“I’m… sorry…”
Dr. Zheng’s eyes were red with tears. He rushed forward as if to support Si Nan but was firmly pushed away.
Si Nan staggered two steps, each step feeling like walking on clouds, then was simultaneously grabbed by several hands around him. He no longer had the strength to break free, knelt to the ground, and fell to the left.
“Take him away…”
“Keep it quiet… quickly…”
The voices were mixed and blurry, as if water had entered his ears. Si Nan took a few short breaths, raising his hand with all his might. Using the blind spot created by his leftward fall, he pressed the positioning device in his left ear.
—But that was his last conscious thought.
Ning Yu walked forward, kneeling down and gently closing Si Nan’s eyes.
Buzz—
Yan Hao sensitively looked up: “Si Nan?”
Sunlight spilled on the ground in front of the cafeteria, with a few people walking by in the distance.
Yan Hao pressed the vibrating ear stud, looked around, and suddenly felt uneasy. He put down the half-replaced bumper and quickly walked towards the bathroom behind the cafeteria.
“…Si Nan,” Yan Hao’s voice was unstable: “Si Nan?”
The afternoon was eerily quiet, with no response.
Yan Hao’s heart began to race. He didn’t dare to call out loudly, turning around completely. The positioning device suddenly went wild when he faced a certain angle—behind some trees, beyond a wall.
How could it be behind the wall?
Yan Hao stepped back, took a running start, and easily vaulted over the two-meter-high wall, landing steadily!
Before him was the edge of the base’s dormitory area, with several abandoned concrete buildings standing nearby. A quiet path connected to the cafeteria, winding through these buildings towards the base’s interior.
Yan Hao seemed to discover something, his gaze suddenly freezing as he strode forward.
At the end of the path, the greenery clearly showed traces of multiple footsteps, with freshly overturned grass and broken dry branches. His gaze fell on the concrete wall, stopping in shock—there were radiating, cracked holes at the base of the wall—bullet holes!
Yan Hao began to tremble uncontrollably, standing up suddenly. At that moment, the positioning device stopped vibrating.
He could hardly believe it, instinctively reaching for his ear stud. The rice-sized ruby was quiet.
An extreme chill spread through his internal organs. Yan Hao looked around, realizing Si Nan had disappeared.
—Zhou Rong had told him never to let Si Nan be alone in this base.
But now, Si Nan was gone.
Footsteps and conversation sounds drifted near and far, consciousness floating like drifting in the deep sea, suddenly surfacing, then sinking back to the seabed.
“I know.” A cold and steady male voice said, this time close to the ear, each word very clear: “I promised you.”
Sinan’s eyelashes trembled violently, and after a few seconds, he dazedly opened his eyes.
Lights – this was his first impression.
The indoor temperature was slightly cool, and beneath him was a soft leather recliner. White light surrounded the entire space, bright but not glaring. Sinan tried to move his hands and feet, and as expected, was handcuffed.
“…” He barely raised his eyelids, and after a few seconds, his unfocused gaze regained focus, discovering he was in a massive laboratory, with a large and messy experimental table not far ahead.
Ning Yu sat in an armchair, legs crossed, fingers interlaced on his thighs, his gaze behind gold-rimmed glasses completely emotionless. Dr. Zheng stood in the corner near the door, and seeing him awake, impulsively took two steps forward.
Sinan shifted his gaze, not looking at Ning Yu or Dr. Zheng, his eyes falling to his side.
About two or three meters from his left hand was an operating table, on which lay a man with grayish skin and dark eye circles, completely bound with restraints used for controlling mental patients.
He was infected and was transforming into a fresh zombie.
Sinan retracted his gaze, his voice hoarse: “Where is this place?”
“Hello, Noah.” Ning Yu spoke, his tone low: “As you can see, this is my human experimentation site.
When I was sixteen, I went to A country to pursue a doctoral degree, and Dr. Zhong Wan and his wife, Dr. Alisa Felman, were my fellow students. We studied viral genetics under the same advisor, aiming to promote gene modification through viral invasion, enhancing human gene quality and extending life expectancy.
Si Nan was caught off guard by learning his parents’ real names and was momentarily stunned.
“Considering we are all Chinese, Dr. Zhong Wan provided me with a lot of professional help. Unfortunately, a few months later, he was infected with a virus in an experimental accident and died. Dr. Alisa Felman disappeared from the research base with his body and you.”
“…You…” Si Nan’s voice began to waver: “I don’t remember these things. Tell me more about my parents back then…”
He was eager to know what his parents, who were strangers in his memory, were like. He wanted to know more specific details, even trivial childhood events.
But Ning Yu showed no expression, answering with just six words: “No time, no interest.”
“After the experimental accident,” Ning Yu replaced the blood collection tube and continued, “the project was considered highly dangerous and confidential. Therefore, the military took over the entire research institute and began searching for Dr. Felman’s whereabouts. The body of Dr. Zhong Wan and the series of mutative behaviors produced by the body became targets of great interest to the military.”
Si Nan noticed his wording: mutative behaviors produced by the body.
“Although you were very young at the time, you should remember that there was always a bloodthirsty, wailing father in your home who constantly tried to violently attack you and leave various wounds on you. Its behavior was monitored by military personnel and considered a major verification of virus research, with milestone significance. From that year on, the research base began human experiments under military instructions.”
Dr. Zheng, listening nearby, was completely shocked.
Si Nan closed his eyes, with countless chaotic memories flashing through his mind. He opened his eyes and trembled, “…White Eagle Base?”
“I don’t know what it was later renamed,” Ning Yu said, “because I quit the project team that year and escaped back to the country.”
Ning Yu used tweezers to remove the test tube containing the pale yellow serum.
Si Nan glanced at the groaning man beside him, then looked at Ning Yu: “After returning to the country, did you continue human experiments, leading to the virus outbreak?”
“Am I crazy?” Ning Yu said impatiently.
“To be honest, at that time, all capable countries in the world were conducting such research. Human pursuit of ‘a better self’ and ‘longer life’ is endless… The only difference is whether to insert viruses as gene modification methods and whether to use live subjects for experiments. I’m quite certain our country used chimpanzees, and I have no doubt this will be a significant foreshadowing before the disaster.”
Ning Yu walked to the man who was turning into a zombie, pushed out the air from the syringe, and injected the biochemically synthesized serum into his blood vessels.
“As for me,” he said, “I only started using live subjects after the virus fully broke out… For example, the person in front of you.”
The man’s chest heaved violently, emitting an inhuman scream. Dr. Zheng closed his eyes heavily.
Si Nan asked hoarsely: “Is this why Chen Yajing accepts survivors?”
“Of course not. But I will indeed use opponents and isolated survivors as experimental subjects, which are harder to be discovered.”
