Chapter 176 Initial Cooperation
The girl's mumbling gradually subsided, and Lu Zhao was still recording data on the side.
Su Wanqing left the room and went to the living room with several draft agreements that she had just written. Liming was already waiting there, looking a little tired.
There was a strange woman next to him. She had short hair, a cold face, and was wearing military green work clothes. There was an indescribable self-restraint in her expression.
Liming said, "This is Han Xue, the chief researcher on our team."
Su Wanqing didn't respond. She handed the agreement to the table and said directly: "Let's first clarify the details of the cooperation - we only agree to exchange information, and the experimental conditions must also be clear. No one from your team is allowed to get close to the girl. Anyone who tries to interfere with our research or decision-making will terminate the cooperation immediately."
Li Ming nodded and pushed the file in front of Han Xue: "I understand. We don't want to cause any trouble."
Lu Zhao then held the printed data in his hand and whispered to Su Wanqing: "The data can be encrypted in different levels, and the core projects must be operated in isolation."
Su Wanqing wrote a few words and handed them to Lu Zhao. Han Xue stepped forward and asked only one question: "Can we start the data connection?" Her voice was calm, without any emotion.
After exchanging the paper documents, Han Xue took out a metal storage box with a combination lock and handed it to Lu Zhao, and they went into the study together.
Han Xue opened the box and took out a thick data set file. Paper analysis charts were piled on the table. The top page read: "Gene Activation Sequence Analysis - Apple No. 1 Experiment Data Simplified Version."
Han Xue said to Lu Zhao: "The virus is not just a source of infection, it is actually a genetic key. We have analyzed that only some people have activated genetic fragments. This group of elements in your girl's body is the activation channel."
Lu Zhao flipped through the pages one by one, his brows furrowed more and more as he read. He overlapped the vital signs map he collected with Han Xue's pedigree map, and whispered, "These are the latent activation areas... It turns out that they match our hypothesis."
Han Xue pushed another document over, pointing to the detailed data: "In addition to Apple No. 1, there are other numbers. A total of seven experimental subjects were arranged in the Eden Project. These children were initially placed in different closed environments, and genetic engineering was carried out simultaneously. Apple No. 1 is your girl. Lin Che's related superpower genes were first classified as the Light Messenger Group."
Lu Zhao stopped and looked at Han Xue: "What do you mean? Lin Che has a direct connection with Apple One?"
Han Xue replied briefly: "The gene comparison analysis showed that the activation modules were highly correlated. The fluctuations in your abilities are likely to be complementary reactions."
The atmosphere in the conference room was tense. Lin Che stood at the door without saying a word, but stood up slightly straighter.
Su Wanqing did not interrupt at this time. While taking notes, Lu Zhao poured some of Han Xue's data into the backup terminal and ran a comparative analysis using the internal program.
He asked Han Xue: "Is your data complete? How many test subjects have been observed to have supernatural changes?"
Han Xue shook her head: "We have only tracked four. Apple One's ability awakened the earliest, and the Light Messenger group is too special. Currently, only Lin Che is confirmed to be a suspect. I brought all this information."
Su Wanqing pushed the stack of agreements back to Liming and repeatedly confirmed the terms: "The cooperation can be terminated at any time, and any action that crosses the line will be considered a breach of contract. We will record and back up all the experimental processes, and you cannot interfere with the control of the conditions."
Li Ming pointed at the contract with a pen, checking each item. He said, "No problem. You can arrange for someone to keep an eye on us, and I will also keep someone here." His tone was calm.
Su Wanqing casually wrote a line of words on a piece of paper and handed it to Lu Zhao to keep. She turned sideways and looked at Lin Che: "Do you have anything to add?"
Lin Che still stood there and said calmly, "Information exchange should not fall into the network channel. The physical port should be encrypted once and then completely destroyed."
Su Wanqing nodded.
Time passed minute by minute, and Han Xue and Lu Zhao lowered their heads and quickly recorded the equations and database files.
Lu Zhao suddenly asked: "Do you have a solution for the catalyst or activator?"
Han Xue pulled out a small page from the folder and handed it to Lu Zhao. "The plan is recorded. This is the theoretical catalytic process, but it is currently very risky. It has only been used in clinical simulations."
Lu Zhao stroked the paper and copied a few formulas. "Where did you get your on-site data? The Apple One is here with us and has never left."
Han Xue lowered her head to sort out her documents. "We only rely on the remaining samples and databases for tracking, and the data is always incomplete."
Lu Zhao nodded.
At this time, Xiao Ran handed over a pen from the side, lowered his eyes, leaned back on the sofa and pretended nothing had happened.
While observing the changes in Liming and Han Xue's expressions, he pretended to look through some documents at the table.
The exchange was over. Li Ming and Han Xue stood up to leave, but Su Wanqing stopped them and confirmed one last time: "Only two of you are allowed to enter, and you are not allowed to stay for more than 30 minutes. The control authority here will always belong to us."
Li Ming reached out and took the agreement and put it in his pocket. Han Xue zipped up the bag and put the remaining documents into the box.
The two left the villa, and Xiao Ran turned and entered the inner hall, whispering to Su Wanqing: "I kept an eye on them and left a location mark."
Su Wanqing didn't say anything, but only told Lu Zhao to keep all the information and lock the hard drive in the safe.
Soon, it was getting dark. Xiao Ran went out for a walk, sneaking in the shadows to a distance, and saw Li Ming and Han Xue walking along the path, and finally turned into the camp where the scavenger team was stationed.
Xiao Ran leaned over from the corner and looked around calmly. The camp was much larger than he expected, with tents everywhere and equipment in good order. There were two groups of armed men patrolling the outer circle.
He pulled his mask down, counted the number of people, and silently noted in his mind: "More than eight people, almost fifteen, all carrying weapons."
Han Xue entered the main tent and spoke in a low voice to a young man with short hair and a stern expression.
Xiao Ran carefully adjusted his angle, stuck close to the edge of the tent, and eavesdropped on the conversation.
Han Xue lowered her voice and said, "Experimental Subject No. 7 has really awakened? Can you confirm that this is not a misjudgment?"
The young man also lowered his voice and said, "Confirmed, the scanner detected something unusual yesterday afternoon. The child ran away on his own and has not been contacted since then. Headquarters asked us to report immediately, but Liming always felt that now was not the right time to act."
Han Xue repeatedly confirmed: "Where is he?"
The young man replied: "We are still investigating the route. We only know that there was no direct contact with other test subjects."
Han Xue put away the information and walked to the door. "Let's prepare for reinforcements tomorrow."
The young man nodded.
Xiao Ran shrank back and hid himself, remembering every detail of the conversation.
He turned his head and looked at the scavenger members who had returned to the camp. Everyone's steps were as steady as steel, their movements were highly consistent, and signs of training were obvious.
He lowered his head and quickly left the scavenger camp, taking a detour back to the villa.
At the villa, Lu Zhao was typing code over and over in front of his laptop. From the next room came the occasional sound of Lin Che dropping something heavy.
He checked the data brought by Han Xue again and found that the signal decoding in the virus sequence corresponded perfectly with the "gene key" theory. Thinking of the periodically jittering data waves in the girl's body, his brows tightened a little.
Su Wanqing stayed in the study, waiting for Xiao Ran to come back.
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