Otherworldly Affairs Office-Chapter 70: The Story of Shangxing (Part 1)

Pei Yan listened to Shangxing’s story while smoking a cigar, watching this gorilla with a body ninety percent similar to a human ask, "Are you saying that animal ability users will gain intelligence after their endogenous awakening, and there are many such ability users in the bureau?"

"Yes, that’s right! But it also depends on the animal, some don’t have very high intelligence levels even after awakening!" Shangxing said, recalling that fellow, involuntarily shuddering.

Pei Yan nodded, marveling at this strange world, and simultaneously thought of another question. He scratched his head with the hand holding the cigar and tentatively asked, "I have another question, do you mind if I ask?"

"Go ahead, you’ve been assigned to me now, and we’ll be partners executing tasks together. There shouldn’t be any doubts between us," Shangxing said, licking his lips with his big tongue.

Pei Yan asked curiously in a low voice, "As far as I know, silverback gorillas should be from Africa, right? How did you end up in China?"

"If humans could ensure every animal stayed where they truly belong, this world would be much better, and there wouldn’t be so many tragedies," Shangxing said meaningfully, glancing at Pei Yan as he exhaled smoke.

"Cough, cough, cough!" Pei Yan flushed at this remark, uncertain if he was the first human to be accused face-to-face by another species, but he had to admit he felt a twinge of shame at the words.

"I don’t mean to judge humans. According to the Chinese way, my ancestral origin is indeed Africa, but I was genuinely born and raised in China. You know my name, don’t you?"

"Shangxing?" Pei Yan asked, hearing the Chinese phrasing, feeling both amused and touched but holding back his laughter, he said.

"Yes, Shangxing, a name given to me by Gu Shenghui. My mother was transported from Africa to China, and I was born at the Shanghai Zoo as a gorilla."

"Oh, so you were discovered by the bureau after awakening and joined the investigation bureau, just like me. That makes sense," Pei Yan nodded in response.

Hearing Pei Yan’s words, Shangxing shook his head, pointing his finger at the pile of corpses in front of him, "No, I was taken by them first!"

"What?"

Shangxing, looking at the stunned Pei Yan beside him, lowered his head and sighed deeply, "At that time, my endogenous pathways had just begun to open, my consciousness was not fully awakened, but I already stood out from the other companions in the garden. My exceptional intelligence not only drew attention from humans like you, but it also caught the attention of both the investigation bureau and this group called the Divine Desire Organization. Unfortunately, the investigation bureau acted too late, and I was first stolen from the zoo by people from this organization."

Saying this, Shangxing gently tapped away the long ash of the burning cigar, glaring at the bodies with disdain, "Then I was taken to a secret laboratory where they had many awakened animal ability users like us. They didn’t treat us as... humans at all."

At this point, Shangxing glanced at his left hand and said with self-deprecation, "We indeed aren’t human, but those guys are even worse! They forcefully extracted our endogenous power day and night, mixing and concocting it into potions to inject into other humans, calmly recording the process as they watched our kind suffer unbearable pain and mutation."

"No need to continue! Really, there’s no need to say any more!" Pei Yan saw the look of pain on Shangxing’s pronounced features and couldn’t bear it, tentatively reached out to pat his thick back gently to comfort him.

Shangxing raised his hand dismissively, took another puff of the cigar, and after a long pause exhaled slowly, pointing at the prisoners in front of them, "At the time, I hated them and all humans, but my companions and I were saved by a little human girl. She was only twelve years old, a foreigner, and to this day, I don’t know her name. I only know she was trafficked from somewhere in Europe by these people. When she first arrived at the lab, she was the only one willing to associate with us tormented animals, and even though she got scratched repeatedly, it didn’t stop her from reaching out her small hand outside my cage, trying to make friends with me."

"But the good times didn’t last long. Soon she was injected with that potion, and her body began to mutate. A twelve-year-old girl, her body rapidly grew throughout the night, night after night! The entire laboratory echoed with her screams of agony as her body was torn apart." Shangxing spoke, and involuntarily covered his eyes with his hand, and Pei Yan noticed tears seeping from his eyes.

"Damn it, beasts!" Pei Yan pounded his fist hard on the ground, then realizing his words were incorrect, he harshly slapped himself across the face! This group of people is worse than beasts!

"Later, I don’t know if it was fortunate or unfortunate, the little girl survived that night. She became a monster in your eyes, a mere twelve-year-old but two meters tall, muscular, and covered in scales. She immediately became the focal point of observation in the lab, with a series of experiments revolving around her! As a result, she gained some freedom, allowed to move within designated boundaries. She still came to see us every day, silently watching us being tormented by those people, then secretly talking to us and soothing our emotions after they left. She continued this way for more than a month, and then she disappeared!"

Shangxing stopped at this point, silencing everyone, including the prisoners, falling into silence after hearing Shangxing’s story.

After a long time, Qi Youting among the prisoners bravely asked, "Where did she go then?"

Pei Yan, who was already moping, was incensed by this question and immediately condensed two small brass balls, throwing them as he scolded, "What’s it to you? What’s it to you! It’s all caused by you! How dare you ask!"

"I didn’t do anything bad. When I was recruited, I didn’t know how bad they were! At the time, your people didn’t come to me first either!" Qi Youting cried out, enduring the pain from the brass balls and remembering her impending fate.

"Shut up! Hold it in! No crying allowed!" Pei Yan pointed at Qi Youting with the hand holding the cigar, sternly ordering, scaring the young girl into holding back her tears. freēwēbnovel.com

Shangxing reached out and stopped Pei Yan’s arm, "Forget it, it’s not worth getting angry at her. Whether or not she committed a crime, there’ll be someone to judge her." Then he looked at Qi Youting again and asked, "Do you still want to know where she went afterward? Sorry, I don’t know either. I want to know too. All I know is that she killed the guards and all the scientists left in the lab that night, broke through the chaos, and escaped. A day later, the military and a large number of investigation bureau personnel stormed the lab, catching everyone in one sweep, and we were rescued."

"Then according to what you said, Director Gu should know her whereabouts!" Hearing this, Pei Yan thought for a moment, stroking his chin.

"Maybe he knows, I’ve asked, but that bastard wouldn’t tell me.

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