In response to Lily’s question, the man laughed indifferently and said slowly, “That’s nothing you should worry about. It could be you, me, or any other intellectuals, but never those idiots.”Arrogance and disdain were evident in his tone, making Lily frown as she scoffed. “You think you’re one of the intellectuals, then?”“Of course!” He opened his arms and answered confidently. “Haven’t the recent happenings proved my intelligence? I was the one who planned everything and threw the world into chaos. If you hadn’t disrupted the process, I would’ve completed the entire project by now!”Speaking of which, he felt it was a pity for not recruiting Lily since the beginning. If he had done so, he would have succeeded by now. However, he did not think Lily would have such an essential role in the project then. The other researchers could not blend the fragrances and the herbs ideally after she left, causing the project to delay until now. They had no choice but to bring her back into t
Lily first looked at Mike, then averted her gaze from the tiny man before her, rejecting his request upfront, “No! I have my family, friends, and career out there. How will I contact them if I give you my phone? I’m here to work for your organization, not to become your prisoner.“Plus, whatever I have on my phone is my private information. How could I turn it in? Also, how would I ensure you guys won’t harm my family the second I turn my phone in? I need to know they’re safe at all times!”“You’re overthinking.” The man replied slowly, “Since you’re willing to cooperate with us, you’re part of us. Why would we make things difficult for our people? Plus, we don’t need to do anything for your family. We wouldn’t want to cause any problems here, either.”That made Lily sneer. “What a joke! It’s not like you guys haven’t hurt anyone for no reason at all before this. You don’t trust me, and likewise, I don’t trust you. In what way can I be sure that you won't create problems for your ow
Lily and Mike returned downstairs using another elevator. Initially, she thought they would head to the lab directly, but unexpectedly, Mike brought her to rest first. Lily looked around her as she walked, and sure enough, every hallway and corner was full of surveillance cameras. There were already countless cameras within her sight, not to mention those hidden cameras in the dark.That meant her every move was under their watch here. It would be tough for her to do anything. Mike led the way but said nothing to her. The two stayed silent and walked to another building. Then they went upstairs again and stopped before a door. Mike entered the password, and the door opened with a click.Finally, he turned to look at Lily. “Come on in.”Lily looked at him hesitantly before glancing around the room. The room had simple furnishings, but it was neat and clean. All the necessities were prepared as well. Then she looked outside the room again.The corridor was silent, like there was
A moment of silence later, Mike still could not hold himself back. “I promised Alex I’d keep you safe, so I won’t let you die here.”His tone was determined as he repeated his promise, even if Lily did not take the matter to heart. She walked around the room and realized it was pretty small but much better than where she stayed when she worked for X Department.All the bedding and other necessities were prepared. Then she looked at the bathroom and breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed they did not install any surveillance cameras in her room or the bathroom. If they did, that would rid her of all privacy.After dealing with this matter for quite some time, she was already tired and pulled a chair closer to take a seat. When she noticed Mike still standing at the door, looking demure, she said softly, “It’s okay. I didn’t choose to do this in the heat of the moment, so you don’t have to get so worked up over this.“Even if I didn’t say those things, they wouldn’t keep me here
After Mike left, Lily checked the entire room carefully and finally understood his reason for placing the device on her earlier.There was an audio monitoring system in the room’s ventilation ducts. Someone was monitoring Lily and everyone else in the building for their words. Unsurprisingly, they had other monitoring systems besides surveillance and hidden cameras. Living here was much scarier than living in prison.However, Lily had prepared herself for such situations. It was not like it had caught her off guard. She removed her phone from her pocket and picked up a tiny card from her bag with a few threads of silver-like strings and something resembling a mini lighter.After setting the thing up, she connected it to her phone and texted Alexander, telling him she was safe.Alexander was the one who gave her the item, which was a high-tech device created by his company. They were only in their prototype phase and unavailable in the marketplace. After connecting the device to her
Lily knew the building was unique, confirming her guess after stepping in. Firstly, the place was built with unique materials. It had a large number of acoustic pads on the walls and had more vents than ordinary buildings.The place's lighting was not ideal, so it was a little dark and would make anyone feel depressed. Still, the lighting should not have been so terrible, judging from the building’s architecture. Hence, there was only one reason to explain the situation—it was done deliberately as a protective measure.The hallway had warm lights, but the wattage must have been low because it was still quite dim. Walking through the hallway made Lily feel like she was entering another world, not to mention the door that closed behind them with a bang.Startled by the sound, Lily turned to look before averting her gaze to Mike. He seemed calm, evidently used to it, and said without surprise, “You’ll get used to it soon.”Lily just let out a mocking laugh. ‘Mike is wrong because I’
Mike shrugged to indicate that he did not know either. Truthfully, if it were not for Lily, he would not have been directly involved in the experiment. Although he came here many times, he mostly played the supervisor role and hardly knew about the detailed procedures and what these things were.The “boss” probably did not put too many restrictions on Mike because he was a layperson. The boss knew Mike would not create trouble since he took Nick hostage. The boss also needed a Hylander, like Mike, to help with the project.At the same time, the organization needed Mike’s money as an investment and cooperation, so they registered his iris and fingerprints into the system so that he could access the facilities. However, if one were to ask Mike about the plants or their purpose, he would not know how to answer.Since Lily did not get her desired answer, she strolled over and carefully observed the abnormally huge poisonous plant behind the glass enclosure. She reached out despite her
Lily thought nothing more of it, lowered her head, and began reading the date. She flipped through the pages and discovered the same problem she faced with the experiment.One must naturally subdue the scent to maximize the drug’s potency. Also, to let the latter emit its natural aromas, the potency would not be optimum. The biggest problem was the intention to combine the two perfectly.Lily could not understand why they insisted on such perfection, as not being perfect was the norm, and true perfection was an imperfection that came with defects.Not to mention that the earlier research was intended to cure people. The patients would accept if the scent of the spices were milder, and there was no need to get rid of the herbal smell completely.When she later discovered that the research’s goal was not to develop a medicine but poison, she understood the organization was not trying to alleviate others’ suffering. Instead, it was to put people under the drug’s influence unknowingly.