This assassin is upright

Chapter 481 Island Research Institute

"Hold the captain steady."

Yu Zhun gave a low shout to the other three people who were hurriedly supporting Black Hawk. Then, his eyes flashed with a sharp light as he looked towards the center of the ruined island.

He could clearly sense that the source of the earthquake was underground there.

"Don't worry, the earthquake won't last long." Flander, who was standing next to Yu Zhun, thought Yu Zhun was worried and quickly spoke up, "It usually disappears in about five minutes."

"so…"

Before he could finish speaking, Yu Zhun, who had heard the earthquake last only about five minutes, said, "I'm going out for a bit," and then his figure vanished from the spot in an instant.

"Let's go inside first." Black Hawk watched Yu Zhun leave, then turned his gaze back and nodded to Flander, who was standing to the side in a daze.

"Mr. Flander, thank you for your help today."

"If there are any further issues, we will contact you again."

After saying that, he gestured for the rat and wolf fang to help him up, then turned and went into the house.

Eiffel Tower smiled at Flander and then closed the door.

“No…” Flander’s expression grew increasingly confused. “What’s going on?”

Earthquakes are not dangerous, but normally you wouldn't run around during one, right?

Forget it.

He glanced at the small bottle in his arms and chuckled.

Ten milliliters of lithium-ion battery fluid!
He really struck it rich today.
-
"It's about here."

Yu Zhun stopped and looked at the magnificent building in front of him.

At the top of the building, the words "SEK Technology Research Institute" are written in a bold, flowing style.

Yu Zhun had heard of the name Sek Technology.

Before the catastrophe, it was one of the world's leading biotechnology companies.

The ruined island was originally one of its important research institutes.

Two hundred years after the catastrophe, this place still retains its original name and remains the most important place on the ruined island.

Yu Zhun's gaze then moved downwards, looking towards the underground of the research institute.

He could clearly sense that the source of the tremors was underground at the research institute.

However, with patrolling war machines and people everywhere, he couldn't just recklessly barge into their territory.

and so…

Yu Zhun's eyes flashed slightly, and he quietly walked to a secluded corner where no one was around. One by one, tendrils popped out from under his feet and quickly extended downwards.

But not long after, his expression turned bewildered.

Because after the roots pierced the surface of the soil, there seemed to be something hard underground that prevented the roots from continuing to penetrate deeper.

Just as he was about to exert more force, a sharp alarm suddenly rang out, and then the war machines and people around him started moving at the same time.

This is…

My own roots triggered an alarm?!
Yu Zhun's pupils contracted slightly. Without hesitation, he severed the roots, letting them turn to ashes. Then he turned and followed the hidden route he had discovered on the way here.

As he finished these actions, the earthquake also ended.

In the minutes following Yu Zhunli's departure, the War Machines' search area gradually narrowed, eventually surrounding the location where Yu Zhunli had been standing.

Three figures stepped out from the crowd, frowning as they looked at a tiny hole in the ground.

“The intruders were very vigilant,” one of them said in a deep voice. “Before being locked onto by our detection system, they chose to sever their tails and escape.”

"Pshaw, will it be of any use?" another person scoffed. "White jade."

The third person stepped forward silently, raising his hands, which emitted a warm white light.

In the white light, the surrounding scenery rapidly reversed, and soon a face appeared before everyone's eyes.

"Click——"

The other person quickly took a picture and printed it out on the spot, while Bai Yu helplessly lowered her hands, her face turning deathly pale.

“Target locked, investigate first.” The first person to speak took the printed image and calmly said, “If there’s no background, kill him.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding war machines dispersed instantly, and commands spread across the entire desolate island at an astonishing speed.

On the other side, Yu Zhun, who had successfully escaped, walked down the street with a furrowed brow.

He carefully reviewed his previous actions. Although he encountered some setbacks along the way, he was certain that his decisive action of cutting his losses had not caused him any trouble, and the other party could not possibly have used this as a reason to contact him.

But for some reason, he always had a strange sense of unease.

It was as if something was secretly targeting him.

After reaching the quasi-fifth rank, Yu Zhun's physical qualities far surpassed those of ordinary people, and his perception also underwent a further transformation. He was certain that this was not an illusion.

Therefore, there must be some reason why he was being targeted.

Thinking of this, Yu Zhun paused slightly.

Originally intending to return to the Black Hawk team's base, he subtly changed direction, choosing secluded areas along the way, and finally stopped somewhere.

His face twitched, and his body shape subtly changed. In the blink of an eye, he had completely transformed into another person.

After changing into a new outfit, Yu Zhun repeated the process, circling around a dozen locations and changing his appearance more than a dozen times, finally returning to his lodgings with a completely new look.

"Tuk-tuk-tuk-"

Amidst the distinctive knocking pattern unique to Black Hawk Team members, Mouse strode out and opened the door. "You were a little slow coming back this time..."

The moment he opened the door and saw the person outside, the smile on his face vanished instantly, his words stopped abruptly, and a chilling murderous intent gradually surfaced in his eyes.

"who are you?"

“It’s me.” Yu Zhun looked at the mouse with amusement.

Upon hearing that familiar voice, the mouse paused for a moment, then stared at Yu Zhun in disbelief, "Yu Zhun?"

"How did you..."

"I changed my appearance by controlling my body." Yu Zhun paused slightly. "For the next period of time, I will mainly use this appearance."

"Okay." Hearing Yu Zhun's familiar tone, the mouse finally realized that the completely different-looking guy in front of him was indeed Yu Zhun.

He gestured for Yu Zhun to come in, then circled around Yu Zhun, marveling at his appearance.

"I never would have guessed, this ability is so useful."

After saying that, a mischievous look appeared on his face, and he shouted into the house.

"Come and see who's here!"

Wolf Fang strode out, paused for a moment upon seeing Yu Zhunxin's appearance, then nodded thoughtfully, "Did you run into trouble outside?"

"It's still uncertain, it's better to be cautious." Yu Zhun gave a wry smile.

As for the Eiffel Tower, which also emerged, its facial expression remained unchanged.

"No..." the mouse was a little confused, "I'm the only one who didn't recognize him?"

"Why don't you guys seem surprised at all?" "You're not an evolved being, so of course you wouldn't understand." Wolf Fang had an expression that said, "I'm too lazy to explain to you."

Evolvers possess an energy field that distinguishes them from ordinary people. This energy field is like a person's fingerprint, and each evolved individual is unique.

Yu Zhun can change his appearance, but he cannot change his energy field.

Therefore, both Wolf Fang and Iron Tower could faintly sense Yu Zhun's energy field, thus confirming that Yu Zhun's identity was not in question.

"So what if you're an evolved being?" the mouse muttered under its breath. "If Fred hadn't broken my exoskeleton last time, I'd be much stronger than you!"

"I'm going to take care of the boss." With a somewhat dejected wave, Mouse turned and walked towards the room where Black Hawk was resting.

"That room over there is for you." Wolf Fang sat on the sofa and pointed to the empty room reserved for Yu Zhun.

"Okay." Yu Zhun nodded and sat down on the sofa.

Eiffel Tower poured hot water for the two of them, then sat down beside them with a憨笑 (a simple, honest smile).

"That Flander is actually quite reliable." Wolf Fang took a sip of water and said casually, "After we went inside, the feeling of the earthquake was significantly weaker."

"Here, the captain can also get a good rest."

At this point, he glanced at Yu Zhun and asked, "You went to investigate the cause of the earthquake, right? Did you find anything?"

"I guess so." Yu Zhun nodded. "I'm pretty sure that the source of the earthquake is in the center of the ruined island, underground at the Saike Technology Research Institute."

"However, when I tried to investigate further, they discovered my plan."

"Luckily I ran fast and made it back after going around in circles."

“No wonder you wanted to change your face.” Wolf Fang looked enlightened. “Although changes in appearance are not very meaningful for evolved beings, the ruined island relies heavily on technology, and image recognition technology recognizes faces.”

“Yes,” Yu Zhun sighed. “They seem to be very wary of the underground area, and have even set up a lot of alarm devices to prevent infiltration.”

"With my current capabilities, I'm afraid I can't bypass their monitoring and find out the truth about the earthquake. I'll have to think of other ways."

"Other methods?" The iron tower beside him pondered for a moment.

"How about exploring from the sea?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Zhun paused for a moment, then his eyes lit up.

From the sea?!

"That's a really good idea."
-
Meanwhile, inside the Saike Technology Research Institute.

"Is the investigation clear?"

The man who had led the team to the location where Yu Zhun disappeared looked at the other person walking towards him with a stern face.

“Czech Republic, things aren’t as simple as you think.” The investigator looked troubled. “Although we’ve managed to pinpoint the other person’s face using the power of the white jade.”

"But after comparing the data, we found..."

"No such person found."

"You say there is no such person?" Czech frowned instantly. "Everyone born on this ruined island is registered, whether they live on the island or not. The only way for people from other places to come to this ruined island is by taking our cruise ship."

“All passengers boarding the cruise ship undergo identity verification, and their entry and exit information is also recorded. How could anyone possibly slip through the net?”

"Are you telling me that the other side can fly and do so without alerting the island's air superiority system? Or that the other side can swim across the highly corrosive seawater without needing a boat?"

At this point, Czech let out a sneer, "Do you think that's possible?"

“Of course not.” The investigator shook his head without hesitation, but then slowly said, “But perhaps, there is another possibility.”

"That means the other party has the ability to disguise themselves."

"Disguise?" Czech was taken aback.

“Yes.” The investigator nodded. “Bai Yu’s time-travel ability can only rewind past scenes, and it has significant side effects.”

"We cannot collect samples of the other party's energy field based on the images alone."

“Investigating based on images can be circumvented by techniques like disguise.” At this point, the investigator produced a stack of image data.

"I checked the surveillance footage."

"The surveillance footage shows that the other party only appeared once at the edge of the surveillance camera's field of view during the process of leaving, clearly deliberately avoiding the surveillance range."

"After that, it became impossible to track down the other party's whereabouts."

"This is a master of counter-surveillance."

"So disguise should not be difficult for him."

“What you said makes sense.” Czech took the documents and flipped through them, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

If the other party is disguised, then the face that Bai Yu spent a huge amount of money to revert to is nothing more than a fake face.

Somewhat annoyed, Czech casually tossed the documents into the shredder and turned to the investigator. "What's the situation with the underground base?"

“No problem.” The investigator shook his head. “Although the detection methods used by the other party are very tricky, we had considered possible detection methods from underground before the underground base was built, and deployed corresponding detection alarms in advance.”

“The enemy’s position at that time was still more than ten meters away from our underground base, and…” the investigator looked thoughtful, “that seemed to be just a reconnaissance method, and there were no other attack methods.”

"Who knows?" Czech said noncommittally. "This is a critical period for the research, and we cannot afford any problems."

"Have new detection alarms deployed immediately." A cold glint flashed in Czech's eyes. "I want any probing activity within a hundred meters of the research institute to be detected and located instantly."

"We must never let something like this, where we come up empty-handed, happen again!"

"Yes!" the investigator replied, turning and leaving.

Once he was alone, Czech tapped the table, a sharp glint in his eyes. "The ability to disguise?"

"You'd better not show your face in front of us again."
-
"I'll go alone, you can just drop me off here."

Not far from the shore of the ruined island, Yu Zhun shook his head at Langya and Tieta, who had accompanied him, "The seawater is too corrosive; you can't get in."

"Don't worry, I have no interest in dying." Wolf Fang shrugged, then gave Yu Zhun a deep look. "We'll take care of ourselves and the captain."

"The captain isn't here, so I'm reminding you on his behalf."

"Be careful in everything you do, and do not act rashly."

"Understood." Yu Zhun nodded, and as he turned around, the muscles in his face twitched, instantly giving him a completely different face.

Then, he bypassed the blind spots of the surveillance cameras, changed into casual clothes, and went to a beach near the sea.

On this beach, there are many men and women having fun.

Although the post-disaster sea was like a raging flood, something to be avoided at all costs, playing on the beach still became a trend, spreading across the ruined island.

Yu Zhun blended in seamlessly among these people without the slightest incongruity.

Then he turned and went into one of the washrooms.

The junction of the sea and the island has always been a key monitoring area for ruined and isolated islands, where there are no blind spots in surveillance.

Therefore, Yu Zhun cannot simply jump into the sea if he wants to enter it.

His roots quickly burrowed into the ground from his feet, and once they had spread deep enough to reach the seawater, Yu Zhun seemed to melt away and quietly disappeared.

In the next instant, deep in the sea, within a cocoon woven from countless intertwined roots, Yu Zhun's flesh and blood rapidly coalesced, eventually taking full shape and transforming into his original form.

Second exploration, begin!
(End of this chapter)