Chapter 85 The Mysterious Figure—Fang Yun

The visitor, seeing Chen Dingan in the room, also broke into a smile. “There was no helping it. The report you sent upward sounded extraordinary, and considering the severity of the matter and the impact it might have, our old man gave me a hard kick and sent me over. I’m only here on his behalf to find out what’s going on.”

The two men embraced tightly.

“You rascal, how long has it been since we last met?” Chen Dingan asked as he let go and gripped the other man by the shoulders.

“Nearly ten years, I’d say.” The visitor tilted his head, thinking it over. “I haven’t seen you since the old man transferred me away.”

“All these years and you haven’t sent even a scrap of news. Couldn’t you have found time to keep in touch with us old friends?” Chen Dingan asked with some dissatisfaction.

The other man could only shrug helplessly. “What could I do? I’m not like you, a free and easy businessman. The department I was sent to isn’t one that can casually keep contact with the outside world. You ought to understand that. You think I didn’t want to find you? You have no idea how jealous I am of you all!”

“If you’re jealous of us, then let Old Fang transfer you out again,” Chen Dingan said.

“You think I don’t want that?” The other man sighed. “The old man is getting on in years after all. He isn’t as energetic as he used to be, and many things now need others to shoulder for him. As his son, of course I’m the one at the front.”

“Save it. You think I haven’t seen Old Fang recently? The old man’s still hale and hearty. He’s in no way inferior to you, you rascal,” Chen Dingan said.

“Ah... let’s not talk about it. There are many things I can’t conveniently tell you.” The other man waved a hand.

“Oh?” Chen Dingan raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like there’s quite a story behind it...”

With that, Chen Dingan stopped dwelling on the matter and turned to business. “Since that’s the case, I won’t ask any more. Let’s first deal with the main purpose of your visit.”

The other man nodded as well. “Have all the bodies and strange objects you found been brought here?”

“Yes.” Chen Dingan pointed toward the room opposite the thick glass partition. “There. Everything is in the room across from us. Take a look for yourself.”

The other man turned and looked in the direction Chen Dingan indicated. Inside the opposite room, one body after another lay neatly arranged on separate mortuary tables. The corpses had been given a simple cleaning; the mud, stains, and blood on them had already been wiped away.

Precisely because of that, the wounds exposed on their bodies looked all the more ghastly and terrifying. There was scarcely a single intact corpse among them. Most were missing limbs or organs of one kind or another.

Yet facing such a horrific sight, the man showed not the slightest adverse reaction. He still regarded everything before him with perfect calm.

After a long while, he spoke. “May I get a little closer to take a look?”

“You can, but...” Chen Dingan hesitated. “You don’t know all the details yet. Before you arrived, some other things happened, and I didn’t have time to report them immediately.”

“Oh?” The other man seemed quite interested. “What sort of things?”

Chen Dingan then recounted in detail how those unidentified objects had emitted a green light and caused people to lose consciousness, leaving out almost nothing.

After hearing him out, the other man nodded. “That is the first time I’ve heard of anything so interesting. Then I need to get closer and have a look all the more, don’t I? Besides, you already said those objects gave off green light some time ago. Since so much time has passed and they haven’t shown any further abnormalities, I doubt it would happen again just because I happened to arrive.”

“But...” Chen Dingan was about to say more when the other man stopped him with a wave.

“Dingan, don’t worry. Have you forgotten who I am?” he said with a smile. “I need to observe those wounds up close if I’m going to write a proper report, and only then can I better determine what sort of weapon could inflict such enormous and dreadful injuries.

“Rest assured, if anything really does happen, it will be my own stubborn choice, and it has nothing to do with you. As for the old man, you needn’t worry.”

“Bah,” Chen Dingan spat. “Do you think I’m that kind of person? I’m worried about you... Forget it. Since you insist, I won’t object. But you must be careful, and remember to wear your protective suit.”

The other man said dismissively, “Tch, what do I need a protective suit for? Don’t you know me by now? My situation is a little special...”

“Hm...” Chen Dingan seemed to think of the other man’s unusual constitution, and at last agreed. “All right then. But... Fang Yun, your own safety comes first in everything.”

“Relax. I still plan to live another few decades. I’m even waiting to shovel the first spade of earth onto your grave when you die,” Fang Yun said with a joke.

“Bah! Get in there already, you nuisance!”

With that, Fang Yun did not delay any longer and went straight out through the door to the quarantine room opposite.

Chen Dingan did not accompany him. Instead, he remained in the original room, watching the situation in the other isolation chamber at all times in case anything unexpected happened, so he could coordinate immediately.

The subordinate researcher, who had not said a word while the two were talking, finally spoke now. “Mr. Chen, should I go with him?”

Chen Dingan shook his head. “No need. Don’t go in. His condition is a little different. I can’t explain the details to you, but ordinary radiation or viruses have no effect on him.”

“Hmm?” The researcher blinked, clearly unable to make sense of Chen Dingan’s words.

Chen Dingan patted him on the shoulder. “Just wait and see. My old friend here is no ordinary man.”

With that, he said nothing more and fixed his eyes on Fang Yun, who had already entered the isolation room.

Fang Yun stepped inside and did not immediately inspect the bodies and strange objects. Instead, he first surveyed the isolation room itself, from the ceiling to the floor, from the mortuary tables to all the instruments and equipment in the room, taking in everything at a glance.

Then he said, “I say, Dingan, your company is quite something these days. Pretty advanced equipment you’ve got here.”

“It’s all thanks to the many favors Old Fang has done for us that our company has been able to develop so well. Enough talk, you’re wasting time. Get on with the real work.”

Fang Yun gave a light laugh. “Haven’t seen you in all these years, and you’re still as impatient as ever. By the way, how is Chen Hao doing now? It’s been ages since I saw that boy. How’s his martial arts coming along? Does he need me to give him another few pointers? And has he gotten married yet?

“And what about that little girl you adopted? I think her name was Gu Mengyan? How is she now? I remember you once told me you’d arrange a childhood engagement for the two of them. Have they married yet?”

Chen Dingan shook his head in exasperation. “We haven’t seen each other in all these years, and you’re just the same as before: long-winded and forever sticking your nose into other people’s business. Hurry up and do your job. When this is over, we can sit down and talk properly.”

At this, Fang Yun finally quieted down and no longer strayed into irrelevant chatter. He truly set himself to the work at hand.

Under the gaze of Chen Dingan and his subordinate, Fang Yun went to stand beside one of the bodies. On the shelf next to it were surgical tools that had not yet been cleared away. They had originally been meant for the coroner to use during the autopsy, but because of the risk of contagion and danger, Chen Dingan had temporarily suspended the postmortem work.

Now that Fang Yun saw the instruments, he seemed quite satisfied. He picked up a scalpel and examined it. “Good. Saves me the trouble of preparing everything at the last minute.”

Then he used the scalpel to lift a torn piece of skin from the corpse and inspect it. After that, he picked up a pair of scissors from the shelf, snipped off a small strip of raised skin, and held it directly beneath his nose to smell it.

Chen Dingan watched Fang Yun’s expression closely, hoping to glean something from it. But to his disappointment, once Fang Yun had focused on the work in his hands, he remained expressionless the entire time, even somewhat stiff, like an emotionless machine.

Still, Chen Dingan was evidently very patient. Since Fang Yun did not speak, he did not ask any questions either, merely watching with complete concentration.

Fang Yun did not seem very satisfied with the piece of skin he had cut away, or perhaps he had simply not found anything useful in it. So he continued working at the other wounds on the body, snipping off one piece of skin after another and smelling them again and again without the least sign of irritation.

When he had finished with one corpse, he moved on to the next and repeated the same process. To outsiders, the work was dull and even somewhat wearisome, but Fang Yun seemed to enjoy it. Though his face showed no expression, the intensity of his focus made it plain that he was deeply interested.

Although Chen Hao’s subordinate did not speak, his mind was in turmoil. Could this man be a pervert? How could anyone remain so unfazed in the presence of so many corpses? Even some forensic doctors might not be able to stomach it. These were bodies with hideous death scenes!

But because Chen Dingan was beside him, he did not dare say a word. Every so often, however, he would glance up at Chen Dingan.

It was not long before something he could scarcely believe happened. After Fang Yun had finished examining all the corpses, he gathered every scrap of skin he had cut away into a surgical tray, and then, without so much as pouring on alcohol or any other accelerant, he simply snapped his fingers.

At once, all the fragments of skin in the tray ignited on their own, and in just a few seconds they were completely reduced to ash.

Th... the researcher nearly wet himself. He stared at Chen Dingan in utter disbelief.

Chen Dingan, however, was not the least surprised. He patted the researcher on the shoulder. “Don’t get excited. Relax. There are even more interesting things waiting for you to see.”