Chapter 38: The Meeting

Chapter 38: The Meeting

That night, the residents of Rome City District were evacuated for two hours under the pretext of a gas leak.

Two hours later, the property management posted a notice stating that an explosion had occurred due to a gas leak on the 13th floor of Building 22, and the area was now cordoned off.

On the same night, personnel from the Public Security Bureau entered Rome City District. They had already received instructions from higher-ups and merely went through the motions, confirming no other civilians were injured before leaving.

Later that evening, a professional repair and cleanup team arrived and urgently patched up the building, erasing all bullet marks and damage caused by the fight, including bloodstains on the rooftop of the opposite building.

In just one hour, Rome City District looked no different from any ordinary neighborhood. Residents grumbled as they returned to sleep, and the district fell back into silence.

Outside Rome City, a woman was running.

She quickly shed her demon hunter uniform; it was too heavy, slowing her down.

Huang Yaruo had been trapped in the house fifteen years ago, a time when technology was advancing rapidly. She only realized how much things had changed upon her escape.

The skyways soared overhead like dazzling ribbons of light, surrounded by towering skyscrapers. Neon signs flickered on the streets, making Huang Yaruo, still in her pajamas, stand out like a sore thumb.

Huang Yaruo couldn't even find her family or friends. Did they all think she was dead? Had they survived these fifteen years?

She knew she had stumbled into trouble; Yongsheng Pharmaceutical would surely be after her, and if she turned to the Security Bureau, she would end up in jail.

Run, she could only run.

After shedding her demon hunter uniform, Huang Yaruo's speed increased. Perhaps it was her imagination, but she felt stronger than ever.

For fifteen years, she had nurtured the house, and in turn, the house had nurtured her, leaving her body in a peculiar state.

Huang Yaruo kept running, turning into alleys and weaving through them aimlessly.

She had no idea what the city layout was like after so many years; she simply followed her instincts, heading towards less crowded areas.

As Huang Yaruo turned into another alley, she stopped. A figure emerged from the darkness—a cyborg with glowing red eyes.

Huang Yaruo stepped back, but another cyborg appeared behind her.

Surrounded on all sides by three cyborgs, she felt like prey cornered by wolves.

...

Bang!

Zhu Ning woke up to a loud noise. She found herself curled up on a sofa, covered with a blanket.

Song Zhizhang was nowhere to be seen; his desk was empty.

"That damn door has been broken for ages," came a voice from outside, someone was banging on the back door. "Boss Song is such a miser; he never bothers to fix it."

Zhu Ning's hearing was sharp, and she heard every word clearly.

It was early morning, and she must have caught the ducks from the Queen's Club leaving work. They were exiting through the back door, cursing Song Zhizhang for being cheap each time they passed by the difficult-to-open door.

Zhu Ning: "..."

Listening to their complaints, Zhu Ning realized she was at the Queen's Club. She had finally escaped that dilapidated house.

No more fear of falling asleep, no strange furniture, no crying women at night, no snails everywhere—just a bunch of ducks.

It felt oddly... lively.

Zhu Ning tilted her head, feeling slightly better than the day before, with the pain in her head easing a bit.

On the coffee table lay a pack of bread, a cup of milk, and two bottles of mental healing agents. As expected of someone in the service industry, Song Zhizhang was indeed considerate.

Zhu Ning opened a bottle of mental healing agent, waiting for her mind to clear before slowly processing everything. Her secondary brain had several unread messages, which she addressed while eating breakfast.

The first message was from Song Zhizhang, confirming that the payment for the contaminated spores had been transferred to her account.

After deducting the fees for corpse collection and spore disposal, she received a total of 3 million new coins.

Zhu Ning had only wanted to earn enough for gene medicine; the real rewards came from the system.

Another message read: "Your total expenditure at the Queen's Club was 15,888 new coins, payment completed."

Zhu Ning: "..."

Who were they trying to fool? No wonder he was so considerate, providing breakfast and mental healing agents.

Even staying at the club cost money, but she gritted her teeth and accepted it.

Zhu Ning transferred Liu Niannian's salary as usual. Liu Niannian hadn't responded yet, either because she was being scolded by her family or catching up on sleep.

Zhu Ning's current balance was 2,005,312 new coins. After paying the 1.5 million new coin bill for the gene medicine at the end of the month, she would have 500,000 left. Just enough to break even; she didn't need to push herself anymore.

Her principle was to earn enough to cover expenses, dealing with any shortfall as it came. She didn't want to raid graves anymore and planned to focus on studying her system rewards.

Her metal manipulation talent had improved; she could now control objects within a two-meter radius. This was a standard reward, but the other two contaminated items were more intriguing.

A C-grade contaminated item could create a 2x2x2 cubic defense space. If she understood correctly, this should be a special space.

The key to solving the haunted house was its infinite internal space, a spatial contamination zone.

The rewarded contaminated item was also spatial. As long as Zhu Ning was inside the space, nothing or no one she didn't invite could enter, essentially creating a simple safe room.

Using it would allow her to establish her own defense anywhere, anytime, though it only lasted thirty minutes. In battle, those thirty minutes could save lives, even those of her companions.

Another interesting item was a blank card in her hand.

You can store any item inside the card, with a capacity of one item.

It only specifies the number of items, not their size, material, or whether they're alive. Does that mean I could put a house or a bomb in there? What about a living person?

There's no unfortunate test subject for me to experiment on.

She re-examined the panel.

Name: Zhu Ning

Age: 19

Education: Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering

Status: Fifth-Class Citizen

Talents: Danger Premonition, Metal Manipulation

Mutation Direction: Unknown

Mutation Level: Unknown

Physical Strength: Enhanced 20

Mental Value: 100 (average human value is 20)

Health Points: 33 (average human value is 70)

Luck Value: 20 (average human value is 50)

Purification Value: 4554 (can be exchanged to increase other stats; every 500 Purification Value increases Health Points by 5)

Contaminated Items: Rotten Fish Head, Hogman's Guillotine, Universal Key, Stereoscopic Defense Space, Blank Card

A new category has appeared. Contaminated Items now have their own section, and Physical Strength increased by 20 must be due to the gene serum.

The Luck Value has risen from 1 to 20; maybe she won't be so unlucky anymore.

Using the rotten fish head cost her Health Points, but currently, 33 Health Points is still within an acceptable range.

The Purification Value is substantial, over four thousand, but Zhu Ning didn't exchange it. She'll wait until she needs something specific.

The Mutation Direction and Mutation Level are still unknown. She wonders how one becomes a mutant. She thought two missions might give her some clues.

But she doesn't even know where to start with mutation. She needs to gather more information about mutants.

Moreover, she noticed an issue. Mutants usually have their own attributes, like metal manipulators controlling metal.

But on the system, Zhu Ning's metal manipulation is listed as a talent, not under the mutant abilities. It seems she's different from others.

Zhu Ning reviewed her experiences. Both missions were related to Yongsheng Pharmaceutical. The hot pot restaurant was a victim of a medical accident.

This house must be an experimental subject. Are the fish people also connected to Yongsheng Pharmaceutical?

Zhu Ning remembers that misjudging contaminated areas is highly unlikely.

After rebirth, she encountered fish people in the sewers. They mentioned the apocalypse. Later, she entered the hot pot restaurant and the house with the killer, but neither had any clues related to the apocalypse.

Yet, she feels these three incidents should be connected.

Logically, the connection between the fish people and Yongsheng Pharmaceutical should be high.

Zhu Ning personally participated in purifying the fish people. There were no clues left at the scene, and now all the contaminated spores are contained. It's unrealistic to go back and investigate further.

Regarding Yongsheng Pharmaceutical, Zhu Ning knows very little.

The Optimal Body Plan, if written in the shareholder recruitment document, isn't a big secret for Yongsheng Pharmaceutical. Song Zhizhang clearly knows something, but he hasn't said a word.

Someone tried to kill her, and the assassin was already waiting outside the Green Door. There must be a professional organization behind this.

Zhu Ning's identity won't stay hidden for long. Her characteristics could easily reveal her true identity. She needs a plan.

...

She still has training in the afternoon.

The Cleaning Center pays 5,000 New Coins for attendance each day. Zhu Ning can't afford to miss this money, and suddenly taking leave would raise suspicion. It's best to act as if nothing happened.

Zhu Ning is still struggling with combat class. She drank the mental healing agent and prepared to leave after breakfast.

As she went out, she saw Song Zhizhang.

The entire Queen's Club was closed, with all the colorful neon lights turned off, leaving only the morning sunlight.

The place looked surprisingly clean, almost like a regular café.

Song Zhizhang stood leaning on the bar with one hand, his posture elegant, lost in thought.

Looking at him, Song Zhizhang is quite handsome. He could make a living in the entertainment industry just by his looks. In Zhu Ning's era, he could easily be a minor celebrity.

But his preference for purple turtlenecks and flamboyant outfits is far from her taste.

Suddenly, Zhu Ning noticed the cross earring on his earlobe, with a tiny blue diamond that sparkled in the sunlight, looking very out of place.

Zhu Ning's pupils contracted. She remembered Fang Ying.

When Zhu Ning finished data collection, Fang Ying came to the observation room wearing a sea-blue earring on her left ear, which also flashed.

Zhu Ning asked: How did I get this job?

At the time, Fang Ying was silent for a long while. After the earring flickered, she finally answered Zhu Ning's question.

Is this Prometheus' means of communication? Is Fang Ying really one of Prometheus' people? Was Song Zhizhang just contacting Prometheus?

Song Zhizhang noticed Zhu Ning and turned around to greet her: "Good morning."

Zhu Ning didn't even wrinkle her brow on the surface, "Good morning."

Song Zhizhang poured himself a cup of hot tea: "Did you sleep well?"

Zhu Ning yawned, "Not bad."

Song Zhizhang pushed the cup of tea in front of her: "You actually managed to fall asleep here."

Zhu Ning didn't know if it was because she was carefree or reckless; her mentality was too steady.

Zhu Ning didn't care: "If you wanted to harm me, I wouldn't have lived long."

Regardless of what intentions Song Zhizhang had, he hadn't meant any harm to Zhu Ning so far.

A duck shop owner who runs the Containment Department, dealing with pollutants regularly, has managed to stay safe for years. He might be a demon hunter or a psychic himself.

If he wanted to kill Zhu Ning, she would disappear from Zone 103 tomorrow. The fact that she was still alive spoke volumes.

Song Zhizhang paused in holding the teacup, had he been outsmarted? Was Zhu Ning testing him?

If Song Zhizhang had intended to harm Zhu Ning yesterday, this little troublemaker could have torn half his shop apart.

Song Zhizhang chuckled, "Where are you going next?"

"Cleaning Center," Zhu Ning drank half the cup of hot tea and felt much better, "I need to go back for training. My combat class hasn't passed yet."

Taking combat classes during the day and purifying polluted areas at night—only she could manage that.

Song Zhizhang exclaimed, "You're really hardworking. Should I give you a ride?"

Zhu Ning put down the teacup, "No need. I can't afford it. I'm off."

Song Zhizhang said, "The front door is closed, use the back door."

Zhu Ning responded with an "oh," then suddenly added, "By the way, find a chance to arrange a meeting with Prometheus."

Her tone was very casual, as if she were just chatting with him.

Song Zhizhang's face stiffened, "What?"

Zhu Ning's sudden request caught him off guard, and he hadn't adjusted his expression.

Zhu Ning smiled at Song Zhizhang's flustered expression. She had thought about it carefully. Among the Cleaning Center, Yongsheng Pharmaceutical, and Prometheus, Prometheus seemed to be helping her for some reason?

Compared to the two large organizations, Prometheus appeared easier to negotiate with. It had been covering for her all along, though Zhu Ning didn't even know what it was.

An AI? Or some kind of pollutant?

The name Prometheus was interesting—the human fire stealer. What exactly was the fire it aimed to steal?

Zhu Ning said, "Working without knowing the details makes me upset. No meeting, no job. Let it think about it and show some sincerity."

Song Zhizhang tried to control his expression, wanting to explain that he couldn't directly contact Prometheus.

Zhu Ning didn't give him a chance to perform, waved goodbye, and added a bright smile, "Bye~"

After a loud creak, the dilapidated back door was closed, and Zhu Ning left.

For a long time, no one spoke in the shop. Song Zhizhang sighed and said to the empty space, "You should meet her."

Zhu Ning was too perceptive, and Song Zhizhang couldn't hide things from her for long.