Missing

(This chapter is free.)

"Something to do with me?" Qianqian asked in surprise. "What could possibly involve me? A Jun, do you know something? Tell me, quickly!"

I raised my hands helplessly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to keep it from you, but some things are better if you aren't involved... Though it looks like you've already been dragged into this..."

"Don't make things difficult for him. Let me explain." Lin Xue leaned comfortably back in her seat. "Xu Qianqian, your father is an archaeologist, right?"

"Yes... How did you know?"

"That isn't important. What matters is..." As she spoke, Lin Xue pulled a sheet of paper from a black briefcase beside her and read, "Xu Feng, male, forty-five, renowned Chinese archaeologist, published in numerous domestic and international... Mm, we'll skip that part. Finally... On December 1, 2010, he traveled with the National Geological Team to investigate a recently discovered ruin near the Niya Ruins in the Taklamakan Desert. Three days later... he went missing."

"What?!" Qianqian and I cried out at the same time.

"My dad went missing?" Qianqian looked utterly disbelieving. "How could that be? He spoke with the family on the phone just the day before yesterday! You're trying to scare me, aren't you?"

Although Qianqian refused to believe the news, I knew it was most likely true. Given Lin Xue's position, there was no reason for her to lie to us about something like this. What I was wondering was why Uncle Xu had gone missing—and why this disappearance had actually alerted the Esper Team Lin Xue belonged to.

"I have no reason to deceive you. And you said your father spoke with your family on the phone the day before yesterday. What about yesterday?"

Yesterday was precisely the day Uncle Xu had disappeared, according to Lin Xue.

"How is that possible..." Qianqian muttered distractedly. The growing unease in her heart made her realize that Lin Xue was probably telling the truth.

"A Jun, Lin Xue is lying to me, right? You know her better. You must know whether what she said is true..."

"I'm sorry... Qianqian, don't worry. I'll definitely find a way to bring Uncle Xu back!"

Hearing my answer, Qianqian froze. Then she suddenly threw herself into my arms and began to sob. As the daughter of an archaeologist who spent all year conducting fieldwork away from home, Qianqian knew better than anyone that going missing in the middle of a vast desert was practically a Death Penalty.

Only then did I realize that this girl in my arms, who had always been so carefree and thick-skinned, had a vulnerable side too.

Actually, I wasn't overly worried about Uncle Xu's disappearance. It wasn't that I didn't care about his safety, but that I had absolute confidence in the Empire's technology.

The moment Lin Xue announced Uncle Xu's disappearance, I ordered those Empire Commanders who were idle enough to grow fur to send several hundred miniature satellites, each equipped with an all-directional cloaking field, into space. Their detection capabilities were so precise that they could observe exactly how many pancake sets the stall outside our school sold in a day, how many one-yuan bills and fifty-cent coins it took in. They also possessed a degree of X-ray vision and energy analysis. Combined with a search-and-rescue team made up of Commanders specializing in searches, already on its way to the Taklamakan Desert, I was confident that as long as Uncle Xu was still on Earth, I could save him!

Just then, Lin Xue's voice came over. "You two, isn't this getting intimate a little too quickly? And Chen Jun, are you still not planning to tell Xu Qianqian about your identity?"

"A Jun's identity?" At Lin Xue's voice, Qianqian lifted her head from my arms, her eyes still red.

"Well..."

After hearing my explanation, Qianqian looked as though she simply could not accept it. "You're saying... you're an Esper?"

I nodded, then pointed at Pandora, who had remained silent the entire way. "And Lily. She is too."

"No way... Aren't superpowers something that only exists in novels?" Qianqian still said skeptically.

I nudged Pandora's arm, signaling for her to prove it. The next second, Qianqian cried out, "Lily, just now, that was you..."

Lin Xue guessed what had happened from Qianqian's reaction. Smiling, she looked at the silent Pandora and said, "That's Lily's ability—Mind Communication. Even I'm a little jealous."

You're jealous already? If you knew all three hundred of my subordinates could do that, how jealous would you be?

"Then, A Jun, what's your ability? You have superpowers too, right?" The voice that had suddenly sounded in her mind had made Qianqian completely believe in the existence of Espers. Now she was extremely curious about my ability.

"Probably something offensive," I answered vaguely. Summoning the Empire Army to wage wars of conquest against other worlds should count as an offensive ability, right?

"A very powerful offensive ability..." Lin Xue's lingeringly frightened voice came over. It seemed the Satellite Cannon had left quite a psychological shadow on her that day.

"That's amazing..." The shocking news temporarily pushed aside Qianqian's unease over Uncle Xu's disappearance. An inexplicable gleam shone in her eyes as she grabbed my arm. "I never expected you to be this awesome! Why didn't you ever tell me you had superpowers? Have you been hiding it from me since we were kids?"

Thinking that she had been kept in the dark all this time, Qianqian's voice inevitably took on a disappointed tone.

"Of course not!" I hurriedly reassured her. "My ability only appeared recently too, after I reunited with Lily. Lily's ability awakened around then as well..."

Lin Xue chimed in at just the right moment. "Mm, that is conceivable. Under normal circumstances, a special resonance between siblings can trigger the awakening of superpowers. It's just that this usually happens more often between twins. A case like Chen Jun and Lily's is quite rare."

Lin Xue, that was a perfectly timed addition!

After learning that we were Espers, Qianqian seemed much less worried about Uncle Xu. It was as if, in her mind, once people like us stepped in, everything would be resolved.

"Come to think of it, Lin Xue, where exactly are you taking us? We're already out in the suburbs." I looked out the window and found that the surroundings had turned into a completely unfamiliar stretch of wasteland. There was no trace of the city left at all. I hadn't realized we had come this far!

Lin Xue picked up her phone and skillfully dialed several numbers, apparently sending a text message. Then she said, "Of course we're switching to faster transportation. You didn't think I was going to drive this beat-up sedan all the way into the Taklamakan Desert, did you? Or were you planning to buy train tickets to Xinjiang right now?"

"Huh? We're leaving now?" Lin Xue's decisiveness startled me. "I haven't even told my older sister yet."

"Same here. I need to tell my mom too, right? If I suddenly disappear for several days, she'll worry herself sick!"

Lin Xue looked at the two of us, then suddenly slapped her forehead. "Ah, sorry! I forgot about that. It can't be helped—I've had no family since childhood. I was taken in by the organization. Everyone in our organization leaves immediately whenever there's a mission. Saying goodbye to family isn't even a concept to us... Heh heh..."

"Is that so... It's okay." Qianqian had not expected the other girl's background to be like that, and for a moment, she did not know what to say.

"Don't listen to my older sister's nonsense!" The young driver, who had been quietly driving all this time, suddenly spoke up. He was actually Lin Xue's younger brother?

"This is my younger brother, Lin Feng." Lin Xue smiled awkwardly, then scolded him without ceremony. "None of your business. Focus on driving!"

Lin Feng replied, "How is it none of my business? If I don't speak up, the author's going to forget about me... Ahem, let me say that again. If I don't speak up, even I'll probably get lumped in with the relatives you claim have already died!"

Seeing her prank exposed by her younger brother, Lin Xue did not seem embarrassed in the slightest. She played with her phone as she said, "That's how it is. I was teasing you just now. But you don't need to worry about your families being concerned because you'll be missing for several days. We already arranged everything. We'll have your school send out word that you've gone to participate in an Inter-School Faculty and Student Exchange Program, then send one of our members who can alter their appearance to visit your homes and say hello. Problem solved... Ah, we're here."

What a... high-handed arrangement.