of the perimeter barriers seen in human residential areas.
Such barriers, capable of isolating pollution and preventing mutated creatures from infiltrating, were expensive, with materials not easily obtained by ordinary people. The energy required for daily maintenance was even more astonishing.
It seemed that the “Song” in Mr. Song’s name was likely the same as the “Song” from the Central District’s Song family, which was also the “Song” before Lu Qiufeng changed his surname.
Mr. Song not only invited Boss Huang but also had several cars waiting in line to enter at that moment.
When it was their turn, Yu Yan handed over the invitation and said, “Our Boss Huang suddenly fell ill on the way. Is there a doctor in Mr. Song’s manor who can take a look at him?”
A middle-aged steward waiting there said, “Of course, we can help.”
He called over two people to lift Boss Huang and let Yu Yan, who was pretending to be an assistant, follow along.
“What about our bodyguards?” Yu Yan asked.
The middle-aged steward smiled and said, “Don’t worry, we’ll make arrangements for them.”
The two groups parted ways, with Yu Yan following the steward to the guest rooms. Along the way, he admired the large garden filled with greenery and flowers, as well as a cluster of exquisite European-style buildings.
A dozen small villas were available for guests to stay in separately. The main building was in the center, with a dedicated banquet hall, melodious music playing, and frequent comings and goings of male and female attendants—all indicating that a lively banquet was underway.
Yu Yan showed a lack of genuine concern for Boss Huang’s condition and instead asked the steward for details:
“We don’t know when our boss will wake up. I haven’t been an assistant for long and am worried about making a mistake and causing trouble for him. Are there any places here that we’re not allowed to go, and are there any taboos Mr. Song has?”
The steward replied, “The manor is open to all the bosses staying here. The banquet in the hall is always ongoing, so as long as you don’t enter the small building where the host rests, guests can move about freely.”
Yu Yan understood—he needed to head to the small building in the back.
After the steward left, Yu Yan contacted Da Tou and Xiao Fei.
The three of them had come from the city, and their terminals could communicate with each other. However, the people from the Underground City did not have citizenship and couldn’t access such terminals; they usually used a simpler communicator.
Unable to contact 012 in time, Yu Yan could only ask the two bodyguards about the situation.
Xiao Fei replied, “We were taken to a side hall to rest. There are only the bodyguards of various bosses here. A steward came and asked Yin Hui to go to the small building in the back, saying he needed help.”
Yu Yan responded, “I’ll come right over.”
He rushed to the side hall where the bodyguards were resting, only to find that 012 was no longer there.
“Where is he? Was he taken away?” Yu Yan asked.
“I asked him to delay until you arrived, but he didn’t listen to me,” Xiao Fei said, sounding aggrieved.
Guide Li, also mingling among the bodyguards, whispered to him, “Don’t worry. Yin Hui will be fine. He’s done bodyguard work before where the employers were on their last breath, almost failing, but for assassination tasks, he’s always been efficient and never failed.”
Yu Yan: “……”
What started as a simple investigation to find clues about Lu Qiufeng had now turned into a full-blown mission to capture the mastermind and seek justice.
The little bird bat, seemingly fearless and with a bold demeanor, made it clear that things would be difficult to resolve without some sort of confrontation.
On his way to the small building at the back, Yu Yan saw a steward leading a familiar-looking child—the same little rabbit he had seen earlier.
Wearing an ill-fitting coat, the innocent-looking rabbit asked the steward, “Are you taking me to get something good to eat?”
The steward comforted him, “Yes, once we get there, you won’t have to go hungry anymore.”
With the steward leading him, they smoothly passed through the guards at the entrance and entered the small building.
But Yu Yan had no such luck. As soon as he approached, the guards noticed him, sternly instructing him to move away from the building.
Yu Yan, who had never learned stealth techniques, walked around the small building searching for a way in but found none. He had no choice but to wait outside.
Soon, an unexpected incident occurred inside the building. A loud explosion was heard from the third floor, and the guards stationed at the front had their communicators buzzing continuously. They all rushed upstairs in response.
Taking advantage of the moment when no one was watching, Yu Yan sneaked into the building.
As the guards ascended, Yu Yan planned to follow them but noticed that the steward with the rabbit was still on the first floor, appearing flustered and uncertain due to the sudden chaos. He quickly changed his plan.
Drawing his small energy gun, Yu Yan approached the steward and pointed it at his head.
“Excuse me, are there any rooms in this building where people are being held?”
Usually, the area was heavily guarded, and guests adhered to the rules, so the steward had never encountered such a situation before and was terrified, his legs going weak.
Yu Yan had to physically support him to help him walk properly.
“The basement… There are people locked up in the basement,” the steward stammered.
Indeed, there were.
Yu Yan dragged him to the basement, where the space was divided into individual cages. Each cage was luxuriously decorated, housing several dormant high-level mutated creatures.
Yu Yan thought to himself: Quite the extravagant setup.
There were also two enclosed rooms. Peering through the observation windows on the doors, Yu Yan saw a group of dirty and disheveled people huddled together.
While he might not recognize their faces, the research institute uniforms they wore were familiar to him. They were the missing collection team from the North Wasteland District.
Yu Yan had not expected to find them so easily.
“Lu Qiufeng? Are you in there?” Yu Yan kicked the door and shouted, but his voice seemed unable to penetrate.
“Open the door,” Yu Yan ordered the steward.
The steward shook his head in panic, “I’m just a low-level steward; I don’t have the key to this place.”
Just as Yu Yan was thinking of a way to bypass the electronic lock, the little rabbit who had followed them into the basement sprang into action.
The rabbit deftly hopped onto the electronic lock, its sharp claws easily piercing through the thick electronic door. After a sizzling sound of electricity, the electronic door was disabled and swung open with a click.
Yu Yan was stunned: So, it was a lightning rabbit with the ability to generate electricity!
After the door lock was disabled, the little rabbit rushed into the room first. It hopped around among the people but didn’t find what it was looking for, quickly displaying a frustrated and angry expression.
The startled members of the team, now awake, looked up at Yu Yan at the door with immense relief, as if they had seen a lifeline.
“It’s Researcher Kang! Thank goodness, people from the institute have come to rescue us!”
“We’re going to get out!”
Yu Yan surveyed them and asked, “Where’s Lu Qiufeng?”
The confused group of captives replied in unison, “Researcher Lu was taken away.”
“He was taken away a few days ago.”
“He wasn’t kept with us.”
Yu Yan grabbed the steward by the collar, demanding, “Where is Lu Qiufeng?”
“I don’t know who Lu Qiufeng is, but, but there’s another person on the second floor,” the steward stammered.
“Stay hidden here for now,” Yu Yan instructed them before dragging the steward upstairs to search for the person, with the little rabbit following closely.
The small building was in chaos, with all the guards congregating on the third floor, and loud noises coming from above.
Others peered out from their rooms but dared not come out. Seeing Yu Yan, who was holding a gun and dragging the steward, they quickly retreated back inside.
“This, this room,” the steward pointed out.
The room upstairs had a regular wooden door with a simple lock. Before the steward had even finished speaking, Yu Yan had already fired a shot at the lock and kicked open the door.
Inside the room was a strange odor, a mix of sleeping dr*gs and some sort of stimulant.
As the door opened and fresh air poured in, a figure lying on the bed struggled to lift their head and vaguely saw Yu Yan at the door. With their last bit of consciousness, they cried out, “Kang… stop me!”
It was Lu Qiufeng, and lying unconscious on the bed was a high-level mutated creature that looked like something was about to happen.
Yu Yan quickly assessed the situation and, holding his nose, kicked Lu Qiufeng off the bed.
In the midst of the pain, Lu Qiufeng barely regained his senses and cursed, “Damn it! You… kicked me so hard! Are you trying to kill me?”
“Haha, sorry, sorry, I wasn’t careful with the force in the heat of the moment,” Yu Yan said, pulling out a small portable medical kit from his waist and administering an injection to Lu Qiufeng.
“I had to come quickly, so the medicine isn’t quite right. You’ll have to manage with it.”
“What did you inject me with?” Lu Qiufeng asked, his face turning pale. “This stuff has serious side effects!”
“Don’t worry, it’ll just make you unable to use that thing for a few months,” Yu Yan replied. “I had to act quickly to calm you down.”
The drug took effect swiftly, and Lu Qiufeng gradually became more coherent, puzzled by Yu Yan’s presence. “How did you end up here?”
He had expected someone to come to his rescue, but he hadn’t anticipated it would be someone with the surname Kang.
Yu Yan dragged him toward the exit. “Didn’t you send me a distress message? At least as a friend, I came to save you.”
Lu Qiufeng denied, “When did I send you a message?”
Yu Yan showed him the message on his terminal.
Lu Qiufeng was silent for a moment. “I… I meant to send it to the contact arranged by the institute. I wasn’t very conscious at the time, my vision was blurry, so I sent it to the wrong person.”
“No need to explain,” Yu Yan said with a smirk. “Just remember this favor, Xiao Lu. I came all this way to rescue you.”
Lu Qiufeng gritted his teeth, about to retort, when he suddenly noticed the little rabbit standing at the door. He abruptly asked, “What are you doing here too?”
The little rabbit replied, “Big Brother, I’m here to rescue you. Xiao Wei is here as well.”
Lu Qiufeng snapped, “I don’t need your help!”
Yu Yan interrupted, “Hold on, do you know each other? If you do, little rabbit, could you take him downstairs? I need to go upstairs.”
The noise on the third floor, which had been chaotic earlier, had suddenly ceased. Yu Yan needed to check on the situation.
“What are you going to do?” Lu Qiufeng instinctively grabbed him.
Just then, 012 dragged someone down the stairs from the third floor and saw them.
Yu Yan supported Lu Qiufeng, who was clutching his arm.
012 abruptly stopped on the stairs, his ice-cold eyes fixed on them, especially Yu Yan, and said, “You didn’t come to see me; you came looking for him.”
The man 012 was dragging let out a painful howl.
Yu Yan: “…”
Well, that was indeed the purpose, but stating it outright would just provoke 012.
012 appeared to have just gone through a rough fight, with blood on his cheeks and wounds on his abdomen.
Given the situation, it wasn’t ideal to provoke him further.
In the tense atmosphere, Lu Qiufeng realized something. He pushed Yu Yan’s hand away and, struggling with his partial paralysis, moved to the side.
“Whatever you guys are up to, your romantic dramas and grudges have nothing to do with me. Don’t involve me!” Lu Qiufeng cursed, “Don’t think you can use me as some kind of tool for your quarrels!”
