Chapter 189 Mysterious Communication
After the last person in the control room left, Su Wanqing still stood in front of the stage with her notebook open at her side.
She was just about to put the key back into her bag when the jade bracelet on her wrist suddenly became hot, as if stimulated by something, and the heat pressed directly against her skin.
Su Wanqing raised her wrist to take a closer look, and suddenly there was a crisp "snap" sound, and the silver chain hanging from the jade bracelet retracted like a snake. Layer after layer of data light streams suddenly intertwined in the air, and in the blink of an eye, the layers of cold light in the main control room were crushed by the holographic projection.
A vague outline emerged in the projection, leaving only lines and blurred edges.
The air was filled with electronic noise and impurities. The voice was cold, and the man in the shadows seemed to be wearing a heavy voice changer: "Su Wanqing? I'm R."
Su Wanqing tightened her fingertips unconsciously, glanced left and right, and did not move, with some dryness in her throat: "Who are you, and how do you know our communication frequency?"
"No need to try to trace the source. I have secondary authority over your base's equipment, including the data key bound to the jade bracelet."
The voice stopped abruptly and turned to the main topic, "I know you are looking for seven energy cores. Without them, the shield will collapse within thirty-one days. This is a deal, not a rescue."
Su Wanqing frowned, and the sound card on her computer started to sound rapidly. She steadied her voice and asked, "What do you want?"
The other party cut off the beginning and end of each sentence without any delay, "I want Xiaoling's blood sample and her latest gene sequencing data. You take her blood and send it to the laboratory table in the main control area, and upload it using the No. 2 port of your laboratory. Whether it succeeds or not, it will not affect the determination of the first energy core clue."
After a few seconds of silence, R said, "The dark guardian of the Heart of Energy. This is all I have to know about your location. I will monitor whether you upload the sample."
Su Wanqing's hands were sweating as she gripped the table. She leaned close to the terminal and lowered her voice: "What on earth do you want her blood for?"
The holographic image was silent for half a second, and the low hum of the voice changer continued: "You understand the core meaning of the virus, and you also understand the importance of the child next to you. My target is not against individuals, but involves the future of the entire human population. Blood and genes are the only keys to unlock the fundamental data of the Eden Project. Now, you don't have many choices."
The image stopped abruptly, the data stream dissipated, and the jade bracelet turned cold, as if nothing had happened.
Su Wanqing raised her eyes and wrote down the matter in her notebook without saying a word. Then she whispered to Lu Zhao to come to the main control room, and used the internal communicator to ask Lin Che and Xiao Ran to come over as well.
A few minutes later, they all walked in. Lu Zhao closed the password box and frowned as he looked towards the holographic device: "What's going on? What happened to you?"
Su Wanqing told the whole process. Four people gathered in front of the conference table, each with a different expression.
Xiao Ran knocked on the edge of the table. "This anonymous contact is most likely a trap. Asking for Xiao Ling's genes and blood samples - this is exactly the same as before Li Ming. They just want to hold all the initiative in their hands and make us give away our last trump card."
Lu Zhao crossed his arms and didn't interrupt. "But R was able to hack into the main control and jade bracelet. It takes some skills to achieve this level. Regardless of whether it's Liming or not, this guy either really has information about the energy core, or it's a high-level feint. God knows if he will directly exchange it with the military after getting the blood and sell us out."
Xiao Ran hooked his fingers and said in a cold voice: "I don't agree to send it out. No matter what he says, doing so is equivalent to establishing an inside line and may also open up a new circuit outside."
Lin Che lowered his head and thought, "But he has already given us a clue," he said slowly: "The Dark Guardian of the Energy Heart. This may be true. Now we only have less than 30 days left. If we can't find the core, everyone will die. If 'R' can fulfill the clue, he may not be willing to give a second clue without giving us something in exchange."
Lu Zhao wrote slowly on the table, "Of course the risk is great. There is one problem that cannot be avoided: if we don't give the blood sample, the clue will be lost; if the blood is given away, maybe it can solve the deadlock. At this point, playing it safe and not taking risks is also equivalent to chronic suicide."
The atmosphere at the conference table was tense, with various voices rising and falling.
Xiao Ran said, "Delay it first. Tell him we are preparing, but we will not let go until the last moment."
Lin Che nodded silently, neither agreeing nor objecting. Su Wanqing pursed her lips, "Can we get a fake blood sample? Use someone else's data?"
Lu Zhao shook his head. "'R' can simulate all data flows and the forgery will be exposed immediately. He can monitor the entire environment inside our machine and can even tell when the blood was drawn and whether there was any confusion during the process."
As they were arguing, a few coughs were heard from the main control room door. Xiao Ling was leaning against the door wrapped in a blanket, her face was pale and a little scary.
She said in a very soft voice: "R is a good person."
Everyone looked at her. Xiao Ling was still repeating, "R is a good person." Her voice was expressionless, and she didn't explain the reason. She just kept repeating it over and over again like a command.
Lin Che walked over, carefully put his arm around Xiao Ling's shoulders, and used a pen to test her temperature.
Xiaoling stopped talking and hugged her arms. She didn't seem to be afraid, nor did she seem to be trying to defend herself.
Xiao Ran lowered his head. "Are we going to take all the risks just because of her words?"
Lin Che said slowly, "She never speaks like this to strangers. The last time Li Ming approached her, she just cried. Her intuition is always the most accurate. I think it's worth trusting this time."
Su Wanqing wrote a line on the paper and then crossed it out. After a while, she said, "We won't agree to the deal yet. We need to find out the information about the first energy core first. This 'R' has only given us clues and will not stop there. I'll make the decision. We will look for clues first, and we can discuss the blood sample after we confirm it is safe enough."
The meeting was temporarily put on hold and it was decided to check the relevant data on energy guidance first.
Just after the meeting, Xiao Ling suddenly gasped violently on the sofa. A layer of cold sweat oozed from her forehead, a blue light flashed on her palm, and curved light blue symbols appeared on her skin.
Lin Che reacted very quickly, took two steps forward, and gently placed his palm against Xiao Ling's collarbone.
The blue light rushed into Lin Che's body with a stinging pain. He endured the bloody feeling in his throat and activated the healing factor.
Half a minute later, Xiao Ling gradually calmed down, but she was much quieter than before. She clenched her fingers into fists and shrank back to her mother.
Lin Che's face turned pale, with large patches of cold sweat on his forehead and the corners of his clothes soaked with sweat.
He had only sat down for two minutes when Ye's voice suddenly rang in his mind, "You are consuming your essence. Every time you save her, you are fighting against the source of the virus. Your body can't bear to do this many times. Xiaoling's problem cannot be cured simply. She is part of the virus subsystem."
Lin Che took a deep breath, his fingers trembling a little, and he secretly made up his mind not to be stubborn anymore.
After a moment, he made a brief record, writing down Xiaoling's body temperature and heartbeat, but stopped halfway.
This is not an ordinary infection. After recovering, the blue power in my body is even more fierce than last time. Every time I fight against it, it is a hard fight and no one can withstand it.
Su Wanqing took out a spare antipyretic from the medicine box and handed one to Lin Che.
She whispered, "Is there something particularly wrong with you?"
Lin Che shook her head, refusing to say more, and looked at Lu Zhao for help.
Lu Zhao frowned and whispered, "Don't hold on for a while. Wait for me to dig out more virus data from the database, and then formulate an adjustment plan based on her latest changes."
Xiao Ran watched the whole process and divided the team into two groups: night watch and patrol. He asked everyone to go to work on time, while he kept a close eye on the main control console and did not leave.
After the meeting, Su Wanqing lowered her head and carefully wrote down a long string of words: "R, energy core, blood sample, risk, delay, clues first."
She paused, pressed the jade bracelet and thought about whether to believe it or delay it a little longer.
As the night deepened, the room was filled with a hazy smell of anxiety.
Xiao Ran was outside, quietly scolding several team members who were taking over the shift. Lin Che took Xiao Ling back to the medical area and helped her rearrange the corners of the blanket.
Lu Zhao went back to check the remaining data files on the USB drive, but he didn't expect to find any new clues within that day.
It was unusually quiet outside. The small desk lamp in the control room cast a few sparse reflections of the screen, and the jumping of data seemed to be waiting for some new information to fall.
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