The security department was shrouded in silence at this hour.

Darkness enveloped the surroundings, the nearest streetlight a good twenty meters away.

In the entire two-story building, only one office on the first floor was lit.

He Gu couldn’t tell if it was his nerves, but the scene felt oppressively quiet.

He slowed his steps, tiptoeing like a thief towards the only lit office, careful not to make a sound.

Soon, He Gu reached the office door, sticking close to the wall.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, He Gu clutched the glass marble in his hand and cautiously peeked into the office.

The first thing he saw was the corner of the only desk inside.

As he leaned further in, more of the office came into view.

Before long, the metal storage cabinet on the desk also entered He Gu’s line of sight.

From this angle, he could clearly see the number on it: 315.

But as his gaze shifted, the next thing he saw was an empty office chair.

He Gu paused, startled.

The chair was empty?

Where was the blue uniform that was always there on night duty?

After a second’s hesitation, He Gu poked his whole head out for a better look.

Now, he could see the entire office clearly.

It was deserted; the blue uniform that should have been there was gone!

A bad feeling surged in He Gu’s heart as he saw this.

Before he could ponder further, a deep male voice suddenly sounded beside his ear: “Are you looking for me?”

The ghostly voice made He Gu’s head buzz as if it had exploded.

In that instant, his heart seemed to stop, his scalp tingled, his body stiffened, and goosebumps covered his skin.

Almost reflexively, He Gu jumped up and spun around to look behind him.

There stood a middle-aged man in a blue work uniform, unkempt beard and all, looking at him with a half-smile.

It was the blue uniform that was supposed to be inside the office!

He wasn’t there today!

Regret washed over He Gu immediately.

If he hadn’t turned around, the man might not have seen his face.

Now that he had, even if He Gu used the glass marble to control him, the man might still be able to track him down later.

But the situation was urgent, leaving no time for He Gu to think further.

Still recovering from the shock, He Gu saw the middle-aged man reaching into his pocket for a walkie-talkie.

He was going to call security on him!

He Gu’s heart tightened, and without thinking, he threw the glass marble he was holding.

“Tick-tock…”

The marble bounced a few times after hitting the ground and rolled away.

At the same time, the middle-aged man, who had just picked up the walkie-talkie to call for help, suddenly had his pupils contract and uncontrollably dropped the walkie-talkie to pounce on the marble.

As he picked up the marble, the man’s body stiffened, frozen in place as if struck by a paralyzing point.

He Gu breathed a sigh of relief and, without further thought, dashed into the office and fumbled for the quadrate key in his pocket.

He had only two minutes!

He had to retrieve the items from the cabinet and make a quick escape within two minutes!

But He Gu was so tense and still reeling from the scare that adrenaline surged through him, causing his whole body to tremble uncontrollably.

With shaking hands, He Gu tried to insert the quadrate key into the lock of the cabinet right in front of him, but he failed several times in his haste.

The more urgent he became, the more chaotic his actions, and sweat beaded on his forehead.

Rationally, He Gu knew he had to stay calm; two minutes were more than enough to take the items and leave.

But in practice, it’s not always possible to be completely rational.

Unless one has undergone specific training or is so accustomed to the task that they’ve become numb to it, nerves will still take over when they should.

“Calm down, there’s still time…”

“Calm down, there’s still time…”

…

He Gu stopped trying to insert the key and clutched his hands tightly, repeating the mantra in his head while taking deep breaths to steady his emotions.

After about ten seconds of deep breathing, He Gu managed to control the shaking of his hands enough to insert the key.

“Click!”

A soft sound, the lock turned, and the cabinet door popped open.

Seeing the door open, He Gu exhaled a long breath.

Thankfully, there was no mismatch between the key and the lock.

As the cabinet door opened, a pungent stench hit him.

He Gu paused, noticing a dark, paste-like substance on his hand.

Looking inside the cabinet, he saw a broken glass bottle; the sticky black paste seemed to have been inside it.

Had the white-coated people broken the glass bottle while moving the cabinet here?

Besides the glass shards and the foul-smelling paste, there was a package sealed in a black plastic bag in the cabinet.

With no time to think, He Gu grabbed the package, closed the cabinet to create the illusion that the contents were still inside, and prepared to leave.

But as soon as he took the package, the entire cabinet seemed to rise slightly.

He Gu was taken aback and immediately looked under the cabinet.

The surface beneath the cabinet had clearly risen a bit.

“A weight-sensing alarm device!?”

He Gu’s face changed, and he ran out with the package.

However, as he exited the office, he saw the middle-aged man who had been frozen in a crouching position now lying in a pool of blood on the ground, blood extending from his head.

Beside his head, three “zombie cats” that had appeared from nowhere sat blood-faced, quietly licking their paws.

From this angle, He Gu could clearly see the back of the man’s head was gone, his brain nearly scooped out.

The three “zombie cats” glanced sideways at He Gu while contentedly licking their paws, with bits of red and white remnants visible around their mouths.

Seeing this, He Gu felt chills run down his spine, a cold sensation shooting up from his heels to the back of his head.

And at that moment, from the walkie-talkie that had fallen beside the man’s hand came a voice:

“Static… B11, B11, what’s the situation on your end? The weight-sensing alarm in the office has been triggered?”

…

PS: I worked hard to finish this chapter and the additional update, but it’s past midnight again.

I owe you all 5 additional chapters; this is the first one, and the remaining four will be posted in due course, please be assured. (Mainly because I can’t manage 5 updates in one day without dying/crying)

Although it’s past midnight, this chapter counts as the additional update for May 22nd, and the update for the 23rd will not be counted as this chapter, rest assured.