Chapter 194 Decryption
In the infirmary, Lin Che sat upright for a while, clenching his hands.
He looked at Xiao Ling. The little girl was touching her cuffs and humming a strange tune. She was not serious at all as she had said when she said "The stars can be angry".
Lin Che calmed down his emotions, tucked in the corners of the quilt, and asked, "Xiao Ling, what does 'Uncle Golden Eyes' usually say to you?"
Xiao Ling shook her head: "They said that we should close the door after dark, and we should not touch the energy core. Brother, are you still looking for the 'star'?"
Lin Che asked in a low voice: "What do you mean?"
Xiao Ling thought for a long time and spread her palms: "There are stars on your body, you have to find them all."
After she finished speaking, she stopped looking at him and lay down to pretend to sleep. Lin Che was unsure and kept these words in mind.
On the other side, the lights in the main control room had just come on. When Lu Zhao opened the door, the USB flash drive was lying alone on the table.
He glanced at the door, didn't call anyone over, and sat down directly to connect to the laptop.
He has tried the conventional crack three times, and no matter how he changes the algorithm, there is always an impenetrable encryption wall blocking it.
He flipped through the memo left by Han Xue with some impatience, his eyes falling on Xiaoling's picture book under the table - the cover was her drawing of "Orion".
Lu Zhao flipped through the book casually and saw the words "There is only a way when all the stars are together" written crookedly on a page.
He remembered that Xiao Ling had mentioned "stars" repeatedly. He was stunned for a moment, and entered the words "stars" and "Orion" into the decryption program. As a result, the screen flickered, the USB flash drive indicator suddenly flashed, a string of unfamiliar codes flowed across the screen, and soon the "automatic unlock" prompt popped up.
Lu Zhao blinked and quickly tapped the keyboard. A large number of files automatically expanded and many hidden directories emerged.
He held his breath, his fingers slightly tightened. He subconsciously opened the folder first, and the files inside were carefully classified by year and experiment number.
Clicking on the top one, the title of the document clearly reads "Orion Project - Human Genetic Adaptive Reshaping Project".
The document was very long, and Lu Zhao quickly read it from beginning to end - the plan was to be implemented by scientists from 21 countries in a secret base.
For more than a decade, the research goal has always been to "integrate an ancient gene fragment into the human gene in the hope of resisting expected large-scale biological mutations", and the "Stardust Sequence" is repeatedly mentioned in the documents.
It is reported that this sequence originated from unknown human bones frozen in a site in Siberia thousands of years ago and was named "Stardust Genetic Factor".
The document describes in detail that after the project was launched, 108 children with special genetic characteristics were screened around the world, and the "Stardust Sequence" fragments were injected, fused and transplanted respectively.
Most of the experimental subjects suffered severe rejection and irreversible damage.
Only the children numbered "Star-7" and the other two code-named "Star-13" and "Star-44" showed no rejection reaction, and after repeated follow-up, they were determined to have "stable integration".
Lu Zhao stared at the experimental list - "Xingchen-7" was followed by the first two letters "XL". He suddenly realized that this was Xiaoling's identity code.
Subsequent reports tracked the survival status of each experimental subject by year. 96 were declared failures, the vast majority died within two years, and nearly 10 were missing.
The three successful cases were all transported independently with multiple security measures. Some data showed that they were sent to safe experimental areas on different continents. Only "Star-7" had a note with the current experiment number of the Fortress.
Sweat slowly broke out on Lu Zhao's forehead.
He jumped back to the main directory, where several researcher notes lay.
In Han Xue’s private folder, the latest article is titled “Second Stage Inference”.
She wrote: The Orion Project is actually divided into two steps. The first step completes the initial genetic integration and screening of a few special cases. The second step is to deliberately release engineered viruses, with the aim of activating a large area of ordinary people carrying the Stardust recessive gene, thereby selecting individuals who can heal themselves and adapt to the infection.
Han Xue specifically noted: A true vaccine must use the "complete Stardust sequence" as an active template. The fusion rate of ordinary infected people is extremely low. Only a few "full sequence carriers" such as Xiaoling can produce truly effective serum.
The last page of Han Xue's notes was written in a particularly messy manner. "I suspect that there is someone else behind the scenes. It is not surprising that the virus got out of control. Xiaoling is not only the only key, but the active factors in her body are also very easy to manipulate. If they fall into the hands of the military or Dawn, the consequences will be disastrous. My brows tightened... The real disaster may have just begun, and the Orion Project is just a fuse."
Under these file folders, there are also multiple biological information collection reports and virus experiment data, all marked with X7 code.
Lu Zhao leaned back in his chair and tapped the table. He saved the screenshot to another mobile hard drive.
The detailed experimental texts and death reports in each folder make it difficult to breathe.
A biological profile data chart popped up on the screen. It was a holographic skeleton of a girl about eight years old - X7. Star-shaped labels next to the main organs indicated "Fusion successful".
Han Xue left a note for herself in the article: "The 'Stardust' gene in X7 is active, showing extremely high metabolic repair potential. It can heal itself and secrete special antibodies in extreme infection environments. In theory, the active substance derived from this sequence can be used as the core raw material for universal vaccines."
There was another sentence, "I have applied to my superiors to transfer X7, and I am waiting for orders."
Lu Zhao pondered over this passage from beginning to end, feeling a sense of foreboding in his heart.
He wanted to turn off the screen and call for help, but stopped himself - these things were too sensitive and he didn't want to leak them easily.
The USB flash drive on the table was still flashing a blue indicator light. Lu Zhao reached out and unplugged it, put it in his pocket, and encrypted the file.
At the same time, deep in the experimental area, Su Wanqing sat in front of the operating table, fiddling with the energy core in the glass sealed box.
The jade bracelet was quietly placed on the table opposite. She turned on the shortwave analyzer on the table, entered the acquisition program, and the instrument began low-frequency scanning.
The data shows that the oscillation pattern inside the energy core is very consistent with the energy level detected by the jade bracelet, and the synchronization rate is always maintained at close to 100%.
Su Wanqing held the instrument and slowly moved the jade bracelet closer to the energy core. Suddenly, the frequency on the scanner increased, and tiny blue light pulses appeared on the surface of the core. The blue light flickered, echoing the light blue light band on the edge of the jade bracelet.
At this time, the surface temperature of the jade bracelet rises slightly and the symbols move slowly.
Su Wanqing stared at the rotating rune, thought for a moment, concentrated all her mental strength between the jade bracelet and the core, and tentatively used her consciousness to guide the jade bracelet and the core to fit further together.
With a slight "ziz" sound, the originally static symbols on the jade bracelet began to rotate slowly, then gradually became faster, the light and shadow diffused, the instrument sensor captured the synchronous oscillation, and a series of holographic projections popped up on the screen.
A blurry map was projected in the air. Su Wanqing leaned over and took a closer look. She could vaguely make out the outline of the fortress's internal structure. An elliptical area was marked in bright blue in the middle, and there were six faint blue dots in the corners.
She quickly drew the layout on paper, trying to analyze the exact coordinates of the next energy core.
The temperature of the jade bracelet gradually dropped, the symbol stopped, and the map disappeared.
She looked up, called up the system address book, and clicked on Lin Che's name on the screen, thinking that they would go find the next core together after he recovered his restraints and strength.
The lab was quiet now, with only the humming of the equipment. She didn't say anything more, put away the jade bracelet and energy core, and stuffed the blueprint into her small bag.
Su Wanqing carefully remembered every detail that happened.
Lin Che was still staying in the medical area, waiting for any response from Ye, and could only figure out on his own "what exactly are the stars that Xiaoling is talking about".
Xiaoling lay quietly at the head of the bed, occasionally looking up and whispering something to the air, her voice very low.
Lin Che didn’t understand the meaning of those words and could only turn his attention back to the fatigue of his body and the blankness in his mind.
Su Wanqing walked out of the experimental area and quietly stopped all the usable instruments.
She took out the jade bracelet, weighed it in her palm, and thought about her next plan again.
The brief appearance of the holographic map just now left only one line of words in her mind: "There are six cores left."
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