Chapter 49: She’s a Tsundere Too?

A long, slender neck.

“I…”

Mang Yi had just uttered a single word before her body trembled again.

VDA 66

Nielai’esi slowly exhaled a breath.

“Yvette, it’s not that I don’t want to cooperate with you. You should understand that switching permissions in the High-Risk Humanoid Zone isn’t as simple as signing a document.”

“Every single door here, every circuit, even every observation record, is tied to the current project team.”

“And Mang Yi’s condition…”

Yvette cut him off.

“Her condition is fine right now.”

Nielai’esi’s gaze darkened.

“You only looked at her once.”

“Once was enough.”

This time, the woman behind the containment wall seemed to finally show a flicker of interest.

She had originally been turning her face away, as if she couldn’t be bothered to listen to what these people outside were saying.

But after Yvette’s “once was enough” landed, the tips of her wings twitched very lightly.

It was a tiny movement.

So small that Zhou Zhou didn’t notice it at all.

But Yvette saw it.

She was annoyed.

She didn’t like her belongings being under someone else’s watch.

It was a very unpleasant feeling.

So the simplest solution was to put the source right under her own nose.

Nielai’esi clearly wasn’t going to give in easily.

“I suggest you first get a handle on your own work before thinking about meddling in other people’s projects. You just arrived at the base, you don’t understand how the Abyss operates yet.”

Yvette finally turned her head to look at him.

Her gray eyes were cold and indifferent, as if lacking emotion, yet as if not lacking anything at all.

“That’s not the case anymore.”

Nielai’esi let out a small laugh.

“You’re very confident.”

“Not bad.”

“Have you considered that Mang Yi might not be willing to change supervisors?”

When he said this, Zhou Zhou quietly drew in a breath.

That was a harsh question.

If Mang Yi herself didn’t cooperate, things would get much more complicated.

But just as he thought Yvette would fall silent, the person who had been silent behind the containment wall suddenly spoke.

“I don’t mind either way.”

Her voice was light, but carried a peculiar chill.

Zhou Zhou got goosebumps on the spot.

Mang Yi usually couldn’t be bothered to talk to people.

Getting half a sentence out of her after ten questions was considered a good day.

And now she was voluntarily speaking up?

Nielai’esi also turned his face to look at the woman behind the containment wall.

She was still standing there, wearing her blindfold, her expression cold and indifferent as if she hadn’t just spoken at all.

Only her several pairs of black wings had loosened slightly, no longer closed as tightly as before.

Yvette looked at her and suddenly felt a little better.

Good.

At least it wasn’t unilaterally snatching someone away.

The other party hadn’t refused.

Nielai’esi was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled and shook his head.

“Then there’s nothing more to discuss.”

Yvette looked back at Nielai’esi.

“You heard that now?”

“You two are quite in sync.”

Zhou Zhou silently added a thought in his mind.

This isn’t ‘in sync.’

It’s more like they’ve taken a liking to each other.

Of course, he didn’t dare say it out loud.

If he did, he’d probably end up in a containment pod.

Nielai’esi raised a hand and pressed his brow, finally giving up on continuing this meaningless round of argument.

“Fine.”

He stepped aside.

“Since you’re so insistent, what harm is there in letting you have this sector?”

Zhou Zhou’s pupils nearly popped out in shock.

Really giving it up?

Just like that?

But Nielai’esi seemed to have already fully adjusted his mood.

He even had the leisure to fill in the details for her.

“The office, the project team, the observation room, the auxiliary research room, along with the main containment zone where Mang Yi is located—all of it can be transferred to your name.”

“I’ll move to your side.”

“How about that, Supervisor Yvette?”

Yvette nodded.

“Fine.”

She agreed promptly, without a hint of courtesy.

Nielai’esi looked at her and suddenly felt like laughing.

He had heard before that this Miss Hertz operated without any buffer.

Now it seemed the rumors were still understated.

It wasn’t just no buffer.

She didn’t even intend to give anyone a graceful way out.

Nielai’esi’s tone returned to normal, even becoming quite considerate.

“Then I’ll have someone clean things up.”

“Transferring files, equipment, and permissions will take some time. Would you like to sit somewhere else for a bit? In about half an hour…”

“No need.”

Yvette cut him off again.

“You just leave.”

“Just leave the rest here.”

“I’ll look it over myself.”

Nielai’esi raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t need someone to help you organize it?”

“No.”

“What about the auxiliary researcher?”

Yvette scanned Zhou Zhou, who was practically trying to merge into the wall next to her.

“This one stays. I’ll pick the rest myself later.”

Zhou Zhou: “Huh?”

He looked up, first at Yvette, then at Nielai’esi, his expression like someone who had just been dragged back from a small funeral to continue working overtime.

Seriously, lady? You’re just picking on me?

Yvette looked at him.

“You know your way around here pretty well, right?”

Zhou Zhou nodded with difficulty.

“A little bit.”

“Then that’s settled.”

She turned and walked inside.

“Starting now, you’re showing me every single door in this sector.”

Zhou Zhou: “…Yes, Supervisor.”

Nielai’esi stood there, watching the short, black-haired girl boldly take over his sector.

He didn’t bother to stop her this time.

But his gaze flickered for a moment between Yvette and Mang Yi behind the containment wall.

Interesting.

He had originally thought the person being transferred here this time was just a troublesome lunatic.

But now it seemed maybe not.

Or rather, not just that.

“Well then, I won’t disturb you any longer.”

Nielai’esi smiled and took a step back.

“I wish you a smooth takeover.”

Yvette didn’t turn around, just raised a hand as if to say she heard him.

Zhou Zhou had already resigned himself to his fate and followed her.

After taking a few steps, he couldn’t help but sneak a glance back.

Sure enough, Nielai’esi was already gone.

The main corridor of the High-Risk Zone suddenly fell quiet, leaving only the cold white lights and the faint hum of electricity from the armored doors.

Yvette stopped in front of the containment wall, finally getting a close-up look at the contained individual inside.

The other person seemed to sense her stopping as well.

Mang Yi didn’t turn her head, just spoke flatly.

“Had your fill of looking?”

Yvette stared at her profile, her tone equally flat.

“Not yet.”

Zhou Zhou, standing nearby, slowly lowered his head.

Great.

He had a feeling this sector might really be in for something big starting today.

Yvette withdrew her gaze and turned to Zhou Zhou.

“Pull up her containment files and observation rules.”

Zhou Zhou fumbled with his pass tablet for a moment.

“O-Okay.”

A translucent data screen projected into the air.

[Code Name: Mang Yi]

[Containment Level: S (Provisional)]

[Individual Description: Female humanoid high-risk individual. Possesses mental contamination properties. Wings can be used as a physical attack method.]

[Observation records indicate the individual actively seeks food when in a hunger state. Feeding targets are mostly living organisms.]

[Current D-Level Personnel consumed: 97.]

[Special Containment Protocol: No close contact unless necessary. Opening the containment wall is prohibited. Any form of physical or mental stimulation is forbidden.]

Zhou Zhou’s legs were trembling as he read the line “consumed 97.”

Consumed.

What a civilized word for it.

In Deep Well Base, that word meant being used as feed.

Yvette glanced at it without even a frown, as if she weren’t reading a file on a high-risk containment object, but a cafeteria menu.

She reached out a finger and tapped the screen.

Zhou Zhou: “?”

“Open the door.”

He thought he might be hallucinating from excessive stress.

He asked carefully again:

“S-Supervisor, what did you just say?”

“I told you to open the door.”

Yvette turned her head slightly and spoke flatly.

“I’m going inside.”

All the color drained from Zhou Zhou’s face instantly.

Inside?

Inside where?

Inside the belly of an S-class containment object?

As soon as Zhou Zhou processed what she said, he felt like he was about to drop dead on the spot.

“S-Supervisor, this can’t be right, can it?”

“What sane person walks into a high-risk containment pod? What’s the difference between that and sticking your head into a meat grinder?”

“Supervisor, this breaks all the rules, and… and she’s already eaten dozens of assets!”

“She’s definitely hungry right now! Going in there is way too dangerous!”

Yvette looked at Zhou Zhou’s troubled expression and sighed.

“Zhou Zhou, I just arrived at the base today, and my office isn’t even set up yet.”

“Huh?”

Zhou Zhou didn’t understand why she was suddenly talking about this.

“Do you think your skull, polished up a bit, would look nice on my desk? I’m a little short on decorations.”

Zhou Zhou: “…”

I’ve done many evil deeds in my life.

Following this supervisor now, I guess all my sins are absolved.

With tears in his eyes, Zhou Zhou tremblingly inserted his own permission card and Yvette’s black card, which represented the highest authority, one after the other into the control console next to the containment wall.

[Identity confirmed, D-Level Researcher, Zhou Zhou.]

[Highest authority confirmed, Supervisor Yvette.]

[Initiating Emergency Physical Intervention Mode. Please confirm again.]

The mechanical electronic voice sounded.

Zhou Zhou closed his eyes, steeled his heart, and pressed the red confirmation button.

With a heavy sound of depressurization, the thick containment wall, robust enough to withstand artillery shells, slowly, inch by inch, slid open to the side.

Yvette stepped forward and walked inside.

Zhou Zhou watched her back, feeling like he was seeing off a martyr about to heroically meet her end.

Even though this martyr looked more like a villainess about to go feed the boss.

The cold air rushed out.

The door closed behind her.

Mang Yi still stood in her spot, motionless, not turning around, as if she had no interest whatsoever in the door opening behind her or the person walking in.

Yvette stopped a few steps behind her.

She looked up.

Then she kept looking up.

Still looking up…

So tall.

Yvette maintained her upward gaze with a blank expression, a faint ache creeping up the back of her neck.

What was with this body?

She estimated she was, at most, about four feet tall now, while the containment object in front of her, just from the back, looked to be nearly six and a half feet.

The height difference was ridiculous.

“System.”

She called out in her mind.

“Couldn’t this crappy body have been loaded into a time period after it finished growing?”

[Host. Actually, this body has already reached adulthood…]

Yvette: “…”

Even more ridiculous.

Just as she was having this meaningless conversation with the system, Mang Yi, who had been facing away from her the whole time, finally reacted.

Blindfolded by the black cloth, her perception was not hindered.

As a high-risk containment object, she had an instinctive craving for the presence of living humans.

The feeding cycle these people set for her was very long, and between each “meal,” she existed in a state of restless hunger.

Any creature that came near her was considered potential prey.

Logically, now that a little thing radiating body heat had entered her territory, she should immediately tear open its throat and drink the sweet blood.

But…

Mang Yi tilted her head slightly.

She wasn’t hungry right now.

A faint wisp of fragrance drifting over from the small thing seeped into her lungs with her breath.

The usual bloodthirsty restlessness suddenly changed.

Her blood flow quickened, but not for killing.

An inexplicable heat rose from her lower abdomen, and the four pairs of black wings behind her trembled uneasily, a strange tingling numbness spreading from the tips of the feathers.

This feeling was so strange.

She uncomfortably pressed her legs together.

Yvette stared at her for a while, finding it too tiring to keep craning her neck.

“You.”

She pointed at Mang Yi, her tone matter-of-fact.

“Crouch down.”

Outside the door, Zhou Zhou’s eyes went wide, and he nearly choked on his own breath.

Telling an S-class monster to crouch down?

Did she think she was training a dog?

Mang Yi’s brow furrowed.

Crouch down?

How dare she command me?

A surge of anger at being offended rose from the bottom of her heart.

She instinctively wanted to teach this little upstart who didn’t know her place a lesson.

This reckless little shrimp, daring to command me?

She lifted her chin high, deciding to stay aloof and ignore this rude request.

But before she could even fully form that thought, her body had already disobeyed her command.

Before Mang Yi could even register what was happening, her knees had already bent.

Her legs folded against her will, and her tall frame obediently lowered itself.

Thump.

Until her face was exactly level with Yvette’s.

Mang Yi: “?”

She was completely frozen.

What am I doing?

Why did I crouch down?

Inside the spacious containment room, the two figures, one tall and one short, formed a bizarre standoff.

Mang Yi was crouching on the ground, but out of her last shred of stubbornness, she kept her beautifully defined chin lifted high, her face turned to the side, stubbornly refusing to look directly at Yvette.

The posture was incredibly awkward.

Yvette looked at her tightly pressed red lips and the slightly trembling wings.

Yvette: “…”

Oh.

So you’re a tsundere in this life too?

She took a step forward.

The distance between them instantly shrank to where they could feel each other’s breath.

Mang Yi smelled the even stronger fragrance, and the heat deep in her body intensified.

She could even feel the muscles on the inside of her thighs trembling slightly.

“Stay away from me.”

Mang Yi gritted her teeth and spoke.

Yvette ignored her, instead reaching out her small hand and directly pinching Mang Yi’s stubbornly raised chin.

“You think I’ll stay away just because you tell me to?”

She applied a little pressure, turning Mang Yi’s face to face her.

“Wouldn’t that make me look bad?”

Her fingertips touched the skin of Mang Yi’s jaw.

It was cool, smooth.

The moment she touched it, Mang Yi felt an electric current shoot from her chin straight down her spine.

“Ngh…”

A short, coquettish whimper escaped Mang Yi’s throat.

The wings behind her flared halfway open before flopping weakly back down.

Yvette’s fingers didn’t stop.

Her gaze glided over Mang Yi’s blindfolded face, down her long, slender neck, and came to rest on the few soft downy feathers beside her collarbone.

“Are your wings always trembling like this?”

As she spoke, she reached out her other hand and gently brushed a fingertip across those downy feathers.

Mang Yi’s body jolted violently.

“Don’t touch there!”

She tried to swat Yvette’s hand away, but her raised arm was too weak to muster any strength.

Instead, it looked like a coy refusal as she rested her hand on Yvette’s wrist.

Mang Yi’s breathing was completely thrown off.

Everywhere that little hand touched was burning hotter and hotter.

Why was this happening…

As long as this shorty got close, her body was completely out of control.

She bit her lower lip, trying to hide her ragged panting, but a flush of red had already spread across her pale cheeks.

Yvette looked at the hand resting on her own wrist.

“And this is your idea of resisting?”

Mang Yi didn’t answer.

She gasped for air, her lips tightly clenched, even a fine sheen of sweat beading on her forehead.

Yvette’s fingers slid down from those downy feathers, her thumb brushing across Mang Yi’s long neck.

“Speak.”