Men in Black

06:36.

The technician carrying Lavender arrived on Charenton Street to help Alpha contain the Plague Doctor.

07:17.

Every room in Apartment 26 except Room 407 had been cleared. All the bodies had been sealed up and loaded onto vehicles, which the Paris police escorted to the Headquarters Building.

07:27.

Thirty-six tenants had survived, six of whom had sustained various injuries when Alpha opened fire indiscriminately.

After receiving basic medical treatment from the technicians, the six injured tenants joined the other thirty survivors in the vehicles. They were taken to the Headquarters Building under escort by Umbrella's follow-up forces—the elite armed security team—and the Paris police.

07:35.

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

Although the Plague Doctor explicitly said he was willing to cooperate with Alpha, the technicians still used Lavender to sedate him as a precaution.

Meanwhile, the corpse the Plague Doctor had operated on "came back to life," for reasons the technicians couldn't explain.

After "reviving," the corpse was in the same state as the Pseudo-Zombies Alpha had shot, provisionally confirming that the Pseudo-Zombies were the Plague Doctor's handiwork.

However, this Pseudo-Zombie showed no inclination to attack and was very cooperative when the technicians took control of it.

07:40.

The Plague Doctor and the only mobile Pseudo-Zombie were transferred to a specialized vehicle, with Alpha, led by Hunk, continuing to escort them.

07:42.

After the Umbrella convoy transporting the Plague Doctor left Charenton Street, the French National Police Intervention Group (GIPN), which had been waiting on orders from the French government, joined the convoy to bolster its security.

07:50.

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

08:34.

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

Alpha's and the technicians' vehicles drove smoothly into the building's underground parking garage. The GIPN convoy, lacking the necessary clearance to enter, remained on standby in the surface parking lot behind the building.

Immediately afterward, the Paris government contacted Sui Bian, who was still in the control center.

The gist of the conversation was that, so long as Umbrella didn't do anything too outrageous, it was authorized to call on six GIPN teams, thirty officers in total.

It seemed the Paris government was deliberately trying to curry favor with Umbrella, but after being schooled by Red and White, Sui Bian knew this was a tactful warning from the French government.

After all, Umbrella had opened fire on French soil without notifying France. No matter how fond the French were of raising the white flag, that didn't mean they could just be "bullied" like this.

Understanding what the French side meant, Sui Bian immediately promised to provide "a billion" in support for local Parisian companies. He also said that Umbrella planned to sign discounted contracts with the French military in the future.

The "olive branch" he offered left the French government with no grounds to take offense. Besides, France hadn't really wanted to make an issue of things in the first place; it had only meant to vent a little by sending in GIPN.

So the French government gladly accepted the prospect of deeper cooperation with Umbrella and said it had no plans to investigate what Umbrella had done on Charenton Street.

The French side did make it clear, however, that if anything similar happened in the future, Umbrella should give them advance notice.

Sui Bian readily agreed.

08:42.

While Sui Bian was negotiating with the French side, Alpha and the technicians transferred the Plague Doctor to a "cell" in the underground Research Center.

The mobile Pseudo-Zombie was transferred to one of the Research Center's laboratories, where the technicians would perform a live dissection and analysis.

08:49.

With his negotiations with France over, Sui Bian prepared to head down to the Research Center.

But the system's words in his ear made him stop by the restroom first to listen carefully.

"Ri—clunk! Click~!"

The sounds of a restroom stall opening, closing, and locking.

Sui Bian went to the restroom west of the control center and picked an unoccupied stall to be alone in.

It was called a restroom, but the lighting was soft, the marble floor tiles had been polished to a shine by the cleaning staff, and soothing music played in the background.

They really had more money than they knew what to do with—now they were making even the restroom feel like a five-star hotel.

Still, the surroundings put Sui Bian in a good mood. And if he was in a good mood, maybe he'd get something nice in the draw.

Just a moment ago, the system had said in his ear:

[The system has detected that the host's forces successfully contained this anomaly. As a reward, the system is granting the host one draw. Would the host like to use it?

Congratulations, host. You have obtained the Neuralyzer from the movie Men in Black, as well as its manufacturing blueprints.]

As the system's voice faded, a silver rod twice as thick and slightly longer than a pen, along with a black USB drive, appeared out of thin air in Sui Bian's hands.

My luck really is pretty good! Sui Bian looked at the items in his hands, the corners of his mouth lifting in satisfaction.

Then.

Sui Bian slipped the USB drive into his trouser pocket and carefully examined the silver rod—the Neuralyzer, as the system had called it.

He wasn't unfamiliar with the Neuralyzer. In fact, among the things he'd most wanted to get from movies and games as a child, this silver rod had always been right near the top of the list!

Sui Bian remembered that when Men in Black first came out in China, his dad had taken him to buy tickets. They'd even had to show their IDs to purchase them.

After watching the movie, young Sui Bian used to imagine that any man he saw wearing a suit and sunglasses might be one of the Men in Black who dealt with aliens.

The Noisy Cricket, the Super Car, and even that Pug had all filled him with longing.

Although he hadn't gotten any of those gadgets—or the dog—the Neuralyzer was the most suitable reward for Umbrella right now.

Take the thirty-six survivors, for instance. If they were confirmed not to have been altered by the Plague Doctor, the Neuralyzer could be used to directly modify their memories.

Movie J had told K that the thing had side effects, but they were far milder than those of Umbrella's brainwashing surgery. More importantly, it was convenient and quick.

It was simple to use, too. Slide the cover open, and there were three round buttons representing time units like hours, weeks, and years. Set the desired time range on the scale, then get the target to look at the flash.

That way, the technicians would only have to give the innocent survivors one "beep!" to finish what would otherwise have taken hours of brainwashing surgery.