"It's truly upsetting, such good eyesight saddled with a pair of glasses like that; it’s practically inviting suffering..." Zheng Zha rubbed his eyes continuously as he spoke.

Amidst Zhan Lan’s light, tinkling laughter, a beautiful white-collar woman stood up in the office. Where she had been seated, there was a computer, and the office itself was quite large and tidy, suggesting this attractive woman was likely a mid-level manager at the Umbrella Corporation.

Zheng Zha sat down heavily, still rubbing his eyes, and casually finished installing the signal interceptor. Only then did he slowly let out a breath, his gaze silently fixed upon the main door at the office entrance.

Zhan Lan chuckled softly. "No need to be so tense. My psychic scan has been monitoring everything outside. Haven't those images been transmitted into your consciousness too? There’s really no need to stare so intensely."

Zheng Zha managed a wry smile. "Can't help it; it's not that I want to be this focused. It’s just become second nature. If I don't do it, I feel uneasy all over, like something has slipped up somewhere... a slip-up that feels fatal. It’s become ingrained... battle for survival."

Experiencing such danger time and time again, perhaps Zheng Zha and the others hadn't noticed while fighting, but once they settled down, or once they integrated back into ordinary life.

That’s when they felt an immense discomfort, because they had gradually grown accustomed to combat and peril... Just as Zheng Zha was lost in thought, the green light on the interceptor flashed on, but immediately following the green light, the yellow light lit up too. The final result was the green and yellow lights both being half-lit simultaneously—a situation that felt profoundly bizarre.

"Does this mean... we only got half the password?" Zheng Zha kept offering a bitter smile. With no other choice, he relayed the situation via Zhan Lan to Chu Xuan.

Chu Xuan’s reply was swift and direct: "...Then proceed to the fortieth floor and above."

(Go to the fortieth floor and above... it's not as simple as taking an elevator; this requires desperately climbing and leaping. I'm no damn birdman...) Zheng Zha grumbled inwardly, yet he walked to the window and looked out. From this height of thirty stories, the pedestrians below were reduced to minuscule black dots. This altitude was beyond a killing height; falling from here would result in nothing but a splat of pulp.

Zheng Zha felt helpless, but a mission was a mission. He could only say to Zhan Lan, "Zhan Lan. Scan the situation on the forty-first floor. Send the resulting image feed to my consciousness, and while you’re at it, check if there’s anyone in an office near a window you can control. I'll enter the forty-first floor or above from there."

As Zhan Lan’s psychic scan commenced, Zheng Zha opened the window and stepped out onto the ledge. The wind hitting him from the thirty-story height was intense. Only when Zhan Lan connected the coordinates of the controlled person on the forty-first floor to his consciousness did Zheng Zha step forward.

"Instant Annihilation"—this was the state Zheng Zha was currently employing. After Chu Xuan fabricated two more Mithril Recharge Rings for him, his internal energy and Vampire energy reserves were sufficient to manage the drain of this 'Instant Annihilation' state. The only concern was whether his physical body could bear the strain.

Zheng Zha sharply executed a 'Moonwalk' in mid-air, instantly propelling himself five or six meters upward. Because the exterior of the building was made entirely of glass, he had to guard against being seen by people inside the structure. During this propulsion, he moved cautiously, constantly searching for the seams between the glass panels to pass through. After several such maneuvers, he arrived safely at the forty-first floor. Using 'Moonwalk' a few more times, he slipped smoothly through an open window into a lavishly decorated office. Standing near the desk was an elderly man in his fifties.

"Hah."

Zheng Zha took several deep breaths after stabilizing himself, then looked at the elderly man beside him. Judging by his attire, he appeared to be a technical staff member, but his expression was quite listless—perhaps the very reason he was easily controlled by Zhan Lan.

Zheng Zha silently connected the interceptor to the network cable. After completing this task, he smiled at Zhan Lan. "I owe you a huge debt this time; completing this mission alone would have been impossible unless I fought my way up. Completing it this discreetly was out of the question... Speaking of which, is everything above the fortieth floor dedicated to the research and development of various weapons? Is that why the security is so tight?"

Zhan Lan’s voice echoed in his mind. The woman spoke softly, "Not entirely weapon research; there's also research into special materials and robotic integration. But the higher we go, the tighter the security. The things being studied up there seem more advanced. Should I scan further up?" Zheng Zha considered it. "A general scan should suffice. The key is to see if there’s any research on biological weapons..." Biological weapons, especially those concerning biological mutation and evolution, were the core research of the Umbrella Corporation. Naturally, such research wouldn't be displayed casually to the world. Moreover, it was unlikely to be conducted in such an open building. If research in an underground facility, as deep as the one in Resident Evil, could go wrong, Umbrella couldn't possibly use a nuclear bomb to obliterate its own headquarters, could they? Zheng Zha was merely voicing a thought aloud to Zhan Lan.

About a few tens of seconds later.

Zhan Lan replied hesitantly, "Zheng Zha... I’ve found Carlos on the fifty-seventh floor..." Zheng Zha, who had been intently watching the office doorway, paused at the sound of this, then curiously asked, "Who? Who is Carlos?"

"Carlos," Zhan Lan sounded slightly puzzled. "The mercenary captain sent by the Umbrella Corporation in Resident Evil 2. One of the people who infiltrated the company headquarters at the end of Resident Evil 2 to rescue the movie’s heroine. Don't you remember?"

Zheng Zha shot up from his seat, then immediately sat back down on the sofa. "Zhan Lan, is there any way to scan his consciousness? I’m afraid he might be an Umbrella mole, trying to approach the heroine for some purpose... Why else would he be here? And on the fifty-seventh floor or higher? He certainly couldn't have flown up. What method did he use to breach the heavy security past the fortieth floor?"

Zhan Lan was silent for a moment before replying, "No way to scan him. His willpower is incredibly strong, almost comparable to Zero Point’s..." She paused. "What should we do? Not contact him? He seems to be downloading something from a computer... it looks like files on high-ranking Umbrella personnel."

Zheng Zha exhaled. "Here’s what we’ll do. Link my consciousness to Chu Xuan’s, and keep an eye on what he’s downloading..." Before he finished speaking, Zheng Zha entered the state of unlocking the third stage of his gene lock.

Chu Xuan’s voice came through a little over ten seconds later. The man spoke directly through the consciousness link: "I have a rough understanding of the situation. The probability that this mercenary captain is a spy is between thirty and forty percent. While the chance is below fifty percent, if he is a spy, the probability of us facing a grueling battle or even total annihilation in this side mission rises to over seventy percent. Therefore, I do not advocate for you to make contact with him..."

Zheng Zha couldn't help but offer a bitter smile, pinching the hair on his forehead. "I understand what you mean. Approaching him rashly like this will likely stir up many more unforeseen issues, won't it? But do you remember the situation in Resident Evil 2? The heroine walked out of Umbrella’s bioweapons facility, and with the help of these people, escaped. I believe a facility capable of researching bioweapons on the surface must be far more heavily guarded than the underground 'Hive,' and it’s likely the true headquarters of the Umbrella Corporation. We don't necessarily need their help; we just need to know the location of that base from them. Isn't that exactly the intelligence we need?"

Chu Xuan’s voice remained utterly calm, as if sneering, "That’s just your assumption, Zheng Zha. Over-analyzing human nature only fills matters with variables... My suggestion is to avoid contact. Of course, you are the captain. If you believe that a situation rife with variables is easier for you to leverage your combat strength within, then I have nothing more to say."

Zheng Zha's bitter smile persisted. This was, in fact, a long-standing worry in his heart—having two strategists in the team simultaneously. After experiencing the Starship Troopers world, and many previous horror movie worlds, those experiences made it clear to anyone how irreplaceable a highly intelligent strategist was to a team. The Central Continent team was incredibly fortunate: not only did they have Chu Xuan, whose intellect surpassed mortals, but they also had Xiao Honglu, the pinnacle of mortal intellect. This might be precisely what he worried about: the clash between the differing modes of thought between two masterminds. This contradiction was evident just from his simulation results, let alone the potential conflict that might arise after resurrecting Xiao Honglu.

Chu Xuan stated coldly, "...In any matter that can be solved easily, I will absolutely not choose a difficult solution involving brute force. Your combat power is immense, but you are not omnipotent..." Following this, Chu Xuan’s voice vanished from Zheng Zha’s consciousness.

Zheng Zha sighed. He pondered for a long time, almost tearing out his hair in frustration, before finally clenching his jaw and telling Zhan Lan, "Zhan Lan, connect my consciousness to Carlos’s..." At that exact moment, the interceptor, which Zheng Zha had almost forgotten about, gave a slight chime—its green light was now fully illuminated.