Captain Lin's Manhunt

Night fell like a vast black curtain over the apocalyptic wasteland.

Lu Chen carried his father carefully, each step unusually firm, as if he held not a frail patient but the hope of the entire world.

Xiao Lu followed close behind him, her eyes full of worry, like a startled fawn.

But the brief calm was soon shattered.

"Kid, haven't you stolen a little too much?"

Captain Lin's voice was like a shard of winter ice, instantly cutting through the silence of the night.

Lu Chen stopped and slowly turned around, a contemptuous smile curling his lips.

The searchlight shone on his face, leaving one half bright and the other in shadow, giving him an uncanny appearance.

He saw that Captain Lin and a fully armed special operations squad had silently surrounded them.

The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and a suffocating murderous intent.

"Captain Lin, what's the meaning of this?" Lu Chen's voice still held a hint of mockery, as if he were joking with an old friend.

Captain Lin stared sharply at Lu Chen, as if trying to see right through him. "Quit pretending. You think you can fool me? You stole a nerve regeneration agent and tried to take a patient out of the base without permission. Do you take me for a blind man?"

Lu Chen shrugged, looking unconcerned. "Who still believes in all those rules these days? I just want to save my dad. What's it to you?"

"The base has its rules, and they can't be broken!" Captain Lin's tone was firm, and he refused to give an inch.

Lu Chen's gaze turned cold, and his smile vanished. "Rules? The apocalypse is here, and you're still talking to me about rules? I'm the damn rules!" As he spoke, fierce flames erupted all over his body, scorching the surrounding air until it warped.

"Go on, try to stop me."

Captain Lin's expression changed. He was visibly intimidated by Lu Chen's presence.

He took an involuntary step back, but forced himself to say, "You... what are you trying to do? I'm telling you, this is the base. You can't run wild here!"

"I'm not trying to do anything. I just want to take my dad away." Lu Chen's voice was low and cold, like a demon from hell.

The atmosphere froze in an instant, as if time itself had stopped.

But Captain Lin did not attack. Instead, he tried to persuade Lu Chen to surrender. "You're talented. You shouldn't waste that talent on the run. Join us, and I can keep your father safe."

Lu Chen burst out laughing, throwing his head back as if he had heard the greatest joke in the world. His laughter was full of mockery and contempt. "You people talk a good game, but deep down, don't you just want to use me as a tool?"

Of course, he understood Captain Lin's intentions.

In the apocalyptic world, gifted ability users were a scarce resource. Powerful ones like him were especially sought after by the various factions.

But how could Lu Chen willingly let others use him?

He wanted to control his own fate, not become someone else's pawn.

Just then, Xiao Lu quietly tugged at the hem of Lu Chen's shirt and warned him in a low voice, "They have thermal trackers!"

Lu Chen's heart tightened. Only then did he realize he had overlooked something.

In the face of modern technology, abilities were not all-powerful.

He quickly calmed down, his mind racing as he searched for a countermeasure.

"Thermal trackers..." Lu Chen muttered to himself.

Got it!

He quickly copied a soldier's E-rank [Thermal Energy Shielding] talent.

He had seen the soldier before. The man guarded the warehouse and was drowsy every day. Lu Chen had never expected him to be of some use.

His Infinite Replication talent activated!

The E-rank [Thermal Energy Shielding] was copied in an instant and, under Lu Chen's control, rose straight to SSS-rank at rocket speed!

The next second, an invisible barrier seemed to cover Lu Chen's body, blocking all heat.

His body temperature instantly dropped to zero, and he vanished completely from the infrared thermal imagers!

"Search! Search thoroughly! Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find them!" Captain Lin roared at the top of his lungs, clearly out of patience.

The special operations soldiers began searching everywhere, their searchlights sweeping over every corner like sharp swords.

Lu Chen stood motionless, holding his father, as if he had become one with the night.

Xiao Lu pressed close against him, not daring to breathe loudly.

Amid the confusion as Captain Lin ordered the search, Lu Chen decided to take the father and daughter away from here.

Meeting force with force was not his style. He preferred to use his brains to solve problems.

"Follow me," Lu Chen said quietly, then led Xiao Lu stealthily toward the edge of the base.

But the base's defenses were not just for show.

Sentries, patrols, surveillance cameras... eyes were everywhere.

Leaving without alerting anyone was nearly impossible.

Lu Chen took a deep breath and activated his Infinite Replication talent again.

This time, he targeted a sniper.

The sniper had the D-rank [Eagle Eye Vision] talent, which allowed him to observe targets clearly from a great distance.

Infinite Replication!

The D-rank [Eagle Eye Vision] was copied in an instant and elevated to SSS-rank!

The next second, Lu Chen's eyesight improved tremendously.

He could clearly see the scene hundreds of meters away, and even the tiny specks of dust in the air were plainly visible.

With the help of SSS-rank [Firmament Gaze], Lu Chen precisely identified the enemy's patrol routes and surveillance blind spots. Like a ghost, he led Xiao Lu carefully past every cordon.

The entrance to the drainage pipe was not far away.

It was an opening hidden beneath weeds and garbage, difficult to spot without looking closely.

Lu Chen walked over without hesitation and pulled the weeds aside, exposing the dark opening.

"Go!" he whispered, then jumped down first with his father in his arms.

Xiao Lu followed close behind, jumping into the drainage pipe as well.

Darkness, dampness, stench... all manner of unpleasant smells assailed them.

The drainage pipe was pitch-black; they could not see their own hands in front of their faces.

Moss covered the inner walls, and the ground underfoot was extremely slippery.

Holding his father carefully, Lu Chen felt his way forward through the darkness.

Xiao Lu followed close behind, afraid that one careless step would make her lose her way.

They had to leave as soon as possible.

The minutes and seconds ticked by.

After walking for an unknown length of time, Lu Chen finally saw a glimmer of light.

The exit was up ahead!

He quickened his pace and headed toward the light.

At last, they emerged from the drainage pipe.

A desolate expanse of ruins lay before them.

Broken walls, wrecked vehicles, corpses sprawled in every direction... the sight of the apocalypse was shocking.

Lu Chen took a deep breath, taking in the smell of blood and decay that filled the air.

"Let's go," he said quietly, then led Xiao Lu into the distance.

The sky gradually began to brighten.

Captain Lin stood in an open area, gazing into the distance as he muttered, "How on earth did he do it..."

The darkness before dawn faded, and a pale sliver of light tore an opening in the sky.

Captain Lin stood in the open, looking in the direction Lu Chen had disappeared. He ground out the cigarette butt in his hand, as if he meant to crush all his frustration and bewilderment along with it.

"That kid... isn't human at all." Captain Lin's voice was low, as if he were talking to himself, or perhaps to the empty air.

After a whole night's manhunt, his quarry had been as slippery as a loach, pulling one outrageous move after another. It was as if "countersurveillance" had been carved into his very bones!

For this operation, he had brought out every last piece of equipment he had-thermal trackers, infrared night-vision devices, and even "magic-suppression grenades" made specifically to deal with ability users!

And the result?

They had all been useless!

"Captain, should we keep pursuing them?" a squad member asked cautiously, afraid of provoking Captain Lin while he was angry.

Captain Lin looked up at the sky. A ray of morning sunlight pierced the clouds, casting a golden glow.

"Pursue them? With what?" He gave a bitter laugh, his voice full of helplessness.

"He can block heat and see in the dark. To him, this equipment of ours is no better than firewood!"

The squad members looked at one another, none daring to make a sound.

Suddenly, Captain Lin seemed to remember something, and his gaze sharpened.

"No, it's not that simple!" He spun around and shouted into his communicator, "Seal off every entrance and exit immediately! Check every vehicle and person thoroughly! And take everyone at the base with an 'Eagle Eye'-type talent into custody. Don't miss a single one!"

"Yes, sir!" came the crisp reply over the communicator.

Captain Lin lowered the communicator, a dangerous light flickering in his eyes.

"Think you can run? Not so easily! You dared to snatch something from me, so let's see how many lives you've got!" With that, he strode toward the base's command center, leaving a group of bewildered squad members behind him.

He had a faint sense of foreboding, a persistent feeling that something big was about to happen.

"Captain, what do we do next? Should we step up patrols?" the squad member continued.

"Step up patrols? The hell with that!" Captain Lin snapped.

"The most important thing now is to find that little girl!"

"The little girl?" The squad member looked puzzled. "Is there something wrong with her?"

"What the hell do you know?" Captain Lin glared at him in frustration.

"Lu Chen took that little girl with him, which means their relationship isn't ordinary. If we can find her, we might be able to find out where Lu Chen is."

Realization dawned on the squad member, and he hastily nodded and bowed. "Brilliant, Captain!"

Captain Lin snorted, ignored the squad member's flattery, and walked straight toward the command center.

He knew full well that to catch Lu Chen, he first had to find the little girl.

Only then could he make up for his failure and preserve his position.

"Captain Lin, you're here." A staff member hurried over to greet him respectfully.

"What's the situation?" Captain Lin asked.

"We've sealed all the entrances and exits and are checking every vehicle and person thoroughly," the staff member replied.

"But so far, there's been no sign of Lu Chen or the little girl."

"Useless!" Captain Lin cursed angrily.

"Keep searching! Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find them!"

"Yes, sir!" The staff member trembled with fright and hurried off to carry out the order.

Captain Lin stood before the command center's surveillance screens, his gaze sharp.

He knew Lu Chen had to be hiding somewhere, waiting for a chance to act.

He had to find him as soon as possible, or the consequences would be unthinkable.

He stared intently at the screens, letting no suspicious detail escape him.

Suddenly, he seemed to notice something and slammed the pause button.

On the screen, a man dressed in rags was carrying a child and sneaking toward the base's rear gate.

"It's him!" Captain Lin said through gritted teeth. "Catch them! Dead or alive!"

But when he got a clear look at the man's face, he could not help freezing.

"How could it be him?" he muttered, disbelief spreading across his face.

His hand drifted involuntarily toward the pistol at his waist. He instinctively glanced back at the empty room behind him, a sinister smile curling his lips as he muttered, "Long time no see..."