There was no ripple on Beauty Rose's delicate face.
The smile on the Soldier's face remained unchanged, but his body shriveled like a plant drained of moisture, visibly shrinking at a speed perceptible to the naked eye, until only a withered husk wrapped in a uniform remained, hanging silently.
Beauty Rose tilted her head, and the dark red rose petals adorning her hair seemed to have absorbed nutrients, their color becoming even more vibrant and alluring.
In another corridor, a small squad of patrolling Soldiers advanced cautiously.
The sweet floral scent in the air grew increasingly Rich, making them somewhat uneasy.
"What's that smell?" the leading Soldier frowned, gripping his gun tighter.
"Who cares what it smells like, it's so fragrant..." another Soldier's eyes were a bit unfocused, his steps unconsciously quickening.
In the center of the corridor ahead, a voluptuous and enchanting figure stood silently—it was Smile Rose Flower Doll.
Her long dress, made of deep red petals, shimmered with an eerie glow under the lights.
The faint, almost imperceptible smile on her face, set against the strange floral scent, appeared exceptionally captivating.
"Hey! Beauty!" Several Soldiers, completely captivated by the floral scent, had long forgotten their duties, approaching her with lewd smiles. "What are you doing here? Lost? Looking for someone? Which lucky bastard is so fortunate?"
Apparently, due to the 'aphrodisiac pollen' on Ye Ningfu and the Flower Dolls, as soon as they got close, these Soldiers were all controlled by their lower instincts, completely losing their normal judgment and logic. They even thought this lady was the lover of some Soldier or officer, just visiting.
But the lady smiled without speaking. Just as the Soldiers were about to touch her, her skirt suddenly flared open.
There was no revealing flash, but rather a rapidly spinning, blood-red maw.
The edges of the flexible petals instantly became sharper than blades, and the rotating saw-like teeth swept past with a whistling sound.
Splat! Splat! Splat!
The Soldiers didn't even have time to scream. An eerie red glow, accompanied by splashing liquid, flashed and disappeared.
When the petals closed again, Smile Rose still maintained that chilling smile. Her voluptuous figure glided forward gracefully, without even a speck of dirt on her skirt. Only the color of the petals seemed deeper and more saturated.
Hmm, this is more like it!
Ye Ningfu felt a surge of secret satisfaction. The setbacks she had experienced from these 'little Fairys' earlier were finally not in vain.
They were powerful as enemies, and now that they had become her loyal subordinates, there was no reason for them to become weaker; on the contrary, they should become stronger.
While Ye Ningfu was still patiently infiltrating the laboratory,
Elena, relying on her judgment of the building's structure and her instincts as an agent, had already bypassed the surveillance and patrols of the main passages, silently infiltrating the core database area of the laboratory.
Elena's movements were very swift. She used a stolen researcher's ID card to swipe open the airtight door.
The door closed silently behind her.
Inside the data room, there was only the hum of the servers and the flickering indicator lights.
She quickly found the main console, inserted a specially designed cracking device, and her fingers flew across the keyboard.
She was searching for the deeply hidden evidence that could nail Saint Martan to the pillar of shame—records of forbidden human experiments in violation of the "Global Supernatural Research Convention," reports of illegal containment and research of high-risk anomalies...
And... that deliberately erased internal document regarding the execution of 'foreign spies.'
Especially the part concerning 'Agent Ye Ningfu·Vera.'
A highly encrypted folder popped up on the screen, labeled "Special Disposal: Cleanup Operation - New Reclamation Area."
Elena's heart sank abruptly, and her fingers trembled slightly uncontrollably.
She entered complex commands, forcing a decryption.
During the brief few seconds waiting for the progress bar to load, time seemed to stretch out.
The smell of disinfectant in the air, mixed with a metallic, sour scent,
Suddenly dragged her back to that same morning years ago, also filled with despair and the smell of disinfectant.
Damp, muggy tropical air, a simple temporary dormitory.
Elena leaned tiredly against the creaking iron bunk bed, shaking a can of ice-cold local beer in her hand.
She and Ye Ningfu·Vera—her closest partner—had just finished another round of fruitless interrogation and investigation.
As mid-level agents from the Intelligence Department of the Control Bureau Headquarters, they were ordered to investigate possible illegal experiments in Saint Martan, but had little success.
"Little Ai, I think they must have hidden things deep inside that plantation! My intuition is very accurate!" Ye Ningfu·Vera tossed her red hair, her eyes burning with a stubbornness Elena didn't understand.
Elena took a big gulp of beer. The cold liquid temporarily suppressed the irritation in her heart, but couldn't suppress the fatigue of wanting to end the mission: "Ningfu, enough. We've checked all the informants we could, gone through all the records we could, and found nothing."
"Go deeper?"
"That's not within our authorized scope. It's too dangerous, and it won't do us or the Control Bureau any good." She looked at the stubbornness in Ye Ningfu's eyes, feeling worried, and a hint of imperceptible retreat. "The special plane from Headquarters arrives tomorrow. We're going home."
"This mission will allow us to rest for a while. My mom said she particularly wanted to see you last time." Elena smiled and gently stroked Ye Ningfu's cheek, clearly not focused on the task at hand: "Just write in this report that no clear evidence was found."
"How can that be?"
Ye Ningfu dodged Elena's hand: "If Saint Martan is not as clean as they promised in the international convention, even a tiny bit of evidence we collect could become an opportunity for both sides to cease cooperation, avoiding more disasters."
"The Control Bureau and the United Nations grant them privileges and leniency, not to abet evil."
Elena looked away, picked up the beer can, and took another sip, her tone tinged with irritation and confusion: "Why are you always so focused on stopping the Control Bureau's cooperation with Saint Martan?"
"This place is a bit creepy, but look outside—" She pointed to the muggy night outside the window. "Which corner of a third-world country isn't like this? This place is already chaotic enough. What can we change by getting involved? Do you dislike this country that much?"
"It's not about liking or disliking, Elena!" Ye Ningfu's voice was full of disappointment. "This has nothing to do with political stance! Haven't you seen the eyes of those residents? Especially those children! What are they afraid of?"
"They dare not speak, but fear is written all over their faces! And those reports of inexplicably missing residents..."
Elena was speechless, blocked by the emotional Ye Ningfu.
She opened her mouth, wanting to retort.
She wanted to say, "This has nothing to do with us," wanted to say, "maybe higher-level personnel will investigate later," but those words caught in her throat.
Finally, she just awkwardly shifted her gaze, staring at the beer can in her hand, her voice lowering, carrying a fatigue and evasion she couldn't quite explain: "...Enough, Ningfu, it's late. We have a flight to catch tomorrow. Let's rest first."
Ye Ningfu looked at her, her eyes complex. In the end, she just shook her head gently and said nothing more, but that stubborn profile...
Elena still remembered it clearly.
The next morning, Elena was awakened by a piercing alarm.
Outside the window, there was a clamor of voices.
"Ningfu?" Elena looked at the pillow beside her, then glanced around, but her good partner was nowhere to be seen.
A strong sense of unease surged within her, and she rushed out of the dormitory.
In the distance, the plantation area was surrounded by Soldiers and curious locals.
She heard someone whispering: "A foreign spy has been caught... an execution is underway."
A spy?
A premonition of ill omen instantly froze Elena's blood!
She frantically pushed through the crowd, rushing desperately towards the police cordon.
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