diary

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Not long after, Lu Tingxiao called for a stop.

He kicked the brazier on the ground. "They retreated calmly, and all the information was destroyed. There's no need to look for it anymore. Dragon Horn is probably gone too."

Ling Shi sighed. He had spent so much effort to come here, but in the end it was all in vain.

A huge sense of loss poured over him from beginning to end, making him look wilted, like a withered rose that stood upright for a long time but never received any rain.

At this moment, Zuo Hao tilted his head and looked under the brazier: "Huh? Come and see, what is this?"

Everyone's attention was instantly drawn to him.

Lu Tingxiao's kick just now moved the brazier a little, revealing the carpet underneath.

The carpet was brown and looked dirty and mottled from age and lack of maintenance.

Zuo Hao knelt beside the brazier, his whole body lying on the ground with his butt raised high, like a bear trying to force its way into a tree hole to get honey.

Xiao Gang walked over and patted him on the butt: "What did you find?"

Zuo Hao covered his butt with one hand and pulled out a notebook from the gap in the carpet under the brazier with the other hand: "Look."

The notebook is about A5 size, with a red leather cover and a clasp with a knot.

It doesn't seem like the standard ones in the office, but rather someone's private collection.

Zuo Hao didn't even open it, but handed the notebook to Ling Shi. If there was any important information in it, he would be the one who could best discern its value.

Ling Shi took it, unbuttoned it, opened the notebook, flipped through a few pages, and glanced at it.

This is not any dragon horn research material, but a diary.

The owner of the diary is a citizen of M country and the recorded language is English.

Ling Shi turned back to the first page and read it carefully.

January 1, Saturday, Sunny

Today marks the beginning of a new year. The weather is great and it’s my turn to take a day off. It’s a perfect start to the year.”

The content of the first page is very simple.

Ling Shi continued to flip backwards.

Ma Minghong came over and watched beside him.

January 2, Sunday, sunny

I asked Lilith to go out with me, but she said John wouldn't approve her leave and wouldn't let her leave until she finished all her work.

She worked overtime until after ten o'clock today and was so tired that she had no temper at all.

The happy day was ruined.

PS: I have to find a way to get transferred to the same team with Lilith."

"Monday, January 3, cloudy

On the first day of work in the new year, my boss broke some big news.

He said he would start recruiting volunteers tomorrow to participate in the Dragon Horn experiment.

Each volunteer receives a substantial subsidy, so I imagine a lot of people will sign up.”

Thursday, January 6th, Rain

The boss is really crazy, he wants all kinds of people.

The institute seemed to have become a refugee camp, filled with homeless people who came to take advantage of it.

Well, but when you think about it, it makes sense. With so much money, I'm a little tempted."

"Sunday, January 23, Rain

Being called back to work overtime on a day off, Jehovah will surely punish those greedy capitalists."

"Monday, January 24, rain

Oh my god! Something terrible has happened!

Many volunteers died... many... "

Seeing this, Ling Shi paused.

He exhaled and waved the notebook in his hand at Lu Tingxiao: "It was written by a junior researcher, it should be valuable."

After saying that, he continued to look at the back.

"January 27

The boss tried to keep the news secret, but he couldn't hide it anymore because someone from above came to inspect.

We injected the volunteers with dragon horn cells, but they didn’t survive…”

"January 28

I heard that the boss successfully persuaded the people above him to stop.

This experiment will continue...

I’m a little scared.”

"January 29

There was actually a Chinese person visiting today. I heard he was from the embassy.

May the Lord bless him at this critical moment..."

Seeing this, Ling Shi's heart skipped a beat.

This Chinese guy... must be Lu Tingxiao.

"January 30

The boss was crazy. That Chinese guy was the ambassador! He actually took advantage of the situation and directly launched more than a dozen guns to surround the man tightly.

I asked the boss what he wanted to do, and he said that the man had a very good physique and was of a different race from us, so he might be able to bring a turning point to the experiment..."

Ling Shi tightened his grip as he flipped through the notebook.

"What did you see?" Lu Tingxiao asked.

"Nothing." Ling Shi continued to turn the page.

That experience must have been extremely painful for Lu Tingxiao. More seriously, it might have been a nightmare he could never shake. Better yet... let him not recall it.

"February 1st

Today is truly a groundbreaking day!

Our experiment was successful!

One volunteer survived!

There's a celebration party tonight!

PS: The volunteer is from the United States.

"February 2

Yesterday's celebration party now seems like a joke.

We were too happy too soon.

Although the man could still move, he had lost consciousness, like a zombie. He could scream and bite, but he couldn't communicate with anyone...

We all advised the boss to stop for a while, but he didn't listen.

The Chinese man will be injected tomorrow."

"Haven't you finished reading it yet?" Lu Tingxiao suddenly asked.

Ling Shi's hands trembled slightly: "Not yet."

He flipped through the diary very quickly, as if deliberately skipping some content he didn't want to face.

Turning to the end, he found a special diary.

The diary was interspersed with data, which seemed to be...research drafts.

"According to model analysis, the increase in dragon horn cell concentration will cause a qualitative change at some point. What this qualitative change will be is still unclear.

After all, we haven't even seen a single awake First Order human yet.

The experiment had gone completely mad, with countless deaths. Perhaps the outside world had noticed something was amiss, and no more volunteers were signing up.

Perhaps, this madness will backfire on us in the near future, bringing disaster to all of humanity...

First level: 0%-50%;

Second stage: 50%-100%;

Level 3: ...

Will there be a third level? What kind of creature would that be? ....."

Seeing this, Ling Shi's heart moved.

He closed his notebook and thought about the two corrupt men who were guarding the door.

They were clearly stronger than the 49% captured at the base. According to the diary's classification method, they should all be Tier 2.

Just as he was lost in thought, Ling Shi's hands suddenly felt empty and the diary was snatched away.

Before he could stop him, Lu Tingxiao had already started to fall.

He took a quick look and flipped through a few pages.

"Hmph," Lu Tingxiao let out a breath, but his expression was indifferent, as if he didn't care about the contents of the diary.

However, Ling Shi always felt that his "humph" was an attempt to hide his true emotions.

As the legendary first captain of the White Eagles and China's most hawkish ambassador ever, even if he encountered misfortune, he couldn't always be mired in the emotions of the victim. Being pitied was not something a strong person should accept.

That's probably what he thought.

"Captain Lu," Ma Minghong approached, scratched his head, hesitated, and finally asked, "The Chinese mentioned here, are you?"

"Yes." Lu Tingxiao closed the diary and patted Ma Minghong on the chest: "Want to read it? Go read it yourself."

Ma Minghong took the notebook and asked with a mixture of embarrassment and curiosity: "How could you..."

He didn't ask all the questions, but everyone who heard it understood.

Even Ling Shi was very curious as to why Lu Tingxiao came to him at that critical moment.

It's such a coincidence.

"The Chairman's order," Lu Tingxiao said. "At the time, there was an agent who sent back ambiguous information."

He actually began to explain seriously, "The Chairman believes that Country M may have made a breakthrough in research and asked me to find out the truth. My identity makes it easier to conduct activities in public."

"I never thought... Country M would dare to conduct experiments directly on human bodies."

"I was careless." He laughed self-deprecatingly, with a hint of helplessness: "I misjudged the situation and almost lost my life."

Ling Shi had a feeling that these words seemed to have been buried in his heart for a long time.

I finally have a chance to speak up, and I can't help but speak out.

The whole scene was silent, and no one knew what to say.

Lu Tingxiao could laugh at himself, but he couldn't be so careless with other people's words. In the face of life and death, no words seemed to carry enough weight. Comforting him didn't seem to suit the captain's character.

In the end, Ma Minghong had to force himself to play the supporting role: "It's just you, Captain Lu, who broke into the thieves' den alone and still survived."

"I wasn't always full of energy." Lu Tingxiao sighed, "I felt quite uncomfortable during those first few days after the injection."

His voice gradually lowered: "My head is dizzy, and I'm surrounded by completely unconscious corrupt people..."

He suddenly stopped, shook his head, and said with a forced explanation: "No more talking, it's all in the past."

At this moment, Lu Tingxiao's usual powerful image seemed to be torn off, revealing the ordinary human core within.

He is just a young man in his twenties. He has been bearing the diplomatic pressure of a country along the way. He will also be tired, feel pain, be hurt and sad.

Ling Shi felt as if his heart was pricked by a needle, tingling and a bit painful.

An impulse rose from within.

He didn't resist the urge, walked up to Lu Tingxiao, hugged him, patted his back, and said in a comforting tone: "It's all over."

Lu Tingxiao's shoulders are broad and strong, and his back feels warm. He has always been the most solid support for his teammates.

When this solid support is suddenly stretched to its limits and becomes fragile, that fragility is particularly heartbreaking.

For a moment, the room was very quiet.

The emergency lights dimmed, quietly illuminating the space beside them, surrounded by a solemn and slightly dignified atmosphere.

Lu Tingxiao suddenly chuckled: "Sympathize with me?"

He pinched the back of Ling Shi's neck and said in a nonchalant tone, "I was kidding. It's not that bad."

The originally dull and slightly sad atmosphere was completely destroyed by him.

Ling Shi pushed him away, feeling very complicated.

His initiative to hug people was a bit hypocritical, and when Lu Tingxiao said "I was kidding", he became a little angry and embarrassed.

But just as he was getting angry, he couldn't help but doubt again, is this really a lie?

Ling Shi threw down a sentence: "If you can't find anything, just leave."

After saying that, he turned and left without waiting for orders.

"Wait." It was Ma Minghong who said, "Captain Ling, didn't you look carefully?"

He held the diary open in his hand and extended it towards Ling Shi: "Take a look at this?"

Um?

Did he miss any key information?

Yes, when I saw the page where Lu Tingxiao was injected, the diary felt as if it was hot. I flipped through it to the end and closed it.

The page that Ma Minghong opened now was indeed one he had never seen before.

He took it and looked at it carefully.

"February 4th

The boss said he found a new idea.

Those volunteers were unable to withstand the erosion of the cells because the cells were too manic.

He asked his superiors to approve a batch of nutritional supplements, such as ginseng, bird's nest and other good things. He planned to wait until these nutritional supplements absorbed the cells in the air before feeding them to the volunteers.

Perhaps this gentle approach can truly achieve human evolution."

"February 18

We did it!

We got a truly evolved, uncorrupted little mouse!

Hey! You should have done experiments on animals long ago. Why wait until now?

The boss was so excited that he dragged us drinking all night.

Starting tomorrow, this batch of nutritional products will be distributed to volunteers.

Human history is about to be rewritten at this moment!"

Huh? They succeeded?

Using "evolved" nutritional supplements to transform humans?

But then why...

"Captain Lu," Ma Minghong asked the question on his mind, "Do you remember when the lab incident happened?"

Lu Tingxiao didn't hesitate at all: "February 19th."

"Some of the corrupted broke open the cages holding them, and others followed suit, rushing towards the researchers, starting this disaster."

I see.

The day after the successful experiment on the mice, mankind ushered in the end of history.

However, the success of the so-called nutritional supplement on a mouse may just be a coincidence.

When human trials actually begin, we still don’t know how many hurdles we will face.

Perhaps, the artificial pursuit of rapid evolution is a foolish choice that is not allowed by the Creator.

No matter what you do, the outcome will be the same.

"Hey, ginseng?" Zuo Hao's voice came from behind. This guy had been standing behind and reading his diary. "Is the ginseng recorded in this diary still there?"

After his reminder, everyone became enthusiastic.

"Yes, I was just busy looking for documents and ginseng."

“Bird’s nest is fine too.”

Everyone was talking at once and moving quickly around the room.

Only Ma Minghong didn't join in the fun. He walked to Lu Tingxiao and looked around. No one was paying attention to them.

He quietly leaned over and said, "Captain Lu, you..."

After saying two words, I didn't know how to express myself, so I could only scratch my head in embarrassment.

"Hmm?" Lu Tingxiao raised his eyebrows: "What do you want to say?"

"You... have suffered." Ma Minghong gritted his teeth and said something sentimental that he would never say under normal circumstances: "Who is the agent who gave the Chairman the information? If he is still alive, brothers will help you beat him up."

Lu Tingxiao chuckled and looked at him without saying anything.

"Hmm?" Ma Minghong was a little unsure after being looked at with such eyes: "What's wrong? This... isn't... true?"

"It's true." Lu Tingxiao patted his shoulder: "But I'm really not that miserable."

"If I wasn't trying to gain your sympathy, why did you come up to me?"

After saying that, he chuckled again: "How about it? Act pitiful first, then refute yourself, doesn't it seem more real?"

Ma Minghong stood there in a daze.

Not to win...

How do you hear this?

Is the emphasis on the "no" or on the "you"?

Ma Minghong glanced at Ling Shi, who was still carefully reading the diary, and shuddered for no reason.

First pretend to be pitiful, then refute yourself...

Yes, more real.

Don’t you believe it yourself?!

However, compared to the thoughts that Lu Tingxiao had on Ling Shi, what Ma Minghong didn't understand even more was why Captain Lu insisted on telling him these words?

Do you have the words "Extraordinary Loyalty" taped to your forehead?!