Chapter 38

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Chapter 38: More Masters

The man seemed to have more curses on the tip of his tongue, but his exhaustion prevented him from uttering another word.

His body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

El leaned against the wall beneath the windowsill, gasping for breath. Once the strange discomfort had mostly subsided, he pushed himself up using the wall for support.

He approached the figure in black, gazing down at the lifeless body before bending over to remove the mask.

In the pale light of the early morning moon, El saw an unremarkable, even somewhat refined face beneath the mask.

It was the face of a young man—one he had seen before. This face belonged to Zhao Qi, the assistant to Deputy Captain Zhuang Mian of the Eastern District Security Bureau.

El stood frozen, his mind engulfed in a storm of questions.

Wasn’t this young man a member of the Public Security Team?

Why was he here at this hour, dressed like this?

Did he kill Bard?

Did he attack Zhuang Mian?

No, that couldn’t be!

According to Zhuang Mian’s account, her entire team had been attacked last night, and this deputy captain was undoubtedly among them.

Unless… he had been cast aside as a pawn.

Or perhaps he had a compelling reason to be here.

El quickly sorted through the information he had, then regretted not having studied a few more years.

He felt his limited computational power was insufficient. After ensuring he hadn’t left any fingerprints, he decided to head to his only current sanctuary—the mental health clinic.

The doctor was well-versed and might uncover issues El had overlooked.

After searching Bard’s residence, El left the residential building.

He didn’t go directly to Lin Qingliu’s clinic, as that would only raise more suspicion.

For the past two months, he had visited the clinic under the pretense of follow-ups and free meals, and Lin Qingliu’s neighbors had grown accustomed to it.

Thus, going during the day was the wisest choice.

With his decision made, El headed to his preselected observation points, planning to catch a few hours of sleep before interrupting the lunch hour.

El drifted off to sleep at the observation point, unaware that he had inadvertently made the best possible decision.

—

At ten in the morning, Lin Qingliu finished his morning routine and, as usual, donned his white coat before heading downstairs.

He flipped the sign at the door to “Open,” casting a brief glance across the street at a second-floor room with drawn curtains, then began his day’s work.

Across the street, in Room 202 of the Quick Hotel, behind the curtains.

“Recording, June 10th, 10:02 AM, the doctor has finished his morning routine and opened for business,” the man seated before the tripod telescope stated calmly, while his partner scribbled furiously in a notebook.

“Recording complete, continue observing the target.”

The man peering through the telescope watched as Lin Qingliu returned to the clinic’s front desk, allowing himself a moment of relaxation.

“How does this doctor manage to live such a carefree life?”

“He must be well-off.”

His partner shifted uncomfortably in his chair and replied casually,

“We’ll switch shifts in five minutes. Stay sharp and don’t miss anything important.”

“What could possibly be important? This guy barely steps out of his clinic all day, and his business is practically nonexistent. If I were in his shoes, I’d be losing my mind.”

The man at the telescope instinctively shot back.

They had been assigned this task just a day ago.

Both of them had once been elite soldiers, highly skilled in combat and reconnaissance.

However, lacking management abilities and superpowers, they had been reassigned to research institutes as they grew older.

Though these institutes primarily focused on technological advancements, they also placed great importance on the safety of important personnel.

Moreover, there were tasks that the more academically inclined researchers were ill-suited for, which often fell to the two of them. As a result, their days at the research institute were far from dull.

Currently, their small team had been tasked by Deputy Director Zhou Zhuo of the research institute to investigate the recent movements of a researcher named Ji Yongxing during a recent business trip.

The young researcher hadn’t made much effort to conceal his activities during the trip; in just two days, he had visited only three or four locations and interacted with fewer than twenty people.

It had taken less than six hours to compile all the necessary information.

When Zhou Zhuo reviewed the nearly minute-by-minute movement report, several specific time points caught his attention.

Based on his own observations and corroboration from colleagues, Ji Yongxing seemed to show a marked improvement in his demeanor after visiting a mental health clinic.

The heavy, oppressive gloom that had weighed him down appeared to have lifted, and upon returning to the research institute, he threw himself into his work with renewed vigor.

This transformation suggested that psychological treatment had been effective.

But it was precisely this effectiveness that aroused Zhou Zhuo’s suspicions.

There was no question that the resources in the inner city far surpassed those in the outer city.

Ji Yongxing had consulted doctors in the inner city before, but the results had been negligible.

What kind of abilities did this outer city doctor, Lin Qingliu, possess to bring about such a profound change in the young genius’s mindset in just a few hours?

Zhou Zhuo couldn’t make sense of it.

But as a researcher, anything he couldn’t understand demanded thorough investigation and experimentation.

Thus, the task was handed over to the two retired soldiers.

True to their disciplined nature, they quickly set about their new assignment.

After paying for a week’s stay, they began their surveillance from the second floor of the hotel across from Lin Qingliu’s clinic.

Their deductive skills weren’t particularly sharp, so unless the doctor exhibited any overtly unusual behavior, their job was simply to record his actions in detail. The analysis would be left to the more intellectually adept researchers.

They had started their stakeout the previous night.

Once their equipment was set up, they began observing the young doctor.

After just one night, they could already sense an unusual aura about him.

If Hope City were likened to a mattress on the brink of collapse under immense pressure, every person would be like a tightly compressed spring within it.

Yet, the young doctor seemed to radiate an air of calm and tranquility.

If they had been more literary inclined, the two retired soldiers might have co-authored a book after completing their mission: “Three Days of Monitoring a Psychologist: How He Healed My Inner Turmoil.”

In any case, the doctor’s behavior was as ordinary as ever, with no apparent red flags aside from his seemingly carefree attitude.

At eleven o’clock, a visitor entered the mental health clinic.

“11:03 AM, someone has entered the clinic.

The target is male, with gray hair, aged between 12 and 16, slender, and appears cautious.”

His partner diligently recorded the details:

“This matches the description of Target Two, who has been a regular at the doctor’s clinic for the past two to three months. He’s a male orphan from a poor background and has had multiple interactions with the doctor recently.

“He even shared a meal with him once…”

“Shared a meal?”

The man at the telescope scoffed,

“What did they eat? Nutritional paste?”

His partner paused briefly before explaining,

“According to the investigation, the doctor has a habit of buying ingredients. Initial assessments suggest he has some culinary skills.”

“Really? He cooks for himself every day? Where does he get the money for that?”