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墨書 Inktalez
The cold floor, Lu Li's pale face, and his faint breaths.
That last look in his eyes was like a poisoned icicle, piercing deep into my heart.
Pain, guilt, warning, and... fear.
"That damned rainy night... Do you think you're the only one who remembers it?!"
His roar struck me like a hammer, each word pounding on my already trembling nerves.
He knew.
He actually knew about that rainy night twenty years ago!
He was there?!
A wave of absurdity and icy terror seized me in an instant, nearly suffocating me.
I stumbled back a step, crashing against the cold wall, barely managing to steady myself.
Looking at Lu Li curled up on the ground, I noticed the shirt at his side was stained red with seeping blood, a shocking sight.
It was a gunshot wound.
I could almost be certain.
Who is he, really?
Why is he approaching me?
The kidnapping case from twenty years ago, the nameless male corpse, cyanide, the 701 ring, the gunshot wound at his side...
Countless chaotic clues twisted and bit like venomous snakes in my mind.
I took out my phone, my fingers trembling as I misdialed several times.
Finally, I reached the emergency services, my voice dry and hoarse as I briefly explained the situation and provided the address.
After hanging up, I didn’t dare to look at Lu Li again.
It felt as if a large hole had been torn open in my chest, with the cold wind howling in.
Once trust collapses, even a glance feels like a mockery.
The truth.
I must find the truth.
Not just for my missing mother, for the innocent women and men who died tragically, but also for myself.
To understand what kind of person I have fallen in love with.
Lu Li's anomaly felt like a shot of adrenaline, dispelling my momentary panic and injecting me with an almost obsessive determination.
The sound of the ambulance siren grew louder as it approached.
I didn’t linger.
Before the medical personnel arrived, I grabbed my coat and dashed out of the apartment without looking back.
The cold night wind hit my face, bringing a sharp clarity.
I had to return to the police station immediately, back to the forensic center.
There were clues I needed there.
---
Facing the nameless male corpse once more, my feelings had changed entirely.
On the cold autopsy table, he no longer seemed like a lifeless body but rather a key connected to countless secrets.
Lu Li's reaction made me even more certain that this corpse was anything but ordinary.
I forced myself to calm down and meticulously examined every inch of the body’s skin again.
This time, my gaze lingered just below his left scapula.
There, hidden away, was an extremely discreet tattoo.
The design was small, with intricate lines that resembled a twisted symbol, almost like an abstract totem.
The color was very faint, blending seamlessly with the skin tone. Had I not approached this with a strong sense of purpose, I might have easily overlooked it.
I immediately took a photo and uploaded the design into the police department's tattoo database for comparison.
[No matching results]
The cold text on the screen did not surprise me.
I then uploaded the image to an online search engine, conducting a vague search for related symbols and totems.
A few seconds later, fragments of information began to appear on the screen.
Most of it came from fringe science forums and underground research websites.
One entry instantly caught my eye.
"Genetic Mark."
The description mentioned that certain illegal human experimentation facilities would mark their subjects with similar special identifiers for differentiation and tracking purposes.
In the discussions related to this topic, one term appeared frequently—"genetic modification."
My heart suddenly sank.
Genetic modification?
Could it be...?
I immediately accessed the detailed autopsy report of the male corpse, my eyes scanning through the dense data.
Blood samples, tissue slices, toxicology analysis...
One particular trace element analysis report caught my attention.
The report indicated that the deceased had traces of several extremely rare metallic elements in his body. Although the quantities were low, they could not have been ingested through natural means or ordinary diet.
These metallic elements are typically used in... certain special biological experiment catalysts!
At the end of the report, the environmental sampling analysis around the location where the body was found also detected similar elemental traces, pointing to a possible source—a deserted industrial area to the southeast of the city.
The clues finally connected!
That tattoo, the rare metallic elements, genetic modification...
A mysterious laboratory conducting illegal genetic experiments!
And this male corpse was likely an escaped subject from there!
A tremendous fear and a hint of morbid excitement gripped me simultaneously.
If this laboratory truly exists, then could my mother's disappearance twenty years ago be connected to it?
The bitter almond scent I detected that rainy night—was it merely the poison used by the kidnappers, or was it related to some experiment conducted in this laboratory?
I dared not think further.
The truth was like a Pandora's box, filled with deadly temptation and lurking dangers of destruction.
But I had no choice.
Glancing out at the heavy darkness of the night, I took a deep breath, removed my lab coat, and changed into casual clothes.
I told no one, not even the police.
Lu Li's betrayal left me unable to trust anyone at this moment.
I had to see it for myself.
---
The abandoned industrial area on the outskirts of the city was as silent as a forgotten graveyard.
The cold moonlight spilled over the rusted factories and crumbling walls, casting eerie shadows.
The air was thick with the scent of rust and dust, occasionally stirred by a night breeze that whispered through the broken window frames.
Following the coordinates provided in the report, I located the abandoned chemical plant.
The massive smokestacks loomed like silent giants, casting oppressive shadows in the darkness.
Surrounded by tall walls, the factory's main gate was tightly locked, secured with a rusted iron chain.
I circled the perimeter and discovered a section of the wall had collapsed in a corner due to years of neglect, leaving an opening just wide enough for a person to slip through.
Without a moment's hesitation, I crouched down and squeezed inside.
The interior of the factory was even more dilapidated than the outside, overgrown with wild grass and littered with discarded pipes and machinery, resembling steel corpses.
I turned on my phone's flashlight and cautiously began to search the premises.
According to the analysis of elements found in the male corpse and environmental samples, the laboratory should be nearby.
Yet here, aside from the abandoned buildings, there seemed to be nothing at all.
Could it be that I had misjudged?
Just as doubt crept into my mind, my foot seemed to kick something hard.
I looked down and shone my flashlight on it, revealing a metal plate half-buried in the mud.
The metal plate had a unique texture that seemed out of place in the surrounding environment.
I crouched down and cleared away the dirt and weeds on top of it.
On the metal plate, there was a faintly etched symbol.
That symbol… was unmistakably the same complex design I had seen on the male corpse!
My heart raced instantly.
There must be an entrance here!
I pushed against the metal plate with all my strength, but it didn’t budge.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the edges of the plate seemed to have slight gaps.
It looked more like a disguised door.
I began to search for a switch, feeling around the area near the metal plate.
Finally, beneath an inconspicuous stone nearby, I found a recessed button.
I pressed it gently.
Click.
A faint sound echoed as a metal panel slowly slid to one side, revealing a dark staircase that descended downward.
A cold, sharp odor, a mix of disinfectant and some chemical reagent, wafted up from below.
An underground laboratory!
I tightened my grip on the scalpel in my pocket, suppressing the fear and excitement within me as I stepped down the staircase, one step at a time.
---
In stark contrast to the desolation above ground, the interior of the underground laboratory exuded a cold and precise technological ambiance.
Bright incandescent lights illuminated the spacious area, where smooth metal walls housed various unidentifiable precision instruments, neatly arranged glassware, and... enormous metal incubation pods.
The air was thick with the scent of disinfectant, yet it could not mask a faint hint of... blood.
The silence was eerie, broken only by the low hum of operating machinery.
I carefully avoided the wires and pipes on the floor as I ventured deeper into the laboratory.
In a room that resembled a central control room, I saw rows of screens flickering with data.
One of the screens prominently displayed a playback of the laboratory's surveillance footage.
I stepped closer and clicked on the most recent recording.
The screen began to play.
People in white lab coats busily moved about the laboratory, their faces devoid of any expression, their movements mechanical and numb.
The camera shifted, focusing on a massive glass petri dish.
Inside, a blurred human silhouette was submerged.
Various tubes were connected to its body, bubbles continuously rising to the surface.
At the bottom of the screen, a line of striking red text scrolled by.
"Subject 701, observation record..."
701!
The same number as the unidentified male corpse!
My breath quickened in an instant.
The footage continued to play.
I witnessed more chilling scenes.
A subject bound to the experiment table, struggling in agony.
After injecting an unknown substance, a person undergoes terrifying transformations.
There are even scenes of live dissection!
Cruel, bloody, and utterly inhumane!
My stomach churned violently, and I barely managed to hold back the urge to vomit.
At that moment, a document labeled "Experimental Report" popped up on the screen.
The title boldly read—"Perfect Specimen" Cultivation Plan.
"Perfect Specimen"!
That term again!
The report was filled with a plethora of technical jargon and genetic sequence charts that I couldn't comprehend.
But I could understand the objectives and conclusions of the experiments.
They were attempting to create a certain type of... "perfect human" with abilities beyond those of ordinary people through genetic modification!
And those failed subjects were disposed of as waste.
The nameless male corpse was clearly one of them!
My mother... was her disappearance years ago related to this so-called "Perfect Specimen" project?!
Did she... also become a test subject here?!
A wave of immense fear and anger engulfed me like a tsunami.
I clenched my fists tightly, my nails digging deep into my palms.
As I attempted to copy the report, a figure caught my attention in one corner of the surveillance footage.
The person stood in the shadows, facing away from the camera, revealing only a blurred silhouette.
He wore a dark suit, was tall and thin, and sported a pair of... round glasses.
Although I couldn't see his face clearly, the chilling and heavy aura that emanated through the screen made my heart race inexplicably.
This person must be closely connected to this laboratory!
Who could he be?
I tried to zoom in on the image, hoping to get a clearer look at him.
Just then—
"Woo—woo—woo—!!!"
The shrill alarm blared suddenly throughout the underground laboratory!
Red warning lights flashed wildly, casting an ominous crimson hue over the entire space!
The pipes overhead clanged loudly, as if something had been activated!
Exposed!
My heart raced with alarm; there was no time to think. I dashed toward the nearest USB port, quickly inserting a prepared empty flash drive and swiftly dragging the crucial data and surveillance footage I had just seen!
The progress bar moved rapidly.
The footsteps outside grew closer, accompanied by the jarring sound of metal scraping!
I had to leave immediately!
In the instant the data transfer completed, I yanked out the flash drive and turned to sprint up the staircase I had come down!
Behind me, it seemed a heavy metal door was slowly closing in the lab!
I poured every ounce of strength into my ascent, my heart pounding in my chest as if it might explode!
Bursting out onto the surface, back on the ground of the abandoned factory, I barely had time to close that metal entrance before I ran desperately toward the gap in the surrounding wall!
Under the cold moonlight, the shadows of the factory behind me seemed to morph into a monstrous beast ready to devour anyone in its path.
I could feel countless eyes watching me from the darkness.
Clutching the USB drive in my pocket that held terrifying secrets, I dared not pause for a moment.
Lu Li's face, the mystery of my mother's disappearance, the inhuman experiments in the laboratory, the "perfect specimen," that mysterious figure with glasses...
Everything pointed to an unfathomable dark vortex.
And I had already been helplessly drawn into it.
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