Chapter 97: You're a Good Person
Zhang Jue and his group took the plane, and after a flight of more than two hours, they finally returned to Italy. Along the way, Zhang Jue kept covering the left side of his face. Some staff members found it strange and asked him if he needed help, but he refused them all.
Not long after they landed, a huge sea storm swept in. Zhang Jue had seen many storms in his lifetime, but it was indeed the first time he had seen such a big storm. If Yang Xue hadn't come, he probably would have had to drag those passengers to take refuge in the Pocket Dimension, and there was no telling what would happen then. After the storm stopped, the Foundation's staff began to perform memory deletion on all the passengers and crew.
Zhang Jue wanted to rest, but he was dragged by Kareena to accompany her for the memory deletion process. To be honest, Zhang Jue wasn't interested in this, but because Zhang Jue owed her a favor (Zhang Jue admitted it himself) and had Yang Xue's backing, Zhang Jue was so annoyed by her that he agreed to do it.
The Foundation's memory deletion technology is divided into several levels, such as A, B, C, D, E, and F, with shorter to longer periods and increasing side effects.
Generally speaking, using A-level memory deletion would be sufficient for things that happened within six to twelve hours. Kareena had thought that was a very advanced technology like the Scranton Reality Stabilization Anchor.
She couldn't have been more disappointed when she saw the SCP staff pull out a nebulizer-like object. She turned her head and looked at Zhang Jue.
From her expression, Zhang Jue could see only two words. "That's it?"
Zhang Jue stretched out his hand to her, "That's right, that's it."
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After being rescued by Yang Xue, the little girl's existence was considered thoroughly exposed to the Foundation. How to dispose of her was a bit of a headache. The person in charge of the same trip asked Yang Xue and Zhang Jue for their opinions, and before Yang Xue could say anything, Zhang Jue took everything on himself. This time, even Yang Xue couldn't guess what he would do.
That night, Zhang Jue dialed a phone number. When he thought about it, it seemed that only this person could solve Kareena's problem. The call was answered, and before he could speak, a slightly gentle voice belonging to a male came through.
"Hello, Advisor Zhang Jue."
Zhang Jue frowned and said, "How did you know it was me."
The person on the other side of the phone smiled, "Because I only left this number for you."
"Lei Shan, you need to stop playing this stupid game." Zhang Jue grunted, "You tricked me last time. I still haven't settled the score with you. If you dare to play dirty with me again, the next time we meet, I'll find a way to strip your pants and throw you onto the street, see how you can still play handsome in front of those nymphomaniacs."
"Cough cough cough." Hearing Zhang Jue's words, Lei Shan cried out laughed, almost choking on his coffee.
In Lei Shan's opinion, Zhang Jue's ideas were so wild and unpredictable that it was impossible to use common sense to guess, and he could do some things that seemed absurd.
"Advisor Zhang, is it the time for me to pay my debt?" Lei Shan asked.
"Don't make it sounds worse than how it looks." Zhang Jue laughed, "I'm just having a little trouble, just a little trouble." Zhang Jue told Lei Shan about the "small trouble" he had encountered, and Lei Shan was silent for a moment and said, "I understand, but I can't make the decision on this matter. I need to contact the boss."
Zhang Jue knew that the person Lei Shan was talking about was his boss, one of the Foundation's upper echelons - O5-6.
During the Site-14 Infiltration, Zhang Jue had a call with him and had sort of completed the task given to him relatively successfully. The fact that Lei Shan couldn't handle the matter directly made Zhang Jue slightly disappointed, but it was understandable.
After all, the Foundation was not entirely in his hand. When the SCP-701 (The Hanged King Tragedy) incident occurred, Lei Shan had given him his full support because the impact of the incident was relatively small, and the worst outcome was only a memory erasure of the entire school.
The case of Kareena is very different because her identity is indeed more sensitive. On the one hand, she is the daughter of Dr. Scranton and Anna, and on the other hand, she is a reality bender.
She was somewhat similar to the trouble Zhang Jue brought to the Foundation - whether to trust or take in. Lei Shan didn't dare to commit to him easily because a mishandling will fall easily failed.
If things went wrong, it would become a weapon for their political opponents to attack them - not to mention that the Foundation was a barrel of gunpowder, and there were people waiting to lit fire on it.
An hour later, Zhang Jue's phone rang again. Before pressing the answer button, he had already prepared for the worst. It was a good thing that Lei Shan brought good news.
"Advisor Zhang Jue, the matter of Kareena joining the Foundation has been agreed to by the boss, but there are a few conditions." There was a hint of imperceptible exhaustion in Lei Shan's tone, "She must serve within Site-17 and needs to have the Foundation's special positioning device embedded in her body. If she wants to leave Site-17 premise, she must report to her supervisors."
Seeing Zhang Jue's silence, Lei Shan added, "Advisor Zhang Jue, this is the best act we can strive for."
Zhang Jue sighed. He didn't speak at the final result in just a few words, but Zhang Jue could imagine that Lei Shan and the people behind him must have used a considerable level of power for this to happen.
"I see, thanks." Zhang Jue hung up the phone.
This was the best he could muster; if Kareena didn't accept it, he'd have to help her escape. But if the Foundation caught her again later, he guessed it wouldn't be such a great deal. He called the young girl into the room and explained her situation.
Kareena kept her head down, unable to see her expression, and Zhang Jue didn't know what she was thinking.
"Why do you want to help me?" The little girl suddenly asked.
"Why do I want to help?" Zhang Jue smiled, "Because you are a good person, your mother and father are also good people, and I, although I am a bad person, I don't want to see good people suffer. It's as simple as that."
After the matter was decided, Zhang Jue took Kareena and Yang Xue back to Site-17 together. Deputy Site Director Harvey was surprised to see their group parked outside the site, "Oh my God, Advisor Zhang Jue, didn't you already leave?"
Zhang Jue shrugged and gave Harvey a big hug, "Hey, old buddy. I bet you'll never guess what I've been through! I swear to the Virgin Mary, if I find out who leaked my itinerary, I'll cut his neck with a knife just like that simpleton Able did!"
Kareena looked at the two embracing each other. Goosebumps rose all over. "Sister Yang Xue, why do they speak with such a strange accent." Yang Xue had long been surprised by these odd fetishes of Zhang Jue.
"I know you're curious and wanted to ask him about it, but I advise you better not." Yang Xue said, "If you don't want to be devastated once again."