Chapter 61: Interrogation

Chapter 61: Interrogation

"No problem," Fu Ming said. "The brain scan is all normal."

Qi Yunxiang pondered for two seconds. "The same."

Fu Ming yawned. "We can't see anything here; it might be a side effect of high mental energy. Checking with the medical department might yield some results."

They were researchers, not doctors. They could at most check for foreign objects, but the entire brain scan looked perfectly normal, showing nothing.

For more specific details, they would need to consult Doctor Fu.

Fang Ying had just asked casually, not expecting much of an answer. "I understand. Minister Xuan needs the results today. Thank you for working overtime."

Fu Ming yawned again. "No trouble, no trouble."

Qi Yunxiang and Fu Ming needed to continue monitoring. As researchers, they had to keep a constant watch.

Technical workers at the Cleaning Center also consumed mental energy, and they were all nearing their limits.

Zhu Ning had slept for thirty hours, waking up twice to use the restroom and eating three times.

Qi Yunxiang now had dark circles under her eyes. She felt her head starting to ache because their detection equipment was contaminated, and prolonged use slightly drained mental energy.

Fu Ming was in a similar state. He took a bottle of mental healing agent from his drawer and handed it to Qi Yunxiang. "Take some. They're keeping us here like hawks."

Qi Yunxiang held the mental healing agent but didn't drink it.

She thought she had seen a tiny shadow in Zhu Ning's brain, but it quickly disappeared. She blinked, and the screen was back to normal.

When she went back to check, she found nothing.

The brain scan images were transmitted back. If there was any anomaly, she should have found evidence when she reviewed them, but she found nothing.

Neither Fang Ying nor Fu Ming saw anything. Had she been mistaken?

Out of caution, she didn't mention the anomaly.

Qi Yunxiang mused, "I'm wondering why Minister Xuan thinks she has special abilities."

Zhu Ning had never used her powers in front of anyone. She had only been exposed to contaminants for a month and had only completed two official missions, one of which was recent and challenging.

Why did they think it was Zhu Ning?

Fu Ming yawned. "High mental energy means a higher chance of becoming a special ability user after infection. Maybe they're being thorough. Who knows what they're thinking? We're just employees."

Qi Yunxiang drank the mental healing agent. "True. Her observation period is almost over. It's time to let her out."

Fu Ming said, "Take her away quickly. I can't take it anymore. Either she dies or I do."

Qi Yunxiang: "..."

If Zhu Ning didn't end her observation soon, she would definitely become the most hated person among all the employees on the 66th floor.

Zhu Ning was completely unaware that she was accumulating resentment.

She had just woken up and had to admit that the bed in the observation room was really comfortable, providing a high-quality sleep.

She even wanted to ask if they sold the bedding. She woke up feeling refreshed.

Her arm, thanks to the healing agent, no longer hurt. She would need to visit Doctor Fu to check the healing progress.

After getting up, Zhu Ning went to wash up, behaving very obediently.

While brushing her teeth, she studied her panel data.

This mission rewarded her with 5000 purification points, and containing the Mermaid House contamination spores added another 1000 purification points.

Originally, she had 4554 purification points. After completing the mission, her balance was 10554 purification points.

Using the replicator machine cost 3000 purification points, leaving her with 7554.

From any perspective, she had hit the jackpot.

Zhu Ning allocated all the points to her health, bringing her total health to 108.

Actually, she didn't know what health meant. Could it be converted into human lifespan? If so, she would live quite a long life?

The remaining mutation direction and degree still showed no response.

She thought she had almost been infected by the mermaid, so she expected some signs of mutation.

How exactly would she mutate?

The newly added talents and items were easy to understand. She had already used the replicator machine, which was straightforward. Besides replicating real-world objects, it could even replicate other system items.

The only downside was the high usage cost.

Liquid manipulation allowed her to control liquids, but it also heavily drained her health.

The invisibility item was even easier to understand, continuously consuming health based on the duration. However, Zhu Ning wasn't sure if it made only her invisible or included items she carried.

For example, if she held a gun, would the gun disappear with her?

Would wearing clothes expose her?

Logically, she should find a place to test her new talents, but she was currently under surveillance.

Moreover, she noticed that as her health increased, the cost of using system items and talents also increased.

They say it has 108 health points, but in reality, it's gone after using two items.

This damn system keeps pushing her to improve, and it’s really doing a great job.

Zhu Ning spat out the toothpaste foam and glanced at herself in the mirror. She was under surveillance, not in combat mode, so she felt a bit lazy.

The reflection in the mirror looked exactly like her, truly identical, the kind of similarity only a clone could achieve.

She had a small mole on her left temple and a faint scar behind her ear from an injury when she was young.

The original owner's body replicated every detail of hers.

This time entering the Mechanical Oceanarium, she discovered something very strange.

If Prometheus is in her mind, the system's presence weakens. The system no longer reminds her if she loses mental energy, but Zhu Ning can still access the system panel.

If Prometheus briefly malfunctions, the system comes back online.

It seems like the system... is hiding.

Is the system afraid of being discovered by Prometheus? Are they incompatible?

Zhu Ning suddenly had a guess: the system is in her mind.

The system has always been in her mind; she communicates with it through thoughts.

What she means is, physically, the system is deep within her brain, and it might be some kind of device.

If it is a device, what is its operating principle? If Zhu Ning fails to complete the main mission of purifying her home, will the system blow up her head?

Can the system be removed?

This must have something to do with the truth of her death. Her side quest to uncover the truth of her death hasn't progressed in a long time.

According to the task description, if Zhu Ning doesn’t complete it, all her health points will be drained.

What awaits her is death.

Ding—

A sudden sound made Zhu Ning stiffen.

"Today's lunch has been delivered, Miss Zhu, enjoy your meal." A nurse's voice came from outside the door.

Not the system.

There was a food slot on the door, and someone pressed a button to slide today's lunch in through the window.

Zhu Ning sighed with relief. She was a bit jumpy lately. After washing her face and finishing her morning routine, she went to get the meal.

Today's lunch was sweet and sour pork ribs and chicken stewed with mushrooms.

In this era, ordinary people live on nutritional agents, and few can afford real meals. Most eat grains.

So when Zhu Ning last went to the buffet area, she ate a lot, mostly steaks and such.

Eating such homely dishes was even rarer.

It wasn't that she was carefree; coming from a zombie world, anything short of death was good news.

Being taken care of with food and drink, her quality of life was three levels higher than in the hive. She almost wanted to live in the observation room.

Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned.

Just after finishing her meal, Zhu Ning was informed that her observation period was over, and she had to leave immediately.

She left reluctantly, and the doctor who escorted her looked dejected, as did the other staff members.

They smiled politely at Zhu Ning, though clearly exhausted, maintaining their professional smiles. Honestly, it looked quite scary.

It felt like they were sending her off from the hospital.

Zhu Ning whispered, "Your department is really overworking, huh?"

The assistant doctor responded on the surface, "It's okay, working for the center."

But inside, he thought, "Please go, my little ancestor, you’re the nightmare causing our overtime."

Just watching Zhu Ning eat and sleep, she seemed to be on vacation. If they put a game console in there, she might never leave.

The head of the observation room saw more and more signs of this and, once her data checked out, immediately kicked her out.

"Get her out of here quickly, we need the room for others."

Zhu Ning hummed, thinking how dedicated they were to their work, true role models.

At the elevator, Zhu Ning was handed over to another staff member. She said to the assistant doctor, "See you next time."

She waved enthusiastically, and the assistant doctor maintained his fake smile, responding stiffly.

He was already wavering between cursing and quitting, this damn job, let whoever loves it take it!

...

Zhu Ning was about to be interrogated.

The person responsible for escorting her belonged to the security department, tall and muscular, standing behind her with a gun.

The interrogation room was on the 120th floor, and Zhu Ning had never been so high before.

It is said that the Cleaning Center has 360 floors, but the elevator buttons only go up to the 100th floor; the rest require a card to access.

So far, Zhu Ning knows that Xuan Qing and Fang Ying can go up to the 100th floor, and it's possible that Lu Qiqin can as well.

On the 120th floor, in an interrogation room styled with pure white technology, exuding a futuristic high-tech vibe, it reminded her of Song Zhizhang's office decor.

The man in charge of interrogating Zhu Ning was dressed in a suit, wearing a smile—just the right kind of smile.

It made you feel he wasn't an interrogator but a psychologist.

"Hello, my name is Yue Kaiyuan."

Zhu Ning nodded, "Zhu Ning."

Yue Kaiyuan was the kind of person who easily earned people's favor; he was very gentle. "Firstly, congratulations on completing the B-level Oceanarium mission; you are one of our outstanding employees."

Zhu Ning raised an eyebrow.

Yue Kaiyuan: "However, this mission involved a creature that is hard to understand, so we have to be extra cautious. Can you understand?"

Zhu Ning: "I understand."

Are there transparent people in the world? Are they all in the Oceanarium, or are they also in other regions?

If she were in a high position, she would also be very cautious.

Yue Kaiyuan nodded, "Alright, thank you for your cooperation."

Yue Kaiyuan: "Miss Zhu, your performance was truly exceptional, and your video has been circulating on forums."

Many people stayed up all night watching it repeatedly; it was a very bizarre battle.

Zhu Ning demonstrated professional skills that were all hard-earned: shooting talent, good at using people, able to quickly unite a team, and possessing leadership qualities.

The key point is, she was not just a cleaner, and she was only nineteen years old.

Yue Kaiyuan took out a file, "So we investigated your identity."

Zhu Ning had long known this day would come, but there was nothing she could do about it. When she arrived, the original host didn't leave her any identity information, and she had always relied on her boldness to get through.

In this process, she must have left some loopholes.

Once Zhu Ning's behavior doesn't match what is shown in her records, her true identity might really be exposed.

Yue Kaiyuan: "According to the records, after birth, you underwent genetic screening and were deemed defective. According to the federal law at the time, you were sent to the Light Orphanage in Zone 103, where you were raised in a mechanical incubator by a mechanical mother."

Zhu Ning found it interesting to hear this herself; so this was the original host's background.

After being deemed defective, the Federation did not abandon these individuals; they ensured their basic right to survival.

Defectives could apply for various subsidies, and living to adulthood was not difficult.

Although defectives were often associated with criminals, there were indeed a few among them who lived well.

Yue Kaiyuan took out another file, "After surviving smoothly, you followed a routine path of education, studying mechanical engineering at the undergraduate level. After graduation, due to financial constraints, you did not continue to pursue a master's degree."

Studying mechanical engineering was nothing special; in this era, with robots everywhere, mechanical engineering was one of the easiest majors to find employment in, especially for children from poor families.

However, if one wanted to excel in this field, pursuing a master's degree was generally the choice, making it easier to enter large companies.

Laid before Zhu Ning were her educational certificates, with documents proving her attendance from elementary school through university.

Zhu Ning tried her best not to show any surprise, but the person in these photos looked exactly like her.

In elementary school, Zhu Ning wore a slightly yellowed white dress; it was graduation day, and the photo showed her laughing at the camera, looking very sunny.

In middle school, Zhu Ning had changed somewhat; she wore a white sports uniform, raised an eyebrow at the camera, and gave a challenging look, appearing somewhat provocative.

In university, Zhu Ning wore a black cocktail dress, as required for the graduation ceremony. Her long hair flowed freely, and she looked much more composed.

Her gaze into the camera was very calm.

It felt like she was looking back at her entire past life.

The university-era Zhu Ning most closely resembled the current Zhu Ning; the two faces could perfectly overlap, even the expressions matched without any sense of dissonance.

Yue Kaiyuan: "These are your educational timelines, and you have another line."

Yue Kaiyuan pulled out the last page from all the documents, "When you were five years old, a underground shooting club called Spark was doing charity work at your orphanage. Coach Yang Kaili discovered your extraordinary shooting talent, and from then on, you joined the Spark club for training. Yang Kaili was both your coach and agent. At ten years old, you participated in your first competition and won the gold medal, earning a prize of 100,000 new coins. You became famous in the underground shooting scene."

"Since then, you became a star in the shooting club, joining the Spark professional team and becoming a professional shooter, relying on underground competitions for a living."

Yue Kaiyuan pushed a file toward Zhu Ning. In the photo, Zhu Ning was shooting, captured by a journalist or coach. She looked only fifteen, and her expression during shooting was very calm.

This was her.

Every subtle expression and movement confirmed it was definitely her—the way she held the gun, the curve of her index finger on the trigger, everything matched perfectly.

Zhu Ning's mind buzzed; she thought she had been quite rational.

"I used to be a professional shooter."

"Yes, from the club."

What she had casually told Li Nianchuan turned out to be true.

The original host had a life similar to hers.