American comics: I am full of martial virtues and I love to be kind to others.

However, just when he thought he could hit Lin's chest with a punch, Lin tilted his body slightly and easily dodged the attack, as if he had already predicted his move.

Eric was startled, but he didn't stop. He quickly changed direction and attacked again. However, no matter how fast he was or how sharp his punches, Lin En always managed to dodge at the last moment. His movements were calm and precise, even with a touch of understated composure.

The colleagues watching gradually held their breath, their eyes filled with disbelief. They had never seen anyone escape Eric's close-quarters attack unscathed, let alone someone like Lin En, who wasn't even touched.

Eric gradually became anxious and sped up his attack rhythm, trying to suppress Lin En with continuous punches. However, Lin En's reaction was consistent. Every time he dodged, he would even occasionally use a slight movement to make Eric lose his balance.

A few minutes later, Eric stopped and looked at Linn breathlessly, his face full of disbelief: "You...how is it possible? How did you do it?"

Lin En smiled slightly, his tone still calm: "Observe, judge, and react. Every move you make has subtle signs. No matter how fast you are, there will be flaws. As long as you focus enough, you can find the rhythm to dodge."

The surrounding onlookers murmured, many expressing admiration. Lin En had not only demonstrated his ability in a critical moment, but also his extraordinary calmness and insight.

Eric finally let out a long breath and held out his hand: "Inspector, I'm convinced. You are indeed a strong man."

Lynn shook his hand and smiled. "We each have our strengths. You're also very capable, but sometimes, calmness is more important than speed."

The next morning, just as Lin En finished his daily report, he received a notice from Eric, asking him to immediately go to a confidential meeting room at headquarters. Lin En felt a little puzzled, but did not ask any further questions and rushed straight to the designated location.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was tense. As soon as the door closed, Eric personally checked the room's soundproofing system. Then, he and John exchanged glances, seemingly exchanging opinions silently.

"Inspector," Eric began, his tone carrying a solemnity he had never before uttered, "I'm sorry for my previous treatment of you. Now I have to admit that your abilities are truly admirable, and more than adequate for the challenges we're about to face."

Lin En sat at the table, his eyes calm. "Let's get to the point. What's the real reason for summoning the branch members to the headquarters?"

Eric took a deep breath and placed a document in front of Lynn. "In fact, the New York headquarters has been investigating a very difficult case recently. We discovered that someone is trying to restart an extremely dangerous experiment - artificially breeding mutants."

Lynn flipped open the file and quickly scanned its contents. It was a brief but detailed report describing a series of suspected secret experiments, including the disappearance of innocent citizens, undisclosed experimental facilities, and some illegal equipment used for gene editing.

"Artificially breeding mutants?" Lin En raised his head, frowning slightly. "This can't be something an ordinary criminal group can do. There must be extremely strong technical support and funding behind it."

"That's right," John continued. "According to the intelligence we have, this organization is likely controlled by a group of scientists and capitalists. They are attempting to create 'customized mutants' through gene editing technology. This is not only illegal, but also threatens the balance of existing society."

Lin En pointed to a section in the report and said, "The experimental goal mentioned here is to make mutants' abilities more controllable. This kind of thing is simply impossible not to cause disaster."

"That's why we've invited elite detectives from all over the country, including you, to come and support us," Eric said, a hint of seriousness in his tone. "We need the best minds and the strongest action to deal with this crisis."

Lin En closed the file, thought for a moment, and then asked, "What specific clues do we have so far? Have we found their experimental location or key figures?"

Eric shook his head. "The clues are scattered. We only know of a few possible bases. One of them is in an abandoned industrial area on the outskirts of New York, but it's full of traps and surveillance. One of our previous reconnaissance teams has lost contact there."

Lin En's eyes became sharper: "So, what is our mission now?"

John handed over a map and pointed to several markers. "Your mission is to assist us in investigating these locations, finding conclusive evidence, and rescuing the missing personnel. If we confirm our target, we will launch a full-scale operation."

Lin En nodded, his tone firm: "I understand. This kind of thing must not continue."

Eric looked at him, his expression showing a complex trust. "Lin, this matter may be more dangerous than you think. We don't know what technology they have, nor do we know whether they have created something uncontrollable."

Lin En stood up calmly and put the documents away. "I never underestimate the enemy, but I will never allow them to trample on innocent people. When will the action begin?"

Eric's eyes became firm. "Tonight. We need to seize the opportunity before they move the experiment."

By the time Lin En and the headquarters team arrived at the abandoned industrial area on the outskirts of the city, daylight had already begun to break. The industrial area was utterly silent, the dilapidated factory buildings emanating an air of decay. The leader, Eric, raised his hand, signaling the team to halt. He whispered, "It's quiet here, but that doesn't mean there's no danger. Stay alert."

Lin En nodded, his eyes quickly scanning the surroundings. He noticed some faint footprints on the ground, extending in the direction of the factory building. He gestured for the team members to follow, leading them cautiously closer.

After entering the factory, the air was filled with the pungent smell of chemicals. Lin En frowned slightly and scanned the surroundings with a flashlight. In a corner of the factory, there were several laboratory tables, scattered with broken test tubes and some equipment debris.

"This place has obviously been cleaned up." Eric muttered, reaching out to pick up a piece of broken equipment, "But they didn't clean it thoroughly enough, and some things were left behind."

Lin En took the device and examined it carefully, discovering some tiny letters and codes engraved on it. "These are the serial numbers of the experimental equipment, which may be related to their experimental records. Taking them back for analysis will be helpful."

At this moment, John's voice came from the other side: "Something's happening here!"

Lynn and Eric rushed over and saw John squatting on the ground with a wounded FBI agent beside him. The man had multiple scratches on his body and seemed to have been through a fierce conflict. His face was pale, but he was still conscious.

"What happened?" Lynn asked, squatting down.

The team member raised his head with difficulty, his voice weak: "They... they have mutant guards. Our team was ambushed... They took away some equipment and retreated to the east. There may be other people there."

Lin En looked at his injuries and turned to Eric and said, "He needs immediate treatment. Let the logistics team pick him up. We must continue to follow these leads."

Eric nodded and called for support through the communicator. At the same time, he issued an action order to the remaining team members: "Search quickly to see if there are any other clues left."

Lin En continued his search and found some remnants of gene-editing equipment and document fragments. He collected these fragments and carefully placed them in an evidence bag. Then, his eyes fell on a back door of the factory. The marks on the door showed that it had been forced open. "This door is their retreat route," Lin En said, pointing to it. "We need to track it as soon as possible."

Eric looked at the door, then at Lynn: "Are you sure?"

Lin En nodded, his tone calm and firm: "The footprints, the degree of damage to the door lock, and the direction mentioned by the team members. All clues point to this place. They may not have gone far."

Eric pondered for a moment and finally nodded: "Okay, then let's split up. Lynn, you lead a team to chase through the back door, and John and I will stay here and continue searching to see if we can find more information."

Without hesitation, Lin En led a team to follow the direction of the back door.

Lin En led the team through the back door quickly, following the footprints and other faint traces. The other party was obviously moving quickly, but the subtle clues they left behind - a piece of torn cloth, a few scattered metal fragments, and the occasional mud prints were enough for Lin En to confirm their direction.

"They went that way." Lynn pointed to a tangled patch of woods.

The team entered the woods, and everyone was doubly cautious, their guns pointed forward. A slight noise came from deep in the woods, and Lin En immediately made a stop gesture, signaling everyone to slow down.

At this moment, there was a sudden sound of branches being broken by foot. Lin En raised his head suddenly and saw a blurry figure flash by and quickly escape into the depths of the woods.

"The target is ahead! Chase!" Lin En whispered the order and rushed forward.

They chased for hundreds of meters through the woods, but the other party was clearly very familiar with the terrain, constantly using bushes and tree trunks to cover their tracks. Lin En gritted his teeth, locked his eyes on the figure in front of him, raised his gun, aimed, and calmly pulled the trigger.

"boom!"

The bullet sliced ​​through the air and hit the fleeing man in the shoulder. He groaned, staggered, and nearly fell, but he used his other hand to support himself on the tree trunk and continued to stumble forward.

Lin En did not relax his vigilance and signaled the team to maintain formation. They continued to pursue, but soon found that the enemy had accelerated and fled into a denser forest, disappearing without a trace.

Lin En stopped and raised his hand to signal the team to stop chasing. He squatted down and carefully observed the bloodstains and footprints on the ground. "He's injured, but not seriously enough to continue running. This person is obviously trained."

One of the team members gasped, "Should we continue the pursuit, Inspector?"

Lin En stood up and shook his head. "We can't act rashly. They might have set an ambush. Let's go back to the industrial area first, integrate the existing clues, and take these blood samples back for testing to see if we can confirm his identity."

The team quickly cleaned up the scene, collected some bloodstains and other leftover items, and then retreated to the gathering point in the abandoned industrial area.

After returning to the scene, Eric looked at Lin En, his tone revealing a hint of reluctance: "Didn't catch him?"

Lin En handed him the evidence bag and said calmly, "We didn't catch him, but he was injured and couldn't run far. These blood samples can be used to verify his identity and perhaps find more information about the experimental organization."

Eric took the evidence bag, a glint of recognition in his eyes. "Well, at least we got something. The target was too cunning this time, but he won't be so lucky next time."

Lin En nodded, his eyes revealing a hint of determination: "This is just the beginning. We will find their lair and put an end to this experiment."

After returning to the industrial zone, Lin En began carefully examining the experimental equipment seized from the scene. He discovered a hidden memory module in a broken terminal. After connecting the module to a portable decoder, several encrypted files appeared on the screen.

"What is this?" Eric leaned over to take a look and frowned. "The file is encrypted, but it looks like a crucial experimental record."

Lin En carefully examined the file's structure and tried to open it with a simple decryption tool, but the screen only displayed several decryption failure prompts. He took a deep breath and turned the device to the technician at headquarters. "Can you decrypt this file? It may be the key to our search for answers."

The technician connected the terminal and began running the advanced decryption program. After several minutes, the screen finally displayed a partially decrypted message. While most of the content was still obscured, some key phrases were clearly visible:
Enhanced Mutant Project

"Gene editing sequence upgrade"

“Programmability of control capabilities”

Lynn's eyes were fixed on the screen as he repeated in a low voice, "The Enhanced Mutant Project... aren't they just artificially creating mutants? They're also trying to manipulate their abilities?"

Eric's expression grew more serious. "If this technology is true, once it succeeds, it will not only upend society, but it could also wield immensely threatening capabilities."

John added: "Moreover, this technology is likely not only for mutants, but perhaps ordinary people can also gain abilities through gene editing. This is too dangerous."

The technician interrupted their discussion and said nervously, "Inspectors, these files are deeply encrypted and may take several days to fully decrypt. However, there is a reference to a project codenamed 'Mainline Experiment', with a timeline indicated to be within the next week."

Lin En pondered for a moment, then said, "There's no need to wait for all the information to be decrypted. Let's focus on investigating the 'main experiment' first. Technician, mark the time nodes and all relevant content to see if there are any clues that can be located."

The technician nodded and continued searching the files. After a moment, he looked up, his tone slightly nervous. "There's a location mentioned here that might be one of the core areas of the experiment—an abandoned laboratory near the coast."

Eric immediately said, "Then let's organize an operation immediately and raze this place to the ground."

Lin En shook his head. "No. They're clearly on high alert. If we act rashly, we might alert them. Since they dared to encrypt these files, this might just be a cover or a disguise." (End of this chapter)