Start with push-ups to gain experience

Chapter 318 Admit it, you are Bai Xiao

...They really are from the Special Investigation Team?

Cheng Jiashu's gaze swept across the area, quickly comparing the photo on the ID with the facial features of the person in front of him, his mind racing.

The man in the raincoat stared at him coldly.
"Please immediately identify yourself and explain why you are here, and cooperate with the investigation."

His tone was full of authority and carried the distinctive mannerisms of a civil servant.

Cheng Jiashu calmed himself, abandoned his attack stance, and quickly organized his thoughts to explain:

"I am a social volunteer from the Sunrise Home, and I am here today to visit the children."

"Because of the heavy rain, I am staying here temporarily. I heard some unusual noises just now and thought that a thief had broken in, so I came out to check the situation."

His explanation sounded perfectly reasonable and watertight.

However, the other party clearly did not fully believe it.

The eyes beneath the raincoat's brim were sharp and fixed on him.
"You are not an ordinary volunteer."

"The speed and reaction you just displayed far exceeded the range of normal people. How do you explain this?"

Cheng Jiashu's heart skipped a beat, and he lowered his head slightly to avoid the other person's scrutinizing gaze.

A barely perceptible glint of ferocity flashed in the depths of his eyes.

His hands, hanging at his sides, had already quietly clenched into fists.

The power within him began to stir.

Just as he was preparing to do whatever it took to get rid of this problem, he was about to do something to solve it.

The man named Zhou Liang suddenly spoke again:

"You're... the mysterious person who passed on intelligence to our special investigation team, right?"

The tone of his question seemed to carry a hint of sudden realization.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Jiashu was taken aback.

His clenched fist unconsciously loosened slightly.

He looked up, his eyes showing just the right amount of surprise and confusion:
"How did you guess? I don't think I revealed my identity, did I?"

His reaction was both as if his secret thoughts had been exposed and as a test.

"It's not simple yet."

Seeing Cheng Jiashu's reaction, Zhou Liang let out a soft snort, his tone becoming increasingly certain:

"The Noah Organization's East City branch mobilized almost its entire force tonight. If it's just to deal with a few ordinary children in this orphanage, it's making a mountain out of a molehill."

"They must be after some extremely valuable and specific objective, and coincidentally, our special search team has obtained important intelligence."

"A traitor has emerged from the Noah Organization's upper echelons, codenamed 'White Owl.' It is said that he stole the organization's core secrets and is currently on the run in Dongdu City."

As he spoke, Zhou Liang paused deliberately, his gaze fixed intently on Cheng Jiashu's face:

"You appeared here tonight, acting unusually vigilant, and your skills far surpassed those of ordinary people. Who else could it be but Bai Xiao?"

"Moreover, you've been hiding in this orphanage, deliberately passing on intelligence about the Noah Organization's operations to us, just to use our special search team to help you get rid of the enemies chasing you, right?"

This series of deductions sounds logically sound and flawless.

Cheng Jiashu remained silent, looking at the other person with a complicated expression.

He gleaned a great deal of key information from these words.

Noah Organization, traitor, White Owl, top secrets...

These words, like scattered fragments, were rapidly pieced together in his mind, attempting to reconstruct a vague outline of the truth.

After a moment, he spoke slowly, his voice low and deep.

"I am not Bai Xiao."

"The only reason I'm staying here is to protect those innocent children."

Cheng Jiashu vehemently denied it, and what he said was indeed the absolute truth.

However, the expression on his face and the solemnity between his brows seemed to tacitly acknowledge some unknown, secret identity.

"hehe."

Zhou Liang seemed unsurprised by his denial, letting out a contemptuous sneer:

"Since you're not Bai Xiao, who took care of those Noah Organization assassins who infiltrated the organization?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Jiashu couldn't help but glance at the storage room in the distance.

He thought to himself, "Didn't you kill him?"

On the surface, however, he maintained a strategy of feigning ignorance while secretly making plans.

Let's use this ambiguous attitude to get by and resolve the current identity crisis.

Ideally, you could even turn the tables and extract more useful information from the other party.

Zhou Liang did not dwell on this issue, and then changed the subject:
"Our special investigation team, in principle, has the obligation to arrest and interrogate any unregistered superhuman or individuals from unknown forces."

"but……"

His tone softened slightly.

"If Mr. Bai Xiao is willing to show sufficient sincerity and cooperate deeply with our special search team to jointly combat the Noah Organization, this social scourge, we are not unreasonable..."

These words were undoubtedly an olive branch extended.

Cheng Jiashu remained silent, seemingly weighing the pros and cons of the other party's proposal.

Just then, a series of chaotic noises came from outside the courtyard wall of the Dawn House.

That was the sound of many people's footsteps treading on the puddles, mixed with the soft clattering of metal objects.

It sounds like a large group of people are gathering and surrounding the orphanage!
Cheng Jiashu's eyebrows twitched, and a look of surprise and doubt immediately appeared on his face.

Zhou Liang quickly turned his head to look at the dark rain outside the window.

His eyes flickered slightly, and he muttered to himself:

"It seems that the Noah Organization can no longer hold back and has begun to take action."

He then turned around, his gaze returning to Cheng Jiashu, and said rapidly:

"The special search team's main objective tonight is to capture and bring to justice these criminals who are attempting to create chaos and endanger public safety."

"I hope Mr. Bai Xiao can think clearly about his situation and choices. You are welcome to visit our headquarters at any time afterward to discuss how to completely eradicate the Noah Organization, this major threat."

As he listened to the other person's words, Cheng Jiashu's mind raced with thoughts.

If official authorities intervene, the safety of the children in the orphanage should be guaranteed.

In this situation, it is not appropriate for me to force myself to take the lead.

Keeping a low profile and avoiding revealing your true identity and abilities is the wisest choice.

He hesitated for a moment, then gave a vague reply.

"I will think about it."

Zhou Liang gave him a deep look, as if trying to memorize his face.

Without saying anything more, he flashed and disappeared swiftly at the end of the dark corridor like a ghost.

It seems he has rejoined the team to participate in the next arrest operation.

Cheng Jiashu stood alone in place, his brows furrowed.

He then quickly walked to the window and carefully observed the outside.

A large number of nimble figures dressed in black raincoats were seen scaling the courtyard wall like a tide and creeping towards the main building of the orphanage.

These people moved professionally and swiftly, appearing well-trained and menacing.

Just as Cheng Jiashu clenched his fist, his heart filled with hesitation. Bang!
A sharp, piercing gunshot suddenly rang out from the street in the distance.

The sound seemed particularly abrupt in the stormy night.

Then came more chaotic gunfire, exploding one after another like popping beans.

The blinding beams of flashlight danced wildly in the rainy night, weaving together a swaying net of light.

You can faintly hear someone shouting loudly.

"Don't move! Special search team, enforcement!"

"Lay down your weapons and surrender immediately!"

The urgent sirens grew louder as they approached, piercing the night sky.

Before long, the commotion outside grew louder and louder, and soon it turned into chaos.

The elderly security guard at the orphanage stumbled and crawled out of the guard room, looking around blankly.

He was clearly so frightened by this sudden turn of events that he almost had a heart attack.

Upstairs, the children and staff who were already fast asleep were also completely awakened by the loud noise.

One by one, sleepy heads peeked out from behind the windows of various rooms, staring in horror at the chaotic scene outside.

Cheng Jiashu quickly returned to the dormitory area, shouting loudly to calmly reassure the frightened people, telling them to stay indoors in safety and not to run around.

At the same time, he was also closely monitoring the battle situation outside.

Judging from the intensity of the gunfire and the direction of the shouts, the fighting was mainly concentrated on the outskirts of the orphanage and near the walls.

It can be vaguely seen that two forces are engaged in fierce fighting.

One of them should be the combat personnel from the special search team.

They were agile and well-equipped, and seemed to have been lying in ambush in the neighborhood around the orphanage.

At this moment, they are forming a pincer movement around the men in black from multiple directions, just waiting for them to crawl out of their hole and walk right into their trap.

The members of the Noah organization, while outnumbering each other, also possessed exceptionally strong combat capabilities.

However, under the fierce attack and encirclement of the special search team, they gradually showed signs of defeat.

After all, this is the East Metropolis District, the home ground of official law enforcement agencies.

After a period of fierce fighting, the men in black seemed to have received orders to retreat and scattered in different directions.

The special search team members, like hunting dogs with a keen sense of smell, relentlessly pursued them.

Gunshots and shouts of killing gradually spread from the vicinity of the orphanage to more and more distant places.

Seeing this, Cheng Jiashu breathed a slight sigh of relief.

At least, the children at Dawn House are safe for now.

But a thick fog still shrouded his vision.

Everything that happened tonight had an indescribable eeriness about it.

The Noah Organization first meticulously tracked him, and then mobilized such a large force to surround this small orphanage.

If their goal is merely to deal with themselves and these unarmed children, then this is going too far.

Perhaps, it really is as that masked man said.

The Noah organization is hunting down a high-ranking member who has defected and possessed their core secrets.

In other words, the mysterious person who passed him a note warning him of danger.

Cheng Jiashu frowned in thought.

Could it be that……

The Noah Organization discovered that they were involved in the murder of the headmaster of the Dawn House, and then mistakenly believed that they were an accomplice of "White Owl".

That's why they kept tracking him, trying to find clues about the hidden "White Owl" within him.
The real "White Owl," while hiding in the orphanage, also discovered his own special abilities.

That's why he used that method to remind himself to be careful of Noah's retaliation?

"If that's the case, then everything makes sense..."

Cheng Jiashu breathed a slight sigh of relief.

But then I realized something was off.

The white owl has not shown up yet.

If the special search team doesn't arrive in time tonight to stop the Noah organization's attack.

Wouldn't I become an innocent scapegoat, inexplicably dragged into this vortex?
After much deliberation, Cheng Jiashu decided that for the time being, it would be best for him to hide away and avoid getting involved in this mess.

Observe how the situation develops before making the next decision.

As long as the Noah Organization can't find them, and the special search team is relentlessly pursuing them, causing them trouble.

In a few days, unless they're completely stupid, they should realize that they have absolutely no connection with that so-called "White Owl".

When the time comes, things will naturally calm down.

Thinking of this, Cheng Jiashu's mind was once again filled with the "midnight date" mentioned on that mysterious note.

A strong sense of curiosity and doubt rose in his heart once again.

Ultimately, the desire to explore the unknown truth prevailed over caution.

He decided to brave the torrential rain and go see the abandoned lighthouse by the sea in person.

No matter what, he had to uncover the layers of mystery and see who was behind all of this!

Cheng Jiashu made up his mind to quietly walk to a secluded corner while the chaos outside had not yet completely subsided.

He took a deep breath, and his eyes suddenly lit up with an unusual light.

hum-

A deep and strange sound suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

The space in front of him suddenly began to distort visibly, centered on his right eye.

The air was no longer calm, and the light seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, converging and collapsing towards that one point.

It suddenly formed a pitch-black vortex that kept collapsing inward.

The vortex spun like a living thing, first expanding suddenly, almost sucking everything around it in.

Then it suddenly contracted, enveloping Cheng Jiashu with an irresistible gravitational pull.

His figure seemed to be forcibly twisted and pulled by this force, starting from the edge, piece by piece, inch by inch, being swept into that dark entrance.

In the next instant, Cheng Jiashu had completely disappeared from the spot, as if he had never been there at all.

Only a barely perceptible spatial fluctuation remained in the air, which was quickly smoothed out by the wind, rain, and gunfire outside the window.

Deep in the corridor, in a dark corner where light rarely reaches.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning illuminated the silhouette of a person wearing a raincoat.

The figure was not breathing, nor did it have a heartbeat; it showed no signs of life whatsoever, like a cold, abandoned sculpture.

But then he suddenly opened his eyes, staring intently in the direction where Cheng Jiashu had disappeared, and muttered to himself:
"So your abilities are quite interesting. No wonder you were able to stay safely within the encirclement..."

The slightly stiff voice echoed almost imperceptibly in the empty corridor.

The figure slowly raised its hand and gently removed a tiny, paper-thin patch from its throat.

It was a sophisticated voice-changing device.

The person who was exchanging information with Cheng Jiashu just now was Fang Cheng in disguise.

(End of this chapter)