853: Chapter 848 Even Crazier Than Before

Li Kai watched the taillights disappear into the curtain of rain, a sudden, inexplicable chill welling up in his heart.

The look that young man had given him at the end—even through the rain—made him feel a coldness deep in his bones.

It wasn't intimidation; it was indifference.

The kind of indifference an elephant shows when passing an anthill, where even stepping on it feels like a waste of time.

Inside the car.

The heater was blasting.

Lin Zhiyuan huddled stiffly in the corner of the leather seat, terrified of staining the expensive interior.

Chen Guangke tossed a towel and a bag of bread over from the passenger seat.

“Eat something for now. Once we get to Jinghai City, I'll treat you to a decent meal.”

Lin Zhiyuan wolfed down the bread, choking until his eyes rolled back.

Shen Yan handed him a bottle of water, then pulled a tablet from the back-row refrigerator and brought up an image.

It was the molecular structure of the “samp” raw solution.

Of course, it was incomplete—merely the tip of the iceberg provided by the system.

“Don't just focus on eating. Look at this.”

Lin Zhiyuan took just one look, and the bread fell right out of his mouth.

His hands trembling, he cradled the tablet, his face nearly pressed against the screen. His breathing became as rapid as a bellows.

“This... this perfect double helix structure... this telomerase activity... this is impossible... this is a creation of God...”

He whipped his head around to look at Shen Yan, his eyes bloodshot like a devout believer witnessing a miracle.

“Boss... where is this thing?”

“This is exactly what I want you to research.”

Shen Yan watched the rainy scenery fly past the window.

“Dr. Lin, welcome to the team.”

“Our journey has only just begun.”

The northern suburbs of Jinghai City on a rainy night held a chilling, somber air.

The black maybach silently passed through the rusted barbed wire fence and stopped in front of the mottled red brick building of Institute 44.

This place had once been a nuclear physics research institute during the Cold War. Abandoned for twenty years, it now hung an inconspicuous sign reading 'Deep Blue Technology Reserve Warehouse'.

Aside from Shen Yan, no one knew what kind of ambition lay buried beneath this seemingly dilapidated building.

“We're here.”

Shen Yan unbuckled his seatbelt and pushed the door open to step out.

Lin Zhiyuan was still huddled in the back seat clutching his tattered bag, staring blankly at the eerie building outside.

“Get out. This is the laboratory you wanted.”

Chen Guangke pulled the car door open and hauled Lin Zhiyuan out like a small chick.

The cold wind made Lin Zhiyuan shiver, and the muddy water beneath his feet reminded him of his pathetic state at the service area a few hours ago.

Shen Yan walked to the heavy blast door, and an iris scanner flashed a red light.

With a click, the hydraulic locks released, and the heavy metal doors slowly slid open to either side.

A blast of cold air, smelling of ozone and machine oil, rushed out.

Lin Zhiyuan instinctively covered his nose, but then his eyes went wide.

The corridor behind the door was brightly lit, the cold white lights so intense they were blinding.

Both sides were lined with interconnected sterile rooms. Through the floor-to-ceiling glass, one could see the instruments inside.

Hitachi's latest transmission electron microscope, Bruker's nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, and even that ultra-high-speed refrigerated centrifuge he had only seen in journals.

Any one of these devices could be traded for a luxury penthouse in the center of Jinghai City.

Crucially, they were all powered on, their indicator lights blinking like rhythmic breathing, as if awaiting their master's inspection.

“These... these are...”

Lin Zhiyuan was stuttering as if he’d seen a ghost, or perhaps his first love.

He wanted to reach out and touch the glass, but feared his dirty hands would smudge the spotless surface.

“Some just arrived and haven't even been unpacked yet.”

Shen Yan's voice echoed in the empty corridor with a casual nonchalance.

It was as if he were introducing junk piled up in his garage.

He led the two of them all the way to the constant-temperature vault at the very back.

This was the most heavily defended area of the building.

Shen Yan skillfully entered three layers of dynamic passwords. Accompanied by the hiss of air pressure release, the safe brought back from San Lodu popped open.

A test tube sealed in a liquid nitrogen cryogenic tube lay quietly in a specialized shockproof slot.

The liquid inside was an eerie deep blue, flowing slowly under the dim light as if it were alive. One could even see faint fluorescence drifting within the fluid.

Lin Zhiyuan's breathing stopped instantly.

As a former top genius in biology, just looking at the viscosity and refractive index of that liquid allowed him to sense the terrifying energy contained within.

This was absolutely not any synthetic agent currently existing on Earth.

It was a work of art.

It was also a nuclear bomb.

Shen Yan took out the test tube and casually handed it to Lin Zhiyuan.

This action startled Chen Guangke, who was terrified this madman would let it slip—that was a lifeline bought for tens of millions of dollars.

“samp raw solution. This is the entire amount.”

Shen Yan's expression didn't flicker as he watched Lin Zhiyuan’s filthy hands cradle the priceless test tube.

“I want you to reverse-engineer its components, even if it's only one percent.”

“Additionally, 'asking heaven' in the computer room next door will provide you with computing power. Whatever you need, just tell it.”

Lin Zhiyuan didn't hear a word he said.

His soul had already been sucked into that deep blue.

He tremblingly raised the test tube to his eyes, the light erupting from his cloudy eyes crazier than when he was fighting for food at the service area.

“Give me half a month... no, ten days!”

Lin Zhiyuan looked up abruptly, his scruffy face flushed with an unnatural redness.

“As long as you give me enough culture media and lab mice, I can map out its activity and profile!”

“If I can unlock the telomerase structure in here, I can turn all current biology textbooks into scrap paper!”

Shen Yan nodded and turned to walk out.

“Guang Ke, arrange a place for him to stay. Find two tight-lipped cleaners and a cook.”

“Remember, within five hundred meters of this building, I don't want to see a single fly that doesn't belong to Deep Blue Technology.”

Chen Guangke grinned, revealing a row of white teeth, though his gaze was terrifyingly fierce.

“Don't worry, Brother Yan. Even a mouse coming in here will have to have its family history checked for three generations.”

Before the door closed, Shen Yan looked back one last time.

Lin Zhiyuan had already rushed into the nearest microscope room like a miser clutching his gold, forgetting even to wash off the stench on his body.

This was exactly the effect Shen Yan wanted.

Sometimes, desire and hatred can drive a person's potential more than ideals ever could.

For the next half month, Institute 44 became a true forbidden zone.

The surrounding villagers occasionally saw lights burning all night in that old building, and sometimes heard strange electrical hums.

That was the sound of the 'cloud pattern flowing silver' cooling system running at full power.

Lin Zhiyuan had gone mad.

Or rather, he was even crazier than when he was a vagrant at the highway service area.