Chapter 59: Inspection

Chapter 59: Inspection

Outside the Mechanical Oceanarium.

Fang Ying was originally in charge of the A-level program, but now someone else has taken over. The 103 District City Defense Army appeared at the Mechanical Oceanarium and took the highest command authority.

They came to take responsibility for this matter. If the Cleaning Center makes even the slightest mistake, causing an infection across the entire district, all civilians in District 103 will have to pay for their error.

All buildings within five kilometers of the oceanarium were evacuated, and a massive mechanical protective shield slowly rose. Outside the shield, a temporary observation corridor was set up.

The observation corridor serves as a buffer zone, originally designed to prevent contaminants from mixing with the crowd. If a city is heavily polluted, this is the best device to detect contaminants among the people.

Now, with slight modifications, it has become a detection system for invisible beings, ensuring that no invisible being escapes.

The White Pigeon Team successfully rescued the civilians, who now wait in the observation corridor wearing green protective suits.

When the gate opens, black mist sprays out, immediately revealing any human-shaped figures trying to slip through.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As soon as the invisible beings materialize, gunfire erupts, and jelly-like remains explode, blood splattering everywhere.

The nearby civilians scream in terror and are then led away by logistics personnel. Gunfire continues as the invisible beings, seizing their last chance for survival, rush out fearlessly.

The invisible beings seem to know that the Mechanical Oceanarium is about to be destroyed and plan to escape with the rescue team.

So they do not attack the rescuers or Zhu Ning's group.

But the outside world already knows about the existence of the invisible beings. Once they gain the upper hand, the invisible beings lose their advantage.

Black liquid sprays, leaving nowhere to hide. Under real firepower, the invisible beings are easily defeated and cannot break through the defense.

The sound of gunfire and the thuds of invisible bodies hitting the ground come from the entrance. The Black Whale is preparing to support them.

Chu Ling's reactor energy is nearly depleted, and carrying a three-and-a-half-meter-tall invisible being is extremely strenuous. The Black Whale quickly takes over.

"Thank you, come out first," says the Black Whale.

Zhu Ning and her team step out of the oceanarium's main door, and a click sounds behind them as the lock engages.

The final gap in the protective shield is sealed, giving the shield a mechanical appearance. It doesn't look like ordinary metal; instead, it appears somewhat transparent, like a mechanical film.

"The Grey Eagles and the A70265 Cleaning Team have been successfully supported," reports a Black Whale member. "Countdown two minutes, detonation imminent."

Zhu Ning and her team squint, having been inside for too long under night vision conditions, making the bright lights somewhat uncomfortable.

"Wait a moment," says the Black Whale. "First, undergo the initial inspection procedure."

Indeed, they must also be inspected to prevent anyone from hiding among them. If an invisible being attaches to them, it could easily escape. This precaution is to guard against internal staff collaborating with the invisible beings.

Xu Meng glances at Zhu Ning. No spores mean the source of contamination is still alive, and if it's alive, it might be among their team.

Xu Meng discreetly looks around. Li Nianchuan sighs in relief; the Grey Eagles are all injured and lack energy.

Among this group, the last one to contact the contamination source was Zhu Ning.

Only Zhu Ning could have the opportunity to manipulate the situation. This newcomer is very strange, having only joined a month ago, yet displaying skills far beyond those of an ordinary person.

Does Zhu Ning want to bring an invisible being out? Right under the nose of the Cleaning Center? That would be suicidal.

But Zhu Ning shows no reaction, calmly queuing up, standing right behind Chu Ling.

Splat!

Black liquid sprays down, evenly covering Zhu Ning. Each person is inspected individually, and Zhu Ning is no exception.

Three seconds later, the spraying stops. Zhu Ning's work uniform is stained darker, but there is no sign of anything unusual, and no invisible being is near her.

Inspector: "Next."

Zhu Ning calmly walks out, and it's Xu Meng's turn next.

Xu Meng raises an eyebrow. Did she overthink it? Zhu Ning had no such intention?

That's true; taking an invisible being out now would be like openly declaring herself a traitor.

But Xu Meng personally saw Zhu Ning at the Yongsheng Pharmaceutical Foundation site. What was she doing there? Was she looking for a way out because she was a defective product?

Zhu Ning being a defective product makes her presence at the Yongsheng Pharmaceutical Foundation normal.

Still, something seems off. Zhu Ning has only been here for a month, and she is involved with both Yongsheng Pharmaceutical and the Cleaning Center, which doesn't seem coincidental.

Zhu Ning seems to sense someone watching her and turns to glance at Xu Meng.

At this moment, Prometheus's voice comes through the helmet: "Detonation sequence in ten seconds, ten, nine, eight, seven..."

Boom!

A deafening explosion shakes the protective shield, the ground trembling as if hit by an earthquake.

The civilians being inspected are startled by the explosion, some screaming in panic while staff maintain order.

After about a minute, the explosion subsides, and curses and alarms fill the air.

Their mission is truly complete only when the explosion sounds, burying all invisible beings under the protective shield.

The shield can last for ten years and will need continuous reinforcement.

If contamination remains, at the appropriate time, Prometheus will post the task on the forum, selecting suitable employees to execute the final purification.

Zhu Ning and Xu Meng exchanged glances for only three seconds before a yellow-suited inspector nearby said, "Cleaner Zhu Ning, please proceed to the security vehicle for inspection."

After the explosion, this monitoring corridor remained undamaged, indicating that the technology of this world was more advanced than Zhu Ning had imagined.

This was her first time witnessing the true strength of the Cleaning Center, willing to go all out in such a large-scale operation to eliminate the Transparent Person in the aquarium at any cost.

Before getting into the vehicle, Zhu Ning glanced back and saw that the Transparent Person they had kidnapped was locked in a container-like cage by the Black Whale team and quickly taken away.

Zhu Ning's mission was over, and no one needed to explain where the Transparent Person would be taken next. She followed the staff onto the vehicle.

There was a click as someone locked the door from behind.

Inside sat an inspector in a yellow protective suit, face obscured, "I apologize, but this is a routine procedure. I hope you understand."

A girl’s voice, speaking with unusual gentleness.

The Cleaning Center respected talent; Zhu Ning had just risked her life to complete the task, and it was natural that no one would be happy about being searched upon return.

Zhu Ning responded, "It's fine."

The inspector said, "We belong to the Inspection Department, which generally handles major tasks where employees might have been contaminated. We will conduct a preliminary check."

The Inspection Department? It was a new department to Zhu Ning, one she had never encountered before.

The existence of the Inspection Department was to prevent anyone from bringing contaminants into the Cleaning Center, protecting the entire facility from infection.

The inspector continued, "First, I will conduct a full-body search. If there are no abnormalities, you will be sent to the Cleaning Center for data collection. The subsequent procedures should be familiar to you."

Zhu Ning nodded, having experienced them before.

"Can you remove your protective suit first?"

To be honest, after wearing a protective suit for too long in a contaminated area, one might feel as if the suit had become part of their skin.

Without hesitation, Zhu Ning cooperated fully, though her movements were somewhat slow due to her injured right arm. She first removed her tattered helmet.

The helmet was important equipment, and the inspector quickly took it away, as the data inside was extremely valuable.

Next, Zhu Ning took off her protective suit, which was also damaged, with several patches on it.

The inspector kept examining her body. Under the protective suit, Zhu Ning wore a short-sleeved shirt and long pants, ordinary clothes that offered no protection and had several tears.

Under the torn clothes, scars were visible on her body, healed by potent healing agents and now forming scars.

Zhu Ning stood before her, accepting the inspection.

The inspector added, "Including your communication device."

She referred to the Prometheus on Zhu Ning's temple. If not for her reminder, Zhu Ning would have forgotten about it.

This thing was truly terrifying. After just an hour of the mission, Zhu Ning had already gotten used to its presence in her mind.

The communication device was a blue ring. As it was removed, dozens of white filaments were pulled out, leaving no bloodstains, and then retracted.

The blue light faded, and Prometheus went offline.

The inspector had a special box for this device, a black velvet box identical to the one Zhu Ning had seen before.

At the time, she thought the box looked quite flashy, but now it seemed like a "prison" for Prometheus.

They treated artificial intelligence with great caution, always mindful of recovery, ensuring Prometheus was not free. Was this constant vigilance to prevent him from privately contacting regular employees? Was this thing really so terrifying?

The inspector said, "Please enter the capsule pod next to you for a full-body scan."

There was a human-sized capsule in the vehicle, specifically designed to detect whether employees had been contaminated.

Zhu Ning lay down inside. The capsule was warm, making her feel very relaxed, as if she were soaking in warm water.

Five minutes later, the capsule opened automatically, and Zhu Ning almost fell asleep inside.

"No signs of contamination for now," the inspector said. "You're lucky."

Zhu Ning replied, "Thank you?"

The inspector added, "Of course, more data may need to be observed in the observation room. Here, we only do initial screening."

The inspector glanced at the data, "But your readings are very stable."

The instruments could show a person's mental state fluctuations, and Zhu Ning's were nearly flat, showing no significant changes.

The inspector recalled her high mental resilience, which might be her advantage.

They were instructed to pay close attention to Zhu Ning, but she appeared completely normal, and it was said that no Transparent Person had attached to her when she came out.

"There are clean clothes over there. You can change into them."

Zhu Ning took the clothes and entered the temporary changing room set up beside the capsule to change out of her dirty ones. Honestly, she wanted a shower more, but there was no such option.

The inspector was carefully checking each of Zhu Ning's personal items.

Zhu Ning carried a box of fruit-flavored hard candies, a hair tie, a bottle of mental healing agent, and a bottle of nutritional supplement. Nothing seemed unusual except for one item.

The inspector asked, "Why do you have two cards?"

Typically, when employees went on missions, besides weapons, the items they carried were easy to understand.

Either food, accessories, or some lucky charms.

But this was the first time she found two playing cards on someone, the Joker cards, both clowns grinning at her as if mocking the world.

Zhu Ning zipped up and replied calmly, "It's my lucky card."

Inspector: "Lucky card?"

Zhu Ning, without changing her expression, said slowly, "Yes, a lucky card."

Twenty minutes earlier.

Zhu Ning had just purified the contaminated area. Lin Xiaofeng and Zhu Ning were in the same space, but she couldn't see where the transparent person was.

Under surveillance, Zhu Ning couldn't even speak to her.

Zhu Ning had already heard Chu Ling's voice, and Cao Wei was heading this way. Others would arrive in at most thirty seconds, with fifteen seconds left on the countdown.

She needed to take out both Lin Xiaofeng and Cheng Mofei's employee bracelets within these few seconds, all while maintaining a flawless expression.

The only one who could do this was the system, the one that would never betray her, the system that required her to purify their home.

Zhu Ning quickly opened the system panel and first added to her health points.

System: "Do you want to use the item: Replicator? It will cost 30 health points."

"Yes."

System: "Successfully replicated a blank card, deducted 30 health points."

The Replicator was a new ability she had obtained. She had only intended to try it out, but it actually worked to replicate another system item.

The cost was so high that it pained her.

System: "Do you want to use the blank card on Cheng Mofei's employee bracelet from the Cleaning Center?"

"Yes."

This was Zhu Ning's plan from the start. She dared to carry Cheng Mofei's employee bracelet because she had already thought about where to hide it if discovered.

The blank card could store items, which would then become physical objects and could no longer be placed back into the system panel.

The rules for using the blank card stated that it could only store one item, but she hadn't tried it with a living person.

To be honest, was Lin Xiaofeng considered a person or an "item"? In other words, was a pollutant an item?

In this wasteland era where people were gradually objectified and objects were increasingly humanized, was there really such a clear boundary between people and things?

System: "Employee bracelet successfully stored. Do you want to use the blank card on Lin Xiaofeng?"

"Yes."

She could give it a try. She couldn't see Lin Xiaofeng, but the system could identify her.

With Cheng Mofei's employee bracelet safely hidden, if this failed, she wouldn't lose anything. The worst-case scenario was handing Lin Xiaofeng over to the Cleaning Center, or taking a risk and sneaking her out when leaving.

System: "Lin Xiaofeng successfully stored."

It worked.

Inside Zhu Ning's coat pocket, there were now two more cards.

Twenty minutes later, Zhu Ning waited alone in the inspection area for the check.

The inspector examined the two cards thoroughly, even trying to bend them and placing them in a specialized scanning device.

The device showed that they were not contaminated items and had no other functions; they were simply two very ordinary playing cards.

Zhu Ning: "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

Some people indeed carried lucky items, but Zhu Ning's lucky items were somewhat special. The Cleaning Center had no rule against bringing playing cards into contaminated areas.

As for whether she liked gambling, that was Zhu Ning's personal hobby.

The inspector returned the two playing cards to Zhu Ning: "No."

She reported upwards: "Cleaner Zhu Ning, safe."