Puzzle Madness

Chapter 88 Supervisor
There was a rumbling sound in the supervisor's office. The huge noise coming out of the speakers was like a war, and the walls could not block it out at all.

The blinds behind the glass windows were all rolled up, and the yellowish-white window slats covered most of the panes, leaving only a little dim light leaking through the gaps, flickering.

The supervisor had locked himself in the room for the entire day, from early morning to midnight.

No one dared to disturb the supervisor who had closed the door - this was a terrible taboo in the Southeast Asian branch of Asia-Europe Post: the consequences of offending the supervisor were usually spread in the conversations in the toilet cubicles, scaring the listeners sitting on the toilet to shiver and even have to excrete a few more drops.

Everyone in the office could sense the venomous, repelling intent emanating from the director's office.

But the work has to be done by someone; especially those unlucky people in awkward positions.

The assistant, a woman named Marie Inoue, knocked on the door and gently pushed it open: the rusty hinges made a teeth-grinding creaking sound.
-
The remote control squeaked as it was pressed, and the VHS player made an overwhelming noise - the picture on the CRT TV paused, rewound, slowed down and fast-forwarded according to the remote control. The strange noises mixed together and made the listeners dizzy.

The supervisor was half sitting and half lying on the office chair, with his buttocks sliding off the cushion and his head almost resting on the armrest: he seemed not to notice the arrival of the assistant, but just mechanically repeating the operations in his hands.

The picture on the TV was blurry, and was covered with snowflakes and horizontal stripes caused by signal interference - the content was also a mess, but from the fixed hanging camera angle, it could be determined that these videos came from surveillance cameras.

The center of the picture is a bright, even somewhat dazzling yellow - only when it is paused can you tell that it is an oversized raincoat covering the person inside - the explosion, air flow and collapse of the wall follow closely, enveloping the figure in the yellow raincoat.

In most scenes, the feet of the yellow figure are always red and liquid is flowing.
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The manager was overweight, like a couch potato who'd slumped on the sofa so long that he'd practically melted into the chair. His eyes widened, and he kept mumbling—although drowned out by the cacophony, Inoue Marie could still make out the manager's favorite curses:
"What bad luck! Amitabha! What kind of luck is this? You old French bitch, what the hell have you provoked? I'm going to the temple to worship Buddha tomorrow and let the Buddha cut off your head."

Inoue Marie suppressed her anger and cleared her throat. She then knocked on the open door with the blade of her fist.
"Supervisor? The call is over."

The supervisor tilted his head slightly—glancing out of the corner of his eye:
"Someone pulled your tongue out? Keep talking."

Inoue Marie nodded vigorously, quickly closed the door, and opened the notebook in her hand:

"The target's birth certificate has not been found. The earliest record is a flight from Singapore Changi Airport to Penang International Airport in Malaysia in 1987, but the immigration records only include the target's parents' identification information. He left Kuala Lumpur in 1991 and settled in Jiaozhi Autonomous Prefecture; he remains there until now."

"The target's parents died in a gas explosion in 1993; they died instantly. The autopsy records are clear."

"Also, after the return of Jiaozhi Autonomous Prefecture, a separate identity information system was adopted. You will need to apply separately to obtain the target's current ID number. Your signature is required."

The supervisor snorted. He used the remote control to flip the image back and forth several times:

"No birth certificate? He might be older than he looks. Maybe much older."

He twisted his body, and a loud "puff" came from under him:
"Send the field team over. Since 1970, investigate all the experiments conducted at Nanyang Technological University, both openly and covertly. And of course, all the information about his parents: their social connections, the projects they've worked on."

“Visit them all and see if you can replicate the target’s growth environment.”

Inoue Marie hesitated for a moment, but still didn't dare to cover her nose:

"What are the standards for approving funds for field work?"

The supervisor rubbed his shiny forehead with the back of his hand, which was wet with sweat:

"What do you think? The budget for next year hasn't come out yet. They're not allowed to approve too much, but they're not allowed to cry poor either. Let the finance department take charge."

"Also: establish a preliminary protection zone. I don't want to see any other company's dog-nosed agents in Mong Cai—not one, remember that."

"I don't want to see even one."
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Beep!
The supervisor pressed the pause button, and the office fell into a sudden silence: even outside the door was quiet, with only the rustling sound of paper and pen touching, the hum of the central air conditioner, and suppressed coughs.

The air seemed to solidify, and the attention of the entire branch was focused here.

The supervisor suddenly jumped up from his soft chair like a frightened cat; his fat body was extremely agile.

He put his leather shoes on the edge of his desk and wiped them with a tissue, as if there was an unfinished oil painting on the uppers:

"So, what did the analytics department say? Have they determined the target's potential?"

Inoue Marie placed the documents she was hugging onto her desk and carefully put her hands behind her back.
"Hmm! It's out. The analysis department believes—it may not be a blue ocean market, but the rating is still very promising; it has the potential to reach [pillar] status." The supervisor turned his head. Hearing the word "pillar," he reflexively raised his right hand and rubbed his other shoulder; he seemed to have a stiff neck, moving his neck and his joints cracking.
"Oh my god, I didn't expect this. How long will it take for me to find another [pillar] in my area? It was all worth it to be the first to get incense at the beginning of the year; I feel like my cervical spondylosis is going to heal on its own."

Tuk-tuk-tuk.

The director tapped his fingers on his desk like he was playing a piano:

"Have the Analysis Department fax over a more detailed briefing within half an hour, clearly outlining the approach. The specific implementation plan can wait, but I want a clear plan."

“Tell them to write: If you screw up your funding for the next few years, you’ll end up working as an analyst in a garbage dump in Manila.”

Inoue Mari let out a long breath as slowly as possible:

"Okay. Okay, Director!"

Inoue Marie had just turned around and grasped the door handle of her office when she was interrupted by her supervisor:

"Why leave? When did you finish talking?"

"What exactly did the analytics department say on the phone? Why did they think the target had the potential to be a pillar? Repeat every word to me first."

brush!
Inoue Marie turned around suddenly like a fan, clutching the notebook in her arms; her words were trembling:

"The destructive power displayed by the target is unprecedented, and its activity is high-frequency. If the destruction area is guided, it can damage a large number of buildings in a short period of time, posing a significant threat to public safety. In summary, the company can use the target as a pillar to establish a long-term industrial chain focused on post-disaster reconstruction. Therefore, the target may become another pillar of the company's business."

The supervisor threw away the ball of paper stained with shoe polish and clapped his hands together.
"Hold on. Did you hear me correctly?"

He raised his head, and his small eyes on his fat face sparkled:

"What do they mean by this? Are they trying to follow the same pattern as the Latin American branch?"

"The Analysis Department intends for our branch to directly intervene in urban planning and construction? They want to get into real estate? They want to do engineering? After they destroy their target, they'll come back with funding to rebuild the entire city of Mong Cai?"

"The pilot experiment in Colombia was a complete failure. What led to the idea of ​​trying this in Jiaozhi Autonomous Prefecture?"

Inoue Marie was at a loss, she wanted to put her hand over her mouth but put it down again:

"I'm just repeating—"

The supervisor waved his hands, interrupting Inoue Mari's confused explanation:

"What about risk control? Did they mention this: With such a long preparation period and such huge losses, will the government consider intervening? According to the analysis department's thinking, in addition to headquarters, we also need to consider obtaining funding from the authorities."

Inoue Mari twisted her fingers and blinked unconsciously:

"Uh, the Analysis Department didn't mention that."

The supervisor sat down on the edge of the desk he had just stepped on, looking at Inoue Mari - between her gray and white curly hair, one could see the malice in her eyes.

Seeing the supervisor's eyes, Inoue Marie quickly added:
"However, I have a guess: the Analysis Department should have obtained the information, but we haven't--"

The director raised his eyebrows—the contempt in his eyes was mixed with surprise, creating a complex look:
"Oh? Go ahead."

Inoue Marie closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the sour smell in the office. But her worry about her future in the workplace overcame her nausea and fear in that moment:

“I guess! Mong Cai City might become a new testing area!”

(End of this chapter)