Hunter of Mysterious Creature-Chapter 365 - 26: Zhong Jun (2)

Zhong Jun looked at Sun Hang and said, "With your abilities, it shouldn’t be difficult, right?"

"Do you know me well?" Sun Hang narrowed his eyes and reevaluated Zhong Ling’s aunt.

"We’ve conducted a detailed investigation of anyone who’s had contact with Zhong Ling, not to mention, your relationship with her is so special..." Zhong Jun said.

"Oh? Special?"

"She never develops such a strong dependency on anyone, not even her father, but you’re an exception," Zhong Jun explained.

"Tsk, does that mean you’ve already got a handle on my background? Didn’t Mr. Pei warn you?" Sun Hang deliberately mentioned Pei Zongjun—when at the Dubhe Tower, Pei Zongjun had promised Sun Hang to separate his records into two parts: an open file where Sun Hang was just an ordinary Hunter with only a few missions under his belt, totaling less than a thousand words. As for the more detailed ’secret file,’ only those with the highest decryption level at Dubhe Tower were qualified to view it.

Sun Hang asked this to test the power of the ’Zhong Family’ backing Zhong Ling within the Xiazhou Federation.

Although the Federation Government operates under a parliamentary system, each member’s surname signifies their family’s powers. Families form different factions to counterbalance each other, preventing a single family’s dominance in the Xiazhou Federation.

This approach, though it leads to bureaucratic inefficiency, can also prevent the rise of dictators.

Zhong Jun lowered her voice, "We have been warned... but it only confirms to me that you possess that ability... Otherwise, Mr. Pei wouldn’t hold you in such high regard."

"Alright, I’ll do my best to protect Zhong Ling... And as for that position of Patriarch, remember to keep it for me," Sun Hang said.

"Do you really want to be the Patriarch of the Zhong Family?"

"What else? Did you think I was joking with you?"

...

...

After the not-so-pleasant conversation with Zhong Jun, Sun Hang left the research institute with the two women—he initially planned to visit the commercial district, but then he remembered that Tianfu City was under a complete lockdown. All the commercial activities, which had just begun to recover, were halted, and going there now would only reveal closed and darkened shops.

If lucky, he might bump into some lawbreakers sneaking out for zero-cost shopping—according to the Public Security Bureau’s report, over two hundred such individuals were caught in Tianfu City last week alone, with all major commercial districts being affected.

"Where are you planning to go?" Wang Xiyi asked.

"Just wandering around the streets." The moment Sun Hang spoke, a breath of white vapor escaped his mouth—even with large heating equipment, the outdoor temperature in Tianfu City was plummeting day by day. Moreover, the massive shutdown of high-energy lighting devices considerably reduced the urban heat island effect, driving the average temperature in Tianfu City to nine degrees below zero, soon expected to break into double digits.

"Speaking of which, do you really plan to become the Patriarch of the Zhong Family?" Wang Xiyi asked again.

"Playing as a Patriarch sounds fun, but I guess the title they give me will mostly be nominal, likely without any real power," Sun Hang replied.

"But you have to marry into the family." Wang Xiyi’s gaze shifted to Zhong Ling, who had been staring at the ground, "Are you planning to marry Zhong Ling?"

"Jealous?"

"Not really... Just seems too good to be true," Wang Xiyi scoffed at Sun Hang.

"You’re clearly jealous." Sun Hang asserted.

"I’m just puzzled... considering we’re infected, and Zhong Ling is not... After all, I’ve never seen a normal family willing to let their daughter marry an infected person, let alone a powerful family like theirs," Wang Xiyi explained.

"If you want to marry me, my father would agree," Zhong Ling suddenly said.

"Why?" Before Sun Hang could ask, Wang Xiyi had already spoken.

"It’s also part of the experiment," Zhong Ling said. "The source of my special abilities is still a mystery; Dubhe Tower has conducted countless checks on me, yet they never found any abnormal mimetic patterns in my body. After my first period, my father extracted mature egg cells from me for six consecutive months. Though he never told me what he did with them, I assume they were used in some genetic experiments."

"Is he trying to see if your abilities could be inherited genetically?" Sun Hang rubbed the short stubble on his newly grown chin, "Those egg cells were probably used for in vitro fertilization... Ha, might you unknowingly be a mother already?"

Zhong Ling: "..."

"Anyway, your father probably allowed you to follow me to see what kind of abilities our offspring might have... Your dad is quite the research fanatic, isn’t he? To him, everything seems sacrificable for his studies." Sun Hang remarked.

Zhong Ling nodded.

"Suddenly, I feel like the three of us are quite similar," Wang Xiyi looped an arm around Sun Hang’s neck and wrapped the other around Zhong Ling’s shoulder. "Orphaned here, Sun Hang can’t recall his parents, and as for you, having a father like that is as good as none... Ha, quite interesting!"

"You’re wrong there, she still has a caring mother." Sun Hang glanced towards an inconspicuous corner—Zhong Ling’s eerie remains are typically sealed in a coffin, only waking when summoned. Yet the one transformed from her mother possesses a degree of self-awareness, perpetually following and protecting Zhong Ling based on lingering ’memories’ and ’instincts.’

"True, damn, that’s enviable!" Wang Xiyi flicked Sun Hang with her tail, "With nowhere to go, how about drinking at home? Oh wait... there’s less than twenty-four hours before the operation begins, and we’re not allowed to consume alcohol..."

Wang Xiyi sighed, feeling a bit dejected.

"Let’s go to the underground palace," Sun Hang suggested, "I plan to make two defensive occult devices for Zhong Ling, so even if her eerie remains are restrained, she won’t be entirely defenseless."

...

...

Meanwhile, one hundred eighty kilometers north of Tianfu City, twenty kilometers from "Chimera No. 17 Cocoon."

"Observation Post Zero."

Since the military conducted a nuclear strike on Chimera 17, this area has experienced continuous rainfall.

No one knows the origin of these rain-laden clouds or their connection to the nuclear explosion or Chimera 17.

The rainfall continues to increase.

Two orange power armors trudged through the mud, relying on the milky white glow emitted by the nearby giant cocoon, stumbling deliberately as they entered the tent.

"The sixteenth close-range reconnaissance." A somewhat dull voice came from one of the power armors, "Reached within seven kilometers of the target, and environmental radiation levels continue to rise, exceeding our detection equipment’s limits."

"Do you think we’ll die here?" asked the occupant of the other power armor, "Even with multiple protective suits, I can feel a prickling sensation on my skin as we approach that thing..."

"As long as we regularly inject radiation protection medicine, we should be okay," the first person replied, "Our main concern should be the rain clouds overhead... If they don’t move, it’s fine, but if these clouds drift over the city, just imagine the outbreak of radiation sickness following a dirty rain—it’s unthinkable."

"Hopefully not, right? By the way, why haven’t Old Li and his team returned? I thought we were overdue, but they are even slower."