Xie Sen and Maine wandered around the 81st floor for a while without finding the entrance or exit. Xie Sen was completely disoriented. Voices came from the right front. Maine paused, pulling Xie Sen against the wall.
"Are you kidding me? What contracted beast's gone mad, needing a higher dosage? It's just lying there like it's dead! If you increase the dosage, there won't be an auction tonight!"
"There might be some misunderstanding," another voice said. "Captain Ximai isn't one to joke around."
"Heh, who knows! Let's go." The footsteps faded into the distance.
Xie Sen had Blackie cover the nearby cameras, then peeked out. There was an elevator door in the middle of the corridor to his right, and two people had just left to the right of that, one wearing a white doctor's uniform. A short distance ahead on the left was another corridor.
He quickly withdrew Blackie; he was very familiar with this maneuver—covering the cameras before being exposed, blocking them when exposed, and not continuously blocking them, minimizing the possibility of being discovered as much as possible.
He whispered to Maine, "They just went to the 82nd floor." His eyes darted around, then he asked, "If I bring him here, can you knock him out immediately?"
Maine nodded, "Yes."
Xie Sen again had Blackie cover the nearby cameras, summoned Watermelon Vine and Potato, and issued the command. The next moment, the white-clad man's waist was suddenly tightened by Watermelon Vine, followed by a powerful force dragging him backward. He opened his mouth to scream, but before he could utter a sound, a potato was shoved into his mouth, blocking it.
Watermelon Vine dragged him to Maine like a gust of wind. Maine swiftly struck, and before he could even see himself clearly, he was unconscious. At the same time, Xie Sen withdrew Blackie.
"Doctor?" The man with him cried out in terror.
Maine acted decisively, "Bring this one over too."
Xie Sen repeated the command, and the terrified man soon joined the doctor, both collapsing to the ground.
Maine grabbed the doctor, walked to the elevator, swiped the doctor's wristband, and the elevator doors opened instantly. Xie Sen's eyes lit up. Maine pushed the doctor out and pressed the button for the 82nd floor.
In the blink of an eye, the elevator stopped on the 82nd floor. Xie Sen skillfully instructed Hei Muer to cover the camera, and Maine grabbed him and quickly darted out.
The two walked through the corridor where the elevator was located, then turned right. As they were walking, they suddenly heard a muffled groan and the sound of something heavy falling to the ground behind them. Xie Sen quickly turned around and saw a security guard lying unconscious on the ground with a long triangular mark on his forehead. Not far in front of him was a sunflower seed the size of a palm.
He was stunned. At this moment, the sunflower appeared in front of him, its straight stem twisted into a vertical wave, conveying to Xie Sen a happy and smug feeling. Xie Sen then realized that the sunflower that had been standing on his left shoulder since he left home that morning had somehow grown several times larger than the size of a finger, and the person he had just seen was clearly its handiwork.
He gently pinched a petal, thinking to himself, "Wonderful, thank you." The feeling of joy deepened, and the sunflower instantly shrank back to the size of a finger, perched on his left shoulder, its blossoms facing behind him.
Xie Sen felt an immediate sense of peace; he no longer needed to worry about anyone appearing behind him.
Maine glanced around and knew what had happened, but given their precarious position, he said nothing, only squeezing Xie Sen's hand. Xie Sen pointed forward; the increasing warmth on his shoulder told him they were heading in the right direction and were approaching Little Silver.
Maine led him cautiously along the wall. Suddenly, a sharp alarm blared, and an angry voice boomed from the wall-mounted loudspeaker: "S-level alert! Someone has infiltrated! All areas on alert!"
Standing before the monitors, security captain Ximai's lips were pressed into a thin line. Just then, a voice sounded behind him: "East Zone 1 corridor."
He turned to see a handsome, refined face, captivating even with slightly narrowed eyes. Ximai tensed: "Your Highness." It was
Lanny, the eldest prince of the Merfolk, the owner of Youhai. He had deep blue curly hair, long, curled blue eyelashes, and narrow, slightly narrowed eyes. He glanced up at Ximai from the monitor screen but didn't speak.
Ximai quickly snapped out of his daze and relayed orders to his subordinates via his wristband: "Strictly search the East Zone 1 corridor."
Hearing the alarm, Xie Sen instinctively tightened his grip on Maine's hand. Soon, footsteps echoed from all directions, drawing ever closer.
Maine said, "Cover up all the surveillance cameras on this layer."
Xie Sen immediately understood—they had been discovered! Even a brief obstruction of the camera would be noticed, and people could even deduce their location from it. Without hesitation, he exchanged for ten black fungus, each with four segments, enough to obstruct about forty cameras—that was about right.
The surveillance cameras in front of Lanny went mostly black for a moment, with only a small section of the west wing still lit. Those cameras showed only quiet corridors, not a single person in sight. At the far right console of the monitoring room sat a man in a black uniform, sweating profusely. "Captain, the equipment is working perfectly, no problems."
Lanny stared intently at the screen, tapping his fingers on the table. "Check the surveillance footage of the elevator connecting the 81st and 82nd floors," he added, "within the last ten minutes."
Xie Sen obscured the camera and nodded to Maine. Maine took out three detectors from his backpack, operating them to move in three different directions. He activated his wristband and, following the route information from the detectors, dodged the people searching for them, approaching where Xiao Yin was.
The two reached the end of a corridor. Xie Sen's right shoulder burned intensely. He looked at the screen on Main's bracelet; to his right was a large door guarded by four armed security guards.
He tapped the door; Little Silver was there. Main immediately understood and typed on the screen: "Stay here, I'll deal with them."
Xie Sen quickly shook his head. The weapons the four guards carried looked incredibly powerful; even the most skilled would be easily injured. He gestured in Main's palm: "I'll handle it."
Main's body tensed instantly, gripping Xie Sen's hand tightly, his eyes dark. Xie Sen glared at him, and Main reluctantly released his grip. Xie Sen's writing strength was too weak for him; his palm itched uncontrollably.
Xie Sen summoned two chili peppers and simultaneously released invincible chili powder at the guards on either side.
"Cough cough cough, what is that! Ahhh..." The four guards choked on the pungent smell of the chili peppers, sneezing uncontrollably. Their eyes stung, and they instinctively rubbed them, only to find the burning intensified, their faces contorted in pain.
Maine and Sherman watched the detector transmit the reactions of the four men. Startled, they instinctively scattered. Maine patted Sherman's shoulder and pointed to the nearest man.
The door behind the security guard was closed; to get in, they'd need his authorization, and at least one of them would have to be knocked unconscious.
Sherman grabbed him, pulling a spray bottle from his backpack—one Bai Jiao had given him for self-defense. These men were large and might not be easily knocked out with a single chop; the spray would be safer. He trusted Bai Jiao's medicine. Maine took the bottle and
silently darted out. Sherman, knowing the four men's vision and sense of smell were significantly impaired by the chili powder, cautiously peeked over.
Maine moved with incredible speed, appearing like a phantom in front of the nearest man, deftly pressing the spray, then the second, the third…
Sherman watched as the mountain of burly men crashed to the ground, silently giving Bai Jiao a thumbs-up.
Maine grabbed a security guard, lifted his wrist, and used his security clearance to open the gate. Shesen quickly ran out, and the two went inside together.
"Little Silver!" Upon entering, he saw a shimmering white seashell, next to which were two tall iron cages containing two giant animals lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious. There were other things in the surrounding area, but he didn't examine them closely.
"A giant crocodile beast and a giant bear beast," Maine immediately recognized the contracted beasts in the cages.
"Waaah...you really came!" Little Silver was extremely surprised, then burst into tears again, "I hate this place, waaah, but how are you taking me out? I'm so big."
Xie Sen pulled a necklace from his collar, on which three plain silver rings were strung. He held the smallest one: "We'll put you in our spatial dimension. Don't resist. We'll release you after we get out."
He and Maine smoothly placed Little Silver into the spatial dimension. The instant Little Silver disappeared, two deep, murderous growls came from beside them. Xie Sen looked over and saw the two contracted beasts staring at them with fierce eyes.
Xie Sen's heart reflexively tightened; it was hard not to react to such gazes. He quickly said, "I'm Little Silver's friend. I'm the one who caused this commotion. You did a good job."
Their eyes were fixed on him, seemingly trying to ascertain the truth of his words. Xie Sen simply released Little Silver to tell them what happened, and then put it back in its cage.
Upon hearing Little Silver's words, the two beasts' attitudes instantly changed, and they obediently lay down on the ground. Maine inspected the iron cage and shook her head, "The lock can't be opened anytime soon."
Xie Sen, pinching another ring on the necklace, said, "Then let's just put them in here and deal with it when we get out."
With the cooperation of the two contracted beasts, Xie Sen and Maine got them into the space. Having achieved their goal, Xie Sen breathed a sigh of relief, tucked the necklace back under his clothes, and went out with Maine.
The two didn't return to the 81st floor, but went straight back to the first floor. In the elevator, Xie Sen texted Bai Jiao: "I'm not feeling well, we're going back to our room."
Bai Jiao glanced at the message, a smile playing on her lips. The auction manager's eyes lit up, urging, "Anything else?"
Bai Jiao had been preparing to sign the contract, but seemingly worried they wouldn't get a good price for the watermelon, she began to explain it in detail. From its appearance to its taste, from its taste to its edible value, then its medicinal value, and finally to the seeds—hundreds of seeds inside a single watermelon!
What did this mean? It meant that research allowed for failure, that research could go on for a long time, that they could slowly learn from past experiences and increase the chances of success.
Bai Jiao smiled, "Isn't that enough? I hope we can get a good price."
"Don't worry, we definitely will!" the manager said.
Bai Jiao got up to leave, and the manager saw her to the door. Seeing only Long Teng, he asked in confusion, "Where are the other two?"
Bai Jiao pulled up her messages: "A friend is allergic to seafood and isn't feeling well."
"Oh, that's a real shame," the manager said.
Bai Jiao smiled and left the 81st floor with Long Teng.
The moment the elevator doors closed, the manager received a call, and his expression instantly changed: "They're gone!"