Beneath the Dome, Sin within Sins - Chapter 88 - The Arrest

Seeing Su Mo sobbing more and more uncontrollably, I couldn’t help but clear my throat forcefully. Noticing the sound, Su Mo immediately fell silent.

Under the moonlight, I caught a glimpse of Su Mo turning his back to wipe his tears. My emotions were a whirlwind of complexity.

A year of being comatose and then waking up-it felt like nothing more than a fleeting dream to me, a mere blip in my memory.

But for my loved ones, this had been a living nightmare, a torment they had to endure for an entire year-enough time to bring them unbearable grief.

Though outwardly strong, Lu Che would never openly express her feelings in front of me, her older brother.

During those countless nights while I was unconscious, did Lu Che, like Su Mo, also quietly sob when no one was around?

Thinking of this, I instinctively said, “Crying? Why are you crying? Be a man! You’re acting like a little girl.”

My voice, hoarse like the creak of an old wooden door, made my scalp tingle. I hadn’t expected my voice to sound so unsettling now.

Su Mo was stunned by my remark. Under the faint moonlight, I could see the expression on his face-simply hilarious. But I resisted the urge to laugh; my body still hadn’t fully healed, and I had no desire to risk reopening my wounds just because I couldn’t hold back laughter. That would be a truly stupid reason to stay in the hospital any longer.

“What are you standing there for? Go get me a glass of water!”

Su Mo snapped out of it when he heard me and hurriedly grabbed a cup, filling it at the water dispenser before bringing it to my lips. After drinking, I finally felt my throat loosen up.

Clearing my throat, I waited until the scratchiness subsided before continuing, “I could’ve suffocated over here. You came all this way to just sit there quietly? Might as well have stayed home.”

“Senior…” Su Mo whispered, leaning gently against my arm, his quiet sobs starting up again.

I knew what the kid was afraid of, so for once, I didn’t mock him.

Lying on the hospital bed, I looked out at the moonlit night and chuckled softly. “You’re a cop, aren’t you? Don’t act so spineless.”

Su Mo didn’t respond, but I could feel the dampness spreading on my sleeve. I sighed and went on, “When you chose to join this line of work, you had to accept the possibility of making sacrifices at any moment.”

“But I’d rather be the one lying in this hospital bed!” Su Mo blurted out in a low, anguished growl.

His candidness took me aback, and for a moment, my chest tightened. Honestly, I found it quite touching.

“What nonsense. I’ve never heard of anyone fighting over something like this.”

“Senior…”

“Alright, you’re in a high-risk profession to begin with. It’s not exactly surprising there are casualties. But honestly, is it really appropriate to have someone who just woke up from a coma comforting you?”

“Senior, you’ve always been so headstrong, never listening to what anyone says. If… if you hadn’t gotten involved back then, maybe none of this would’ve happened!”

“It still would have. If I hadn’t gotten involved, someone else would have. And if that happened, the entire city would’ve been plunged into despair. My sacrifice is nothing compared to saving a city.”

“Senior, when are you going to stop with this superhero complex of yours?”

As Su Mo said this, his tone had softened significantly, and he even had the energy to jab at me in jest. I figured he was back to his usual self now.

“When heaven gives you a chance to save the world, why not seize it? By the way, since I woke up, I’ve been wanting to know-how did Tang Xin and Lu Xun know where we were? And what happened to those criminals?”

“Senior, could you please just stay quiet for once? You’re like this even now?”

“What do you mean, ‘even now’? I’ve been dying to know since I woke up!”

It’s true. From the moment I opened my eyes, my thoughts had been consumed by this case. I’d sacrificed so much for it, so naturally, I wanted to know the outcome.

Su Mo, not one to disappoint, began to fill me in on what had happened after I’d lost consciousness.

As it turns out, after we left that workshop, Su Mo secretly contacted Lu Xun while carrying me. Once informed, Lu Xun, eager to expedite the case, brought Tang Xin along to the workshop. Following the faint scent trail left along the way, they eventually tracked us to the pharmaceutical factory.

At the factory, they conducted a large-scale search and finally found the black robe I had encountered earlier-the very same person who turned out to be Lu Xun’s twin brother.

The fight against the black robe didn’t go smoothly. Tang Xin was the one who discovered him, but despite her efforts, he managed to escape. Luckily, amidst the chaos, Tang Xin had been sharp enough to attach a tracker to his robe.

Thanks to the tracker, Tang Xin and Lu Xun were able to follow the black robe straight to where we were.

Later, under the combined efforts of Lu Che and Tang Xin, all the mutants were successfully returned to normal. As for the citizens of the city, thanks to the quick actions of Lu Xun and me, they remained safe and sound.

“Why did the bandaged man go through all this trouble? What exactly was he trying to do?”

“There wasn’t just one survivor from the enhancement agent experiments,” Su Mo replied.

His words made my eyes widen in shock. But moments later, it dawned on me: “You’re telling me… he’s also a survivor?”

Su Mo nodded and continued, “That’s right. Not a perfect survivor like you, but a survivor nonetheless. The drugs left him completely ruined.”

No wonder the bandaged man said he didn’t want to hurt me. Turns out it was because we shared a similar fate.

But I was luckier than him. My outcome was a success-there were no side effects, and my physical abilities had even improved significantly. On the other hand, the bandaged man wasn’t so fortunate. His throat was burned, his entire body was covered in festering wounds, and he was forced to wrap himself in bandages to survive.

That explained why his personality had become so twisted.

“And what about Lu Xun’s brother? What was his motive?”

“No one knows.”

It was then I realized that Lu Xun’s brother was already dead. And with him gone, any chance of uncovering his motivations had vanished as well.

That night, neither Su Mo nor I got a wink of sleep. He shared with me everything that had taken place during the year I’d been unconscious.

Because of this incident, the researcher who initially proposed the enhancement agent had been arrested. Everyone involved had faced the punishment they deserved.

As for the others, life had taken interesting turns. Bigo was now running a flower shop called Blue Sky, which matched the color of her striking eyes. Tang Xin, ever passionate about medicine, had returned to school to further her studies and was also working part-time on research projects with Lu Che. It seemed her life was thriving.

Su Mo? Well, he was pretty much the same as ever.

But Lu Xun? His story had taken a darker turn.

Lu Xun couldn’t move past what had happened. The entire ordeal had left him brooding and somber. If it weren’t for Lu Che staying by his side, I worried he might have spiraled into something far worse.

The real issue, however, wasn’t just that his brother had caused me to fall off that cliff.

What truly haunted Lu Xun was the fact that he’d been the one to pull the trigger and end his own brother’s life.

Now that I’d woken up, he could let go of his guilt over me. But no amount of time could ever bring his brother back, and that burden might stay with him forever.

I could only hope that time would heal the wounds in his heart.