BFET Chapter 3

The pervasive stench in the car had been dissipated quite a bit by the wind, but it was still rather strong.

Ordinary masks couldn’t completely block out this smell. You Xue squeezed herself closer to the car window, facing outwards. The corner of her eye couldn’t help but glance at Xie Yi. After hesitating and suppressing herself, she couldn’t hold back anymore and called out, “Hey, Xie Yi.”

“I wanted to ask you when you were talking just now.” You Xue’s eyes were full of bewilderment. “One or two would be one thing, but eight, a full eight Nikra. What were you thinking, confronting them head-on?”

Heaven knows that what’s terrifying about Nikra mutated entities isn’t their combat power, but the festering, pus-like stench they constantly emit!

No one would want to confront such a thing head-on without any protection, especially a whole group of them!

You Xue looked wooden. Just thinking about that scene made her feel like she was suffocating!

In the end, regarding the answer to why he would think so irrationally…

Aside from a chuckle from someone, You Xue didn’t get anything.

The sky was a dull gray.

The black jeep drove through a deserted area and entered an underground tunnel after a routine inspection.

In 2149, a global surge of mutated outbreaks overturned human society.

Creatures were contaminated and mutated, cities were invaded and collapsed, and the world fell into despair.

Now, 70 years after the Great Disaster, the world’s regions have been divided into two types of areas: Safety Zones and Enclosed Zones.

Safety Zones are human survivor settlements protected by the city security defense teams of various countries, while Enclosed Zones are areas occupied by mutated entities that have been contaminated and changed.

Above this tunnel is Kui City, one of the few large Safety Zones in the country that has survived after several rounds of merging and reconstruction.

And the end of the tunnel is the headquarters of the city’s guardians—the Kui City Security Defense Force, to which Xie Yi and You Xue belong.

This tunnel is exclusively for use by field team members to avoid causing unnecessary trouble and danger to ordinary civilians by directly passing through the surface living area after duty in the Enclosed Zone.

The jeep followed the tunnel all the way forward and soon saw the guidance checkpoint ahead.

Xie Yi gestured through the window, indicating that no help was needed. He skillfully made a few turns and parked the car.

“The car’s yours. Remember to wash it clean!” As soon as the car stopped, You Xue couldn’t wait to open the door and jump out, slamming the door shut.

With a bang, You Xue heard Xie Yi call her.

She turned her head warily towards the car, the window rolled down: “What? Don’t even think about dumping the car on me.”

Xie Yi glanced at her lightly, “After you confirm the field application, help me pull up the monitor footage near the entrance of the Fengjiang Enclosed Zone.”

“Pull up the monitor footage? Did someone accidentally break in?” After asking, You Xue suddenly understood. “Could this be why you…”

Before You Xue could finish speaking, Xie Yi drove the car away, leaving a trail of exhaust fumes in her face.

“…” You Xue: Xie Yi, you’re inhuman!

After going through several inspection procedures and sending the car for washing and maintenance, Xie Yi also returned to his dormitory through a special passage.

Back in the dormitory, Xie Yi took off his Smart Terminal and other odds and ends and went straight into the bathroom.

The sound of rushing water echoed in the rather empty room.

Soon, the sound of water disappeared, and the frosted glass door opened automatically.

Xie Yi came out of the bathroom with a towel, casually drying his wet hair, brushing the hair from his forehead upwards, and throwing the towel into the laundry basket next to him.

He allowed the remaining water droplets to slide from his forehead over his chiseled brow bone, flowing down his straight nose.

The Smart Terminal that had been left on the table when he entered was now lit up.

Xie Yi walked over, picked it up, and glanced at it. It was a message sent by You Xue two minutes ago.

After opening it, ignoring the long string of nonsense from someone, Xie Yi looked at the end—the application had been approved.

He replied: Did you check the monitor footage?

As soon as Xie Yi sent the message, You Xue quickly replied: Checked. Besides us, no one else appeared this morning.

At the end, another message: But our monitoring only covers the vicinity of the front entrance. It’s very easy to avoid it. People in the team wouldn’t do this. Whoever did this is definitely not an ordinary person. Did you meet someone? If there’s a problem, why not file a report first?

Xie Yi looked at the message in silence for a moment: I’ll handle it. Where are you? I’ll come find you.

You Xue: …Cafeteria.

Xie Yi turned off the terminal, quickly tidied up, and went out.

During the dense period of Enclosed Zone extraction, the field area dormitory building could be described as an empty building.

After changing elevators twice, Xie Yi leaned against the corner, closing his eyes to rest.

“Ding—”

As soon as the elevator chime sounded, Xie Yi immediately opened his eyes.

When the door opened, his movement to step out stopped: “Captain Fei.”

Outside the elevator stood a woman with short hair.

It was Fei Yuelan, the captain of the Third Branch of the Kui City Security Defense Force, one of the three major branches, and Xie Yi’s immediate superior.

Fei Yuelan nodded: “Going to eat?”

“Just looking for someone.” Xie Yi, who didn’t have much appetite, had already found something to eat casually in the dormitory.

“Then do you mind if I cut in?” Fei Yuelan heard this, stepped into the elevator, “I happen to have something to talk to you about.”

Xie Yi shrugged indifferently, retreating back to the corner and sending a message to You Xue.

After exiting the elevator and following Fei Yuelan all the way to her office, Xie Yi reported the situation from this morning along the way.

When Xie Yi mentioned the white-haired youth, Fei Yuelan stopped and turned to look at him: “White hair?”

“Yes.” Xie Yi keenly noticed the change in Fei Yuelan’s tone: “Does the Captain know him?”

Fei Yuelan laughed and didn’t answer directly: “Continue.”

Xie Yi thoughtfully looked at Fei Yuelan, who had already turned back and walked forward, for a few seconds, then immediately followed her and continued the report.

Fei Yuelan: “Mutated entities don’t dare to get close to their living areas. Although this situation has never happened before, based on my personal experience, there are only two possibilities.”

“Either the environment within the Central Zone has mutated, or something is evolving. And both of these possibilities threaten the Nikra themselves.”

“No matter which of these two situations it is, it means that the solidified ecology of the Fengjiang area is about to be broken. If the solidified ecology of one Enclosed Zone is broken, we can’t rule out that there won’t be another. The change will only be a chain reaction.”

Fei Yuelan continued, “Fengjiang is the closest Enclosed Zone to us. I will bring this matter up. When you go this afternoon, remember to be careful and withdraw immediately if anything is wrong.”

Xie Yi nodded: “Understood.”

While the two were talking, Fei Yuelan led him to the door of her office, “Let’s go, we’ll talk about the rest inside.”

As soon as they entered the office, Xie Yi saw that someone else was already there.

It was a very tall young man.

The young man was wearing a black shirt and a well-fitting gray vest, standing by the floor-to-ceiling window. After they came in, he turned to look at the door.

It was a very beautiful face. His eyebrows, eyelashes, and hair were all snow-white, making the color of his pupils particularly deep. The corners of his eyes were slightly upturned, giving people a gentle feeling from afar.

When Xie Yi met his eyes, the corners of his mouth curved slightly, further enhancing this feeling.

Xie Yi’s gaze stopped on his snow-white hair for a second, then he looked at Fei Yuelan.

The brief and strange reaction just now seemed to have found an answer at this moment.

Fei Yuelan didn’t look at Xie Yi, but introduced directly: “His name is Shen Shu. He’s one of the new recruits who joined the team last month. Due to personal reasons, he only completed his registration procedures yesterday…”

Hearing this, Xie Yi turned his gaze to the person by the window.

“After comprehensive consideration, I decided—” Fei Yuelan’s words drew Xie Yi’s attention back to her, and then he saw Fei Yuelan point to the person standing by the window and continue, “Starting today, you will be responsible for leading him.”

Xie Yi: “?”

Xie Yi almost subconsciously wanted to refuse, but Fei Yuelan didn’t give him the opportunity and continued, “Don’t worry, this guy is quite honest and won’t cause you any trouble.”

“…” Xie Yi: No, this is clearly trouble in itself.

After Fei Yuelan introduced him to Xie Yi, she waved to Shen Shu by the window, “Come over, let me introduce you. Xie Yi…”

Xie Yi looked at Shen Shu approaching, his gaze inevitably falling on his conspicuous white hair again.

After the global mutation occurred, changes in the living environment caused humans to gradually exhibit changes due to its influence. Human biologists call this phenomenon Gene Resonance.

Humans who exhibit Gene Resonance have significantly improved basic bodily functions, are stronger than ordinary people, and generally have varying degrees of resistance to pollution.

Therefore, human biologists also call this Awakening.

Humans who have awakened through Gene Resonance often exhibit changes in appearance in addition to physical changes, and these changes are mostly present in changes in hair and pupil color.

But this kind of pure white is extremely rare.

Shen Shu smiled lightly at him, extended his hand, and said in a gentle and polite voice, “Hello, Captain Xie. My name is Shen Shu. I look forward to your guidance.”

Xie Yi shook his hand lightly and replied in a low voice, “Xie Yi.”

Shen Shu paused for a moment, then realized and said again in a gentle voice, “Captain Xie Yi.”

Xie Yi: “…”

Fei Yuelan: “Xie Yi, Shen Shu can be considered to have been personally taught by me. In terms of ability, you don’t need to have any concerns.”

Xie Yi asked subconsciously, “Isn’t he a newcomer who graduated from the training base?”

The training base is a reserve training base founded by the Security Defense Force, equivalent to a school, except that the “students” inside are all Awakeners.

The training period at the base is three years.

New Awakeners who meet the age requirements are admitted after review, undergo basic learning and a series of practical training and assessments. After qualifying, the list of qualified personnel and their personal information will be summarized by the base and submitted to the Security Defense Force, and then assigned to various branches as pre-entry team members for a year of combat adaptation.

Generally, newcomers who enter the Security Defense Force are selected from the reserve training base founded by the Security Defense Force.

Although there are exceptions, they are very rare.

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Fei Yuelan denied, “The training base and me teaching him, these two things don’t conflict. His entry into the team followed the normal procedures, it’s just that I have some personal connections with his family and was entrusted to privately tutor him for a period of time.”

Fei Yuelan continued, “Xie Yi, there’s a bit of selfishness in assigning Shen Shu to your team, but your team has only had two people since its establishment. It’s time to add someone.”

Xie Yi didn’t reply immediately after hearing this.

He was a little confused. Fei Yuelan must have known that he would associate the person with Shen Shu’s special hair color with that white-haired youth, but she not only didn’t offer any explanation, but also clarified their relationship.

Could it be that it’s not the same person?

No, that’s not right.

As soon as this idea emerged, Xie Yi immediately rejected it.

If it wasn’t, Fei Yuelan would have said it directly according to her personality. She would never have remained silent while knowing that he would equate the two people and even add him to his team.

Could it be… that she also just suspects?

Thinking of this possibility, Xie Yi subconsciously looked at Fei Yuelan, only to see that she was also looking at him. Before he could react, he heard her speak first, “No matter what reason you’re thinking of, your team must add someone this time.”

“…” Xie Yi: “I understand.”

After speaking, he looked at Fei Yuelan again: “Then he’ll be coming along for this afternoon’s mission.”

Fei Yuelan smiled: “Of course, he’s your team member.”