Zheng Zha stood by the full-length window in the corridor, glancing down. The twenty-nine-story drop made his head swim just from one look. Fortunately, he didn't suffer from acrophobia, so looking down from a height wouldn't cause him to suddenly faint or anything of that sort.

Chu Xuan’s suggestion was, as always, deceptively simple and effective: have Zheng Zha traverse the inspection corridor across forty floors on the exterior of the building, eventually reaching the forty-first floor or even higher. After all, the outside of the skyscraper was clad in a special type of bulletproof glass. While this glass might pose a major obstacle for ordinary people, for Zheng Zha, there were several ways to breach it with relative ease.

The crucial issue wasn't the glass itself, but how Zheng Zha was supposed to reach that height out in the open air? Was he expected to fly? “Forget about the Green Goblin’s glider; that thing creates too much noise and would easily expose your location. What I need is for you to infiltrate the Umbrella Corporation stealthily and secretly acquire the internal network password. That is your actual task. Otherwise, you might as well just grab a knife and storm the tower floors,” Chu Xuan sneered.

Zheng Zha shook his head helplessly. He knew exactly what Chu Xuan meant. Chu Xuan wanted him to use his 'Instant Annihilation' state to reach the upper floors. If he used 'Moonwalk' in the void, he could naturally alter his direction or speed easily. A tiny figure at thirty stories or higher would naturally go unnoticed by people on the ground if they weren't paying close attention. But there was another critical point: the exterior window panes were sealed together with extreme tightness. If Zheng Zha used Moonwalk to ascend, where would he find footing? And by what means could he enter the higher floors? “…That is no longer my concern. In any case, I have some matters to attend to right now. Acquire the password, and return to the hotel before nightfall. End of transmission…” After speaking his final sentence, Chu Xuan fell silent, his calm voice completely vanishing from Zheng Zha’s awareness.

Zheng Zha once again peered helplessly through the window at the ground below. Undoubtedly, he had just been assigned a very peculiar mission.

It wasn't about the danger, but the request to cross several floors outside the glass to reach a height, and then re-enter the structure through the glass again. No matter how one looked at it, the task felt intensely bizarre to him psychologically.

“No matter what, I should first try to see if I can intercept the password on the lower floors.”

Zheng Zha felt exasperated internally, but since this was a team mission, he could only resign himself to murmuring the words to himself.

With Zhan Lan’s psychic scan, Zheng Zha could easily discern the locations of all surveillance equipment. Several offices containing computers lacked such monitoring devices—perhaps those particular offices weren't considered that important. Zheng Zha casually selected an office belonging to a 'beauty' and walked in, then sat comfortably on the sofa.

He installed the password interceptor onto the network cable and then let the future high-tech device begin its work capturing the required password.

Unfortunately, after more than ten minutes, the green light on the device turned solid red, and Zheng Zha knew his interception attempt had failed. The only option now was to proceed to the thirtieth floor or higher to continue the interception. Of course, if he decided to act rashly, he could simply climb out the window right here and use Moonwalk to ascend to the higher floors.

“The current problem is… what guise should I adopt to reach the thirtieth floor and above?” Zheng Zha muttered.

According to the psychic scan, access above the thirtieth floor required identity verification. If verification failed, Zheng Zha would immediately be flagged, or worse.

This conflicted with his plan to acquire the password unnoticed, but it sparked an idea in his mind.

“Zhan Lan, how is your Mind Control skill progressing? Can you control ordinary people within this building?” Zheng Zha walked into the corridor and asked Zhan Lan through their mental link.

Zhan Lan seemed momentarily stunned, then replied after a pause, “Some people, yes. Those with strong willpower, usually the administrative staff, can be controlled. Do you need me to try? I’m still not very familiar with this skill; I can only maintain control for a few dozen minutes.”

Zheng Zha nodded with satisfaction and continued, “A few dozen minutes is plenty; if everything goes smoothly, I can secure the password within thirty minutes… There is still one key question: can you probe the memories of the person you control? If not, I won’t know what pretext to use to reach the thirtieth floor and above. Any conversation would immediately reveal discrepancies.”

Zhan Lan was silent for a long moment before suddenly saying, “There is a man holding coffee in the corridor to your left; I have him under control. Yes, I can probe his memories, but I can't access deeply buried memories, nor things he himself has forgotten. This man is an ordinary white-collar worker, responsible for clerical tasks, and is unqualified to go above the thirtieth floor. According to his memories, his team leader is authorized to access the thirtieth floor and above, seemingly to get signatures from higher-ranking personnel.”

Zheng Zha let out a breath and smiled. “Then let’s find his team leader. If we can’t control him, we’ll find another team leader. If we can, I promise to have the password within thirty minutes.”

Zhan Lan hummed in acknowledgement. After scanning with her psychic abilities, she located the team leader within ten seconds. He was a robust man who looked to be in his early thirties, but his willpower proved to be surprisingly weak. By the time Zheng Zha reached the middle-aged man's location, the man was already standing perfectly still.

“That’s right, he’s the leader. He takes several documents up to the thirtieth floor and above every day to get signatures from his supervisor. The next signing appointment is forty minutes away, but the documents are ready. Zheng Zha, once you take the files, you can proceed to the thirtieth floor and above. Also, judging from his memory, the inspections upstairs aren't that stringent, only the surveillance is tighter…” Zhan Lan’s voice echoed.

Zheng Zha nodded. He had already changed into a crisp business suit in preparation for today’s mission to infiltrate and steal the password. After all, before entering the horror world’s reincarnation cycles, he had been a manager-level white-collar worker in the real world, so he was still familiar with the required demeanor and language. After taking the documents from the middle-aged man, he clapped his cheeks. His naturally alert and sharp gaze softened considerably under the action, but he felt something was still lacking. So, he took a pair of eyeglasses from the man’s face and put them on before walking toward the stairwell with an air of satisfaction.

“You do look quite a bit like an ordinary office worker now, but Zheng Zha… don’t you think your movements carry too much residual killing intent? When facing someone directly, your hands instinctively fall into a ready-to-attack posture, and your feet are too far forward, as if prepared to shift position at any moment. And your eyes too…” Zhan Lan murmured to Zheng Zha through their link as she watched him adjust his stance.

Zheng Zha gave a wry smile. The observer sees things clearly. He had thought the gap between himself and ordinary people was negligible, but only an outsider could see that some of his habits and movements were no longer those of a normal person. Even his walking and speech carried an undercurrent of vigilance. However, this was also obvious; without such qualities, he wouldn't deserve to be a veteran member of a Reincarnation Squad, nor would he be qualified to lead the Central Continent team.

“Changes always begin and end without us realizing it… We are no longer ordinary people, not just me, but you too, Zhan Lan, and everyone else…” Zheng Zha stated calmly through their link, a touch of bewilderment crossing his mind as he spoke.

While Zheng Zha pondered, the elevator continued its ascent. With a soft chime, the doors slowly opened.

The thirtieth floor wasn't as heavily guarded as imagined. At least, a couple of company employees could still be seen moving about in the corridor. However, security guards were stationed at several junctions. Several times when Zheng Zha walked past these guards, their eyes tracked him relentlessly. Zheng Zha paid them no mind, walking past them with composed, steady steps. Only after he passed did the guards’ eyes drift back to survey the rest of the corridor.

“Zhan Lan, have you found a deserted spot yet? It needs to be a place without surveillance cameras…” Zheng Zha asked Zhan Lan via their link while appearing relaxed as he walked forward. His heart, however, was beginning to feel anxious.

Zhan Lan seemed anxious too. After scanning several times, she replied, “No, the places without cameras are either the cubicles filled with many clerical workers, or the offices of high-level executives. And those are currently occupied. Let’s do this: I will find a corporate executive with weak willpower to control, and you can seize the opportunity to capture the password then.”

Zheng Zha immediately responded affirmatively, “Good, you choose the location yourself. Preferably somewhere close to my current position. I feel like someone has noticed me, but according to your psychic scan map, no one is nearby… In any case, let’s make this quick.”

At the same time, on a higher floor of the corporate tower, several men dressed in black suits silently observed Zheng Zha walking through the corridor on the monitoring screens. One of the men nodded. “Yes, that’s him. The GBD carrier from the town, the former employee Zheng Zha… Note that the retired mercenary guard who spotted him concealed his true skills; record that as a major contribution and issue the bonus with the next payment…”