Chapter 648: Shadows of the Past

“Not human?”

The moment the Prime Minister finished speaking, Yenir’s expression shifted. Suddenly, memories of the Mother mission he received in the East Sea flooded back.

In the Capital, there were monsters and retired high-ranking officials…

The clues fit together too well to be a coincidence.

Yet, a fresh doubt deepened in Yenir’s heart.

Could they be one and the same?

From a logical standpoint, Yelin’s account seemed to point to a single conclusion.

Seventeen years ago, the lowly Yelin was carefully nurtured by the Military.

Maybe it was because she grew up along the Coast, or perhaps she had inadvertently discovered something amiss during a mission.

Whatever the case, once Yelin realized the target was a monster, she spared no expense in launching an assassination. In the preparatory stage, Yelin likely covertly rallied several Peak Third-Stage fighters, including Liang Lie.

But the information leaked; perhaps they also underestimated his strength.

At the moment he revealed his true form, Yelin perished in battle, and the rest of his comrades were eliminated. That chapter of history was sealed away, and he was forced to step down for exposing a problem.

Of course, Yenir was not privy to all the details. Complex factional struggles undoubtedly lurked behind this history.

For instance, why did the one revealed as a monster survive? And why did Huaguo’s top brass tacitly agree to cover up this history?

Who else was involved back then? Why have those still alive remained silent, leaving Li Xuanguo and others with only scant information?

All of it remains an unsolvable mystery.

“The only inconsistency is that Yelin’s incident happened seventeen years ago, while the clues I found at the East Sea Research Institute about the Sea Beast Mother date back only four years…”

“Though there were two Mothers, the one I didn’t kill is also in the Capital.”

“But that just doesn’t add up – the time and place are all wrong.”

“Moreover, after I killed Fang Teng, the mission was supposedly…”

Wait!

A jolt ran through Yenir’s heart as he suddenly recalled a crucial detail from that mission!

He hadn’t actually completed the Mother mission at that time!

If the second Mother was still alive, how could the mission be considered complete? The system had flagged it as done, and he hadn’t the time to probe further – he assumed that after the East Sea was bombed, the system would automatically cancel the mission target!

But on second thought, maybe the mission’s completion had nothing to do with the destruction of the East Sea!

“It must be that the second Mother, upon realizing someone had killed Fang Teng, deliberately ‘forced’ me to finish the mission to avoid exposing herself!”

“The Sea Beast stopped moving not because it lost its target, but because that Mother could control it!”

A chill gripped Yenir’s heart, and his scalp went numb.

The clues he had gathered had always portrayed the Mother as passive. He had even deduced that the Sea Beast moved because its juvenile nature instinctively sought its Mother. He never imagined someone would be so deranged as to deliberately incite disaster!

The Mother herself probably didn’t even know what she was — she merely sought to absorb the Sea Beast’s genes to become stronger, inadvertently causing catastrophe!

But now it seemed…

“If everything was intentional…if the Mother knew her true identity!”

“That would mean the calamity of the previous life was far from a simple accident! Perhaps not just one, but a whole lot of people betrayed humanity!”

“The disaster two years later wasn’t a natural calamity – it was man-made!”

“This is a carefully orchestrated conspiracy!”

“Yenir? What’s wrong?”

“Why do you look so pale?”

As a Peak Third-Stage fighter, Fang Hao possessed an acute sense for emotions. Frowning, he instinctively grew concerned for Yenir.

Before Fang Hao could assume that Yenir was shaken by this history, Yenir turned to the group with a severe expression and asked:

“Uncle Fang! Prime Minister!”

“Could you describe exactly what that person turned into? Detailed images would be best!”

“Also, has he returned to the Capital recently? The more detailed his profile, the better!”

The pressure mounted.

After speaking, Yenir took a deep breath, frantically pondering what to do if his recent suspicions were true!

The stakes were suddenly much higher!

The enemy he was about to face might not be as simple as the Old Regime – he even began to wonder if those Rebels were just expendable pawns!

Noticing Yenir’s grave demeanor, even Fang Hao, despite his earlier skepticism, grew silent.

He knew that when Yenir got serious about something, nothing he did was trivial!

“What exactly did he transform into… The scene back then wasn’t recorded. There weren’t many high-ranking officials present; the entire assassination took place in that one office.”

“Based on our collected data, Yelin first arrived at the office with her squad to report, and then an unexpected attack erupted. Amidst the chaos, after he fled the office, Awakener operatives discovered him outside.”

“It’s said that his inhuman appearance was noted when Military personnel rushed to protect him during the crisis.”

“Inadvertently noticed?”

“Yes.”

“It wasn’t that he suddenly turned into a monster as you might think – it was simply that some unusual, non-human traits appeared on his body.”

“Scales, a putrid odor reminiscent of decay… and an astonishing regenerative ability?”

Fang Hao’s eyes glazed over with memories as he tried to reconstruct the information.

“One report even claimed that his heart was shattered during the incident, his injuries severe! Yet he regenerated within minutes after the battle ended!”

As he spoke, Fang Hao couldn’t help but furrow his brow.

Peak Third-Stage fighters have incredible physical resilience – especially those of higher echelons, whose regenerative powers far exceed those of ordinary people!

But shattering a heart and healing within minutes… even for a mutant, that level of recovery is too extreme!

“The stench, the scales, the rapid regeneration…”

As his eyes gleamed, Yenir was nearly 90% sure these were the defining traits of the Sea Beast.

Thus…

The first Sea Beast Mother actually emerged not seventeen, but over twenty years ago!

The East Sea Research Institute was merely studying her, not the source of the Mother!

To think that a Sea Beast Mother had been hidden within Huaguo for so long, even rising to the highest ranks…

For a moment, Yenir couldn’t fathom how many of his beliefs had been based on lies…!

Taking a deep breath, just as Yenir pressed for more details,

Fang Hao, almost as if to comfort him, patted his shoulder.

“Yenir, I think you might be overthinking things.”

“Although having a top official suspected of being inhuman is undeniably frightening, it could just be a misunderstanding. That person might simply have a unique innate talent that allows him to transform.”

“And besides, didn’t you ask if he had returned to the Capital?”

Fang Hao smiled, trying to ease Yenir’s worries.

“After the attack, he died. He was among Huaguo’s earliest Awakener’s – nearly ninety years old by then. Despite his severe injuries and rapid healing, many speculated that the toll on his life was just too great.”

“Perhaps because he died, no one pursued the matter further. After all, the deceased command respect. In the early days of the apocalypse, he made an indelible contribution to Huaguo!”

With that, Fang Hao let out a long sigh.

Yet neither he nor the Prime Minister noticed that Yenir’s grim expression only deepened.

Died?! No, that couldn’t be! If he died, then who is the Mother!?

“Feigning death to escape… A top Awakener who survived from before the apocalypse and lived over a century, combined with a Sea Beast Mother…”

Yenir slowly closed his eyes, overwhelmed by an indescribable pressure that left him gasping for air.

If everything turned out as he suspected,

then that person had been watching all of this from the shadows all along!

“Find him! We must locate him as quickly as possible!”