Sothing happened at the South City base?!
Wei Heng and Qi Xiang exchanged a look. Gu Xi also looked up at Ye Lin, her expression a mixture of shock and confusion.
Just then, a fierce-looking, scar-faced man walked in from outside. It was Mr. Zhou, the one who had been with Wei Heng when they found Gu Xi and brought her back to the camp.
Mr. Zhou pushed the door open and entered. He wasn’t surprised at all to see Gu Xi and her two companions there.
After exchanging a look with Ye Lin, he spoke in a low voice, "Yesterday, a massive riot broke out at the base’s Unit 176. All the mutants and guards inside are dead."
"No exceptions."
As soon as Mr. Zhou said this, the color drained from the faces of Gu Xi and her friends.
’How could a massive riot suddenly break out in a place like Unit 176? And of all tis, it just had to be last night, the sa night those three wanted criminals died violently?’
’Soone is silencing witnesses!’
The three of them ca to this conclusion almost simultaneously.
"The riot was sudden. It’s said that to prevent the monsters inside from escaping and endangering the base, the guards of Unit 176 activated the self-destruct chanism at the last mont."
After saying this with an exceptionally heavy tone, Mr. Zhou fell silent.
After a long mont, he spoke again. "They say the scene at Unit 176 last night was horrific. But when the last rescue team went in after midnight and searched the area, they discovered that one of the Crystal Cores that should have been left behind was missing."
"It was supposedly the Crystal Core from a mutated Level 9 ability user." As Mr. Zhou said this, his gaze fell on Gu Xi, lingering for a subtle second.
At Unit 176, detailed files were kept on every single monster held captive. Setting aside the horrific consequences of last night’s riot, just the matter of the missing Crystal Core... was enough to infuriate the base’s leadership.
So, the full-scale lockdown and inspection of all the major camps today made sense.
However, Gu Xi thought about it again and felt that sothing was off.
’If last night’s incident at Unit 176 was just about silencing soone and covering tracks, there was no need to make such a huge scene, was there?’
’Wouldn’t that just deliberately attract suspicion?’
’So, this business with Unit 176... feels more like soone wanted to take the opportunity to muddy the waters completely.’
’What’s the goal?’
’To fish in troubled waters?’
’Or... are they trying to force soone to show themselves? Or maybe force soone’s hand?’
With the situation unclear, Gu Xi decided to bide her ti and see what happened.
Seeing the three of them remain silent, Mr. Zhou let out a long sigh. "With sothing like this happening, the base’s high command is furious. Because they can’t rule out human involvent in the Unit 176 incident, the entire base has been under a major investigation since dawn. The focus is..."
Mr. Zhou’s gaze fell on the three of them again, and he said, word by word, "Non-resident personnel who have entered or exited the base in the last seven days."
"So, the three of us have to be investigated too?" Qi Xiang frowned. "But weren’t we already checked that day at the South City Restaurant? Why again..."
Mr. Zhou nodded without a word.
Almost instinctively, Gu Xi imdiately connected the investigation to the incident at the South City Restaurant.
’As for the base’s claims about ruling out human involvent and finding the missing Level 9 Crystal Core, it’s all probably just a pretense.’
’What they’re really looking for is my Crystal Core Fragnt!’
Gu Xi lowered her eyes slightly.
’No wonder Shen Yue told the three of us to hurry to Camp No. 9527 this morning. At a sensitive ti like this, the more open and honest you appear, the more you can prove your innocence.’
’Being evasive would only arouse suspicion.’
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
Mr. Zhou went to the door, exchanged a few words with the visitor, then turned back and called for Gu Xi.
"Miss Gu, please co with ." The person who ca for Gu Xi was a young woman with short hair in a white lab coat. She had a very gentle and friendly appearance.
But Gu Xi could tell with a single glance that this was a high-level spiritual power user.
The short-haired young woman looked at her with a kind and amiable expression.
Gu Xi nodded, took two steps forward, then looked back at Mr. Zhou. "Wei Heng and the others..."
Before Mr. Zhou could say anything, the young woman in the white coat said with a smile, "Don’t worry. My colleagues will take care of your two friends."
’So, it’s separate interrogations?’
Gu Xi didn’t ask any more questions and followed the short-haired young woman to the second floor of the infirmary.
"Co in, this is my office." The short-haired young woman pushed open a door, revealing the space inside.
Gu Xi raised an eyebrow in surprise.
’The decor inside was very cozy. There were even a few candies and a bouquet of fresh flowers. It didn’t look like a typical doctor’s office. It was more like... a pre-apocalypse psychologist’s office she had once seen in a video?’
Gu Xi impassively lowered her gaze.
The short-haired young woman handed her a bracelet-like device. "Just put this on your wrist."
"What’s this?" Gu Xi raised a slight eyebrow, a hint of confusion on her face.
The short-haired young woman smiled, squatting down to help her put it on while explaining, "This monitors your vitals. It will sound an alarm if any of your trics beco abnormal..."
’Abnormal trics? Does she an if I lie?’
’So, this thing is actually a lie detector?’
But after putting it on, as a tiny needle from the inner ring of the bracelet pricked her skin, Gu Xi knew this gadget was probably more than just a simple lie detector.
An energy was trying to invade her ability.
The little green sprout was very domineering. It had always been the one to devour others; when had it ever been another energy’s turn to devour it?
The little sprout was about to devour the energy in retaliation, but Gu Xi impassively suppressed it.
Gu Xi sat on the sofa and looked up at the young woman. "Is this all?"
The short-haired young woman sat on the sofa opposite her and smiled gently. "Don’t be nervous. We just want to understand a few things."
Seeing Gu Xi’s perplexed expression, the young woman gave another kind smile and explained in as much detail as possible, "A major incident occurred at the South City base last night..."
"Of course, we don’t suspect you of anything. It’s just that you and your friends visited the base a few days ago, so we wanted to ask you about the situation at that ti."
The short-haired young woman pushed the candies on the table toward Gu Xi. "Miss Gu, you went to the base that day to...?"
Gu Xi suppressed the little green sprout’s impulse to grab the candy and answered truthfully, "...To do business. To sell grain."
"Can you tell more about it?" the short-haired young woman asked with a smile, staring into her eyes.
After a mont of silence, Gu Xi said slowly, "Actually, that day, it was Mr. Huang who invited us to a al..."
She recounted the events of her eting with Huang Er that day, including the conversation she had with him inside the South City Restaurant.
Because she wasn’t sure if the South City Restaurant was equipped with hidden surveillance, Gu Xi didn’t lie.
After she finished, the short-haired young woman smiled her gentle, kind smile. "Is that all?"
Gu Xi thought back carefully again, and after confirming she hadn’t missed or omitted anything, she nodded. "That’s all."
The short-haired woman across from her looked at her with a gentle, level gaze. "Then can you tell why you wanted to buy information from Huang Er? Of course, if you don’t want to say, that’s fine. I’m just purely curious..."
Gu Xi said calmly, "I’ve been detached from human society for too long. I lack an understanding of the world, and that makes feel very insecure... I desperately want to know what’s happening outside, but Camp No. 9527 is too far from the base..."
After she finished speaking, Gu Xi fell silent.
But the intangible sense of desolation radiating from her secretly startled the short-haired woman.
She observed her secretly for a mont, then nodded and rose to stand in front of Gu Xi.
While undoing the bracelet, she said in her gentle, friendly voice, "Alright, I have a basic understanding of the situation now. You can rest here for a bit. Once the results are in, you can go back."
The short-haired young woman gestured to the bracelet she had just removed from Gu Xi’s wrist.
Gu Xi nodded, appearing obedient but with a hint of bewildernt.
After the short-haired young woman left with the strange bracelet, Gu Xi lowered her eyes slightly.
’Sothing isn’t right.’
She impassively pressed a knuckle on her left index finger, then looked up and began to survey the room, feigning boredom and curiosity.
The room’s entire layout was cozy—the flowers, the candy, the sofa, the music—all of it designed to put a person at ease.
But Gu Xi could feel that soone was secretly "spying" on her.
’So, everything up to this point, including that conversation, was just to lower my guard. The real interrogation is only beginning now?’
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