Shrouded Seascape

"Cough! Cough! Cough!" Anna coughed violently. Her face was a deathlike pallor, and her lips were twitching as she coughed.

She was curled up in the corner of her cell and was trembling violently. Her vision was blurry, and her only movable hand clutched the clothes on her chest.

Heart palpitations, chest tightness, headache, hunger, insomnia, and coldness—these torments were piling up, torturing Anna both physically and mentally.

Anna instantly saw through what was going on. They had laced her food with drugs and were trying to destroy her will through that.

This was not unexpected at all. Anna knew that they'd inevitably use the "stick" once they had fed her all the "carrots."

"315, stop resisting and submit to us. Tell us everything you know, and you will no longer be tormented. Otherwise, this is just the beginning of your torment." A cold voice echoed from the wall.

Anna used all her strength to lift her head and sneer at the wall before lying down once again. Just then, her breathing became laborious and rapid; her pale face turned red as well.

It seemed that the IMF had lowered the oxygen level in her room.

A few minutes later, Anna fainted from the lack of oxygen. The oxygen level was then returned to normal, and Anna woke up shortly. However, the oxygen level was lowered as soon as she woke up.

The torment was repeated several times, and Anna was so exhausted by the ordeal that she didn't have the strength to move even an inch. She sprawled out on the ground, gasping for air.

Just then, voices echoed from the wall once again. "Anomaly 315, I repeat—stop resisting, and you will no longer be tormented. Otherwise, this is just the beginning of your torment."

"Hehe… Hiehiehie!" Anna sprawled out on the floor cackled with all her might. Her mouth fluttered open as if she wanted to say something, but she said nothing in the end.

Upon seeing that Anna had no plans of laying down her banner of resistance, the IMF proceeded with a new round of torment. The IMF was a meticulous organization, so their methods of torture were meticulous as well. They tortured and tormented Anna in the most scientific way, allowing her to receive the greatest pain while ensuring that she would not suffer any permanent damage.

Time ticked by slowly amidst the unceasing around-the-clock torture. At this point, Anna was barely given any food, so she was now suffering from the effects of severe malnutrition in addition to the torture.

Once her body had consumed any little fat on her figure, her body began consuming her muscles for energy.

Anna's gorgeous and alluring figure became emaciated and withered. Her smooth hair became dry and white. Despite that, Anna remained steadfast, with no signs of yielding whatsoever.

Bang!

Carlo, with a new scar on his nose, slammed his pen into the table and remarked, "Her willpower is extremely strong! How come her lips are still tightly sealed despite all this?"

Carlo was sitting in the monitoring room, which was a spacious room full of surveillance equipment. There were IMF staffers clad in their uniforms inside the room, and they were busy inside with their own tasks.

Ms. Stewart was standing next to the large screen with a cup of coffee in hand. She stirred the sugar cube in her coffee and cast a smug look at Carlo before saying, "What did I say? I told you that you need to be careful about using the 'stick.'

"It's supposed to be our last resort. Now that you've resorted to the 'stick,' we'll have to obtain what we need, as it's already too late for regrets. ŖἈＮỒ฿Êś

"And let me make things clear—you two are the ones who applied for the authorization to interrogate her, and you two are also the ones who brought 451 here.

"In other words, the higher-ups can't blame me for anything, as I have nothing to do with all these."

Carlo felt disgusted while staring at the ugly face of the woman before him. This woman was still thinking of how to push the blame even at this point instead of coming up with solutions.

The quiet Lucius stepped forward, but his eyes were fixed on Anna as he said, "It's been so long. We can't drag this out any. We're going to apply for the authorization to use 131."

It had been quite a while since Anna was contained, but they had yet to obtain any significant results. Lucius was starting to feel uneasy as well; he had a sense of foreboding that something would go wrong if they were to wait any further.

Carlo and Stewart were stunned to hear Lucius' proposal.

Stewart was about to take a sip of her coffee, but she put it down upon hearing Lucius' words.

"Have you not seen what happened to 451? And you still want her to interact with other Anomalies? I don't agree with that suggestion, and don't forget that this is my territory. I'm responsible for 315, and you two are just outsiders!"

"We are under the direct jurisdiction of the Anomaly Department, so you have no right to veto our suggestion. Please leave now, Director Stewart! If you are dissatisfied, you can go ahead and write a complaint about us," Carlo said harshly.

Stewart's face became ashen, and she slammed her cup of coffee on the table, spilling some of it before saying. "Great! I will make sure that Dr. Mark will hear every single word that you said to me!"

Stewart turned on her heel and stomped away. When the sound of Stewart's heels disappeared completely, Carlo turned to his colleague. He looked a bit worried as he said, "Do we really have to go that far?"

Lucius did not speak. He walked to the computer beside him and typed away.

Lines of text appeared on the application that he had just opened.

<[user is found] User Unknown, Welcome.>

<Welcome to C-75 terminal V2.13. Locating Security Clearance holder's coordinates...>

<Located. Found Level 4 Security Clearance.>

<Please confirm your Security Clearance once again. This is the final warning.>

<Security Clearance confirmed =%"*]"[@#- Correct>

<Application to use 131 has been accepted. Pending verification from the Anomaly Department...>

Looking at the lines on the screen, Carlo's expression was gloomy as he said, "What if 131 also goes out of control like 451?"

Lucius exhaled slowly and replied, "Then, we'll have no choice but to make Midnight intervene."

"Is that really necessary? I mean, is she really worth Midnight's intervention? We only have two uses left when it comes to Midnight. I really think that we should just keep her contained and find a way to make her speak later. You ought to know when to give up temporarily; don't be stubborn."

"No, I'm not being stubborn here," Lucius said, shaking his head. "315 is not just an ordinary Anomaly. She's far more valuable than you imagine. Those sacrificial rituals aren't just conversion rituals to make more followers.

"The Mysticism Department has already deciphered part of her sacrificial rituals, and apparently, they're extremely valuable as research materials."

"Oh? What did they decipher from it?"

"They didn't tell me; my security clearance is too low."

Even though there were no answers, Carlo knew that those sacrificial rituals were extremely valuable. Otherwise, the higher-ups wouldn't have prevented access to them, who had Level 4 Security Clearance.

The conversation ended, and the monitoring room fell silent. They turned to the large screen and observed Anna with the other staffers in the room.

Just then, the screen darkened, and the lights on the ceiling turned red once again. Containment breaches were nothing new to everyone present, and they quietly waited for it to end.

When the lights on the ceiling turned white again, they immediately resumed their work.

However, Carlo felt a shiver down his spine as soon as the large screen in the monitoring room came back to life.

"Where's 315? Where did she go?!" Carlo exclaimed.

Anna was supposed to be in her cell, but her cell had become completely empty.

"How did she escape when she's paralyzed?! Quick! Track down her collar!"

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