punish?
Ruan Qing'an narrowed his eyes slightly, tightened his grip on the hilt of his knife, and silently observed the two men with his leaden-gray eyes.
But neither Lu Ting nor Xu Wenshan paid any attention to her. Although they were discussing punishing Ruan Qing'an, they didn't even look at the person in question and instead judged her mistakes and errors on their own.
That's just...too arrogant.
Before Ruan Qing'an could speak, Zhou Ziqi burst out laughing, as if he had discovered something amusing: "You guys continue."
"Mr. Zhou, this is for your safety."
Lu Ting, who was in charge of managing the superhumans, was obviously more irritable and spoke rather bluntly. Xu Wenshan glanced at him before turning to say, "Mr. Zhou, please don't mind."
"That's right. Jia Lan has already told us the details of the last mission. If you don't come back this time, the chances of survival are slim. And if something happens to you, the Third Human Base will be in trouble."
Xu Wenshan paused, then said, "Therefore, Ruan Qing'an, who caused your disappearance and even your near death, needs to be punished."
Lu Ting also spoke up to persuade him.
"Mr. Zhou, nothing can be accomplished without rules."
"Ah, that makes sense."
Zhou Ziqi smiled and turned to look at Ruan Qing'an: "Little Ruan, what do you have to say? Do you want to explain yourself?"
"..."
His bodyguard glanced at him but didn't want to say anything.
Zhou Ziqi could only see that her grip on the knife handle tightened; simply put, it meant that one's desire to kill cannot be hidden.
Seeing this, Zhou Ziqi's smile deepened at the corners of his narrow eyes.
He then looked at Xu Wenshan and Lu Ting, his fingertips tapping the table: "Hmm... why did you stop talking?"
"Mr. Zhou, we—"
Xu Wenshan frowned, as if he wanted to say something more.
Just then, there was a knock on the conference room door. Before they could speak, the person outside pushed the door open, and a cheerful and confident female voice rang out—
"Old Xu, Brother Lu, what are you two discussing now!"
"I just got back from a mission, I'm exhausted."
A woman dressed in a short-sleeved t-shirt and shorts walked in, looking like a tomboy, but in this post-apocalyptic world, she stood out from the crowd with a sunny and cheerful smile on her face.
When Jia Lan walked in, the entire conference room was completely silent, and her pupils shrank when she saw Zhou Ziqi and Ruan Qing'an.
Holy crap, those two aren't dead?!
Although she was shocked, Jia Lan reacted quickly and said immediately, "Researcher Zhou, Ruan Qing'an, it's so good that you're alright. I hadn't heard from you for a while and thought something had happened to you."
"It's Jia Lan..."
Zhou Ziqi drawled out his words, looking meaningfully at Xu Wenshan and Lu Ting: "I remember, no one but us is allowed to enter the conference room, right? It seems... you broke the rule even earlier than me."
He brought Nguyen Thanh An with him.
These two people will probably make Jia Lan settle down here, especially since Jia Lan is so familiar with the place that it's as if she is the owner.
Xu Wenshan explained, "Mr. Zhou is overthinking it. We set this rule because we couldn't trust others, but Jia Lan is one of us, so there's no need to be so wary of her."
"Are they one of us?"
Zhou Ziqi then glanced at her lightly.
While the two were talking, Lu Ting also got up and beckoned Jia Lan over to sit beside him, his intention to protect her was obvious.
Xu Wenshan ignored Zhou Ziqi's strange tone and continued, "Let's not talk about that for now, Mr. Zhou. Jia Lan is one of us. Let's discuss Ruan Qing'an's dereliction of duty first."
"The original mission report was also written by Jia Lan. Mr. Zhou, you are not good at combat and may not be clear about the situation at the time. Let Jia Lan explain it to you. This will also let you know that Ruan Qing'an's actions of taking you away from the team must be severely punished."
“Any action team must ensure your safe return.”
As Xu Wenshan spoke, he gestured for Jia Lan to step forward and explain, while Zhou Ziqi did not object and watched them with a leisurely air.
Jia Lan took a deep breath and looked at Ruan Qing'an: "Let me report the mission situation again. On the way back to the Third Human Base after completing the mission, the action team encountered a wave of zombies. After initially dodging the attack, the zombies broke into the carriage."
"The container truck was damaged. Ruan Qing'an was the closest to the attacked area. She resisted the first wave of attacks, but for the safety of everyone in the truck and Researcher Zhou, I had no choice but to order the ability users to attack the breach."
"This led to Ruan Qing'an falling into the carriage. Thanks to her sacrifice, we quickly broke through the encirclement and tried to escape, but Ruan Qing'an reappeared, attacked the carriage, and took Researcher Zhou away."
Jia Lan paused, then said, "I admit that I had no choice but to sacrifice you, Ruan Qing'an, because of the situation. It's understandable that you want revenge on me, but why did you have to harm Researcher Zhou?"
Hearing this, the situation became quite clear.
When Ruan Qing'an saw Xu Wenshan and Lu Ting, there was a hint of disgust in their eyes, which they hid very well.
037: [This woman is so shameless!]
"If I remember correctly, the reason the carriage was damaged was because there were already cracks that had been cut open."
Ruan Qing'an sneered inwardly, but did not say it outright. She suspected that the two men were targeting her to avenge Jia Lan, and that Jia Lan was afraid of her secret being exposed, so she slandered her.
She simply observed coldly; the entire conference room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Just then, Zhou Ziqi suddenly started clapping.
Xu Wenshan frowned: "Mr. Zhou, about this matter—"
"That's well said."
Zhou Ziqi propped his chin on one hand, his upturned phoenix eyes scrutinizing them: "I think you're right, so how about we punish Xiao Ruan a little?"
"Xiao Ruan, give me back the crystal core I just gave you as punishment."
"oh."
Ruan Qingan spoke in a muffled tone and handed it to him.
Zhou Ziqi looked at the crystal core that had landed in his palm, chuckled, and with a flick of his fingers, it magically split into two. He patted the little bodyguard's head: "Little Ruan was good, this is your reward."
"Thank you, boss."
The bodyguard had a blank expression, but he was visibly happy.
Zhou Ziqi then looked at them and said, "Alright, I've given you the punishment you wanted. I've deducted a large amount of her salary."
The three, dumbfounded: So you think we're idiots?!
Lu Ting's expression darkened slightly, ignoring Xu Wenshan's advice: "Mr. Zhou, don't you think this is too frivolous! Your importance to the entire base's research is something a bodyguard can't compare to!"
"Let her go this time, but if anything happens to you again—"
"Child's play?"
Zhou Ziqi's smile deepened, and he suddenly interrupted him.
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