Ann's face went white as soon as they came across Jenna. All the confidence she had disappeared like vapor under the summer sun.

"I decided to give the sample," Zaen said without a hint of nervousness. "Besides, the family emergency was taken care of and Ann here was… really persuasive."

Ann's cheeks flushed the moment she heard a guy half her age hinting at the deeds she did under the Brood Mother's influence. Jenna took the hint and smiled.

Having been linked with the mother, she naturally felt happy with Zaen's decision. However, at that moment, Zaen noticed something else.

The anomaly knows Ann isn't under its control anymore, yet it doesn't seem the others know about it.

"Alright, you two should go," Jenna said, stepping out of the elevator. "I'll have the captain start with the formal onboarding."

"I'll be thankful," Zaen smiled.

Everything seemed to be under control. They had fooled Jenna and were about to head downstairs when Jenna stopped the doors from closing. She had noticed the floor they had selected and her gaze turned icy instantly.

"Basement? Your lab is on the second floor, so why are you heading to the basement?"

Zaen stood there, thinking about excuses, but he didn't have any. He hadn't been at the base for long and couldn't spew random bullshit to fool Jenna.

"He has performance issues after a bad breakup," Ann said, hugging his arm even tighter. "I thought it would be better to ease him into it away from prying eyes."

Jenna looked Zaen up and down before breaking into a smile.

"Performance issues with all that you're packing?" she laughed. "I guess a virgin will stay a virgin. Go get him, girl."

Ann replied with a wink, but all her confident charm crumbled as soon as the doors closed.

"Performance issues?" Zaen asked. "I don't remember you complaining before."

"T-That was different! Besides, it worked, didn't it?"

If Zaen had eyes, he'd be rolling them right back into the skull. But now that the situation had been handled, they had to act quickly.

"The information spread seems slow," Zaen commented. "But we should move quickly. I don't think it'll take long before the anomaly realizes the truth."

Ann nodded. She knew time was of the essence better than Zaen did. The only reason she wasn't panicking was because she knew it wouldn't be easy for the Brood Mother to react to the lockdown.

After all, the organization and every personnel working for it had a primary purpose. To keep the anomalous and the real world separate. In their situation, the most important thing was to prevent other entities from leaking outside.

The notion was ingrained in all F.O.R.C.E. personnel. It was something they believed in, and by going against it, the Brood Mother could effectively trigger the shock sequence by merely trying to stop the lockdown.

As soon as the doors opened, Ann's brow furrowed.

"Is something the matter?" Zaen asked.

"…the halls, they should always be lit up, but only the emergency lights are on," Ann mumbled.

She had a reason to be worried. If the Brood Mother had manipulated someone to such an extent, then there was no saying what could be waiting for them in the dark.

"Get back," Zaen said, pushing her behind. "I'll take the lead."

"I mean no disrespect, but you can't even see," Ann explained. "You don't even know anyone here, so how will you know if they are infected or not?"

Instead of getting angry or upset by her remarks, Zaen merely chuckled and leaned on his stick.

"That would be the case," he said. "But thanks to you and a special friend, I can see much better in the dark than you could with your eyes. So shut it, and follow me."

With the stick pointing ahead, Zaen walked while Ann held on to the hem of his shirt, afraid she'd get lost in the dark otherwise. Under her guidance, they slowly made their way to the containment room. But then, something happened.

"Duck."

"What—?"

Zaen didn't repeat his words and instead shoved her head down. The next moment, Ann felt something sharp whiz past her head. It was a bullet, but there had been no sound, no footsteps.

Instead of feeling thankful to be saved, she was questioning Zaen's abilities in her mind. While she was thinking all that, someone appeared at the corner of her faint vision.

It was one of the receptionists, the same one who had brought the news of Zaen's uncle's call to the captain's office a few days ago. But now, she didn't have any warmth or the usual nervousness in her eyes. The only thing she had was a steely resolve.

"Drop your weapons and state the purpose of your arrival at this level?" the receptionist asked.

"We're just here to…"

Ann was about to weave a fake story when Zaen hurled a throwing knife in the girl's direction. Unlike Ann, the girl seemed to be able to see perfectly in the dark and dodged the knife.

But the next second, a long, pointy sword was plunged into her chest, ripping her heart out with a swing. The woman clutched her chest, unable to believe she was dying.

"Zaen what—"

"She was a lost cause," he said without any remorse.

Unlike Ann, he could see right through their fake forms. He had noticed a small, wriggling, worm-like static texture in Jenna's head before they headed down. It was because her infection was at an earlier stage.

However, the woman before him was infested with such worms from head to toe. There was no hope of saving her, and the system told him that much.

[Infected Broodling killed! Exp +250]

[Exp: 3,350/1,600]

Strangely enough, even with the kill notification, the worms inside the woman kept moving.

"How could you tell she was beyond saying?" Ann questioned as she kicked the corpse a couple of times. "She seems uninfected—"

As soon as she said that, a slit ripped through the woman's body, and over a dozen translucent worms shot out of it. They lunged at Ann, threatening to burrow into her flesh, but the next moment Zaen sliced most of them with the sword while blocking the rest with his body.

[Brood Spawn killed! Exp +10]

[Brood Spawn killed! Exp +10]

[Brood Spawn killed! Exp +10]

[Exp: 3,500/1,600]

Fifteen worms writhed on the ground for a second before turning to dust.

"Zaen!"

"Don't!" Zaen shot back, raising his hand to stop her.

Three worms had broken through his skin, and he knew they were headed towards his mind. But he wasn't worried.

[Skill: Rotten Recovery Activated.]

The next instant, all those worms melted and became one with his body, not to conquer his mind but to heal the wounds they had made.

Ann saw it all in person and still couldn't believe her eyes. Something was seriously wrong with the boy before him. He was… simply too well equipped to handle such situations!

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