480: Chapter 476. If you've read this title, it means you've read this title.

When Ye Ouyang pushed the door open and entered, Li Mo was sitting at the Experimental Table, holding a test tube. He looked up and saw it was Ye Ouyang, pausing his movements for a moment before placing the test tube back on the rack.

"What is it?" Li Mo’s voice was calm.

Ye Ouyang sat across from him, resting his fingers on the edge of the table and tapping the surface twice with his nails.

"Did you know? That woman we saved last time is dead."

Li Mo glanced at him but didn't respond immediately. Only after a moment did he speak.

"Is that so? What happened? I didn't know."

"You didn't?" Ye Ouyang looked at him. "I’m just letting you know. I didn't expect her to end up dead after all."

Li Mo leaned back in his chair, shifting his gaze from Ye Ouyang’s face to the green plant on the windowsill.

"Did she jump into the water again? I thought she had already recovered."

"No," Ye Ouyang said. "She was mauled to death by an Evolver."

Li Mo fell silent for a moment before turning back to look at Ye Ouyang.

"An Evolver? An Evolver again." He stood up, walked to the window, and stood with his back to Ye Ouyang for a while before sitting back down.

"Aren't you researching my cells to create an elixir of immortality?" Ye Ouyang asked.

Li Mo looked at him. "Yes, what about it?"

"If immortality can be achieved," Ye Ouyang’s voice dropped slightly, "then can the dead be resurrected?"

Li Mo didn't answer immediately. He stared at Ye Ouyang for a few seconds, his lips twitching as if he wanted to smile but couldn't quite manage it.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"If it’s possible," Ye Ouyang said, "if you successfully create it—even if it's just a prototype—could you resurrect that lady? That way, we could find out what actually happened back then."

Li Mo leaned back against his chair and tapped his fingers on the table twice.

"The elixir of immortality still has a long way to go. You saw that lab rat last time. The best I can produce right now are zombies like that." He paused.

"It’s not like you don't know how much immortality defies science, physics, and common sense. It’s not as easy as you think."

He glanced at the test tubes on the rack.

"I can give you the formula for the last drug, or even make it for you. But I can't guarantee what she would look like after resurrection."

"I can't even be sure if she could be resurrected. Perhaps she would wake up as a zombie, or a monster with an extreme craving for food."

Ye Ouyang nodded.

"I see. You're still stuck at that stage."

"Yes," Li Mo said. "I need to find a suitable way to neutralize your cells. Even a temporary effect would do. But unfortunately, I can't do it yet; it's very difficult."

Ye Ouyang looked at him without speaking. After a few seconds, he suddenly spoke.

"Do you really know nothing, Li Mo?"

Li Mo looked back at him without flinching.

"I know nothing, Ye Ouyang. I don't know what you're suspicious of. But I can tell you clearly: this has nothing to do with me."

Ye Ouyang nodded, stood up, and remained with his back to him for a moment.

"If that's the case, then that's for the best." He pulled the door open and walked out.

Shen Mingyuan was leaning against the hallway wall. Seeing him come out, he straightened up.

"How did it go?"

"Total denial," Ye Ouyang said. "He said he doesn't know and that it has nothing to do with him."

Shen Mingyuan nodded. "Quite classic." He glanced at the closed door. "Alright, you can go. I'll keep an eye on things here."

Ye Ouyang nodded and turned to walk down the hallway. Shen Mingyuan leaned against the wall, motionless, his gaze fixed on the door labeled 'Biological Research Department — Li Mo'.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Lu Jianchuan was cruising slowly down the street on his motorcycle. The engine was throttled down to its lowest, making almost no sound, save for the rustle of tires over the pavement. He circled outward from the point where the body was found, slowing down to check every alley and stopping to listen at every intersection. The streetlights dimmed one by one behind him.

The sound of stone cracking came from a distance. It was faint, but Lu Jianchuan heard it. This was followed by the dull thud of metal clashing and something hitting the ground, sending fragments flying. Without hesitation, he twisted the throttle to the max. The motorcycle accelerated silently, rushing toward the sound. armor covered his entire body mid-sprint, the silver-white plating flashing in the night before dimming again.

At the end of the alley, two figures were moving rapidly.

Wei Ziqing sidestepped a claw and swung his bone sword upward, slashing toward the opponent’s ribs.

The gray shadow sprang back, landing on all fours. It crouched low like a beast before lunging forward again. For a moment, Lu Jianchuan almost mistook it for that thing from the warehouse.

Same gray color, same slender limbs, same inhuman movements.

It was only upon a second look that he noticed the differences—the head was larger, disproportionately so, and its black eyes filled almost the entire sockets, with no whites or pupils visible.

A pale gold liquid flowed over its body, shimmering in the moonlight like blood seeping from a wound or something oozing out from within. Several people lay motionless behind Wei Ziqing.

Lu Jianchuan charged in, slamming a fist into the creature's cheek and sending it flying, collapsing half a wall.

"Why are you here?" he asked, casually parrying a sharp claw that lunged from the ruins.

Wei Ziqing sheathed his sword and caught his breath.

"I was worried after what you said in the group chat. I came straight from the base. I'm not good at tracking and didn't know where to look, so I just patrolled aimlessly."

He blocked a lunging claw with his sword and slashed back at the opponent's shoulder. "I didn't expect to be lucky enough to actually run into it."

The blade sliced through the gray skin, leaving two deep wounds that exposed the bone. The pale gold liquid gushed from the wounds, more heavily than before.

But the creature didn't fall or slow down. The muscles at the edges of the wounds writhed and closed with unnatural speed.

Wei Ziqing followed up with another strike, injecting toxin from the blade. The opponent's movements faltered for a moment before resuming.

The nerve-paralyzing toxins seemed to be pushed out of its body as the pale gold liquid mingled with the poison and oozed from the wounds.

Lu Jianchuan watched the healing mass of gray flesh. "So, this is the one."

Wei Ziqing nodded, tightening his grip on the sword hilt. "It should be."

The creature sprang from the ruins on all fours, its head tilting one way and then the other. Then it turned and bolted at incredible speed, leaping onto a nearby building in a few strides. Its claws dug into the crevices of the wall as it scrambled onto the roof and vanished into the silhouette of the night.

Lu Jianchuan jumped after it. His silver-white figure bounced off the building twice, grabbed a windowsill, and flipped onto the roof. The creature was already far away, maneuvering between buildings on all fours like a giant gray gecko.

Just as he was about to give chase, a low engine drone approached from behind. The motorcycle rushed out of the alley and slid silently to his feet.

He hopped on and twisted the throttle. The front wheel lifted as the bike charged ninety degrees straight up the building. The tires left white marks on the glass curtain wall as he cleared the rooftop and catapulted after the creature.

Wei Ziqing stood below, sword in hand, watching the two shadows leap from rooftop to rooftop, one after the other, before giving up the chase.

The creature was fast. It darted between buildings, specifically picking narrow spaces to try and lose the motorcycle.

The motorcycle clung even tighter, tires sparking against the roof edges. The bike tilted to squeeze through the gap between two buildings, launching, landing, and launching again like a cannonball drawn by a magnetic field, dead-set on the gray shadow ahead.

The creature vaulted over the edge of a low building, leaping toward a higher rooftop across the way, spreading its limbs in the air like a gliding flying squirrel.

The motorcycle didn't slow down. The tires traced an arc along the building's edge, the front end rose, and the entire vehicle took flight, slicing through the night sky and slamming directly into the gray figure still in mid-air.

Bang—!

The creature was knocked off course, tumbling through a billboard on the opposite roof. The iron frame and canvas collapsed together, wrapping around it as it plummeted from the edge of the building.

Lu Jianchuan and his bike landed on the wreckage. The tires skidded, and the bike swerved sideways. He planted a foot to steady himself and looked down.

The creature lay among the scrap metal and canvas. It twitched, rolled over onto all fours, and looked up, its solid black eyes staring straight at him.