I was the fourth disaster in Yokohama and was loved by everyone.

Officer Murase, who had just returned from the brink of death, was unusually silent. He sat on the ground for a while before coming to his senses.

He seemed to have thought of something; fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and he glanced at Chuuya several times with a flickering look in his eyes.

"Thanks, Chuuya." His voice was low, but more solemn than ever.

Chuuya raised an eyebrow: "Suddenly so serious? This isn't like you."

Officer Murase did not respond immediately, his gaze fixed on the distance, as if he was carefully considering his words.

Finally, he took a deep breath, his voice trembling slightly: "I just... figured something out."

He picked up the phone from the ground, gripped it tightly, and the dark screen reflected his complex expression.

“His intention to kill me might not have been impulsive.” He opened his phone and started looking through his call history, but found no messages as he had expected. “It might be because of my brother—he knows about you, Chuuya.”

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Chuuya's lips twitched down, and his relaxed expression vanished like the receding tide.

"My business?" Chuuya said expressionlessly. "Detective, who exactly is your brother?"

A person who can confidently claim to know about him, and even attract Verlaine's attention, is definitely not an ordinary person.

Chuuya stared at Officer Murase with intense pressure, hoping he could provide an explanation.

If it involves "Wild Ba Tou", he will investigate to the end...

Officer Murase's Adam's apple bobbed as he finally revealed the long-buried secret.

*

Officer Murase's older brother was a military researcher at the Army Technical Research Institute. As the institute gained more attention, he was promoted by the military. Fourteen years ago, he faked his death and erased his real name and photo.

From then on, he lived in anonymity and became a ghost of the military, codenamed "N".

Also—a researcher of "Wild Ba Tu".

Upon learning of his brother's identity from Officer Murase, Chuuya was shocked, but immediately realized that Verlaine's purpose was not simple.

The blue phone in Officer Murase's hand was clearly the same model that Verlaine had purchased from the supplier, as Adam had mentioned.

Adam and Chuuya exchanged a glance. Adam checked the phone for anomalies and found that although the operation logs and files stored on the phone indicated that it had been used for six years, which matched the usage period of Officer Murase, the phone's serial number showed that it was a new phone manufactured six months ago.

Officer Murase's phone has been switched!

The phone contained traces of a self-destructing program that ran periodically—a program that appeared in Officer Murase's most recent call.

According to Officer Murase, he left a message for his brother during the riot at the police station, hoping to obtain some useful information.

The situation is clear: Verlaine wasn't actually after Shirase, but rather to draw out the "N" behind Inspector Murase.

Officer Murase finally realized that he had been under surveillance for a long time. The enemy was meticulous, and he hadn't even realized that his phone had been replaced.

"Chuuya, he went to find my brother." His voice was hoarse, and he looked somewhat dejected. "What might he do..."

Chuuya pursed his lips and remained silent.

Adam automatically added, "I'm afraid Verlaine will kill N directly. If we rush over now, we might still be able to see his whole body."

"I hope such a tragedy will not happen."

An unfamiliar male voice came from Adam's throat.

Adam looked around, trying to find the speaker.

Officer Murase exclaimed in surprise, "Brother!"

Adam and Chuuya: "!"

The person who suddenly spoke was N. He followed the traces left by Adam's previous intrusion into the military system and infiltrated Adam's system, taking control of Adam's voice program and enabling remote dialogue between the two parties.

This serves both to maintain confidentiality and to allow for direct communication with the other party.

N was not here to offer empty words; he sincerely invited the two to cooperate—to jointly confront Verlaine.

Faced with a common enemy, the two sides reached an agreement with almost no effort.

N sent the meeting place, and Chuuya, Adam, and Shirase immediately set off.

Since Officer Murase's identity made it inappropriate for him to show up, he stayed at the police station to clean up the mess left by Verlaine's arrival.

Following the location given by N, the group rode in Adam's car, bumping along the way to a remote rural area.

Everywhere was a muddy dirt road, with grass and stones mixed together, causing the tires to bounce up and down from time to time.

Finally, the three stopped in front of a warehouse covered in dust and cobwebs.

Is this really it?

For a moment, the group fell silent.

Adam was convinced of his ability to find the way, so he rushed into the house first, looked around, and his gaze fell on the adze hanging on the wall.

Remove the adze, scan the surroundings, find the gap, align it at the right angle, and place it down—

The floor transformed into an elevator, which slowly started moving and transported the group to a hidden underground laboratory.

At the main gate, the group was allowed to enter after their belongings were checked and blood was drawn.

The moment I stepped into the laboratory, the cold, mechanical door closed silently behind me.

The lights came on, revealing the figure of a middle-aged man—he was wearing a white coat, and his smile was so kind it was almost insincere.

He is N, the person in charge of the Wilderness Project.

According to him, the name N is a new name on the files prepared by the military, taken from the first letter of Nakahara.

"In other words, I am your father, Chuuya."

*

He was wrapped in wire and hung from the wall, where a high-voltage current instantly passed through his entire body.

His vision began to blur, and Chuuya vaguely remembered himself as an experimental subject inside the black tube.

At that moment, a pair of hands grabbed him and freed him—it was Attil Rimbaud.

In the blink of an eye, in reality, all that is in front of him is N, who has a morbidly fanatical expression. This man, who claims to be his father, added poison to his blood when he was being drawn and deliberately separated him from Adam and Shirase when he was taken to another laboratory.

He was unable to resist the effects of the poison.

When he opened his eyes again, he was bound and suspended, like a butterfly nailed to a specimen rack.

"It'll be ready soon." N's voice seemed to come from afar, elusive and uncertain.

He coldly instructed his subordinates to inject a solvent that could cause mental breakdown: "As long as you recite the control incantation, we will delete your personality and overwrite it with a new personality program."

"You will be spared from suffering... Quickly, repeat after me—"

Chuuya's lips moved, uttering some meaningless syllables, but he couldn't achieve a smooth and complete control over the incantation.

Consciousness gradually faded amidst the excruciating pain, fragmented images flashing before my eyes—[Kuzi]'s carefree laughter, his always-upturned hair, and the hand that always reached out in times of crisis...

What are you doing right now?

In a daze, he seemed to hear a light, cheerful sound, completely out of place in the laboratory atmosphere, explode in his ear—

"Alas--"

The sound seemed to be coming from above, and it grew louder and louder.

—The next second, the laboratory ceiling exploded.

Debris rained down like a storm, and a familiar figure descended from the sky, accompanied by dust and flashing sparks.

He was also holding a small hammer in his hand.

Chapter 100 Too Much Worry (Sigh)

Zhu Yu, covered in dust but overjoyed, landed successfully: "Perfect landing!"

I looked up and saw a familiar NPC. I was about to say hello: "Hello—"

Her voice stopped abruptly, and the smile on her face froze instantly—

Zhong was also suspended in mid-air, covered in blood, his pale face contorted in pain from the electric shock.

"Chuuya???"

Zhu Yu's voice suddenly changed tone, as if someone had grabbed her throat.

"Are you kidding..."

Damn it, who tied up the player's sneaky chicken?!

Players are furious!

N, who was in front of the control panel, did not expect that someone could break into the seemingly impregnable laboratory, and that the person would enter by simply making a hole in the top of the laboratory, perfectly bypassing all the high-tech verification methods.

N looked somewhat frightened, took a large step back, and pressed the red button on the control panel—

“Stop her!!!”

The hidden doors around the laboratory suddenly sprang open, and dozens of fully armed guards filed in. They were dressed in specially made black armor, and their high-energy pulse guns were all aimed at Zhu Yu.

"Tu tu tu tu——"

Beams of light poured down like a torrential downpour, tearing through the air and blasting countless charred craters into the laboratory walls.

Zhu Yu's figure was instantly engulfed by the barrage of fire, and the smoke and dust from the explosion spread outwards.

N coughed and laughed maniacally: "You think I'd be unprepared?! These are specifically designed for people with superpowers—"

"That's it?"

Amidst the smoke and dust, a figure suddenly burst through the flames, dispelling the plant shield that had been blocking its path.

Zhu Yu was so fast that she almost left a blur; the pulse beam chased after her, but was always half a beat slower.

She slid into the enemy ranks and punched the leading soldier in the chest—

boom!

The armor dented instantly, the soldier coughed up blood and flew backward, knocking over a whole row of teammates behind him.

She smashed through N's protective gear with a single punch, grabbed him by the neck, and slammed him into the ground. At the same time, she manipulated thorns to cut through the barbed wire, using a net woven from vines to catch the falling Chuuya and bring him to the ground.

Within a few breaths, all the enemies were defeated.

Zhu Yu got up and ran towards Chuuya, who was suffering from numerous debuffs such as [Confusion] and [Weakness].

She helped him sit up so that his head could rest on her shoulder.

Take out the item that can remove the debuff from him and confirm "Use".

They even made sure to replenish his blood.

In his hazy consciousness, Chuuya Nakahara felt a gentle energy flowing through his limbs and bones. Wherever it passed, the bleeding skin began to heal, the broken bones healed, and even the residual electric sting in his bone marrow was gradually soothed.

"Chuuya, are you alright?"

Seeing that he had opened his eyes again, Zhu Yu offered her timely concern.

Oh, Chuuya, do you have any clues about why you keep getting into trouble?

"I am fine."

Chuuya subconsciously replied, but when his mind was fully clear, he realized that he was leaning against her shoulder, his forehead almost touching the crook of her neck.

The other person's body temperature seeped through the fabric, carrying a faint scent of earth and grass. He stiffened slightly and instinctively tried to straighten up, but the other person pressed him back down.

"You should also get some rest."

Upon noticing the ochre-haired boy fidgeting, Zhu Yu quickly pinned him down to prevent him from struggling.

Sigh, players really worry too much about the health of NPCs.

Chuuya froze like a block of wood, sitting up stiffly, unsure of what to do with his hands and feet.

His ears were burning, and he was about to speak when he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine—

A tall, slender figure appeared silently at the dilapidated doorway of the laboratory, looking at the mess on the ground with a hint of amusement in his blue eyes.

"Looks like I'm late." He smiled slightly, his gaze sweeping over N, who was sprawled on the ground like a dead dog, before landing on Zhu Yu and Chuuya. "I didn't expect my sister to come to save you first, Chuuya."