Chapter 298 - 297: Eavesdropping

"Isn’t this a little too convenient?" Jian Yu pulled Pei Yin to a stop in the stairwell.

’Could it really be such a coincidence?’

A data card just happens to be left behind, someone just happens to have a problem with their work handover, and we just happen to overhear the reason.

And the Director...

Jian Yu’s eyes filled with confusion. "For such an important experiment, the Director just casually sends his two assistants to tidy up. Isn’t he a little too trusting of them?"

Pei Yin couldn’t help but defend the Director. "It’s not that casual. They’ve been with my teacher for almost ten years."

Jian Yu’s eyes widened.

Pei Yin looked away, a bit unnaturally. "I like to do experiments alone. I rarely interact with anyone besides my teacher."

When he first arrived, his teacher wasn’t the Director yet.

He had been betrayed by a junior assistant and had his research plagiarized by someone who pulled rank on him, which made him distrustful of everyone here.

The only reason he found those two familiar was because they were always with the Director, so he had probably noticed them a few times.

Jian Yu thought it over and over, but something still felt wrong.

She grabbed Pei Yin’s arm again. "We’re going back."

Their eyes met. Pei Yin picked up Jian Yu and headed back the way they came.

Ting Ying had been getting ready to fly Jian Yu back to the academy.

Its wings were already starting to flap.

But when it turned its head, they were gone.

Ting Ying wanted to pout, but its beak was too sharp and hard for that, so it just rolled its eyes instead.

It didn’t disappear in a flash until it was summoned by Pei Yin.

「...」

Jian Yu glanced up and subconsciously disabled the motion-sensor lights in the hallway.

She tightened her grip around Pei Yin’s neck. In her vision, the soul mist swirled, making the dim light feel oppressive.

Pei Yin retracted his wings and slowed his pace.

His boots touched the silver floor, Soul Power blooming under his feet to muffle any sound.

Pei Yin’s gaze fell on the closed door at the end of the top floor.

His brow was tightly furrowed.

Jian Yu made a shushing gesture.

Invisible wisps of mist seeped through the crack under the door.

Sounds from inside slowly filtered out, the voices kept low.

"Director... that original data card for C69, I’m not sure if Academician Pei saw it just now."

A young male assistant’s voice trembled, revealing his palpable anxiety. "Should I go in and get it now? Or... just leave it there?"

The Director scoffed. "You think he didn’t see it? You think he’s blind? That he’d just grab one of my failed experiments to piss me off?"

"..."

Pei Yin’s pupils constricted, and his breath caught in his throat.

Then came the voice of a female assistant, sounding a bit younger and tinged with confusion.

"It’s strange, now that you mention it, Director. I got the feeling Academician Pei didn’t recognize me. I’ve been here for over a decade, after all. Do I just have a generic face?"

The Director sounded smug. "Who would he remember besides me? You’re lucky he didn’t hit you."

The female assistant fell silent.

The male assistant offered a calm analysis. "Director, why not just be upfront with Academician Pei? Since the project has been restarted, isn’t it normal for him to know?"

"You’re his teacher. If you told him not to act rashly, would Academician Pei really disobey you?"

"It’s better for him to hear it from us than to be led to discover it by someone else."

A brief, dead silence fell within the room, followed by a heavy sigh.

The Director’s voice sounded much older than usual. "I don’t know how to tell him."

The Director seemed to have gotten up from his chair; heavy footsteps paced a few times around the office.

"You think I want to hide this from him? Besides, in this situation, can it even be hidden anymore?"

Pei Yin’s fingers unconsciously tightened on the hem of his clothes, his knuckles turning white.

"I always feel like something unseen is watching me in the research institute."

The Director’s voice dropped even lower, laced with deep exhaustion and wariness.

"Someone is targeting me. Or even... targeting you."

"Even with you two, my trusted aides for several years, I don’t dare reveal everything about the C69 experiment."

"What if you get taken away one day? Then I’d be out of assistants."

Jian Yu glanced at Pei Yin’s tense profile.

The Director continued:

"I wish the C69 experiment would just rot in the dustbin of history, as if it never existed. But look at what’s been happening recently."

"Two network attacks without any warning, that archivist who mysteriously disappeared, and now these survivors brought back from Emperor Wolf Star..."

Every incident screamed the same fact at them: someone was secretly restarting the C69 experiment behind the scenes.

"But Director, Academician Pei must have known for a while. Weren’t you the one who restarted the experiment back then...?"

"It was because I couldn’t withstand the pressure from above! And because I was a fool!" the Director cut him off, his voice full of regret.

Back then, everyone thought Pei Yin was a genius. They thought he could find a way to perfect the failed experiment.

Although the result was a disaster, some people always believed it was because Pei Yin was too young and immature at the time.

Even now, that faction hasn’t completely given up.

A RUSTLE of shuffling papers sounded, as if the Director was irritably tidying the documents on his desk.

The female assistant spoke. "Is there a problem with the surveillance again? Who put that data card there? And who intentionally wanted Academician Pei to see it? Our person has gone missing, what about the person the Alliance assigned? Did something happen to them too?"

"Sigh." The Director’s sigh was filled with a sense of powerlessness.

Lately, documents related to this experiment have been mysteriously disappearing, as if they’ve grown legs, only to turn up where they shouldn’t be.

Someone is deliberately stirring up this topic. Someone is forcing Pei Yin into the game.

A failed experiment isn’t what’s frightening. What’s frightening is that the people conducting it are no longer under control.

The Director said in a low voice, "He’s still young. I don’t want him involved with this experiment again."

The atmosphere grew quiet.

Jian Yu tugged on Pei Yin, and the two quickly left.

Ting Ying spread its wings.

"We’re not going back just yet," Jian Yu said, stroking Ting Ying’s soft feathers.

She turned her head and asked Pei Yin, "Can we go see those people the Alliance brought back? Even just a look from a distance would be fine."

Pei Yin’s mind was in turmoil, but he obediently detoured to the military district.

He gave a heads-up and took Jian Yu directly into the temporary supervision bureau.

"Where are the people who came back from Emperor Wolf Star?"

"In Building 4."

Jian Yu followed him inside quietly.

She saw a building, large and spacious. Even from the outside, she could sense the lived-in atmosphere of a place inhabited by people.

"This isn’t a prison?"

Pei Yin led her inside. "They aren’t criminals; there’s no need to lock them up. Once the investigation is over, they’ll be free to leave."

Everyone was summoned. Of the original three hundred, only a little over one hundred remained.

Pei Yin looked at Jian Yu, signaling her with his eyes.

Jian Yu nodded discreetly and, without drawing attention, moved her fingers to tap lightly against her leg.

Pei Yin walked up and casually asked a few questions.