Zhou Zhuang watched as the environment grew darker and darker. Whatever unknown light source this place used was rendered completely useless as the platform advanced.
As the visible range steadily dimmed, Zhou Zhuang couldn't help but think to himself—
No wonder this is one of the company's "darkest" departments… This place is nothing like the others. The moment you arrive, you instantly know where you are.
When the darkness reached a certain level and stopped deepening, Zhou Zhuang knew they had arrived at the workspace of the last currently-awakened department head in the company—
Binah.
Noticing the platform beginning to slow, Zhou Zhuang rubbed his chin and tried to guess what Binah might be doing right now.
She's probably researching "the Well," right? That seems like her style.
The platform came to a stop.
Standing in the center, Zhou Zhuang wondered what interesting scene he might witness when inspecting the final department.
As the opaque wall before them slowly thinned and became translucent, the picture on the other side came into view:
Binah sat on a sofa in the middle of the R&D office, eyes closed, quietly savoring a cup of black tea in her hands.
Seeing her posture—so completely different from the other two department heads—Zhou Zhuang's mind surfaced with a single thought:
…So it's exactly what I expected… and yet also not at all what I expected.
Binah was simply resting.
Zhou Zhuang considered ending the inspection right there.
He was just about to tell Angela to turn back when Binah's voice drifted through the scene ahead.
"Manager—since you've come all this way, why not join me for a leisurely afternoon tea?"
Binah held her teacup delicately, slowly appreciating the aroma of what sounded like top-tier black tea.
Zhou Zhuang—who had been planning to sneak away quietly—felt his whole body fill with awkwardness now that the "peeping" had been noticed by the owner.
And honestly… he didn't really have a reason to refuse. This entire inspection trip had been a random idea he'd cooked up because he had nothing better to do.
So, unable to reject the invitation without feeling rude, Zhou Zhuang began looking around for an exit—
Only to find that Angela had already opened a door not far from the platform.
Not wanting to keep the two women waiting, Zhou Zhuang jogged toward Angela.
After passing through the doorway and entering Binah's space, Zhou Zhuang glanced back out of curiosity—wondering what kind of "door" he'd just stepped through.
Because the last time he'd been to R&D, he definitely hadn't seen anything this convenient.
But once he saw the door Angela was calmly closing behind them—
Zhou Zhuang froze.
It was the exact same door as the one he'd used to enter the department last time.
Oh my God… If I hadn't been here before, I would've sworn that was Doraemon's Anywhere Door.
Then again… maybe every door in this company had a bit of "Anywhere Door" nature baked into it?
Zhou Zhuang turned that thought over in his mind, comparing it to other examples he'd seen.
Once Angela returned to his side, the two of them walked together toward where Binah was seated.
Zhou Zhuang took one of the two empty seats in front of her.
On the table sat black tea, releasing a faint, refined fragrance.
He copied Angela's movements: lifting the cup, blowing gently, then taking a small sip.
He even closed his eyes and made a face like he was "truly tasting" the tea.
Mmm…
…He couldn't taste a damn thing.
Please forgive him—Zhou Zhuang's entire life, the only beverage he'd ever had that was called "black tea" was the cheap bottled iced black tea that cost three yuan.
He set the cup down, then immediately switched to something he could appreciate—
He started watching Binah and Angela's faces.
Sure, he couldn't pick out "layers" in the tea flavor, but as a certified pervert—
He could at least appreciate the expressions of two beautiful women.
His gaze bounced back and forth between them while his mind compared their respective charms.
But Zhou Zhuang, a man with the cultural literacy of a brick, could only conclude internally:
Wow, pretty! Wow, that part's great! Wow, both are great!
After savoring the tea's aroma, Binah and Angela slowly opened their half-closed eyes.
And, almost in sync, both noticed Zhou Zhuang's gaze.
Neither of them called him out.
They simply smiled—quietly, calmly—watching him openly appraise them.
The moment Zhou Zhuang saw those smiles, his confidence collapsed.
He hurriedly withdrew his gaze, lowered his head, and lifted the cup again to cover his embarrassment—
Only to forget the tea was hot.
He burned his mouth.
He flinched and hastily put the cup down—spilling a little on himself in the process.
Perfect excuse.
Zhou Zhuang stood up at once and wandered off to "look for tissues."
Of course, both women knew exactly why he'd left instead of using the handkerchief right in front of him.
They wordlessly returned their attention to their tea, continuing to enjoy it as if nothing had happened.
Zhou Zhuang moved quickly through the R&D office.
He didn't find any tissues, but honestly, wiping it with his sleeve would do.
He drifted over to Binah's desk, pulled out the chair behind it, and sat down.
So Binah likes this kind of wooden four-legged chair…
He shifted around in the seat.
Her desk was completely different from his own—clean and minimal, only a few items laid out for practical work.
On a whim, Zhou Zhuang tugged at a drawer.
Oh?
It wasn't locked.
He glanced over guiltily toward Binah's side of the room. They were still happily drinking tea.
Agh… this is wrong. You don't rummage through other people's things.
But his hands were far more honest than his conscience.
He opened the drawer, stared at the contents while lecturing himself internally… and still took something out.
A darker voice in his head whispered:
As long as you don't get caught… and you put everything back exactly as it was… then it's basically like nothing happened, right?
Zhou Zhuang looked at the document in his hand and nodded solemnly at that voice.
E.G.O Development Records
That was the title on the cover.
So it's probably the E.G.O gear they produced during today's work…
He flipped it open.
Sure enough, it was the E.G.O developed that morning.
But the descriptions were even more barebones than what he was used to from the game.
His interest immediately died.
He returned the documents to their original place, stood up, and walked toward a wall draped with curtains.
He gently pulled a gap in the curtain to peek behind it.
Is it just a wall… or is there a window back here?
…A window.
After confirming, Zhou Zhuang used both hands to pull the curtain fully open and looked out through the large window.
And then—
His soul nearly left his body.
"My… God…"
The scene outside shocked him to the core.
In that dim, endless darkness, the space beyond was filled with tombstones as far as the eye could see—covering the entire R&D work unit.
No, it was more like: everything in R&D except the containment area looked as if it were constructed from tombstones.
In the entire environment, the only illumination came from the lettering on those grave markers—glowing faintly in the black.
There was no other light source at all.
And the darkness outside wasn't even the "normal" kind of darkness he understood.
It felt—
Liquid.
Flowing.
Thick.
Viscous.
That was the first impression he could put into words.
(⊙﹏⊙)
Zhou Zhuang felt his chest tighten. The atmosphere alone was making him feel suppressed—almost nauseous.
He quickly backed away from the window and pulled himself out from behind the curtains, then headed back toward Binah.
....
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