Forgotten Photo Studio

Chapter 142 The Judge's Greeting Gift (Third Update)

Inside the lobby, staff members lay prostrate on the ground, trembling.

They couldn't understand why "Silver Lightning" would target an unknown nobody.

Only Ah Zhe's gaze behind his glasses was sharp—if he truly wanted to take a life, why would he need to be here?
Jiang Yu's gaze was immediately fixed not on Xu Yan, but on the camera in his hand.

That gaze pierced through space, a mixture of scrutiny, apprehension, and a barely perceptible hint of...reminiscence.

"Xu Haoyu's son?" A deep voice boomed into Xu Yan's mind, its thunderous tone carrying a barely perceptible hoarseness. "So quickly reached the Silver rank... He really did pass on that destiny that shouldn't have been inherited to you."

Xu Yan slowly straightened up.

Hatred and respect surged within him, but he suppressed them fiercely.

He had to play the role of being bewildered.

“Sir,” the voice was eerily calm, “this ‘gift’ is far too much.”

"Heavy?" Jiang Yu scoffed, his lightning crackling. "I just wanted to see if Xu Haoyu's inheritance had truly found a host." For the first time, his gaze truly fell on Xu Yan's face, carrying the coldness of examining an object. "Unfortunately, nothing special."

"You!" Chen Zhiwei's face turned deathly pale with anger. "Does being a Gold-level cultivator mean you can be unreasonable?!"

Jiang Yu ignored him, his gaze never leaving the camera: "Next time you come to the center, don't bring it."

Xu Yan took a deep breath, tempering his surging old grudges and new anger into ice, and asked the crucial question:
“Since you know my father, you should know what it represents.” He slightly raised the camera, letting the lens reflect a cold glint in the dim light. “What you fear, is it the camera itself, or the answer my father left behind behind it?”

The air froze completely.

The lightning around Jiang Yu emitted an unstable buzzing sound, as if reflecting his sudden emotional fluctuations.

silence.

This brief silence was more deafening than any roar.

"Fear?" A low laugh came from beneath the mask, a laugh that was complex and difficult to understand, as if mixed with the taste of rust and memories. "The one who should be afraid is you, kid."

The lightning around him vanished instantly, all the oppressive aura disappeared as if it had never existed, leaving only his final, judgment-like words echoing in the air:

"When you gaze at fate through a viewfinder, it's best to pray that fate isn't gazing back at you."

Before the words were finished, the lightning dissipated, and the shadowy area was empty.

Dead silence.

It was as if even the air had been drained by the thunder and whispers just now.

The lingering smell of burning in the hall is the only physical trace left by that judge.

A few seconds later, suppressed sobs broke the suffocating silence from somewhere.

The staff members, still in shock, helped each other to their feet. Their gazes toward Xu Yan were filled with a complex mix of fear and resentment. No one dared to approach or utter a sound; they simply dispersed quickly and silently, as if fleeing an invisible plague.

Chen Zhiwei practically threw herself at Xu Yan's side, her face still pale, her fingers gripping his sleeve tightly, her voice trembling: "Senior brother... are you... are you alright? That person... what happened to him..."

Xu Yan did not answer immediately.

He slowly lowered his hand, his gaze falling on the dark silver camera, his knuckles slightly white from the force he had just exerted.

Jiang Yu's words were like a cold, venomous snake, coiling around my heart. He wasn't just there to test me; he seemed more like a messenger sent to verify a prophecy.

And that prophecy is closely linked to the father, the camera, and the so-called "fate".

I took a deep breath, my lungs filled with the scorching air.

He pulled the camera back into his arms, a gesture that gave him a sense of control.

He patted Chen Zhiwei's hand, a silent reassurance.

Now is not the time for explanations, nor is this a place to linger.

Just as he was about to quickly leave this place of trouble with Chen Zhiwei...

"call……"

A Zhe, standing to the side, let out a long sigh of relief. He pushed up his slightly slipped smart glasses, and the look in his eyes behind the lenses was no longer purely cynical or focused like a tech geek, but rather contained a hint of excitement after surviving a danger, and a certainty of "I knew I hadn't misjudged him."

His signature smile reappeared on his face, but the underlying tone had become a bit more somber.

This time, Ah Zhe didn't just listen.

Once the lingering oppressive feeling from Jiang Yu had completely dissipated, he quickly glanced around to make sure that the still-shaken staff members weren't paying much attention to them.

The carefree smile on his face faded somewhat, replaced by an expression that was a mixture of wariness and excitement.

He quickly gestured to Xu Yan and Chen Zhiwei and whispered, "This is not the place to talk. Come with me."

After saying that, without waiting for their response, he led them quickly through the corner of the hall and pushed open an inconspicuous fire door marked "Equipment Room".

Inside the door was a relatively independent and quiet small space, with only a few server units emitting a low hum.

Standing still, Ah Zhe seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and looked at Xu Yan again with the focus of a tech geek when discussing their field of expertise:

“What a coincidence, sir.” He continued, “Now that you mention it, I do have a place… that might need a ‘professional’ like you to lend a hand.”

He changed the subject, seemingly not wanting to owe anyone a favor, and lightly pressed a discreet button on the temple of his smart glasses.

The octopus-shaped drone that had been hovering quietly on his shoulder responded to the call and shot out a soft yet precise blue beam of light from below.

The light rays intertwined and extended rapidly in the air, instantly forming a complex, dynamically rotating three-dimensional energy structure that illuminated the dimly lit equipment room with a deep blue light.

The model's outline vaguely resembles Xu Yan's figure, while on his right shoulder, a pale, parasitic energy body, resembling a living vine, is clearly marked. It is tightly wrapped, its roots seemingly piercing into the depths of the phantom, constantly radiating twisted, ominous ripples outward.

"By the way, here's a little discovery," A-Zhe pointed to the ball of white energy, his tone turning serious, "This thing on you is very strange. Its energy signature is extremely subtle; even regular psionic scanners and advanced 'spirit observation techniques' have difficulty capturing its complete form. It's almost completely integrated with your own energy field."

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhiwei immediately looked at A Zhe warily and subconsciously asked, "Then how did you see it?"

Ah Zhe pushed up his glasses, the lenses reflecting the light of the model, and revealed a sly smile with a sense of technological superiority: "This is my little secret, or rather... my 'unique detection algorithm.' I can't reveal the principle for now, you just need to know that my 'eyes' are a little bit 'sharper' than ordinary devices."

He didn't say it explicitly, but this was undoubtedly a reference to his core competency—"data storm".

Xu Yan knew perfectly well what was going on, but didn't point it out.

(End of this chapter)