Chapter 290 - 286: I Must Take This Person Away

Chapter 290: Chapter 286: I Must Take This Person Away

Only after Du Peipei sat down beside him did Zhang Yi notice the beautiful woman was wearing a pair of white gloves.

For some reason, the moment he saw those gloves, his image of her as a gentle beauty instantly changed. It was as if the gloves were a focal point, altering all the colors about her.

The colors remained bright, but they lost their gentleness, instead becoming suffused with a chilling austerity.

Normally, you had to order at the counter in this noodle shop, but this time a waiter came over and handed them a menu. Du Peipei ordered a bowl of beef ramen, then scanned the QR code on the menu with her phone to pay for it.

"Is this your SIM card?"

Upon entering, she had scanned the shop in a single glance, noting all possible exits, the location of the windows, the number and positions of the staff and customers, and the distance between Zhang Yi and those around him.

And, of course, the SIM card lying beside Zhang Yi’s noodle bowl.

It was a clear sign of his indecision.

’Run? If I run, I can’t keep this card. In fact, it took everything I had to make that last call. I was just clutching at straws, just wanting to hear Mom’s voice, even if I only told her I was safe and nothing else.’

’Turn myself in? Then I have to keep the card.’

Hearing the beautiful woman initiate conversation, Zhang Yi, in his complicated state of mind, found himself craving human interaction, but he didn’t know what to say.

He just managed a grunt.

"You’re coming with me later."

’Holy shit!’

Despite his anxiety, Zhang Yi was stunned. This woman was way too forward.

He was a bartender, used to being hit on by club-going women. In fact, he’d met the girlfriend he’d accidentally killed at a bar just a month or so ago.

But he’d never met anyone who’d proposition him for a hookup right after sitting down. Besides, with her "bright" aura, she didn’t seem like that type of person at all.

But now, Zhang Yi was once again in the throes of a fierce internal struggle...

He never expected her next words to be even more shocking.

"You killed someone. Did you really think you could just walk away?"

The words had barely left her mouth when Zhang Yi jolted violently, bending the fork in his right hand. His body instinctively tried to stand.

But a leg suddenly pressed down on his knee, making it impossible for him to stand. He struggled on the stool, but couldn’t move an inch.

He tried to brace himself with his arm on the table, but a white-gloved hand seized his right wrist.

It felt like a perfectly fitted iron clamp. The immense strength he now had to carefully control in everything he did was completely neutralized by her grip, rendering him immobile.

’She’s not a normal person! I can’t fight her!’

The thought surged up from deep inside him, not just because he couldn’t escape, but because the woman’s colors had changed again. They had grown dark and grim, and he could even smell the faint scent of gunpowder.

"Sit still and eat your noodles. Otherwise, you’ll end up smashing the table and chair."

Du Peipei glanced at him, her tone never wavering.

"Your beef ramen. Please, enjoy your meal!"

The waiter brought over the beef ramen in just a few minutes. The speed was almost unnatural.

"Thanks!"

"Hey, waiter! I’ve been here forever and my beef ramen still hasn’t come out. She just got here! Did you make a mistake?"

A customer at a table near the counter called out.

The flustered waiter apologized to the customer.

"She hasn’t started eating yet. Should I just bring it over to you...?"

The man glanced at their table. The beautiful woman seemed to realize the noodles weren’t hers, and was smiling apologetically in his direction without touching her chopsticks.

"Er, uhm, it’s fine. I can wait."

Sometimes, being attractive gives one the illusion that the entire world is kind to you. Assuming, of course, you live in a society governed by the rule of law.

She was hungry, and she hadn’t broken any rules. Du Peipei picked up her chopsticks with a clear conscience and began to dig in.

She also drew her leg back and released her grip.

"You... you know who I am? Are you a cop?"

Zhang Yi leaned forward, rubbing his sore right wrist with his left hand while also kneading his aching knee. The encounter had been anything but romantic.

"It wasn’t on purpose! I didn’t know that would happen! I... I suddenly had..."

In his frantic attempt to explain, he almost blurted out the truth about his condition, but he was terrified of being dissected by scientists.

"Oh, so you were all over your girlfriend when you wanted her, but the moment something went wrong, your first thought was to run?"

Du Peipei slurped her noodles, but her words were sharp and invasive, her tone ice-cold.

"I..."

Zhang Yi was rendered speechless, his expression turning utterly desolate.

’He’s not a lost cause, then.’

Du Peipei made a silent assessment. The Perception aspect of her Ability was nowhere near as powerful or comprehensive as Lieutenant Colonel Huang’s back at HQ, so she couldn’t determine the category of Zhang Yi’s evolution.

"So are you a cop or not?"

In just that short time, she’d finished the entire bowl of beef ramen. She had no intention of ordering another.

"You can consider me an agent of a special government organization. You’re done eating, so let’s go. Becoming an Evolver doesn’t mean you can escape the law."

Although he ended up following the mysterious woman out of the shop, once they were outside, the thought of escape crossed Zhang Yi’s mind again.

’What will happen if I get taken back? A special, terrifying prison? A lab?’

His steps faltered.

But in a flash, Du Peipei was in front of him. Her hand plunged into her coat pocket, gripping the butt of a gun strapped to her leg, as her right knee slammed viciously into Zhang Yi’s crotch.

His mind went blank. An instant later, an excruciating, ball-shattering pain shot through his entire nervous system, and his body refused to obey him.

He tried to double over and clutch his groin, only to find his neck locked in an iron grip.

Through the agony, he felt something hard and cold press against the very source of his torment.

It took several seconds for Zhang Yi, his face pale and contorted in agony, to regain some semblance of reason.

"Police aren’t allowed to use brutal force. But sorry, I can."

"Do you want to bet I won’t pull the trigger?"

Cold sweat poured from his every pore. Zhang Yi now understood what was pressed against his family jewels. And this woman... she would absolutely pull the trigger.

His neck was being squeezed so tightly he could barely breathe, his head forced back to face the sky in agony.

In the throes of intense pain and fear, Zhang Yi’s vision swam, and he thought he saw the colors of some stars in the sky shift. His heart leaped. He tried to fight through the pain to get a better look, but he couldn’t see anything clearly anymore.

After six or seven seconds, Du Peipei released him, letting Zhang Yi gasp for air like a beaten dog.

If she had increased her strength just a fraction more, she could have suffocated him instantly, regardless of how long he could hold his breath.

By now, the other team members had arrived, and a commercial van had pulled up nearby.

However, Captain Du’s little maneuver had sent a phantom chill through the groin of every male team member. Even the female agent sucked in a sharp breath.

"Let’s go. Get in the van," she said. "Not everyone is as good-natured as I am."

Du Peipei said this with immense self-satisfaction. Naturally, no one present dared to contradict her.

Wincing in pain, Zhang Yi looked at the people who had just arrived. They were all in casual clothes, but the "colors" of two of them were just as bright, while the "colors" of the other four were also more distinct than those of the surrounding pedestrians.

In that moment, he finally understood. This must be his Superpower. He breathed a sigh of relief. ’So it wasn’t love at first sight...’

The van door was open. Capturing the suspect had gone smoothly; it was a good start. Now, the Class-II and Class-III investigations would have to begin.

"Pardon me, everyone, but I’ll be taking this person with me."

A soft, yet sinister, female voice suddenly spoke from right beside them.

SWOOSH...

Including the driver in the van, all seven of them immediately aimed their guns in the direction of the voice.

’Who is that? How did I not notice them?’

The moment their eyes focused, everyone’s pupils contracted in shock.

’The Dawn Association!’

A woman in a black, hooded robe stood less than two meters from the front of the van.

No one knew when she had arrived, or how long she had been standing there.

The shadow of the hood served as a mask, obscuring the upper half of her face. Below it, her features were a blur, save for a pair of fiery red lips.

A restless, agitating energy began to brew in the air, making each breath feel scorching hot.

The agent in charge of intel immediately made the connection, matching the person before them to a file in his head.

It was the Witch!

Many from Dawn had already had contact with the Special Security Team, and there was no shortage of unimaginably powerful individuals among them.

The Sage, whom they’d met once outside Shen City; the powerful Mr. Yan; the mysterious Crystal Ball Witch; the gorgeous yet equally elusive Red Demoness; the Thorn Child who’d been injured by friendly fire; the Silent Knight...

And the Witch—flamboyant, emotional, and with a known distaste for government agencies—was, among all of them, the one who required the most cautious approach.

PS: First Chapter for Sunday.