Banzhen City Peace Officer Headquarters.
After Yoshino arrived with Suzuki, they found the place in a state of utter chaos and confusion, no less than the Peace Officer station in Antu City.
Upon asking around, the two learned that yesterday, an unknown individual had infiltrated the official administration building. A high-ranking official was injured, and it seemed an important detainee had also been rescued.
Judging by the number of casualties, this incident wasn't even fit to hold a candle to the Antu explosion case. But from the perspective of the official higher-ups, politically, ten explosion cases couldn't compare to this one infiltration.
The two sat in the lobby for over an hour before a Peace Officer came to notify them: "The Director wants you in his office."
Yoshino and Suzuki hurried over. As soon as they entered, they saw the Director of the Peace Officer Headquarters sitting in front of his computer with a grim expression.
After the two greeted him, the Director lifted his eyelids to glance at them. "Speak quickly if you have something to say."
"Regarding that explosion case, we'd like to request more investigation time," Yoshino said.
"This officer beside me is Investigator Suzuki. Through her ability, she analyzed that there might be a survivor related to the case at the scene. Investigating this person's identity requires looking into some social connections. Since the perpetrator is from Beixing, coordinating with the relevant departments there for information will take considerable time. So..."
"Enough," the Director waved impatiently. "I have no time to bother with minor cases from Antu right now. Handle it as you see fit."
Yoshino and Suzuki exchanged a look.
This explosion case, which had previously been a major case of national concern, was now considered a minor one. This showed just how important the incident at the administration building was.
"Thank you, Director. We'll return immediately."
Yoshino had originally thought he would need to argue for a while to get the extension, which is why he specifically brought Suzuki to explain the situation. He hadn't expected it to be this smooth.
Just as the two were about to leave, the Director suddenly spoke up to stop them.
"Wait. Yoshino, what you just said... this investigator who came with you, it was her ability that discovered the clues at the explosion scene?"
"Yes," Yoshino said, looking at Suzuki, who also proactively provided an explanation.
"Reporting, Director. My ability is [Profiling]. It allows me to partially reconstruct the situation from a period of time ago within my mind, based on certain traces left at the scene."
Hearing this, the Director's eyes lit up. He slapped the table and stood up. "Your name is Suzuki, right? You stay and assist with the investigation. Yoshino, you return to Antu alone and continue investigating the explosion case."
Both Suzuki and Yoshino were somewhat surprised by this.
Yoshino hesitated. "Director, Suzuki is a key member of our team. Her ability is helpful for investigation. We need..."
"Is your case more important or is mine?" the Director said sternly. "Don't tell me you don't know what happened in Banzhen."
"... The administration building incident?"
The Director snorted coldly in acknowledgment. "The Headquarters is temporarily reassigning your subordinate. The official paperwork will follow later. Suzuki, go to Room 109 immediately and report in. That's the investigation room for this case's task force."
Although a bit bewildered, Suzuki followed the order. After saying "Yes," she left the room.
Although Yoshino was reluctant to have his team member reassigned, the Director was his superior. He could not, and did not have the authority to, oppose the decision. He could only accept it helplessly.
After Suzuki arrived at Room 109, she somewhat awkwardly introduced herself and explained the situation.
Upon learning of her ability, the entire investigation team's eyes lit up. The Team Leader immediately began showing her some video materials.
Although Suzuki didn't know anyone, she was there to assist with the investigation and quickly got into work mode.
"This is the surveillance video from the building. The camera captured the target?"
"Yes. However, this person's appearance is likely fake. Perhaps they used an item for disguise. In any case, there's no match in the database."
"If you can use your ability to profile the target's true physical characteristics, it would be a huge help in cracking the case."
"Alright, I'll do my best."
Suzuki looked at the young man wearing glasses in the video and quickly focused her attention.
...
If he hadn't heard it directly from Uenoshi, Guan Tong would never have imagined such an ability existed.
Uenoshi's power was a "Bloodline."
If categorized, a bloodline should belong to the ability class.
The profound influence of this bloodline was extremely obvious, evident from her vertical pupils and the scales on the inner side of her neck.
Especially when Uenoshi pulled up the long sleeve of her shirt, revealing an arm already covered in scales. The sight made Guan Tong's scalp tingle a bit.
According to her, the name of this bloodline on the Terminal panel was "Yoroi," and it was related to an ancient legend of Sakura Prayer Country.
Guan Tong also knew this legend. It was said that deep in the trench beneath the islands of Sakura Prayer Country lay a great serpent, which the ancient Sakura Prayer people called "Yamata no Orochi."
The Yamata no Orochi stirred up storms and devoured living people, causing great suffering for the ancient Sakura Prayer people. Later, a warrior named "Yoroi" appeared and severely wounded the great serpent using some method, forcing it to hide back in the depths of the sea and never emerge again, thus saving the ancient Sakura Prayer people.
After that, "Yoroi" was passed down in Sakura Prayer as the surname of a hero, and it also became the name of Uenoshi's bloodline.
Of course, after the earthquake rules, the Sakura Prayer islands sank. Later, various countries sent ships to that sea area to investigate and rescue survivors. No trench or great serpent was found in the seabed region, proving that the legend of the Yamata no Orochi was pure nonsense.
Now, the name "Yoroi" appearing on the bloodline Uenoshi obtained seemed to provide some sort of corroboration for the legend.
But Guan Tong knew deeply that after entering the era of Doomsday Rules, humans could use Mind Power to alter reality. This meant that under the influence of collective cognition, reality might indeed change relatively.
He was just a bit confused now.
"According to the legend, 'Yoroi' was the hero who wounded the great serpent. Why is your bloodline named that, yet your body exhibits partial serpent characteristics?"
Uenoshi shook her head. "I don't know."
"And you said the Divine Child made you use the surname 'Yamata.' That's also because, in his view, you actually possess the bloodline of the great serpent, right?"
"Mhm."
"That's strange."
Guan Tong couldn't figure it out, but it wasn't important to him.
What was important was that Uenoshi's bloodline ability was extremely terrifying.
First was the defensive capability and adaptability.
The scales on her body possessed extremely high defensive power. According to her, the Sakura Prayer military had tested it; even large-caliber bullets couldn't damage her scales, couldn't even leave a mark.
Moreover, these scales were continuously growing and spreading.
Uenoshi told Guan Tong that when she first obtained the bloodline, there were only a few scales on her back. Later, as her Mind Power Upper Limit increased, the scales also became more numerous. Now, her entire torso, upper and lower, was covered.
Currently, the scales had spread to her neck and showed no signs of stopping. This meant that later, her face would also become covered in scales. By then, going outside would undoubtedly be very inconvenient, unlike now where wearing long sleeves and pants could still conceal them.
Besides their extremely high defense, these scales also possessed super adaptability that automatically adjusted according to the environment.
No matter how the external environment changed—extreme heat or extreme cold—they could automatically adjust internally to maintain the most comfortable temperature. Even some contact-based poisonous gases couldn't take effect.
It could be said that in terms of comprehensive defensive capability, Uenoshi's scales were on par with Guan Tong's Shadow Armor. They might even be stronger in certain functional aspects.
Of course, Shadow Armor had its own advantages. It was essentially a transformed Shadow, so it could change according to Guan Tong's thoughts, making it more flexible.
The offensive capability of her bloodline came from those vertical pupils, and it was an extremely sinister ability she called "Serpent Servant."
When she gazes at a human, as long as her Mind Power significantly surpasses that of the target, she can activate the ability and forcibly transform the other person into a "Serpent Servant"—a creature with a serpent's body and a human head.
Humans transformed into Serpent Servants lose all free will, completely turning into bloodthirsty, frenzied monsters that obey Uenoshi's commands.
If the target's Mind Power Upper Limit isn't much lower than hers—for example, if they are roughly equal—then they won't become a "Serpent Servant." Instead, they will experience some serpent-related hallucinations.
Such as being entwined by many venomous snakes, or their own hands and body turning into snakes, etc... Those with weak willpower can easily be frightened, rendering them unable to fight.
Uenoshi didn't hide her ability. To gain Guan Tong's help, she explained everything in detail.
After learning this, Guan Tong also understood why the Sakura Prayer authorities had put that Mind Power-absorbing bracelet on her.
Otherwise, if she had wanted to escape, she could have easily turned most of the people in the entire administration building into Serpent Servants.
After learning about Uenoshi's ability, Guan Tong asked her about some of the Sakura Prayer official's circumstances.
What he particularly wanted to know was the power in the hands of the Divine Child.
To be precise, it was Ascendant power. He wasn't concerned about ordinary military strength.
Because conflicts between Ascendants are asymmetrical. As Ascendants grow stronger, the room for modern weapons to play a role becomes smaller and smaller.
Especially when facing Ascendants like Guan Tong who are elusive. Even if the enemy possesses planes, cannons, and missiles, they first need to know where he is to use them.
This was also why, after being bombarded by long-range weapons twice, Guan Tong now paid extra attention to keeping his location secret—once, twice, but not a third time. It would be too foolish if he suffered the same loss a third time.
"I only know that there are many groups like our Chosen Team," Uenoshi said. "Each group has different instructors."
"So, information isn't shared between your different groups. Each group reports directly to the Divine Child himself. He alone holds all the strings, ensuring different groups can't unite... But since it was your Chosen Team that obtained the Kimos Star fragment back then, that means your group was probably the most favored, right?"
Uenoshi nodded. "It seems that way."
"Judging by your ability, it's not 'seems,' it must be."
Her ability to create "Serpent Servants" was too terrifying. If she grew to a later stage, wouldn't she be able to continuously convert people into an army of Serpent Servants?
For a country like Sakura Prayer with a relatively small population, this was undoubtedly a major advantage. Mu Tiancheng's ambition to make Sakura Prayer the World Number One was probably somewhat based on the foundation of Uenoshi's ability.
The reason he took his own life might partly be because he saw through Uenoshi's nihilistic nature. Relying on such a person to conquer the world was almost impossible.
This could also be seen from the reason Uenoshi was placed under house arrest.
She said the main reason the Divine Child ordered her house arrest wasn't primarily about handing over the Kimos Star fragment. The main reason was because she refused to obey the order to convert and stockpile a large number of Serpent Servants.
Enraged, the Divine Child ordered her house arrest, telling her to "think carefully about what her identity truly was."
"I have a general understanding of the situation."
By now, Guan Tong knew about Uenoshi's ability and circumstances, and also had some information about Mu Tiancheng and the Divine Child.
"Then do you agree to help investigate my parents' identities?" Uenoshi asked.
"I can help you."
Uenoshi nodded. "Then I will also keep my promise. During this period, my power will be at your disposal."
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