A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

The blonde woman raised an eyebrow and slightly adjusted her leaning posture, revealing half of her face from the shadows.

A hint of amusement flickered in her delicate features: "Oh? You know me?"

When did the Cheka of the League become so stupid?

Do you think I won't notice you just because you change your makeup?

You need to change into the whole outfit!

Mulan looked at the area behind the other person's ear, near the hairline, where there was a patch that differed from their skin tone.

Emily shrugged slightly, letting her hair cover the area where Mulan was looking again.

"I'm here to accompany our boss, of course."

"Did you come with the original boss?" Mulan asked instead of answering, her tone still calm, but she emphasized the words "original boss" slightly.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than footsteps and voices came from the corner of the stairs.

The head of our delegation walked in front, his expression originally serious, but his eyes immediately softened when he saw Mulan.

Behind him followed the tall Minister Ivan, the two of them chatting and laughing as they came downstairs. Minister Ivan was beaming, clearly having had a very pleasant conversation.

Behind the two, researcher Alexander spotted Mulan at the top of the stairs. His eyes lit up instantly, and he quickened his pace instinctively. But when he saw Emily standing beside Mulan, the light in his eyes quickly dimmed, and he slowed down, following obediently behind.

As the group was about to go downstairs, Alexander seized the opportunity to take a half-step forward, and said in the brief moment of passing by, "Comrade Mulan, we meet again. Your performance at the exhibition today was unforgettable. Regarding... well, regarding the programming language materials mentioned earlier, rest assured, I will... handle properly any aspects that exceeded expectations."

He spoke quickly, and his wording was somewhat vague, but he emphasized the words "the part beyond expectations" and "handled properly." His gaze seemed to casually and quickly sweep over Emily's direction again before he looked away, lowered his eyes again, and continued walking downstairs with Minister Ivan and the head of the delegation.

His words were vague and deliberate, but Mulan understood his implication: he had obtained the C language file and would remove any sensitive or out-of-scope parts to avoid causing trouble for Mulan and her country.

Then, Uncle Alexander warned himself that Emily was someone important.

Haha, Uncle Alexander, you figured that out a long time ago. I, Mulan, am incredibly clever!

"In academic exchanges, clarity and rigor are of utmost importance." Mulan's expression remained unchanged; she simply nodded slightly.

As Minister Ivan passed by, he nodded kindly to Mulan, his gaze lingering briefly on Emily, but he said nothing, continuing to chat and laugh with the commander as they walked downstairs. The group quickly disappeared around the corner of the stairs, their farewells faintly echoing from below.

Only Mulan and Emily remained in the corridor. The noise downstairs was somewhat reduced, making it feel quieter here.

Emily seemed unconcerned about Alexander's veiled warning, or perhaps she had simply taken it for granted.

"You still haven't told me how you recognized me? I think I've done a pretty thorough makeover." She even lightly tossed her blonde hair that was hanging over her shoulder, making a show of it.

"Of course you'd recognize her." Mulan sneered, her gaze sweeping down her neck. "Next time you want to change your appearance, remember to remove any unwanted marks as well. Also..."

"In ancient my country, this was a punishment exclusively for criminals, called tattooing, and it was not something that could be brought to public attention."

The moment the words "tattooing" were uttered, Emily's composure froze instantly, tears welled up in her eyes, her once straight back slumped slightly, and her voice trembled almost imperceptibly: "You..."

Seeing this, Mulan was puzzled. An agent who could come out of Lubyanka should have a strong mentality, so why would he tear up over a word about "tattooing"? Such sensitivity was really illogical.

Emily quickly lowered her head, raised her hand as if to brush away the dampness from her hair, and said in a slightly strained voice, "Excuse me... excuse me, I need to go to the restroom."

Minister Ivan and the head of the delegation were already heading towards the hotel entrance and did not notice this little incident.

Mulan hesitated for a moment, then, out of caution, said, "I'll take you there."

She couldn't let this "decorative vase" with a questionable identity and unstable emotions wander around the hotel.

The public restroom on the first floor of the hotel was dimly lit and filled with a faint smell of disinfectant. The space was small, and the walls were peeling. Emily went in and closed the door behind her, but didn't lock it. Mulan stood guard outside, hearing rustling sounds inside, like… someone taking off clothes?

Mulan frowned and knocked on the door: "Davari Clan?"

There was no answer from inside, only the sound of fabric rubbing together grew louder. Mulan pushed the door open and saw Emily with her back to the doorway, her coat and shirt pulled down to her waist, revealing her entire back.

Mulan's breath hitched for a moment.

On what should have been a smooth back, there was instead a huge, mottled pattern...

The silhouette of a two-headed eagle, its talons clutching a twisted mark bearing a distinctly ideological symbol. But what's even more chilling is the deep, crisscrossing scratches covering the lines and blocks of color.

Some look like old, dark-colored wounds, mixed with tattoo ink to form ugly bumps; others are newer, with pinkish granulation tissue.

His entire back was covered with almost no unblemished skin; old and new scars intertwined with the sinister patterns, creating a hellish scene.

"You..." Mulan's voice caught in her throat.

Emily didn't turn around; her voice was somewhat hollow.

"Heh... Do you think this is something I willingly 'possessed'? Tattoos on the face... criminal... You're right, you hit the nail on the head."

"They want to leave their mark! They want to turn me into their canvas! Their specimen!"

“They said… ‘You will always carry this with you, and always remember whose property you are’… No! I don’t want to…”

Emily's gaze suddenly became somewhat frantic, scanning the small bathroom before abruptly fixing on a stiff-bristled floor cleaning brush hanging in the corner.

Then, as if possessed, she rushed over, ripped off the brush, turned around, and before Mulan could react, began to scrub the skin on her back with the rough, hard bristles, scrubbing at the hideous patterns and scars!

"Wash it off! Wash it off! Wash it all off!"

The voice wasn't loud, but it was like a cuckoo crying blood...

Mulan glanced outside and saw the commander leading Minister Ivan to the small bar; it seemed they wanted to have a drink. Emily's crying was muffled by the noisy hall.

After closing the bathroom door, blocking the occasional glances from the other side.

Mulan took a step forward, her right hand forming a knife-like shape, aimed at Emily's neck, and swiftly slashed down! This time, she held back her strength, only wanting to temporarily knock the other person unconscious and stop her from harming herself.

"boom!"

The chop landed, but the feel was off; it was more like striking taut rubber.

Emily swayed slightly, and the brush slipped from her hand and fell to the ground. She whirled around, her eyes instantly filled with fear, the pain replaced by wariness.

She glared at Mulan and whispered, "What are you doing!"

"..."

Mulan's hand froze in mid-air, a rare hint of embarrassment flashing across her face. She had forgotten that the person before her not only had a tragic past, but was also a rigorously trained employee of the Lubyanka Grand Hotel!

Looking at those shocking old wounds on her back, heaven knows how much her pain tolerance and stress response have been honed!

My simple, conventional slapping motion was probably no bigger than a tickle to them.

Tsk, it should be a raging torrent that divides the world.

"...Seeing that you're too emotional, I wanted to help you calm down." Even Mulan herself felt that this reason was a bit silly.

The icy sharpness in Emily's eyes slowly faded, replaced by a bottomless weariness.

She didn't pursue Mulan's clumsy "attack" any further. Instead, she slowly pulled up her clothes to cover the unsightly patch of skin, slid down against the cold tile wall, and hugged her knees tightly.

He also tidied up his crooked blond hair.

"...Sorry, I startled you."

Emily's voice returned to its previous hollow tone, and she began to tell the story of a Chinese girl.

……

Upon seeing this, Old Wang raised an eyebrow.

With his arm around the shoulder, he nudged the comrade next to him, who was involved in the city's urban development campaign, in a rather unrefined manner: "Uncle Qiu, do you still remember the daycare in Los Angeles?"

"A wild chicken? I'm a ground-crawling dog!" The comrade in charge of creating a civilized city slapped Old Wang on the back of the head.

"Oh dear! Do I really have to spell it out for you? It's that nursery in the old district!"

The comrade in charge of the city's creation campaign frowned: "Why did you bring this up?"

"It just occurred to me, this girl's background seems a bit like that of people from North China!"

"Shut up!"

"How is that similar! She's still alive! But North China..."

The comrade in charge of the city's creation campaign suddenly stood up, clenched his fists, and began circling the small house like a trapped beast, shouting: "I'm ashamed! I'm ashamed! Shameful! Shameful!"

Jiang Xia, standing to the side, was somewhat confused and cast a curious glance at Lao Wang: How did this simpleton offend someone again?

"Boom..."

The door... was kicked open.

The person everyone was waiting for finally arrived.

Amidst the swirling papers, the two people at the door saw a pair of bloodshot eyes staring fiercely at them.

"Take him down!"

┗|｀O′|┛ Aww~~

Old Wang reacted quickly. After seeing the person's face clearly, he kicked out with a sweeping leg.

"Click..."

"what……"

"Boom bang bang..."

After a loud thud as something heavy rolled down the stairs, the small building returned to silence.