Chapter 274 Tracking

The miniature locator was removed by Lin Xi after only one week of use.

The longer you track, the more information you gain, but the greater the risks you expose.

Although this miniature locator is a special product purchased from a local grey market seller and has excellent counter-surveillance capabilities, if Zhang Zheng is backed by the military or even local authorities to check it through signal detection stations, then this issue will not be a violation of personal privacy, but rather a matter of espionage.

At that time, someone who is far away and has not yet obtained a lawyer's license will not be able to help.

Another important place Zhang Zheng was involved with was the Dicheng Medical Center.

During a casual conversation with Gu Yixuan, Lin Xi tried to get information out of her. Although Gu Yixuan was happy to share her life, she was quite concerned about her family's privacy, and several topics were jokingly brushed off.

The information Lin Xin was able to glean was that there were no other relatives of Gu Yixuan in Dicheng, and that her father, Zhang Zheng, was not sick.

Going to the hospital is usually for visiting patients or for self-treatment; a busy person like Zhang Zheng wouldn't go to the hospital twice for no reason.

It was a membership-only hospital that was not open to the general public. The fees were extremely high, and only the very wealthy and powerful could afford to go there for treatment.

Judging from Lin Xi's assessment, Zhang Zheng is doing better in Lan Guo than in China, at least in terms of his current assets.

The Dicheng Medical Center has excellent security and privacy measures, making it impossible for Lin Xi to get close or buy any medical information from inside.

Lin Xi had another guess about Zhang Zheng's identity—

Zhang Zheng may have joined a secret overseas research organization, and his actions may involve espionage.

The crime was too serious, and it would be difficult for Lin Xi and Lu Wei to gather evidence on their own.

There's unlikely to be any other gains in Lan Guo for now. Six months later, Zhang Zheng will return to the Nanhua Research Institute, where he'll be in a familiar place with helpers, allowing Lin Xi to obtain more information.

She shared her thoughts with Lu Wei, and then returned to China with Xiang Xin.

-

August 30, 2020.

Lin Xi attended the postgraduate entrance ceremony at Nanhua University.

Just like in her previous life, Lin Xi returned to Nanhua University to pursue her master's degree.

The mentors on stage were the same familiar faces. Song Heng's bald patch wasn't as large yet, and he looked younger, but his rigid and strict temperament remained unchanged.

Zhao Jing, who enrolled at the same time as Lin Xi and was even in the same class and dormitory, kept yawning as she listened to the boring lecture. She even complained to Lin Xi in a low voice, "Our mentor is notoriously strict and boring."

"Mm." Lin Xi nodded, looking at the young yet familiar face beside her.

She returned to Nanhua University and went back to Song Heng's tutelage. Having enrolled two years early, she became classmates with Zhao Jing.

When she saw her old friend again, she felt calm, without any likes or dislikes. If she had to describe any emotion, it would be relief.

Song Heng is passionate about scientific research. When he encounters a critical point in his research, he becomes completely absorbed in the laboratory. Only experienced staff members who can help him in the laboratory can see him, while students who need guidance are left to fend for themselves.

Normally, he is a strict mentor who sets very high standards for his students. It is precisely because of this spirit that the students who graduate from his class and are selected to work in research institutes are all very composed.

Qu Shuran and Ding Yan are both alumni who are often sent by Song Heng to take care of the younger students' studies.

Lin Xi has rejoined the team.

Besides old acquaintances, Lin Xi also met Zhang Zheng face-to-face here.

Unlike the rigid and strict Song Heng, Zhang Zheng appears gentle and refined, and is very gentlemanly in his dealings with others.

Lin Xi discreetly observed that harmless face in the crowd, looking for similarities between him and Gu Yixuan, as well as between him and his father.

Having a reference point to compare the similarities does reveal some, but they are not very obvious. So much so that Lin Xi never connected Zhang Zheng with herself, even though they had passed each other countless times in her previous life.

On one occasion, while running errands for Song Heng to deliver documents, Lin Xi ran into Zhang Zheng.

Zhang Zheng's reaction was lukewarm; he treated her no differently than the other students.

However, Lin Xi's personal information was included in the freshman admission materials, and her identity could be discovered with a little browsing. Perhaps Zhang Zheng in his previous life rejected Lin Xi because he saw her information.

Whether it's Gu Yixuan's description of Zhang Zheng never returning to Yunxiang, or Zhang Zheng's behavior of not contacting his family for more than 20 years and even changing his name, both reflect Zhang Zheng's aversion to his original family.

Anyone who knew Lin Xi's true identity would not have included her in the team.

What Lin Xi needs to do now is to get into the research institute as soon as possible, test samples from Zhang Zheng's frequently used items to extract the virus, and obtain information about the virus in advance so that he can expose it.

-

This is different from my previous life when I was pursuing a master's degree.

Xiang Xin doesn't have a rented place at home, but her parents are waiting for her to come home.

Xiang Xin and Liang Hui came to the school to see her, and Gu Yixuan, who was studying at Nanhua University, would sometimes invite her to participate in activities together.

Friends from several lifetimes reunite in this life, socializing and keeping each other company as usual.

Besides her social skills, Lin Xi excelled academically even more than in her previous life, becoming the most outstanding student in her class.

Back then, Zhao Jing was the most outstanding student in Song Heng's team.

At this moment, Zhao Jing was stumped by the assignment given by Song Heng. When she looked at Lin Xi, who was doing a handstand in the dormitory, she asked with some envy, "Have you finished it yet?"

"Um."

"Impressive," Zhao Jing praised sincerely, then casually asked a crucial question.

After all, that proposition relates to the hottest research trend right now, and whoever can find the optimal solution the fastest will get the opportunity to intern at the Nanhua Biological Research Institute ahead of time.

Everyone wants this opportunity.

Lin Xi kept her eyes closed and shook her head.

Zhao Jing said "Oh," thinking that Lin Xi didn't want to answer her.

Even top students sometimes want to keep their knowledge to themselves.

But Lin Xi knew that the optimal solution to this problem was found by Zhao Jing back then, and that in the near future, Zhao Jing would publish an SCI paper specifically on this topic.

This was Zhao Jing's past achievement.

Lin Xi's solution came from her learning in her previous life, and also from her future experience.

She did not take advantage of the time difference to steal the achievements that originally belonged to Zhao Jing.

Lin Xi's previous life's scientific research experience left her with expertise in multi-specific antibodies and vaccine development, which would be her own future achievements.

September 17, 2022.

Lin Xi published two SCI papers in succession, one on multispecific antibody research and the other on vaccine research.

The two papers had a certain influence in the domestic medical community at the time, especially the methods and insights on multispecific antibody research.

Lin Xi, this rising star, was invited to participate in several small-scale speeches.

The 22-year-old was not at all intimidated on the stage and presented her research project in a very organized manner.

However, she was too young, and her extraordinary achievements attracted too much attention. Many people questioned the authenticity of the paper and raised various detailed questions, which Lin Xi answered one by one.

Song Heng, sitting in the audience, was both satisfied and puzzled.

Finally, someone asked the question on his behalf: "As far as I know, although the Nanhua Biological Research Institute has advanced equipment needed for multi-specific antibody research, you are a graduate student who has not yet graduated and do not have the right to use the equipment. Your supervisor, Professor Song, has not conducted any related research. So where did your research data and conclusions come from?"

Song Heng, Zhang Zheng, and the other staff members in the audience were also curious about this question, but they wouldn't use their own reputation as a shield; they simply stared intently at Lin Xi, waiting for her answer.

Lin Xi smiled and said, "Your question involves internal affairs of the Nanhua Research Institute and is not related to the research itself. Please give the time to someone who wants to learn about research issues. Next person."

It is more convincing to directly reject someone's questions than to gloss over them with the excuse of "deduction and imagination".

Lin Xi's paper is only a preliminary exploration of multispecific antibody research. When Lin Xi officially enters the laboratory and has research rights, he will have greater achievements to show.

After the lecture ended, Lin Xi realized that not only Xiang Xin and Liang Hui were waiting for her to celebrate, but Lu Wei had also appeared there at some point.

His skin was slightly darker than everyone else's, and although he had changed into casual clothes, he was still quite noticeable in the crowd.

"Zhang San is really great! Gou Fugui." Liang Hui praised sincerely.

Xiang Xin gave a thumbs up.

Lu Weize said, "Congratulations."

“Likewise.” Lin Xi gave him a high five.

A few days ago, when she deposited the bonus she received into the doomsday fund account, she saw that Lu Wei had also deposited a large sum of money not long ago. From the bonus and the increase in income, she could tell that he was making good progress in his field.

After offering his congratulations, Lin Xi got straight to the point: "I extracted a zombie virus from Zhang Zheng's personal belongings. This virus has never appeared in the medical field before and has no name. Once I officially enter the laboratory, I can study and uncover this virus. Regardless of whether Zhang Zheng was the one who poisoned the virus or not, he is undoubtedly the source of the virus."

Lu Wei: "Is he currently in a 'stable state' as a semi-infected person?"

Lin Xi shook her head: "He should have complete antibodies, just like someone who has been vaccinated and will not be infected by the virus. Zombie virus antibodies are related to genetic factors. Lin Jie and I are related to him by blood, but not by blood, so we don't have many antibodies. That's why Lin Jie and I both had obvious zombification symptoms. Gu Yixuan is his biological daughter and inherited more antibodies. The last Gu Yixuan I saw in my previous life was also in a semi-infected state. Her zombie form retained most of the physical characteristics and consciousness of a human."

Lin Xi continued to share her analysis: "Seeing Qu Shuran and Zhao Jing, I suddenly had a thought—Zhang Zheng's original intention in creating the virus may not have been to take revenge on society, but to save lives."

In their previous lives, Qu Shuran and Zhao Jing suffered from severe radiation-related illnesses that were difficult to cure. In order to survive, they deliberately contracted the zombie virus.

"Considering your investigation into Zhang Zheng's frequent visits to the Dicheng Medical Center in recent years, it's possible that Zhang Zheng suffers from a serious brain-related illness and accidentally created the virus while researching himself. But..."

There was something Lin Xi didn't understand—

Zhang Zheng was a loner from a young age and often did things that caused headaches, even killing small animals and setting houses on fire.

At the time, the village called this behavior naughty and annoying, but those who have studied social psychology know that it is a superficial manifestation of antisocial personality disorder.

As a child, Lin Zheng didn't know how to disguise himself. As an adult, Zhang Zheng left his family of origin, changed his name and identity, and became a different person. He used knowledge and etiquette to disguise himself as a learned middle-aged gentleman.

If Zhang Zheng created the virus to save his own life, just as Lin Xi guessed, would he be the one who poisoned it?

“My father is a scientist, and my family has a complete recycling system and a small farm, which makes us completely self-sufficient.” These are the words of young Gu Yixuan.

"Where did that old bastard Zhang Zheng go? Now that such a big thing has happened, he's not even at the research institute! Although I can't stand him, I have to admit that he has some talent in scientific research. He should join the vaccine research!" Song Heng complained when the zombie outbreak first occurred in Nanhua.

"Academician Lin, the Gu Yixuan you're looking into is your cousin. Her whole family disappeared after the zombie outbreak, and we never expected them to go to Lan Country. At that time, the country completely blocked all land, sea, and air routes, so anyone who was able to leave the country smoothly and be accepted by Lan Country was no ordinary person," Shen Hua said as she helped Lin Xi retrieve Gu Yixuan's information.

The voices of several people echoed in Lin Xi's mind.

Yes, Lin Xi remembered that in the original world, after the zombie outbreak, Gu Yixuan did not go abroad, but lived well in her villa in Nanhua. Her house was sturdy and self-sufficient, with uninterrupted water and electricity, making it a natural doomsday fortress.

In the lifetime when Lin Xi returned to Yunxiang, Gu Yixuan was abroad. Because Lu Wei in that lifetime had made some changes to the world, the zombie outbreak in Nanhua was cleared out once soon after, and Gu Yixuan's whole family went abroad during that gap. At that time, although foreign countries strictly reviewed the entry of Chinese citizens, they did not completely refuse them entry; those with money or power could still leave the country smoothly.

In the previous life, while a large-scale zombie outbreak occurred in Nanhua, high concentrations of the virus were released into many cities across the country, causing a near-total collapse. At that time, all countries banned Chinese citizens from entering the country for any reason.

How did Gu Yixuan and Zhang Zheng get abroad?

Lu Wei's voice pulled Lin Xi back to reality: "You figured it out?"

"Hmm? 'Spy'?"

Lu Wei: "After you casually mentioned spies twice in Lan, we conducted an in-depth investigation into Zhang Zheng's background. He does indeed have enormous assets abroad that far exceed his salary."

Lin Xi nodded: "Although his research has been commercialized a lot, his income is not nearly as high."

Lu Wei: "This proposal cannot be formally investigated without clear evidence. After all, there are many cases abroad where high salaries are offered to attract scientific and technological talent, and Zhang Zheng's wealth cannot be used as valid evidence to prove those things."

Individual capabilities are limited, and this matter has already involved the nation; only the national level can obtain more investigative resources.

Lu Wei added, "The suburbs of Di City that Zhang Zheng used to frequent are not simple; there may be a secret base or laboratory there."

Lin Xi's thoughts became clearer: "No matter what the opportunity was for creating the virus, this 'unknown virus' must have been created by Zhang Zheng abroad. What I need to do now is extract this virus to verify its existence, provide you with evidence, and mobilize more resources to investigate and capture him."