134: Shadow

"Uncle Chen, go back to the detention center and wait patiently for now," Shen Mingyuan said in a low but firm voice to the bewildered old man in a corner outside the courthouse.

"Trust me, it won't be long before I let you walk out with your head held high. I promise you on my professional faith and reputation that I will never let you be wrongfully imprisoned.

The current situation is a bit... complicated. You are actually relatively safer inside. Leave everything to me."

His steady tone and unquestionable gaze were like a shot of adrenaline, restoring a glimmer of light to Uncle Chen's cloudy eyes. The old man nodded tremulously and was led into the car by the bailiffs.

Watching the vehicle depart, the gentleness on Shen Mingyuan's face instantly vanished, replaced by a cold, sharp edge. He drove home at high speed, his goal clear—the hidden cabinet in his study.

Opening the black briefcase, the black-and-red 'twin stars' lay quietly in a specialized compartment, their cold texture seemingly harboring flowing energy.

He carefully checked the armband on his left wrist; the crimson orb remained silent, showing no obvious changes other than the faint pulse that had previously resonated with the dual pistols.

'Time waits for no one.' He securely placed the dual pistols inside a tactical satchel for quick access. At the same time, a new message arrived from 'The Forger.'

The Forger: Regarding your new equipment. Its energy source is set to 'High-purity electricity,' which is the most stable and easily accessible universal energy in the city.

When you need to recharge, simply plug the gun's interface into a Standard power outlet, or directly touch an exposed, sufficiently loaded live conductor.

It will automatically regulate absorption until saturated. Try to avoid high-intensity combat when the battery is low.

Shen Mingyuan replied quickly: Understood. The charging method is very 'modern.'

With preparations complete, he changed out of his sharp suit. From the depths of his walk-in closet, he took out a classic Khaki trench coat, a dark Detective hat, and a pair of plain glasses that partially obscured his face.

In the mirror, his temperament shifted abruptly, transforming from an elite lawyer into a low-profile, inquisitive urban tracker.

His first stop was the local Police Station. In his capacity as Uncle Chen's defense lawyer, he formally requested to participate in the search for the missing person, Qian Qiang, on the grounds that 'a comprehensive understanding of the case, especially the victim's current status, is crucial for the defense.' As expected, the receiving officer looked troubled.

"Lawyer Shen, we understand your feelings, but searching for missing persons is our job, and there are disciplines and procedures. As a lawyer, it's not convenient for you to directly participate in investigation actions, let alone search with us. If there's progress, we will notify the relevant parties according to the law."

Shen Mingyuan had anticipated this and didn't press further. All he needed was a reason for formal contact and to observe the resources and general direction the police were currently committing to. After leaving the Police Station, his true 'Detective work' officially began.

He first checked all possible surveillance blind spots and alleys around the hospital. Combining this with the police's search range, he confirmed that the conventional areas had been repeatedly combed through to no avail. A person newly recovered from serious injuries would need a place that was hidden, quiet, and offered access to resources.

'Home is the instinctive safe zone.' Shen Mingyuan arrived near the cheap apartment Qian Qiang rented.

He didn't approach rashly but first observed from a cafe across the street for a long time, then pretended to be a deliveryman and took a quick walk through the hallway.

The door was locked tight, advertising flyers were piled up at the entrance, and neighbors said they hadn't seen anyone for days nor heard any unusual noises. This wasn't the hiding place.

Next, he checked the residences of several questionable friends associated with Qian Qiang, frequently visited internet cafes, pool halls, and even some abandoned houses in the urban-rural fringe, but found no clues. Qian Qiang seemed to have completely merged into the city's shadows.

As dusk fell and the city lights came on, Shen Mingyuan stood by a quiet street. Beneath his feet was an open municipal maintenance manhole, with the faint sound of flowing water and a decaying scent rising from the deep darkness below.

The city's drainage System was old and complex, like an underground labyrinth. it was a temporary shelter for countless vagrants and marginalized people, as well as an excellent place to hide secrets.

'Needs to be away from sight, needs a stable water source, needs a passage that isn't easily discovered...' Shen Mingyuan looked at the simplified sewer network map pulled up on his tablet, obtained through certain non-public channels. His gaze locked onto an area near the old industrial zone with relatively spacious pipes and many branches.

"If it were me, I would choose here too," he whispered to himself, tucking the tablet back into the inner pocket of his trench coat.

Without much hesitation, he put on gloves, checked the equipment in his satchel and a high-intensity flashlight, and agilely climbed down the iron ladder of the maintenance well.

The damp, cold air instantly enveloped him. The flashlight beam cut through the darkness, illuminating pipe walls covered in moss and water stains, as well as the bottomless underground passage ahead, filled with a faint odor.

The flashlight beam flickered on the dark sewer walls, and Shen Mingyuan's footsteps echoed slightly in the empty pipes. He searched intently for any possible traces—scattered medical packaging, unusual water stains, or the scraping sounds of biological movement.

Just then, a sharp, electric-like stinging and burning sensation—not quite pain—came from his left arm, instantly breaking his concentration.

He stopped abruptly and quickly rolled up his trench coat sleeve. Under the flashlight's glow, the device on his left wrist had undergone a world-shaking change!

The originally futuristic silver-white armband had now turned entirely into a deep, matte black that seemed to absorb light. Only the central core orb maintained its original crimson hue, but it appeared more restrained, like embers burning in the dark of night.

Even more striking were the fine grooves and protrusions, resembling ancient runes or precision scales, that had appeared on the ring structure surrounding the orb. In one position, there was clearly a locking mechanism that could be rotated.

At this moment, this ring structure spontaneously and silently turned by one small notch, emitting an almost inaudible 'click.'

With the rotation, although the armband remained black, Shen Mingyuan clearly 'perceived' that the internal form identity it was locked into had switched from the symbol representing 'silver skeleton' to a brand-new mark representing some unknown form.

This mark was completely different from the simple lines of 'silver skeleton'; it was more complex, faintly exuding a sense of simultaneous concealment and sharpness.

'It's complete...' Shen Mingyuan was shaken. He tried to carefully turn the rotatable structure with his finger.

"Click." With a gentle twist, the armband's luster transformed instantly from matte black to the familiar silver-white, and the red of the core orb became brighter—this was the position for the 'silver skeleton' form.

"Click." Twisting it back, the deep black covered it again, and the red orb became restrained—the brand-new, unknown form was in place.

"It seems the new armor 'The Forger' prepared for me is ready," Shen Mingyuan whispered to himself, a mix of anticipation, tension, and determination welling up in his heart. Tracking an unknown evolver deep into this peril-filled underground labyrinth—what better time than now to test a new power?

He no longer hesitated. After confirming there was no surveillance deep in this branch pipe, with only endless darkness and the sound of gurgling water ahead, he temporarily turned off the flashlight and clipped it to his waist.

"Then... let's just begin."

He raised his left hand, and his right index finger decisively pressed the crimson orb in the center of the black armband.

There were no earth-shattering light or sound effects; the change occurred in silence. The armband instantly 'melted,' turning into a viscous, flowing black biomass fluid that spread rapidly along his arm as if it were alive!

It was no longer the chitinous texture that 'grew' from under the skin like the silver skeleton; this black fluid was more like draping himself in an activated shadow.

The fluid silently and swiftly covered his entire body—arms, torso, legs... finally converging upward to form a smooth, form-fitting helmet with sharp lines. The eyepiece area lit up with a dark red, predator-like composite glow. The entire process was quieter and faster than the silver skeleton transformation, almost merging with the shadows in the environment.

Shen Mingyuan moved his fingers, feeling a tactile sensation completely different from the silver skeleton.

The armor was lighter, more form-fitting, and exceptionally sensitive to the surrounding airflow, subtle temperature changes, and even the echoes of distant water sounds.

He tried to concentrate. The dark red light of the helmet's eyepiece shifted slightly. The darkness before him didn't completely disappear but was supplemented by another kind of 'vision'—he 'saw' the blurred thermal outlines of the pipe walls caused by temperature differences, as well as the spatial structure phantoms at distant corners formed by sound reflections.

He set off, heading deeper into the sewer toward a larger catchment area. Soon, the distinct sound of converging water came from ahead, and the space opened up. He arrived at the edge of an abandoned small underground reservoir. This had once been a flood discharge buffer zone; now the water level was low, but the surface was wide and calm, like a black mirror.

The figure in black armor appeared silently at the edge of this underground water. He looked down at the mirror-like surface.

The reflection in the water was a warrior entirely in black with sharp lines, whose eyes alone emitted a dark red faint light. He was silent and hidden, as if born from the darkness, perfectly integrated with this underground world. He was no longer the 'silver skeleton' that shone with silver brilliance, symbolizing frontal impact and protection.

A name naturally surfaced in Shen Mingyuan's mind, fitting the essence of this armor and matching his current identity as a 'Detective' and 'tracker.'

—shadow.

"From now on, you will be called 'shadow'," he said softly to the reflection in the water, as if performing a solemn naming ceremony. The dark red light of the eyepiece flickered slightly in the water, as if in response.

A new armor was officially born. Code name: shadow.