With a loud bang, Lun Tai smashed the glass with the butt of a gun and broke through the wall.
The blinds were torn down as well.
In a room on the side of the corridor, there were several strange-looking instruments placed in the middle, and in the corner, several computers. Lun Tai quickly found its target.
"Is it this one?" Lun Tai glanced back at Will.
Will looked carefully and soon found a photo frame next to the computer.
In the photo frame, an ordinary-looking man with a stiff expression was staring blankly at the camera.
"It's him, it's the person I saw." Will pointed to the photo frame.
Lun Tai nodded and then opened the computer.
As expected, the computer was protected by a security password.
"He told me that there are some data he left in this computer, and if we look at it, we'll understand, so..."
Will's voice was a bit uneasy, and he whispered, "I don't know why, but after he spoke to me for a few sentences, he just disappeared, and I couldn't hear the rest of what he was saying, it's like his voice was getting softer."
Qiao Qiao patted Will's head. "It's okay, you've already helped us a lot."
With that, she glanced at Roddy. "Is there a way?"
Roddy shook his head. "As long as it's a machine, it's defenseless against me."
The computer's password was quickly cracked by Roddy and opened, revealing a folder named "Alpha Records."
Of course, the folder was also locked, but after a few manipulations by Roddy, it was opened.
Inside were some recorded videos.
They were arranged in sequence, totaling dozens of them.
Roddy opened the first one, and a video appeared on the computer screen.
As soon as Will saw this video, he couldn't help but exclaim softly, "It's him!"
In the video, a man was facing the camera, probably adjusting the camera angle. After a few seconds, he sat back, and his face appeared clearly on the screen, with a dimly lit laboratory in the background.
"Recording begins."
The man's voice was hoarse.
"I am Alpha, Chief Research Officer of Project Zero, Record Number 001."
At this point, Alpha's tone seemed to become more excited. "I have to say, this is the most important day of my career! I haven't slept for over thirty hours now, but I don't feel tired at all. I think if things go smoothly, maybe I can win a Nobel Prize for this.
This substance is like nothing I've ever seen before, and all my expertise seems to be of no use. We are currently trying to analyze it. Nevertheless, all of us, every single one of us, is very excited!
I have a premonition that a door to this world has opened for us."
...
"Record Number 006."
In the video, Alpha's face looked more weary, and he had some stubble on his once-clean face.
"Today, we tried the 26th method of analysis, and the results are the same as the previous 25.
Well, I admit that maybe we've taken the wrong path, and we're stuck in some kind of cognitive bias. So I've decided to take a break for now. We need new inspiration.
I miss my family a lot. I've decided to take a few days off and take my kids to play by the beach in Tel Aviv.
What on earth is this?"
...
"Record Number 009."
"My God! My God! My God! What did I see! It's reverse mutation, it's fission!!! Although I don't understand what's going on right now, I believe there must be rules involved! What we need to do is find those rules!
Maybe we're getting close! Yes, I have that feeling!"
...
"Record Number 013."
"Damn it! Damn it! All the cultivations have failed! This is challenging my faith in science! It's a subversion of my field of expertise! I've never seen anything like this before!
No, I won't give up! None of us will give up!
We will find it, we will find the right cultivation method! These rules can be replicated!! There must be rules within it!"
...
"Record Number 016."
"We've tried more methods, using over forty different viruses, including six composite ones, and all of them had no effect on it. Some even underwent complete reverse mutation and assimilation.
But we've finally made some discoveries. It seems to be growing? Yes, it's growing.
We will continue with new attempts."
...
"Record Number 019."
"This is a tragic accident. The leakage of the virus was beyond our control. Poor Gwinberg, I hope he recovers soon."
...
"Record Number 024."
"On the 136th day of the experiment, a major discovery! We've confirmed it repeatedly, conducted repeated experiments, and it's certain: this substance is now effective against all the stimulating viruses we're using!
Perhaps it will change the entire field of biochemical pharmaceuticals!"
...
"Record Number 026."
"Another failure. All the acting viruses, after reverse mutation, died completely. It's simply too miraculous. How should I put it? It's as if it can absorb all attacks against it."
...
"Record Number 027."
"May God bless Eva; she's the most outstanding lab assistant I've ever seen."
...
"Record Number 030."
"I really don't understand. I'm lost once again. I feel like I can't find a way forward!
This thing, perhaps, is not a living organism at all. It's not life! It has no cellular structure, no basic characteristics of life! It's a complete overturning of all my knowledge! In front of it, I'm as ignorant as anyone else."
...
"Record Number 033."
"Unsynthesizable! Unsynthesizable! Unsynthesizable! Thirteen experiments, all of them unsynthesizable!
Damn it, it's right here, but we can't cultivate or replicate it!"
...
"Record Number 036."
"I can hardly believe what's happening! It's actually creating new life! It's fission! It's creating new viruses through fission! If we weren't careful enough, we might have missed all of this!
It's fissioning new viruses, and after fission, it devours them.
What is this? Is it feeding on itself??"
...
From Record Number 036 onwards, the next several video files that Roddy tried to open were all marked as deleted.
Lun Tai and the others frowned, and Lun Tai asked Roddy, "Can they be recovered?"
"In theory, it's possible, but it takes time, not as fast as we need it. We probably don't have that much time," Roddy sighed.
With that, Roddy continued to click down with the mouse.
Finally, when clicking on the last video, the screen displayed once more.
In the video, Alpha, wearing a white coat, had a full beard on his face, looked haggard, had bloodshot eyes, and even appeared somewhat neurotic.
"This... no, this is the last recording!
We're all finished, all of us! We should never have done this in the first place! This is not something we can touch, not a realm we can explore, not a power we can encounter!
Perhaps it's the will of the Creator!
If I could do it all over again, I would never have accepted this job offer!
Now everyone is dead!
That thing will devour, it will devour everything! Our hundreds of experiments have actually been providing nutrients for it, helping it grow!
Just a moment ago, Security Captain Lev personally lured it back into the isolation zone, but Lev is forever trapped inside!
I still don't know how it escaped, the isolation zone was completely sealed.
Robb is dead, David is dead, and I'm about to die.
Everything will come to an end!
This place should have been sealed long ago!!
This is my final message, we should have ended this damn project a long time ago!
I don't have much time left, I will immediately enter the isolation chamber and shut myself in. I don't know what I will become...
Oh, Creator, please forgive our sins! I don't want to become like them after I die!
May the souls of all rest in peace.
That door must never be opened, we have no way to control it.
After over 450 days of research, we still haven't understood it.
This fucked up thing is not even in the field of biochemistry!!!
I don't even know what it is! It's not any form of life I've ever learned about, any form of life I've ever known!!
The evacuation warning has been issued, and I can't do anymore... May God bless everyone."
The video ended at this point.
In front of the computer, the members of the Meteor Rock Guild looked at each other, their hearts heavy, and some even shivered.
Lun Tai muttered, "This is..."
"It seems like some scientists created something very dangerous," Roddy sighed. "It's like... a biohazard, like Resident Evil?"
"I also think it's something like that," Qiao Qiao frowned. "Could this be the plot?"
"All right," Lun Tai took a deep breath. "I think... despite the chaos, there are at least some clues."
Pausing for a moment, Lun Tai spoke in a low voice, "This Alpha mentioned that his colleagues all died, and they turned into something terrifying before they died. He was afraid of turning into that too..."
At this point, Lun Tai glanced at Roddy, and everyone else also turned their gaze to Roddy.
"Perhaps... this is the key to zombification!" Qiao Qiao clenched her fists.
"So what?" Roddy sighed. "This Alpha should be one of the top scientists here, and even he couldn't figure out what that 'thing' is before he died. If this is a virus that causes zombification, then Alpha and his team didn't have a cure either."
Qiao Qiao, however, exclaimed loudly, "Regardless, this is our only hope! Roddy, it seems that what they were researching here is closely related to the zombification virus in you. So, I think we should open that door and go inside!"
Roddy remained silent.
Lun Tai added, "I agree with Qiao Qiao's suggestion! It's our only hope."
After hearing no objections from the members of the other squads, a consensus was reached.
Lun Tai immediately made a decision and sent a brief description of the situation through the team channel to Chen Xiaolian. Whether Chen Xiaolian could receive it or not was uncertain.
There was no response from Chen Xiaolian's team channel all along, which had already caused some concern among the group.
However, at this moment, Roddy's condition was worsening as time went on, and there were no other options.
"Then let's prepare to enter!"
Lun Tai took a deep breath.
"I'll go at the front," Roddy stood up, his expression serious. "I'm already infected anyway, so it doesn't matter if I get infected again. Besides... if things go wrong, everyone should retreat immediately! There's no need to fight to the death here."
Qiao Qiao glanced at Roddy but found him locking eyes with her with a stubborn gaze. She simply turned her head away and didn't look at Roddy anymore.
"Alright, you go in front, and I'll be the second," Lun Tai spoke up. "Xiaolei, watch our back!"
...
The group walked back from the broken laboratory to the corridor, reaching the intersection and heading towards the gate.
Roddy took the lead, reached out, and touched the handle of the gate, muttering, "I don't know the mechanism of this thing, whether it's an electronic password or something else. If it's powered, we'll have to figure out how to connect the power..."
"Violently forcing it open, we have enough bombs with us, but this is underground. If the explosion is too strong, I'm afraid this place might collapse," Lun Tai shook his head.
Roddy furrowed his brow, his hand gripping the handle almost absentmindedly.
Suddenly, Roddy felt the handle in his hand being turned! Click, click...
Roddy's expression immediately became very strange.
"This door... it's open? It wasn't locked!"