Chapter 42 Part 2

Back in the dorm, Lin Juan said, “We need to find a way to track Mr. Qiao’s whereabouts—ideally infiltrate his team.”

The eyeball, which had escaped countless times, lay in the box wanting to jump out but froze after Lin Juan’s warning glance.

Sometimes it entered a dormant state where no prodding got a reaction. Lately, these periods had grown more frequent. Lin Juan didn’t voice it, but he was worried inside.

He had checked No. 1 with lab instruments, and all data was normal.

“If these events are truly a replay of the past, Mr. Qiao will leave the experiment zone for the village where Fan Xiwen is. So the question is, can we leave the experiment zone?” Su Xingchen had to remind his companions. “I’ve tried many times during this period but couldn’t exit the zone’s main gate.”

As a researcher, Lin Juan had always stayed inside without chances to leave. Curious, he asked, “How exactly can’t you leave?”

Su Xingchen replied, “You step out the gate into a fog bank. No matter which direction you go in the fog, you end up back at the gate.”

Lin Juan: “Were you alone?”

Su Xingchen: “Yes.”

Lin Juan: “What if we go out with the locals?”

Sheng Tianzong: “I’ll give it a try.”

Besides searching for companions, to gather more clues, the ability users who retained their awareness tried to befriend the natives living here, hoping to learn more details from them.

Sheng Tianzong happened to be on good terms with a security guard responsible for escorting supplies.

After the three discussed it, Sheng Tianzong was driven away from Lin Juan’s side for committing a minor mistake. For the sake of his future prospects, he bribed the security personnel with some benefits and smoothly joined the procurement team.

Two days later, Sheng Tianzong brought back news that wasn’t particularly good.

“I left with them, and sure enough, we didn’t run into the situation Xingchen mentioned. All I saw the whole way out was fog. Those people seemed completely unaffected by the fog and obtained supplies directly from within it.”

“Could the problem be with the laboratory itself?” Lin Juan had a sudden thought.

“How so?” Su Xingchen asked.

“Everything inside the laboratory is normal, which means the illusion’s master knows exactly what’s happening here. But outside, there’s only fog, meaning it has no idea what’s going on out there and can’t simulate it. So our next focus should be finding the flaws in the laboratory.”

Lin Juan had a premonition that once they found the laboratory’s flaws, they would find a way out.

“How’s your clue-gathering going?” This was a rare opportunity. In the normal timeline, the laboratory had already been destroyed, so there were limited things to investigate. After Sheng Tianzong, Su Xingchen, and Lin Juan connected and confirmed they were trapped in the past, they decided to take advantage of this chance to thoroughly investigate and see if they could uncover clues about the mastermind behind the laboratory.

Su Xingchen shook his head. “Not much. So far, we only know their upper organization is called ‘Heavenly Moat.’ But I’ve never heard of that name outside.”

“I’ve searched the materials room here. A lot of the files are confidential. I cracked some of them, but I saw one date mentioned repeatedly: April 18th.” Sheng Tianzong added.

Lin Juan noted down the date.

“Do you remember what you told me before about discovering an underground warehouse? I looked into it later. That’s where they store inactive eyeballs. But it’s strange—most of the eyeballs are chopped up and used as feed for other test subjects. Why set aside a portion to store in the underground warehouse?”

What were those eyeballs used for?

They couldn’t possibly be for people to eat, right?

No—if they were really meant to be eaten by the people in this experimental zone?

The monsters were test subjects. Who knew if, in Mr. Qiao and the others’ eyes, low-level researchers weren’t test subjects too.

After all, they had already done things like using accidents to feed humans to test subjects.

And the artificially sewn half-dead mermaids…

If his guess was right, maybe the laboratory’s destruction came from the people inside discovering the truth and revolting?

Lin Juan voiced his speculation. Sheng Tianzong and Su Xingchen’s hearts tightened. If what Lin Juan said was true, then this laboratory shouldn’t exist at all.

“The laboratory in reality has already been destroyed. Those people couldn’t have deliberately left behind evidence from back then. What we’re experiencing now is very likely something intentionally left behind by the ones who destroyed the laboratory,” Lin Juan continued to speculate.

“Very possible. We need to find a way to track down the people who might have destroyed the laboratory later on,” Sheng Tianzong said.

“I’ll try contacting some researchers on my end. You two work on the others,” Lin Juan assigned the tasks.

The other two had no objections.

With a new direction, Lin Juan stopped obsessing over going out with Mr. Qiao to uncover the truth from back then. If that man went, he would naturally see the truth from that time. If that man didn’t know about it, then even if Lin Juan went out with Mr. Qiao, he wouldn’t see what had happened back then.

With No. 1 around, it was easy for Lin Juan to build rapport with the other researchers.

Mr. Qiao noticed his frequent activities. When Lin Juan reported on the experiment’s progress, Mr. Qiao deliberately kept him behind and asked, “Xiao Lin, I heard you’ve been getting close to the other researchers lately. Did you run into some problem?”

“There is something—about No. 1. It’s been staying motionless for long periods lately, and I’m a bit worried. I ran all sorts of checks, but nothing showed up, so I figured I’d ask around with the others to see if I could find the reason.”

“I see,” Mr. Qiao nodded. “No. 1 is a very important test subject, so it does deserve attention. Here, I’ll give you a list. These are all experienced researchers in the laboratory. Go ask them.”

It was perfect timing—Lin Juan had been wondering how to quickly get a full list of all the researchers. He gladly accepted it.

Following the list, Lin Juan met with every researcher. To make his reason more convincing, whenever he went to see someone, he brought No. 1 along in a small containment box.

Lin Juan wasn’t entirely lying. No. 1’s periods of dormancy were getting longer and longer. If this kept up, Lin Juan worried it might one day fall asleep and never wake up.

Regaining consciousness, No. 1 found itself surrounded by white. It knew it was being held against the young man’s chest. Through the containment box, it nuzzled affectionately.

If only there were no containment box.

Like every night, directly against the young man’s skin.

“You’re awake now,” Lin Juan set the box on the table and saw the eyeball inside move. “All the data is fine, but it just seems listless.”

“Let me take a look,” the researcher wearing rimless glasses took the box. “Can I open it?”

This was a female researcher, around thirty years old, surnamed Chu. She was one of the researchers on Mr. Qiao’s list who specialized in tricky ailments of various test subjects.

Her long hair was tied back, giving her a very approachable look.

“You can open it.” Lin Juan opened the containment box and lifted the eyeball out from inside.

No. 1 seemed groggy from sleep and, upon suddenly being taken out, just rubbed against Lin Juan’s palm before going limp.

Lin Juan poked it, leaving a shallow dent in the eyeball.

“I’ve heard that your No. 1 is something special. Seeing is believing,” Researcher Chu said in surprise. “This is the first time I’ve seen a test subject this human-like.”

Lin Juan held No. 1 up to Researcher Chu. “It doesn’t usually let others touch it.”

Researcher Chu didn’t try to handle it. Apart from No. 1 being an exception, no test subjects could be touched directly.

Of course, only Lin Juan could handle No. 1. In front of others, it was no different from the rest.

“I have some instruments here. Bring it over.”

Lin Juan followed her to the inner room.

It was a large examination room filled with equipment Lin Juan had never seen before. As Researcher Chu explained, Lin Juan learned how they worked.

With Lin Juan there, no matter what they did, No. 1 cooperated fully.

The checkup finished quickly. Researcher Chu stared at the testing equipment. “Results in about half an hour. Do you want to wait here or come back later?”

“I’ll wait here. Thanks, Sister Chu.”

Lin Juan put No. 1 back in the containment box, and he and Researcher Chu went to the outer room to wait.

Just before stepping out the door, Lin Juan noticed an unassuming photo on the wall.

It showed two people in an intimate pose. One was Researcher Chu; the other was shrouded in shadow, face indistinct.

The door closed.

Half an hour later, the results came out. As expected, Researcher Chu was an expert in test subject ailments and identified that No. 1 was missing a certain enzyme.

“No. 1’s drowsiness is related to the missing enzyme. It needs to be supplemented in measured doses. I’ll write you a prescription. Go to logistics to pick up the medicine.”

Lin Juan hugged No. 1 as he left. Before going, he inexplicably glanced back.

Behind the slowly closing door, the woman sat at her desk, exuding a suffocating sense of loneliness.

Lin Juan recalled the list he’d seen.

Chu Jifan, thirty-three years old. She had entered the laboratory at twenty-three as an assistant. With outstanding talent, she had risen steadily and was now a senior researcher.

Her interpersonal relationships were simple. She had almost no particularly close friends, but due to her research focus, she had good rapport with every researcher.

Lin Juan returned with the medicine. Sheng Tianzong saw the bags and packages and stepped forward to help. “What’s all this?”

“Medicine for No. 1.”

“They get sick too?” Su Xingchen couldn’t help but eye the eyeball pressed tightly against the transparent side of the box facing Lin Juan.

“Researcher Chu said it’s missing an enzyme, which is why it’s so sleepy.”

Lin Juan opened the bag. Inside were injectable vials and pills. He took them out one by one and followed the instructions.

“Not only do they get sick, they need shots and pills too.” Lin Juan drew the medicine into the syringe and looked for a good spot to inject.

“Anywhere work?” With it being just an eyeball, Lin Juan felt at a loss. “Should’ve asked Researcher Chu for more details.”

He took No. 1 out of the containment box and positioned the needle.

The slender needle kept moving back and forth in front of No. 1. Its pupil contracted, and a certain memory buried deep in its subconscious resurfaced. With a thud, it jumped off the table.

Lin Juan hurriedly set down the needle to catch it.

“It doesn’t fear experiments but is scared of shots?” Lin Juan felt the trembling in his palm and found it odd.

No. 1 burrowed desperately into Lin Juan’s palm. If it weren’t an eyeball, Lin Juan figured it would have curled up entirely.

“What now?” It was the first time Lin Juan encountered this, and he was at a loss.

Sheng Tianzong rubbed his chin and suggested, “How about you pet it?”

Lin Juan: “Huh?”

Sheng Tianzong: “To soothe it. Otherwise, have someone else give No. 1 the shot?”

Lin Juan looked puzzled. “Why change people?”

“If you give it the shot, it might not like you anymore afterward,” Sheng Tianzong said in a regretful tone. “Back when I took my cat to get neutered, I didn’t put on an act, so it wouldn’t let me hold it for a long time after. Took forever to coax it back. My friend pretended to ‘rescue’ his cat during its neutering, and afterward, it was super attached to him.”

He egged Lin Juan on. “How about you find a researcher you like the least to give it the shot, then you can coax it properly afterward?”