Jiang Nuan woke up because of the heat.
More precisely, because of the scorching warmth.
The moment her consciousness returned, her senses followed suit.
Her waist was firmly locked in the grip of a muscular arm, its temperature shockingly high.
And against the hollow of her neck rested a cold chin, while long fingers idly twirled a strand of her hair.
Jiang Nuan's eyes flew open.
The ceiling was unfamiliar. Pale morning light squeezed in through the gaps in the curtains, and the air was thick with the cloying sweetness left behind by evaporated alcohol.
Memories of last night—wild, out-of-control, disgraceful—flooded back into her mind.
She had only meant to fish for information.
But three glasses of strong liquor later, she hadn't gotten any leads—and she'd ended up losing herself instead.
Jiang Nuan: ...
Not just embarrassment—there was fear, too.
She had dropped every ounce of her guard in front of Qinian and Qi Sui. How drunk had she been? What had she said? Had she leaked something she shouldn't have while her mind was clouded?
She wasn't sure.
That terrified her more than any physical intimacy ever could.
She moved.
The arm around her waist instantly tightened.
"Don't move," Qinian's voice came, muffled and thick with sleep. "Sleep a little more."
Jiang Nuan went stiff as a board.
On the other side, Qi Sui's breathing rhythm didn't change—still steady and even. But his fingers resting on her shoulder shifted almost imperceptibly, as if brushing against her skin unconsciously.
At that moment, Jiang Nuan's brain went into overdrive and reached a conclusion.
Run.
Now. Immediately. Right this second.
She held her breath, moving like a thief, inch by inch, prying Qinian's scorching arm off her waist.
Then she slowly, agonizingly slowly, extracted herself from Qi Sui's embrace. The moment the cool air touched her skin, goosebumps broke out all over her body.
When her feet hit the floor, her legs were so weak she almost collapsed.
She bent down to pick up the clothes scattered on the ground, her fingers trembling so badly she could barely fasten the buttons. Biting her lower lip, she refused to look at the two people on the bed, pulling her collar up to the highest point, hiding the damning marks on her collarbone.
Her hand touched the doorknob.
"Running off so soon?" Qinian's lazy, amused voice rang out behind her.
Jiang Nuan's hand froze. She didn't turn around. She simply twisted the knob and slipped out.
The moment the door clicked shut behind her, she heard Qi Sui's gentle voice. "Don't chase her. You'll scare her."
Followed by Qinian's dissatisfied tsk.
Jiang Nuan practically fled.
The corridor was empty, and the base in the pre-dawn hour was so quiet that only the low hum of the ventilation ducts could be heard. A cold breeze swept past, and Jiang Nuan shivered, her mind finally clearing a little.
Calm down.
She'd had too much to drink. Alcohol had clouded her judgment.
Jiang Nuan pressed the back of her hand against her burning cheeks, mentally cursing Qi Sui and Qinian eight hundred times.
This wasn't supposed to happen... This wasn't part of the mission at all.
She straightened her collar and hurried toward her own room.
She'd go back, take a shower, change her clothes, and pretend none of it had ever happened.
She'd taken less than ten steps when she instinctively looked up.
In the corner of the ceiling at the end of the corridor, a hemispherical surveillance camera was pointed directly at her.
Its red indicator light was blinking.
One. Two. Three.
Completely rhythmic, completely composed, like an unblinking eye that saw everything.
Jiang Nuan's blood froze in that instant.
The highest-level surveillance on the base. Only one person had the clearance to access it at any time.
When had Lu Shiyan gotten back?
What had he seen?
The thought of those eyes—so full of oppressive pressure—watching her through a screen at this very moment made her scalp crawl.
She almost ran, stumbling and staggering, and burst into her own room.
...
Two hours later, full team meeting.
Jiang Nuan had washed her face twice with freezing cold water in the bathroom. She changed into a black combat uniform with an incredibly high collar, zipped all the way up to her chin.
The moment she pushed open the conference room door, there was a barely perceptible tension in the air.
Lu Shiyan sat at the head of the long table, wearing a crisp black formal uniform. High collar, fitted waist, the hidden buttons at his cuffs fastened with meticulous precision all the way to his wrist bones.
His hands were crossed and resting against his jaw, his expression as cold and detached as ever.
But the moment Jiang Nuan stepped inside, his gaze swept precisely over her deliberately raised collar, and the faint, lingering flush at the corners of her eyes.
Jiang Nuan's shoulders tensed up.
Qinian and Qi Sui walked in after her.
Qinian had changed back into his black combat uniform—broad shoulders, long legs, looking refreshed and full of spirit. A satisfied smile curled at the corners of his mouth, his eyes slightly tilted, gazing straight at Jiang Nuan.
That look was shamelessly obvious.
Jiang Ce's gaze flickered between Qinian's face and Jiang Nuan, his brow furrowing. He reached out and slapped Qinian hard on the back. "Dial back that look of yours."
Qinian stumbled forward half a step from the blow, but instead of getting annoyed, he grinned even wider.
Qi Sui, as always, maintained his gentle demeanor. He even thoughtfully brought a glass of warm milk and set it in front of Jiang Nuan's seat.
"Thanks." Jiang Nuan took it and took a sip. The temperature was perfect.
Ye Que leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, expression utterly blank.
But the moment Jiang Nuan walked in, his gaze locked directly onto her neck—or rather, the small mark that her collar couldn't quite cover. His eyes darkened.
Shen Wu sat on Lu Shiyan's left, long legs crossed, watching the scene with detached, amused eyes.
Shen Wu, don't you dare read my mind!
Don't read it! Don't read it! Don't read it!
The corner of Shen Wu's mouth twitched slightly. He raised his teacup to mask the expression.
Jiang Nuan had the vague feeling that the air pressure in this conference room could crush a person to death.
"Last night's command center matters are handled. There are a few things that need to be synced."
Lu Shiyan's gaze swept calmly across the room, his tone icy.
"Before that—"
He paused, his palm pressing flat against the table.
"The base's wine cellar inventory system flagged an anomaly this morning. Two bottles of 58-proof liquor are missing."
The air solidified.
Lu Shiyan looked at Qinian and Qi Sui.
"Qinian, Qi Sui, regarding the security mission execution report during your stay on base—I want it on my desk tomorrow morning."
"...We just drank two bottles. Do we really need to write a report?"
"Three thousand words." Lu Shiyan's tone carried no inflection whatsoever. "Including the timeline, personnel movements, and patrol records for every sector of the base."
His thumb unconsciously traced the hidden clasp on his cuff, as if suppressing something.
"Also, for the next month, doubled physical training."
Qinian's smile finally faltered for a split second.
Qi Sui tugged at him and smiled gently. "The captain is right. It was indeed our oversight."
Lu Shiyan's gaze finally shifted to Jiang Nuan.
It was that same sweeping look—from the faint redness at the corners of her eyes, down to the zipper pulled up to her chin.
Then he looked away.
The fingers resting on the table curled inward slightly, his knuckles whitening.
Jiang Nuan's entire body went rigid, her heart pounding loud and fast in her chest.
But the next second, an inexplicable emotion surged up from the depths of her heart.
...Why was she feeling guilty?
He was the one who had pushed her into this system. The purification, the collar, the contraceptive injection—every step had been arranged by him.
And now he was looking at her with those eyes—what was that supposed to mean?
She raised her gaze, meeting his directly, without flinching.
Then, unhurried, she raised her hand and pulled the zipper—which had already been lowered to her chin—back up.
The movement was slow. Like a silent declaration.
I have nothing to hide. And you have no standing to judge me.
Lu Shiyan's gaze darkened by a degree at that instant.
Jiang Nuan lowered her eyes and took a sip of her milk.
Shen Wu lifted her teacup from across the table, took a sip, and said in a cool voice, "So are we having a morning meeting right now, or a post-drinking self-criticism session?"
"Let's get down to business." Lu Shiyan withdrew his gaze, paused, and opened the file.
"First item."
The holographic projection screen above them flickered to life.
On the screen appeared a thumbnail-sized, dark-gold crystal, and at its very core, a line of text.
【Exp-004】
"The crystal analysis report for Exp-004, along with the evidence chain proving that the Apocalypse Society manufactured the man-made Exclusion Zone, has been submitted to Command. Their response plan is currently under discussion."
The group's expressions sharpened, their earlier slackness gone.
"Second item." Lu Shiyan's slender fingers swept across the screen, pulling up the structural diagram of the White Whale and the fog-dispersion model.
"Regarding the White Whale Exclusion Zone, the research department has released its latest analysis."
"The Jigsaw Theory."
Lu Shiyan stood up, bracing his hands on the table, and swept his gaze across everyone present.
"The fog aboard the White Whale is hovering right at the breaking point of SS-class. Monsters at this level already possess extremely high intelligence and mimicry abilities. It is no longer satisfied with simply devouring flesh and blood or psionic energy. It needs high-quality nourishment to patch the holes in its own rules and complete its evolution."
"And Bai Siyuan, as a rare high-tier psionic-type Awakened, is its perfect missing piece."
On the projection, the SS-class medical pod where Bai Siyuan lay was marked in glaring red.
"This is exactly why it was willing to expend massive amounts of energy to reset time just to open that medical pod."
Jiang Nuan forcibly suppressed the shame and panic churning in her chest and forced herself into work mode.
She stared at the model on the projection, her mind beginning to race.
No.
Something doesn't add up.
"I have a question."
Jiang Nuan spoke.
All eyes turned to her at once.
She met their gazes, keeping her voice as steady as she could.
"If the Zone needs a high-tier psionic-type Awakened as its missing piece, then why didn't it go after the captain or Shen Wu?"
"Bai Siyuan is at roughly the same psionic level as you two, and at the time he wasn't hiding in a medical pod. Going for the farther target instead of the nearer one doesn't make sense."
Lu Shiyan looked at her, something flickering in the depths of his eyes.
It was approval.
"That's exactly what I was about to say." His voice dropped half a degree. "The Jigsaw Theory holds, but the target isn't simply any high-tier psionic user. There's something specific about Bai Siyuan that made the Zone fixate on him alone."
He paused.
"Bai Siyuan definitely carries a secret that even we don't know about."
The words landed like a stone dropped into a deep pool.
Jiang Nuan's fingers clenched under the table.
Bai Siyuan. The refugee district. That handwritten journal. The person who, like her, had memories from before the apocalypse.
These threads twisted wildly in her mind, but were still missing a key link.
"Third item."
Lu Shiyan's voice cut through her thoughts.
He closed the projection, folded his long fingers on the table, and fixed his gaze on Jiang Nuan.
This time, he looked for a long while.
Long enough that Jiang Nuan's heart began to pound anxiously again.
"I've already shelved the Bai family's transfer document."
Jiang Nuan just barely let out a breath of relief.
"But this morning, the Bai family pressured the Federation High Command—using the provision of core intelligence on the Apocalypse Society and support for their operations as leverage—"
Jiang Nuan's brow twitched slightly.
Core intelligence on the Apocalypse Society. Why would the Bai family have something like that?
The thought flashed through her mind for only a moment before being pushed aside by Lu Shiyan's next words.
"—to demand a compromise agreement: every month, Jiang Nuan would have to stay at the Bai residence for one week, to 'reunite' with her so-called family."
"The compromise agreement was also shelved. But—"
He looked up, his eyes boring directly into hers.
"The Bai family has stated that since Zero Squad refuses to agree, they'll let the person in question decide. Command has adopted this proposal."
He paused, his voice dropping another half degree.
"The final say lies with you."
