Digestive tablets

Zhou Ze's story was utterly clichéd, a classic tale of a hero fighting a dragon.

The ending was nothing more than the hero and his companions overcoming countless hardships, finally defeating the evil black dragon, cutting off its head with the Hero's Sword, and saving a world plunged into darkness.

As he told the story, Zhou Ze followed Dai Yong'an's instructions, deftly steering it toward the distinction between good and evil.

He emphasized the black dragon's ruthless brutality, describing how it wantonly slaughtered innocent villagers and destroyed their beautiful homes. In stark contrast, the hero was upright and kind, undaunted by danger and willing to risk his life to protect others.

Of course, he told the entire story from his own perspective as the hero.

Even after the story ended, Dai Yong'an's grating voice never sounded in his earpiece again, allowing him to breathe a quiet sigh of relief.

This confirmed another of Zhou Ze's suspicions-without a strong personal desire, Alice would not turn every story into reality. Otherwise, they would never have dared to deceive her with a Western fantasy setting.

"Professor Gear told me that Archwizard Clive and Sir Dai Yong'an, the Radiant Knight, once defeated a black dragon in a head-on battle too..."

Alice's voice was filled with longing. "You've all had such wonderful experiences. I wish I could have them too..."

"Mr. Zhou Ze..."

The girl gazed into Zhou Ze's eyes, as though looking through his pupils at someplace far away. "What is the outside world really like? Is it as exciting and colorful as the stories describe?"

Zhou Ze froze for a moment, then murmured, "Outside..."

What did the outside mean to Alice?

It meant the labyrinthine corridors of the Containment Facility, researchers watching her like predators, cold instruments, and endless experiments.

The girl failed to notice Zhou Ze's hesitation. Her eyes shone as she continued:

"Will I be able to dance beside a campfire someday, or play in the mountain forests? There are so many places I want to go... I want to see the vast grasslands, touch the azure sea, camp beneath the stars, and feel the gentle caress of the night breeze..."

Zhou Ze listened quietly.

His gaze drifted past the girl to the window behind her.

Outside, sunlight fell gently across the lush green lawn, gilding it with gold.

Only after Alice finished did he take a deep breath and murmur:

"Everything will get better... Alice, but before that, we still have so much to do. So much..."

The girl gradually emerged from her reverie. A flicker of sadness crossed her eyes, but determination soon replaced it.

Finally, Alice slowly closed her eyes, clasped her hands, and spoke softly:

"Mr. Zhou Ze... Then I will pray for you. May you always turn danger into good fortune. May you never lose a battle. May your sword remain unbreakable. No matter how perilous the road ahead, may you always find the dawn of hope..."

In a dim room, a man and a dog silently watched several surveillance screens flickering with static, listening to the monotonous electrical hiss from the speakers.

"Looks like it won't be back to normal anytime soon..."

Dai Yong'an casually tossed his ballpoint pen onto the desk. His brows knitted tightly, and his right hand tapped unconsciously against the desktop, betraying his irritation.

"I really hate this feeling of losing control. What exactly did Alice say?"

Ever since D-87465 finished his stupid story, the man and dog had lost the audio and video feeds from the containment chamber.

"How would I know?"

Kane, the golden retriever, yawned and glanced at the Kant Counter standing at one corner of the desk.

It was a prism-shaped instrument covered in intricate scales and blinking indicator lights.

After a pause, Kane continued, "Although the Risk Control System hasn't sounded an alarm, we can confirm that the Hume Index inside the containment chamber is fluctuating wildly. Hmm, it just reached 500. That's already over five times the reality density. This is extremely..."

This is extremely dangerous... In theory, it's enough to cause localized disruptions in reality and causality...

That was what Kane had meant to say, but for some reason, he felt a strong aversion to making such a hasty judgment.

Honestly, the surveillance room-or rather, all of Site-17-should not have been so peaceful at that moment. No one seemed to realize that anything was happening.

But those thoughts soon peeled away from the golden retriever's mind as well, vanishing without a trace.

"This is perfectly normal..."

Dai Yong'an finished Kane's sentence, picked up his coffee cup, and said calmly:

"What we call reality-bending abilities are essentially a power rooted in the mind. They fade into nothing through self-denial, and grow dramatically under extreme emotions. I'm just worried she'll expend too much energy over that stupid story..."

That really doesn't sound like something you'd say, Dai Yong'an...

Kane gave his old friend a long, searching look. Only after a lengthy silence did he open his mouth. "Perhaps you should go and see her..."

"Of course. I will." Dai Yong'an put down his coffee cup and rose from his chair.

He straightened his slightly rumpled lab coat and headed for the door.

As the containment chamber door hidden behind the bushes slowly opened, the brilliant sunshine was instantly replaced by cold artificial light.

After undergoing a series of full-body scans and biometric checks, Zhou Ze finally squeezed his way out of the dense crowd of security personnel.

Even from a distance, he spotted a middle-aged man surrounded by researchers.

The man wore gold-rimmed glasses and had neatly trimmed, short brown hair. He was speaking quietly with the people around him, occasionally nodding or shaking his head.

Dai Yong'an...

This was their first real meeting.

Zhou Ze quickly looked away and walked toward the elevator as though nothing were amiss.

A familiar face stood outside the elevator-Shi Yaming, Instructor Lu Fei's devoted fan.

He wore the same stern expression as always, his vigilant gaze sweeping his surroundings.

Seemingly sensing Zhou Ze's gaze, Shi Yaming discreetly raised his right eyebrow, which bore a prominent scar.

But often, even if you didn't go looking for trouble, trouble would come looking for you.

Not far away, Dai Yong'an suddenly looked up and fixed his gaze on Zhou Ze. He gently parted the crowd around him and approached, followed by a group of security guards.

"D-87465."

Zhou Ze stopped and furrowed his brows slightly, putting on a puzzled expression. "You are...?"

Dai Yong'an stopped in front of Zhou Ze. After looking him up and down with his dark brown eyes, he smiled and said, "You should recognize me by my voice alone. Of course, that doesn't matter..."

As he spoke, he took a dark brown ball of mud the size of a quail egg from his lab coat pocket and held it out to Zhou Ze.

Zhou Ze hesitated before reaching out to take it.

"Eat it."

"What is this?"

Frowning, Zhou Ze lightly pinched the mud ball between his thumb and forefinger, slowly rolling it in his palm.

"A digestive tablet." Dai Yong'an's smile remained unchanged.

He made no attempt to disguise his blatant lie. Of course, he had no need to lie to get what he wanted.

Zhou Ze gave an awkward laugh. "I've always had a good appetite. Everything tastes great to me..."

"Indeed. I know." Dai Yong'an adjusted his glasses.

"D-87465, you're a smart man. Smarter than the vast majority of Class-D Personnel I've met... I like dealing with smart people best. It saves a great deal of time, and you should know that for people like us, time is precious. Don't you agree?"

Who's this 'us' you're talking about...?

Zhou Ze glanced at the security personnel around him out of the corner of his eye, but saw no sign of Old Yang.

"You're too kind..." Zhou Ze laughed. "But you're right."