Chapter 481: Chapter 291: The Report from Five Years Ago, Removing the Mask
As night fell, New York came alive with lights, like a luxuriously dressed noblewoman. Times Square was brightly lit, and the crowd was so dense that cars couldn’t move.
Outside the Maybach’s window, the neon lights blurred, turning the world into a hazy patchwork of colors.
Inside the car, in the dim light, Gu Qiye’s hand had unknowingly started to sweat.
He maintained a façade of calmness, nonchalantly operating a tablet computer.
His fingers swiped the screen, entering the Rainbow Wings’ conference software options page, scrolling to the bottom where an option named "Historical Received Files" caught his eye.
After mentally preparing himself, Gu Qiye raised his hand and clicked, causing a list of files to pop up, densely packed, filling his vision.
Each file was labeled with a name and the specific date it was received.
Gu Qiye could see a keyword filter input box, but he chose not to use it, holding onto a subtle sense of resistance, slowly scrolling up the screen, recording each file’s name with his eyes.
Most of these files were action guidelines and mission dossiers issued by the United Nations’ high officials.
After the missions, Rainbow Wing members wrote their individual reports, such as the Sahara Desert Operation, Arctic Operation, Pacific Operation...
Among them, the report written by Fan Dongqing was the most perfunctory, obviously ghostwritten by AI.
The variety of mission names indicated that Rainbow Wings had a very broad range of tasks.
They ranged from dangerous supernatural species residing in the North Sea, like "Ghost Whale" and "Dragon Jellyfish," to superpower crime organizations worldwide, including high-level criminals like "White Crow Travel Brigade," "Black Cross," "Ghost Bell"...
Upon seeing the report on the "Ghost Bell Superpower Criminal Suppression Operation," Gu Qiye’s right hand hesitated for a moment.
The person submitting the action report was naturally You Ruirui.
He had a complex expression, paused for a moment, and opened the file, only to see a photo of the site embedded in the report content.
It was a gigantic crater in Li Jing Central Starlight Park.
Outside the crater, everything appeared completely devastated. The giant Ferris wheel was shattered, scattered in the concavity, cables, car seats, light tubes, everything was flattened.
Only at this moment did Gu Qiye finally confirm that this scene was caused entirely by You Ruirui.
For some reason, he suddenly recalled that day five years ago, the dazzling beam of light descending from the sky like a meteor, the scarred earth, the smile his mother gave them at the end.
"No, that’s wrong." Gu Qiye shook his head, thinking, "Her power is creating ice, that beam of light has nothing to do with her."
So he averted his gaze and continued skimming through You Ruirui’s action report, the text format was very neat and concise, just like her personality;
It mentioned that Ghost Bell’s body was destroyed by her superpower, and that a third party appeared during the mission.
This third party was naturally Li Jing’s long-standing wanted criminal, "Black Cocoon."
You Ruirui also mentioned in the report: Black Cocoon is suspected of having some ability to "create clones or puppets and control them"—the puppets have the ability to speak and can use the restraint belt normally.
In that dawn, Black Cocoon manipulated a puppet to enter Li Jing Central Amusement Park and converse with You Ruirui; in the end, the moment of Ghost Bell’s death, Black Cocoon’s puppet also dissipated into a gas and vanished.
You Ruirui could not prevent this from happening, nor was she able to find any person in the vicinity suspected to be Black Cocoon’s true form.
Of course, this wasn’t within her task scope either, a more laid-back Rainbow Wings member might not even bother to report, just writing "Ghost Bell is dead, everyone is happy" would suffice, she was quite responsible.
Create clones, huh? Black Cocoon possessing such an ability, no wonder he’s usually so audacious, Gu Qiye thought, finally confirming that Black Cocoon hadn’t undeservedly claimed credit.
From You Ruirui’s submitted mission report, indeed that dawn, it was Black Cocoon’s help that allowed the Gu Zhuo Case to survive.
Gu Qiye thought, having learned this lesson, his old man should be more cautious next time, but after the revenge is complete, where do we go from there?
By that time, I might have become a notorious, hunted fugitive just like him.
But that’s what I deserve; even Mu Long has become a wanted criminal, yet the Mutants Association publicly claims "Blue Arc" is already dead;
If a half month later, Blue Arc suddenly resurrects and inexplicably becomes a fugitive, it would greatly affect the association’s reputation, possibly even collapsing its credibility entirely.
So, by then probably only the internal Rainbow Wings personnel will come to hunt me down. Thinking of this, Gu Qiye looked up, glancing at You Ruirui’s back, this ice-sculpture-like girl had long been silent.
Maybach shuttled through the night, the streets were brilliantly lit.
He exited the action report, continued scrolling up the file records; as the file dates went further back, Gu Qiye’s fingers slowed, approaching that dreadful, heart-wrenching day.
It was like stepping back into a rainstorm, the body slowly cooling in the rainy curtain, the right hand trembling slightly.
"Cold?" You Ruirui suddenly asked, "Need me to lower the air conditioner temperature?"
"No need." Gu Qiye, flipping through the documents, said absently.
Honestly, he was curious whether You Ruirui was driving or observing him through the rearview mirror, or if at the moment in the underground parking lot when he released the lightning, You Ruirui might have noticed in the first moment but chose not to mention it.
He shook his head, pulling back his chaotic thoughts.
The time of the received files moved step by step upward, one year, two years, three years, four years, finally arriving in 2015.
The fingers turned the pages one by one, the speed of page-turning got slower and slower, and the time leaps had now decreased from years to months, finally pinpointing each date.
Gu Qiye’s heartbeat grew quicker and quicker, as if a million tiny people were tap dancing on his chest.
Finally, that abrupt and sensitive date appeared before his eyes, like a shining flashlight suddenly seen in complete darkness.
June 15, 2015.
At the same time, the file name caught his eye, causing his pupils to involuntarily contract slightly:
——"Penalty Record: Li Jing, Old Jingmai District Incident, large-scale destruction of buildings, resulting in multiple casualties."
At this moment, Gu Qiye suddenly felt a little dazed, as if in a dream.
The blurred neon lights reflected on his bewildered face through the car window, the truth he had pursued for years lay right before him, everything was much simpler than he had imagined, maybe reality really wasn’t as convoluted as in films.
Just by clicking into this file, he would know who exactly killed his mother, the culprit behind the tragedy five years ago was right in front of him.
Gu Qiye took a deep breath, remained silent for a moment, and his hovering index finger slowly descended, touching the screen, pressing on the file title.
His gaze was calm and serious, for some reason at this moment, his mood was eerily tranquil.
Because the file was so old, the tablet screen lagged for a while when loading the file, and the pure white page illuminated Gu Qiye’s dark pupils.
After a moment, the file loaded, and the first line of text entered his vision.
"Penalty Subject: Current Rainbow Wings Member No.12; Codename, Father of Puppets."
....
....
At the same time, in another corner of the world.
Japan Local Time 8 AM, Hokkaido, inside a secluded abandoned train station.
Black Cocoon was hanging motionless upside down under the eaves, holding "Sisyphus’s Tale" in one hand and a Nokia phone in the other.
After sending a message to Gu Qiye, he looked up, silently watching the puddle on the track.
Soon, a rumbling noise came, followed by a dark red steel giant bursting out of the tunnel.
The Train Demon stopped, the front car arched upward due to the abrupt back force, like a rearing steed, large clouds of milky white steam diffusing through the gaps of the car carriages. Its face wore a frown, the elderly white beard curling up on one end and drooping on the other, looking quite comical.
The door of the seventh carriage slowly opened, an iron gangway extending outward, and Ke Qirui got off, glancing up to see Black Cocoon waving at her with a restraint belt.
She habitually had a cigarette holder in her mouth, her posture relaxed; he, as usual, held a book, hanging like a circus performer in mid-air.
"Of course," Ke Qirui teased, "the driver is here, satisfied?"
"Then I am very satisfied, you are indeed punctual, Miss Ke," Black Cocoon praised, "Some people just don’t have this excellent quality, always making me wait."
"By the way... Can’t you go from New York to Japan, why did you call me all of a sudden?" Ke Qirui curiously asked.
She didn’t understand, since Black Cocoon had other means to achieve this, why did he have to ask her?
"Uh, here’s the thing, the one who brought me from New York to Japan is an Anecdote Envoy boy, and he discovered a relic on the way, it seems there’s a generational-level anecdote hidden inside, so he has already gone to explore it." Black Cocoon shrugged helplessly, "Otherwise, why would I mean to call you every time, don’t be fooled by my appearance, under my mask is just a shy, introverted little boy, maybe even an elementary school student."
"I see, no wonder I had to be contacted as the driver again," Ke Qirui smiled slightly.
"Anyway, let’s leave the small talk for now, I’m on a tight schedule."
Saying this, Black Cocoon put away the restraint belt, flipped his body, lightly descended from mid-air, and boarded the carriage with Ke Qirui.
Soon, the rumble echoed through the train station, and the Train Demon plunged headlong into a dark tunnel.
Inside the train carriage, Black Cocoon and Ke Qirui sat facing each other, one quietly watching the other, while the other looked down at a detective novel.
"You’re making me a little uneasy," Ke Qirui raised her eyebrows, "Is there something?"
"Yes, Miss Ke, there’s something I need to tell you." Black Cocoon was silent for a moment before suddenly speaking.
Ke Qirui thought for a moment, looked up, and slightly composed her expression.
"Is it about the Salvation Society?" she asked.
"No, it’s actually just about me personally." Black Cocoon shook his head, "I just feel it’s time to explain." After speaking, he raised his hand and pressed the latch located on the side of the mask next to his ear.
In the silent carriage, a sharp ’click’ sounded.
The metal mask on his face loosened immediately, no longer adhering closely.
Then, under Ke Qirui’s astonished gaze, Black Cocoon slowly removed the dark red and white mask from his face, revealing a delicate, youthful visage that had yet to lose its childlike innocence.