Hunter of Mysterious Creature-Chapter 593 - 146: Proof_2

The Death Row Camp, also known as the Death's Soldiers Camp, is composed almost entirely of soldiers who have committed capital offenses. For these people, choosing not to join the Death Row Camp means inevitable beheading. However, if they manage to survive in the camp, they can not only be absolved from their death sentences, but if they achieve military success, they could be promoted, transforming from someone with no future into a rising star with limitless possibilities.

In a certain sense, the temporary investigator role established by the Xiazhou Federation has a similar feeling to this "Death Row Camp."

Both can be summarized with two words: "selling one's life" and "cannon fodder."

"Are you trying to let Ye Jiu redeem himself through service?" Ye Xuan asked.

"Whether he can achieve merit is another matter; in any case, I don't want to let this kid go back," Sun Hang said. "Starting today, you and your Trick Device Kit will be under the strictest control. The Trick Device Kit will only be issued when executing combat missions, and it's only allowed to be worn before departure."

"Wait, wouldn't this violate the regulations? Shouldn't we at least apply to the higher-ups..." Ye Xuan expressed concern.

"No worries, I'll give Mr. Pei a call later," Sun Hang waved his hand dismissively. "But Ye Jiu, I suggest you prepare yourself mentally. Given the current situation, you're unlikely to be involved in general missions. Any mission you are assigned to will be one where survival is unlikely. Moreover, you will no longer have teammates, logistics, or reinforcements. The main role of the drone following you will be surveillance, and if you fail the mission, we will directly cover the target point with heavy firepower, leaving you little time to retreat... Do you understand?"

Ye Jiu nodded.

"If you still wish to be a deserter, I won't force you," Sun Hang continued. "You could spend the rest of your life in the luxurious prison you mentioned. As for your father, the Ye Family is a vast enterprise; he has many sons, and your absence probably won't matter much."

"I want to stay," Ye Jiu said, his usual unruly demeanor gone. "I want to prove my innocence..."

"Prove your innocence? No one cares about that," Sun Hang said, knocking on Ye Jiu's head with a flick. "The people above only care about your value, as well as how much loss you can recover... To your father, you are his son; but to other councilors, you're just a qualified candidate for 'slaughter.' If you want to protect your father from competitors' attacks, you can't abandon your status as a qualified candidate..."

Sun Hang paused. "Of course, you mustn't die a worthless death on the battlefield; dying without value would only make you a waste in others' eyes. Do you get it?"

As soon as Sun Hang finished speaking, the sound of footsteps and wheels rolling over the tiled floor came from the hallway outside. In came a dozen fully armed field agents, followed by an electric cart for transporting the Eternal Freeze Coffin and two researchers in white coats.

Despite being prepared, the field agents couldn't help but tense up upon seeing "another" Ye Jiu... However, upon noticing the black collar around Ye Jiu's neck, they felt a complex mix of emotions.

Not long ago, Ye Jiu was their superior, the squad leader who fought alongside them, but in the blink of an eye, Ye Jiu was now associated with words like anomaly, out of control, and rebellion... Especially those agents who had witnessed the massacre firsthand, their feelings were even more complicated.

Sun Hang and Ye Xuan couldn't possibly disclose the whole story at this moment, so for most people in the institute, Ye Jiu was the assumed culprit behind the incident.

Whether the killer was actually Ye Jiu or not, he was inextricably linked to the incident.

"Get in," Sun Hang whispered to Ye Jiu as a researcher in a white coat opened the Eternal Freeze Coffin. "Take a nap; I'll have someone wake you when there's work to do."

"Okay." Ye Jiu did not resist and obediently lay down in the Eternal Freeze Coffin. The two researchers exchanged glances and began preparing their tools immediately.

For an ordinary person to enter a "hibernation" state in the Eternal Freeze Coffin is not as simple as it is for a Hunter. First, the blood circulation needs to be replaced with a preservative fluid that protects the blood vessels and organs. The bronchial tubes also need to be filled with a protective gel, whereas the extracted blood will be frozen and saved, to be re-infused into the body when the hibernator needs to be awakened.

These two researchers were the experts responsible for operating the Eternal Freeze Coffin, and their actions were swift. Within twenty minutes, Ye Jiu had already entered a state of hibernation at temperatures below minus a hundred degrees. The Eternal Freeze Coffin was escorted to the underground ice storage by a group of his former subordinates.

Watching the vehicle carrying Ye Jiu's Eternal Freeze Coffin being loaded onto the transport, Ye Xuan turned to Sun Hang and asked, "Do you really intend to send him out as cannon fodder?"

"Is there a better option?" Sun Hang asked, "Or would you rather let him rot in prison?"

"That might not be a bad outcome for him."

"Then you really don't understand your brother," Sun Hang shook his head. "Don't be fooled by his carefree appearance. He cares more about his reputation than anyone else. I could use Mr. Pei's authority to absolve him of any punishment, but you know better than I do what consequences that would lead to."

Ye Xuan nodded.

"If Ye Jiu wants to clear his name, he needs to find a way to earn merit—merit significant enough to cancel out all his crimes," Sun Hang said.

"I understand," Ye Xuan said.

"By the way, has the team from Research Institute No. 1 been sent to Tianfu City?" Sun Hang asked.

"Yes, a research team is stationed in Tianfu City."

"Take this Trick Device Kit and the fragments of that ghost mask over to them," Sun Hang said. "At least we need to figure out how that anomaly emerged."

Upon Ye Jiu's disengagement from combat, Sun Hang had accessed his memories.

Ye Jiu wasn't lying.

Since Ye Jiu never left his dorm, where did that humanoid anomaly come from?

It was a real entity, with flesh and blood, not a virtual projection or illusion...

Even with the institute's current tight security, how did this anomaly infiltrate...

Sun Hang was suddenly struck by a thought. He took out his phone and dialed Yang Qi's number.

"Mr. Yang, check the surveillance records outside Ye Jiu's dormitory."

"You're saying Ye Jiu left the dorm not long ago? When we were interrogating Yao Yu?"

"This doesn't make sense..."

According to the "real Ye Jiu's" memory, during that time, he should have been huddled in a box, fighting those phantoms in a labyrinth.

"You're saying he also went to the testing department and had them test a training knife and a bag of plastic figurine fragments?"

"What happened to the knife and the plastic figurines? They disappeared?"

"This is wrong! That person wasn't Ye Jiu! That thing was the murderous anomaly!"

"Did the testing department confirm it was Ye Jiu? No, that was the anomaly! It just stole Ye Jiu's memories... Or, the anomaly had Ye Jiu's memories implanted in it, and it believes it is the real Ye Jiu."

"What happened afterward? Where did that 'Ye Jiu' go after leaving the testing department?"

"Disappeared? Are there blind spots in surveillance at the institute?"

"What about the two knives used for killing? Were they stolen from the armory? Did the surveillance at the equipment storage capture anything?"

After ending the call with Yang Qi, Sun Hang let out a long sigh, looked at Ye Xuan, and shook his head: "I have a feeling... that there's still an insider in the institute, and more than one."

"Whether these insiders are human or anomalous, I'm not sure... but the role these insiders played in the anomaly Ye Jiu committing this massacre is crucial."