Chapter 173 Mysterious Map

Su Wanqing sat at the desk, pressing the drawer tightly. She looked up at the door and saw that there was no one there, then she slowly unfolded the hand-drawn map.

She pressed her fingertips on the ridge marked by Night and thought quietly for a few seconds.

Also in the drawer was a copy of the subject coding sheet and the Eden Project documents.

She put the information together in her mind and made a decision.

When she found Lu Zhao, he was processing instrument data. He looked up when he heard her footsteps: "Do you want to leave now, or do you want to prepare later?"

"We'll leave tonight." Su Wanqing said neatly, "I brought you with me because you know how to handle technical locks. Don't ask why. We'll travel light and set off through the mountain trail in three hours. The route will strictly follow the markings."

She closed the door and went to the wine cellar to take a quick inventory of the supplies.

At nine o'clock in the evening, Lu Zhao carried an inconspicuous old bag, and Su Wanqing only took the intercom, tool kit and the spare key card given by Ye Ge.

They avoided blind spots of surveillance and went out of the manor from the path on the north side.

Su Wanqing walked steadily without saying anything nonsense, and Lu Zhao turned the map three times.

Halfway up the mountain, Su Wanqing stopped in front of a neat patch of bushes and pointed to the gravel under her feet.

Lu Zhao squatted down and took a closer look, and found a piece of old infrared sensor wire embedded in the crevice of the stone.

The exposed wires turned black due to moisture. He used a screwdriver to gently push aside a section, found the power interface, and whispered, "I've seen this monitoring system in the military system before, but it's been powered off and abandoned now. It's all optical fiber and electrodes, all used to isolate the signal."

Su Wanqing frowned: "How long will the power be out?"

Lu Zhao tested the output with a multimeter: "For more than a year, at least there has been no signal returned. A second-level alarm has been designed here. There should be electricity in the core area."

The two followed the red line on the map to avoid the warning area and approached the marked point.

Ye Gemini marked three hidden entrances on the map, and Su Wanqing chose the one on the northeast side.

Behind the thick bushes, a faded iron gate was half-open, and there were shallow shoe prints on the mud in front of the gate.

Lu Zhao pushed the iron door with the back of his hand. The door hinges were dry and there was no sound when he pushed it open.

Inside was a row of whitewashed walls, with simple tables and chairs piled up, and the surfaces were filled with geological hammers, core boxes, and standard instruments.

They turned the flashlight to the lowest level, and Su Wanqing took Lu Zhao to quietly check each room.

As she entered the main hall, she stepped on cold, dusty floor tiles. There were signs of geological research stations hanging all around, and rock core samples and old record books were piled in the corners.

Lu Zhao leaned against a secret door and knocked: "Everything outside is fake, this is the real thing."

They walked to the back and pushed open a secret door. Behind the door was a steel staircase winding down to the underground.

Su Wanqing held on to the handrail and walked down, while Lu Zhao recorded the path as she went along.

Going down to the bottom floor is a large laboratory with enclosed glass partitions. The cabinets are filled with refrigerators, discarded computers and equipment parts.

The marks of troop inspection could still be seen on the operating table, and two stacks of damaged reagent boxes were placed in the corner.

Lu Zhao approached a set of operating tables and looked down at the fallen labels.

Su Wanqing asked as she searched the drawer, "What was done here?"

Lu Zhao pointed to the iron plate on the operating table: "The number on it is very new, it is the later batch number of the Eden Project sequence. There is a collection hole under this laboratory table, and there are traces of human body collection and processing equipment. The fingerprints on the workbench have not been completely wiped off."

They divided the work to search, and Lu Zhao found a lot of debris under a safe and pushed aside the pile of papers inside.

Su Wanqing picked up an illegible written document, a torn file mixed with bloodstains and damaged records.

She carefully identified the date and number, and pulled out a stack of practical documents from under the mezzanine.

The paper contained real photos, verification stamps, and a process sheet for the test project, and the words "Apple of Eden" were on the bottom few pages.

A large title next to it reads: "Sample X03 - Child's Voice Experimental Subject, Stability Observation."

A wrinkled form below contained the girl's file number, as well as her physical signs and special element values.

Su Wanqing didn't say anything, just used her fingers to scroll through several sets of data on the table.

She seemed to be reading silently. Lu Zhao moved closer and took a quick glance.

He asked: "She is the Apple of Eden? The core experiment subject?"

"Under the plan, the notes state that the test subject's mental response is good and the elements are stable."

Su Wanqing lowered her head and continued to flip through the pages. The bottom sheet of paper had already grown moldy, with a note in red on it: Must be moved to a backup research facility.

The fingerprint on the lower right corner is blurred.

Lu Zhao sorted out all the papers and carefully put them into a sealed bag.

He then skillfully disassembled the discarded host and pried out the memory chip near the motherboard.

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He connected the outlet wire with the small terminal he brought with him. The screen flashed several times and entered a set of remaining data.

Lu Zhao tapped the screen quickly, exporting the files one by one, and repairing an encrypted directory.

Su Wanqing asked in a low voice: "What can you find out?"

Lu Zhao retrieved the files in a logical order. He read a set of experimental target introductions, the data detailed the purification and injection process of special elements, and the effect statistics and gene reaction pages showed: Sample X03, stable, was recorded as the only experimental subject that had not had serious side effects for a long time.

The project team characterized it as the "optimal window for genetic mosaicism" and followed it with a highest priority resource allocation plan.

Su Wanqing didn't say anything, just stared at the lines of text on the screen. There was a formatting remnant at the end of the file: X03-Children's Voice Sample, do not leave the test area at will, report to the main control for direct recovery when necessary.

Lu Zhao stuffed the backup disk in place, turned around and whispered, "They specialize in this. The metabolism of elements in the girl's body should be related to the experimental process here. Those immune serums are actually extracted from the highly active gene version."

Su Wanqing took a piece of paper and pointed at the punch marks. "The date of sealing and transfer coincides with the time of her disappearance. It seems that she was transferred to another place for storage after this batch of relocation, and then ended up in our hands."

Lu Zhao silently picked up all the device chips he could find and carefully placed the core storage in the soles of his shoes.

Su Wanqing checked every corner to see if there were any lost image storage or biological samples.

The two carefully avoided unstable power sources and slowly evacuated along the same route, only breathing a sigh of relief after returning to the exit door.

At the same time, a soft click sounded from the back door of the base. When Lin Che walked through the corridor, Xiao Ran walked in front of him.

There was a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, and his expression was anxious. Lin Che asked: "Did we encounter an ambush?"

Xiao Ran handed the two packed power boards to Lin Che and shook his head: "There was no exchange of fire. The other side claimed to be scavengers and wore all customized equipment. The leader said he had read the girl's information and also warned us not to get close to the public area."

Lin Che frowned: "The scavengers haven't appeared for a long time. Have you found out anything?"

Xiao Ran leaned against the wall and sighed, "I just verified it with the informant. They are not ordinary militiamen, they are specialized in dealing with military experimental accidents and failed samples. The entire team is former special forces, and they only follow the orders of the top leaders."

Lin Che closed the door with her finger and dialed it. "Did they recognize us too?"

"They didn't say it explicitly, but the files are confirmed." Xiao Ran said calmly, "According to the informant, they were recently given new instructions. All the test subjects, people, and materials related to the Eden Project must either be brought back to headquarters or destroyed together. No one will be left alive."

Lin Che thought about it and didn't answer, but just pushed open the threshold of the wine cellar.

Xiao Ran added softly, "All we brought back is new information. No one can be trusted now."

The room was empty, and the two of them were silent for a long time without further discussion.