茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

After Fang Pingfang looked up, the light stabilized.

She didn’t give it much thought, continuing to observe the data on her computer screen.

After a while, the light flickered again.

Dr. Fang Pingfang raised her eyebrows, looked up, and felt a little strange.

The power supply to their laboratories was very steady, so the problem was probably with the lights.

Apparently, these lights had quality issues. Had the purchasers taken kickbacks?

She would need to talk to the person in charge of equipment tomorrow. It seemed someone was in for trouble.

Dr. Fang Pingfang was very clear on how much Mr. Liang valued these laboratories. If someone dared to cut corners or squander funds, Mr. Liang would not let it slide.

The lights flickered again, but Fang Pingfang ignored it, focusing on the screen and occasionally hitting the keyboard’s page-turn keys.

But the next moment, the computer screen suddenly went dark.

Dr. Fang Pingfang subconsciously leaned back, looking at the black screen, a little stunned. The power indicator on the lower right corner of the monitor showed that the power was on.

So, was the problem with the mainframe, had it gone black?

Had kickbacks been taken in the purchase of these computer hardware too?

Dr. Fang Pingfang bent over to look at the mainframe, considering a forced restart. At this moment, however, the monitor lit up again, displaying the same image as before it went black.

“What’s going on…” Dr. Fang Pingfang operated the computer and found no issue. It seemed like the screen had just simply gone black for a moment.

She subconsciously looked around the laboratory, but she was the only one there, and the surrounding situation was clear at a glance. There was nothing different from usual.

She got up, walked to the door, and pressed the communication button to the security room.

“This is the security room, is… this Dr. Fang? What can I do for you?” She heard a somewhat puzzled voice through the intercom.

Dr. Fang Pingfang glanced at the surveillance camera in the lab. She knew that, for some special reasons, the surveillance footage of several labs on the second underground floor were stored independently on a separate system. Even the security personnel, who had also signed confidentiality agreements, were not able to view it in real time.

“Are there any other researchers on the D2 level besides me?” Dr. Fang Pingfang asked.

After a moment, the voice on the other end of the intercom said, “Researcher Xie and Dr. Yang just left, you are now the only research personnel on the D2 level.”

“What about security personnel?” Dr. Fang Pingfang asked again.

“Including me, there are six officers on duty, with two on the D2 level.”

“Okay, thank you.”

After she finished speaking, Dr. Fang Pingfang waited for a moment, then pressed the intercom button again. “May I ask, what’s your name?”

“My name is Zhang Yaozu, and I’m the team leader of Security Team 3.” Said the security officer over the intercom.

“Captain Zhang, how long have you been working here?”

“Since the completion of this place, including the preparatory and training period, it’s been ten months, or to be exact, ten months and seventeen days.” Zhang Yaozu replied.

“Do the electronic equipment here often malfunction?”

There was silence from the other end of the line for a moment before Zhang Yaozu finally replied uncertainly, “As for the equipment in the lab, we can’t touch it…”

“I mean, in the past, have other researchers reported equipment malfunctions or electrical problems while working at night?” Dr. Fang Pingfang asked after choosing her words carefully.

Zhang Yaozu replied, “No such thing… although the toilet on D1 did break down in the middle of the night once, and the water wouldn’t flush…”

“Eh, not that.” Dr. Fang Pingfang quickly interrupted, “I mean, for example, the lights. Has there been any fluctuation in light, flickering, or anything like that, just now?”

“That… shouldn’t… have happened, right?” Zhang Yaozu said uncertainly.

Dr. Fang Pingfang looked thoughtful. It seemed that only the lights in the lab where she was located had a problem.

“I just remembered, previously…” Zhang Yaozu hadn’t finished his sentence before the line suddenly went dead.

Dr. Fang Pingfang was taken aback, pressing the intercom button several times, but getting no response. “Captain Zhang? Are you still there? Captain Zhang?”

Only the static of the electric current could be heard on the intercom.

Suddenly, everything around her seemed to fall silent. She could even faintly hear the sound of the fan spinning inside the computer.

Could something have happened to Zhang Yaozu? Dr. Fang Pingfang was inexplicably troubled by this thought.

Several seconds later, Zhang Yaozu’s voice came back on. “…So the lights in these labs should be dimmer than before.”

“Was the line interrupted just now? Is there a problem with the intercom?” Dr. Fang Pingfang asked hurriedly.

In the security room, Zhang Yaozu was stunned to hear this, and looked at the intercom’s indicator light, confused. “No, the indicator light has been on the whole time, the line was never cut. Was there a problem on Dr. Fang’s end?”

“I didn’t hear what you said just now. You said ‘previously’… what happened?”

“Oh, I meant that Dr. Yang previously thought the lights in the lab were too bright and somewhat glaring, so we later replaced all the lights. The lights in laboratories 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are relatively dimmer or softer than the others.”

It took Dr. Fang Pingfang a few seconds to respond, “Pay close attention to the surveillance in a while. Watch for any abnormalities outside, and around my lab. Notify me immediately if anything happens.”

“Dr. Fang… what do you mean by ‘if anything happens’?” Captain Zhang felt an inexplicable chill crawl up his spine.

“It’s nothing much, just a random comment I made. Don’t worry too much about it.”

The more you say don’t worry, the more I will. Zhang Yaozu wanted to ask more questions, but Dr. Fang Pingfang had already ended the call.

He immediately turned to the multiple surveillance screens in the security room. Besides the inside of a few labs and storage rooms, other rooms including corridors, stairs, elevators, etc., were all within the surveillance range. Moreover, if he was willing, he could view the surveillance not only for D2, but also for D1, the floors above ground, and even the entire park’s surveillance, directly.

But having checked everything, he found no problems.

Then he noticed Dr. Fang Pingfang leaving Laboratory 6 and entering Laboratory 9. Before entering, she specifically looked up at the surveillance camera in the corridor, as if to tell him, “Be careful, I’m going in.”

“Was there an abnormal situation in Laboratory 6 just now?” He thought back to Dr. Fang Pingfang’s strange behavior during the call and started to feel anxious.

He had never felt this nervous even during some dangerous missions in the past, which made him feel very uneasy.

He couldn’t help but wonder what else was in those labs and secret storage rooms besides the equipment he had seen? What were highly educated talents such as Dr. Fang and Dr. Yang researching?

Previously, like his colleagues, he had signed a confidentiality agreement to work in the secret research department of Divine Technology for the high salary. But he was clueless as to what this department was investigating. To secure the high remuneration, none of them dared to probe into information beyond their duties. They all just busied themselves with their work.

But tonight, Dr. Fang’s mysterious and bizarre words made him curious.

Although Dr. Fang Pingfang had only been here for a few days and they hadn’t interacted much – their previous conversations hadn’t even been as long as tonight’s – he had a general impression of her. He knew she was a woman of strong professional skills, a person admired by Dr. Yang and others. She was also very straightforward, clearly not the type to overreact at the slightest anomaly. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have stayed alone on D2 until this late in the night.

Most importantly, Dr. Fang Pingfang had the highest authority in the D1 and D2 laboratories. Besides her, at least two other researchers were required to enter Laboratories No. 6 to No.10.

So, Fang Pingfang must know what they were investigating, must know the secrets he didn’t.

If she could find something strange, she surely had her basis.

While he was focused on the corridor outside the lab through the monitor, his shoulder was suddenly tapped, giving him a startle that almost resulted in a reflexive retaliation.

“Damn! You scared me. What are you doing?” A youthful voice sounded in the security room.

Zhang Yaozu, who was about to react, quickly let go of the other person’s wrist, letting out a breath. “How did you come in without making any noise? You startled me too…” The one who touched his shoulder was his colleague Xiao Gao, who was also on D2 duty.

“What do you mean, no noise? Didn’t you hear me open and close the door?” Xiao Gao asked strangely, “Old Zhang, you seem off today, what happened?”

“Nothing, watch the monitors for me, I’m going to take a quick round in the experimental zone.” Saying this, Zhang Yaozu picked up the walkie-talkie and other gear and stood up.

Meanwhile, inside Laboratory No.9.

Fang Pingfang opened the container carrying the rabbit wood carving. A transparent box slowly rose from the metal platform. Through the clear box material, she could see the strange, crude, ugly rabbit wood carving “smiling” at her.

Undoubtedly, this wood carving was the most valuable item they brought back from the Qinling Uninhabited Area.

On the way, she and Team Leader Li had already discovered that the wood carving had the power to influence dreams. Thus, both on the road and after being brought here, it required strict storage standards – far away from the resting area. It was also forbidden for researchers to sleep in the laboratory.

However, two days ago when they intentionally carried out the dream influence experiment to observe the changes, they found that those who fell asleep around it no longer had the strange, rabbit meat-involving dreams. In fact, two people didn’t dream at all.

They suspected that the wood carving could only work at night, so they performed another experiment last night. The result was the same: there were no dream-induced occurrences.

Therefore, Fang Pingfang initially judged that the power of the wood carving only worked in the Qinling Uninhabited Area.

However, some anomalies occurred in Laboratory No. 6 tonight, and she couldn’t help but think of the rabbit wood carving.

Staring at the woodcarving in the container, Fang Pingfang couldn’t help but murmur: “Are you causing mischief?”

She began to repeat some of the test items that had been carried out before, recording the information.

She wondered if the “rabbit wood carving” had entered its active period again?

After a while, Fang Pingfang felt a bit thirsty. She went to the next-door rest room of the laboratory, took a disposable paper cup from the water dispenser and filled it with water. After filling the cup, she was about to go back but her gaze fell on a plate beside the water dispenser.

Who put a plate of rabbit meat here? And it’s not even cooked?

Fang Pingfang had this thought in her mind as she walked back sipping her water.

Then she froze, even holding her breath. A chill rose from the bottom of her heart, cold sweat soaking her back.

She slowly turned around and looked at the porcelain plate beside the water dispenser, filled with pieces of raw rabbit meat.

She unconsciously clenched her right hand, crushing the paper cup in her hand. Fortunately, it was cold water she had filled, so she wasn’t scalded.

This was a scene she had seen in a dream before!

Was she dreaming now?

Had she fallen asleep without realising?

Fang Pingfang closed her eyes and shook her head, and then pinched herself. The pain made her realise that this was not a dream, but real-life.

But… was this really reality?

She opened her eyes again and looked over at the water cooler. The dish of “raw rabbit meat” had disappeared as though it had never been there.

A hallucination?

Fang Pingfang left the rest area and re-entered the laboratory, looking at the woodcarving rabbit isolated in the transparent container. With its wide, grinning mouth, the rabbit seemed to be mocking her.

Suddenly, the lights in Laboratory No.9 dimmed, as if the sun had been shining brightly a moment ago, but was now obscured by a sudden shroud of dark clouds and imminent rain.

Fang Pingfang had a sudden illusion that she had entered a different space, as if she had stepped inside another world within Laboratory No.9.

Yet a second later, the lights returned to their original brightness, and the laboratory remained quiet just as it had been when she first came in.

“It’s… alive,”

A voice in Fang Pingfang’s mind whispered.

She had never believed in superstitions. In her understanding, every phenomenon had a corresponding reason. If some phenomena couldn’t be explained for the time being, it was merely due to the lack of available information.

Despite this, influenced by various films and artworks, she instinctively associated certain things with these phenomena. Even though she logically knew it was just her scaring herself, the fear she felt was the body’s natural response to the unknown.

Fang Pingfang’s heart was beating rapidly. After taking several deep breaths and calming herself, she retracted the transparent container containing the wooden rabbit into the metal platform, completely isolating it from the outside world.

For the first time in her life, she had felt this way, but behind the slight thread of fear and dread, she also felt a sense of extreme anticipation and excitement.

As she left Laboratory No.9, Fang Pingfang ran into Zhang Yaozu, who was on patrol.

The latter was surprised to see Fang Pingfang looking pale with sweat on her forehead. “Dr. Fang, is there something wrong?”

His heart started to pound: Something has indeed happened! Was it from inside Laboratory No.9?!

Fang Pingfang instructed: “Seal off D2… No, include D1 as well. No one should enter until tomorrow morning. Stay on duty at the security office on the first floor. Wait for Mr. Liang’s instructions on what to do next.”

Zhang Yaozu was stunned and wanted to ask more, but the lights in the hallway suddenly dimmed.

Fang Pingfang quickly moved past him, giving him a push and urging him, “Go quickly!”

Zhang Yaozu didn’t dare to say a word or ask any more questions. He just used his walkie-talkie to inform Xiao Gao in the security office, all while frequently glancing back at the closed door of Laboratory No.9, wondering what had happened inside.

Tongshi Town, within a room in a certain three-star hotel.

Xiang Kun opened his eyes, pulling himself out of the “Super Sensory State”. Taking a deep breath, he relieved the fatigue in his brain.

He had repeatedly entered the “Super Sensory State”, appearing around the “rabbit wood carving”. Using the bone that established the “Super Sensory Contact”, he had attempted to influence the surrounding environment.

Once he confirmed there was a person nearby, presumably one of the individuals who had brought the “rabbit wood carving” out from the Qinling Uninhabited Area, he began to cause various disturbances, trying to get their attention.

The purpose of his mischief was to create emotional chaos in that person, leading them to instinctively suspect that something was wrong with the “rabbit wood carving” and focus all of their attention on it.

When that person reached the vicinity of the “rabbit wood carving”, Xiang Kun tried to utilize the functionality “developed” by Xiao Pingguo. He “called on” the emotional embodiment of the rabbit wood carving and projected it onto the person, directly affecting their emotions.

Xiang Kun wasn’t sure what effects this would have. After all, in the “Super Sensory State”, many perceptions needed him to self-“Decode”, and the information he could currently “Decode” was simply too little. Neither images nor sound could be obtained.

But there was at least one thing he was certain of – the person who had appeared around the “rabbit wood carving” was becoming nervous and scared.

Naturally, his objective was not to prank people by scaring them, but rather to draw out the potential vampire lurking behind Divine Technology, hoping that they would personally go to the “rabbit wood carving”.