After Being Parasitized by a Monster 64

Chapter 64: You smell so good…

“On March 21st, you were on duty in the observation tower control room. At 11:49, you activated the level three protection program, and then the entire area was sealed off in ten minutes. But after our investigation, we found that the quarantine net was not damaged, and the earliest alarm message from the underwater facilities was at 11:55—so may I ask, how could you have predicted the accident in advance?”

Qu Ying clearly didn’t understand what was going on with this Team Leader Yan’s strange reactions every time she saw her, and she was even more suspicious that it was an abnormality caused by the other’s guilty conscience.

So she didn’t hold back and, right from the start, she threw out the most pointed question—

“At that time, on what basis did you press the warning button?”

Cheng Ming didn’t know if Yan Li had anticipated this scene, that her actions would be discovered and she would be facing a reckoning from the Security Department. At the very least, her position would not be guaranteed, and at worst, she would be imprisoned.

In any case, she herself had never thought that one day, she, the victim, would be sitting in the interrogation position, defending her aggressor.

She met Qu Ying’s merciless gaze and suddenly felt a faint despair for this unreasonable world.

Slowing her breathing, Cheng Ming thought for a moment and said, “Are you sure you’ve checked all the data, without missing a single one? Including the living area, the experimental area, the underwater control area, all the warning devices?”

She threw the question back, and her gaze swept across the three people in front of her, neither servile nor overbearing.

Qu Ying’s targeting was obvious. Of the other two, the one on the right with the gold chest badge was the leader of the Investigation Department. He had the air of a soldier, sitting upright, with a solemn expression, and was listening very attentively. The one on the left and behind with the green chest badge was from the biology department. Her posture was more relaxed, and her expression was more friendly.

It seemed that they were just jurors, with no intention of interrupting.

“The bay must have had some unusual movements a long time ago. I believe that I made a reasonable judgment based on the abnormalities I observed in the main control room at that time,” Cheng Ming continued.

“Everyone, to be honest, I don’t understand what you’re suspecting,” she said this, but her eyes were staring straight at Qu Ying. “Is it also wrong to give a timely warning in order to prevent greater losses?”

“Stop pretending!” Qu Ying kicked the office chair in front of her and was about to stand up with one hand on the table.

The sudden burst of aura, along with the metal chair frame hitting the wall, clang, created a deafening sound.

Qiu Ju, who was sitting behind her, was also scared. 0.01 seconds later, she reached out and pressed her arm. “Hey, hey, Officer Qu, calm down, calm down!”

Cheng Ming was also startled.

If the person hadn’t been held back, she would have almost stood up and stepped back, shocked by Qu Ying’s—no, by her hostility towards Yan Li. It was as if she were here to find fault.

Shouldn’t these two have had little interaction besides departmental cooperation?

She was still in shock.

Qu Ying’s eyes were as sharp as ice, and the bones under her protective gloves seemed to be creaking. Her muscles were filled with saturated power, and if more fuel were added to the fire, it would erupt like a volcano.

The team leader Dong, who was on her right, did not move, but her posture was already stiff enough.

And so, the four of them were all tense, and the atmosphere was strange as they looked at each other. The good conference room was about to turn into a fighting ring.

Cheng Ming consciously felt that she couldn’t say any more. The more she said, the more she would lose. She was afraid that Sister Yingying would really rush up and beat her, so she could only brace herself and once again use her all-purpose words:

“Sorry, I have amnesia, and I haven’t fully recovered yet. I really don’t remember some of the details clearly.”

…

The first inquiry did not yield a satisfactory answer.

The result was that Cheng Ming was temporarily detained and was not allowed to leave until they had found out the reason.

This was also good.

That night at 21:45, she decided to complete the mission issued by the pharmaceutical company.

She removed all personal signs that might expose her identity, took off her bracelet and threw it on the pillow in her room, put on a mask, put on a protective suit, and opened the door.

Full protection was required to leave the living area, which provided some convenience for her actions.

The corridor was dim, and the material of the floor was unknown. The sound of her footsteps was almost completely absorbed, but she still subconsciously lightened her steps. This was the dormitory of the security personnel, and she would pass a door every few seconds.

She was very alert.

“Cheng Ming~” Xiao Ming was inexplicably excited and called out to her in a whisper, as if it were right by her ear. “You smell so good…”

She had just passed a dangerous section of the road, and was caught off guard by these words. Cheng Ming almost tripped.

Was it because she was too close to the sea that it was so restless?

She replied with a complicated expression, “Have you ever thought that this body is also yours?”

“So what?” Xiao Ming didn’t understand.

Cheng Ming: “So you sound so narcissistic.”

“…”

Regardless of whether the Fish-Fungus was speechless or had fallen into philosophical thought, while her mind was rarely quiet, she carefully reviewed the mission instructions—

Shuttle elevator No. 1, this was the path to the bottom of the sea. Was what those people wanted related to the experimental creatures below the bay?

What was the identity of the undercover agent planted by the pharmaceutical company? At the very least, it should be a long-term staff member here who couldn’t leave Redstone Bay, which was why she was needed as a middleman for the handover.

There was another question—was it really ten o’clock tonight?

The numbers had disappeared too quickly, and she didn’t know if she had misread them.

After a brief moment of happiness during the day, she had realized that the presence of Qu Ying proved that the Security Department attached great importance to it. She hoped that this trip would be smooth, and that she would not run into…

What she was afraid of came true.

Click. Cheng Ming’s footsteps paused.

Two meters ahead, a dormitory door opened.

A fan-shaped path of light slowly spread out on the floor, and a shadow was cast. Soon, a whole person walked out of the room.

Fortunately, it was not Qu Ying, but the other Investigation Department team leader she had seen during the day.

Because she had been focused on confronting Qu Ying at that time, she didn’t have a special impression of this one, and she herself didn’t have many memorable points.

Just as she had not made things difficult for her in the conference room at noon, at this moment, Dong Wentao glanced at her, also said nothing, and gave a faint nod.

Cheng Ming was not sure if she had not recognized her, and also nodded back as if nothing had happened. With her heart in her throat, she walked through the corridor with her, one in front of the other.

Time always passed slowly when you were suffering.

Although the person in front was walking fast, she was too embarrassed to suddenly slow down, which would seem too deliberate.

And so, they were always two or three meters apart, and no one spoke. Only the almost silent footsteps, like stepping on the tip of a heart, made people’s nerves even more tense.

Seeing that this section of the passage was about to end, Cheng Ming was about to let out a sigh of relief.

She turned a corner, and was still one in front of the other.

Five minutes later, she turned another corner, and was still one in front of the other.

Cheng Ming: “…”

Xiao Ming: “She’s not going to the same place as you, is she?”

She couldn’t go on like this.

To be on the safe side, she planned to take another route. It was better to take a detour than to be caught in the act.

Just as she had decided to turn right at the next fork where she was supposed to go straight, the person in front, who was taking large strides, suddenly turned her foot and went to the right.

Cheng Ming was stunned.

When she reached the fork, she looked to the right, and the figure had merged into the darkness and had already disappeared.

…

She wasn’t wearing a bracelet, and with this interlude, it was even more impossible to estimate the exact time.

But Cheng Ming felt that it should be about the same.

She followed the fluorescence of the signs and, after one dark passage after another, she finally arrived at the designated location.

The entrance of shuttle elevator No. 1.

As soon as the sensor light turned on, she saw that a person was already waiting in front of the thick metal explosion-proof door.

A dark shadow was gathered at his feet like a puddle of water.

“Hey, why are you so late? It’s almost past ten o’clock.”

The person waved at her, more tightly wrapped than her. With a pair of goggles on, even his eyes could not be seen clearly.

As she got closer, Cheng Ming could clearly see her work badge, number M-0368, and her identity was a breeder.

She had guessed right. It was indeed a grassroots worker related to marine life.

Cheng Ming did not speak, but just extended her hand, indicating that she could give her the things.

But the other turned around and pressed her pass. Beep. The identity was recognized, and the shuttle elevator hall door opened. Before she could react, she was pulled in:

“Don’t bother with these formalities, let’s go.”

…

Ground floor.

The low mechanical roar in the external vertical passage faded away, and the entrance of shuttle elevator No. 1 returned to silence.

The researcher, who had just returned to the ground from the underwater laboratory, took the more distant shuttle elevator No. 3, made a detour, and then came to the destination to avoid running into the breeder who was coming to work.

According to his understanding, that colleague was very passionate about his work. He would go down to the sea at least ten minutes early each time, and he usually chose elevator No. 2, so the probability of running into him was actually very small, but it was just in case.

The ventilation fan above was whirring. This researcher, who had been painstakingly invested in and cultivated by the ENS Foundation, unknowingly walked to the hall door where the two people had just stood.

The same position, towards the same direction, holding a sample bottle and standing diligently in this cold draft, like holding a grenade, he was very alert from head to toe and did not dare to move.

He lowered his head and confirmed the meeting point and time, then looked at the long and narrow, closed passage in front of him, and waited quietly and anxiously—

Why hasn’t he come yet?

…

Ten meters underground.

Shuttle elevator No. 1 sank into the seawater, and the internal lights were turned off.

The bright red numbers on the control panel were jumping and changing rapidly, showing that their depth was continuously decreasing.

Cheng Ming was very confused.

—Wait, wasn’t she just responsible for taking the things? Why did she have to come down herself?

She had to ask the breeder next to her, “Didn’t you prepare the things?”

M-0368 said firmly, “Don’t worry, everything is ready.”

Alright.

Although she didn’t understand why she couldn’t take it up and give it to her, Cheng Ming had no choice but to go with her to find out.

…

Ground floor.

At the entrance of shuttle elevator No. 1, the researcher who was in urgent need of a meeting was still waiting and waiting…

…

Two hundred and thirty-seven meters underground.

Thump. The shuttle elevator hit the bottom.

The vibration was transmitted through the metal, and was absorbed by the anti-shock layer of the car on the inside, and was swallowed by the endless, thick seawater on the outside.

The two of them walked out of the car door, one in front of the other, and stepped into the even darker underwater tunnel.

The protective suit would not use the reserve oxygen in a non-emergency situation, but would draw air from the outside for filtration. She didn’t know if it was because of the seawater intrusion in July, or if it was just because it was not the same place she had entered last time, but it didn’t smell so clean here, and every breath of air was faintly filled with a damp and fishy smell.

It was too dark, and there were no fluorescent signs.

Cheng Ming could only rely on her hearing to determine her position.

It was fine at first, but as she didn’t know which tunnel she had turned into next, she had been tripped several times in a minute.

Suspecting that the glasses the breeder in front was wearing had a night vision function, and had forgotten to care about her life or death, she fumbled on her protective suit for a while, and click, she turned on the searchlight on her head.

Rows of stacked pipes and cables appeared in front of her, forming a deep, circular passage. They seemed to be walking in the intestines of some large animal.

M-0368 suddenly turned her head to look at her and asked, “Why did you turn on the light?”

Her voice was very low, and her tone was very strange.

Cheng Ming was a little stunned.

The white light was dazzling, and all the traces were illuminated and had nowhere to hide.

She saw the wet shadow at the bottom of her shoe, which extended from her feet to her feet, and was there all the way.

This thing, was it really a shadow?

…

Ground floor.

Click. The hands of the researcher’s mechanical watch were stuck at 22:07:03.

At the end of the entrance of shuttle elevator No. 1, another figure finally appeared.

Also in full protection, the other’s attire was a little different. The gold badge on his chest shone with a fragmented light from afar. Until he passed the sensor light above his head, a face with no memorable features was exposed.

The 7th squad leader, Dong Wentao.

She had been walking in a hurry, but her steps had slowed down as she got closer. Her appraising gaze fell on the researcher here, and she seemed a little hesitant.

The person who had been waiting for so long that the flowers were about to wither walked up quickly and couldn’t help but complain, “Why are you so slow? What time did they tell you?”