Chapter 185: 185, Expose each other

In the dim yet spacious sewer, clear footsteps echoed, unlike the narrow space Ren Xiaosu had imagined. The drainage beneath the 109 Bastion was designed more like an air-raid shelter.

When the Bastions were built in the early years, people still lived in the shadow of the catastrophe, so many designs considered what to do if war came again.

Thus, the main drainage channels beneath the 109 Bastion were designed to be as open as air-raid shelters.

Of course, only the main channels were designed this way.

A dark shadow walked within, carrying the unconscious Yang Xiaomign on its left shoulder and the suffering Ren Xiaosu on its right...

Ren Xiaosu was wounded too, blood dripping from his hanging arm, drop by drop into the turbid sewage.

As if drawn by the blood, massive rats in the sewer peered at the shadow and the two wounded on its shoulders.

Yet for some reason, the rats never dared to attack.

The pain Ren Xiaosu bore was not just his own wounds, but also the tearing bites the shadow had endured in the recent battle, transmitted to him.

This was probably the fiercest battle Ren Xiaosu had faced. At first, he thought it was just six experimental subjects, but during the fight, he realized the remaining four or five in the building had all been drawn there.

At that time, several experimental subjects were kicked down the stairs to their deaths, leaving no bodies on the rooftop, so Luo Xinyu misjudged the situation when she arrived.

In Luo Xinyu’s mind, someone capable of killing six experimental subjects at once was terrifying enough; she didn’t dare to think further.

This was the era when the supernatural had just emerged, and everyone was groping forward in the realm of the extraordinary. Unless one was a natural-born monster like Li Shenzhan, individual strength could not bridge the gap in numbers.

In other words, no one’s power could truly ignore the enemy’s numbers. The supernatural were not yet that strong, or they wouldn’t be hunted by the consortiums and forced to hide across the world.

But all supernatural organizations shared a consensus: such a powerful individual would eventually be born.

The shadow walked on underground, and Yang Xiaomign suddenly woke from her stupor, her body aching so much she couldn’t lift herself: "Ren Xiaosu?"

Her voice was jarring in the vast sewer. Ren Xiaosu replied weakly: "Huh?"

"Where are we?" Yang Xiaomign asked.

"That’s a good question," Ren Xiaosu answered: "Broadly speaking, we’re in the sewer. If you insist on specifics, I’m not sure of our exact location..."

Yang Xiaomign instantly deduced that Ren Xiaosu was likely wounded too, but judging by his behavior—still talking nonsense without pause—it probably wasn’t too severe...

At that moment, the shadow stopped walking. It finally found a dry platform where it could set Yang Xiaomign and Ren Xiaosu down.

The two leaned against the wall and sat on the ground. Ren Xiaosu pulled out a candle, lit it, and placed it on the ground. He asked: "Why didn’t Luo Xinyu meet you this time?"

"Maybe something went wrong," Yang Xiaomign’s spirit slightly recovered: "If nothing happened, she’d definitely come."

At this point, Ren Xiaosu still hadn’t given up hiding his identity. He said to the shadow: "Thank you, Old Xu..."

Yang Xiaomign laughed: "My wounds hurt. Don’t tease me."

"Old Xu came back over a hundred kilometers just to save us. Shouldn’t we thank him?" Ren Xiaosu said earnestly.

"Xu Xuancai has a tracker we secretly installed on him," Yang Xiaomign explained: "This morning, he just passed through Tungsten Mountain and was heading northwest toward the 178 Bastion. Wasn’t that the direction you told him to go? I remember you mentioned Zhang Jinglin. At the time, I didn’t think much of it, just felt the name was familiar, but I wasn’t sure if it was someone I knew."

Ren Xiaosu grew angry: "Why did you put a tracker on Old Xu?"

"Don’t change the subject," Yang Xiaomign said softly: "So I’ve always wondered about something. When I saw you in the Jing Mountain back then, why didn’t the Qingshi Consortium pursue you much? Instead, they kept offering a high reward for Xu Xuancai..."

Ren Xiaosu stammered: "It has nothing to do with me. Don’t blame me."

"So your supernatural ability is to replicate others’ powers, right?" Yang Xiaomign asked quietly: "You’ve replicated mine too. I studied it carefully—you hold the gun at the exact same angle as me, no deviation at all."

Yang Xiaomign had always felt Ren Xiaosu’s gun-handling was oddly familiar, as if watching a male version of herself. Now she finally understood why.

At this point, Yang Xiaomign didn’t know how to evaluate Ren Xiaosu’s ability. It was a widely accepted fact in the supernatural community that a supernatural being couldn’t possess two abilities at once.

But Ren Xiaosu was different—his abilities had long surpassed two.

They were all supernatural, yet their hard-won abilities could be easily replicated by others, even surpassed. It was infuriating.

For instance, Xu Xuancai’s shadow wasn’t as strong as Ren Xiaosu’s.

So Yang Xiaomign felt... Ren Xiaosu’s abilities seemed to tower above other supernatural beings.

"So Luo Xinyu’s sudden increase in bounty a few days ago was thanks to you too," Yang Xiaomign continued.

Ren Xiaosu truly couldn’t accept this: "That’s not true! I don’t admit that!"

It wasn’t that he was worried about others knowing he had framed Luo Xinyu, but he didn’t want Yang Xiaomign to know that when he replicated skills, he had messed up—others could take people away directly, but he could only take an arm...

Wouldn’t that be embarrassing...

"So you admit to everything else?" Yang Xiaomign said with a faint smile.

Ren Xiaosu thought he couldn’t let Yang Xiaomign expose all his secrets. He had to counterattack. Suddenly, he said: "Let’s figure out how to escape this Bastion. I’ve planned it. We can run faster, but our stamina isn’t enough to sprint far. We need transportation. I know where there are bicycles. You can ride, right? Once you’re healed, you can take me away on a bike."

Yang Xiaomign paused and said calmly: "Enough with the probing. I don’t know how to ride."

"Hahahaha," Ren Xiaosu laughed in a low voice. Yang Xiaomign, you’ve had your day too!

"That’s enough laughing," Yang Xiaomign said calmly.