Chapter 286: A Favor

"What do we do?"

At this point, there was no longer any time left for Shae to examine Hellhound's newfound powers.

She was aware of just how problematic this could turn out to be. If someone else were in their place, perhaps they would've been able to get away with this, but at the moment, the southern congress was constantly trying to dig up dirt on them.

Adam, Shae, and the three psychic mutants were all police officers right now. If they were caught by the southern congress and criminally charged, then all of their prior efforts could go to waste.

"It's my fault, I should've anticipated something like this."

Adam had fought many anomalies in the past, but in most of the hosts that he had come into contact, their psychic bodies were separate from their anomalies.

Even someone as twisted as Shaun hadn't completely fused with his anomaly, and they were still independent entities.

Even Sithu, the most demented host that Adam had ever encountered, hadn't perished alongside his anomalies, so this situation had caught Adam completely off guard.

"It's my fault. Even if I've never encountered a situation like this, I should've known what to expect."

All of a sudden, Armadillo burst into laughter as he listened to their conversation.

"What are you laughing at?"

"I'm just laughing at how upset you are over something that's supposed to be good news!" Armadillo chuckled. "You make it sound like you wouldn't have killed this anomaly if you had known that this was going to happen. I don't know how you did it, but you've clearly become way more powerful, and that's good news, isn't it?"

Adam fell silent upon hearing this.

Indeed, even if he had known that Sima Kai was going to be killed, he would've still hunted down this anomaly for his own sake.

This was the biggest enhancement that he had ever received from killing a single anomaly, and there was no way that he could resist this temptation. It certainly wasn't every day that such a brilliant opportunity presented itself.

If it weren't for the threat of Hebi no Miko, perhaps he would've taken things more slowly, but he couldn't afford to do that in his current situation. At the moment, he was constantly at risk of being killed. Even now, as soon as he set foot outside of the prison, he could immediately run into Hebi no Miko.

Hence, he had to prioritize his own development over everything else, even if it meant that some risk had to be incurred

"It's not the end of the world. Let's get out of here first."

Adam departed from the psychic world before it could completely collapse, and he was followed closely by everyone else.

Upon opening their eyes in the real world, Adam and the others were naturally greeted by the sight of Sima Kai seated motionlessly in his chair. He was still breathing, so it appeared that he hadn't suffered brain death from the demise of his psychic body, but given the brain trauma that he had suffered, he was no different from a vegetable in his current state.

"What should we do?" Shae asked.

"It's alright, I'll make some calls."

After considering his situation for a moment, Adam determined that only the northern congress could help him.

They hadn't helped him when in the past, but things were different now. Adam was far more useful to them now than he was back then, so as politicians, they were definitely going to be inclined to help him.

With that in mind, Adam dialed Cowboy's number.

"What's going on? This is the second time you've called me today!"

Adam switched on video mode immediately after the call was connected, and before he even had a chance to explain anything, Cowboy had already caught sight of Sima Kai slumped in his chair.

A grim look immediately appeared on his face.

"Is he dead?"

Adam nodded in response.

"How could you be so careless? You're in Darvaza Prison right now! There are Mechguard units in there!" Cowboy grumbled before quickly devising a plan. "Are there cameras in the interrogation room?"

"No, only my own recording equipment."

"Normally, in situations like this, we arrange for someone in the prison to take the fall. All criminals in Darvaza Prison are in there for life anyway, so as long as you give them some benefits, many of the inmates would be willing to kill someone for you. The only problem..."

"What is it?"

"It's easy to arrange to have someone killed in the prison, but he's in the interrogation room right now. He was fine when he went in, yet he's suddenly dead now. No matter how we clean up the situation, it's still going to be messy."

"Doesn't the northern congress have any insiders planted in the prison?"

"We do, but the same applies to the southern congress as well, and if things get out of control, both sides will become aware of the situation."

"So what should we do?"

"The best way to proceed would be for you to find someone to sneak the inmate back to his cell without anyone noticing. After that, I can take care of everything else for you. If you can't even do that, then I'm afraid I can't help you."

After that, Cowboy discussed some more details with Adam before ending the call.

Hence, Adam was still left with a big problem.

"How do we get him back to his cell?"

"How many Mechguard units are there outside?" Shae asked as she sat on the floor and rested her back against the wall with her eyes closed.

"I don't know. I saw some on the way in here, and because they're part of the prison system, I don't have the authority to use them. If we want to transport him, we'll have to rely on one of the human employees in here."

"What about Ryan? He seems to be quite a big fan of you."

"Do you really think he'd be willing to risk losing his job or even going to jail just because he idolizes me?"

"We won't know if we don't try!" Mole interjected in an agitated manner. "It's not like we have any plan."

"That's true."

After some careful consideration, Adam decided to contact Ryan using his communicator.

It didn't take long before Ryan entered the interrogation room, and as soon as he did so, Mole closed the door behind him, while Armadillo also subtly positioned himself between Ryan and the door.

For the three psychic mutants, there was always a backup plan.

If Ryan didn't agree to cooperate, then they were going to kill him and run away.

Everyone still had legal identities at the moment, so it was still possible to sneak out of the city before they became wanted for their crimes. As long as they could make it out of Sandrise City, their telegnosis would ensure their safety, and they would be able to live just fine outside the jurisdiction of the law.

This was how the three psychic mutants had lived most of their lives thus far, so they weren't opposed to the idea. Just like the hitmen of the Oni Organization, they had always skirted the fine line between the legal and the illegal.

If it weren't for Adam's sake, there was no way that they would've become police officers.

However, Adam wasn't in the same boat as them. If he had to go back into hiding, then all of his prior efforts would go to waste, and there would be no hope for him to uncover the secrets of his past.

Hence, he needed Ryan's cooperation.

"Can I ask you for a favor?"