Before long.
The elevator on the first floor slowly opened.
The employees on the first floor collectively turned their gaze toward the three people emerging from the elevator.
They saw Qin Bai and Wang Mingyuan flanking a barely conscious man as they walked out.
The man's suit was already tattered beyond recognition, with several Heart-Interrogation Needles embedded in various parts of his body.
The employees stirred with commotion.
"Holy crap! Isn't that Director Liu from the finance department!? He just approved bonuses for our department last month..."
"He, he's actually an aberration!? I brought him coffee just last week, I got lucky not getting hurt."
"We're done for, completely done for..."
"Is our company going to collapse?"
"I still have twenty years left on my mortgage!"
"If I lose this job, where will I find another with such good benefits?"
A gray-haired senior employee clutched his work ID tightly: "These days, employers only want young people. Old bones like us probably can't even find work out there."
"You're still worried about jobs!?"
A young receptionist immediately retorted: "We almost died here!"
Not far away.
Su Zhan finally saw who they were escorting.
It was an unfamiliar face around forty years old, also wearing a high-end suit but noticeably younger than Du Shanhe in the profile photos.
Not Du Shanhe.
Su Zhan felt immediate relief and looked more carefully.
The arrangement of Heart-Interrogation Needles on this middle-aged suited man was something he had seen several times before.
Just like with President Zhang and that aberration at the crematorium, they were placed at acupoints to prevent self-destruction.
"Big brother, what are those needles on that aberration for?"
Lin Yu approached, looking for conversation.
Su Zhan gave him a surprised look.
Weren't you just feeling sad and guilty moments ago?
You recovered pretty quickly.
But that's a good thing—young people should be like this.
"To prevent him from self-destructing."
Su Zhan answered concisely.
Lin Yu's eyes lit up at this: "Is this secret technique unique to your Vermilion Bird Academy, or can anyone learn it?"
"Well..."
Su Zhan gestured toward Qin Bai with his chin: "You'll have to ask him about that."
"...Oh."
Lin Yu's expression dimmed considerably, clearly intimidated by the thought of interacting with such important figures.
"You shouldn't be thinking about that right now."
Su Zhan said seriously: "This method of preventing self-destruction requires one specific precondition—complete overwhelming superiority in strength. So what you need to focus on now, what you need to do, is only about improving your own power."
"...Okay."
Lin Yu paused at these words, then nodded.
Meanwhile.
Wang Mingyuan and Qin Bai, along with the restrained man, had reached the central area of the first floor where most people were gathered.
The employees' discussions grew louder.
"Good arrest! These aberrations should all be cleaned up!"
A young programmer with dyed yellow hair waved his fist excitedly.
"You don't know shit!"
The gray-haired employee stood up abruptly: "Without Director Liu, the entire financial system will collapse! How will the company operate? What about those of us with families to support?"
"Sigh... You young people probably think losing a job is no big deal since you're still young with no pressures and plenty of opportunities."
An older programmer with thinning hair adjusted his glasses: "But we're already old. I'm forty-eight—who would hire me? Mortgage, car loans, children in college, elderly parents in hospital... You youngsters don't understand these pressures!"
"But we can't just keep aberrations around!"
A young female intern with a ponytail retorted: "Who knows when they might eat us!"
"Eat eat eat, wouldn't we know if he was going to eat us!?"
The older employee's face flushed red with anger: "I've worked with Director Liu for ten years—if he wanted to eat us, he would have done it already! Now that I've lost my job, are you going to pay for my wife's chemotherapy next month?"
"Well, that's not our fault..."
The yellow-haired programmer's voice softened: "Aberrations need to be captured regardless. If you want to blame someone, blame... blame yourselves for not being capable enough..."
"What did you say!?"
The older employee grabbed the yellow-haired man by the collar, raising his fist high: "Say that again!"
"Come on then! I'm not afraid of you!"
The yellow-haired man stood his ground: "No skills and you blame others!"
"Everyone stop right now!"
Captain Chen shouted fiercely, stomping his combat boot heavily on the ground: "Want to end up in the interrogation room? Go ahead and fight! I'll personally escort you there!"
The scene immediately fell silent.
The older employee breathed heavily as he released his grip.
The yellow-haired programmer sullenly straightened his collar.
"The Aberrant Purge Division will handle the aftermath."
Captain Chen scanned the crowd with a cold expression: "For now, everyone will remain here quietly. Only after your finance director reveals his accomplices and we root out the aberrations among you will you be allowed to leave."
"Officer... approximately, how long will that take?"
Someone raised their hand timidly.
"At most one day."
Qin Bai spoke up at this moment.
Su Zhan raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
It seemed Commander Qin was quite confident in his interrogation methods.
The employees felt somewhat reassured hearing this.
One day was still acceptable.
The crowd quietly divided into two groups.
The younger employees gathered on the left, whispering among themselves about the recent danger.
The middle-aged ones huddled on the right, looking defeated as they scrolled through their phone contacts, already reaching out to headhunters.
Su Zhan watched the middle-aged employees with their confused and anxious expressions.
He sighed inwardly.
While aberrations were terrifying, tomorrow's bread seemed to bring them equal despair.
"Teacher."
Seeing Wang Mingyuan exit the building's main entrance, Su Zhan immediately stepped forward to greet him.
"Hmm."
Wang Mingyuan nodded: "Su Zhan, no employees left the Du Corporation building, right?"
"Three aberrations tried to take hostages and escape through the underground garage earlier."
Su Zhan reported truthfully: "But we've already dealt with them."
"Any casualties?"
Wang Mingyuan asked.
"Yes, two Du Corporation employees unfortunately died during the incident."
Su Zhan nodded, continuing his report.
"Hmm."
Wang Mingyuan patted his shoulder: "This outcome is actually quite good given the circumstances."
"Hahaha... HAHAHAHA!!!"
Director Liu, still being restrained by Qin Bai and barely clinging to life, suddenly burst into maniacal laughter.
Qin Bai frowned: "What are you laughing at?"
Director Liu raised his head with difficulty, bloodshot eyes sweeping over the arguing employees, his voice hoarse: "See that? Me, an aberration!
Cough... and there are so many people who don't want me taken away..."
He bared his blood-stained teeth: "Isn't it ironic? They're taking my side, not you awakeners!"
"They're just clinging to their rice bowls."
Qin Bai coldly interrupted: "Don't twist the narrative."
"Twist the narrative?"
Director Liu coughed violently, clearly severely injured: "Cough cough cough! Cough... These people, they know the company is dangerous yet they'd rather risk it to keep their jobs. Why?"
He laughed maniacally: "Because we pay one and a half times the industry standard! And we fully cover all five social insurances and one housing fund... Your human employers can't even match the compensation packages offered by our aberration-run company!
How laughable, how utterly laughable!
Don't you find it ironic?
You humans treat your own kind worse than we do..."
Qin Bai's eyes turned completely cold: "I hope you can still laugh this happily when we reach the interrogation room."