Chapter 6: Can Pheromones from Ten Years Ago Be Implanted as Markers?

Meng Tongshang entered the interrogation room and glanced at Chu Shen, who was covered in wounds.

The pale light cast down from above Chu Shen’s head illuminated his faintly trembling silver-white hair.

Every deep breath seemed to cause Chu Shen unbearable pain.

“Why force yourself to hold on? Once you fall into Commander Qu’s hands, death is inevitable anyway,” Meng Tongshang said as he sat down beside Chu Shen, studying a face that, despite being tortured beyond recognition, remained strikingly beautiful.

He had seen the photo Qu Zhuzhu Qing always carried with him.

He had to admit the face before him seemed even more captivating than the one frozen in the photograph.

It wasn’t a soft, harmless kind of beauty, but a sharp, radiant, and almost dazzling allure.

An Alpha this good-looking was truly rare.

“Maybe evil can never prevail over good. You all are just unlucky,” Meng Tongshang muttered, almost to himself. “Honestly, with a face like this, you could really mess with Commander Qu’s mind if he hadn’t already known you were the Polar Domain’s top assassin.”

Chu Shen was in excruciating pain all over, and Meng Tongshang’s words reached him as if through a haze.

But Meng Tongshang clearly had a talkative nature, and once he started, he couldn’t stop.

“Don’t you hate the Altered…?” Chu Shen slowly spoke.

He seemed unable to comprehend Meng Tongshang’s attitude toward him.

Meng Tongshang appeared caught off guard by the question. He thought for a moment before shaking his head. “No. I joined the Commandery because Brother Qu saved me once, so I followed him.”

Meng Tongshang had been rescued by Qu Zhuzhu Qing from the ruins of a fierce battle.

Ever since then, he has stayed by Qu Zhuzhu Qing’s side.

Listening to Meng Tongshang’s words, Chu Shen’s gaze grew distant.

There couldn’t be many people left who didn’t hate the Altered…

Meng Tongshang continued, “A few days ago, an Altered we interrogated gave you up. Once your identity was exposed, it didn’t matter how you looked.”

Chu Shen abruptly lifted his head.

No wonder the trap had been so precisely set for him!

No wonder the Commandery knew his movements and habits so well!

And no wonder Qu Zhuzhu Qing had immediately recognized him as “Chong You”!

His mission this time had been to obtain the latest experimental reagent from the Altered Research Institute backed by the Commandery and the Enforcement Department

The Polar Domain’s Mutation Drug A-31 could turn ordinary people into Altered after injections. It was highly addictive, forcing long-term dependence on Mutation drugs; stopping the medication meant certain death.

Yet the life-extending effects of Alteration on the body, appearance, lifespan, and illness made A-31, a substance almost like a contagion, highly sought after by many.

Alteration had been silently spreading.

The Polar Domain amassed enormous wealth through the drug, fueling even larger-scale Alteration!

Recently, the Altered Research Institute claimed to have developed the B-32 reagent, which could block A-31’s Alteration effects on the human body.

Feeling threatened, the Polar Domain assigned the mission of stealing B-32 to their top assassin, Chong You.

That is, Chu Shen.

Chu Shen knew full well that this was a mission he had to fail.

He couldn’t let the Polar Domain obtain the Blocking Agent and use it to improve A-31.

But even he hadn’t anticipated that the Blocking Agent was nothing but a trap from start to finish.

The Altered Research Institute had never developed such a thing; it was all a scheme orchestrated by the Commandery’s highest-ranking commander.

All for the purpose of capturing him.

Chu Shen closed his eyes halfway, overwhelmed with agony.

As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but stark whiteness, save for the Coalition Badge hanging high on the wall.

His gaze eventually settled on the Coalition Badge.

From the day he was forced into Alteration, he had no choice but to walk the path of an undercover agent.

Ten years and he had never truly regretted it.

But now, watching Qu Zhuzhu Qing blinded by hatred, he suddenly felt a flicker of doubt.

The Qu Zhuzhu Qing of the past was not like this.

Back then, Little Qu was well-behaved, kind to everyone, and full of laughter.

His smile was so radiant it could melt even the coldest of hearts.

Yet now, Qu Zhuzhu Qing has become the sharpest blade of the Commandery.

He was an excellent commander.

But he was no longer himself…

Chu Shen wondered if it was his own death ten years ago that had driven Qu Zhuzhu Qing onto this path.

But the original Qu Zhuzhu Qing should never have ended up like this!

After leaving the interrogation room, Qu Zhuzhu Qing rushed to the Alteration Research Institute without a moment’s delay.

Qi Wei was already waiting at the institute’s entrance.

With his refined appearance, thin-framed glasses, and white lab coat, Qi Wei looked even more untrustworthy.

But he was indeed one of Qu Zhuzhu Qing’s most trusted brothers.

“Any leads?” Qu Zhuzhu Qing approached, his tone urgently.

“Not just let’s have results.” Qi Wei adjusted his glasses. “Let’s talk inside.”

Qi Wei had met Qu Zhuzhu Qing at the orphanage behind the Commandery.

On his thirteenth birthday, Qu Zhuzhu Qing lost his brother.

On the same day, Qi Wei’s only relative, his grandmother, went out of the city to trade for supplies and never returned.

They shared a bond forged in hardship.

Though Qu Zhuzhu Qing left the orphanage at fourteen to enter the Commandery’s Special Training Center and fought his way to where he was today,

Their relationship had never grown distant.

Qi Wei led Qu Zhuzhu Qing into his office and locked the door behind them.

Qu Zhuzhu Qing frowned. He was just looking for someone it wasn’t something to be ashamed of.

Qi Wei pressed his ear against the door like a thief, ensuring no sound from outside, before relaxing.

He whispered conspiratorially, “I cross-referenced your brother’s information and stole his belongings.”

Stole?

Qu Zhuzhu Qing shot him a puzzled look.

Alright, it did sound rather shady.

Qi Wei retrieved a Pheromone Storage Dish from his locked safe,

along with a stack of classified documents.

“I used the pretext of experimental needs to access a batch of top-secret files usually beyond reach all belonging to fallen enforcement officers.” Qi Wei handed the items to Qu Zhuzhu Qing.

Qu Zhuzhu Qing had asked him to help find someone, and for years, the search had yielded nothing.

They had too little information to go on.

From the moment Chu Shen joined the Enforcement Department, all his records were classified utterly untraceable.

The only clues Qi Wei had been the name “Chu Shen” and the scent of Bai Tan pheromone.

“The Bai Tan pheromone matches, but…” Qi Wei sighed. “The rest of the data is vague. See if it lines up.”

Qu Zhuzhu Qing opened the file and froze instantly.

An enforcement officer’s file yet it had no name, no photo, only dense records of missions!

All were top-level classified operations.

Living on the edge of life and death every day.

The only piece of information left in the entire file was a codename

【Chang Geng】

Former Supreme Enforcement Officer Chang Geng.

A man with countless merits, yet not a single trace left behind…

Qu Zhuzhu Qing’s trembling hand caressed the rows of blank fields with no name, no photograph, no identifiable information whatsoever.

“His codename” Qu Zhuzhu Qing’s voice trembled too, his words becoming fragmented, “Chang… Chang Geng…”

The name Chang Geng, who in the Enforcement Department or the Commandery didn’t know it?

He was a legend in everyone’s hearts.

The sole highest enforcer during the early days of the Dark Web.

It was just a pity that everyone came to know this codename only after he had already fallen in line of duty…

Qu Zhuzhu Qing shakily brushed his fingertips over the information on the file.

No wonder they had searched for so long and found nothing.

Within the Enforcement Department, there were tens of thousands of enforcers and over a hundred enforcement officers.

Among them, only a handful could reach the position of highest enforcer.

Qu Zhuzhu Qing could guess from the frequency and difficulty of Chu Shen’s missions back then that he wasn’t an ordinary enforcer.

But he had already checked all the enforcement officers.

There were no clues.

Yet among the enforcement officers, there was a most special group they never had names, only referred to by codenames, and couldn’t even leave any traces in the Enforcement Department.

They weren’t directly subordinate to the Enforcement Department, but to the Dark Web.

The Dark Web had only one highest commander: Chang Geng.

“He left no effective information behind. The only thing that can be used for comparison is this pheromone.” Qi Wei’s gaze was filled with sorrow.

He stared at the seemingly empty glass container.

Yet through that container, he saw a person who had long since sacrificed himself, bathed in blood in the darkness.

Apart from Qu Zhuzhu Qing, probably no one else would remember what he looked like…

Qu Zhuzhu Qing tightly clutched the Pheromone Storage Dish in his palm, remaining completely still for a long time.

A faint scent of Bai Tan enveloped him.

Ethereal and elusive, like a fleeting dream.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you this thing that should have been sealed away forever was stolen by me to give to you,” Qi Wei reminded him.

“I know,” Qu Zhuzhu Qing’s voice was somewhat choked. “I stole it from your office. It has nothing to do with you.”

Qi Wei frowned slightly. “What are you thinking?”

He hadn’t meant to shift responsibility.

After all, given his relationship with Qu Zhuzhu Qing, he had long been prepared to risk everything.

Seeing Qu Zhuzhu Qing’s unwillingness to let go, Qi Wei felt somewhat uneasy. “I’m just reminding you that if this gets investigated, you’ll still have to return it.”

He was truly afraid that Qu Zhuzhu Qing might end up fighting with the Inspection Department.

Suddenly, Qu Zhuzhu Qing held the storage dish and looked at Qi Wei, his expression extremely serious. “Can pheromones from ten years ago be implanted into a gland?”

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