Mr. Si
The deep-sea tranquility of the "Coral City" was left far behind. The "Night Owl" was like a ghost ship, lurking above the clouds and quietly approaching the homeland that was both familiar and unfamiliar to Si Qi - the northern mountainous area where the Si family's old house was located.
The air within the bridge was tense. The information Lin Huang provided weighed like a heavy rock on everyone's heart. "Original Blood," the alien meteorite, the mothers' secret struggles, Shao Qing's latent madness... The truth peeled back layer by layer, revealing a darker and more terrifying core.
Shao Wei sat in the passenger seat, eyes closed, deep in concentration. He had spent most of his time in this state since waking, seemingly adapting to and mastering the new and immense power within him. His pheromones no longer escaped, but were perfectly contained, like the stillness of the sea before a storm.
Si Qi repeatedly studied the structural diagrams of the Si family mansion provided by Lin Huang, particularly the entrance to the underground laboratory and its possible defenses. It had been his childhood prison, filled with indifferent servants, red tape, and Shao Qing's occasional, scrutinizing gaze, like he was examining merchandise. Now, he had to return as an intruder.
"How do we get in?" Hong Falcon broke the silence, adjusting the parameters of the spacecraft's stealth coating. "Just barging in won't work. Shao Qing is no fool. The old house's defense system is probably not much worse than IGEC's 'Ice Coffin'."
"Don't go through the main gate." Si Qi's finger stopped at an inconspicuous location on the structural diagram, marked "abandoned freight channel". "Here, it is connected to the old mine in the back mountain. When I was a child... I sneaked in." That was one of his rare adventures against the arranged life.
Ahmet immediately pulled up a geological scan of the area. "The tunnel entrance is mostly buried by a landslide, but the structure appears to be intact. I can try to open an opening with a small directional blast, but the noise must be minimal."
"Shao Wei and I will go in," Si Qi made the decision. "The fewer people, the better. Hongshun, you will provide support from the outside, monitoring communications and any pursuers. Ahmet and Gu Zhixing will stay on the spaceship, ready to respond at any time."
No one objected. This is the most reasonable solution at the moment.
A few hours later, the Night Owl silently hovered over a dense forest outside the Si family's territory. Si Qi and Shao Wei changed into lightweight black combat uniforms, carried the necessary equipment, and descended into the pitch-black forest via a rope.
The night in the mountain forest was bitterly cold, the air thick with the scent of pine needles and earth. Like predators blending into the shadows, the two men swiftly navigated the rugged mountain terrain, relying on Siqi's hazy memories and the guidance of an electronic map.
The entrance to the abandoned mine was hidden behind overgrown thorns and fallen trees, almost blending in with the mountain. Ahmet used a remote-controlled micro-drone to confirm the interior—the front half of the passage was indeed blocked by rubble, but there seemed to be a gap deeper.
"The explosion point has been calculated. The power will be kept to a minimum." Ahmet's voice came from the headset. "Ready... 3, 2, 1!"
A dull explosion, mostly absorbed by the earth, echoed. When the smoke and dust cleared, a narrow opening, barely wide enough for one person to crawl through, was revealed.
Si Qi was the first to enter, followed closely by Shao Wei. The passage was thick with the smell of dust and decay, and the ground beneath their feet was slippery gravel. They turned on the flashlights on their helmets, and the beams of light cut through the pitch-black mine.
After crawling for nearly a hundred meters, the road ahead opened up, connecting to the abandoned freight tunnel Siqi remembered. The tunnel was wider, but filled with rusted tracks and abandoned mine carts. The air circulated a bit, carrying the unique, cold, damp smell of the old house's underground.
Following the map, they carefully slid down the passageway toward the main structure of the old house. The journey was eerily quiet; no alarms were triggered, and no patrolling guards were encountered. This unusual tranquility only made them even more uneasy.
"It went so smoothly." Shao Wei whispered, his ice-blue eyes scanning the surroundings vigilantly in the darkness.
Si Qi felt the same way. Given Shao Qing's cautious nature, there was no way he'd leave such an obvious loophole. Unless... this was a trap.
But now that things have come to this, they have no way out.
At the end of the passage was a heavy, rusted iron door. The lock had long since broken, and Siqi easily cut the latch with hydraulic pliers. Pushing the heavy door open, a stronger smell, a mixture of disinfectant and stale paper, hit him.
Behind the door was a clean, bright, futuristic corridor, forming an eerie contrast with the dilapidated and decayed mine outside.
This is the secret laboratory area of the Smith family.
On either side of the corridor were transparent, isolated rooms filled with a variety of advanced experimental equipment. Some even contained dormant incubators, bathed in the vague, indescribable outlines of biological tissue. The low hum of the instruments echoed in the air.
Everything was neat and orderly, as if someone had just used it, but there was also a sense of deathly silence.
"The laboratory's main control room is at the end of the corridor." Si Qi whispered based on his memory and Lin Huang's hint.
The two of them walked lightly and quickly towards the main control room. Along the way, they passed several data storage rooms, through the glass they could see a large number of server cabinets lined up inside.
Finally, they arrived at the main control room. The metal door was closed, and next to it was a terminal that required identity verification.
Si Qi and Shao Wei looked at each other and put their hands on the verification table at the same time.
"Gene sequence scan... Siqi, confirmed."
"Gene sequence scan... Mr. Shao, confirm."
"The two sequences match, and the highest authority is granted."
A cold electronic sound rang out, and the metal door slid open silently.
The main control room was brightly lit, with complex data and models streaming across a giant circular screen. In the center of the room, sitting on a swivel chair, was a person.
It was not the expected researcher or guard, but Shao Qing.
He was wearing a neatly ironed black Mao suit, his hair meticulously combed, his hands folded in his lap, as if he had been waiting for a long time. His face looked paler than the last time we spoke, his eye sockets sunken, but his eyes were still as sharp as a hawk, with a controlling, heart-pounding calm.
"Seventeen minutes later than I expected," Shao Qing said slowly, his voice echoing in the empty control room, with a hint of imperceptible fatigue. "It seems that the gift of Threads of Life is truly extraordinary."
Si Qi and Shao Wei instantly entered combat mode, their pheromones instinctively surged, and the scent of sandalwood and the polar deep sea intertwined, filling the entire space.
Shao Qing merely raised his eyelids, seemingly unfazed by their vigilance. His gaze fell on Shao Wei, a complex, almost scrutinizing expression. "You look fine, even... exceeding my initial expectations. Ah Wen's surreptitious substitution of the 'Original Blood' seems to have paid off."
He knew! He really knew everything!
"What exactly do you want to do?" Si Qi stepped forward, protecting Shao Wei behind him, his voice cold.
Shao Qing didn't answer directly, but instead manipulated the console to bring up an extremely complex set of genetic helical structures and energy fluctuation maps. At the core of the map, an ominous, dark red light flickered.
"This is the essence of 'Original Blood,'" Shao Qing pointed at the dark red light. "A 'seed' from beyond the starry sea... It grants power, but also spreads madness. The ancestors of the Si and Shao families rose to power through it, but also bore its curse."
His finger moved to a relatively soft, ice-blue data set next to the graph: "And this is the... 'mutant' in your body now. More stable, more... tolerant." There was a hint of indescribable... desire in his tone?
"You brought us here just to say this?" Shao Wei spoke in a calm voice, as if he was discussing something that had nothing to do with him.
Shao Qing finally turned his gaze away from the screen and looked at them directly. In his bottomless eyes, an almost paranoid light surged: "I need your blood."
Si Qi and Shao Wei's pupils shrank at the same time.
"Not all." Shao Qing stated as if stating a fait accompli. "I just need enough samples to allow me to complete the final... 'purification' and 'completion'. In exchange, I can let you go, and even... help you deal with the IGEC inspection."
He stood up, and a massive, chaotic pheromone, reeking of rust and destruction, spread like a substance, suffocating him. This power far exceeded anything Siqi had ever felt before, yet it was also filled with an extremely unstable, violent feeling on the verge of collapse.
"Look around you!" Shao Qing opened his arms, pointing to the dormant incubators and servers. "This place records the struggles of generations of the Si and Shao families! It records the price paid to control this power! I'm the one closest to success! I only have one last step left! As long as I can fuse the 'purified' 'Original Blood' within you, I can surpass my limits, break free from the curse, and lead my family to true eternity!"
His voice was fanatical, but his eyes were as cold as a venomous snake.
"And then?" Shao Wei suddenly asked, his icy blue eyes staring directly at Shao Qing's madness. "Just like you treated us and our mother, continue to create more 'tools' and 'experiments'? Is this what you call eternity?"
Shao Qing's expression instantly darkened. "You don't understand! This is evolution! It's the only way to transcend the mundane! Emotions and ethics are merely shackles for the weak!"
"We don't understand," Si Qi stepped forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with Shao Wei. The sandalwood pheromones were no longer just protective, but had a fierce aggression. "And we don't want to understand. We are here today to end this nightmare that has lasted too long."
He didn't know when a tiny USB-disk-like device appeared in his hand - it was the key to the laboratory database given to Shao Wei by Lin Huang.
"It's to take back what belongs to our mother, it's to..." Si Qi's eyes were as sharp as a knife, and he spoke word by word, "to make you pay for everything you have done."
The atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point!
The last trace of warmth in Shao Qing's eyes disappeared, leaving only pure, cold murderous intent.
"If that's the case..." He slowly raised his hand. All the screens in the control room instantly turned a blinding red, and alarms blared shrilly! "Then I'll let you witness with your own eyes what it truly looks like when the 'Original Blood' goes out of control!"
The entire laboratory began to shake violently! The dormant culture chambers exploded one after another, and the twisted biological tissues inside crawled out, emitting inhuman roars! Countless automatic weapon stations emerged from the walls and ceiling, and red targeting lasers instantly locked onto Si Qi and Shao Wei!
The fangs of the trap are finally exposed!
And Siqi, at the moment the alarm sounded, had already inserted the key into a hidden interface on the main console!
"Ahmet! Now!" he yelled into the communicator!
The battle for data and the life-and-death struggle on the physical level broke out simultaneously in this underground laboratory full of sins and secrets!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
