Chapter 77: Misunderstanding
"Yes, yes, that's it. Don't be afraid. I can guarantee it won't hurt you. Come on, come on, I'll help you go through it!"
At the garden of Site-17, Zhang Jue's voice kept ringing out. The voice was so incendiary and compelling that people thought he was teasing women to fall in love with him. Clement watched as Zhang Jue took off Cain's shoes, set them aside, and kept guiding him down the steps.
Clément's face looked a little odd because he noticed that from the moment he arrived in the garden, Zhang Jue had been holding Cain's hand and had never parted it for a moment. It could no longer be described as coincidence or forgetfulness.
This Advisor… Could it be that Advisor Zhang was...
Thinking of a certain possibility, Clement couldn't help but shiver. For a particular hobby, he doesn't back down on a request. But the thought that he would be helped by Advisor Zhang later, his heart trembled a bit.
If Advisor Zhang invited him to discuss something in the evening, would he accept it or not? Does he want to sacrifice himself for the sake of the SCP Foundation and all humanity?
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He ignored the odd look on Clement's face. Zhang Jue, bit by bit, encouraged Cain to take the first step. A few minutes later, Cain finally took off the Foundation's shoes specially made for him and stepped on the ground with his bare feet. The soil soaked among his toes, fine and tickling, a feeling Cain hadn't experienced in many years.
"Nice!" Zhang Jue snapped his fingers, maintained his "disabled" ability, and continued to pull Cain forward.
"Come on, go pick that flower. Not this one, that one, that one is so pretty..." Zhang Jue commanded Cain, plucking a small red flower.
Looking at the flower in his hand, Cain's eyes reddened slightly. How many years, or rather, how many centuries had passed. He walked around the world with a curse on his back, and to those plants, he was a nightmare. Let alone picking a flower, even walking up close to it will make them wither and die.
He lifted his head and looked across the garden. Zhang Jue gave him a faint smile.
"I see that your hair is pretty long. Come, come. Let me help you bring the flowers to your head." Saying that Zhang Jue took a flower from his hand and stuck it in his ear.
Seeing that Cain was still not free from that emotion, Zhang Jue laughed, "Man, it's not like you at all when crying. When you're old and did something wrong, you have to stand up and be responsible about it."
Seeing that the two of them are having fun like no one else to this point, Clement had a bad feeling and wanted to slip away. But he was stopped by Zhang Jue.
"Hey you, Clement. If you don't mind, take a picture for us!"
Clement cried out, "Alright then." Clement pulled out a camera and took a picture of them.
In the photo, Zhang Jue finally lets go of Cain's hand. He put his arm around Cain's shoulder and laughed arrogantly. The two of them looked like best buddies in a university dormitory. Seemingly influenced by him, Cain also smiled for the first time in his life.
After the photo was captured, Cain specially asked for a copy that he had kept on his desk for a long time.
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Zhang Jue's arrival had livened up Site-17. Just like at Site-14, the information in Zhang Jue's head drove the researchers crazy. Usually, Zhang Jue would just come out of the lab and immediately be grabbed by that lab again, which was even tiring than he was at Site-14.
His original plan to pass through the humanoid SCP in Site-17 had to be delayed back again and again. To Zhang Jue's surprise, Cain would sometimes come to talk to him. It seemed that after what happened that day, Cain treated him as a friend. It was not easy for a person who had lived for millions of years to treat someone as a friend in his heart.
Cain was a witness of history and had a perfect memory, so Zhang Jue pulled him in and asked him to tell him how much the recorded history of this world that was altered from the real one, and the two often talked until late at night.
This situation fell into the eyes of Clement. It became the ironclad proof that Zhang Jue was something.
The person he admired was actually a...
Clement took a long time to convince himself not to bother with his thought. Because of that, he often sighed. Some bold employees asked him what happened and told his close colleague secretly.
Originally, Clement made a few cryptic messages in private with a few researchers who knew each other well, but this kind of thing was like a prairie fire that spread throughout the site at once.
For a moment, everyone looked at Zhang Jue in a different way. Most of the women were secretly stomping their feet, and some of the male employees no longer dared to ask Zhang Jue questions after hearing about this incident. The few remaining male researchers seemed even more excited.
Every day in the middle of the night, someone would pass by Zhang Jue's door to borrow his toilet, even dropping off a bar or two of soap. Once or twice it was nothing, but as it became more frequent, Zhang Jue certainly sensed something unusual.
He asked the others, but they all smiled a "you know what I mean" smile without exception. As if he was a completely different person. One night, after being harassed once again, Zhang Jue finally exploded and pulled Hael into his room.
He and Hael had traveled together all the way to Site-17, and apart from Deputy Site Director Harvey, who had not yet returned, Hael was the closest to him.
Seeing Zhang Jue's fierce face, Hael prayed, "Advisor Zhang, please let me go. I'm already married and have two children."
"What the hell is going on?!" Zhang Jue was a bit furious, "Why are you all looking at me as if I'm gay!" Hael looked away and didn't say anything.
Zhang Jue looked at his eyes and froze for a while before finally realizing what the problem was.
"Holy shit! You guys really think I'm gay?!" Zhang Jue's face was full of incredulity. No wonder the girls are afraid of him.
He grabbed Hael by the collar, "Say, who the hell is ruining my reputation? I'll break him into pieces!"
Hael wanted to cry, "Advisor Zhang, it's not about who is the person tarnishing your reputation. Now the whole site knows about it. There's no need to pretend about it."
"What am I pretending to be?!" Zhang Jue was simply going crazy as he was lifting Hael's collar. If he didn't still have a trace of sanity, he would punch this man to finish him off. Just then, the door of the room was pushed open, and the person who came was none other than the provocateur, Clement.
The scene was very coincidental. The air suddenly fell silent, and it felt awkward. Seeing Zhang Jue and Hael stick so close together, Clemente suddenly got a goosebump.
"I am so sorry, but you guys can continue." He turned around and was about to leave.
"Get the fuck back here!" Zhang Jue called out.
Clement waved his hands in a hurry, "No, no, no, Advisor Zhang. I'm straight, you know, and I'm not interested in you guys-"
"The fuck you mean by join?!" Zhang Jue covered his head, no longer knowing how to explain. He simply broke the situation and changed the subject directly, "What do you want from me?"
Clement looked Zhang Jue up and down, and when he saw that Zhang Jue was about to get angry. He hurriedly said, "The experiment approval from the headquarters has arrived. We're allowed to do the experiment. Cain has been notified and currently standing by outside of this room." He gave a meaningful glance at the disheveled Hael and said, "When you're done, we can start-"
Zhang Jue kicked him in the ass, "I'm busy! Just get the hell out of here! Right now!"