Regarding Donald's assessment of Rope as "stupid," Jeanne disagreed from the bottom of her heart. However, she also understood that from the perspective of a man like him, Rope's actions were stupid.
According to his logic, precious medicine should be kept for research until it can be replicated and sold at a high price. At the very least, one could gift such a valuable item to a powerful figure in exchange for an immense reward.
A man like him would never have the chance to enter Heaven. But he didn't care; perhaps he intended to find his "predecessor" scientists after death and play together in Hell.
"No results? On that point alone, you are likely to be disappointed. I believe my research has plenty of value! We might even become colleagues in a while, Officer."
Donald simply smiled slightly upon hearing Jeanne's evaluation. He remained very confident about his future; besides, he wasn't necessarily going to be taken back to the Guard Department.
While they were talking, deep within the spiderweb of wires—in dark corners far beyond Jeanne's sight—the electrical current began to shift due to Donald's previous tampering. At that moment, a massive amount of power was diverted into one of his laboratories. The result of this sudden drain was that the light bulbs overhead dimmed, flickering and occasionally dying out.
However, no one paid much attention. they simply viewed it as a normal fluctuation in the power grid, perhaps caused by the previous battle damaging a central power hub somewhere.
Meanwhile, in a room designated as "Laboratory No. 1," a large group of LGD officers were packing up Donald's files. These items would serve as evidence for his trial.
"Is the sorting finished? Once it's done, let's get out of this dump as fast as possible! If I stay here any longer, I might actually go insane."
An officer scanned the room with lingering fear. It wasn't so much that the place was scary, but rather that it possessed an aura that made people instinctively repulsed. Staying here felt... nauseating.
In front of them were dozens of large tanks arranged in dense rows. The tanks were incredibly tall, their tops nearly touching the ceiling, standing like pillars. They were filled with a liquid of unknown composition—a pale yellow fluid that they guessed was some sort of preservative.
Even more horrifying was the interior. Each tank contained countless corpses. Coupled with that yellow color, it looked like someone's home-brewed medicinal wine... No, don't think about it! The more you think, the more disgusting it gets!
"Do you think that researcher is a psycho? Why soak people in giant jars? It can't be for decoration, right?"
A colleague glanced over. This stuff looked just like the snake wine his grand-uncle used to brew when he was a kid. Back then, his grand-uncle drank half a liter and dropped dead, and the giant jar of wine was smashed. Come to think of it, his death might not have had anything to do with whether the snake was venomous; his grand-uncle was stingy and didn't want to buy herbs, so he just went to the hospital, bought a ton of medicine, and dumped it in the wine. Even worse, the medicine he bought was Cephalosporin...
"Who knows. Do you think anyone staying here is normal? But whatever you do, don't go touching that stuff! I heard the Originium content in there is terrifying!"
He knew his partner well—the guy had "itchy hands." He always wanted to touch and poke anything new he saw; it was better to give him a warning in advance.
"I know, I know. I'm just curious, not an idiot. I just feel like something's wrong with these things..."
He took one last look at the water tanks. Because of the extremely high Originium content, everyone from the Guard Department had to handle them with extreme care. Otherwise, these things should have been dismantled long ago.
Not long after they left, powerful bursts of electricity were surged into the tanks. Driven by the power, the Originium became active, and massive crystals began to sprout from the "corpses" within.
"I am aware of the specifics now, and for the time being, I will trust you. But let me be clear: if there is anything suspicious about your actions in the upcoming operation, don't say I'm the one sabotaging our 'partnership'."
Upon her return, Ch'en looked at Gin and Vodka with a complex expression. Although Wei Yenwu had explained the situation to her over the radio, she still didn't trust these two in her heart.
It wasn't just the fact that they had "opened a mind" for that lackey earlier; killing a criminal wouldn't make Ch'en this distrustful. The sole reason she remained on guard was their identity. Two men sent by Ursus were helping Lungmen police catch an Ursus criminal. Moreover, this criminal's status wasn't low—he was essentially a private soldier of the Ursus nobility...
No matter how she thought about it, something was wrong! And why let them get involved? Why not just have them wait at the Guard Department? Was this a lack of faith in the LGD's execution?
"Rest easy, little girl. We didn't come here to pick a fight with you. If it were for that, they wouldn't have bothered sending me."
Gin didn't seem to care much about Ch'en's continued hostility. He wasn't the type to get bogged down in petty arguments; it didn't fit his character. But then again, do even the rank-and-file officers in Lungmen maintain such a guard against Ursus? It seemed that Lungmen—and even Yan as a whole—still viewed Ursus quite negatively.
"Then let's leave. It's better to get these criminals behind bars as soon as possible."
With those words, Ch'en led them out of the secret room. Too many secrets were buried here, and Ch'en truly didn't feel comfortable leaving these two fellows alone in this place.
Hearing that they were being taken away, Ivanov frantically looked at Donald, signaling him with a covert gaze—imploring him to think of something. He didn't want to be caught! He knew how terrifying this "harmless" doctor beside him truly was. The man had operated here for years; Ivanov wasn't even sure what trump cards he held.
Now, his only hope was his old friend. Because whether he was taken by the LGD or by Gin, his miserable future was already set in stone.
"Keep walking, no whispering!"
Vodka, noticing the shifting eyes, delivered a smack to the back of Ivanov's head, signaling him to stop the little tricks. The others just turned to look at the noise for a second before ignoring it, feeling reassured that Vodka was guarding the two prisoners.
However, that smack clearly used a fair amount of force. Ivanov saw stars and nearly fainted on the spot. He looked at the expressionless man, who appeared entirely innocent despite the heavy blow. But Ivanov was certain: that hit was intentional! The proof was that although Vodka's facial control was excellent, the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth betrayed his inner thoughts—this guy was taking deliberate revenge!
For Vodka, this was a godsend. This bastard had played him and Pangolin for fools for so long; how could he possibly let him off easy! His only regret was that if the guy had jumped into the sewer as planned, they could have dragged him back themselves—then the interrogation would have been entirely up to him.
Bang!
Jeanne, who was bringing up the rear, heard a sound and suddenly saw her vision go black. She could see nothing. It wasn't that there was a problem with her eyes, but rather that the lights in the entire secret room had died! In an instant, the entire underground facility plunged into boundless darkness.
The moment the lights went out, Vodka and Hoshiguma immediately pinned the two prisoners to prevent them from slipping away in the dark.
"A blackout? Doctor, is this your doing? I don't believe in such coincidences!"
Now unable to see, Ch'en raised her weapon to guard her surroundings. Her first instinct was to suspect the enemy.
"Who's that over there!"
Vaguely, she saw a white object swaying not far away. In the pitch-black environment, it was exceptionally conspicuous.