Chapter 55
“They aren’t Kimchi Country evaluators—they’re from China’s Special Operations Department. On top of that, my Intel leaked. They’ve already determined that I’m parasitizing someone among them. However, they don’t know who I’m attached to just yet, which means I can’t act recklessly either. Right now, they’re waiting for backup.”
The moment Vivian opened her eyes, she laid out the situation with crystal clarity.
Those Chinese evaluators truly were as sly as foxes.
Vivian knew full well that her greatest advantage lay in the fact that no one knew she was a parasitic-type evaluator. To the outside world, she had always presented herself as an ordinary mental-type. The “treatment” she had performed earlier was nothing more than an act staged with a accomplice she had set up in advance.
Once her ability was exposed, she would no longer be able to move freely without risk of being subdued.
Fortunately, as long as her parasitic medium remained intact and the distance didn’t exceed a certain threshold, she could travel back and forth freely between her true body and the parasitized evaluator.
Therefore, protecting herself and keeping them from discovering who she had parasitized was paramount.
It was just that under the current circumstances, their situation was extremely disadvantageous.
“Special Operations is here already? It’s Pullman!” The captain froze for a second, catching on instantly.
Other than Pullman, no one could have tracked Special Operations down so quickly.
Besides, the news that project data from the No. 0 Research Institute was inside this forbidden zone was top-secret. The Doctor only knew about it because he had worked there in the past; there was no way Special Operations could have known.
“Captain, could the three of them be waiting for Pullman?” The woman with black dreadlocks looked grim. “Pullman’s ability is way too troublesome. If he takes action and we temporarily lose our abilities, we’ll be dead meat inside this forbidden zone.”
If Shirley were still here, they would at least have a bargaining chip to control Pullman. But Shirley was gone.
“Doesn’t Shirley still have a collar on her?” another man blurted out.
“It’s already been removed—people from the Central Research Institute stepped in,” Vivian shook her head. “Every single one of them is carrying the latest model of remotely controlled robots. They came fully prepared. I doubt they’re here just for Shirley; they know exactly what’s inside this forbidden zone.”
If it were just for Shirley, they could have left immediately after saving her instead of lingering here.
“Vivian, stay in cover,” the captain ordered immediately. “I’ll figure out a way to handle the rest.”
“Understood.”
Vivian closed her eyes once more, leaving the others to stare helplessly at the captain.
“I’ll contact the Doctor immediately. Don’t worry,” the captain said calmly. “Maintaining communications inside a forbidden zone isn’t a technology unique to China. The Doctor can manage it too.”
The captain of Team [Interdict] promptly reached out to the Doctor.
Naturally, he carried an emergency communicator of his own, though unlike the Chinese team, they didn’t have one per person.
Even in China, where materials were purchased through government procurement platforms, the supplies obtained under strict regulatory frameworks were still barely satisfactory. In America, it was even worse.
This resulted in astronomical production costs for the forbidden zone communicators, despite the technology itself not being terribly high-tech.
At the American research institute in particular, the price of a single communicator was twenty to thirty times higher than in China.
Because of this, the captain was the only one equipped with one.
After he briefed the Doctor on their current situation inside the forbidden zone, a long silence fell on the other end.
“Wen is indeed a genius. He must have pieced together the clues by analyzing the scattered files from the No. 0 Research Institute,” the Doctor’s voice sounded aged and weary. He was getting up there in years.
Yet, compared to the toll of aging, his greatest agony was the lack of a successor.
Top-tier scientific talent was growing scarcer worldwide. To make matters worse, the emergence of evaluators had complicated global affairs, leading to strict bans on researchers of foreign descent entering top national institutes.
This was a major reason why the Doctor had no choice but to spend time searching for the No. 0 Research Institute’s data.
China could afford to take its time, gradually elevating its research standards thanks to its massive talent pool, but he couldn’t afford to wait.
“In that main building, there should be a sample created by the No. 0 Research Institute back in the day. Keep in mind, the ability stored within that ability-container sample is…”
The Doctor disclosed the hidden secret to the captain in full detail.
“Regardless of who Special Operations sent, as long as you follow my instructions, steer clear of that sample’s area of effect, and retrieve the data, you can leave. There is no need to clash with them head-on. Understood?”
“Understood, Doctor!” Hearing the Doctor’s revelation, the heavy stone in the captain’s chest finally settled.
As long as they held the upper hand, that was all that mattered.
Early the next morning.
Both Pullman’s and Bai Hewei’s groups had arrived at the edge of the ruined building complex.
The distance displayed on the robots showed that they were very close.
“This place… is suspiciously clean,” Zhang Fuzhi couldn’t help but frown. Even standing at the edge of the ruins, he could sense the “cleanliness” inside.
Even outside the forbidden zones, the emergence of evaluators meant that evolutionary energy lingered in the air, requiring energy-dispersal devices to constantly purify the atmosphere.
Yet here, inside these ruins, the contained energy was actually lower than on the outside?
Even with those two massive dispersers, achieving such a result should have been impossible.
“This kind of instance pops up all the time in games,” Cecilia remarked with great relish. “The nicer and safer a place looks, the harder it is to deal with. What we’re looking for must be inside. Once we find it, we can go back. Besides, hasn’t Pullman already found his sister? If you’re scared, you guys can leave first. When Bai Hewei gets here, he and I can just go in.”
Cecilia wasn’t speaking entirely without reason; he had seen right through the two unreliable adults beside him.
Pullman’s ability was formidable, but right now, his heart was set on taking his sister away to live a quiet, comfortable life.
As for Zhang Fuzhi, he overthought everything, always trying to make every little detail perfect.
Please. Anyone who played games knew that if you wanted your character maxed out in every stat, you had to grind, pay up, and rely on a stroke of good luck.
How could tasks in real life ever be handled flawlessly in every aspect?
Compared to these two, Bai Hewei was much more reliable.
Pullman couldn’t be counted on at all.
Meanwhile, the Pullman whom Cecilia was looking down on was currently fussing over his sister, showering her with concern and checking her over carefully.
“Shirley, is your neck alright? Any other issues with your body? Did anyone from Team [Interdict] bully you? Don’t worry, I’ll definitely get revenge for you…”
Pullman was clearly overdoing the worry.
Shirley, however, took it in stride.
The people from Special Operations might not fully understand, but the siblings understood all too well.
Back when they lived in the church as children, a moment of carelessness meant that if a friend went missing, they were gone forever.
Later, after awakening as evaluators, they were captured by research institute personnel for experiments, enduring no shortage of torment.
After going through all that, whenever something went wrong that separated them, or whenever they managed to reconnect, an overreaction was immediate. This kind of psychological trauma would take decades of peaceful living to even begin to heal.
This was a major reason why they were willing to give up their overseas assets just to immigrate to China and live a quiet, stable life.
They were thoroughly sick of living in constant fear.
“Brother, I’m fine, don’t worry,” Shirley soothed him gently. “It’s all thanks to Special Operations saving me. You were right, Brother. We really should have immigrated to China sooner. If we had gone five years ago, maybe none of this trouble would have happened.”
“That’s true enough. Five years ago, when evaluators started popping up in droves, our country went through a rough patch too, but things slowly got better,” Huang Silin shook his head. “Only with stable order can people live good lives. I remember a few years back, the news was completely covered with evaluator stories, and many were injured. Back then, Special Operations was feared like a specter, recruiting everywhere yet constantly shorthanded—nothing like it is today.”
“I think what Cecilia said earlier makes sense. How about we head back first?” Wei Yan hadn’t slept well ever since learning that someone among them was parasitized. “If a few of us leave early and increase the distance, the parasitic evaluator will definitely slip up after being separated from her main body for too long. If we stay here, I’m worried someone among us might sabotage things.”
As for project data, the sooner it was secured, the better.
“I’m afraid that’s no longer an option. They’ve made their move,” Chu Han immediately raised a defense, shielding their group within it. “Looks like they want to wrap this up quickly, too.”
Bai Hewei had mostly just overslept.
He had stayed up late reading novels the night before, so naturally, he woke up a bit late today.
Wen Zhiyi hadn’t been in a rush to wake him, either.
There was something off about these ruins; neither group would rush in recklessly.
Even if they did enter, the dangers lurking inside remained unknown, and the only person capable of turning the tide was Bai Hewei.
Therefore, letting Bai Hewei rest a bit longer to recharge his mental state was more important than anything else.
“The members of Team [Interdict] are quite formidable,” Bai Hewei remarked, glancing at them from afar. “They have a considerable amount of evolutionary energy inside them. Strictly speaking, their average level is higher than ours. Aside from me being stronger than them, only Cecilia and Pullman have energy levels on par with theirs.”
“They’ve likely been injected with evaluator serums, making them stronger than ordinary S-class evaluators,” Wen Zhiyi nodded. “The intelligence released about their abilities before was fake. The only one we really need to watch out for is Jonathan, the captain of Team [Interdict]. We haven’t gathered any intel on his ability yet; it’s been kept under tight wraps.”
However, Wen Zhiyi surmised that the person backing Captain Jonathan was likely his long-unseen mentor.
Who else could possibly place such immense value on the data inside this forbidden zone?
A subtle curve touched the corner of Wen Zhiyi’s lips.
It was about time he met this mentor of his again. Back then, the man had even recommended him to the No. 0 Research Institute.
Pity that before he could officially start, the No. 0 Research Institute was dismantled, vanishing without a trace.
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