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.
Mike was puzzled and did not know why the worker was so hostile. He cleared his throat again, putting on airs. He asked, “Is the data complete?”“Aren’t they all there?” The woman bluntly answered him with a question instead.Mike was baffled.“Mrs. Russell says the data files aren’t complete. Can you check if anything is missing?” Mike asked, then tried to pressure her, “You should know the importance of the experiment. For Mrs. Russell to fully take over the project, we must compile all available data.”The worker looked at Mike casually, then at Lily, seemingly directing her words to Lily. “The data files are complete. I don’t blame her if she doesn’t get it.”In other words, the woman blamed Lily for finding fault with the data and that she was the one who failed to comprehend them.“You…” Mike was upset that the woman openly defied his instructions.Nonchalant, Lily raised her hand slightly. “Since you’re so certain the data is complete, I know why you kept failing. You hav
However, no one within the organization except the “boss” and the top leader knew each other’s identity and background, including Mike and Rhea.Seeing the worker behaving poorly toward Lily gave Mike a strange feeling. He did not know who the woman was as he could not get a good look at her face.Still, he knew the standoff was not good, so he stepped forward and said, “Mrs. Russell isn’t ordering you, but the boss says Mrs. Russell can use anything here at her discretion. Since she asks you to put it down, please do so.”“Why should I?” The woman showed Mike no respect and let out a throaty, gurgling laugh. “I’m carrying my experiment’s result. If she’s so capable, she can do it herself. Didn’t she just claim she could succeed without our data?” “Since it’s part of the experiment, it belongs here.” Lily raised her brows. “Why? Are you scared?”“It’s useless to try to goad me.” The worker turned away. “I don’t wish to waste my time on you guys!”Lily stared at the woman’s back
The office was unusually tranquil. One might think no one was around if someone was not standing there. The woman stood there with one hand clenched at her side while holding a fist close to her chest. She remained silent as she knitted her brow.Neither she nor the person before her said a word. He glared at her through the mask as if he could nail her to the wall with his gaze.“Sir…” When the woman spoke, she was interrupted by a crash and quickly stopped.A glass shattered before her, and some shards landed on her feet. She would have gotten cut if she had not been wearing her shoes. The woman stood there without even attempting to dodge while letting the man vent his anger.“Have I given you too much freedom to make you so bold?! Are you not listening to what I say, Rhea Moore?” He called out her name through clench tenth. She straightened her back, lowered her head, and looked at the shards on the floor as she said blandly, “No, sir.”“No?” The man hurled another glass tha
Rhea held her fingers together, then slowly loosened them as she walked over and reached out her hand. As she gradually parted her fingers and revealed a small translucent bottle lying in her palm, the man suddenly hesitated.Without a word, Rhea simply held out her hand and looked at him, curling the corner of her lips.The man retracted his hand, crossed his arms, and narrowed his eyes at her. “Open it!”The man looked even more insignificant, crossing his arms like this with his stature. Yet he absurdly wanted to put on an authoritative appearance.Rhea did not object and twisted the cap. There was a slight popping sound as the bottle opened. Soon after, a delicate, sweet-smelling scent slowly drifted and filled the air.The man frowned and freed his crossed arms, taking out a handkerchief to cover his nose and mouth. “Who told you to hold it so close to me? Move it away a bit!”The handkerchief muffled his voice, and there was a trace of panic in his eyes.“Sir, the beauty o