Alice

Beyond the information recorded above, the document also laid out a detailed character profile for the great wizard Clive, including his personality traits, magical specialties, and past interactions with Alice.

It also included a series of potential questions and answers, along with corresponding response strategies. The material was so thorough that it could practically have been compiled into a worldbuilding guide for a fantasy novel.

By the time Zhou Ze finished reading, he was almost drenched in sweat.

Seriously, shouldn't they have found a professional for something like this?

Making me do it is throwing me in at the deep end!

In short, the document instructed him to pose as a supposed magic apprentice and visit this contained entity, who apparently was female and had a human appearance.

The main objective was to ascertain her mental state and assess how well she could control her abilities.

Of course, Zhou Ze wasn't naive enough to believe that was the experiment's ultimate goal, but he couldn't piece together its overall direction from these scattered scraps of information, either.

I'll just have to take it one step at a time...

He took a deep breath.

Twenty minutes later.

Under the eyes of the many people in the containment area, Zhou Ze approached the dark silver metal wall. As he drew closer, the wall suddenly emitted a low hum, and a narrow passage just wide enough for one person slowly appeared.

As the metal door slowly closed behind him, the world before Zhou Ze opened up.

In the distance, towering mountains stood with snow-covered peaks, clouds and mist swirling among them like a fairyland. At their feet stretched a lush forest, its overlapping canopies swaying gently in the breeze.

A sea of flowers surrounded him, dotted with wildflowers of every color and fluttering butterflies. A clear stream wound its way over from the distance, its burbling waters pleasant to the ear.

At the center of the scene, a rustic wooden cottage sat quietly amid the greenery. Thick thatch covered its roof, and several pots of brightly colored flowers stood on its windowsills.

For a moment, Zhou Ze felt as though he had stepped into a fairy tale, and he instinctively walked farther inside.

Only when he approached the cottage did he realize that the distant scenery was actually a holographic projection on the walls of the containment chamber. Yet its realism was astonishing; only at extremely close range could he distinguish the boundary between reality and illusion.

Just as Zhou Ze was engrossed in the wondrous scenery, an urgent voice suddenly sounded in his earpiece.

"D-87465, remember your rules and assigned identity. Enter the cottage immediately. Do not linger outside. Your every movement is being monitored."

The cold reminder instantly brought Zhou Ze back to reality.

He took a deep breath, gathered his thoughts, and slowly approached the seemingly ordinary wooden cottage.

"Creak..."

The door was slowly pushed open. Zhou Ze stepped inside and immediately froze.

From outside, it had looked like nothing more than an ordinary little cottage, but beyond the door lay an entirely different space, several times larger than its exterior suggested.

The wooden door seemed like a magical gateway to another world, leaving Zhou Ze momentarily dazed.

The interior was cozy, unlike the witch's room he had imagined. It looked more like an ordinary girl's bedroom.

All kinds of teddy bears filled the corner, some wearing cute little dresses, others sporting silly hats. Several brightly colored children's drawings hung on the walls, while fairy-tale books and coloring books sat on the bookshelf. Crayons and drawing paper lay scattered across a small pink table.

At the other end of the room, a little girl with waist-length blond hair sat beside an exquisitely carved little bed, her back to the door.

She wore a white, knee-length nightgown. Her skin was so sickly pale that it seemed the sun had never kissed it.

She gazed quietly out the window, her slender figure exuding an indescribable loneliness. An elegant birdcage hung by the windowsill, with a canary perched inside, chirping softly.

A medical IV stand stood beside the girl, holding a half-full glass bottle. A clear, colorless liquid flowed slowly from the bottle through a thin tube into her arm.

Zhou Ze could clearly see the liquid entering her body drop by drop through the indigo veins on her arm.

Hey, she's nothing like the terrifying witch I imagined...

For a moment, the Anomaly Containment Facility almost became, in Zhou Ze's mind, an evil organization illegally imprisoning an innocent girl.

Even though he knew perfectly well that the girl before him was more than she appeared, he couldn't suppress the pity rising within him.

While Zhou Ze stood there in a daze, the little girl heard the noise and slowly turned her head.

Her face was young yet exquisite, like that of an imprisoned angel. Her fair skin seemed as fragile as porcelain, and her long golden hair resembled flowing sunlight.

Her eyes, blue as the deep sea, fixed on Zhou Ze in the doorway, sparkling with delighted surprise.

The girl first tried hard to stand, but her weak legs seemed unable to support her body. A trace of sadness flickered across her face, only to be quickly replaced by a gentle smile.

"Are you Mr. Zhou Ze?" Her voice was as clear as a silver bell, her tone graceful and measured, with a hint of maturity beyond her years.

"Hello, Miss Alice..." Zhou Ze stammered, unsure for a moment how to continue the conversation.

The rules he had recited over and over before the experiment were now a tangled mess in his head, muddling his thoughts. Anything he might say first felt somehow wrong.

"I'm sorry, I can't stand up to greet you right now." Alice lowered her eyes slightly and said apologetically, "But I'm truly happy you've come to keep me company. Please convey my thanks to Lord Clive."

Good... This was one of the conversations mentioned in the document...

Zhou Ze cleared his throat. "Master Clive is very concerned about how you're doing. He hopes you can stay optimistic and strong. He believes you have the ability to control your power."

"Yes! It's difficult, but I've been trying hard all along." A radiant smile blossomed across the girl's face. "I haven't used magic for over two weeks now!"

Uh... The document didn't mention that...

"Well done, Alice!" Zhou Ze kept his expression unchanged.

At his words, Alice smiled happily, dimples appearing in her cheeks.

She made an effort to turn herself around, sitting cross-legged on the bed to face Zhou Ze, and raised her hand slightly.

"Please have a seat, Mr. Zhou Ze."

"Thank you..."

Naturally, Zhou Ze didn't refuse. He carefully sat down on the only small sofa in the middle of the room.

Honestly, Zhou Ze hadn't been this nervous even during his first job interview.

Yet Alice radiated an innocence and kindness that Zhou Ze had never experienced in the facility.

With so much hidden in his own heart, he instead found himself feeling a little guilty.