Saving Unpermitted – Chapter 49

Table of Contents

Chapter 49: Farewell

Back to half an hour ago.

The two of them got on the empty road and flew all the way to the sky above Y City.

Purifiers were also turned on around Y City for protection purposes, but the intensity was different from that near the headquarters. Shu Jun suppressed the erosive substance in his own body and barely managed to pass through, however, they still faced a risk of being discovered. Luckily, majority of the guards had been sent to the Grand Theater today. From the sky, Zhu Yanchen observed for a moment and pinpointed a blind spot.

“I’ll go in first and search for it.” After they had flown near the headquarters, Zhu Yanchen spoke again: “The 9th window from the left on the top floor. Bring me over there.” 

Since the incident took place so suddenly, the two couldn’t get Lao Dong’s assistance this time. Before Zhu Yanchen regained his authority, they must be wary of the alarm system that was constantly keeping watch.

Shu Jun didn’t waste even a second. The moment the wind swept the two to the top of the building, he let go of Zhu Yanchen’s hand. Zhu Yanchen opened the impact absorption device and beautifully landed beautifully on the eaves, then he climbed up the roof and pried open the window.

The headquarters was one of the few high-rise buildings in Y City with relatively weak defence on the top floor. Marshal Zhu’s break-in went very smoothly.

Shu Jun, who was asked to stay outside: “……”

Even if he recovered some of his memories, he still couldn’t figure out how this person became like this.

In the headquarters, marshals usually had private rooms. Since Marshal Zhu’s ‘rise from the dead’ came way too quickly, the room was definitely still there, and his authority must have been restored. Very patiently, Shu Jun hovered around the blind spot of the security camera and stared at the dark window.

Zhu Yanchen entered the room.

The furnishings in the room hadn’t changed much, while some of his personal belongings seemed to have disappeared. A lot of documents were still piling up on the table, but except for some office supplies, only a lonely-looking photo frame that belonged to him was still here.

Many people had come in and out of this room, but no one cared about this plain-looking photo frame. The photo didn’t show anyone. It was just a decorative picture of a scene that could be seen everywhere — a few rays of fireworks bursting quietly in the dark night sky, and nothing else.

Marshal Zhu stretched out his hand and rubbed the edge of the photo frame.

He immediately turned on the monitor in the office and modified the contents of the surveillance images. There were a few layers of screening passwords, so theoretically, safety should be ensured. But the security center could certainly not expect that the intruder was the ‘ghost’ of Zhu Yanchen himself.

Zhu Yanchen unlocked the highest authority and directly pulled out the daily erosion distribution checks of the entire building, and at the same time, he also inserted his own analysis programme.

Just as expected.

There was a patch of ‘impurity’ that was neither too large nor too small that was slowly wandering in this huge building. It was hiding rather deep and usually quite scattered. In the data model, it looked like a blob of glue seeping through the cracks in the building.

After consolidating months’ worth of data, Zhu Yanchen was almost certain that this thing was absolutely conscious — at the very least, it knew how to avoid when the researchers cleaned up the erosive substance layer by layer.

It was about time for the cleaning group to be here.

Zhu Yanchen grabbed the photo frame and turned down the power of the purifier closest to the Erosion Marsh. After making sure that there were no issues, he waved at Shu Jun in the distance and made a few gestures.

Since the headquarters indeed contained something evil, Shu Jun could now openly break in. In any case, there was an ill-intentioned Erosion Marsh to take the blame.

With the weakened defence, Shu Jun successfully broke through. However, even if its power was diminished, the system could still detect excessive erosive substance and instantly triggered the alarm.

This was exactly what Zhu Yanchen was waiting for.

He intercepted the feedback data from the defence system and overwritten it with the concentration of another Erosion Marsh.

“You really found an Erosion Marsh?” After seeing Zhu Yanchen waving at him to come in, Shu Jun had pretty much figured out the reason.

“Uhm.” Zhu Yanchen nodded. “I’ve delayed the triggering time of the alarm. In short, let’s go to Luo Duan first.”

Luo Duan’s ward was empty.

The white room might seem spotless, but even Monday twisted uncomfortably and protested impatiently inside the cloth, let alone Shu Jun.

“The concentration of erosive substance here doesn’t seem right.” Shu Jun frowned. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

But the building was too big and the target was deliberately avoiding them, so Shu Jun couldn’t sense the location of the other Erosion Marsh. However, towards this kind of thing, Monday, the Erosion Marsh that used to live in the wild, had always been better than him.

Shu Jun untied the cloth: “Can you find the other Erosion Marsh?”

Monday mumbled grumpily: “Can.”

Then he twirled his only mouth and pronounced word by word, his tone seemingly a little more sarcastic: “Smell. It.”

Since they had little time, Shu Jun resisted the urge to twist it and gritted his teeth: “Lead. The. Way”

After he used this thing to take down two alpha-level Erosion Marsh, it had gotten its hands on more information and started to generate its own brain. Perhaps because it hadn’t swallowed any synthesised humans, its compatibility was limited. Up to now, not only did Monday not show the slightest bit of humanity, but its eccentricity had also grown a lot.

Monday: “Eat!!!”

“Okay, I won’t let you go hungry. Make haste.”

Without a cloth to cover it, the dark sword body was partially exposed. The tip of the broadsword trembled a few times, and four nostrils that looked like those of a hippo popped out, inhaling and exhaling exaggeratedly.

Zhu Yanchen: “…” 

With distress, Shu Jun took a few steps forward: “I know what you’re trying to say, it’s disgusting.”

“…Very unique.” Marshal Zhu looked at the four nostrils that opened and closed in rhythm, his tone sounding all so very serious.

Shu Jun held back the tears in his heart and followed Monday, who was busy sniffing like mad. Monday sniffed along the corridor, leading the two of them straight into the underground floor.

Shu Jun didn’t have even the slightest mind to joke around at this moment — the two entered the elevator, and Monday slammed the button for the bottom floor with its hilt. That was where they went last time, and Shu Jun knew exactly what was there.

The two rushed to the door of the underground hall and looked through the window: the hall was empty. Discharging a few drops of mucus, Monday retracted its nostrils: “Here.”

After pondering for a moment, Shu Jun wrapped Monday up again and put it by the door.

“Luo Duan!” After hiding Monday, Shu Jun walked in first and took off his mask. “I know you’re here.”

A soft chuckle rang in the air.

“I didn’t expect it to be you.” As the steam dissipated, Luo Duan’s figure slowly showed up. “Since you dare to take off your mask… The monitoring system here, have you done something to it?”

Facing Shu Jun’s abnormal appearance, he didn’t respond. His whole body exuded a terrifying numbness.

“Let’s just say I have. We don’t have much time here.” After confirming that Luo Duan was not using his abilities, Shu Jun replied quickly: “Since you’re here —”

“Yes, I know.” Luo Duan’s voice sounded rather soft: “I know everything.”

Shu Jun had heard a lot about Luo Duan’s fiancee. He slowly exhaled: “Captain Luo, I won’t sugarcoat it… My friend and I are working on medicine, which can make everyone realise the truth. Let’s work together. We also have a doctor who can provide you with better treatment.”

Luo Duan laughed but didn’t answer.

“Think about the members of the Groundwater team.” Shu Jun’s tone became even gentler: “Remember? The last time we went to a school to give a speech, there were so many children ‘over there’ who hadn’t joined any team. Yes, revenge is revenge, but we have to leave a way out for them.”

Luo Duan’s smile faded slightly and instead turned a tad bitter: “Revenge?”

“Yes, I will make those who advocate the system pay.” Even if Zhu Yanchen was standing right by him, Shu Jun didn’t try to hide the fierceness in his voice.

“To be honest, I envy you.” Luo Duan stared at Shu Jun for a moment: “Everything has reached this point, yet you can still daydream.”

This is bad.

Zhu Yanchen’s body remained absolutely still, but Shu Jun caught that movement — Marshal Zhu’s hand was already on the handle of the gun.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward: “I definitely won’t do these things alone. Anyway, you calm down first, we can talk slowly. “

Luo Duan was a smart person, and he wouldn’t be reckless enough to expose himself in a human base.

Since this place was too sensitive, it would be best to stabilise Luo Duan’s emotions first. Captain Luo’s emotions were obviously not right, so Shu Jun didn’t dare to mention other humans for the time being for fear of triggering him. He had to get out of here and separate Luo Duan from that peculiar marsh.

“Well…” Luo Duan looked up and down at Shu Jun, all while that stiff smile remained at the corner of his mouth. “Yes, I’m really not in the most rational state right now, I know. Maybe it’s time I talked to someone…”

Luo Duan’s words were getting a tad jarring. The captain of the Groundwater team had always been acute and composed, like a sharp dagger. Shu Jun had never seen him look so helpless — They all had heard of Luo Duan and Pei Shuyuan’s relationship. Looking at Luo Duan in this state, Shu Jun felt as though something was brutally shattered right before his eyes.

The delicate dagger had fallen into the mud and rust had slowly started to form.

Shu Jun stretched out his hand: “Captain Luo.”

“All this while, I’ve been wanting to find someone to talk about Xiao Yuan.” Luo Duan stared at Shu Jun’s hand and didn’t move. “I thought I could be the next Xu Kan. I’ll build a small family, and take her to anywhere she wants to go after I retire — anywhere.”

“You know what?” She used her powers to push me to a safe footing and fell into the marsh by herself, and instantly sank into it. I watched her sink… Her right arm was sticking out, and I thought she was saying goodbye. “

“If I had a bit more guts, I could hold her tightly, but at that time, I thought that this wasn’t a bad thing. Even if I forcefully pulled her out, she had been severely eroded and definitely couldn’t be kept around. Hence, it was better to just leave like this — She actually loves playing more than I do. Now she can finally rest for a while.”

“She was struggling before my eyes and begging for my help until she took her last breath. She knew that I was by her side… You tell me, how was she feeling at that time? I couldn’t imagine it.”

“She saved my life, and I couldn’t even say goodbye.”

Tears fell down Luo Duan’s left cheek. There seemed to be something wrong with his right eye, because there was no reaction at all. That smile looked as though it had been engraved onto Luo Duan’s mouth, adding a bit of madness to his calm expression.

“Captain Luo.”

Shu Jun didn’t withdraw his hand and simply repeated the movement. He tried to keep his voice steady, revealing even a hint of pleading beneath his words.

“No matter what that Erosion Marsh tells you, it simply wants both us and humanity to lose. Even if you don’t plan to cooperate with us, don’t act on impulse.”

After spitting out the grief in his chest, Luo Duan seemed to have calmed down a little. He closed his eyes and stabilised his breathing: “I’m sorry I lost it.”

Shu Jun quietly heaved a sigh of relief: “Come, let’s get out of here first…”

Luo Duan shook his head gently, and there was now a tinge of emptiness in his tone: “I know very well that you’ll be a good partner. Maybe if I come with you, I can really save my teammates and drown those humans who ‘manage’ us. Maybe those dreams can really come true… “

“That’s if I were still a ‘player’.”

Shu Jun’s pupils shrank.

Luo Duan opened his eyes, revealing the white of his right eye that had turned pitch black. In his left eye, more than half of the white had been eroded by those black blood vessels, and the entire eye was turning dimmer before Shu Jun’s eyes. The erosive substance sneaked out of Luo Duan’s clothes and coiled around his neck like an ominous snake.

Luo Duan’s left eye could no longer shed tears, and the little Erosion Marsh was no longer hiding.

No, this statement wasn’t accurate. Shu Jun could feel the faint howl of the marsh that was inside Luo Duan’s body.

“Sweet Vanguard ranks the highest, right below is you.” Zhu Yanchen lowered his voice and warned in a soft tone.

Clearly, no alpha-level Erosion Marsh could be in the headquarters, and Zhu Yanchen was definitely not referring to hard power.

Then it could only mean integration.

An Erosion Marsh with a brain seemed to possess some sort of special ability, which wasn’t limited by its size – for Monday, at the very least, it could spit and absorb water to change its own hardness. Meanwhile, Sweet Vanguard could use the marsh’s ‘creation’ ability. As such, Luo Duan definitely also had something.

But Luo Duan still looked conscious and even kept his human form. Since the marsh he integrated wasn’t big, it at least didn’t cause his body to collapse. Perhaps he could still be saved. In the blink of an eye, Shu Jun swiftly released his ‘suppression’.

Luo Duan slightly bowed to him, his eyes withering like two black holes.

“Goodbye,”

He said.

“It’s really a pity.”

He totally didn’t hide the ability he had gotten from the Erosion Marsh — Right the next moment, in front of the two of them, Luo Duan shattered into pieces like a ball of water.

He turned into a small marsh and quickly seeped into the ground to disappear from the hall. Most of the erosive substance quickly scattered. Even if Shu Jun tried his best to suppress it, he still failed to stop Luo Duan’s escape.

As he left, the underground hall shook slightly. The ear-splitting alarm suddenly resounded, almost piercing their eardrums.

This is very bad.

Simultaneously, Shu Jun and Zhu Yanchen looked at the center of the hall. The brain tissues in the liquid column were no longer pink, but a dull shade of grey. It was as clear as day that they had been severely eroded.

From when they entered to when Luo Duan left, Luo Duan didn’t activate any skills at all. This could only mean one thing — Luo Duan had already started before they arrived. He first used the water vapour to send the erosive substance inside, and what he used after that was none other than the marsh’s ability.

With Luo Duan’s ability to control water, he didn’t need to be as careful as they were. The brain tissues inside the jar contained so much water content that as long as the erosive substance entered the jar, it could be sent to any corner.

Unlike them, the Erosion Marsh didn’t carefully pull out a flask of brain tissues, rather, it destroyed almost every single tissue. Now that the Erosion Marsh had left with Luo Duan, only those dead brains that had been eroded into pieces were left behind and the alarm was triggered.

……It seemed that the Erosion Marsh had the same purpose as theirs: it also wanted to know the characteristics of the implanted brains. In this way, the Erosion Marsh could precisely destroy the fragments inside the players’ brains, just as it had done with Shu Jun’s mind.

Amidst the shrieking sound of the alarm, Shu Jun clenched his fists.

The theories were indeed similar, but there was one decisive difference.

He had a different tolerance for erosion compared to ordinary people, and coupled with Zhu Yanchen’s continuous treatment, he was able to bear it better — Zhu Yanchen wanted him to know the truth, and he also wanted him to live a better life.

An Erosion Marsh never cared about the latter.