Xingtie: My silly online friend is actually a raccoon!

"Well……"

Lu Ze's mind was racing, but he tried his best to maintain an honest expression on his face.

He loosened his back against the wall, straightened up, and casually tugged at the collar of his white coat, using this action to buy himself a few more seconds to think.

"A friend of mine liked it, so I took a picture and sent it to her."

He spoke in a deliberately calm tone, like an employee caught using their phone by their boss and honestly confessing.

That's not entirely untrue.

Xing was indeed his friend, and he was indeed obsessed with trash cans to the point of madness.

After hearing this, Angelite did not loosen her arms, and her body remained casually leaning against the glass door frame.

But a mischievous glint flashed in her icy blue eyes, and a half-smile played on her lips.

"Oh~"

She deliberately dragged out the last syllable of her voice by a beat.

"I remember that the laboratory did not have the function of connecting to the outside world. Apart from His Holiness the Bishop, no one could contact the outside world from this tower."

As she said this, her icy blue eyes remained fixed on Lu Ze's face, not missing a single change in his expression.

Lu Ze felt his heart skip a beat.

This woman spoke so casually, yet every single word hit the most vulnerable spot.

General.

Alarm bells rang in Lu Ze's mind.

But it is precisely in times like these that you must not panic. If you appear flustered or stammer, it is tantamount to admitting guilt.

He forced himself to steady his breathing and forced a slightly embarrassed smile onto his face.

"I mean, I'll take a picture and save it first, and then send it to her after the research project here is finished."

He kept his voice steady, and even scratched the back of his head at the right moment, making an embarrassed gesture.

But only he knew that his back under the white coat was soaked with cold sweat, and his shirt was sticking to his skin, feeling cold and damp.

Angelite did not respond.

She simply looked at him quietly and nodded noncommittally.

"Um."

The "hmm" neither indicated belief nor disbelief, but rather a wait to see his reaction.

Lu Ze felt a chill run down his spine.

This woman was incredibly intimidating. She was just standing there, and her tone of voice was calm and even, but every glance from her made you feel like you were being peeled away layer by layer.

A brief silence fell between the two.

The corridor was so quiet that you could hear the low hum of the automatic beverage machine in the distance.

The clerk in that corner was still fast asleep, completely unaware of the impending standoff on the other side.

Angelite shifted her stance, moving her weight from her left foot to her right, the metal armor on her uniform's shoulders making a slight rubbing sound with the movement.

Her gaze remained fixed on Lu Ze, patiently scrutinizing every detail of his face.

"Then what are you doing here?"

Her tone remained casual, as if she were discussing a trivial matter.

But its sharpness has not diminished in the slightest.

"Shouldn't you be in the lab during this time?"

This really stumped Lu Ze.

Are you looking for someone?

Who should I contact?

This floor is mostly filled with patrol teams and dozing clerks. What kind of person would a researcher come here to look for?

They said they came to have coffee?

Why were you sneaking around in the hallway, looking around furtively, and taking pictures of the trash can?

They said they went to the wrong place?

How could a researcher working in the tower mistakenly wander into the staff rest area, which is several floors away from the experimental area?

He needed a new reason, a plausible excuse that would make Angelit let him go on the spot.

Just then, his gaze involuntarily swept over Angelette's right arm.

A bandage was visible below the cuffs of the black and gold uniform, wrapping from the wrist to the elbow.

A few strands of an abnormal color were faintly visible through the edges of the bandage.

It's a dark purple.

The purplish-black color with twisted patterns was faintly visible beneath the pale bandages, shimmering with an ominous luster.

Walter's words instantly resonated in his mind.

Honkai energy erosion.

The purplish-black patterns were exactly the same as the erosion marks on the children's bodies in the recording.

A bold idea leaped into my mind almost instinctively.

The slightest misstep could lead to utter ruin, but at this moment he had no better choice.

"I am an emergency dispatcher from the medical department."

When Lu Ze said this, the smile on his face disappeared, replaced by a serious and concerned professional expression.

He straightened his back slightly, making his tone sound more confident.

Once you start lying, you must do it with conviction; ambiguity is the biggest flaw.

"The monitoring system shows that your Honkai energy erosion index is rising continuously and has exceeded the safety threshold. The doctor is very worried and specifically ordered me to immediately send over an experimental serum preparation in the hope of intervening in the spread of erosion in time."

He pronounced the word "Doctor" very clearly, while subtly leaning forward and looking at Angelit's right arm bandage with the eyes of a medical professional, as if checking the condition of the wound.

The purpose of this action is simple: to cover up lies with facts.

The erosion on Angelite's arm was real; she was indeed injured, and the erosion was indeed spreading.

Anchoring the lie to facts that she herself can see and feel makes the whole story sound more credible.

However, Angelit's reaction was completely unexpected.

She squinted her eyes.

Those icy blue eyes suddenly narrowed, and the lazy, casual smile vanished in an instant, replaced by a cold scrutiny.

She slowly loosened her arms, and her right hand, hanging by her side, had its five fingers slightly spread, with the knuckles making a soft clicking sound.

"The doctor went missing three days ago."

Angelite's voice was deep and clear, each word striking Luze's eardrums with a heavy thud.

Her body leaned slightly forward, and her icy blue eyes no longer held any smile, only naked vigilance.

"What exactly are you—"

Before she could finish speaking, her expression suddenly froze.

A muffled groan escaped from her clenched teeth.

Beneath the bandage on his right arm, the purplish-black lines twitched suddenly, pulsating faintly beneath the skin.

She instinctively gripped her right wrist with her left hand, her knuckles turning white from the force, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on her forehead.

The erosion has begun.

Lu Ze's eyes lit up instantly. Without thinking, he stepped forward almost instinctively, his right hand quickly reaching into his pocket, his fingertips touching something.

It was a round, slightly cool pill.

That was a healing pill left to him by the master who wanted to possess his body when he was in the world of cultivation. It was specially designed to counteract all kinds of evil influences. Although it was uncertain whether it would work on the Honkai, he couldn't worry about that now.

He took out the pill, opened his palm, and a pill with a faint luster on its surface lay quietly in his palm.

"This is a neutralizing pill synthesized using serum from highly adaptable individuals."

Lu Ze's tone was resolute, as if he really was a medical specialist who had come with a mission.

"It can temporarily suppress the activity of Honkai energy and slow down the rate of erosion. Please take it immediately."

Angelite stared at the pill in his palm, a complex light flashing in her icy blue eyes.