Genetic Potion

Special Affairs Bureau interrogation room.

In the observation room behind the one-way glass, Hua Yin frowned slightly as he watched the deadlock in the interrogation room.

Old Smokestack truly deserved to be called a seasoned black-market operator. He was slippery as an eel.

Faced with the interrogation expert's increasingly probing questions and the occasional fragment of evidence, he either played dumb and claimed he was too old to remember clearly,

or skirted around the important points, admitting only to peddling a few "little trinkets." As for Scarface King's exact whereabouts, the details of their transactions, and especially the key information involving the destruction of leyline sensing pylons and illegal awakening methods, he simply shook his head and claimed ignorance.

"Officer, I'm just a useless old man running a stall to scrape together a living. How would I know any Scarface King or Li Scarface King? How could a big shot like him possibly have anything to do with me? The things you're talking about are terrifying. Even if you gave me ten times the courage, I wouldn't dare!"

Old Smokestack wore a miserable expression, but his triangular eyes glinted with cunning.

The interrogation expert applied pressure several times and even brought up part of Li Fu's testimony.

Old Smokestack merely cried injustice in an exaggerated manner, insisting that Li Fu was making wild accusations, or that he had only unintentionally passed along a couple of vague messages for someone and had no idea what they contained.

Hua Yin could tell that Old Smokestack was stalling, testing exactly how much the Special Affairs Bureau knew.

His psychological defenses were not as easy to break as Li Fu's. He had a clearer understanding of the black market's rules and his own situation.

"An old fox like this won't shed tears until he sees the coffin."

Captain Wang stood beside him with his arms folded, his expression grim. "We probably won't get anything crucial just by questioning him. We need to break through from another angle, or find harder evidence to nail him down."

Hua Yin nodded silently.

This was his first time observing the interrogation of such a troublesome subject from start to finish. He had learned quite a bit, and he had also gained a more direct understanding that the enemies faced by the Special Affairs Bureau were not merely straightforward demon beasts, but also dangerous individuals hidden within human society, people with treacherous minds.

Hua Yin also knew there was no rushing it.

Dealing with someone like this required patience and strategy.

Elsewhere.

The Chen Family.

Unlike the cold, hard atmosphere of the Special Affairs Bureau interrogation room, the Chen family's living room was filled with an anxious, complicated air woven from money and connections.

Chen Xingfeng had just seen off an "intermediary" invited through layer upon layer of connections, someone supposedly influential within the judicial system.

The man had accepted a hefty "consultation fee," yet offered only vague promises that they would need to "keep greasing the wheels."

"Damn it, a pack of wolves that can never be fed enough!"

Chen Xingfeng irritably yanked open his tie and casually tossed his expensive suit jacket onto the sofa.

He had called in quite a few business connections and personal favors, while money had poured out like water, but the feedback he received only made his heart sink further.

The Special Affairs Bureau kept an extremely tight lid on things. Especially in a case as serious as "assaulting an officer on duty," ordinary connections found it difficult to penetrate.

Li Xiulin sat off to the side with a haggard face and swollen red eyes. She had clearly cried again.

Unlike her agitation and resentment the night before, she now felt mostly helpless panic and confusion.

The wealth and connections she had once been so proud of seemed utterly useless before the Special Affairs Bureau, that cold machine of the state.

"Xingfeng, is there really... no way at all? Will Xiaoxu... be sentenced? If he gets a criminal record, his whole life will truly be ruined..."

Her voice caught in her throat.

Chen Xingfeng rubbed his throbbing temples. "A sentence probably won't happen. He's a minor, it's his first offense, and he didn't cause any serious injuries."

"But detention, fines, community service, and that damned criminal record... those probably can't be avoided. Most importantly, Hua Yin..."

When Chen Xingfeng mentioned that name, his tone was complicated. "He insists on handling this by the book, and his attitude as the officer involved matters greatly. If we can get him to ease up..."

"Get him to ease up?"

Li Xiulin seemed to seize a thread of hope, only for it to fade again. "Didn't you see how he was yesterday? He didn't care about family at all! All he sees now is his Special Affairs Bureau. Does he still have any regard for me as his mother? For this family?"

"Things were different then."

A calculating glint flashed through Chen Xingfeng's eyes. "He was angry yesterday, and it was in public. Maybe... we could talk to him privately, one on one?"

"Blood is thicker than water, after all. No matter how much resentment he holds, can he truly refuse to consider us at all?"

"We can offer compensation, a great deal of compensation, as long as he's willing to... blur a few details in the report, or express some understanding..."

Li Xiulin fell silent, struggling inwardly.

She could not bring herself to lower her head and beg that "heartless" son. She felt wronged and humiliated.

But for Xiaoxu... she gritted her teeth. "I... I'll think about it."

Night fell.

An unnamed beef noodle shop in the old district.

This was a place Hua Yin and Qing Wuyan had often visited in high school. The prices were reasonable, and the food was solid.

Hua Yin had changed into a simple gray hoodie and jeans, shedding the stern air of a Special Affairs Bureau officer. He looked like nothing more than a handsome, somewhat quiet young man.

Qing Wuyan had already ordered two large bowls of the shop's signature beef noodles, loaded with chili oil and cilantro, and was eagerly watching the entrance.

"Over here!"

The moment he saw Hua Yin enter, Qing Wuyan excitedly waved.

The two sat across from each other. Their steaming bowls of noodles arrived, chasing away the night's faint chill.

"Eat up, eat up! It still tastes just like it used to!"

Qing Wuyan slurped up a huge mouthful of noodles and grimaced from the heat, but his face was full of satisfaction.

Hua Yin picked up his chopsticks and ate quietly.

The familiar taste let the nerves he had kept taut these past days relax a little.

This noodle shop held some of the few easygoing memories that belonged to "Hua Yin," rather than "White Butterfly."

"By the way, you're seriously amazing now!"

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Qing Wuyan kept talking as he ate. "The Special Affairs Bureau! I heard everyone in there is a monster... no, superhuman! What you did today—whoosh, and the injury on my face was healed! That was incredible! What exactly is your ability? Can it cure illnesses too?"

"It's... a rather special ability."

Hua Yin answered vaguely without explaining further.

"Got it, got it. Confidentiality rules, right?"

Qing Wuyan put on an expression of understanding and lowered his voice. "But, brother, you've stepped into another world now. When you make it big someday, don't forget to give your brother a hand!"

Hua Yin glanced at him. "Why did you go to a place like that today?"

He meant the black market.

Qing Wuyan scratched his head, looking slightly embarrassed. "Well, curiosity killed the cat."

"I heard you could dig up strange old books and parts over there. Some of them were about... old legends, folk occult arts, that sort of thing."

"I've always been a little interested in that stuff, so I wanted to take a look. I didn't expect to run into you guys arresting people on my very first visit..."

He paused and sighed. "I was still too naive. A place like that isn't somewhere I should go."

Hua Yin nodded without pursuing the matter further.

Qing Wuyan was lively by nature and enjoyed unusual things. That explanation fit his usual behavior.

The two chatted while they ate. Most of the time, Qing Wuyan did the talking, telling him about recent amusing things at school, the pressure of the college entrance exams, and all the speculation and amazement among their classmates over Hua Yin's sudden "disappearance" and equally sudden reappearance as a "hero."

Hua Yin mostly listened in silence, asking a question or two now and then.

This ordinary, trivial conversation gave him the brief illusion of returning to the past.

Somehow, the conversation turned to Lin Qingqiu.

"Oh, right, did you know?"

Qing Wuyan leaned closer mysteriously. "Your class monitor seems to be trying to find a way to 'get stronger' too."

Hua Yin's chopsticks paused slightly over his noodles. "Get stronger?"

"Yeah!"

Qing Wuyan nodded. "I heard some girls in her class talking about it privately. Apparently, her family has been using connections to ask around about Genetic Potions, about ways and channels to get them. They seem pretty anxious about it too."

"Maybe what happened at school last time scared her? She nearly died, after all. If it were me, I'd be afraid afterward too. I'd want some ability to protect myself."

Lin Qingqiu... was seeking to become a Genetic Warrior?

A flicker of understanding passed through Hua Yin's eyes, but an extremely faint, indescribable emotion stirred in his heart.

He remembered how she had stood trembling with her eyes tightly shut at the entrance to that alley, and he remembered the slightly shaky handwriting on the confidentiality agreement after she signed it.

It seemed that experience had ultimately left a deep mark on her heart, even changing the course of her life.

Genetic Warriors... that path was not easy. It was even filled with risks and unwilling compromises.

But at the very least, it was a path that allowed one to actively reach toward the extraordinary through effort and resources.

"Being a Genetic Warrior isn't easy either."

Hua Yin spoke calmly.

"Yeah, I heard the success rate isn't high, the process is incredibly painful, and the upper limit is fixed."

Qing Wuyan smacked his lips. "But it's still better than being ordinary people like us, right? At least when danger comes, we won't be completely helpless."

They did not continue discussing the subject.

After they finished their noodles, Hua Yin took the initiative to pay.

"I said I was treating!" Qing Wuyan shouted.

"Next time."

Hua Yin said, "I'm leaving. Don't wander around at night. Go home early."

"Got it, got it! Officer Hua!"

Qing Wuyan replied with a grin, standing at the noodle shop entrance and waving at him.

Hua Yin turned and blended into the dim nighttime streets of the old district, his figure quickly disappearing.

Inside the noodle shop, the smile on Qing Wuyan's face slowly faded.

He did not leave immediately. Instead, he sat back down in his previous seat and looked at the empty bowl and chopsticks across from him, as well as the chair Hua Yin had occupied.

The dim yellow light cast shifting shadows across his face.

The eyes that usually brimmed with cheerfulness and a touch of recklessness gradually settled, becoming somewhat deep and quiet, even... carrying a complexity that did not match his age.

His long fingers lightly tapped the greasy wooden tabletop without conscious thought. His fingertips met the table in a highly regular knock-knock rhythm.

His gaze remained fixed in the direction Hua Yin had left, and his lips moved slightly, as though he had silently said something.

In the end, all his emotions turned into an extremely soft, inexplicable chuckle that escaped his throat.

"Hua Yin..."

Those two words were nearly inaudible amid the steam scented with noodles, yet they seemed to carry a heavy weight as they slowly sank into the silence of the night.

Behind the counter, the noodle shop owner yawned, completely unaware of the subtle change in the young man's expression in that corner.

The night was still long.

And perhaps some people, some things, were not as simple as they appeared on the surface.

Qing Wuyan's tapping fingers stopped. He took out his phone, its screen lighting half his face. On it lay a single unsigned encrypted message he had just received.

He glanced at it, his eyes narrowing slightly, then replied with a few words.

"Give the Lin family a Genetic Potion."

He put away his phone.

Qing Wuyan's carefree smile returned. He got to his feet, hummed an off-key tune, and sauntered out of the noodle shop, his figure vanishing into the darkness of the old street.