Chapter 145: Identity
Nan Yu said, "Don't worry. Before I came here, I locked that ward from the outside. Only the two of us have permission to open it. Even if they really are suspicious, they won't be able to get out or do anything, so there's nothing to worry about."
Yu Lanfeng nodded, then turned on the surveillance feed outside the room so they could monitor it at all times. There were no cameras inside the room, however, specifically to prevent Nan Yu's secret from being exposed.
Still, he couldn't help regretting it a little now. If only he had installed cameras inside as well, he would have been able to see what was happening in there. But this wasn't the time to dwell on that.
Nan Yu compared the examination data he had just collected on the spot with the backup records from the hospital. Those records covered the period from the patients' admission until just before they had been transferred here. Logically, the changes shouldn't have been significant, but...
Pointing at the Mental Contamination value on the report, Nan Yu said, "When they left the hospital, both of them had S-rank Mental Contamination at the lower-middle level. But now it's only at the lower level of S-rank. That's impossible. Once a Mental Power User's Mental Contamination reaches S-rank, it only gets worse over time. The only way to reduce it is through treatment by a Mental Power User. But even if a High-Tier Mental Power User treated them, they would have to suppress the contamination all the way down to A-rank or below in a single session. It's impossible to lower it from lower-middle S-rank to lower S-rank little by little. Nobody can do that."
Which meant there was only one explanation.
These weren't the same two people who had been transferred from the hospital.
The original pair had been replaced, and somehow no one had noticed anything unusual.
Nan Yu continued, "They look almost exactly like the people in the photos. I didn't dare stay there too long, though. If they decided to attack me, I wouldn't have had the ability to res—"
Before he could finish, Yu Lanfeng pulled him into his arms.
Pressing Nan Yu's head gently against his chest, he took a deep breath.
"You handled it perfectly. As long as you're safe, that's all that matters."
"As for everything else, leave it to me."
Nan Yu nestled awkwardly against him without speaking. Still sitting on Yu Lanfeng's lap, he continued, "Actually... this is only my speculation. There's another possibility."
"...Maybe the equipment at the rear hospital wasn't accurate enough, and this examination simply produced an error. If it were only this one discrepancy, I'd still hesitate. But look at this value, Brother."
The value Nan Yu pointed to was one of the most ordinary measurements imaginable.
Height.
Weight could naturally fluctuate greatly for patients in their condition, so that wasn't unusual.
But height...
Once an adult had long since stopped growing, it shouldn't change.
When Nan Yu had scanned their bodies with the medical equipment, he hadn't only measured their Mental Contamination. He had also collected their basic physical information.
That's when he discovered that their heights differed from the previous records.
According to the hospital's data, one patient was 182 centimeters tall while the other measured 186 centimeters.
But his own scan showed one at 181.6 centimeters and the other at 186.6 centimeters.
The differences were tiny.
Yet they weren't insignificant.
Nan Yu continued, "There's one thing I don't understand. If these two really were replacements sent here, then their target was definitely me. But their Mental Contamination is genuinely at S-rank. Even after replacing the originals, they're in no condition to actually attack me... And if they're exposed, they're as good as dead."
"I know," Yu Lanfeng replied.
"What?"
He reached out and gently stroked Nan Yu's hair.
"They're gambling."
Nan Yu blinked.
"They're risking that much? If we discover them, it's a dead end. Anyone willing to impersonate those two soldiers definitely isn't an ordinary person..."
Yu Lanfeng's fingers brushed lightly across Nan Yu's earlobe.
Nan Yu shivered from the sensitive touch, quickly caught his hand, and placed it in front of himself to stop him from wandering.
Yu Lanfeng didn't resist.
He simply let Nan Yu hold his hand.
"It's simple," he said. "To that organization, sacrificing a few people like this in exchange for you and the thing in your possession is an incredible bargain."
Nan Yu thought for a moment.
"Ah!"
That really did make sense.
Which meant the most important thing now was...
"We still have to find those two soldiers. They came because of me. I don't want someone to..."
He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.
Both he and Yu Lanfeng understood.
The two men who had been replaced were most likely already dead.
That organization was notoriously ruthless.
After replacing them, there was no reason to keep them alive. Hiding them somewhere would only create unnecessary risks and complications.
Disposing of them would have been the simplest solution.
"So what should we do now, Brother? Kill them? Or lock them up and interrogate them to see if we can get any useful information?"
"But... we probably can't just kill them. The original soldiers disappeared after being replaced. If we never find them, everyone will assume these two are the genuine soldiers. If we execute them without proof..."
Yu Lanfeng had already realized the same problem.
They absolutely couldn't deal with these two just yet.
"In that case..."
His eyes narrowed.
"We'll lure the snake out of its hole."
"We'll secretly send these two back to the hospital. Then we can monitor them. Maybe someone will come to rescue them."
Nan Yu frowned.
"But... even if that organization has a High-Tier Mental Power User, would they really waste the effort treating these two?"
"If they don't treat them, then these two are useless to them. Would they still bother rescuing them?"
Yu Lanfeng was momentarily speechless.
Then he quickly realized another layer of the trap.
"You're right."
"But even if they don't rescue them..."
"They'll still come."
"They'll come to kill them and eliminate all loose ends."
To that organization, people like these were expendable.
After this incident, however, it was unlikely anyone would willingly volunteer for infiltration missions again.
Nan Yu blinked.
"Let's do it your way."
"But we should still look for the two soldiers who were replaced. They may already be gone... but what if we find them?"
"We have to."
They were his soldiers.
If they died, they should die on the battlefield.
Not be murdered while gravely ill, only to have their bodies destroyed afterward.
That was something Yu Lanfeng would never forgive.
He would wipe that organization out piece by piece.
...
The two impostors remained there for roughly two days.
Nan Yu let out a long sigh.
"I can't do anything for these two right now."
"Send them back to the hospital."
"When I become stronger in the future, I'll come back and remove their Mental Contamination."
No one found this strange.
After all, Nan Yu had already exceeded everyone's expectations.
It wasn't surprising that there were still patients beyond his current abilities.
The staff quietly prepared the two patients, then secretly transported them back to the hospital.
While they were moving them, however, two people glanced toward Nan Yu several times.
Nan Yu wasn't alone now.
Crown Prince Yuan Qiyang stood not far behind him.
This place was well concealed, with no one else around.
Besides...
Yu Lanfeng was in an office only about a minute away.
If anything happened here, he could arrive almost immediately.
So naturally nothing would happen.
Both Nan Yu and Yuan Qiyang believed that.
They watched as the patients were loaded up and slowly wheeled away before finally disappearing.
After seeing them off, Nan Yu returned to Yu Lanfeng's office.
"Brother, they're gone."
"Just now Yuan Qiyang was standing behind me. Were they hesitant because of him?"
After thinking about it, though, that probably wasn't the reason.
The timing, location, and surrounding circumstances simply hadn't been suitable for making a move.
Yu Lanfeng beckoned him over.
"Come take a look."
"The surveillance recording."
"While they were preparing the patients, two people secretly looked at you several times."
Nan Yu shook his head.
"That doesn't prove anything."
"My identity is special, and my Mental Power is unusually strong. Plenty of people are curious about me."
"It's perfectly normal for them to look at me."
"I actually think the ones who deliberately avoided looking at me deserve more suspicion."
"Whether they intentionally avoided eye contact or were simply focused on their work—we can't be certain."
"..."
For some reason, Yu Lanfeng felt like Nan Yu was arguing against him.
Unfortunately, he had no proof.
Still, he understood.
Nan Yu simply didn't want innocent people to be wrongly suspected.
But this matter wasn't that simple.
Ten people had participated in this operation.
Among those ten, there was definitely at least one spy.
Now everything depended on Qin Wenxing's investigation.
Everyone recruited during that particular year—and everyone recruited by those recruits in later years—would all be investigated.
He wanted to see exactly how many of those ten people were connected to that organization.
Nan Yu was about to say something else when Yu Lanfeng suddenly released him.
Instinctively, Nan Yu sat down in the chair that had been prepared for him.
"What's wrong?"
Yu Lanfeng almost never let go while holding him.
Unless...
Someone was about to arrive.
Knowing Nan Yu embarrassed easily, Yu Lanfeng always let him go beforehand.
Nan Yu raised an eyebrow.
Sure enough, Qin Wenxing walked in moments later.
Seeing Nan Yu there didn't surprise him in the slightest, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Marshal."
"Mr. Nan."
"I've finished investigating."
He handed over several lists.
"The first list contains everyone recruited after that year's disruption caused by the Emperor and Empress."
"There are sixty people in total."
"The lists below contain everyone those people later recruited, as well as the members who served under them each year."
Nan Yu leaned close to Yu Lanfeng so they could examine the documents together.
His attention was quickly drawn to the contents.
Yu Lanfeng, however, focused on finding information about those ten people.
Before long, he found what he was looking for.
Two names appeared clearly on the list.
He tapped them.
"Keep these two under close surveillance."
"Don't let them out of your sight."
"Watch them every second."
Qin Wenxing had no idea how Yu Lanfeng had identified those two with such certainty.
But if the Marshal said so...
Then those two undoubtedly had serious problems.
"Yes, Marshal!"
"I'll arrange it immediately!"
Afterward, Yu Lanfeng discussed several additional matters with Qin Wenxing.
The more Nan Yu listened, the more reasonable the plan sounded.
Still...
Would it really work?
Wouldn't the enemy notice?
Once everything had been arranged, Nan Yu resumed his work.
From among the many patients, he selected two more to receive treatment.
Coincidentally, these two were almost identical in height and build to the previous pair that had been sent back.
Even their levels of Mental Contamination were remarkably close.
The only major difference...
Was their faces.
Even Nan Yu found it unbelievable.
"Seriously?"
"There are actually people whose data match this closely?"
"How did you find them?"
Qin Wenxing smiled.
"Every soldier updates their physical data at regular intervals."
"So comparing them is easy."
"I see..."
Yu Lanfeng waved his hand, signaling Qin Wenxing to leave.
Qin Wenxing tactfully departed.
Nan Yu sighed.
"I can't even chat for a while?"
Yu Lanfeng shook his head.
"That's not it."
"It's time."
Nan Yu paused before suddenly realizing.
He was right.
It was time for today's Mental Contamination treatment.
Earlier, Nan Yu had said that reducing Mental Contamination naturally was impossible.
Yu Lanfeng, however, was the sole exception.
Before Nan Yu appeared, Yu Lanfeng's Mental Contamination had already become extremely severe.
Without help from Nan Yu—or any other Mental Power User—he had endured it entirely on his own.
The fact that no one had discovered the truth all this time was practically a miracle.
Everyone had assumed Yu Lanfeng secretly kept a hidden Mental Power User to treat him.
That was why nobody questioned why he refused assistance from public Mental Power Users.
Perhaps he couldn't have hidden it forever.
But after Nan Yu appeared...
Everyone naturally concluded that the mysterious Mental Power User Yu Lanfeng had secretly relied upon all these years had been Nan Yu all along.
No one doubted it.
After all, besides a High-Tier Mental Power User, the only person capable of restoring Yu Lanfeng so dramatically seemed to be the astonishingly talented Nan Yu.
Nan Yu himself, however, knew nothing about any of this.
Occasionally, people hinted at it when talking to him.
Each time, Nan Yu simply looked completely bewildered.
Eventually those people all received an intensified period of special training.
They understood that it was the Marshal's punishment.
After that, nobody dared ask Nan Yu about the matter again.
Before Nan Yu could even begin suspecting anything, Yu Lanfeng had quietly cut off the matter at its source.
To this day...
Nan Yu remained completely unaware.
In any case, it had little effect on their future lives.
Whether he knew or not made almost no difference.
Even if he eventually learned the truth, it wasn't a particularly serious matter.
He probably wouldn't even get angry.
That was why Yu Lanfeng had simply allowed the misunderstanding to continue.
Nan Yu asked, "Will this plan really work?"
"Will they actually fall for it?"
"But if they do..."
"Won't they have to find people to impersonate the people who are currently impersonating those two?"
"Exactly," Yu Lanfeng replied.
"And that's how we'll find out whether the original two were really killed..."
"...or merely hidden."
Nan Yu's eyes lit up.
"Right!"
"Why didn't I think of that?"
"You really thought this through."
"In that case, I'll wait and see."
"I hope they're still alive."
Sure enough, not long after Nan Yu selected the replacement patients, the hospital began preparing the next transfer.
That very night...
The ward containing the two newly selected patients received unexpected visitors.
The intruders remained inside for only a few minutes before quietly leaving.
No one noticed anything unusual.
Hospitals were especially quiet at night.
Even someone turning over in bed could often be heard outside the room.
Everyone naturally remained silent.
Out on the spacious plaza beside the staff lounge, two people stood talking quietly in a secluded corner.
"So?"
"They're pretty similar, aren't they?"
"Very similar."
"But their faces are completely different."
"That'll be troublesome."
"That's not a problem."
"The photos were taken when they first joined the legion."
"As for their current appearance..."
"...well, those photos are all..."
"In that case..."
"Then we'll..."
"Exactly."
"It'll definitely work."
After exchanging only a few brief words, they left together and returned to their dormitory.
Two other people were already resting inside.
One of them opened his eyes.
"Why are you back so late?"
"We were about to turn the lights off."
"Sorry."
"We grabbed something to eat outside and lost track of time."
"Want some before bed?"
"It smells amazing."
"So that's what you two were doing."
"Sneaking off to eat!"
"Hurry up and hand it over!"
The two immediately took out the food they had prepared.
"You guys eat."
"We already had plenty outside."
Their roommates happily finished every last bite.
"Tastes great."
"Next time we're free, let's all go together."
"Eating together will be much more fun."
"Sounds good."
"It's settled."
"Alright."
"It's late."
"Get some sleep."
"We've got another assignment tomorrow night."
"We need to be well rested."
"Yes, Captain!"
The man who had spoken was their captain.
Since the captain was going to bed, everyone else naturally followed.
Soon every dormitory had turned off its lights.
Three or four hours later...
The two men sleeping on the upper bunks silently sat up.
Without making a sound, they climbed down.
Their feet landed softly on the floor.
They quietly dressed themselves.
Earlier, they had mixed a small amount of drug into the food.
It only made the others sleep a little more deeply.
Nothing more.
If they made too much noise, the others would still wake up.
Using too much would actually have been dangerous.
A truly outstanding soldier would never allow himself to fall into an unnaturally deep sleep.
Giving a larger dose would only have aroused suspicion.
The two quietly entered the restroom.
One of the windows had been left open earlier.
They slipped out through it.
Of course, they periodically checked the dormitory surveillance feed as well.
Soon they noticed something strange.
The camera feed had gone black.
"We've lost the camera."
"What do we do?"
"What else?"
"Isn't it always Bed One?"
"He's constantly assembling weird gadgets."
"Ever since he started making those things, our signal has been failing every now and then."
"Sometimes the surveillance cuts out too."
"It's normal."
"It'll probably recover soon."
"Forget about it."
"We've got a lot to do tonight."
"Let's move."
The other man still felt vaguely uneasy.
But remembering how many tasks awaited them, he stopped wasting time and hurried after his companion.
Their first objective...
Was retrieving the two men they had hidden earlier.
Then they would return them to their original hospital room...
And replace the current occupants.
"Here they are."
"Get inside."
"You carry one."
"I'll carry the other."
"Hurry."
"Good thing we didn't kill them back then, just in case."
"Otherwise tonight's perfect plan would've been impossible."
"Still..."
"Nice thinking."
The two unconscious men they were carrying...
Were the original patients who had been replaced.
Moving as quickly as possible, they carried them back to their hospital room.
They swapped them with the two patients lying in the beds.
Then they carried the replacements away.
Soon they arrived at a hidden abandoned building.
There...
They immediately began cutting into the two men's faces with surgical knives.
They worked with astonishing speed.
At the same time, they repeatedly sprayed a strange substance over the wounds.
Wherever it landed, the surgical cuts healed rapidly.
The spray also left the skin unnaturally pale.
Two hours later...
They finally put down their scalpels.
Comparing the results with the numerous front and profile photographs they had collected, they nodded.
"Maybe it's not ninety-nine percent identical."
"But ninety-five percent is definitely there."
"Good enough."
"Let's hurry."
"We have to finish before time runs out."
The surgery had already consumed far too much time.
They couldn't afford any more delays.
"If someone wakes up..."
"We'll be in serious trouble."
"I know."
"I know."
"Let's go."
"I'll carry this one."
"You take the other."
"Hurry."
"I checked the time."
"It's almost three in the morning."
"We have to finish everything within twenty minutes..."
"...and get back to the dorm."
The amount of drug they'd used had been deliberately small.
If they stayed away much longer, their roommates would almost certainly realize they had left.
How would they explain climbing out of the window in the middle of the night?
No matter what excuse they came up with...
It would be obvious they hadn't been doing anything good.
What they didn't know...
Was that countless pairs of eyes had been watching every move they made from the shadows.
Every action they took that night...
Had been recorded in its entirety.