Xia Xiaoman disguised herself as a World Health Organization researcher to trace the flow of the "seed fund." The local bank manager, an elderly Chinese man with deep wrinkles, froze when he saw the wire transfer copy.
"This money purchased 37 acres of land," he said, handing her a copy of the deed. "The plantation owner is named Sokun, but..."
The photo showed a man in a fisherman's hat, only the lower half of his face visible. Xia Xiaoman's coffee cup slipped from her hands—the curve of that chin matched exactly the silhouette of her father tilting his head back while shaving.
When the storm hit, she forced her way into a wooden hut deep in the plantation. Yellowed covers of *Neuroscience Journals* were nailed to the walls, and under the microscope on the table lay blue crystals—the raw form of the MN-07 reagent.
The wardrobe creaked abruptly.
Xia Xiaoman drew her gun, only to find a white lab coat hanging inside, embroidered with **"Xia Mingyuan"** on the chest pocket, its lining stained with dried blood.
Her phone vibrated. An unknown number sent a real-time photo: her own back, standing in the hut.