Item-408

After mulling it over for a moment, Zhou Ze frowned. "Aren't you the highest authority at the Site?"

"Does being a mere Site director mean I can do whatever I please?" Wang Lei smiled self-deprecatingly, a complicated look flickering in her eyes. "When ideological conflict is involved, how could a clash of power be so simple..."

Zhou Ze considered this in silence for a moment. His gaze wandered around the office before settling on Wang Lei. "Ms. Wang Lei, forgive my bluntness, but I don't quite understand why you're telling me all this. I'm just Class-D Personnel. I'm afraid there's not much I can help you with. Perhaps you should be more direct?"

"You've misunderstood, Mr. Zhou Ze." Wang Lei smiled and shook her head. "I'm only telling you this to earn your trust."

She gracefully poured another cup of tea and gently pushed it toward Zhou Ze.

This time, however, Zhou Ze did not reach for it.

Wang Lei seemed unbothered by his reaction and continued, "I don't need you to do anything special. Your very existence is what matters most."

"So?" Zhou Ze's frown deepened.

"So, you now have two choices." Wang Lei lit another cigarette, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled.

The smoke twisted and warped unnaturally in midair, gradually taking the shape of chains and cages.

"You can walk straight out of here..." Wang Lei's voice seemed to come from far away. "And afterward, face those people's endless questioning and interrogation. Or..."

Before she finished speaking, the smoke suddenly drifted toward the desk as though alive.

It wound around a drawer handle and gently pulled it open, then wrapped around a small spray bottle, floated it over to the coffee table, and set it down steadily in front of Zhou Ze.

"Or you can erase your memories here and forget everything that happened earlier." Wang Lei's gaze fell on the spray bottle.

"Only then will I have sufficient grounds to smooth over the trouble that follows. And I can promise you that, at least until you officially join the Containment Facility, I won't take the initiative to investigate your secrets. What do you say?"

Zhou Ze's eyes flickered as he fell silent, seemingly unable to decide.

Of course, he was merely putting on an act.

For anyone else, inexplicably losing their memories might have been a terrible thing. But since Old Yang had a way to render these methods ineffective, he had little to worry about.

Whatever this woman's true intentions were, using the gap in their knowledge to go along with her wishes was a valid way to take a step back and gain ground.

Seeing Zhou Ze remain silent, Wang Lei reassured him softly, "Knowing too much often isn't a good thing. You should feel fortunate rather than resist it..."

At that, Zhou Ze looked at the spray bottle on the coffee table. "How do I use this?"

"Pull out the safety pin, shake it, then aim it at your mouth and nose and press once. Remember not to press it repeatedly... It's been over two hours since the incident, so the timing is just right... It would be troublesome if you forgot the earlier experiment too."

With an odd look on his face, Zhou Ze picked up the spray bottle and glanced at the woman across the coffee table. "Aren't you afraid I'll spray you with it?"

"You're welcome to try..." Wang Lei's smile did not fade.

Well, Zhou Ze did have the urge, but in the end, he was just running his mouth...

Zhou Ze examined the spray bottle in his hand. Its surface was covered in densely packed fine print, apparently instructions for use.

It felt as though he was about to spray insecticide into his own face... It was just too strange.

Two days later, in the Site director's office in Site-17's alpha office area.

A different time, the same place. But the person sitting on the sofa had changed from Zhou Ze to Dai Yong'an.

Compared with Zhou Ze's stiffness, Dr. Dai sat far more casually.

His white lab coat was badly wrinkled, as though it had been carelessly crumpled into a ball and then hastily unfolded. His right arm rested casually along the back of the sofa, and his left leg lay loosely crossed over his right. His right foot twitched from time to time, betraying his impatience.

Wang Lei sat at her desk, looking down at the documents in her hands.

Only after a long while did she raise her head and turn a gaze devoid of warmth toward Dai Yong'an.

"You're saying this was merely an accident?"

"Yes, an insignificant accident." Dai Yong'an nodded slightly, his expression perfectly composed. "After all, the incident caused no casualties or losses, aside from one security officer who was scared out of his wits..."

"In your report, the anomaly that escaped control was even described as the victim." Wang Lei remained expressionless.

"What else would it be?" Dai Yong'an spread his hands. "What malicious intentions could a bunch of harmless little butterflies possibly have?"

Wang Lei sneered. "Item-408, the Illusion Butterflies. A swarm of anomalous organisms capable of distorting perception across the board. They can alter an observer's cognition through multiple senses, including sight, hearing, smell, and touch.

"According to your report, the primary cause of this incident was that the anomaly could no longer endure its hunger and was forced to impersonate a certain 'highly esteemed' Level 3 researcher, using deception to escape its containment chamber and forage for food. They freely distorted the layout of the containment area and even assumed the forms of other anomalies. And all of this was merely to obtain one gallon of syrup?

"Dai Yong'an, are you sure you want to describe it this way in an official report?!"

"Of course that's not all!" Dai Yong'an looked indignant.

"I also strongly condemn the staff responsible for feeding these little fellows. The next time they neglect their oversight duties, they ought to think more about others, then about themselves. In any case, I absolutely refuse to tolerate using low-calorie sweetener in my morning coffee for any extended period!"

Wang Lei seemed so angered by his words that she laughed. Folding her arms, she leaned back in her chair and stared at the shameless old hand bristling with righteous indignation on the nearby sofa. Only after a long while did she speak again.

"Dai Yong'an, ever since you helped contain Containment Item-408, you've never established proper suppression measures for them. This is the only Safe-class anomaly with advanced intelligence, and you even twisted the definitions to request a change to the access clearance for their containment chamber. Don't you think your favoritism toward them has seriously violated the Researcher's Creed you claim to uphold?!"

Wang Lei paused, then changed tack before Dai Yong'an could argue, her tone turning cold and sharp.

"Of course, that sort of thing hardly counts as trouble for you. But during this incident, those 'harmless' little fellows of yours took on the appearance of Item-682... And you're the only person capable of showing them visual materials of that clearance level... Dai Yong'an, this is a serious violation."

At those words, Dai Yong'an, who had looked ready to trade barbs with Wang Lei until the end of time, suddenly fell silent.

He leaned forward slightly. His flippant expression gradually vanished, replaced by an inscrutable seriousness.

After a long while, he slowly raised a hand to adjust the glasses on the bridge of his nose, and a meaningful smile curled at the corners of his mouth.

"My dear Director Wang, how rare it is for you to take the offensive... I thought that upon seeing the incident report, you would immediately have the same questions I did. But you didn't... Instead, you've latched onto a few insignificant details..."

Dai Yong'an narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze piercing.

"You're covering something up... aren't you?"