Chapter 88

His wife raised her other hand without a word, holding another badge with her photo on it.

He came back to his senses, stared at his wife, was silent for a while, and then said:

"How many people does the Foundation actually hire?"

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"I think that's a good question. I think when the Mangrassians cast a planet, they should mix it with No. 42 concrete, because it easily affects proton unfolding, you know? When you smash into it, it instantly generates a massive amount of high-energy protein, commonly known as a supernova explosion..."

"At this rate, I'm afraid even a dog in this town will have a Foundation badge."

"I have a question: if a police officer and a fugitive both discover that the other has a Foundation badge, what happens next? Do they follow judicial procedures, or do they handle it directly according to Foundation regulations?"

"Let me state my identity first: intern at the Ten-Lords Commission of the Luofu Luofu Xianzhou 'Luofu'. Your question is very sharp. Essentially, it's a conflict between national judicial sovereignty and the Foundation's supra-national power. Ultimately, it depends on the relationship between the two sides... However, working backward from now, I'd guess it's judicial process first, then the Foundation takes over in secret."

"In this world, only taxes, death, and the Foundation are inevitable."

The scene shifts to a somewhat crude office.

The Foundation's icon hangs on the white wall, and the filing cabinets are stuffed with various document bags.

Behind a desk that has seen better days sits an elderly lady.

"...I'm sorry, but this is classified; even I don't know."

Her name is Mu Mu Ruyun, and she is a Site Director under the Foundation's C-Region.

Standing opposite the desk are five couples, ten people in total.

Yesterday, Yan Yan Xiangyang called his good brothers one by one to tell them his discovery.

Consequently, after returning home, all the men confessed the secret to their wives.

At that time, they held their ID badges in one hand and amnesiac pills in the other.

Fortunately, not a single pill was swallowed.

Unfortunately, not a single pill was swallowed.

Seeing that the Director did not want to violate Foundation rules, Pang Pang Xiangrong's wife thought of a roundabout way:

"Alright, how many employees are in this site?"

Mu Mu Ruyun shakes her head:

"I don't know."

Silence for a moment.

Yan Yan Xiangyang asks:

"How many people in our town work here?"

"I don't know."

Tian Yong'an purses his lips, having figured out the crux of the matter:

"Please, Director Mu, we don't need an exact number."

He coaxes her.

"We just need a rough percentage."

"You can administer amnestics to us afterward. Aren't you even a little curious about such an astonishing coincidence?"

"Imagine, your children, your parents, after seeing a Foundation badge, show theirs to you..."

Mu Mu Ruyun hesitates for a moment, blinking repeatedly.

After a painful struggle, she finally turns her gaze to the screen on the side and, after layers of unlocking, enters the personnel database.

She bypasses multiple firewalls preventing full access to the data and finds the number of staff members from the small town.

Then, she finds the total population of the area on the Statistics Bureau's official website.

She opens the calculator and divides the two results.

Then she falls into silence, staring at it like a plaster statue.

Finally, the group approaches her desk to check the result she calculated.

0.**...

"How many people does the Foundation actually employ?"

This time, it's her turn to ask the question.

"Haha, so this Director didn't even know how many people she had under her before?"

"It seems most people in the Foundation don't draw a salary, otherwise this Director would definitely have a deep impression of it."

"I bet this Director's superior is also completely in the dark about this."

Miss Miss Qingque yawns, rubs her waist, and changes her posture.

She now envies the characters in the story:

"If I didn't have to go to work, didn't have to see my boss, could still collect a salary, and could do whatever I wanted the rest of the time, that would be great."

Then, she chuckles, remembering the winning hand she made today—"Dragon Seven Pairs."

The scene shifts to a conference room that is both luxurious and minimalist.

The Foundation's icon is projected onto the white wall, with the Foundation's motto below:

"We Secure, We Contain, We Protect."

Several people sit around a round table; most are wearing formal attire, with Foundation badges on their chests and corresponding nameplates in front of them.

But neither the badges nor the nameplates show their real names, nor do they have long strings of numbers.

Instead, they start with "O5-", followed by a small number.

For example, "O5-8," a woman who looks at least 50 years old.

"O5" refers to the O5 Council.

If you like, you can also give it other names, such as: "O5 Command," "Overseers," or "Supervisors."

But no matter how the name changes, its essence always points to the highest controllers of the Foundation, below the Administrator.

Every O5 member knows almost everything about the Foundation and all its activities.

Added together, everyone knows every secret held by the Foundation, except for those of the Administrator.

Most Foundation personnel never see them throughout their entire careers. Personnel below Level 2 don't even know they exist. Most people outside the Foundation have never heard of them or don't believe they actually exist.

And in this conference room, there are several members of the O5 Council.

"8" refers to the seat, and can also be called "Number Eight."

A number does not correspond to a single person.

Multiple people may hold the same numerical designation simultaneously.

Among them, there is truth and falsehood, used to confuse potential enemies while also protecting themselves.

O5-8, a woman in her fifties.

She is currently holding the phone receiver, frowning:

"...Tell the Director that the information is classified, just as she knows."

Afterward, she puts down the phone and looks at another member not far away.

"O5-4," this is his codename.

"What do you mean by saying we don't know either?"

O5-8's tone is full of disbelief.

This... is too absurd.

As the highest power in the Foundation, they actually have no way of knowing how many employees the Foundation has in total.

And this isn't some top-secret information; it doesn't involve memes, anti-memes, reality benders, or supreme deities...

Why is it like this?

This situation usually means an organization would be infiltrated by opponents like a sieve.

"Well, you know how we work, Number Eight."

O5-4 shrugs and tries to put his feet on the conference table.

But under the pressure of others' gazes, he abandons the attempt.