The moment Evans stepped into the sealed room, Ren Yi was already prepared for a conflict.
However, the people of this world seemed to have rather unusual mental wiring.
The wave of positive emotion that pulsed back at him was like a sudden clap of thunder, striking his sensory web with a heavy thud.
Just what on earth is this kid thinking?
Ren Yi’s train of thought stalled for a split second before spinning into overdrive, rapidly constructing countless analytical models in his mind.
Was it because he was a prisoner and had finally seen something other than white coats and armored guards, triggering some sort of Stockholm-style resonance?
Or had the boy’s brain short-circuited under extreme fear, causing him to mistake Ren Yi’s indescribable, monstrous form for some kind of divine miracle?
Surely it couldn't be that the kid saw me huddled in the corner and thought I looked weak and safe, making him happy enough to want to come over and pet me?
Ren Yi’s analysis failed.
In this moment, human emotional logic displayed an entropy more chaotic than even an Anomaly’s worldview.
But one thing was worth noting: Evans’s facial expression remained that of a standard minor character—confused, tense, with lips tightly pursed.
If it weren't for Ren Yi’s extreme sensitivity to positive emotions, he would have been fooled by that sweat-drenched face.
Something’s wrong. Do the humans of this world know something else?
Does he have some other understanding of this organization?
Ren Yi floated quietly in the corner, as if conducting a behavioral experiment on a human subject.
Boom.
The final sensor door behind Evans locked heavily, making the sound of metal pressing against an airtight rubber seal.
Ren Yi had already mapped out the structure of this place through his sensory infiltration.
This wasn't just a simple room; it was a "Russian nesting doll," heavily encased layer by layer.
The innermost layer—the room he was currently in—was a detachable hexahedron made of a special alloy.
It was currently embedded within three layers of massive containment vaults inside the base, held in place by dozens of giant mechanical arms.
There was only one way in: through those three narrow decontamination compartments.
Each time Evans entered a compartment, the door behind him would seal, vacuum, pressurize, and disinfect.
Only after the previous layer was confirmed to be absolutely sealed would the next layer open like an onion being peeled.
With this level of security and defensive density, there was no way for him to use the opening of the door as an opportunity to rush out when the boy entered.
Furthermore, in the command hall next door, the finger of the staff member beside the Doctor remained hovered over the "neutralization procedure" button.
Ren Yi had actually been hesitating. His current abilities were still limited.
If he didn't have a proper opportunity to replenish himself later—for instance, if this organization gave him no contact with any living being—then every "Ammunition" he used would be one less for his survival.
Until he was certain of his safety, every Seed was a trump card.
Wasting a Seed on a "Consumable" who could be purged by the authorities at any moment was undoubtedly a massive gamble.
However, the surge of positive emotion Evans had produced just now was like a piece of self-loading ammunition, sliding directly into Ren Yi’s chamber and dispelling his doubts.
Well, there's no helping it. Might as well use it.
Ren Yi used his ability without hesitation.
In a dimension invisible to Evans, a thread deeper than any shadow followed the faint static in the air, silently sinking into the boy’s body.
Evans saw that the mass of cloud remained still, looking almost lonely under the lights.
He exhaled a shaky breath, gritted his teeth, and shuffled step by step toward the center of the display pedestal.
There, the silver sphere of the Base Station reflected his tension-filled face.
It was clear that the sudden wisp of positive emotion wasn't enough to cancel out his fear of the People on the Lake, nor was it enough to support him in defying their orders.
However, just as his fingers were about to touch the perfect, mercury-like surface, he froze.
The unknown creature that had been huddled in the corner, looking docile and harmless, had moved.
Whoosh—
Ren Yi began to rise.
The mass of gray-white cloud was no longer suppressed; it rapidly expanded outward, occupying nearly a third of the room’s space.
At its core, the previously dull energy spun wildly within its white shroud, forming a dazzling, deep vortex.
It was a show of force, Ren Yi’s way of taking a stand.
Docile and harmless? In this cutthroat containment facility, acting like a lamb would only speed up the process of being served on a dinner table.
Ren Yi understood the psychology of people like the Doctor perfectly.
The reason the Doctor hadn't ordered a neutralization procedure yet was that he was an unknown creature that had appeared during B-013’s unprecedented activity.
Her goal was to use Ren Yi to uncover the secrets behind B-013, and perhaps even other Anomalies.
But that didn't mean she had infinite patience.
If he showed no signs of being an Anomaly, the next step in the experiment would likely be slicing, dissection, or the injection of some neutralizing agent.
Then they would quickly discover Ren Yi’s ability to aggregate and recover, and then...
Ren Yi had no desire to become a lab rat on a chopping block.
He had to display some kind of "uncontrollable uniqueness" to pique the Doctor’s curiosity before she lost her patience.
As for the so-called "neutralization procedure"...
Judging by the files on B-013—the Base Station—the "harmful substances" here were likely anything but scarce.
Therefore, until he demonstrated the ability to potentially break out of this room, that button was merely a display of professionalism and rigor.
Choosing between a quick death and a slow one to find an opportunity, Ren Yi still chose the latter.
While Ren Yi watched Evans quietly, he pondered his next move.
However, a sudden change occurred.
Rumble!!!
A deafening sound of grinding steel erupted from deep underground.
The entire room tilted sharply, and the metal floor beneath them bucked violently up and down.
Since Ren Yi was floating, he only felt the various structures within his perception shudder, but Evans, standing on the ground, wasn't so lucky.
"Ah!"
The boy cried out as he lost his balance, falling heavily to the floor. His forehead slammed against the edge of the display pedestal, and blood immediately began to flow.
Ren Yi’s perception instantly expanded, like countless tentacles plunging into the ground.
What’s happening? An earthquake? Is someone attacking this place?
A second impact followed immediately, more violent and heavier than the first.
Rumble!!!
This time, Ren Yi felt it.
The source of the vibration was located diagonally below the base.
There was a surge of violent, chaotic energy down there that he had never encountered before, erupting wildly.
Without a medium, his perception was blocked by the thick compartments and the distance, preventing him from seeing the full picture.
But regardless of the cause, any accident was good news for him right now.
Chaos meant a lapse in security; an accident meant the introduction of a variable.
Meanwhile, in the control room next door, the staff’s composure was instantly shattered.
"Is it an earthquake? Why didn't the defense field give a warning?"
The lights flickered, and the red rotating light of the alarm cast a look of terror on the face of the female staff member who had initially asked about the neutralization procedure.
Her fingers moved across the keyboard in a blur. The full-screen monitor showing Ren Yi was quickly minimized and pushed to a small corner in the top right.
The rest of the main screen was divided into a dense honeycomb of surveillance feeds.
In the bottom left corner, four feeds representing the deep underground had turned completely into static.
The Doctor’s face twisted into a grimace as she saw the numbers of the disappearing feeds.
"B-117, report losses! What happened? Is someone attacking us?" the Doctor’s voice suppressed an extreme rage.
Staff B-117—the female staff member—stared intently at the red system pop-up, her voice sharp and distorted with panic.
"No... it's not an external attack! It's the lower core area!"
"Doctor! S-099 containment breach!"
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