Men in Black

06:36.

Technicians carrying Lavender arrived at Charenton Street to assist Alpha in containing the Plague Doctor.

07:17.

All rooms in Apartment 26, except for Room 407, had been cleared. All corpses were bagged and loaded onto vehicles, escorted by the Paris police to the Headquarters Building.

07:27.

There were thirty-six survivors in total, six of whom had sustained various injuries due to Alpha's free-fire engagement.

After receiving basic medical treatment from the technicians, these six wounded individuals, along with the other thirty survivors, boarded the vehicles and headed to the Headquarters Building under the escort of Umbrella's follow-up forces (elite armed security) and the Paris police.

07:35.

After a long wait, the anomaly Sui Bian named the Plague Doctor finally finished its so-called "surgery."

Even though the Plague Doctor clearly stated that he was willing to cooperate with Alpha, the technicians still used Lavender to sedate him for safety reasons.

At the same time, the corpse that had been operated on by the Plague Doctor "resurrected" under circumstances the technicians could not explain.

The state of the corpse after its "resurrection" was identical to the Pseudo-Zombies shot by Alpha, which preliminarily confirmed that those Pseudo-Zombies were the handiwork of the Plague Doctor.

However, this Pseudo-Zombie showed no signs of aggression and was very cooperative with the technicians' control.

07:40.

The Plague Doctor and the only mobile Pseudo-Zombie were transferred to a dedicated vehicle, with Alpha, led by Hunk, remaining in charge of the escort.

07:42.

After the Umbrella convoy escorting the Plague Doctor pulled out of Charenton Street, the GIPN, which had been waiting for some time, joined the convoy to bolster the escort force per the French government's orders.

07:50.

All Umbrella personnel withdrew from Charenton Street, leaving the Paris police and relevant French government officials to take over the lockdown.

08:34.

The convoy escorting the Plague Doctor arrived at the Headquarters Building.

Alpha and the technicians' convoy drove smoothly into the building's underground parking garage, while the GIPN convoy, lacking the clearance to enter, chose to remain on standby at the surface parking lot behind the building.

Immediately afterward, the Paris government made contact with Sui Bian, who was still in the control center.

The gist of the conversation was that as long as Umbrella did not do anything too outrageous, they had the right to mobilize six GIPN teams, totaling 30 members.

It seemed the Paris government was intentionally trying to curry favor with Umbrella, but having been coached by the Red and White Queens, Sui Bian knew this was a subtle warning from the French government.

After all, Umbrella had opened fire on their soil without notifying France; even if France was famous for waving white flags, it didn't mean they could be "bullied" like this.

Understanding the underlying meaning of the French side, Sui Bian immediately promised to provide "a significant amount" of aid to support local Parisian companies and mentioned plans to sign "discounted" orders with the French military in the future.

This "out" was so well-offered that the French government couldn't find fault even if they wanted to, and besides, France hadn't really wanted to cause trouble in the first place—they had originally just wanted to use the GIPN to vent their frustrations.

Therefore, the French government gladly accepted deeper cooperation with Umbrella and indicated they had no intention of investigating what exactly Umbrella had done on Charenton Street.

However, the French side also clearly stated that if a similar situation were to occur in the future, they hoped Umbrella would provide advance notice.

To this, Sui Bian readily agreed.

08:42.

While Sui Bian was negotiating with the French side, Alpha and the technicians transferred the Plague Doctor into a "cell" within the underground research center.

The Pseudo-Zombie, which possessed autonomous movement, was transferred to the research center's laboratory for the technicians to conduct live dissections and analysis.

08:49.

Having finished negotiations with the French, Sui Bian prepared to head down to the research center.

However, before he could, the system spoke in his ear, forcing Sui Bian to first make a trip to the restroom to listen carefully.

"Creak—clatter! Click!"

The sounds of a toilet stall opening, closing, and locking echoed.

Sui Bian walked into the restroom on the west side of the control center and chose an unoccupied stall for some privacy.

Calling it a restroom was an understatement; the lighting here was soft, the marble tiles were polished to a shine by the cleaning staff, and soothing music played in the background.

It really was a case of having too much money to spend, turning even the restroom into a five-star facility.

But the environment put Sui Bian in a good mood, and when he was in a good mood, he might just pull something good from the lottery.

Just a moment ago, the system had said in his ear: [Detected that the host's forces have successfully contained the anomaly. Therefore, this system rewards the host with one lottery draw. Does the host wish to use it?]

He took a breath.

Sui Bian said to the system internally: "Draw."

[Received. Drawing in progress, please wait...

Congratulations to the host for obtaining the Neuralyzer from the movie Men in Black, as well as the blueprints for the Neuralyzer.]

As the system's voice faded, a silver rod, two sizes thicker and larger than a fountain pen, and a black USB drive appeared out of thin air in Sui Bian's left and right hands.

My luck is truly good! Sui Bian looked at the items in his hands, the corners of his mouth curling upward in satisfaction.

Following that, Sui Bian tucked the USB drive into his trouser pocket and carefully examined the silver rod—the Neuralyzer mentioned by the system.

He was no stranger to the Neuralyzer; or rather, among all the items he had dreamed of obtaining from movies and games during his childhood, this silver rod held an absolute place of honor.

Sui Bian remembered when Men in Black was released in China; his father had taken him to buy tickets, which required showing identification at the time.

After watching the movie, the young Sui Bian would imagine that anyone he saw wearing a suit and sunglasses might be a Men in Black agent dealing with aliens.

Things like the "Noisy Cricket," the "Super Car," and even that "Pug" had all filled Sui Bian with longing.

Although he hadn't obtained the aforementioned equipment or... the dog, the Neuralyzer was the most suitable reward for Umbrella at the present moment.

Take those thirty-six survivors, for instance; if it were confirmed they hadn't been modified by the Plague Doctor, the Neuralyzer could be used to directly alter their memories.

Although J often told K in the movies that this thing had side effects, it was still far less severe than the side effects of Umbrella's brainwashing surgeries, and most importantly, it was convenient and fast.

The usage was also very simple: slide open the cover, and there were three circular buttons representing time units like hours, weeks, and years. After adjusting the desired time range on the dial, one only needed to draw the target's attention to the flash.

In this way, the technicians would only need to "beep!" the innocent survivors to complete a brainwashing procedure that would have otherwise taken several hours.