Defeat the system! Kiss my little monster!

Sheng Shixian stood frozen in place, staring at the watch, wary and not moving forward.

The smartwatch on the sink kept vibrating, and after about four or five seconds, the voice call was automatically connected.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

Pei Du's voice came from inside, his tone steady, accompanied by the faint sound of electricity flowing.

Sheng Shixian's gaze froze. He glanced at the only camera in the bathroom, twitched his fingers a few times, and then walked towards the area that the camera could monitor.

The blind spots he observed were also known to Pei Du.

A chill ran through Sheng Shixian's heart. This person was watching him all the time.

Like a pervert.

The smile on Sheng Shixian's lips was almost negligible. He picked up the smartwatch on the sink. The watch screen showed call mode, but Pei Du's face did not appear.

Sheng Shixian gripped the silicone strap of the watch tightly and hummed in agreement: "I can hear you."

The air opposite was silent, yet carried the faint sound of flowing electricity.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing much, just listening to your voice." Pei Du sat in the car, leaning back in his seat and swiping his phone screen. He scanned the dozen or so surveillance videos, finally zooming in on the image of the bathroom.

Sheng Shixian had been hiding by the toilet for five or six minutes. Pei Du couldn't see him and reasonably suspected that he was up to no good.

Gouqiechoing expressed skepticism about Pei Du's behavior: "What if he really just has diarrhea and is taking a dump?"

Pei Du barely acknowledged Gouqi's predicament: "You don't need toilet paper when you have diarrhea?"

Pei Du had been watching Sheng Shixian from the moment he entered the bathroom. He didn't take anything and walked with a clear purpose toward a blind spot where the cameras couldn't see him. He knew Pei Du couldn't see him.

The cowardly scoffed, "I never have diarrhea, I don't have a stomach."

Pei Du: "...Shut up."

Sheng Shixian had already entered Pei Du's field of vision. Pei Du zoomed in on his figure but did not find anything amiss.

Sheng Shixian was still fiddling with his phone watch when he heard Pei Du's reply. He asked, "Was it nice?"

Pei Du: "?"

"Very magnetic and pleasant to the ear." Pei Du's compliments came naturally to him.

The male lead, Sheng Shixian, does have some charm; his appearance, voice, and physique are all quite appealing.

His moral character is flawed; the aforementioned virtues can only barely compensate for his lack of morality.

Sheng Shixian chuckled upon hearing this: "You sound... nice too."

Pei Du twirled the folder in his hand, looking at the motionless figure on the screen, and asked, "Have you finished solving the Rubik's Cube?"

"No." Sheng Shixian frowned. He wasn't interested in the topic. In the time that had just passed, he had only turned out one of the same color.

Pei Du said "Oh," and then added, "The prize is probably going to be a bust."

Sheng Shixian hung up the call.

Pei Du: "..."

He glanced at his phone, and Sheng Shixian accidentally hung up the call before stuffing the smartwatch into his shirt pocket.

He picked up his cane, left the bathroom, and returned to his original seat.

He placed the Rubik's Cube on the table, and Sheng Shixian picked up one of them and continued to turn it with his head down.

Pei Du guessed that Sheng Shixian would behave himself for a while. People who had just been reminded would deliberately restrain themselves in the coming period in order to create the illusion that they were behaving well.

Pei Du watched the recording for several dozen seconds before exiting the video and turning off his phone.

The laboratory was not far from Pei Du. Pei Du parked the car and went inside to change his clothes.

The uniforms in the lab remained unchanged, all white lab coats, and there were no hoodies hanging down the back like on hoodies.

With nowhere to hide and barely clinging to life, it painfully squeezed its body, forcibly compressing itself into a small ball, before Pei Du stuffed it into his coat pocket.

Pei Du said, "I didn't realize you could change size so easily."

He sneered twice, barely managing to survive: "You have a problem with me being a flowering ball?"

Pei Du raised an eyebrow. Of course he had no objection; he was practically squashing himself into a flattened ball just trying to survive.

Pei Du hid his cowardly survival strategy and continued upstairs along the same route. The laboratory building was badly damaged, and the dim lighting from above provided almost no illumination.

This time, we didn't encounter the white ball.

This situation was within Pei Du's expectations. The white ball was not a stationary object; since it possessed consciousness, like someone merely clinging to life, it would not remain stationary in the same place.

Pei Du passed through the restroom and went upstairs to hand in his experimental documents to the director's office. Gong Yuanshen came to the lab less often; as he grew older, he often arrived late.

After submitting the documents, Pei Du walked towards his laboratory. As he looked at the forms in his hand, he caught a glimpse of another lab technician walking out of the lab.

"Junior Brother Ling Yu," Pei Du called out to him.

Ling Yu was still wearing those black-rimmed glasses. Pei Du hadn't been able to see his face clearly last time, but this time he had the chance to observe him closely.

Ling Yu looked much more haggard than before. He had dark circles under his eyes, a high nose bridge, and dry, chapped lips.

Upon seeing Pei Du, he politely greeted him, "Greetings, Senior Brother."

"Hello." Pei Du didn't make his observation too obvious. He looked at the data file in Ling Yu's hand and asked, "You're here to do experiments so early?"

"Yes, this experiment is quite important, so I got up early to do it here." Ling Yu pushed up his glasses. "Senior brother arrived very early too. I heard he's been in poor health, but I didn't expect him to be here at nine o'clock."

I arrived at nine o'clock, two hours late.

Pei Du: "..."

“My working hours are different from yours; I usually start work in the afternoon,” Pei Du said. “I’m here today to collect some experimental data.”

"Oh...I see." Ling Yu picked up the experimental paper in her hand. "The director said that Senior Brother Pei is very talented and told me to learn from him. But you've been sick and haven't come here much, so I haven't had a chance to see you."

Pei Du said calmly, "It's alright. I'm better now, and we can see each other every day from now on."

"Okay." Ling Yu didn't say anything more. He still needed to hand over the data in his hand to his superiors for review. He exchanged a few polite words with Pei Du and then turned to leave.

Pei Du watched him walk away, then turned his gaze back and continued walking towards his laboratory.

Because items had previously gone missing from his lab, Pei Du had specifically added a double lock to the door when he left last time. Pei Du had informed the director in advance, and Gong Yuanshen hadn't raised any objections.

Pei Du opened the laboratory door, went inside, and observed the placement of all the items, temporarily confirming that no one had been in the laboratory.

Pei Du closed and locked the door, then went into the innermost room of the laboratory and retrieved the research report on Sheng Shixian's flesh and blood.

He made an exception and expedited the process, so that the test results, which would normally take three or four days, were available today.

Pei Du looked at the text on the report, which was filled with data and densely packed with technical terms.

Blood: Two types of blood cells of unknown origin are suspected to be present. The original cells have been severely eroded and have mutated into a third type of special cells.