"After deliberation among the council members, we require your C03 to transfer Sequence Number 09 to the A01 Containment Facility!"
"This is also for humanity's safety! Sequence Number 09 poses far too great a potential danger!"
"If you use it to wage war, human civilization as a whole could come to an end!"
"Of course, A01 has agreed to provide substantial compensation! Name your price!"
The Councilor spoke calmly.
The Doctor stood up.
"Councilor, I believe you understand very well what Sequence Number 09 represents to Huaxia?"
Just then, a young man stood up.
He had long, silky golden hair and spoke with a somewhat arrogant expression.
"Doctor! We all understand the significance of 09!"
"But you can absolutely hand 09 over to us. We'll take responsibility for protecting your Huaxia!"
"Our special operations teams will help you guard the Gate!"
The Doctor touched the corner of his eye.
"Mr. Adam, thank you very much for your kind offer!"
"But clearly, we don't particularly need anyone else's protection!"
As he spoke, he turned back to the Councilor.
"Councilor, I believe we can skip this agenda item outright!"
The Councilor glanced in Adam's direction, then said gravely.
"Under the Warden Regulations, the proposal must be put to a vote by all members!"
Hearing this, the Doctor shrugged and sat back down.
The Director scoffed over the private channel.
"A01 already has 02-Angel, and now they're after 09 too!"
"Tsk, tsk! Greed really is their true nature!"
The Warden also said with a chuckle.
"Everyone understands what Contained Anomalies of this kind represent!"
"They exist solely as a deterrent!"
"If A01 takes 09 away, the entire Prison Keeper Organization will probably become A01's property!"
"So this vote will just be a formality, nothing more than the council giving A01 an answer!"
The Director nodded. He thought so too.
Only the Doctor slowly furrowed his brow.
He sensed that something was wrong.
Meanwhile.
Lu Xiao said to the Driver.
"Driver, could you help me find some materials? I want to make name badges for the Prison Doctor and Ivan too!"
The Driver was extremely reluctant.
Ever since being contained, the Driver had hardly ever left his Containment Room.
Staff members normally never came looking for him either, so he enjoyed the peace and quiet.
But Lu Xiao always came to see him, whether he had a reason or not.
The Driver wasn't actually particularly opposed to that.
The problem was that Lu Xiao always took him to see that bird-beaked doctor and that terrifying skeleton.
That made the Driver very uncomfortable.
"Let's not! Given their personalities, I don't think either of them would like something like this!"
Lu Xiao's expression stiffened, and he turned to look the Driver in the eyes.
Meeting those dead-fish eyes made the Driver feel extremely uneasy.
"All right, all right! I'll go right now!"
Back with the Doctor.
Adam's voice rang out.
"Councilor, before the vote, I request permission to show everyone a set of videos!"
The Councilor nodded.
"Request granted!"
Then a screen of light appeared before everyone.
The footage showed a figure drenched in blood.
He moved among more than a dozen soldiers wearing Prison Warden special operations gear.
The footage was filmed from those soldiers' perspectives.
Every time he passed a soldier, he killed that soldier in an extremely brutal manner.
Adam's voice rang out.
"This creature, with its brutal methods, is none other than C03's Contained Anomaly 292!"
"C03 secretly violated the Warden Regulations by classifying this Weird Creature, which harbors such malice toward humanity, as Safe!"
"And they let this vicious Contained Anomaly out to slaughter other Prison Warden soldiers!"
Next came the second set of videos.
The same figure appeared in the footage, once again slaughtering a Prison Warden special operations team.
Unlike before, this special operations team had brought a Contained Anomaly with them.
It was a wooden coffin more than half a meter long.
The scene in the footage was Lu Xiao facing the String Puppet.
Adam chuckled and said.
"Artisan, I think it would be better if you explained this matter!"
Hearing this, the Artisan immediately stood up and said in anguish.
"The Doctor allowed a high-risk Contained Anomaly to slaughter wantonly within our country's territory!"
"We dispatched soldiers carrying serial number 137-the String Puppet-to deal with it!"
"But in the end, they were brutally slaughtered, and even 137 was taken away by that high-risk Contained Anomaly!"
"Doctor, please answer me directly. Is 137 currently at your C03 Containment Facility?"
Everyone's gaze fell on the Doctor, and he nodded slightly.
"What?"
Beside him, the Director was somewhat dumbfounded.
"Can people really be this shameless?"
The Warden also spoke in a grave tone.
"Doctor, do you have archived combat footage from that mission?"
The Doctor said calmly.
"Since they dare release this footage to frame me, that means they've already tampered with the corresponding video archives!"
Sure enough, after searching the database for a while, the Doctor discovered that all the records had been deleted.
But the Doctor soon paused, because he had found an audio recording.
"Doctor, do you have any corresponding evidence in your defense?"
The Councilor directed the question toward the Doctor.
The Doctor shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Councilor. I have no evidence to refute Mr. Adam's video!"
A trace of disdain flashed across the Artisan's face, and he said loudly.
"Councilor, I request that C03 return our lost serial number 137!"
The Councilor nodded.
"Doctor, if you have no evidence to explain the reason, then the Artisan's request is valid!"
The Doctor stood up, adjusting his glasses, and said evenly.
"I have no corresponding evidence regarding the first video, but I have an audio recording that should explain the Artisan's issue!"
He played an audio recording directly.
"This is the Doctor!"
"Doctor! Return the String Puppet!"
"I refuse!"
"Doctor! 137 is a Contained Anomaly belonging to our J01 Containment Facility. How dare you refuse to return it? Aren't you afraid I'll report this to the Highest Office?"
"Since 137 appeared within our country's borders, that means your containment failed!"
"Under the Warden Regulations, when a Contained Anomaly whose containment has failed appears in our territory, our Containment Facility has the right and the obligation to contain it!"
"But you know that 137's containment did not fail!"
"Sorry! I don't know that!"
"All I know is that 137 appeared in our territory, and to prevent a Contained Anomaly from going out of control, we contained it!"
"If you have any objections to this outcome, you can report it to the Highest Office and have the Standing Management Council make a ruling!"
This was a call between the Doctor and the Artisan.
After listening to the recording, everyone looked toward the Artisan with interest.
The Artisan also felt his face burning a little.
He looked over at Adam, who was looking at him as though watching a clown.
The Artisan instantly understood what had happened.
Adam had sold him out.
The reason he had dared stand up and spread lies was that Adam had told him he could help erase all the relevant evidence.
Now it seemed that Adam had done no such thing.
For a moment, all sorts of emotions-regret, hatred, anger-churned in the Artisan's heart.
"Artisan, can you provide a reasonable explanation for this recording?"
The Artisan did not answer the Councilor. He shot a venomous glance toward the Doctor and Adam.
Then he sat straight back down.
The Councilor turned to the Doctor again.
"Then, Doctor, do you still need to defend yourself regarding the first video?"
Before you continue