MCL CH3

Chapter 3: A law-abiding ordinary citizen…

Wanyuan Machinery Corporation Headquarters.

Unnoticed by anyone, a car with no markings silently drove into the underground garage.

Led by a staff member, Qi Xian took a dedicated elevator all the way up to the 32nd floor.

Compared to a few days ago, this jurisdictional head looked much more weathered. His originally young and handsome face revealed an unconcealable fatigue. He strode through layers of security, passed the final door, and looked at the person inside. “President Yan.”

The man sitting at the desk was dressed in a sharp black suit. When he looked up, his jawline formed a sharp, handsome arc. His gaze passed over the others and landed directly on Qi Xian. “Captain Qi, you’re here.”

Those few short words were like a basin of cold water, instantly calming Qi Xian down.

Yan Xingzhou, the CEO of Wanyuan Machinery Corporation, was a well-known successful entrepreneur. But to anyone within the United Administration, he was someone they would rather not have too much contact with unless absolutely necessary. After all, the incident of his falling out with the United Administration and starting his own business has since spawned countless versions. The news of this big shot’s discord with the higher-ups was an open secret.

As for the extent of their discord, rumor had it that the headquarters had already listed Yan Xingzhou as a high-risk controlled individual, in case he suddenly decided to bloodbath the headquarters building one day. Of course, this was just a rumor, but even so, the depth of their animosity was already self-evident.

If he could, Qi Xian would not want to get involved in these muddy waters, but this time he had no choice.

After all, no one would have expected that a mere D-class contamination zone cleanup mission would have such a major loophole.

Not to mention the sudden upgrade, it even led to the leakage of contaminants. Without a doubt, this was already a complete dereliction of duty, a cleanup accident.

On the other hand, during their interaction, the cooperative attitude shown by Wanyuan Corporation made Qi Xian feel somewhat flattered.

Yan Xingzhou clearly knew the purpose of Qi Xian’s visit. He tapped his fingertips lightly on the desktop.

His assistant, Ju Ze, understood and handed a document to Qi Xian. “On the first day of the accident, our company assisted the government departments in replacing all surveillance with special detection equipment. The test results from the past few days are all on file. Based on the current feedback, the escaped contaminant has not left the city area. All determinable safe areas have now been ruled out. The remaining risk areas are as marked. Please inspect, Captain Qi.”

“Thank you.”

Qi Xian reached out, took it, and quickly flipped through it. Amidst the dense annotations, the red circled location was particularly conspicuous.

Although it had been screened to the maximum extent, the size of the remaining risk area was still shockingly large, which made Qi Xian’s face look a little ugly. “Contact headquarters and request support.”

“Yes, sir!”

As the team member’s footsteps faded away, a long silence fell over the office.

Qi Xian moved his lips slowly. “President Yan…”

Before he could say more, Yan Xingzhou had already finished his sentence. “Before the support arrives, the Corporation is willing to provide assistance within our capabilities.”

This answer made Qi Xian secretly breathe a sigh of relief and also made him take another look at the man in front of him.

Before he was assigned to this jurisdiction, the first warning he received was to avoid provoking this man as much as possible. However, from their contact during this incident, this President Yan, known as the “dictator,” didn’t seem as difficult to get along with as the rumors suggested…

“Captain Qi.”

Qi Xian’s thoughts were instantly pulled back.

Yan Xingzhou clearly didn’t mind Qi Xian’s distraction. “With a major accident like the escape of a contaminant this time, as an ordinary citizen, it is my duty to do my part. It would be best if this crisis can be resolved smoothly. But there is one thing I am curious about. If the contaminant’s hiding place cannot be found, how does your administration plan to handle the aftermath?”

The casual phrase “ordinary citizen” made the corner of Qi Xian’s mouth twitch slightly. “According to Article 43 of the ‘Contaminant Disposal Regulations,’ if the specific whereabouts of a C-class contaminant cannot be confirmed within seven days, a full state of martial law must be entered. That is, all risk areas will be sealed off to prevent the leakage of contamination and more serious consequences.”

“So that means there are still two days left.” Sensing the confusion in Qi Xian’s words, Yan Xingzhou continued patiently, “Three days from now, the Corporation has a batch of machinery that needs to be shipped abroad, with a market value of about 3 billion yuan. If the transaction is affected by the city-wide lockdown, according to regulations, 10% of the losses incurred by the public while cooperating with the prevention and control measures will need to be covered by the United Administration.”

At this point, he paused slowly. “As a law-abiding ordinary citizen, given my understanding of your administration’s financial statements, I think it is necessary to give a reminder to facilitate preparations in advance.”

Qi Xian’s eyelids twitched violently, and for a moment, he seemed to see his already bleak career path.

10% of 3 billion… that’s a ve-ry friend-ly reminder.

Is that a number that can be compensated for just by preparing in advance?!

It wasn’t until he left the office that the team member following Qi Xian spoke with lingering fear. “Captain, if we really have to compensate, the headquarters will probably have to sell everything they own, right?”

Qi Xian rubbed his temples with a headache. “Even if they sell everything, they still can’t afford to pay!”

Recalling the past rumors about Yan Xingzhou, he let out a deep breath. “If we don’t want to lose this iron rice bowl of a civil servant job, tell the brothers to tighten their belts and work hard! With Yan Xingzhou’s usual style, if he really loses so much money, I’m afraid… it won’t be as simple as just paying money then!”

At this point, he closed his eyes in despair.

Yan Xingzhou and the United Administration had been at peace for so many years. The reason for their final falling out couldn’t be because of him, right?!

In the CEO’s office, the assistant Ju Ze only spoke after seeing Qi Xian leave. “President, even with the 10% compensation, the loss from this transaction is still a considerable amount.”

“I was just scaring him. The United Administration is not worthy of me stopping this transaction just to make things difficult for them.” Seeing those people again inevitably brought a certain figure to Yan Xingzhou’s mind. His mood instantly soured, and his eyes darkened slightly.

Although using this to create some financial pressure on the United Administration was also a good choice, the accounts with those people could not be settled with just such small skirmishes.

Some things, in the end, still required blood for blood.

Yan Xingzhou casually opened the laptop in front of him. The search routes from the past few days were instantly displayed clearly on the map.

After a moment of observation, he pointed to a location among the annotations. “Around the accident area, they seem to have missed a place. If I remember correctly, here, there seems to be a quarantine zone.”

“I’m hungry.”

Lin Xi had lost count of how many times he had looked at the door. At this time of day, his meal should have been delivered long ago, but today he hadn’t seen anyone.

[I’m hungry too.]

The voice in his mind sounded even sadder than he did.

[In order to recreate this body of yours, I don’t even remember how long it’s been since I last ate.]

[Crystal cores, I want lots and lots of crystal cores. Just thinking about it makes me drool.]

“You contaminants have saliva?” Lin Xi chuckled, but his gaze shifted and landed on the door again.

Ever since he woke up, this body of his seemed to be particularly prone to hunger. He ate three meals a day, with the portion size of three or four people, which was completely inconsistent with his physique.

Just as Lin Xi was considering whether to go out and forage for food himself, footsteps finally came from outside the door.

The door to the isolation room opened. To his surprise, the researcher who had come to deliver the meal this time was not wearing a protective suit as usual. This also allowed him to finally see the appearance of the girl who had been taking care of him every day.

Seemingly noticing Lin Xi’s gaze, the female researcher placed the food on the table and replied, “Today is already the sixth day of quarantine. It’s basically a normal observation period where danger has been ruled out. Before you register for the end of quarantine tomorrow, you can also walk around within the quarantine zone.”

No wonder, she didn’t close the isolation room door directly after entering this time.

But Lin Xi was not happy about this at the moment. His attention was more on this researcher.

At a glance, she looked like a very delicate and ordinary person. Just looking at her face, there was nothing too strange. But compared to a few days ago, her height had grown much taller again, which inevitably made her entire figure look incredibly out of place. If you looked closely, you could see a faint halo occasionally flowing through the bottom of her black eyes, like an invisible vine, but it quickly transformed into layers of withered leaves.

With the opened door, a very faint floral fragrance gradually began to fill the air.

Lin Xi frowned slightly and sneezed gently a few times.

[Now I believe you. You really are allergic to pollen.]

Lin Xi: “…………”

You should reflect on yourself. You’ve recreated a whole new body, why did you still retain the cumbersome attribute of allergies?

Lin Xi was still hungry after all. Without further investigation, he took the bowl and chopsticks and decided to solve the problem of food and clothing first.

The researcher sat in front of him, staring at him intently.

In the silent silence, such a direct and unconcealed gaze was filled with a faint eeriness.

[She’s not right.]

The voice in his mind sounded like a well-intentioned reminder.

Lin Xi replied in his heart, “I know.”

“She’s too fragrant.”

[…………]

[I thought you would be more concerned about her figure. Do you humans really tend to focus on this aspect? What a perverted taste.]

Lin Xi’s brow furrowed slightly. “‘Fragrant’ is not a compliment.”

It’s really too fragrant. So fragrant it’s nauseating.

And it was obvious that it wasn’t just this researcher who was not right.

Judging from the fragrance seeping in from outside the door, the entire quarantine zone was probably not right now.

If it was just a vague guess before, then at this moment, Lin Xi could basically conclude that in this rift cleanup operation, a contaminant had probably escaped.

And faced with this conclusion, a certain contaminant who feared the world was not in chaos was obviously more excited than he was.

[But I have to admit, this is really lucky!]

[I didn’t expect to actually encounter a contaminant! I was just thinking about crystal cores, and now a crystal core has delivered itself to my door!]

[Crystal cores! I want to eat crystal cores! I want crystal cores!]

Lin Xi was getting a headache from the voice in his mind. “Forget it.”

[Why!]

Lin Xi glanced at the vacant-eyed researcher in front of him. “What level is this contaminant?”

[Judging from this smell alone, it’s C-class at most.]

Lin Xi: “Even if it’s D-class, with my current stamina, am I supposed to go and get myself killed?”

The voice in his mind fell completely silent.

After a long while.

[I don’t care, I don’t care! I want crystal cores! I want to eat crystal cores!]

[If I don’t eat crystal cores, I’ll die! If I die, you’ll die too!!!]

The great king of contaminants, “Calamity,” what’s the difference between him and a crying brat begging for candy?

Lin Xi closed his eyes and decided to ignore it. After finishing his meal, he returned the tray to the researcher.

[Really, if we don’t eat crystal cores, we’re all going to be finished!]

[It’s not a problem if we can’t beat it. We’re one now. You can totally borrow my power!]

Hearing this, Lin Xi finally sneered. “Give it up. I’m not letting you out.”

[Hee hee, no way, no way. You’re not worried you can’t suppress me, are you?]

A hint of ridicule flashed in Lin Xi’s eyes. He was noncommittal about such a goading method and twitched his nose silently.

He didn’t know if it was an illusion, but he felt that in this short period of time, the fragrance in the air seemed to have grown stronger.

In front of him, the researcher did not leave after packing up the bowl and chopsticks.

She was still standing there, a seemingly unnatural curve on her face. “Mr. Lin, you’ve been in quarantine for so many days. Would you like to go for a walk outside?”

Lin Xi: “No need. I want to take a nap for a while.”

The researcher still didn’t move. The words she spat out, one by one, had no life in them. “Going for a walk will help with your recovery.”

Each of her words dropped subtly, as if pulling him down into an abyss, bit by bit. “I can… show you the way.”

Their eyes met, and a brief, dead silence fell over the surroundings.

There was no wind, but a chill seemed to be seeping into his skin, bit by bit.

Lin Xi: “…”

It seems that if he refused, she would never give up.

He sighed slowly and stood up helplessly. “Alright, then I’ll just take a casual look.”

The researcher finally revealed a satisfied smile.

The overly stretched corner of her mouth formed a strange, inhuman arc. “Please follow me.”

In that instant, it was as if a vibrant flower bloomed in the bottom of her eyes, and in a flash, a shower of petals scattered.

The fragrance grew stronger.