Chapter 176: The Miserable Girl Who Got Bullied

During the Rapture attack, Mo Chen had saved Poli.

She had always wanted to thank him in person, but after the incident, she never got the chance to see him again.

She had even considered looking up his information through her department, but unexpectedly running into him here was beyond exciting.

"Are you on duty here?"

"Yeah, that's right. Oh, is this your friend?" Poli's gaze shifted to Sugar.

"Yeah."

Poli studied Sugar, then glanced back at Mo Chen.

Seeing her hesitating as if she wanted to say something but was holding back, Mo Chen asked curiously, "What's wrong? Something on your mind?"

"Ah, no, no," Poli hesitated for a moment before finally gathering the courage to ask, "Is this person your girlfriend, Commander?"

"Yeah."

Before Mo Chen could say anything, Sugar had already answered.

Mo Chen turned to look at Sugar in surprise, only to see her maintaining a calm and indifferent expression, as if she hadn't just said anything outrageous.

"Ahem." Mo Chen cleared his throat twice. "Don't listen to her. She's not my girlfriend."

Sugar clicked her tongue, looking like her little scheme had been exposed.

Poli, who had looked a bit down just a moment ago, suddenly brightened up.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"I see," Poli let out a long sigh of relief, as if a huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders. Her mood improved instantly, and the gloom on her face vanished. "Then, you should get going."

Mo Chen was taken aback.

"Wait, weren't you going to issue a ticket?"

"No need, no need," Poli quickly waved her hands, a bit embarrassed as she explained, "I didn't realize it was you, Commander. It's fine. You must be in a hurry, so go ahead."

Mo Chen gave her a doubtful look.

"You're not abusing your authority, are you?"

"Of course not!" Poli's face flushed red, and she quickly hid the ticket behind her back. "Commander, you're Ark's great hero. Even if we make an exception, it's totally justified. Besides, if you have urgent matters to attend to…"

She stumbled over her words, and then a sudden idea struck her.

"Actually, while performing official duties, the Commander is granted immunity from minor infractions!"

"But I—"

Poli coughed heavily twice and exaggeratedly winked at Mo Chen.

Mo Chen immediately understood.

"Well then, thanks."

"It's nothing! Commander saved me before, and I still haven't properly thanked you!"

Poli scratched her head with a sheepish smile, then suddenly mustered her courage again.

"Umm, Commander… can you give me your contact info?" Her face turned red as she quickly added, "Ah, I don't mean anything weird! It's just, you know, in case of another Rapture attack, I'd like to be able to contact you right away…"

Her face was practically burning.

"Sure."

Mo Chen pulled out his phone.

"Really?!"

Poli's eyes lit up, and she quickly took out her phone to add Mo Chen as a contact.

Not long after he left, Miranda came rushing over.

"Poli, how could you just let a traffic violator go?!"

Miranda scolded angrily, "That's wrong! That's an abuse of authority!"

She had been on duty at another intersection and had hurried over after seeing Poli let them go.

Poli, still basking in the joy of getting the Commander's contact info, felt a little aggrieved at being questioned so harshly.

"But… that was the Commander!"

Miranda froze for a moment.

"…Oh. Never mind, then. Wait, you got the Commander's contact info?! Give it to me!"

"Nope."

At that moment, another motorcycle approached, also carrying a passenger. Miranda immediately stepped forward to stop it.

"Violation of traffic laws—unauthorized passenger, speeding! Get off the vehicle and accept your fine."

The rider panicked.

"Didn't that guy just have a passenger too?! Why is he fine, but I get fined?!"

Miranda righteously replied, "You are you, and he is he. How can it be the same?"

"That's favoritism! You're biased!"

"Defamation, obstruction of duty, and suspected resistance to arrest! You are now officially detained!"

"Wait, what?!"

—

The motorcycle was incredibly fast—so fast that Mo Chen wondered if it would just take off into the air. In less than half an hour, they arrived at the entrance of Missilis Industry.

"Thanks for the ride."

Mo Chen got off the bike and thanked Sugar. "I'll treat you to a meal next time."

"Got it," Sugar replied, still as cool as ever. Before leaving, she suddenly remembered something and reminded him, "Don't forget what I told you before."

"Huh? What did you say?"

Mo Chen was a bit confused.

Before he could ask, Sugar had already revved the engine and sped away, leaving only the bright red taillight flashing in the distance.

Compared to the other two major corporations, Missilis Industry resembled a massive industrial complex, filled with futuristic buildings. Autonomous vehicles, robots, and large-scale mechanical equipment were everywhere, a common sight in this high-tech facility.

The towering skyscrapers were too many to count.

At a glance, it looked like a vast weapons testing ground.

However, after the recent disaster caused by Storm Bringer, Missilis's industrial park had suffered significant damage. Many facilities and research buildings had been destroyed in the battle.

Traces of destruction remained—collapsed ruins, burning skyscrapers, and hovering fire-fighting drones buzzing through the air as they attempted to extinguish the remaining flames.

Inside a large laboratory…

Syuen was fuming. She stood with one foot on a chair, the other on the table, striking a fierce pose as she furiously pointed at the researchers, unleashing a barrage of scolding.

"What the hell is wrong with you all?! Useless scrap! You can't even handle something this simple—what can you even do?!"

"I've told you a million times—the lab is sacred! Even if you die, there is no room for errors!"

"Is your brain filled with water? There should be a limit to stupidity!"

"Is that thing on your shoulders just for decoration?! Did you grow a head just to look taller?!"

She was absolutely livid.

Ever since she had been humiliated by Mo Chen, she had also been sentenced by the Ark's AI, Enikk, to ten years in prison.

Due to her contributions to the Ark, she was granted a temporary reprieve.

Since then, Syuen had been buried in her research lab, focusing on virus studies.

Because the virus inside her was like a ticking time bomb—she had no idea when it would go off.

She had seen the Nikkes around Mo Chen—hollow and lifeless, like walking corpses, devoid of thought or soul, obeying orders without question.

Thinking about how she might end up like that one day, Syuen felt an icy chill run through her limbs, a deep-rooted fear creeping over her.

Fear slithered inside her like a venomous snake, gnawing at her heart, spreading relentlessly.

She had lost count of how many times she had woken up from nightmares, how many times she had cried alone in her room, wiping away silent tears.

She didn't want to die.

She was still young—how could she just accept death like this?

So, she poured Missilis's funds into the largest virus research lab in the Ark, sparing no expense to study the virus, hoping that one day she could escape the looming shadow of death.

But reality was merciless, and progress was excruciatingly slow.

The complexity of the virus exceeded her expectations.

Not only was it highly contagious, extremely dangerous, and devastatingly destructive, but it also exhibited strange, unpredictable mutations—almost as if it were… alive.

Even the Rapture virus wasn't this troublesome.