I am a female swordsman.

Cloud's young mind was filled with shock. Although he didn't discriminate against same-sex love, it didn't mean he could accept it. Besides, no normal man could accept such a thing. Cloud's face gradually turned terrified as he was being held, and he tried to break free from Zack's grasp.

"do not move!"

Seeing that Cloud was disobedient and uncooperative, Zack bared his teeth and defiantly raised his fist. Cloud was completely stunned; he didn't know what to say or do. He felt that if he didn't do something soon, his innocence might be gone after today.

As Cloud's face contorted in pain, Zack pulled him to a blind spot in the surveillance cameras, an area where hardly anyone usually frequented.

"Claude, let's go get your information back together, or at least change it!"

"Senior, what are you saying...?"

Cloud, looking bewildered, didn't understand Zack's meaning, but he could sense that what his senior was saying was important. Zack, seeing Cloud's confusion, suddenly realized that he hadn't said anything; if he hadn't, his junior Cloud wouldn't know his current situation.

"That kind of thing isn't important!"

"No, senior, that should be very important." Realizing that his innocence was probably safe, Claude straightened his back slightly. He had a feeling that what his senior was pulling him to do seemed to be seriously violating company rules.

"Hurry up, hurry up, before the researchers finish eating."

"Wait a minute."

Having stopped his impetuous senior's actions, Claude sighed helplessly to himself. He first summoned his personal terminal, his fingers deftly manipulating the floating information window, skillfully bypassing parts of the program, and completing the upload data for himself and Zack.

“Although this method can’t withstand human detection, it won’t be discovered without it.” Claude skillfully altered some data, something that was actually taught in Shinra’s recruit training courses. Although he didn’t understand why the company had a tendency to encourage Shinra soldiers to attack their own network, Claude still learned it, believing that it was never a bad thing to have more skills.

Now that it's come in handy, I really don't know if it's lucky or unlucky.

"That's amazing!"

Stroking his chin, Zack looked on with an air of profound bewilderment. He was the kind of good student in the traditional sense, and had never learned such seemingly despicable and useless methods.

"Thank you for the compliment." Claude's lips seemed to curl up slightly, but he quickly reverted to his usual aloof demeanor. He had been inexplicably dragged onto Zack's ship, and whatever happened, he just had to deal with it for now.

Deterioration.

After listening to Zack's clumsy description, Cloud roughly understood why his sunny senior had pulled him along. Looking at his own hands in confusion, Cloud was certain that these hands were still human, and this body was still human; there was no sign of them turning into monsters.

Even so, a strange chill rose from his back.

The Shinra warriors, who vanquish evil monsters and are revered and respected by all, are now saying they might mutate and degenerate into monstrous creatures. This stark contrast, carrying an indescribable malice, assaulted Cloud's mind, making him want to vomit on the spot.

Once you have your test data, check for anomalies.

Zack's suggestion was immediately approved by Cloud. After all, his life was at stake, and once Cloud was fairly certain Zack wasn't playing a trick on him, he agreed to cooperate fully!

Their skills were undeniable; within the familiar Shinra Research Institute, evading surveillance and patrols could be done with a bit of effort. However, tasks like inputting data into chips and uploading it centrally were conducted in a high-powered server room. Shinra warriors patrolled and guarded the area, making stealth infiltration a challenge. After all, it was infiltration, not a one-man show…

“I have a way, hehe, Claude, all you have to do is make the smoke alarms make some noise.”

Having done guard duty before, Zack mentally assessed the handover procedures and emergency response measures, and quickly devised a solution to the problem.

They will definitely succeed in infiltrating!

Chapter Sixty-Three Discovery

The cold, monotonous computer room was empty of researchers, but all the high-performance computers were running steadily and efficiently.

A faint, steady hum of cooling emanated from the side of the computer case. These high-spec computers, designed specifically for programming and computation, would never be turned off once powered on, remaining in use until the end of their lifespan. This sounded rather inhumane, and seemed excessively cruel to the machines.

But in reality, it is quite reasonable and scientific.

Switching the power on and off repeatedly can actually damage some delicate electronic components. Therefore, for safety reasons in all aspects of the unit, its safety measures are naturally more advanced.

Knock knock knock!!

A rapid warning signal entered the server room from outside, and soon after, the hurried footsteps of the guards could be heard outside. The order was given and the temporary chaos was quickly restored to order. Taking advantage of this brief period of confusion, and taking advantage of a minor malfunction in the smoke alarm, two figures in white coats brazenly entered the server room.

At the entrance to the computer room, the two even pretended to swipe their cards...

Infiltration successful!!

As soon as Zack and Cloud entered the server room, the serious and cold demeanor they had adopted, which they had imitated from Shinra researchers, vanished instantly. Both of them wiped away imaginary cold sweat from their foreheads, still feeling a bit shaken.

It's too strenuous! And too stressful!

The cold-blooded cruelty and disregard for life and morality that Shinra researchers possess cannot be easily imitated. In some ways, the sensitive positions of Shinra researchers and Shinra investigators are actually more dangerous than Shinra warriors!

One of them may be hiding some dangerous equipment or ability.

“Don’t let your guard down. The researchers’ meal times and shift change times are very close. We need to use this time difference to slip away.” Zack mentally calculated the timetables of the two different systems and quickly gave a precise figure by comparison.

"We have to leave in twenty minutes, at most twenty minutes."

"But……"

Claude glanced at the seemingly endless cluster of computers beneath his feet. Even without prior experience with research lab systems, he could intuitively sense the sheer volume of data within. This Shinra internal LAN, with its system security restricting external communication, concealed a vast amount of data.

Finding your information for today is extremely difficult.

“Hehe, I know that! Come with me…” Zack leaped up and ran straight and fast toward the north side of the server room.

The information on the Shinra warriors' external chips is uploaded and arranged from south to north in decimal format, ordered by date (year, month, day). Information for the current day can be easily retrieved by searching the end of the file, making it easy to find the corresponding computing machine. These computers also require information support from headquarters to continue executing their computational programs.

Claude cautiously followed Zack.

For some reason, he felt a faint unease, a sense that his and Zack's trip had gone too smoothly. Although everything had been uneventful, that was precisely what made it so unusual, as if it had been preordained, waiting for them to discover it.

But Claude quickly dismissed the idea.

No one could possibly possess such power. Within the terrifying system of Shinra, Cloud couldn't imagine anyone else who could manipulate everything so quietly.

"Found it! Come quick, Claude!"

A floating screen appeared as Zack manipulated it, displaying Cloud's routine check results. Most of the more complex data was incomprehensible to Zack and Cloud, as they weren't researchers with the necessary knowledge.

However, not understanding it doesn't mean you can't make comparisons.

Some Arabic strings, as well as the special terms used by Shinra Industrial Research Institute in English annotations, are still understandable.

Mako synchronization rate, Mako erosion level, evolution control rate, mutation level, and... Mako deterioration! Claude's Mako deterioration was not a green that represented a safe range. Yellow characters appeared in a long string of green characters. The two of them were not blind, so they naturally saw that the slightly excessive level was the conclusion.

"Slightly above the limit, observation is recommended. The case will be transferred to Dr. Genus for further treatment and included in the Biological Department's Psionic Organ Project Team's preliminary selection pool..."

Process! Biology Department! Organ selection target!

Cloud fell into a long silence after seeing this; it didn't seem like a good thing. Zack, seeing Cloud's speechless expression—whether anger or fear—began adjusting the data and copying the relevant information about the psychic organ project team.

"Haha, maybe it's actually a good thing, a good thing." Zack's attempt to comfort Cloud was a bit clumsy. Although Shinra's projects all seemed cold and impersonal on the surface, some projects were still good things.

For example, the "King of Angels" project has given many Shinra warriors tremendous power.

"Will this be a good thing?"

Cloud knew he wasn't so lucky. From Zack's account, degradation seemed to be a difficult condition that even Shinra couldn't currently overcome. His current situation was somewhat dangerous; what if he were to be drained of his last bit of value and then ruthlessly discarded?

When people are pessimistic, they tend to think the worst, and Claude is no exception.

Just as the two imposter researchers were conducting some strange activities in the server room, a commotion suddenly erupted outside. A brief conversation ensued, followed by confirmation of information, and then the sound of a door opening!

Oops! !

Zack swiftly erased his tracks, silently restored the equipment, and, with Cloud, darted into the gaps in the unit's heat sink! The two clung to it like geckos, trying their best to conceal themselves in the dark!

Thanks to Shinra's teachings, the whole process took the two of them just over two seconds.

Then the voices of the people who entered the server room finally arrived, albeit belatedly.

"I heard that one of the Shinra warriors is having some health problems." The voice that belonged to Zack caused his pupils to shrink sharply, because it was clearly his instructor, Angel!

"That's right, because it's a rare material, I made a special trip for it."

Another voice, young and sinister, gave the listener the illusion that a venomous snake was crawling behind them.

“Dr. Genus, watch your words.” Angel’s tone was tinged with anger, and he inadvertently revealed the young man’s identity to the two eavesdroppers.

"Hehe, don't be angry, Angel. I didn't mean to target the Shinra warriors. In my eyes, there is only the distinction between research materials and non-research materials, nothing more."

Genos smiled and his nose twitched slightly. He suddenly looked to the side with a puzzled expression.

Chapter Sixty-Four Overlap

Even before joining Shinra, Genus had already shown signs of crossing moral boundaries.

After joining Shinra, some aspects became even more unstoppable, such as the cloning project based on himself and Shinra's current insane modification of synthetic combat beasts. After the psionic organ project made some progress, the reckless Genus even attempted to transplant some unfinished psionic organs into himself.

In Dr. Genos's own words:

Observing others is far less accurate than experiencing things firsthand.

The Psionic Organ [Particle Brush] is a semi-mature form among first-generation Psionic Organs. According to the classification of human organs, it should belong to the olfactory epithelial organs within the nasal cavity. Its current function is to enable people to better distinguish gas molecules, enhancing their sense of smell to an extremely acute level.

Theoretically speaking, equipped with complete psionic organs, the [Particle Brush] can distinguish the odor of all gas molecules.

After being processed by the brain, all the information about distinguishing smells is obtained, making it an important means of observing the world. This is no less important than the observational methods of psionic organs like the visual system!

"There seems to be a certain smell?"

Dr. Genus sniffed the air. In the clean, somber server room, he seemed to detect something different. Unlike the medicinal scent clinging to the researchers, this smelled somewhat like Mako liquid. High-concentration Mako liquid has a smell—a salty, fishy odor, like seawater.

"what happened?"

"It's Mako. Maybe one of the metal pipes is worn out. You know, Mako's physical properties are very similar to seawater. Maybe we should remind them to add more zinc blocks."

Angel, who followed him, didn't understand and urged, "It's just Mako, please get to work."

"Hehehe, okay, okay, time is precious."

Hidden in the gaps between the unit's radiators, Zack and Cloud instinctively tensed up upon hearing the Mako aura emanating from them; the Mako aura around them was quite strong. If Angeal hadn't been outside, the two might have lost their composure and decided to do something rash.

Fortunately, Angel also possessed a strong Mako aura, which somewhat affected Genus's perception. After all, an immature psionic organ cannot yet distinguish the Mako aura carried by different people.

“Let me see… my subordinate frontline runner, third-class soldier… Claude.”

Genus's operation speed is significantly faster than Zack's.

His fingers merely glided across the keypad, issuing the command. Blue light shimmered on the lenses of his frameless glasses as Genus stared at the revised data, his brow furrowing involuntarily. But when his gaze fell upon the Mako synchronization rate, Genus's expression shifted from confusion to fury. It was the same fury a professor felt upon seeing a graduate student produce utterly erroneous and absurd data from an experiment!

"Ridiculous!! What the hell is this?!"

Angry voices echoed throughout the server room as Genos roared.

"The data is ridiculously wrong and worthless; it's like an amateur scribbling something down! Is this person just muscle in the head? Giving results without any equations?"

Zack, who had just modified Cloud's physical examination data, lowered his head in shame upon hearing this. He was indeed an amateur, and he had only changed the number based on observation.