Chapter 104: Replication Experiment 28
The expanse of white fog trapping Fu Han was temporarily named the “Sea of Wandering,” derived from the name of the small speedboat he was on when he disappeared—”The Wanderer.” It was said that Fu Han had personally chosen this name when he ordered the boat. After the incident, there were quite a few discussions online about this. Eight out of ten netizens felt that the main reason Fu Han had been trapped by the white fog for so long was because the boat wasn’t named well. The Wanderer—no wonder he still hadn’t wandered his way out.
“Based on the current rate of the white fog’s spread, it is estimated to reach the territorial waters of Country G in seven to ten days,” Attendee A said. “Country G has formally submitted an official note through their embassy, requesting that our country, in accordance with the Global Rule Zone Permanent Emergency Mutual Assistance Treaty, promptly dispatch mission executors to implement a neutralization operation on this Rule Zone to prevent the affected area from expanding further.”
Thanks to the multi-layered efforts of Old Master Fu, the capital’s first choice was indeed Zhuang Ningyu. Even the documents had been drafted. However, coincidentally, he was injured at this critical juncture, and it was a psychological trauma. His medical record printed out to a full seventy or eighty pages. No matter which angle you looked at it from, he wasn’t fit to continue operations. Therefore, Jincheng had already removed him and Yi Ke from the list of mission executors and submitted a new batch of names.
Zhuang Ningyu glanced over it briefly. The initial proposed list had a total of fifteen people: four from the Capital Order Maintenance Department and eleven from Jincheng’s Order Maintenance Department. The Jincheng contingent was mainly composed of Team One from District One; Ye Jiaoyue, Qing Gang, and Zhong Mu were all on the list.
“I heard Captain Zhuang knows Fu Han?” Attendee B asked.
Zhuang Ningyu nodded and typed on the screen: “Just acquaintances.”
Attendee A continued, “The Fu family has long been rumored to be connected to the Invisible Giants. Coincidentally, ‘The Enigma,’ currently one of the world’s top private rescue teams, is also linked to the Invisible Giants. Yet, The Enigma hasn’t entered the Rule Zone this time. Even though their headquarters is in Europe, Fu Han’s friends would rather spend heavily to bring in two other rescue teams from South America and Australia, whose skill levels are on par with The Enigma, despite the distance.”
Zhuang Ningyu typed: “Fu Han and Fu Dong don’t get along. The Invisible Giants might not genuinely be willing to help Fu Han.”
His fingers continued tapping on the silent keyboard, typing out a large chunk of analysis, but then he hesitated and cleared the dialogue box. Regarding the events of the past two days, he still harbored many doubts, but without verification, it wasn’t appropriate to discuss them openly.
Huo Ting suddenly sent a private message: “Cough twice.”
Zhuang Ningyu couldn’t produce any sound, but he still followed the leader’s instructions, leaning over the table and silently miming coughing for a good while.
Consequently, the capital staff member who was just about to propose “If he can’t participate in the operation, can he join the external command group in Country G?” had to swallow his words and said politely, “Captain Zhuang, rest well, rest well. Don’t overwork yourself.”
Zhuang Ningyu sat up straight and typed a reply: “Thank you. My family is taking care of me.”
The next moment, “family” arrived uninvited with a glass of orange juice. Zhuang Ningyu remained impassive, tapping lightly on the keyboard to hide the meeting interface, turn off the camera, and mute the microphone before casually looking up. Yi Ke leaned over to check and found the dress-up mini-game still proceeding cheerfully with its ding-ding-dong-dong sounds. He planted a rewarding kiss on his wife’s forehead: “Good boy.”
Zhuang Ningyu cooperated well, sitting upright and appearing as dignified and holy as the Virgin Mary, mouthing: “You finished training so quickly?”
“No, I was afraid you’d be thirsty, so I squeezed a glass of juice first.” Yi Ke rubbed his head. “I’ll go do two more sets then.”
Zhuang Ningyu watched his retreating figure again until he was sure the footsteps had faded away. Only then did he return to the meeting and explain in the chat box: “Sorry, the home internet—”
Before he could finish typing, a figure flashed past his eyes! Yi Ke’s surprise attack was as fast as lightning in a clear sky. In almost an instant, he appeared behind Zhuang Ningyu. Half an hour ago, Wifey’s computer screen showed a purple dress and green bag. Now it’s still a purple dress and green bag, and the score is zero. Heh, sure enough, he hasn’t been playing the dress-up game I carefully selected at all. To attempt such deception under my nose? Let me inspect this with lightning speed—
Then, completely unguarded, he came face-to-face with the big and small leaders and colleagues from the capital on the computer screen.
Yi Ke: “…”
Zhuang Ningyu: “…”
The world went silent, and the scene was momentarily complicated. The complexity mainly stemmed from the fact that both were currently wearing matching puppy and kitten loungewear, and Yi Ke’s head was resting sweetly on Zhuang Ningyu’s shoulder. Two seconds later, Yi Ke vanished from the camera view with a whoosh. Zhuang Ningyu continued to maintain his perfect Virgin Mary posture, leaving Huo Ting alone to clean up this mess of love, asking with confusion, “Didn’t Little Yi say he couldn’t attend the meeting because he had to go to the hospital for a check-up? How come he still made it?”
Five minutes later, Yi Ke, now dressed in formal wear, appeared in the video conference, forced to participate in this analysis meeting for Fu Han’s rescue operation that he originally didn’t need to attend. The Enigma’s personnel had already landed on an island very close to the white fog zone but delayed taking further action. Reportedly, it was because Old Master Fu was countering Fu Dong. It seemed he also knew that for his youngest son, The Enigma was less of a rescue team and more of an assassination squad.
As the meeting neared its end, the second-in-command of the Capital Group, who was presiding over the work, suddenly asked, “Director Huo asked Yi Ke to attend the meeting; is the intention to arrange for him to participate in this operation as well?”
“Originally, yes.” Huo Ting didn’t hesitate for a second, nor did he give the Capital Group any chance to poach personnel. He spoke calmly without changing his expression, “But Little Yi just completed an evolution, and his physical condition is still very unstable. Both he and Ningyu need to return to the Management Center regularly for physical examinations and cannot leave Jincheng for extended periods. Arranging for Little Yi to attend the meeting is purely because he is a key cultivation target for Jincheng. Understanding more about relevant work content will help his future growth. Deputy Director Lin, are there any other questions?”
“No more.” Deputy Director Lin smiled. “Then let’s end it here. Everything proceeds according to plan. Thank you for your hard work, everyone.”
The meeting ended. Zhuang Ningyu closed the laptop screen, pulled out the small cushion from behind his waist, and threw it at the person opposite him!
Yi Ke cried crocodile tears: “Wifey, I didn’t mean to! I really thought you were just reading documents!”
His upper body was clad in a formal shirt and tie, but since his lower body didn’t need to be in the frame and changing clothes just now had been chaotic, he was still wearing puppy-patterned lounge shorts. On his feet were Super Mario mushroom slippers that Zhuang Ningyu had bought online. Dressed in this colorful mishmash, he rushed over with werwerwer noises, hugged his wife’s thigh, and pressed his face against it: “I’m sorry—”
Zhuang Ningyu pushed him a couple of times but couldn’t push him away, laughing in exasperation. Yi Ke dawdled, seizing the opportunity to hold Zhuang’s hand against his own cheek, speaking with a slight guilty conscience but righteous confidence: “Anyway, we’re going to go public sooner or later!”
That was true, but Zhuang Ningyu still wanted this relationship to become known to colleagues gradually, rather than suddenly sticking their faces together in front of the organization. But since things had come to this, there was no use saying more. Zhuang Ningyu pinched Yi Ke’s cheek and mouthed: “Be more steady in the future.”
Yi Ke could be steady. In front of non-acquaintances, he had always been a super cool iceberg, never using two words when one would suffice. But who could have known that his wife would suddenly start a meeting? Who could stay steady in that situation? He hummed and whined, pulling Zhuang into his embrace. After hugging for five minutes, he finally remembered a crucial matter and asked seriously, “How did you connect to the internet?”
Zhuang Ningyu looked up with an innocent expression.
Yi Ke: “Don’t think you can muddle through this!”
“Not only did you lie to me, but you also sneaked off to a meeting, and the topic was Fu Han!” At night when they were going to bed, Yi Ke stood on the bed, one hand on his hip, the other pointing accusingly. “Do you know where you went wrong now?”
Zhuang Ningyu sat cross-legged, casually picking a sentence from the book he was reading and pointing it out to him with seemingly sincere but slightly perfunctory intent—
“Forgive me for breaking the rose-glazed teacup you gave me… It is like my irreparable heart.”
Yi Ke confiscated his book and continued his nagging lecture: “I asked the safe manufacturer this morning. They said this product has been a global bestseller for thirty-nine years since leaving the factory and has never received a single complaint. What does this show? It shows your code-breaking ability has indeed reached a world-class level. But even so, I still gave you a computer this afternoon. Did I trust the free firewall that came with the program? Of course not! I trusted my wife’s promise and love for me!”
Zhuang Ningyu couldn’t stand the noise anymore but couldn’t speak, so he simply chose to take a deep breath, extended both arms straight up, and then flopped forward with a thud, folding his body in half. Maintaining this grand posture, he buried his face deeply into the quilt—
I really know I was wrong!
Yi Ke: “Wifey, Wifey, get up first. It’s not that serious, really not that serious.”
Having won himself a quiet environment, Zhuang Ningyu patted his butt and burrowed into the quilt to sleep.
Leaving Yi Ke beside him, propping his chin up to watch him, thinking with distress and happiness: Can’t control him. Absolutely can’t control him.
Zhuang Ningyu slept very peacefully and wasn’t affected by the Fu Han matter. on one hand, it was due to trust in his colleagues’ abilities; on the other, he truly didn’t believe rescuing Fu Han was a responsibility he had to shoulder. The next morning, he had just opened his eyes from a soft, cottony dream when he received a kiss on the face. Yi Ke leaned in holding his phone and asked, “Sister Zhong and the others said they want to come over this afternoon. Is that okay?”
Okay. Zhuang Ningyu nodded and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth in a daze. Yi Ke had narrowly escaped death two days ago and suffered such serious injuries; it was normal for colleagues to organize a visit. Usually, they would go to the hospital, but this time Comrade Little Yi was discharged too abruptly, so they could only come to the house.
Since colleagues were coming, the couple’s loungewear couldn’t be worn. The two changed into proper clothes and put away the mushroom slippers. Zhuang Ningyu also ordered some palace pastries that Qing Gang loved online, filling the coffee table completely, showing ample sincerity in hospitality.
At 3:00 PM sharp, the doorbell rang.
Yi Ke put down the computer in his hand and got up to open the door.
Zhuang Ningyu followed behind him.
One of the colleagues said in surprise, “Huh, Captain Zhuang, why are you here too?”
