55: The battle at the hospital has ended.

Lu Jianchuan's fist was already touching the tough skin of Big Orange's neck. The highly compressed blue-white plasma sphere emitted a low hum of impending destruction, causing the muscle fibers in its neck to twitch involuntarily. One punch from this would mean the complete disintegration of its carbon-based structure.

"Stop——!!!"

The voice, like an iron spike, pierced through the sound of splashing water and the hiss of electric arcs, driving straight into Lu Jianchuan's auditory sensors.

His fist, with millimeter precision, froze dead in its tracks. The plasma sphere flickered unstably, illuminating his pupils, which had abruptly contracted behind his visor. His head snapped towards the doorway. The azure blue optical lenses automatically adjusted their focus, instantly locking onto the scene at the entrance.

It was that man. Zhan Yong, the leader of the investigators from the school. The shoulders of his dark gray uniform were damp with splashed water droplets, his expression as stern and unyielding as iron. But what truly made the energy flow in Lu Jianchuan's core stutter was the youth being half-pushed forward in front of the investigator—Li Zhe.

Li Zhe's face was terrifyingly pale, devoid of color, his lips trembling uncontrollably. His eyes were bloodshot, brimming with tears, but behind those tears was a plea bordering on despair. His gaze was glued to Big Orange, slumped in the pool of water, twitching intermittently from the residual electric shock. It was as if that distorted form was still the fluffy Orange Cat from his memory.

"Don't... please... don't kill it..." Li Zhe's voice was broken, carrying violent, breathy sounds. Each word seemed to be forcibly squeezed from his throat. "It's Big Orange... it just now... protected me... It didn't mean to hurt me... really..."

"Urrr..." As if to confirm the boy's words, Big Orange in the water let out a weak, guttural groan, trying to lift its head. When its crimson, slitted pupils swept over Li Zhe, that bone-deep madness seemed to truly fade for an instant, leaving only beast-like pain and confusion.

That instant, combined with the faintly familiar outline of Uncle Li's features on Li Zhe's face and the heavy, almost overwhelming sense of guilt, created a fatal resonance within Lu Jianchuan. He seemed to see again, in the warehouse, Li Ming's resolute gaze as he pushed him away, and that unspoken entrustment.

On his fist, the condensed electric light, potent enough to shatter metal and jade, sputtered out with a faint *crackle*, like a flame doused by ice water, abruptly dimming and dispersing. His clenched fist, the knuckles whitening slightly under the armor from excessive force, finally slowly, with immense difficulty, relaxed.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't throw this punch in the face of Uncle Li's son's plea.

At that moment, Zhan Yong took a step forward. His solid frame shielded the emotionally distraught Li Zhe more securely to his side and rear, adopting a protective stance. His gaze, like a searchlight, precisely captured the flicker of hesitation behind Lu Jianchuan's visor. His tone was steady, yet carried undeniable weight:

"I know you." He spoke, his voice not loud, yet it strangely overpowered the ambient noise. "The Abandoned Warehouse, Riverside Plaza... Although the records are fragmented, the trail is clear. You're eliminating those things, protecting ordinary people. For that," he paused, his right hand lightly pressing against the left side of his chest, where perhaps a hidden department insignia lay, "the Special Affairs Investigation Bureau expresses its gratitude."

His words held no prevarication. His finger pointed decisively at Big Orange on the ground. "But this one is a special case. Trust me, hand it over to us."

Seeing Lu Jianchuan remain silent, standing like a cold war machine, Zhan Yong leaned forward slightly, lowered his voice, but his words entered Lu Jianchuan's sensors even more clearly. "You saw it with your own eyes. It protected this child. An individual in the tide of evolution that can still anchor specific human emotions... Do you understand the significance behind this? This isn't just a biological sample; this is a possibility! A possibility leading to understanding, even guiding evolution! Our department needs it alive. This is far more important than simply destroying it!"

The light in Lu Jianchuan's visor flickered intensely. His internal processors operated at high speed, weighing the significance of every word. He looked at Zhan Yong—in those eyes was concern, but deeper lay an unquestionable official will and a researcher-like fervor. He then looked at Li Zhe, supported by the young investigator Chen Xing, still watching him with tear-filled eyes. Finally, his gaze returned to Big Orange. It was still struggling, but its aggressiveness seemed to have diminished after Li Zhe appeared.

Reason told him the other party made sense. Emotionally, Li Zhe's presence sealed his final choice.

Finally, the silver armor emitted an extremely faint sound, like the sigh of a mechanical structure relaxing. His body, maintained in a combat stance from tense readiness, straightened bit by bit, with a reluctant, lagging motion. He took half a step back. His military-style booted foot armor stepped into the pooled water, sending out ripples mixed with blood streaks and grime.

This action was a silent answer.

The sharp light in Zhan Yong's eyes softened slightly—a relaxation of achieved purpose. Without hesitation, he turned sideways and gave a crisp, decisive gesture to the team members at the doorway, armed with specialized equipment and on full alert—make way.

"Thank you." Zhan Yong's voice remained steady, but held a trace of barely perceptible warmth. "Your restraint has value. Now, we are taking full control here. Please proceed."

Lu Jianchuan did not linger. He took one last look at Li Zhe—a complex, inscrutable look carrying the weight of an uncompleted mission, concern, and perhaps a hint of entrustment—then resolutely turned away. His armored footsteps echoed steadily and clearly through the water as he passed through the corridor formed by two rows of dark gray uniforms. The gazes of those team members felt tangible, a mix of vigilance, curiosity, and perhaps an instinctive awe of formidable power, following his silver figure until he completely disappeared around the corridor corner.

Inside the room, Zhan Yong's voice immediately became urgent and forceful: "Move! Target is weakened, prioritize using high-strength restraint nets! Beware of counterattacks! Medical team, prepare the maximum safe dosage of sedative! Now!" The sound of hurried footsteps and clashing equipment instantly filled the entire restroom.

Outside, the corridor was empty and silent. Lu Jianchuan's pace did not slow in the slightest, but his gaze, like a precision scanner, swept rapidly across the floor. Several fragments of dark gray cloth, stuck to the wet tiles, were particularly conspicuous. He abruptly crouched down. His armored fingers precisely picked up all the larger fragments, even carefully collecting a few fibers that might belong to the original garment, clenching them tightly in his palm, leaving no trace behind. He even quickly checked nearby corners by fire hydrants and the edges of trash bins.

Confirming nothing was missed, he melted into the darkness of the stairwell like a silver streak. He didn't head down, but sprinted upwards to the top floor. Pushing open a heavy fire door leading to an external equipment platform, the night wind, carrying the city's clamor, rushed against him. He glanced back. The flickering light and sounds from the restroom window below indicated they were still busy.

No more hesitation. He pushed off the guardrail with one hand. His silver figure leapt out like a great roc. With several light touches for leverage on external AC units and pipes outside the building, his movements were as fluid as a cat's. He landed steadily in the shadow of the adjacent building and, after a few more leaps, completely vanished, silently making his way towards the only rental room that could offer brief shelter.