Qi Sui's hand rested on the push handles of her wheelchair, his tone turning serious. "Nuannuan."
"Hmm?"
"No matter who talks to you later, just say one thing: 'I'm not sure about that, you'll have to ask our team leader.'"
Jiang Nuan turned her head to look at him.
Those eyes, usually filled with a gentle smile, now held a grave expression; his lips were even pressed together.
Though they were still inside the warm greenhouse, she could already sense the tension radiating from him.
She nodded nervously.
Qi Sui started pushing the wheelchair again, heading back.
After a couple of steps, his tone softened once more.
"Don't be afraid. People from Zero are protected by Zero."
The wheels of the wheelchair rolled over the gravel path in the cultivation area, the rumbling sound unusually clear in the quiet greenhouse.
The green leaves, the tomatoes, and the warm sunlight—all of it suddenly felt different.
Qi Sui escorted her back to her dorm.
Jiang Nuan stood up from the wheelchair, her legs still weak but far better than in the morning.
"I'm going to the meeting." He stood and patted her head. "Stay put and lock the door."
Jiang Nuan watched him walk toward an elevator nearby.
The moment the elevator doors closed, she saw him raise his hand to press his communicator, the expression on his profile no longer that of the gentle senior from moments ago.
She locked the door, then threw herself onto the bed, face down.
Her mind was racing.
The command center people had arrived.
In the original owner's memories, the data on her purification ability was known to very few people.
Only a handful at the highest level of the command center's core team.
On the way back earlier, Qi Sui had briefly explained the situation with the command center personnel who had come.
The leader was Wen Xu'an, head of the Strategic Research Department. His rank was high, but not necessarily high enough to access that file.
So he probably didn't know who she was.
If he saw her, he might just assume she was a new staff member who had recently joined Zero Squad's base.
Then why was he here?
Jiang Nuan buried her face in the pillow.
To investigate Zero Squad's abnormal energy readings, of course. Six people had all crossed the judgment threshold and returned quietly in the middle of the night.
And even if they were discreet, the command center surely had ways to find out.
Even if they wanted to talk to her, she was probably just an afterthought.
Maybe they wouldn't even look into her at all.
Hopefully.
She rolled over and stared at the ceiling.
But the word "hope" was too cheap in the apocalypse.
What if she was found out?
What if Wen Xu'an discovered she was an SSS-level purifier?
A chill crept down Jiang Nuan's spine.
She would most likely become a freely allocated resource.
Would she be taken away? Sent somewhere? Assigned to multiple teams on rotation?
Or locked in some laboratory, hooked up to tubes, drained of her purification ability like blood being drawn?
She didn't know.
But she did know that at least that night, Lu Shiyan had handed her a bottle of whiskey.
That was something that had happened, something she had confirmed.
So she couldn't be discovered.
She told herself not to panic and closed her eyes.
The lingering effects from last night's collapse hadn't fully faded, and her consciousness quickly grew hazy.
A knock at the door.
Jiang Nuan woke from her sleep, her mind still foggy. She wondered if she might have caught a cold.
She glanced at the digital clock.
15:22.
She had slept for nearly three hours.
"It's me."
A calm male voice came from outside the door.
Shen Wu.
She breathed a sigh of relief, got out of bed, and opened the door.
Shen Wu stood at the entrance, wearing a black combat uniform, his expression tired.
Jiang Nuan felt a bit of schadenfreude.
Being dragged into such a long meeting—even someone from Zero Squad couldn't handle it.
Shen Wu raised an eyebrow, scanning her. "You look terrible."
"...Thanks. You too."
With someone so sharp-tongued, Jiang Nuan stuck to the principle of never letting herself be outdone.
Shen Wu raised his eyebrow a second time. "Someone wants to see you."
Jiang Nuan's heart sank. "Wen Xu'an?"
"It seems Qi Sui gave you the basics already. That saves me some trouble."
He paused for a moment, as if weighing something.
Then he made his decision.
"Wen Xu'an's ability is called Discrimination. It's not as precise as mine, but he can sense whether someone is telling the truth."
"Think of it as a downgraded version of my ability."
"Your ability?" Jiang Nuan was taken aback.
"Mind reading?"
Shen Wu replied with a simple "Mm."
Jiang Nuan instinctively stepped back half a step, her face flushing bright red.
Her mind raced through all the thoughts she'd had in front of these people over the past few days.
Things like "I want to escape," "This group is crazy," "Lu Shiyan is so handsome but so terrifying"...
And last night's thoughts...
"Don't stress," Shen Wu said, expressionless. "I don't read minds all the time. Besides, you were too noisy last night, so I've already blocked you out."
"..."
Jiang Nuan felt like her face was burning through.
"...Are you blocking me now?"
"No."
Jiang Nuan immediately started reciting the multiplication table in her head.
Three times three is nine, three times four is twelve...
The corner of Shen Wu's mouth twitched.
"Enough," he said. "Nine times nine is eighty-one. You're done."
"..."
Jiang Nuan took a deep breath, forcing down the embarrassment and chaos, and brought herself back to the main point.
"So with Wen Xu'an, what's your advice?"
"Don't lie."
Don't lie? That was hardly advice.
"You don't need to lie," Shen Wu said, looking at her. "You just need to not tell the truth."
The two statements seemed contradictory, but Jiang Nuan suddenly understood.
She thought for a moment before speaking. "You mean, everything I say has to be true, but I don't give him any useful information?"
Shen Wu's smile widened by a millimeter. "You're smarter than I thought."
That didn't sound like a pure compliment, and she pouted inwardly.
At least the person she was dealing with wasn't a combat expert, just an investigator. She didn't have to face monsters like Zero Squad head-on.
She could handle it.
