The Protagonists Keep Adding Scenes For Me | Chapter 34 | The Lambs' Escape | Novela.app

In the police station’s briefing room, Shen Feibai twirled his pen, listening listlessly to the ongoing debate. "While those are the facts... re-evaluating every single previous case would be an astronomical waste of manpower and resources!" "So we just ignore people who might have been's wrongly accused? Is that the kind of mindset we're supposed to have?!" "..." "In short, let's at least re-examine the suspects from those cases who had clean backgrounds. After all, we only have the testimony of two people right now. What if they’ve conspired to mislead us?" Shen Feibai shifted his gaze, stopping his pen. He leaned in to whisper to Mo Yuan. "They want a 'clean background,' huh? Does that mean that guy has zero chance of overturning his case since he’s technically an unregistered citizen?" "Likely. Unless he can explain his identity... and the origin of those combat skills." *Fine then.* Shen Feibai leaned back until his chair tilted, staring straight at the ceiling. Suddenly, he sensed something and looked toward the corner of the room. The surveillance camera mounted high on the wall was flickering with a faint red light, as if it were watching them. He narrowed his eyes. *Didn't they say this was a confidential meeting? Why is the monitor on?* A suspicion crossed his mind. He tentatively mouthed a question toward the lens: *【Is that you, Mr. Hacker?】* The phone in his pocket vibrated. He opened it to find his memo app already active, displaying a reply. *【.】* Alright, confirmed. It had been the same when they rushed to rescue the boy. The other party would periodically send a single, short period. Even though the messages appeared in a memo app, they always made the phone vibrate—a silent, persistent urge. Shen Feibai decided to just type on his phone; he figured the other person could see it anyway. *【I say, you’ve quite boldly taken over the surveillance here, haven't you?】* The electronic ghost conversed with him through his screen. *【Feel free to report it.】* *【But it seems you have no intention of doing so. :)】* Shen Feibai lowered his head, typing rapidly. *【I just can't stand their style. They ignore what needs to be done and obsess over these trivial details. But they say my current authority isn't high enough, so I don't get a say. Tsk.】* *【Hey, since you're so capable, why don't you bring out some concrete evidence to slap them in the face?】* His fingers paused over the screen for a moment before he tentatively typed one more sentence. *【That would be good for you as a victim too, wouldn't it?】* The sentence wasn't overtly pointed, but if he got an affirmative answer—combined with the way the hacker had urged them to save the boy that night... It would be the perfect way to unmask him. *Then again, if it really is that young man, possessing both extraordinary combat skills and elite hacking abilities, the fog surrounding his identity only gets thicker...* Shen Feibai held his phone, waiting with bated breath for a reply. But even after the screen timed out and went dark, no response came. *【Hey, hey, I didn't mean to pry!】* "Let's go." Mo Yuan’s cold voice sounded in his ear. Shen Feibai, busy trying to salvage the conversation, jumped. He looked up to find the meeting room empty, save for Mo Yuan sitting beside him. Mo Yuan frowned at his frantic typing. "What are you doing?" "Nothing, really. I just thought Captain Wang’s speech was too boring." Even though Mr. Hacker had heartlessly ghosted him, Shen Feibai decided to be the bigger person and cover for him. *** Leaving the meeting room, they intended to check on Ye Xuan, who had been captured not long ago. According to the nurse guarding him, Ye Xuan hadn't done anything drastic since waking up, nor had he initiated any conversation. Instead, he spent his time staring blankly at the ceiling, his eyes occasionally darting to the upper-left corner as if he were lost in memory. It was very strange. Ever since the young man had placed him under deep hypnosis that day, Ye Xuan’s buried memories had been unearthed from the depths, fragmented scenes swirling and entangling in his mind. The White House, communal living, training, selection... ah, he remembered those clearly. But there were many other fragments that felt utterly foreign. Why were there scenes of a car crash? Why was he on an experimental table? Why was he running away? Ye Xuan watched these memory shards play out in his mind with a sense of wonder. The personality that had been externally molded was gradually destabilizing under the impact of these recollections. The most recent fragment showed "him" crouching in the bushes by the roadside, planning to seek help from a middle-aged man in a sharp suit standing by a car. *Ah... that looks so fake. Why would I ever ask someone for help?* As Ye Xuan thought this, he saw Mo Yuan walk in and his pupils constricted. The man looked seventy percent identical to the middle-aged man in his memory. The chaos in his brain reached a crescendo—whispers, explosions... And the calm, youthful voice of someone whose face he couldn't see: "Everyone, let's escape together." He tried desperately to see the person's face, but his head throbbed with splitting pain, and his vision blurred. Countless faces flashed by like a revolving lantern, finally settling on a pair of deep-sea blue eyes. Ye Xuan’s heart jolted. *Get lost!!* *** Shen Feibai was puzzled. "Why is this guy staring at you?" Mo Yuan frowned as he observed the changes in Ye Xuan’s pupils. Sensing something was wrong, he stepped forward quickly, reaching for a sedative to inject. Suddenly, a chill ran through his chest. The alarm bells in the room blared, and a sharp gust of wind brushed past his wrist. When he regained his senses, Ye Xuan’s right hand was suspended in mid-air, his eyelids twitching as he endured the electric shock triggered by the collar for his prohibited movement. After locking eyes with Mo Yuan, Ye Xuan slowly retracted his bandaged hand under the covers. His voice was light, as if he were walking on clouds. "It’s rare for someone to visit me. What is it?" These collars were brought in from the neighboring city specifically to deal with members of the Organization. They said high-intensity currents could control a prisoner's behavior without causing permanent damage... Who knew why they always had such misplaced kindness for criminals? *And it feels like this guy is adapting to it very quickly... is it really reliable?* Beside him, Shen Feibai was already reaching for his tools. Mo Yuan didn't share that concern for the moment. He proceeded with the necessary interrogation in a businesslike manner. First, he asked who had beaten Ye Xuan and moved him to the warehouse. During previous police questioning, Ye Xuan had either been in a trance and refused to answer or had remained silent with a provocative smile. Mo Yuan hadn't expected to get any information out of him. But today, Ye Xuan miraculously spoke, and he was exceptionally cooperative. The answer he gave made Shen Feibai frown and repeat the question: "Are you sure it was the boy's brother who injured you?" Ye Xuan nodded, his eyes curving. "That's right~" "Then why did he hit you?" Ye Xuan toyed with his fingers, his tone casual. "Oh, probably because I met with his little brother that night." Shen Feibai: "?" Having reached this topic, Ye Xuan recalled Mu Ran’s description of the police’s irresponsible behavior and felt he could take this opportunity to mock them. "My, my... after all, you lot are so unreliable. No protection measures, no information shared..." "So, I planned to take my little brother away..." Shen Feibai: "???" Mo Yuan: "Hmm?" Ye Xuan stopped mid-sentence, his gaze turning gloomy. "...What’s with those expressions?" The two suppressed their astonishment. "Nothing. Continue." *** Withholding information, stingy with protection, complete negligence... In Ye Xuan’s narrative, they had become cold-blooded officers who cared only for their performance metrics and ignored the safety of civilians. Shen Feibai: "..." *Something’s wrong. Very wrong.* Was Ye Xuan intentionally twisting the facts? Was he trying to mock them? Even if the guy’s words were true, it was likely a stalling tactic the boy had concocted to ensure his own safety. That would make sense... but then why did the boy tell them he hadn't seen Ye Xuan when they questioned him? Was it to protect that young man? Or was it... —"Please..." —"What happened to this wound... how scary." —"Really?" The boy’s hazy, soft lilac eyes had always been so gentle and harmless. Even when he was agitated, he never displayed any negative, aggressive emotions. Shen Feibai, who usually relied on intuition regarding emotions, was completely baffled. His gut told him the boy was exactly that harmless and gentle; even if Ye Xuan’s story was true, there had to be a hidden reason. But his detective’s compulsiveness wouldn't let him ignore those glaring logical loopholes. *...Tsk.* *Let's just assume Ye Xuan is full of it for now.* Shen Feibai scratched his head in frustration, his mind consumed by the logic of the boy's behavior. A flash of inspiration hit him. He suddenly remembered the photo he had taken of the doll cabinet in the small shop. He wasn't great at personality analysis based on a scene, but Mo Yuan might have some insights. *** The image was dark and gloomy. Small figures with hollow features faced the camera directly, the edges of their empty sockets marked with bright red stitching. A pale beam of light hit their fair, lifelike skin, creating a sense of horror. "...Where did you take this?" After a long silence, Mo Yuan asked in a low voice. Shen Feibai replied, "You first. What do you think?" "An extreme perfectionist. Paranoid psychology. High desire for control." Mo Yuan adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, the reflection making him look cold and composed. "A very dangerous individual." Shen Feibai: "..." Shen Feibai: "Is there a possibility that these are just discarded dolls and parts locked away in a useless corner?" "When the realism reaches this level, what the owner has done to them can no longer be classified as normal creation." "Constant selection and discarding, constant stitching and dismantling..." Mo Yuan enlarged the photo, focusing on the dense, minute stitches around the doll's eye sockets. "Look closely and you’ll see that the discarded parts in the cabinet originally belonged to this one." "Likely, it never reached the perfection they sought, so they tried again and again..." "This doll is well-made; it could be called a work of art. But because of that, this extreme aesthetic pursuit is even more dangerous." "I’ve dealt with a painter who used human blood and flesh, a sculptor who built living people into statues, a musician who played music with bleached white bones..." Finally, Mo Yuan gave his summary: "A paranoid, perfectionist dollmaker. Very dangerous." Shen Feibai: "..." Shen Feibai: "Ah, so your previous cases were that colorful?" Mo Yuan turned, his tone serious. "Don't change the subject. Now that you know my assessment, why haven't you answered my question? I believe we need to observe this dollmaker to prevent them from causing harm to society." Seeing the detective’s eyes wander, he frowned, confused. "Why won't you speak?" Shen Feibai said nothing. He just tapped his phone a few times and pulled up a picture of Mu Ran. The boy looked soft, his temperament gentle, like a glutinous rice ball that would leak filling if poked. Mo Yuan: "? What, is he the target?" Shen Feibai tilted his head toward the screen. "There he is. Your 'dangerous dollmaker.'" Mo Yuan looked at the boy, who was as docile and sweet as a little lamb: "..." Ah. MoYuan.exe has stopped working. *** Mu Ran, lying on the large hotel bed, suddenly felt a chill for some reason. He shook his head to dispel the sensation and continued his internal communication. 【Mu Ran: Ah, so I still need an explanation for our identities...】 After hearing the meeting intel shared by the System, he felt quite melancholy. 【Mu Ran: But information registration in this world is so thorough. How can we get a logical identity? And it’s hard to explain how 'I' met 'you' too...】【System: I infiltrated the Organization’s upper echelons yesterday and learned some internal information.】 For instance, how the Organization selected and trained members from infancy, the methods they used to lure bright geniuses into the darkness, and the current state of their infiltration into the police forces of various cities... Among the records, one was particularly interesting. The "Lamb Escape Incident." A boy who had been raised in a sealed base since childhood had somehow "awakened." As the bellwether, he led the other children in an escape from the Organization. The "lambs" involved ranged from as young as six to as old as fourteen. Although the final outcome was that most of the children were recaptured and had their memories wiped, and the other leaders were eliminated through various means, the fact that they could tangle with a dark power as massive as the Organization for so long at that age was remarkable. One child had even come close to seizing an opportunity to seek help from a high-ranking government official, though he was ultimately caught. Because of this, the Organization discovered the child’s unusual talent. After scrubbing the minds of the others, they focused on forging him into a convenient weapon. The System’s gaze shifted left, seeing Ye Xuan’s cold, despondent face. It was likely because of that past instability that Wu Nian had discarded him so decisively after his capture. 【Mu Ran: ...Ah, so he’s actually quite tragic.】 During their previous meetings, Mu Ran could sense that Ye Xuan’s emotions were clearly abnormal. Although he had the "villain group" setting, his actions lacked logic and were driven entirely by whim. After pitying Ye Xuan, Mu Ran suddenly spotted a blind spot. *Ah, we need to explain the System’s extraordinary skills, right? We need to explain the System’s status as an unregistered citizen, right? And after explaining those two, we need to ensure the System’s identity is clean enough to avoid police trouble, right?* *Oh, and we need to explain the logic of why the two of us are together, right?* *...In that incident just now, wasn't there a perfect identity card?* *** **Glossary** Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation ---|---|--- 黑户 | Unregistered citizen / Black account | Someone without a household registration or legal ID. 白房子 | White House | A common trope for a secret laboratory or facility. 羊羔出逃事件 | Lamb Escape Incident | A specific event in the story involving children escaping the Organization. 领头羊 | Bellwether / Lead sheep | The leader of the group of children. 雪青色 | Lilac / Pale purple | The color of Mu Ran's eyes. 组织 | The Organization | The primary antagonist group.