14: Chapter 14 The Fish Takes the Bait

Sun Haoyu's expression stiffened. Only then did he hypocritically look at the wound on her neck, feigning heartache: "My treasure, I was wrong. I was just clearing the danger first! Is the wound deep?"

He turned his head and caught a glimpse of Chen Ye. His face instantly turned livid, and he pointed at Chen Ye, berating him sharply: "Why are you in my house? Who let you in!"

Chen Ye lifted his eyes, his expression indifferent, ignoring the man's shouting entirely.

Instead, he walked straight to Shen Jiaojiao's side and, amidst the surprised gazes of the people in the room, gently took hold of her slightly cool wrist.

Shen Jiaojiao's whole body trembled, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks, yet she didn't know why she didn't pull away.

She only felt that Chen Ye's palm was warm, inexplicably making her feel at ease.

Chen Ye calmly activated his Healing Ability, releasing only a faint warm current to precisely repair the external skin wounds on her neck and knees.

He deliberately controlled the intensity, alleviating the pain without exposing the true power of his Superpower.

"Mmm..." Shen Jiaojiao let out a soft hum. The sharp pain instantly dissipated, and warmth spread along her skin.

She looked up at Chen Ye, the surprise in her eyes deepening, filled with confusion she couldn't hide.

[Ding! Shen Jiaojiao's Trust + 8! Current: 23!]

[Ding! Shen Jiaojiao's Obedience + 5! Current: 7!]

[Symbiosis Value + 13! Current: 30!]

[Host Passive Attribute Updated: Basic Speed + 13 → Current: 30]

As the system prompt ended, a satisfied, faint smile curled the corner of Chen Ye's mouth.

This scene, falling into Sun Haoyu's eyes, instantly ignited his rage.

He lunged forward, grabbing Chen Ye's arm, his face twisted: "You brat, how dare you touch my wife! Are you looking for death!"

"Sun Haoyu! Stop it right now!" Shen Jiaojiao instantly blocked Chen Ye, spreading her arms to protect him.

Her usually gentle voice now carried an unprecedented sharpness.

Her fitted skirt swayed slightly, her expression firm and resolute: "He came from across the hall to help me. Aren't you embarrassed enough?"

Sun Haoyu was stunned by the shout, his face turning pale and then red, angry but unable to speak.

At this moment, the leading SWAT officer stepped forward, scanning the beast corpse on the ground, and looked at Chen Ye: "Comrade, did you kill this mutated beast? Come back with us to make a statement."

Before Chen Ye could speak, Shen Jiaojiao stepped in first, looking at the SWAT officer with firm eyes: "Officer, it wasn't him!"

"It was a masked man in black who killed it. He left through the fire exit right after, and we didn't see his face clearly."

Her tone was certain, without a hint of panic, her expression so serious that no one could doubt her.

The SWAT officers looked at each other. There were no other clues at the scene, so they could only wave their hands: "A man in black? You aren't joking, young lady, are you?"

"It's true. I can't believe it either, but he really appeared like a hero!" Shen Jiaojiao's tone remained certain, though her eyes unconsciously drifted toward Chen Ye.

The police looked at Shen Jiaojiao, then turned to look Chen Ye up and down.

Chen Ye currently appeared to be just an unremarkable, cowardly man, not someone who seemed capable of such immense power.

One of the police officers spoke into his walkie-talkie: "The resident reported a masked Superpower user. He might be a positive figure. Be careful not to use destructive force when making contact."

After speaking, he glanced at Chen Ye again, "Do you need to go to the hospital? If not, you can leave!"

Chen Ye was expressionless, his tone concise, "No need."

Afterward, he walked back to his own home without looking back.

Chen Ye leaned against the door panel, the beast core in his palm burning slightly.

He had taken this step extremely steadily.

He had both secured Shen Jiaojiao's favor and hidden all his trump cards.

"Shen Jiaojiao is actually quite sensible; she didn't give me away!"

This mysterious posture of not explaining or bragging was far more useful than saying a bunch of nonsense, instantly stirring up a storm in the depths of Shen Jiaojiao's heart.

Shen Jiaojiao stood in place, watching Chen Ye's departing back, unable to recover for a long time.

"Who is this man, really? Why does he possess such formidable power? Why does he have such a mysterious Healing Ability?"

"Was he deliberately hiding it all along?"

Immense confusion and deep interest instantly filled her heart, giving her an unprecedented desire to investigate this mysterious man.

"Jiaojiao! Jiaojiao, are you okay? Are you hurt?" Sun Haoyu rushed forward, reaching out to wrap his arms around Shen Jiaojiao's shoulders.

His face was filled with fake concern, and his tone was full of feigned worry.

Shen Jiaojiao didn't even glance at him. Her face was expressionless, her eyes cold to the extreme. She turned sideways to dodge his touch without saying a word.

This selfish man who fled in the face of danger had abandoned her without hesitation when she was in peril.

Yet now, he was here feigning concern, which made her feel disgusted and disappointed from the bottom of her heart.

Sun Haoyu's outstretched hand froze in mid-air, the smile on his face instantly solidifying, awkward to the extreme.

Yet, not daring to act out, he could only sheepishly retract his hand and stand there at a loss.

At this moment, Chen Ye didn't close the door completely, leaving it slightly ajar. His gaze, through the peephole, was fixed tightly on the door to Shen Jiaojiao's home across the hall.

That door had already been smashed by the beast earlier; the door frame was deformed, the door panel cracked, and it couldn't be closed at all.

It could only remain open, with the movements inside fully visible.

He listened intently. From the room across the hall came the sounds of Sun Haoyu's hypocritical concern and Shen Jiaojiao's cold silence—the two sounds forming a sharp contrast.

Not long after, a series of rhythmic footsteps approached. Several police officers, wearing professional protective gear and pushing specialized storage equipment, walked into the room across the hall.

They carefully lifted the beast's corpse, their movements professional and rigorous.

A young officer crouched on the ground, carefully inspecting the floor. His brow furrowed tightly as he spoke to the leading police officer in confusion:

"That's strange. By all logic, that crystalline beast core should have dropped. Why is there nothing on the ground?"

"We've searched the entire room carefully, including the hallway, and found no trace of the beast core. What on earth is going on?"

The leading officer's expression was grave. He shook his head, his tone full of confusion: "I don't know. Perhaps some beasts don't drop beast cores when they die."

"Or perhaps that man in black took it. We'll have to investigate this further when we get back."

Their conversation clearly reached Chen Ye's ears.

A smirk of imperceptible smugness curled the corner of Chen Ye's mouth as he inwardly sneered.

"beast core? Of course you won't find it."

Because the moment he killed the beast earlier, he had already silently taken that pale cyan beast core and hidden it in his pocket.

This was the most precious resource in the apocalypse, the foundation for enhancing strength and strengthening abilities; how could he let others find it?

He slowly closed his eyes. A light blue virtual panel instantly appeared in his mind, clearly displaying: [Symbiosis Pod Host Bound: Chen Ye]

[Symbiosis Target: Shen Jiaojiao]

[Symbiosis Value: 30]

[Symbiosis Pod Function Pod 1: Shelter (Unlocked)]

[Symbiosis Pod Function Pod 2: Unknown (Enabled, Not yet unlocked)]

It was only then that he suddenly remembered that when he bound with Shen Jiaojiao earlier, the Symbiosis Pod had already automatically enabled the second function pod.

It was just that he had been too busy dealing with the situation at hand, and hadn't had time to check.

What kind of function was this second function pod?

Chen Ye did not hesitate anymore, silently chanting in his heart: "Activate Symbiosis Pod second function pod!"