"Thud."
A cup of coffee was placed on the table, its rich aroma spreading with the steam.
"Apton, your coffee."
"Thank you."
The bespectacled man hurriedly took it and drank a sip, then continued typing away on the keyboard.
"Here, Zick."
The woman in red, Veronica, handed another cup to the man with a ponytail.
The ponytailed man, Zick, took the coffee and frowned, "Still haven't found that woman?"
Veronica shook her head, "No. The forest has been scoured five times, and the sensors set up on the beach and the shallows remain untouched. We've checked all places within the factory where someone might hide."
"What about the sausage production workshop?"
"Checked."
"The prison cells?"
"Also checked."
"Are there places on the island we haven't covered? Chambers of Secret? Caves, dungeons?"
The man's voice grew louder, and for a moment, everyone in the room dared not speak.
No one knew the island's layout better than the ponytailed man, Zick.
Their surveillance covered the entire island—aside from everyone's dormitories and bathrooms, which barely maintained personal privacy, every other accessible place was under surveillance.
Yet, that seemingly not-so-smart adult woman had vanished from the island without leaving a trace, just as inexplicably as she had appeared.
The ponytailed man, Zick, squinted his eyes, scanning the surroundings with a voice as if infused with ice.
"Surely… someone must be secretly aiding her, huh?"
He scrutinized those around him one by one.
Veronica, also a woman, and sometimes sympathizes with the island's kids, sneakily giving them candy.
The bespectacled Apton, short and stout with a weak personality, unattractive to women... Although, that blonde woman was truly beautiful despite her foolishness.
What about the others on the island? Could they be undercover agents sent by the Wizard? Or controlled by the Wizard through Magic?
It's heard there's a Love Potion, making people love fiercely, even giving up their families...
Those under his suspicious gaze shivered, afraid of being dragged off for interrogation the next moment.
This island harbors too many things that make life worse than death.
Veronica hurriedly said, "Honestly, I've always doubted if that woman is still on the island?"
Facing the man's cold stare, she braced herself and said, "Maybe she has already escaped... after all, Wizards can fly, turn invisible, or even become Merpeople to leave by sea..."
Zick watched her intently, his eyes flashing. Sweat gradually began to form on Veronica's forehead.
The bespectacled Apton suddenly saw several surveillance camera feeds flicker, causing him to lean closer to inspect, but the images quickly returned to normal.
——Perhaps the camera was shaken by a bird?
He checked the signals transmitted by the sensors, unsure if it was an illusion, but he felt some signals were about ten percent higher than usual...
He opened his mouth to speak but wisely shut it, sensing the tense atmosphere around him.
If Zick found everything normal after the investigation, Apton would be the one blamed for false information.
Zick didn't notice Apton's hesitance to speak, and frowned, "Then how do you explain the messages from the Friendship Book?"
At those words, Veronica realized he had similar suspicions to hers. She sighed in relief, picking up a blank sheet from the table.
"The Friendship Book—it's the Wizard's invention. Although the imitated products controlled by those Alchemists on top resemble the originals closely, they're not completely identical."
"What if the tricks hidden on it have been discovered? Then the messages she sent are completely toying with us."
"Making us think she's still on the island, concentrating search efforts, giving her an escape opportunity instead..."
Veronica's voice was gentle, her smile alluring. Apton unknowingly admired her curvy figure through the screen reflection.
As he gazed, something suddenly caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He glanced over—
It was a tabby cat playing with the camera.
——A cat!
Apton relaxed his gaze, but after two more seconds, his heart jumped as if he had stepped into the void.
——Veronica only had a white cat as a pet on the island, where did the tabby cat come from?
He turned abruptly, losing sight of the tabby cat on the screen, then quickly called up all cameras in the nearby area, finally finding the tabby cat's figure again.
The cat stood before the power distribution box, inexplicably opened the lid and raised its soft paw towards the power cables.
The little cat, the size of a ball of yarn, stood inside the tall power distribution box, brandishing its claws at the cables thicker than its tail. Although the scene should be cute, Apton was filled with a sense of foreboding.
Unable to restrain himself, he shouted, "Stop—"
Everyone in the room turned to him, not understanding what he was shouting about.
Zick hadn't even laid a finger on Veronica, and they finally started drinking their coffee.
But of course, the tabby cat on the screen heard nothing. It calmly waved its paw, a cold gleam flashing by—the thick power cables snapped in two, with smooth cut edges.
The screen abruptly went black.
Apton sat dumbly in his chair, unable to comprehend what he had just witnessed.
On the surrounding large screen, twenty to thirty surveillance feeds sequentially turned black, as if a patch of mosaic had suddenly appeared.