[Biotech Employee Loyalty Test Report]
Subject: Zhou Jiao
Employee ID: TSZ20492077
Loyalty Level: Red - Untrustworthy
[Test 1]: Material Bribery, Requesting Company Secrets
In Test 1, the subject displayed calmness, rationality, and high intelligence, with no significant fluctuations in biological monitoring data. She attempted to counter-track the tester.
Conclusion: Trustworthy - Meets core employee qualifications - Further testing required.
[Test 2]: Subconscious Cleaning, Imposing "Company First" Concept
In Test 2, the subject continued to display calmness, rationality, and high intelligence, with no significant fluctuations in biological monitoring data.
After 30 months of subconscious cleaning, the subject still rejected the "Company First" concept and developed a certain degree of rebellious psychology.
Conclusion: Untrustworthy - Does not meet core employee qualifications - Loyalty level downgraded to red.
[For internal reading only at Biotech Corporation]
A man sat behind a desk, staring at the file on the screen.
He was about fifty or sixty, in his prime years, with gray at his temples but appearing youthful and handsome due to a cosmetic skin transplant surgery. His straight nose and sharp features, along with his cold, serious blue eyes, reflected an intense, emotionless light.
This was one of the main leaders behind the "Scent Synthesis Project," Araki Isao.
For the past few days, he had been reviewing Zhou Jiao's file in hopes of uncovering Jiang Lian's weaknesses, but he found that not only could he not deduce Jiang Lian's weaknesses, Zhou Jiao herself appeared to have no weaknesses.
The "material bribery" phase of Test 1 wasn't as simple as offering money.
First, the premise of the test was that you wouldn't realize you were being tested.
Secondly, in the early stage of the test, massive data streams would bombard you with luxury goods and celebrity lifestyles, planting the concept of "hedonism" into your mind.
Once you accept this idea, you might suddenly come into unexpected wealth—perhaps from a rising fund, a hot product you invested in, or a sudden promotion.
As your quality of life improves, it feels natural to start spending lavishly on luxury goods or living like a celebrity.
But this is just the early stage of the test.
In the middle and later stages, you will suddenly find yourself destitute—your funds have plummeted, the products you invested in are embroiled in scandals, and your boss is under investigation, leading to your salary dropping and potential legal trouble.
At this point, the tester will contact you anonymously, offering to purchase some minor company secrets from you for a high price. Would you agree?
Most people, in this situation, would eagerly sell company secrets.
This is the typical human response.
So the company lowers the requirements, and as long as you don't sell core secrets, you pass Test 1.
Yet Zhou Jiao never fell into the tester's trap.
She ignored the luxury goods and celebrity lifestyles, calmly clicking "Not Interested."
When the funds rose, she thought for a moment and decided to sell.
When the product she invested in became popular, despite the data's urging, she never even looked at it, showing no interest in high-risk, high-reward investments.
When her boss was investigated, her salary plummeted, but when faced with the anonymous bribe, she didn't give in. Instead, she calmly chose to counter-track.
No wonder the company gave up on her.
Being smart is good, but when you're smart, not greedy, not hasty, and not swayed by trends, it means you have no weaknesses. And with no weaknesses, you're uncontrollable.
The company doesn't need uncontrollable employees.
Forget it, she's just a fool who thinks she's calm and rational but has missed the chance to become part of the elite. There's nothing more to figure out.
Their target was always Jiang Lian.
Zhou Jiao was just a trivial character.
Araki Isao closed the file expressionlessly, glanced at the time in the lower right corner of the screen, grabbed his suit jacket, and threw it over his shoulders.
His secretary opened the door for him and whispered,
"Mr. Araki, everything is ready. Seven snipers are in position, all monitoring drones are in use, and there are no blind spots in the building… All available security forces and armored vehicles have been deployed. The armored hovercraft is waiting at the rooftop airport."
"However, we suspect 'he' has already arrived… Many employees are exhibiting symptoms of mental disarray, some even fainting."
Araki paused, asking,
"What about the scent agent?"
The secretary replied, "It's been deployed in the fire sprinkler systems on every floor. With your order, we can activate it."
At that moment, a silver gleam flashed in the secretary's eyes as though he had just received a heavy message.
His pupils dilated in an instant, and a flash of fear crossed his face. After a moment, he barely managed to speak,
"…Mr. Araki, 'he' is here, on the first floor."
Araki Isao was a standard member of the corporate elite.
He was cold-blooded, intelligent, and ruthless, a fervent proponent of social Darwinism. He was willing to sacrifice even his own family to maintain his high position in the company.
— Yes, his wife and daughter also worked in this building, but he still chose to open the company's doors to welcome Jiang Lian.
Because Jiang Lian was far too important to the company.
If he could decipher the secret of Jiang Lian's genes and discover the key to human-mutant integration, he would surpass the one who proposed "human-mutant symbiosis" and become the company's most powerful figure.
Araki became more and more excited, his breathing quickening.
Since implanting his chip, his emotions had dulled, and the release of his neurotransmitters had slowed down. It had been a long time since he had felt this excited.
Victory was within reach.
He was certain he could surpass the other competitors and become the most powerful person in the company.
However, even Araki Isao, such a cold-blooded and ruthless man, was stunned when he arrived on the first floor.
…What he saw was something straight out of a horror movie.
The biotech corporation's building, long regarded as a masterpiece of modern architecture—grand, magnificent, and spacious, with cold, hard lines and walls, floors, and ceilings so polished that they reflected light, without a visible seam—was now transformed into something completely different.
The entire lobby had turned into a grotesque organic nest, teeming with purple-black, fleshy appendages, dripping with corrosive mucus, eroding everything in sight: the wool carpets, the non-laboratory-grown plants, the gold-trimmed doors, the antique oil paintings… In an instant, everything was covered in this monstrous, organic tissue.
A tall and slender figure stood amidst the flesh nest.
He appeared cold and immaculate, with a straight nose and elegant posture, wearing a white, knee-length fitted coat.
— If you ignored the dried, red-black bloodstains on his coat, he looked like a young professor just leaving a conference.
But Araki could not treat him as a harmless professor. The moment he saw Jiang Lian, his stomach churned, and he felt an intense urge to vomit.
— The company also had similar defensive mechanisms, using infrasound to create resonance with human organs, inducing dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. At higher intensities, it could even cause blood vessels to rupture and kill.
But the low-frequency sound waves emanating from Jiang Lian did more than just induce dizziness and nausea—they seemed to have a spiritual contaminating effect.
…Similar to the company's "subconscious cleaning."
Araki's vision briefly blurred.
For a split second, Jiang Lian's form seemed to grow taller, more imposing, more terrifying, the sense of oppression overwhelming him like a tidal wave.
Araki felt his internal organs twist together.
He couldn't hold it in anymore and bent over, vomiting violently.
All the organic meat and vegetables he had eaten at lunch came gushing out.
Since entering the company's upper echelons, he hadn't been this pathetic.
But at this moment, his first thought was that he was glad he vomited—it spared him from looking directly into Jiang Lian's eyes.
He thought of how some religious followers described their god.
— Humans should never look directly at the god.
If you attempt to lift your head and gaze at the god, your eyes will weep blood.
Only the god has this original and cold sense of oppression.
…How dare they try to deceive a god.
Araki trembled as he sucked in a breath, gripping the secretary's hand tightly, his forehead bulging with veins. His lips twitched as though he wanted to speak.
But just then, a flash of silver light entered his eyes. The company's AI detected his dangerous thoughts and began subconscious cleaning.
Two powerful forces struggled inside his mind. His internal organs twisted even tighter, almost forcing out his entire stomach.
He kneeled on the ground, no longer the composed elite he once was. His face trembled violently, his tears and snot flowing freely.
If he weren't a person with strong willpower, he would have probably turned into a mentally deranged idiot long ago.
In the end, his desire to advance further in the hierarchy overtook him. His chaotic thoughts gradually cleared up, and with his secretary's hand in his, he slowly stood up.
"Dr. Jiang," Araki Xun took out a handkerchief, wiped his face, and revealed a cold yet polite smile. "We've always missed each other, but today, we finally meet in person."
It was like an invisible bomb had been dropped.
The next moment, a low, terrifying, and nauseatingly deep sound wave suddenly exploded:
"Wake her up."
Jiang Lian walked step by step toward Araki Xun.
As he got closer, Araki Xun's body began to tremble violently. His eyes jumped, uncontrollably fixed on the woman in Jiang Lian's arms, Zhou Jiao.
Perhaps due to the magnetic influence of Jiang Lian, he suddenly smelled a soul-snaring sweet, cloying fragrance, rich and aromatic, like ripe fruit. The scent drilled into his nose, sticking to his throat, causing his Adam's apple to uncontrollably move up and down.
So fragrant.
…She smells so good.
No wonder Jiang Lian was so obsessed with her scent.
She really is too fragrant.
Araki Xun stared at Zhou Jiao, gradually revealing a look of infatuation.
Jiang Lian's face twitched slightly, his cold eyes locking on Araki Xun.
— Why did this insect dare to covet her?
His thoughts could influence the beings around him. The reason he was able to find Zhou Jiao earlier was because his uncontrollable desire had, in an instant, taken control of the thoughts of everyone in the area.
He had found her through their sense of smell.
This was a rare occurrence, though.
Most of the time, only he and the "touch-feet" could smell her.
But for some reason, even though he wasn't out of control now, he still influenced the minds of those around him.
Looking around, every person—whether employees in suits, security guards in uniforms, or the girl curled up behind the front desk—was staring at Zhou Jiao in his arms with eyes that were sticky, moist, and full of desire.
He could even hear their dirty thoughts.
They were calling her name.
They wanted to get closer to her, gaze at her, sniff her.
They were all drooling over her.
He wanted to kill them.
Jiang Lian's face stiffened and contorted. Thick blood vessels bulged out of his "touch-feet." Countless tentacles writhed and stretched on his face, body, and behind him. His tall and slender form seemed like it might burst open at any moment, transforming into an indescribably horrifying apex predator, recklessly slaughtering any irritating presence.
But.
But—
He must restrain this impulse.
He had never held back his desires or impulses before.
An apex predator has no concept of "restraint."
Only plundering, possessing, and consuming.
Zhou Jiao was merely in a deep coma; she hadn't died yet. She could still absorb the energy he fed her and respond to external stimuli in some instinctive way.
This was actually a very suitable state for her.
He could keep her in a permanent cage, just like humans preserve beautiful butterflies as specimens.
Then, he could endlessly sniff her, kiss her, and swallow her sweet saliva.
…But he resisted this malicious thought.
Only humans would restrain their malicious desires, because they couldn't satisfy them, so they invented the concept of "restraint" to cover up their own impotence.
He had the power to fulfill his wicked desires, yet he still held back.
This was a very foolish action.
He thought he would only hold back once.
But now, he had restrained the impulse to slaughter.
…He couldn't crush these insects.
He needed them to wake Zhou Jiao up.
Jiang Lian closed his eyes, forcefully suppressing the intense killing intent surging in his eyes.
The vicious resentment that arose from unmet desires, combined with his overwhelming protective instinct toward Zhou Jiao, was like countless blood vessels crawling through his eyes.
One half of his face retained the human form of his handsome appearance, while the other half had large patches of blood-soaked flesh, rotting and falling off, exposing the ugly, writhing purple-red tentacles inside.
Araki Xun shivered, a terrifying chill creeping up his spine.
He had researched Jiang Lian and knew that "he" couldn't maintain a human form, which was a very dangerous sign.
"Wake her up."
As if to consider the fragile nerves of these people, Jiang Lian used a human voice, cold, calm, and devoid of any oppressive tone:
"Otherwise, you'll all die."
Although he didn't use any low-frequency sound wave attacks, Araki Xun's internal organs trembled in fear.
…They had to do as he said.
Otherwise, they really would die!
"He" could influence their thoughts, their senses, and even their behavior.
As long as "he" gave the order, they could all commit suicide at once.
It was terrifying—too terrifying... They could not fight against such a monster. My God, what disease had he contracted to provoke such a terrifying creature!
N-No, no, no, no, no, no, no… He couldn't give up on his plan.
He kept telling himself this in a near-maniacal frenzy.
He was taking stimulants, sleeping only two hours a day, all so that one day he could stand at the top of the company and look down on the entire city.
He had already surpassed 99% of people in this grand social Darwinism experiment. Now, the opportunity to become part of the 1% was right before him.
As long as he could control Jiang Lian and send his genes for decoding… He would become the real power in biological technology!
Araki Xun nearly went mad as he convinced himself there was still a glimmer of hope.
He could use waking Zhou Jiao as a cover to secretly activate the fire sprinkler systems on each floor. By then, the entire building would be filled with Zhou Jiao's scent.
Once Jiang Lian lost control due to the scent, the mental influence on them should dissipate.
At that time, he could command his security team to attack, turning the tables.
As for Zhou Jiao, whether she woke up or what she would do after, who cared about her?
…Though she really does smell so, so good.