Chapter 1380: Confusion

Chapter 1380: Chapter 1380: Confusion

"Power of Origin!" Pei Yan jumped up from his seat, the mechanical eye he had opened gleaming brightly, while his still-sealed right eye twitched with excitement. As his thoughts swirled, he suddenly thought of another person and exclaimed, "Xie Chujun! Is it him?"

"Yes!" Gu Shenghui nodded without denial.

Pei Yan then sat back down, scratching his head and muttering to himself, "No wonder! No wonder!" He recalled feeling a similar but slightly different aura from Xie Chujun when they first met. At the time, he didn’t understand the difference between an Origin Seed and the Power of Origin. Thinking back now, it was indeed the power of Origin that allowed him to instantly subdue the enemy and absorb their abilities. With this realization, he turned to Gu Shenghui, puzzled, "So you mean the Candle Dragon is really going all out! Four Origin, no! If you include the seed used in that Elder’s play, that’s five Origin Seeds and one Power of Origin. What is he plotting? And is this related to Mu Fanchen’s mutation?"

"I think the problem can only lie with these issues, or I can’t find another reason to explain it." As Gu Shenghui spoke, he calmed his emotions, looking at Pei Yan with great determination and openly said, "After acquiring these four Origin Seeds, though we had someone run experiments to roughly identify the drawbacks of these Seeds, the three of us dared not actually consume them. One reason was because the experiments were conducted on two prisoners with abilities whom we secretly captured—an act that, by any measure, constituted a heinous crime. From our perspective, it was justified and defensible. But still, we violated the bureau’s rules, as we didn’t hand them over to the Secret Prison to follow the formal procedures, adjudicate them, and then apply for experiments through a series of verifications and approvals. From this standpoint, we were in violation, or even criminally liable. Not to mention, those two ultimately died. Pei Yan, you should know what that meant at the time."

Pei Yan hadn’t expected Gu Shenghui had such a hidden past. Of course, he understood the consequences of such actions. Although now, due to the crisis with the Blood Slaughter, the department was adopting near-brutal measures against these grave-crime ability users to seize their powers at the cost of their lives. However, before all this, procedures were strictly adhered to. Even when Pei Yan first joined the investigation bureau, he was repeatedly warned not to misuse corporal punishment privately. Hence, Gu Shenghui and the two others took enormous risks back then. If exposed, they wouldn’t face just an investigation but could potentially become prisoners themselves.

Thinking of this, Pei Yan sighed, reflecting, "I don’t have the right to judge the right or wrong of this matter. I’m just puzzled: wasn’t your approach a bit too hasty? Given your talents back then and your positions in the bureau, Elder Lin and others were grooming you as successors. Even if you handed over the items and went through the processes, it was highly likely that, based on contributions, they’d end up in your hands eventually. There was no need for such a risk."

"You’re right! But that’s the clarity of an outsider while those involved remain confused. At that time, we were provoked by the indifference everyone showed towards the Fan Ruyi incident. Coupled with the attack by someone impersonating a Celestial Sword Manor Elder causing us to lose comrades, we developed a strong sense of crisis. We just wanted to quickly become stronger, and that thought practically filled our brains, making us almost paranoid, unwilling to trust anyone. That’s why we chose such an extreme path."

Listening to Gu Shenghui, Pei Yan resonated and responded, "I understand the mindset since Captain Shangxing’s incident; it explains your perspective. However, you three aren’t rash people. Such impulsive thoughts must have been influenced by the Blood Slaughter Origin Power. One of the roots of Blood Slaughter is absorbing all negative emotions, and its power similarly draws out and exacerbates negative emotions, driving people into madness and irrationality."

"In hindsight, perhaps there’s truth to that! Due to our concerns about this mysterious fruit and our inability to report which left us without a suitable criminal ability user for experimentation, we temporarily shelved the subject of consuming the Origin Seeds. At that time, we each took one of the three fruits, and the stone that condensed the Power of Origin was entrusted to Mu Fanchen for safekeeping. If indeed there’s something that triggered this change, it’s this difference." Gu Shenghui carefully analyzed.

"Possible! The interaction between the Power of Origin and the Origin Seeds eroded Mu Fanchen’s mind." Pei Yan felt he was onto something and immediately pursued, "Then how did this Power of Origin end up with Xie Chujun?"

"It was a matter of chance!" Gu Shenghui explained with a squeeze of his nose, meeting Pei Yan’s searching gaze. Before the incident, half a month prior, Chujun visited his sister’s home. According to him, during a chat with Mu Fanchen, the subject came up again, and he requested to take the stone back to study any potential mysteries. At that time, Mu Fanchen didn’t show any difficulty or adverse emotion and readily handed it over to him. Then, half a month later, the tragedy occurred."

"So the problem arose within that half-month?" Pei Yan pondered.

"No! I suspect it began even earlier!" Facing Pei Yan’s inquisitive gaze, Gu Shenghui pinched the bridge of his nose and explained, "For years, I’ve been investigating why Mu Fanchen defected. Initially, I focused on tracing his actions, and later, after realizing he had allied with Shen Yu, I began examining cases related to Shen Yu and any missing ability users in the six months before and after his issue. During this period, he seemed to have held onto his last moral line, not harming innocents—that’s my assumption. Yet, I did uncover something: following the Origin Seed experiments, in the subsequent months, five notorious ability-criminals we were tracking ceased their operations. Over subsequent decades, three were apprehended or killed due to exposed movements, while the other two remain missing. We suspect they either emigrated or died, but now it seems the latter is more likely! So perhaps one of these missing persons was felled by Mu Fanchen."

"You’re suggesting Mu Fanchen secretly used that Origin Seed, absorbing one of the criminal’s abilities." Pei Yan immediately grasped Gu Shenghui’s implication, recalling the bizarre scene he encountered in Song Mingyuan’s consciousness when absorbing his abilities, blurted out, "If the absorbed ability user’s resistance is strong, there will be an internal struggle in consciousness! Could it be that the current Mu Fanchen is no longer his true self?"