Capture Alive

She used her voice-controlled bracelet to search for that set of materials, only to find they'd been bundled together with her teammate list.

The teammate list was on the first page.

Back then, she'd only been focused on seeing who her two teammates were, completely missing that there was more material after that page.

Well, that was her own fault for not looking carefully enough.

The three of them turned a corner and ran straight into a man in a security uniform.

He was walking in a hurry, dabbing at the sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief as he went.

As he brushed past them, Min Tao called out, "Director Deng, were you looking for us?"

The man called Director Deng immediately stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at them.

His gaze landed on Tu Ran first, because she was too conspicuous—her machine gun casually slung over her shoulder, one hand on her hip, eyes narrowed at him with an unmistakable air of scrutiny.

Sweat beaded on his forehead.

Why did this person look at him with such hostility?

He hadn't even done anything to her.

He turned his gaze to the other two, who were far more conventional—holding their machine guns properly, standing straight and imposing.

"You must be the Pioneers sent over today?"

"Yes," Min Tao said.

He looked back at Tu Ran and introduced, "This is Director Deng, head of the Executive Department's Pandalim District branch."

Tu Ran took the gun down from her shoulder, holding it properly in her hands. "Director Deng, where are you rushing off to in such a hurry?"

"I was coming to find you. Something urgent came up on my end and I couldn't get away. I'm late—sorry to keep you waiting."

As he spoke, he wiped his brow again, clearly having rushed over.

"No problem, we didn't wait long," Min Tao said with a smile, shaking his head.

"Good, good."

"Director Deng, earlier someone claiming to be a Pandalim District security officer came to receive us. Did you arrange that?" Tu Ran brought it up as if it were an afterthought.

"What? Diao Hongzhi came by?" Deng Changtai frowned, a sinking feeling in his gut. "That wasn't arranged by me. I planned to receive you personally. Why would he show up?"

He glanced down the corridor, as if looking for a subordinate to explain why the fish-eyed man had been let in. But there was no one there—all his men had been dispatched on assignments. He could only look back at the three with an apologetic expression. "He didn't... give you any trouble, did he?"

"He did," Tu Ran answered bluntly.

"Uh... he's a security officer. He keeps close ties with the wealthy and has good relations with them, so he holds a high position in this district. He often comes by to... guide our work."

His voice trailed off with diminishing confidence.

He didn't even believe himself.

Tu Ran could easily picture how the fish-eyed man threw his weight around at the Executive Department on a daily basis, nitpicking and ordering everyone about.

"We had a bit of a disagreement, and he told us to watch our backs. I'm worried he might retaliate against us," Tu Ran said, looking at Deng Changtai with feigned concern.

"No, no, don't worry," Deng Changtai waved his hands hastily. "He's just talking. He doesn't have that kind of power. At most... at most he'll badmouth you to the rich folks. But they never pay attention to that sort of thing, and they won't deliberately target you. You can rest easy."

"Oh, that's good then," Tu Ran nodded. "Director Deng, what did you come to see us about?"

"Right, I almost forgot the urgent matter!" Deng Changtai slapped his forehead in frustration. "It's like this... never mind, there's no time. Let's talk on the way."

Deng Changtai led the three of them briskly toward a patrol vehicle parked outside the Executive Department building. "An ancient castle by Jinghu Lake has shown signs of a genetically modified human. Security has already surrounded the castle; they're just waiting for you Pioneers to go deal with it."

"What about the other Pioneers?"

Weren't there still ten Pioneers?

"They're handling other genetically modified humans elsewhere."

A young guard who'd been tasked with driving Deng Changtai opened the patrol vehicle's door.

Deng Changtai didn't get in right away. Instead, he quickly explained things to Tu Ran.

"Quite a few people in Pandalim District have secretly drunk the miracle drug. As soon as our security guards detect something unusual, they surround the area, and once they confirm it's a genetically modified human, they summon you all."

"Yesterday, with some Pioneers leaving, we were short-staffed. They've been running around nonstop without much rest, so I let them take turns resting for half a day. Today, we'll mainly be relying on you three. You need to be mentally prepared."

The three of them nodded.

The group climbed into the extended patrol vehicle. The driver quickly lifted it off the ground, exhaust blasting out as the vehicle raced toward Jinghu Lake.

Inside the vehicle, Deng Changtai continued, "The genetically modified human this time is called Mira Wells. She's the aunt of Stephen Wells, the current head of the Wells family."

"Mira Wells has always pursued eternal youth. She's spent a fortune in Federation credits on artificial interventions, and while they had some effect, she was never satisfied. An extremist protest organization sold her the miracle drug under the guise of beauty and youth preservation, and she took it at face value."

"According to surveillance from the castle, she drank the drug early this morning. At 7:24, her consciousness began to fade, and by 7:40 she'd completely lost her mind while her body showed obvious signs of mutation."

Deng Changtai handed his electronic tablet to Tu Ran.

On the screen, a woman with long white hair wore a gray-white robe matching her hair. The loose robe had become tight due to her enlarged, mutated body. Even more bizarrely, two enormous, grotesque wings had sprouted from her shoulder blades at the back—like a chick that had grown an eagle's wings.

"This is a very rare mutation type. So far, only three have appeared. The first two, due to lack of experience, were blown to pieces by local security using explosive rounds. But this one, the higher-ups take very seriously. They want it captured alive."

Tu Ran passed the tablet to Min Tao and the other Pioneer to look at, then turned back to Deng Changtai. "Director Deng, you said Mira Wells is the Wells family head's aunt. Does he know about your plan to capture his aunt alive?"

Deng Changtai nodded. "Of course he knows. In fact, the proposal to capture Mira Wells alive came from him."

Tu Ran raised an eyebrow. This man was willing to sacrifice his own kin like that?

Deng Changtai saw her confusion and explained, "The Wells family head is one of the three Federation senators. A senator must be accountable for his own family. At a time when the Federation is cracking down hard on the miracle drug, his blood relative defied the ban to take it and caused an undeniable mess. If Stephen Wells wants to keep his seat as a Federation senator in the next term, he has no choice but to do this."