Unauthorized Containment

Saying I didn't want it would be dishonest; this bow tie signifies immortality.

Although the change in appearance was a bit of a rip-off, it could save a life at a critical moment.

At this moment, Bai Ge could only watch helplessly as the researcher went to retrieve the black bow tie.

"Immortality... if I wanted to achieve this trait for myself, I wonder how long it would take to accumulate enough energy..."

"I'm afraid even if I absorbed all the electricity in the country, it wouldn't be enough..."

Bai Ge looked at Dr. Xiao Wang. Dr. Xiao Wang instructed, "Seal the bow tie and send it to the capital overnight..."

A researcher stepped forward to take the bow tie. Liang Wei offered no resistance.

Upon receiving the bow tie, everyone was overjoyed, even cheering.

Only Bai Ge knew that trying to research technology from containment subjects was as difficult as climbing to the heavens.

He knew very well that this item actually had no research value for the country.

To utilize it, one would either have to equip it to an agent or use it for extremely dangerous work in places where existing technology couldn't reach.

For example, space, the Earth's core, or observing nuclear explosions up close...

And these uses were things the country wouldn't be able to do in the short term. The normal pace would be to exhaust all efforts in research and analysis, and only after finding it meaningless would they consider utilization.

Between research and abandonment, who knew how many years it would take.

"If I want to get it, the only chance is to steal it on the way. Otherwise, if it's sent to the capital, I'll have even less opportunity."

As Bai Ge was thinking, Liang Wei suddenly began to convulse.

His body turned black and charred, his flesh quickly wrinkled into a lump, then tore into pieces, and began to dissolve on its own.

In just two seconds, Liang Wei turned into a pool of pus, bubbling disgustingly on the ground.

Even this pool of pus gradually evaporated.

A foul odor permeated the air.

"What's going on!" Dr. Xiao Wang exclaimed in shock.

Everyone present was stunned. Liang Wei had suddenly died, and in a most gruesome manner.

Luo Wendi covered his mouth and rushed to the side to vomit, his face deathly pale.

Bai Ge was the first to react, calmly rushing forward and shouting, "Don't move!"

He said this to the researcher holding the bow tie. The researcher was also startled, clutching the bow tie and not daring to move.

Just now, he had removed the bow tie from Liang Wei's neck, and immediately after, Liang Wei had become like this.

Bai Ge pulled a handkerchief from his person, covered his mouth and nose, and went to examine the remains.

"He should have been dissolved by strong acid... dissolved from a distance..."

Dr. Xiao Wang's eyes widened. "How could this happen? There's no strong acid here, how could it dissolve from a distance? Could it be..."

"It's from before... when he was soaked in the strong acid pool. The chemical reaction that should have occurred then is only now manifesting..." Bai Ge calmly analyzed.

Everyone was shocked. Could this be delayed?

Bai Ge said, "So he wasn't immortal at all. The damage from your previous experiments on him was real. Electric shock, burning, high pressure, dissolution... these damages were ineffective when he was in his shadow form, but when he returned to human form... no, after the bow tie was removed, they were fed back to him."

"In other words, in that instant, with his fragile human body, he simultaneously endured the pain of burning, electric shock, suffocation, explosion, corrosion, and more... even though there was no strong acid here, it still generated strong acid and the corresponding chemical effects on his body out of thin air."

Tonight, these doctors in the field of science had experienced one unbelievable event after another.

Everyone looked at the black bow tie. This small item, worth two hundred yuan, had displayed phenomena that shook the existing scientific system.

Time and time again, they had become somewhat numb, not offering any refutation to Bai Ge's deductions.

"Is Dr. Ma in danger?" Dr. Xiao Wang asked. Dr. Ma was the one currently holding the bow tie.

Bai Ge looked at him and said, "It's very simple to confirm this. Have Dr. Ma transform into a shadow person and prick his hand with a needle."

"What? Transform into a shadow person? What if this isn't what you say it is? It's too dangerous," Dr. Xiao Wang said.

On the surface, it did seem quite dangerous.

After all, the only one who had transformed into a shadow person was Liang Wei, and he had already evaporated...

However, Bai Ge's reasoning was indeed sound. Dr. Ma hesitated for a moment and was about to sacrifice himself for science to try it.

Bai Ge suddenly said, "I'll do it. Dr. Ma is a top talent for the country; how can he do something so dangerous?"

"This bow tie is too bizarre; anything is possible. It is my honor to personally experience such an event and contribute to the country."

Saying this, he directly snatched the black bow tie from Dr. Ma's hand.

Others immediately tried to stop him, "Don't!"

But Bai Ge had already decisively put it on his collar.

He was wearing a T-shirt, which looked a bit out of place, but that wasn't the point.

At this moment, everyone was staring at him. With a thought, Bai Ge's body transformed into a human-shaped shadow.

Judging by appearance alone, there was no difference from the shadow person Liang Wei had become, including their build and facial features.

Anyone who turns into a Shadow Person is probably like this.

After transforming, the bow tie merged into the shadow, becoming invisible and intangible.

Of course, his clothes were still on him, meaning to become a complete shadow, he had to be naked.

Bai Ge said, "It feels pretty much the same as usual. I can feel my breathing and heartbeat, but they don't manifest. There's no sound of heartbeat or breathing... It should be fine not to breathe, but prolonged suffocation would be very uncomfortable."

He kept describing his sensations, acting like a volunteer.

Everyone recorded diligently until Bai Ge picked up a small knife and stabbed himself in the arm.

The tip of the knife couldn't pierce the surface, but Bai Ge still felt the pain.

"There's pain, but only for an instant, and it's very faint. Normal pain isn't like this; it's probably weakened by ninety percent."

At this level of pain, Bai Ge would only know, 'Oh, I've been stabbed,' and that was it.

Next, Bai Ge reverted to his original form and reached out to untie the bow tie.

Bai Ge calmly wiped his face with the bow tie, removing it from his head by pulling it upwards. His slender fingers came together, perfectly concealing the bow tie.

The process was so fast that no one noticed. In that instant, he had swapped it.

While sending the black bow tie into his brain hole, he took out an identical bow tie he had prepared.

He gently held the fake bow tie and handed it to Dr. Ma, his expression natural.

The moment Dr. Ma took the bow tie, Bai Ge deliberately let out a pained groan and raised his arm, saying, "The wound has appeared; my guess was correct."

Everyone's attention shifted to Bai Ge's arm, where a newly formed wound could indeed be seen.

"Ahhh!" Just as everyone's attention was on Bai Ge, Dr. Ma suddenly exclaimed.

The bow tie in Dr. Ma's hand, like a handful of sand, instantly crumbled into dust.

The breath he expelled when he exclaimed directly blew it away.

"Hoo!"

The black bow tie turned to dust and vanished...

The dust that had turned to ash floated in the air, creating a rather bizarre visual effect.

Everyone was stunned, staring blankly.

Dr. Ma whispered, "I didn't mean to, how did it..."

Bai Ge quickly said, "This should be another one of its anomalous phenomena. How could ordinary objects shatter so completely and uniformly... Shouldn't we collect this dust immediately? After decomposition, it might be easier for us to study it."

Hearing Bai Ge's reminder, everyone else snapped back to reality.

Dr. Xiao Wang immediately shouted, "Quick! Don't blow it away, be careful, collect all this powder!"

The researchers got busy, and Bai Ge consciously stepped aside.

The one that had shattered was, of course, the bow tie created by the brain hole's settings. Bai Ge had even deliberately not used real materials, making the bow tie appear in reality incredibly fragile.

The more fragile, the better. Now that it had turned to dust, no one would know he had swapped it.

Everyone would simply attribute it to an anomaly... this bow tie itself was already full of anomalies.

He watched as the researchers meticulously collected all the powder, sealed it, placed it in a safe, and then used an armored vehicle...

Planning to transport this pile of dregs... to the capital overnight.

Bai Ge was actually quite curious about what could be studied from matter that was not of the same dimension.

But that, he would leave to the country to explore.

Silently taking away the containment item, the Chinese Academy of Sciences was even extremely grateful to Bai Ge.

For Bai Ge's outstanding contribution in this incident, the higher-ups planned to award him an honorary citizen title and a cash reward, all without public announcement.

Of course, he also signed a "Confidentiality Agreement for Critical Incidents."

Not only did he sign with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, but it was also backed up by the National Security Bureau, meaning his name was now on the national security agency's records...

After all, Bai Ge had played an indispensable role in the entire incident, yet he was an outsider to the system. Signing only a confidentiality agreement was already a considerable show of respect.

"Not publicly announcing the honorary citizen title, being affiliated with the provincial Chinese Academy of Sciences, and directly contributing my five insurances and one fund monthly is quite good..."

Bai Ge shook his head and gave a wry smile. He slept at the Chinese Academy of Sciences that night, and it wasn't until noon the next day that he and Luo Wendi left.

Luo Wendi proactively said, "I'll drive you back to Xiangfan."

Bai Ge thought about it and agreed.

Not long after, a burly driver under Luo Wendi arrived in a Bentley.

Bai Ge and Luo Wendi sat in the back, returning to Xiangfan City.

He closed his eyes to rest. After a moment of silence, Luo Wendi suddenly handed Bai Ge a check and said, "Here's a hundred thousand. I said I wouldn't bother you back then, but I didn't expect to still need to. This is my additional compensation."

Bai Ge opened his eyes and, seeing the money, his heart brightened.

He thought to himself, This guy seems to need something from me?

This seemed too obvious a recruitment attempt. Clearly, after last night's events, Bai Ge had gone from an insignificant nobody in Luo Wendi's eyes to someone capable.

"If you have something to say, just say it," Bai Ge replied.

Luo Wendi smiled and said, "I heard you're a Cleaner?"

The Cleaner was actually a profession.

This profession was quite rare in the country because it wasn't very legal.

Seeing that Luo Wendi brought this up, Bai Ge knew he had also investigated him.

"Is there something you need?"

Luo Wendi chuckled, "I asked Chen Song, and it seems you're quite capable?"

"I don't have any special skills. To be honest, I'm thinking of quitting."

Bai Ge actually liked his profession, but now that he had the brain hole, he did have some thoughts about quitting.

The more he understood the nature of the brain hole, the more he realized he had too many ways to make money and no need to stick to his original line of work.

Also, he wouldn't be selling flowers anymore. This time he produced a danmu, and if he were to produce any more exotic flowers in the future, even if he made them look ordinary, continuously 'finding' such things would still attract attention.

There were plenty of ways to make money; the urgent task was to obtain enough energy as quickly as possible.

However, Luo Wendi said, "You really don't want to do it anymore? I understand people like you. To be honest, you're not very professional."

"Hm?" Bai Ge felt a slight displeasure.

In his line of work, being called unprofessional was the worst insult.

Luo Wendi continued, "Perhaps you care a lot about credibility, but you trust verbal agreements too much. Take someone like Chen Song; I easily got all your information from him. If something happened to him, he would sell you out without hesitation."

Bai Ge replied, "I know, but he won't have any evidence."

"You're speaking too definitively. From my observations, you're actually not very meticulous. Since you don't want to be involved with the danmu matter, you shouldn't have left fingerprints on the flowerpot."

As he spoke, Luo Wendi took a flowerpot from the cabinet of his luxury car.

This was the flowerpot from Chen Song's home, and it had Bai Ge's fingerprints on it.

Luo Wendi took out the photos Bai Ge had sent and pointed to the flowerpot, saying, "For a Cleaner, leaving fingerprints is a major taboo."

Unexpectedly, Bai Ge said calmly, "Who says these are my fingerprints?"

Luo Wendi was stunned. "You touched the flowerpot back then; I saw it with my own eyes. And you handled the photos with your bare hands, how could you not leave fingerprints?"

Bai Ge shook his head. "Take a closer look."

Seeing Bai Ge's confident expression, Luo Wendi couldn't help but feel surprised.

He immediately used a sticker to lift the fingerprints, and soon dozens of prints were laid out before him.

There were only four types of fingerprints on the flowerpot: Bai Ge's, Chen Song's, his own, and his father-in-law's.

Including the ones on the photos, there were also Bai Ge's fingerprints.

Originally, Luo Wendi would have had to filter them, but as soon as he saw Bai Ge's fingerprints clearly, he was shocked and realized he didn't need to.

"What? Why are there words on the fingerprints?"

Bai Ge's fingerprints were very strange, with bizarre patterns, and they even vaguely formed Chinese characters.

It was the character 'six'.

p.s: Don't be impatient. If you're really anxious, take a break and let it develop. The protagonist is about to become stronger.