Chapter 149 Something Is Wrong with This World

In that classified laboratory, every single one of the black metal boxes neatly arranged on the shelves was connected by a data cable running somewhere deep underground.

Beside the administrator's small square desk, the power cord of the table lamp was plugged into a floor outlet.

At the tail ends of the two markers, there were also spiral thin cords, similar to the security tethered pens found on bank counters, making one subconsciously assume they were meant to prevent theft.

However, if they were security tethers against theft, why wasn't there one on the folding chair beside them? If it was because the folding chair was too bulky to easily carry away, then... why wasn't there one on the water cup?

There was a certain possibility that the water cup was a personal item belonging to the administrator.

Yet this possibility was quickly overturned—in the corner of the water cup, the logo of the corporation was stamped; clearly, the cup was issued by the company.

Of course, this was still not enough to prove the hypothesis forming in Wen Nan's mind...

Placing two fingers in the center of the desktop on the screen, he dragged, zoomed in, paused, played it back at an extremely slow speed, and reviewed it repeatedly...

After observing the two markers meticulously multiple times, Wen Nan finally concluded that his guess was correct, nine times out of ten.

*Pop.*

A soft, damp kiss landed on his cheek.

Wen Nan's train of thought was pulled back. He dismissed the floating holographic panel visible only to him, lowered his gaze to the person in his arms, and smiled as he kissed her forehead. "Why are you awake?"

Guan Ailin was draped over Wen Nan's chest. To make kissing easier, she propped her upper body up slightly, her soft breasts swaying right before his eyes, once again stirring up distracting thoughts in Wen Nan's mind.

Having just woken up, Guan Ailin's gaze lacked its usual clarity and looked somewhat dazed. Instead of answering Wen Nan's question, she slowly turned her head to look out the window.

The edge of the sky was already turning a pale, grayish blue, and the city plunged into the quietest hour of the day.

Guan Ailin got up, walked barefoot off the sofa, and approached the floor-to-ceiling window. Through the half-drawn curtains, she lowered her gaze to the empty street below.

Her long eyelashes drooped, concealing most of the emotions in her eyes.

Wen Nan walked over to her side and draped a light coat over her shoulders. "It's still early. Wouldn't you like to sleep a little longer?"

Guan Ailin shook her head. "Once I'm awake, it's hard to fall back asleep."

Wen Nan chuckled softly. "On your mind?"

Guan Ailin turned her head, stared intently at Wen Nan's face for a moment, and then looked back out at the street. "No."

9527: [Your skill, Mind Reading, has taken effect. The item Tear has been stacked for you. Total effective duration: 30 minutes.]

*“I can't. I still can't bring myself to say it.”*

*“Even to Ye Jiu, I cannot confide this kind of thing.”*

*“I’d probably be taken for a madwoman...”*

"Tell me about it?" Wen Nan's voice was gentle. "No matter what it is, as long as it concerns you, I want to know."

Guan Ailin's eyelashes fluttered lightly, and her brows knitted together involuntarily.

"We've already done the most intimate things. If that's still not enough to earn a single honest word from you, I'll feel a bit hurt." Wen Nan decided to employ some unscrupulous psychological manipulation tactics. "It wouldn't really be like the rumors say, would you, just seeking me out to satisfy physical urges?"

Guan Ailin turned her head back to look at the man beside her.

*“This man, why is he so charming?”*

*“Damn it all...”*

*“I simply can't find it in me to refuse him.”*

*“Perhaps I really should open my heart to him. If I don't speak up now, maybe I'll never get another chance.”*

After a brief silence, Guan Ailin finally relented, though what she said left Wen Nan somewhat bewildered.

"Right now, it is precisely 6 hours, 19 minutes, and 36 seconds in the morning. In 30 seconds, a red Ferrari will drive past the street below."

As her voice trailed off, the roaring sound of a car engine erupted from the end of the street, followed immediately by a red flash speeding past.

"In 1 minute and 12 seconds, a sanitation worker by the flower bed over there will pick up an empty plastic water bottle."

True to her words, shortly after Guan Ailin finished speaking, a sanitation worker in a yellow vest bent down to pick up an empty bottle, much like a prophet.

"These things happen every single day, repeating in an exact, flawless cycle," Guan Ailin gave a bitter laugh. "I've been wondering—is this world, just like the movie you showed me, completely unreal, or... is something wrong with me?"

She raised a slender finger and tapped her own forehead.

Wen Nan met her gaze quietly for a long moment, then reached out, grasped her cold fingers, and pressed them to his lips with a gentle kiss. "There is nothing wrong with you."

Hearing Wen Nan's reply, Guan Ailin was stunned at first, and then a relieved smile bloomed on her face.

9527: [Congratulations. Target 'The Cold Outside Yet Soft Inside Super Large Female CEO' current affection/攻略 progress has increased to: 86%.]

"Thank you, Ye Jiu," she whispered, "thank you for appearing.

"Living here, I always feel so lost, like walking through pitch-black night without seeing an end or finding a direction. Your appearance is like a tiny speck of starlight, letting me catch a glimpse of faint hope..."

Wen Nan gently pulled her into his embrace and was just about to speak when that soft voice echoed directly in his mind—

*“Ye Jiu, perhaps your name isn't Ye Jiu at all?”*

*“You can't even let me know your real name, just as there are some things I cannot let you know either.”*

*“There is supernatural power here, and many people possess superpowers. Yang Jingyuan, Li Shuyi, Zhang Beibei, and I included...”*

*“Just like a werewolf transforming on a full moon, every once in a while, someone always reaches out with threads to control a person.”*

*“They all have their own subjects to control, except for me.”*

*“I don't want to. I don't want to manipulate them; I want to set them free. But that voice resounds in my mind, compelling me to do so.”*

*“The threads uncontrollable stretch out from my fingertips, desperate to pierce into their bodies. I struggle and resist, and in the end, I would rather thrust those threads deep into the foundations of this building...”*

*“Yang Jingyuan says I'm ridiculous, fighting against my own instincts just for a few fleeting passersby, ultimately letting those passersby go while forcing myself to be bound forever to this building, a colossal, lifeless object.”*

*“Yet, she is wrong.”*

*“This building is not lifeless...”*

*“When I plunged my threads into it, it allowed me for the very first time to truly see what this world looks like.”*

*“I shouldn't have seen these repeating people and events; I ought to have forgotten them, just as Li Shuyi's deceased husband should have been completely erased from her memory, yet she stubbornly clings to him.”*

*“Memories that should have been wiped away by me remain so vividly in my mind...”*

*“Something must be wrong somewhere...”*

*“Since you say it isn't me, then it is this world that has gone wrong...”*