Chapter 224 Divine Peptide Biotechnology Company

Zou Jun stared at the annotations on the screen, his fingers trembling slightly.

It wasn’t from shock.

He understood.

The knowledge of the person behind those annotations was something he could never hope to achieve, not even if he lived three more lifetimes.

His first reaction wasn’t admiration, but jealousy.

He took a deep breath, stuffed his phone back into his pocket, and his lips curled back into their usual smirk.

‘So what if he’s knowledgeable? He’s still just a mortal.’

Why was the Xia Kingdom considered barren?

Because the elders in the church had said:

In the lands of the Xia Kingdom, the only thing related to Supernatural Power was the official Anomaly Administration Bureau.

Of course, the elders had also warned him:

Do not provoke the Anomaly Administration Bureau.

Their Investigators might be mortals, but every last one of them was a lunatic.

And lunatics were more frightening than Demons.

Zou Jun was unconvinced.

‘Mortals are just mortals.’

‘No matter how crazy they are, they’re still just crazy mortals.’

In the Dark Council, he was indeed just a small fry.

But here in the Xia Kingdom?

He stood at the entrance of the hotel, sunlight warming his shoulders, as the smile on his lips slowly widened.

‘These ignorant fools will probably worship me as a god, won’t they?’

Zou Jun mused:

‘A scientific heavyweight like the test creator should be serving me, serving the Council, not slaving away for that World Dream Group!’

Zou Jun canceled his flight ticket.

…

「South Sea, Divine Peptide Biotechnology Company.」

Zou Jun stood before the office building and glanced up.

The suburbs.

He never would have imagined that such an imposing office building would exist in such a remote area.

Its glass curtain wall glinted coldly in the sunlight, and the logo on the roof was simple yet grand.

He walked inside, sizing up his surroundings.

At the reception area, a sweet young lady was on the phone, her voice gentle and her words efficient.

Two men in sharp suits, carrying briefcases, walked past him toward the elevators.

Zou Jun overheard a snippet of their conversation.

It was standard, fluent English. They were discussing a pharmaceutical license with some company in England.

He had done his homework.

The Divine Peptide Biotechnology Company was a biological laboratory focused on pharmaceuticals.

But what he didn’t know was that this thirty-three-story office building was merely a front.

The gym, the swimming pool, the canteens offering various cuisines… all these seemingly luxurious amenities were just part of Divine Peptide Biotechnology’s facade.

The real work was hidden underground.

Extraordinary bacteria research, Extraordinary Creature cloning.

Everything on the surface served only two purposes:

First, any scraps thrown out from the underground lab were cutting-edge technology on the open market. With a few adjustments, they could provide a steady stream of funding for the Taboo Association.

Second, research projects from the underground lab, excluding the core components, would be broken down into numerous parts and distributed among the researchers upstairs for “collaborative problem-solving.”

This not only provided funding but also eased Liu Weiqian’s workload.

It killed two birds with one stone.

The elevator doors opened.

The hurried CLACKING of high heels sounded as a female office worker holding a file rushed past Zou Jun, stirring up a gust of wind.

Divine Peptide was in its market expansion phase, and these corporate elites were working nonstop.

A smile played on Zou Jun’s lips as he stepped into the elevator with the two men in suits.

…

「In the examination room.」

Zou Jun scanned the job applicants around him—not just people from the Xia Kingdom, but also quite a few blond-haired, blue-eyed faces.

A trace of contempt rose in his heart.

‘Meiqi Country is in the West, a rich land kissed by Satan himself.’

‘Why come to the Xia Kingdom looking for a job?’

‘How foolish.’

The door was pushed open.

The woman who entered made his eyes go wide.

A high-end, custom-tailored pinstripe suit outlined her sharp figure.

Her cold, stunning eyes, delicate features, and slightly raised chin carried a natural air of arrogance.

“President,” a staff member in the examination room greeted her respectfully.

Zou Jun was stunned.

‘This beauty is the president of World Dream?’

Zou Jun’s lips slowly curved into a playful smile.

‘She’s countless times more beautiful than Angela, and her status is far better than that piece of trash.’

‘Now *this* is the kind of woman worthy of a man of my caliber.’

‘Maybe… I’ll finish this test first, be the first one to hand it in, and completely blow her away!’

Zou Jun looked down at the test, but his brow gradually furrowed.

It was even harder than the last one.

Half an hour passed, and he had only finished half of it, yet some people were already getting up to turn in their tests.

One, two, three.

Zou Jun’s expression grew uglier and uglier, and fine beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

He had to admit, among these applicants, he was far too ordinary.

So ordinary… that he probably wouldn’t even come close to being accepted.

‘So what if you’re all so smart?’

He sneered inwardly:

‘You’re still just mortals.’

He had his own logic.

If an Extraordinary Being were to beat him to a pulp one day, he would say:

‘So what if you can fight? You’re just a brute. Do you know anything about scholarship?’

Zou Jun decided not to answer any more questions.

He put down his pen and stared brazenly at Xia Li.

His gaze lingered on her, from her eyes and brows down to her neck, filled with the greed of a hunter sizing up its prey.

Just then, Xia Li’s phone rang.

She glanced at the screen, and her expression changed instantly—the delight she showed was not a professional smile she could fake, but a joy that emanated from her very bones.

And beneath that joy, there was also a hidden trace of… charm.

Zou Jun’s brows knitted together.

The person on the other end of the line was a man who was very important to her.

“Sir…” Xia Li murmured something in a low voice, then turned and walked briskly out of the examination room on her high heels, her steps so urgent it was as if she were going to welcome someone.

Zou Jun muttered:

“Sir… who is that?”

A sour feeling welled up inside him, as if he had swallowed an unripe green orange.

He put down his test paper, stood up, and followed her out.

…

Xia Li’s figure was graceful as she walked away, her high heels tapping against the floor in a light, quick rhythm.

Zou Jun followed behind her, his gaze lingering between her waist and hips, the sour feeling in his heart gradually replaced by a secret thrill.

He reached up and touched the Sheep Head Pendant on his neck, his lips moving as he silently chanted:

‘I will serve you with blood.’

The pendant grew faintly warm.

A strange wave of energy surged from the pendant, spreading through his body as quickly as ink dropped into clear water.

Something bizarre happened.

Zou Jun looked down at his hands.

They were still there, but he knew that no one else could see him anymore.

He walked down the corridor, and a female office worker carrying a stack of files came toward him, brushing past him as she went.

Her gaze passed right through his body and landed on the wall ahead, not lingering for even a moment.

Invisibility.

This was the power of the Sheep Head Pendant.

Zou Jun’s lips curled up, his smile full of smug satisfaction.

“This barren land of the Xia Kingdom,” he said in a low voice, the sound swallowed by the bustle of the corridor, “is my personal backyard.”

…

Xia Li walked to an elevator, swiped a card, and went through an iris scan.

With a DING, the elevator doors opened.

Inside stood two security guards, wearing sunglasses and masks, with only their hands visible.

They stood ramrod straight, like two statues.

Zou Jun followed her in.

The elevator began to descend.

One second, two, three… a full minute passed before it stopped with a BUZZ.

The doors opened.

Zou Jun’s eyes widened abruptly.

An underground laboratory.

A vast space unfolded before him, illuminated by white lights that revealed every minute detail.

Precision instruments, sealed glass pods, a dense network of tubes… everything was in perfect order, exuding a cold, technological feel.

Zou Jun’s blood began to boil.

‘A mysterious, highly-learned scholar, a secret lab hidden beneath South Sea City…’

‘The World Dream Group is getting more and more interesting.’

‘I wonder what kind of reward I’ll get when I offer the World Dream Group to the Council!’

Just as he was about to step out of the elevator—

Two hands grabbed his arms simultaneously.

One on the left, one on the right, their grip was as strong as iron clamps.

Zou Jun froze.

He slowly turned his head—it was the two security guards.

“You…” His voice was dry.

“How can you see me?”

Xia Li turned back and glanced at him with a frown.

There was no surprise in her cold, stunning eyes, only disgust, as if looking at a bug she had accidentally stepped on.

“Take him away.”

She waved her hand, her tone as casual as if ordering someone to take out the trash.

“Sir will be here soon. Don’t let him be an eyesore.”

Zou Jun’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“You… you can see me too? How is that possible!”

The two security guards said nothing.

They dragged Zou Jun out of the elevator and headed down the west corridor.

Their steps were steady, as if they were carrying a little chick.

Terrified, Zou Jun started shouting:

“Let me go! What the hell are you people?!”

There was no answer.

Their true identity—Cleaner Fish.

Zou Jun was just an ordinary person who had dabbled in the supernatural, relying on the thing inside his pendant.

Even if the Little Devil from the pendant came out, the two Cleaner Fish could easily deal with it.

Besides… that thing didn’t dare expose itself to the open air.

The corridor was long and dark, with ghastly white lights that made the walls look like a bloodless face.

The air was filled with the mixed smell of disinfectant and rust.

From the innermost room, the continuous sound of something hitting a metal door could be heard.

“BANG—BANG—BANG—”

It was rhythmic and muffled, as if something was ramming the door with its body.

Zou Jun’s heart leaped into his throat.

‘There’s… some terrifying monster locked in there.’

The two guards stopped in front of a metal door, unlocked it, pulled it open, and threw Zou Jun inside.

He staggered into the darkness, and before he could even regain his footing, the metal door slammed shut behind him with a CLANG.

In the darkness, a pair of gleaming green eyes lit up.

A sharp, unpleasant sneer echoed from the darkness, like sandpaper scraping against glass:

“‘This barren land of the Xia Kingdom is my personal backyard’? Heheheh—”

The voice paused, filled with the glee of a cat playing with a mouse.

“The last person who said that was named Seimei Misawa. The grass on his grave is taller than you now.”

Zou Jun’s back pressed against the cold wall, and cold sweat trickled down from his temples.

He finally understood.

From the moment he had walked into this company—something had noticed him.