Hearing the system's words, William felt his composure slipping.
Halsey, who had been smiling just a moment ago, noticed her boss seemed a bit strange, so she stopped joking and asked with concern:
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, my stomach is a bit upset. You go ahead and get back to work."
William gave a perfunctory reply and hurried out of Halsey's office.
Although Halsey was confused, she didn't dwell on it too much.
Meanwhile, on William's end.
Inside the men's restroom at the end of the Hive corridor, he chose the stall furthest inside.
Open door, close door, lock it, put the toilet seat cover down, and sit on it—all in one fluid motion.
He said to the system in his mind: 'I'm ready, go ahead.'
[From now on, various anomalies will begin to appear one by one.
When this system detects an anomaly, it will use the Agents the Host has arranged across the World to conduct investigations via subconscious guidance.
The Agents will then report the location of those anomalies to the Host.]
Hearing this, William frowned slightly and said: 'In other words, I won't get specific information about those anomalies, right?'
[Correct. However, when employees under the Host report back, this system has a chance to detect which World those anomalies originated from.
That is all; this system is only an assistant, not omniscient.]
'Fine then.' William shrugged helplessly.
Although he couldn't know the details of what he was facing, knowing where they came from would at least give him some mental preparation.
"Whoosh!" The sound of the toilet flushing echoed.
He pressed the button on the lid, pretending to have finished using the restroom.
He walked out of the stall to the sink and washed his hands carefully.
"Tap-tap!"
As soon as William walked out, he heard the sound of synchronized running.
He turned his head to the right and saw a group of USS members in special suits, led by Hank, rushing toward him.
Soon, Hank led the USS to William and saluted:
"Boss, Colonel Andre has an urgent matter to discuss with you."
"I understand."
William nodded and followed Hank and the others toward the control center located on the second floor of the Hive.
Passing by Halsey's office, the female genius, driven by curiosity, followed them as well.
----------
Hive Second Floor;
Compared to other levels of the Hive, the space here was much wider.
The lighting wasn't the harsh, bright incandescent type, but rather soothing, warm lights.
There were even windows with virtual street projections, and artificial air currents blew in gently.
If one didn't look too closely, it would give the feeling of being in a high-rise building, preventing those who worked underground for long periods from feeling stifled.
Under the escort of the USS led by Hank, William and Halsey walked through the corridor toward the Hive control center in the center of the second floor.
...
Inside the control center;
Dozens of Technicians were operating various instruments here to ensure the massive Hive structure functioned normally.
On the large screen hanging in the center, Andre was displayed, wearing his black Umbrella officer uniform.
This vigorous, aging Colonel said with a slightly angry expression:
"The signal jamming in your Hive is really troublesome!"
"Sorry, Major." The Hive's technical lead immediately explained with a smiling face:
"This is the will of the Boss and Dr. Halsey, to ensure we can research and work here in peace, and to guard against corporate spies."
"Hurry up, the military situation is tense!" Andre stopped questioning, but his expression remained unpleasant.
As for the people present, they dared not harbor any complaints; after all, that Colonel was a member of the Olympus Board of Directors.
"Swish—"
With the sound of the automatic door opening, William and his group poured into the control center.
Seeing this, all the Technicians stood up respectfully: "Boss."
"Mm, everyone sit down." William showed a kind smile, signaling everyone to return to their work.
"Yes!"
Compared to the Colonel's attitude, everyone felt even more respect for this corporate giant's Boss.
However.
Andre's display of being a hot-tempered soldier was actually something William had specifically requested.
William himself played the role of a 'nice guy' to win the sincere respect of the entire company.
Andre naturally wouldn't have a single complaint and cooperated fully with all of William's requests.
...
"Boss." Seeing William appear, Andre didn't delay and got straight to the point:
"An Agent in Alberta sent urgent intelligence to our armed department a short while ago, and then lost contact.
After confirmation, the first instance of an anomaly has occurred."
[Anomaly detected, originating from the World of * * * * * *.]
Hearing the system's reminder in his ear, William didn't show too much surprise.
However, judging by the clear furrow in his brow, it meant his mood was very heavy.
After a few seconds, William looked at the screen and said calmly: "Very well, Colonel. I will head to Troy Base now to discuss this with you in detail."
"Yes, Boss." Having received his instructions, Andre cut off the video communication with the Hive.
William turned and ordered Hank: "Go to the suburbs."
"Yes."
Hank gestured for two men to stay behind to protect William, then led a large group of USS to leave the control room first to prepare the motorcade on the surface.
William calmed his anxious mood and, under the protection of two USS, prepared to leave the Hive as well.
"Hey."
Halsey tugged at the corner of William's clothes, expressing a rare, serious expression as she asked: "Should we let the T-103s assist in your operation?"
"?"
A somewhat distracted William's eyes lit up after hearing the female genius's reminder.
He had almost forgotten about the Tyrant.
He then nodded vigorously and asked hurriedly: "How many T-103s do we have ready for deployment?"
"Hmm..." Halsey tilted her head in thought for a moment and said: "There are three; the others haven't been fully calibrated yet."
The gloom was swept away!
Unable to hide his excitement, William placed his hands on Halsey's shoulders and said with a smile:
"It's a good thing you're here, Catherine!"
"Uh..."
Halsey was suddenly touched by William, and combined with the memory of him seeing her in her messy state earlier, her cheeks couldn't help but flush red.
She didn't know what to say.
As for William, he didn't notice her unusual reaction and ordered the Technicians in the control room: "Send those three T-103s that Dr. Halsey mentioned to the surface. Trouble you all."
"Yes, Boss." The Technicians responded respectfully.
"Let's go." Seeing everything was prepared, William had the two USS escort him to the surface.
...
After William left, the Technicians in the control center finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Even if that Boss had a good temper, he held absolute power of life and death; a single mistake could result in being demoted to D-Class Personnel.
And what about Halsey?
"Hehe... hehe..."
She didn't know what was going on; she stood there with a flushed face, giggling, and muttered softly:
"Catherine? He called me Catherine..."