I created a foundation

"As you can see……"

He paused slightly.

The pause, which was so short that it was almost negligible, seemed infinitely prolonged in Kato Megumi's perception, as if it was longer and more difficult to endure than a century.

The air seemed to freeze at this moment, every tiny speck of dust in the room stopped its aimless floating, and time seemed to have stopped.

"The real world is much busier than you imagine..."

Kato Megumi's pupils suddenly shrank to the extreme at that moment, as thin as a needle tip.

busy……

Yes, she saw with her own eyes the city below, a base that never sleeps, ablaze with countless lights, like a gigantic factory that never stops. She saw with her own eyes the thousands of people toiling day and night, never stopping, for a goal that she had completely failed to understand at the time, but now vaguely sensed its importance.

"…and dangerous."

Danger!

The Izu coast on the screen, which was like hell on earth, and the tiny figures fighting desperately with the hideous and terrifying inhuman monsters in the storm, instantly exploded in her confused mind and turned into a bloody shock wave.

All the previously accumulated doubts, puzzles, speculations, and the sense of alienation from the surrounding things caused by the "weak sense of existence" were given the most cruel, direct and irrefutable answers at this moment by these simple words without any emotion.

It turns out that all of this is not some carefully constructed "club activity", not some immersive "role-playing game", nor is it what she once thought was the overly rich "late-stage fantasy of middle school syndrome" of some people.

This is true.

A reality that was much bigger, heavier, and more... powerless and desperate than any so-called "reality" she had encountered in her ordinary life over the past decade.

Her heart, which had always been as calm as an ancient well, seemed to have been thrown into it by a powerful depth charge, instantly turning the world upside down and setting off an unprecedented storm that was enough to completely swallow her up.

The so-called "thin sense of existence" and the so-called "extreme emotional stability" seem so ridiculous and vulnerable in the face of such naked and overwhelming "truth", and melt away as quickly as thin ice in the sun.

She could even clearly feel her fingertips trembling uncontrollably and feeling icy cold.

There was still a faint curve at the corner of Kasumigaoka Utaha's mouth, as if she knew everything, but in the depths of her eyes, a very complex glimmer flashed quietly, which even she herself had not noticed.

Eriri subconsciously held her breath. She clearly remembered the earth-shattering feeling she had when she first faced all of this. The impact that penetrated deep into her bones was still fresh in her memory and could not be erased even now.

Kato Megumi's lips moved a few times, and her throat was very dry, as if it had been repeatedly polished by the roughest sandpaper, and it was burning with pain.

She tried hard to say something, wanted to make a sound to prove her existence, but she found in despair that all her language organization abilities seemed to have temporarily failed under this extreme, tangible impact, and her mind was blank.

Her gaze, somewhat unfocused, fell on the tall and solitary figure who still hadn't turned back.

The back of that man, who looked like a young man of the same age as them, was, in her eyes, more majestic, more unfathomable, and more awe-inspiring than any of the gods in myths and legends.

A long time passed, so long that she almost thought she would suffocate in this suffocating silence.

She seemed to have used up all her strength and struggled to squeeze out a few almost tuneless, broken syllables from her extremely dry throat.

The voice had an extremely violent tremor that she herself had not noticed, as well as an almost biological instinct, a huge desire and deep fear for the incomprehensible unknown before her.

“…Where exactly is this place?”

Chapter 61 Intelligence Sharing

Lin Qing's back was motionless, as if even Kato Megumi's trembling question had not caused a ripple in his heart, which was as calm as a deep pool.

The room fell into a suffocating silence.

Only the subtle and continuous humming sound emitted by the operation of various instruments inside the base in the distance, like an eternal background sound, reminds people that this is not a static world.

The curve of Kasumigaoka Utaha's lips remained the same, but her eyes moved with interest between Lin Qing's back and Kato Megumi.

Eriri moved her feet a little uncomfortably. She could understand Kato Megumi's feelings at the moment. She had also deeply experienced the confusion and fear of having her worldview completely overturned.

Just when Kato Megumi thought that the other party would not answer, or that she was about to fall into some kind of emotional breakdown again because of this excessive silence, Lin Qing's voice rang out again, still in that steady tone without any emotion.

"This is a place that deals with anomalies that you cannot understand, and protects what you consider to be normal life."

His answer was not so much an explanation as a summary at a higher level, an unquestionable declaration.

Kato Megumi opened her mouth. This answer was too grand and too vague, but it precisely hit the core confusion in her heart at the moment.

"I……"

She took a deep breath, trying to make her voice less shaky.

"May I know why I am here?"

Lin Qing finally made some movement.

He did not turn around, but just tilted his head slightly at a very small angle, and his eyes seemed to still be looking through the huge porthole, overlooking the steel city below.

"You're involved."

Three simple words.

"For some special reasons, you saw things you shouldn't have seen and heard secrets you shouldn't have heard."

Kato Megumi's fingertips trembled uncontrollably again.

"So, according to the process, you need to make a choice."

Lin Qing paused, as if giving her time to digest the information.

"Or, have the relevant memories erased and return to your original peaceful, or rather, obscured, daily life."

"Either..."

He paused a little longer, as if waiting for something.

Kasumigaoka Utaha interjected at the right moment, her voice carrying a unique hint of teasing.

"Or, join us, become one of us, and uncover the truth of this world with your own hands."

Kato Megumi was silent.

Erase the memory? Return to the state of knowing nothing and believing that the world is as simple and plain as what you see?

After witnessing all this, can she still "go back" with peace of mind?

Her gaze subconsciously turned once again to the tragic Izu battlefield on the screen, those hideous monsters, and those figures fighting bloody battles.

An inexplicable emotion quietly grew in her heart.

"Before I make a choice," Kato Megumi raised her head, her eyes firmer than before. Although her voice was still soft, it revealed a seriousness that could not be ignored. "I want to know, how did you find me? And... did you bring me here just because I overheard the conversation between Kasumigaoka-san and Sawamura-san?"

She methodically recounted how she was "seen" by Yotsuya Miko, how she was semi-forced to be taken to the utility room by Kasumigaoka Utaha and Eriri in the name of "club recruitment," and how she arrived at this underground base through the sci-fi elevator.

She spoke slowly and clearly, as if she was talking about something that had nothing to do with her.

Only she herself knew that with every word she spoke, her heart, which she thought was strong enough, twitched slightly.

After listening to this, Lin Qing just said "hmm" softly.

"I've read your employment file."

"Job...record?"

Kato Megumi's pupils shrank slightly. When had she ever had such a thing?

"It's recorded above that your physique is somewhat special. Your personal pheromones and bioelectromagnetic field fluctuations are extremely weak, causing your presence to be greatly weakened or even directly ignored by most conventional observation methods."

Lin Qing's tone was so flat, as if he was reading a product manual.

"This is a very rare passive rule-level talent. Although it doesn't seem very offensive at the moment, it has huge potential."

"I just didn't expect," he said, his voice taking on a subtle hint of interest. "Yotani Miko's Yin-Yang eyes seem to be able to restrain your talent to a certain extent. This is a small pleasant surprise."

Kato Megumi was completely stunned.

So, her almost cursed "weak sense of presence" was actually a "gift" in this man's mouth? Moreover, they seemed to have known about her "abnormality" for a long time, and even classified and recorded it.

She felt like a transparent person, all her secrets and differences were exposed in front of the other party.

Kasumigaoka Utaha chuckled.

"So, Kato-san, do you understand now? I brought you here not just because you overheard some of our chuunibyou conversations."

Eriri couldn't help but speak, her tone carrying a hint of complexity.

"What we...we're dealing with is far more...serious than you can imagine."

Just as Kato Megumi was trying to digest this subversive information and trying to reconstruct her understanding of the world, Lin Qing's next sentence was like dropping a depth bomb on the calm lake, instantly stirring up huge waves.

"Also, let me expand on the information you just discussed in the elevator regarding Izu."

His voice was still calm, but it made all the girls present - except for Kasumigaoka Utaha who seemed to have known everything - feel a chill rising from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads.

"Just five minutes ago," Lin Qing's gaze seemed to penetrate the screen, looking towards the distant Izu direction, "Under the full coordination of the Shinomiya family, the Japanese Ministry of Defense has officially agreed to transfer the subsequent handling authority of the deep-sea species landing incident in the Izu area to our SCP Foundation."

"what?!"

Eriri screamed in surprise, her eyes widened and her face was full of disbelief.

Japan's Ministry of Defense? That's a national-level violent agency!

How could a non-governmental organization actually get the national defense forces to agree to transfer the authority to handle such a major incident in such a short period of time?

This can no longer be described as "huge energy", it is simply... unbelievable!

Kato Megumi suddenly raised her head and opened her mouth slightly. She clearly caught several key words: "Shinomiya family", "coordination", "Ministry of Defense", and "full transfer of power".

Every word was like a heavy hammer, hitting her heart hard.

She vaguely remembered that Kasumigaoka Utaha and Eriri seemed to have mentioned that Shinomiya Kaguya from the student council had also joined them.

Is it...

"The sole survivor, a young girl named Yukinoshita Yukino," Lin Qing said calmly, continuing to drop the bombshell, "and the corpse of the anomalous creature tentatively named the Deep Sea Fishman Scout, have been taken over by a military-grade transport helicopter dispatched by our Foundation."

He paused slightly, as if calculating the time.

"It is estimated that we will arrive at the No. 3 helipad on the top floor of the base in ten minutes."

There was deathly silence in the room.

Ying Lili's face paled slightly, and she subconsciously swallowed. She knew the Foundation was powerful, and Lin Qing was powerful, but she had never imagined that the Foundation's reach could so easily influence national decision-making.

This was beyond her understanding of a "firm that deals with abnormal phenomena."

Kato Megumi's breathing also became a little rapid.