Miss Assassin is heavily addicted

Chapter 137, Section 11: Mark's Letter and the Observed Giant Panda
Time flies, and three days later...

The entrance to a flower shop.

At nine o'clock in the morning, under the warm sunshine, He Ye held a bouquet of white chrysanthemums, ready to pay at the front desk.

He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a few coins from the Bald King, which made him feel embarrassed, so he put them back in his pocket and instead took out a 10-livre note and handed it to the shopkeeper.

The female shopkeeper looked He Ye up and down with a suspicious gaze. Perhaps seeing that he was dressed well and was well-mannered, she lowered her guard and gave him five li of banknotes.

After leaving the flower shop, He Ye couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"I'm still not used to it."

Today is the third day since returning to his home country. He Ye has settled into his accommodation and strolled around the area. There are fruit shops, department stores, a prestigious school, and a police station, making it a relatively safe area. However, He Ye spent the most time at the newsstand at the intersection, squatting inside and reading the newspaper for a long time.

And all of this took only a day and a half.

For the remaining half-day, which was yesterday afternoon, He Ye kept his promise and went to the CORE Special Affairs Bureau to find someone.

Among the things Mark gave him was a letter, which He Ye still hasn't opened. Mark instructed him to make sure it was delivered to someone named Madeline—a name that certainly evokes many thoughts, doesn't it?
To be honest, Mark's reputation was ruined, and He Ye was a little embarrassed to hand over the letter... for fear of being accused of treason.

But he still went to headquarters yesterday afternoon.

Wandering around the second office area, He Ye saw many unfamiliar faces and very few familiar ones. He Ye had quite a few questions to ask.

He inquired about Yugiri's condition—and breathed a slight sigh of relief upon hearing that Dr. Smith was still examining her with a worried expression.

He inquired about the situation of his squad—and breathed a sigh of relief when he heard from Old Ivan that Monica had replied to the telegram from headquarters on behalf of the captain.

Finally, she inquired about Madeline and helped Mark deliver the letter. He was currently the only one whose whereabouts were unknown, and He Ye didn't know if he was alright.

Unfortunately, the news we received was that Ms. Madeline had passed away.

It was unbearable.

So now, He Ye bought a bunch of white chrysanthemums.

……

The half-hour drive passed in a flash.

The cemetery is located in the eastern part of Parsenley and is called Paradise Gate Cemetery.

When He Ye got off the bus and arrived here, she saw several people mourning the deceased, carrying baskets and arranging fruit.

He Ye passed by alone.

The cemetery was quiet and bathed in bright sunshine.

With his leather shoes crunching on the withered branches and leaves on the ground, He Ye found the tombstone of Madeline Eisenberg.

He Ye didn't know this person. He only knew that she was from the same era as Mark and had probably joined the CORE Bureau twenty years ago. It was said that she had once served as an instructor at the base. So when He Ye inquired about her name, she was not given special attention and was probably mistaken for a former student who came to visit.

Her cause of death was sudden cardiac death.

Due to prolonged periods of high stress, lack of sleep, and irregular lifestyles leading to excessive strain on the heart, for spies, death could, in a sense, be considered a natural death.

After He Ye put down the white chrysanthemum, he stood silently for a moment.

He then took the letter out of his pocket.

The letter, which had remained unopened for so long, was finally opened by He Ye himself. He took out the letter and spread it out. The handwriting on it was really messy, but He Ye read it very carefully and slowly read it aloud.

Then he regretted it.

"Your smile is a lost secret from the temple, allowing my soul to find its home in an instant..."

Goosebumps instantly appeared on my skin.

He Ye suddenly closed his eyes, wanting a pair of eyes that had never seen this letter.

After a long pause and a few sighs, she suppressed her discomfort and continued reading. He Ye only knew one location: Mark had left a location in the letter, saying that she could go to that city to find him after she retired.

It is neither in country A nor country B.

That was the name of an unfamiliar city.

But does this mean Mark also has a way out? Perhaps he will live in seclusion there, waiting anxiously for a response to this letter. Three, four, or five years later, some lady will go to that city, find a newspaper, and then, after a glance at the lazy old man, her whole body will tremble with excitement…

He Ye's fate is now unknown.

He only read the last word.

Then I took out a match, struck it, and burned the letter.

The floating ashes drifted in all directions.

That way, you should always be able to hear it.

After doing all this, He Ye left the cemetery with his hands in the pockets of his black coat. Although he was still on vacation, he didn't feel relaxed and decided to go and see the other people.

……

—Headquarters, Second Division Office—

"Let me find the original text of that day's telegram."

When Old Ivan saw He Ye coming to visit, he immediately perked up and took out his cigar. This spy, who was on vacation, wouldn't come unless he had something important to say.

But as I searched—

"By the way, I heard you were asking about Ms. Madeline yesterday?"

Old Ivan rummaged through the documents and quickly pulled out a printed telegram from the neatly arranged files. He had heard about this from his subordinates; He Ye, who had just returned, was still attracting a lot of attention because of his achievements and status.

"Ah."

"So you already knew?"

"I just came back from the cemetery; I've already visited the graves."

He Ye didn't reveal anything about Mark; no matter what, he would keep it to himself, including his secret love story.

“I see…” Old Ivan slowly handed over the telegram: “Take a look, and I’ll tell you something else after you’ve read it.”

He Ye took it and looked at it slowly.

The telegram, sent in Monica's voice, said that they had evacuated to another city and were temporarily safe, but they couldn't leave Country A because customs was very strict, and the traitor Mark in the group was missing.

He Ye looked at it for three or four minutes, then returned the telegram.

"Are you relieved now?"

"I feel much more at ease," He Ye smiled.

Old Ivan smacked his lips: "Since you've come to see me, I'll tell you about that matter too, so I don't have to come looking for you again."

"whats the matter?"

“In the past few days, spies have been gradually withdrawing from Greenley City, although the number is small.” Old Ivan said, rubbing his hands with a sigh. “The intelligence they brought back has given the Führer a lot of confidence, and he has decided to hold a grand commendation meeting this weekend to reward these returning spies.”

He Ye knew about this and wasn't surprised.

At this moment, old Ivan stood up and walked over to He Ye, patting him firmly on the shoulder with one hand, and said solemnly, "The list is out, and you, Dorov, and Kyle are on the top list." He Ye was equally unsurprised: "Hmm, so?"

"Strange, why aren't you excited? Don't you understand the significance of the leader's reward?"

He Ye had been a spy for so long and had received many awards, but in his memory, they were just a few pieces of iron and empty titles, with maybe a little money at most.

But for people in their line of work, this kind of money is probably only available after retirement...if they can retire.

"I really have no idea. Is there anything special about it?" He Ye answered truthfully.

"The head of state values ​​the country's war service highly, and frontline 'warriors' like you are treasured. To put it simply, the three of you on the list received the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit, while the others received medals of decreasing rank."

"..."

"You don't have any idea either?" Old Ivan frowned, envious. "This is the highest level of commendation an officer can receive!"

"Thank you so much..." He Ye said subtly, not really interested in such things, but instead noticed something suspicious.

"Then why isn't Yugiri on top?"

"Her..." Old Ivan said somewhat awkwardly, "She doesn't need this kind of empty title. When we discussed it, we decided not to let her go up, since she doesn't really understand it."

There seems to be a consensus among the top executives of CORE that they are indifferent and ruthless towards the assassin Yugiri, never treating her as a human being, even though she enjoys the highest prestige within the organization.

He Ye had nothing to say, but after a long silence, he suggested that he go and see her.

Old Ivan readily agreed.

The two walked to a place that resembled a medical observation room. Through a glass partition on one side, Yugiri was working on a test, but she seemed at a loss as she held the pen.

Dr. Smith was chatting with another psychologist while organizing the patient's medical reports from the past three days.

Seeing her vital signs like blood pressure and heart rate, as well as her worrying sleep condition, made He Ye feel more like she was observing a giant panda than a human, which inexplicably made her feel a little sorry for her.

The beeping of the testing equipment echoed in the room. Through the one-way transparent glass, several people stood on one side, while she was doing her homework in a white-tiled room on the other.

“Her condition is very strange; she needs a sedative almost every time she goes to sleep,” the female psychologist sighed. “And she only stays asleep for about four hours at a time. I’ve observed various aspects but haven’t been able to find the cause.”

“The report she gave when she sent Professor Emil back home is here; you can take a look,” Dr. Smith said, equally melancholy.

“I will watch it again… The problem is her psychological state. It may be due to a lack of education on ethics, which has led to her having her own worldview as an adult, and thus gradually feeling resistant to killing… Otherwise, these symptoms of low appetite, lack of sleep, and low responsiveness cannot be explained.”

"..." Dr. Smith felt that the CORE Bureau's brainwashing of her was correct; it was precisely because she lacked ethical education that she felt no burden in killing.

After a few seconds of silence, Dr. Smith offered another possibility: "I think it is..."

In short, the two of them had a very strong academic atmosphere during their exchange.

Feeling embarrassed to disturb them, He Ye asked another doctor sitting in front of the machine next to them if she could go in and see what she was doing.

Old Ivan stood beside her, indicating that the two were teammates. The doctor looked at the two of them and readily agreed, after all, this was just to test her psychological condition, not to allow her to enter a critically ill room.

He Ye entered after receiving permission.

As soon as the door opened, Yugiri stopped writing.

She remains keenly aware of her surroundings.

Upon seeing He Ye approach, Old Ivan wisely stood beside her and held the door open, preventing it from closing.

The room was a bit cold and filled with a bitter smell. He Ye didn't know if it was the smell of medicine. He looked at Xi Wu and noticed that there were metal electrodes attached to her arm for testing.

Electrode patches were used to monitor her condition, placed in five locations, including the first and second intercostal spaces along the right midclavicular line, the first and second intercostal spaces along the left midclavicular line, and so on.

He Ye felt inexplicably pitiful.

"yeah?"

At this moment, the doctor sitting outside watching the instruments noticed that Yugure's various indicators were returning to normal.

He looked up and saw inside the glass.

Yugiri was chatting with Heno, a normal chat, a chat without any physical contact.

During the conversation, He Ye learned that Yugiri was just wearing these electrode patches while doing the questions. She would take them off after she finished. The questions were divided into five sections, from the feeling of killing to whether she was afraid of death. Yugiri answered very sincerely—it was clear from her words that He Ye was using her instinctive thoughts when answering the questions to test her psychological state.

Furthermore, Yugiri also informed her that she would leave the room after completing the psychological test.

He Ye felt a little relieved.

A few minutes later, the brief chat ended.

"I'm leaving."

"..." Yugiri wanted to say something, but noticed the surveillance camera above her head and nodded silently.

"..." He Ye slowly walked out and closed the door behind him.

Old Ivan had finished a third of his cigar. As he exhaled a smoke ring, he seemed to remember something and reminded me, "It's Friday today. Why don't you buy a suitable outfit? Or go to the logistics department to get a formal suit, since you have to attend an event this weekend."

"I know, I know..." He Ye waved his hand.

The two left casually.

Behind them, however, the two psychologists and doctors were frowning, looking at the rising indices on the instruments—returning to the normal range—and couldn't help but let their thoughts wander.

“I think I know how to treat this condition,” Dr. Smith said thoughtfully.

"Were their chat logs recorded?" the female psychology PhD asked.

The doctor nodded: "It's all recorded, you can listen to the playback."

The sound started playing from the glass-walled cubicle, a mundane daily routine and the care shown by teammates.

"...Let's observe for another two days and see how it goes."

Halfway through the conversation, Dr. Smith fell silent for a long time before speaking. He stared at Yuu-giri through the glass; she was engrossed in her work again. His conversation with He-ye had given him a glimpse into treatment options; perhaps this unique psychological condition required a special approach.

As for other special relationships?
Dr. Smith failed to see from the two men that the indicators on the instruments had simply returned to normal, rather than disappearing without dramatic fluctuations, indicating that this was a good sign rather than a special one.

Not to mention that clueless assassin, who couldn't hide anything from a psychology PhD who knew people's hearts.

Dr. Smith could only tell that she was inexplicably depressed, perhaps because she had been locked up for three days, or perhaps because she had been separated from her teammates—although in the organization's plan, this assassin was not supposed to develop feelings for her teammates, but to carry out her missions coldly and efficiently.

As a human with a heart, rather than a true humanoid weapon, Smith could understand the slight emotions she felt when this idea was challenged.

The treatment method is simply to get used to the difference.

Fortunately, there are teammates here. After a few more separations, she should get used to it and be able to return to her original cold and efficient state.

This is how Dr. Smith sees it.

"Let's wait and see for another two days... let's wait and see."

"Ok."

Through the transparent glass on one side, someone responded in a low voice.

(End of this chapter)