Jing Shu nodded in understanding, her expression masking the sharp calculations running through her mind. Of course that was why they dressed like that, wasn't it? The castle must have been dangerous, and they knew it too.
Thinking that, she made up a random excuse about her research, brushing off Eiffel's persistent nagging about making more medicinal pills for the staff. After saying goodbye and ensuring Eiffel was occupied, she took Xiao Hei, her personal translator, and quietly followed Mrs. C through the sterile corridors. Today, she was determined to find out what tricks this so-called Dr. B was playing.
While her teammates were busy figuring out how to smuggle the dehydration technology and heavy equipment out of the castle, Jing Shu had her sights set on Dr. B himself. She couldn't help it. That strange material of his—she really wanted to know if it was as miraculous as everyone said. And if it really was, then why hadn't she heard anything about it in her previous life? Could it be that Dr. B was a person who had traveled through time too?
Austin Castle wasn't like other places. It was blindingly bright everywhere, the Luminite panels washing out every corner, so hiding in the dark was impossible. Every intersection had rigorous identity checks, but Mrs. C, with that heavy, black outfit of hers, strolled right past every checkpoint without a single inspection. It even made Jing Shu consider stealing one of those suits to help with her mission.
Keeping a safe distance, Jing Shu followed Mrs. C's heavy-booted gait, scanning six or seven different ID codes and inputting several verification numbers along the way before finally arriving at a corner building tucked deep inside the castle. It was a four-story, completely sealed structure, its walls solid and windowless. There wasn't a single pane of glass to be seen.
She wandered around the perimeter in frustration until she noticed something: there's a lone chimney on the flat roof.
She could get in through there!
Grabbing the clumsy Xiao Hei, Jing Shu scaled the slick, composite outer wall like a spider, her fingers finding purchase on the joins until she reached the roof. She loosened the heavy chimney cover and squeezed her slender frame inside.
Cough, cough!
Even with a gas mask pulled tight over her face, the acrid, chemical smoke burned her throat. She had no idea what they were burning in the bowels of the building, but the stench was awful, smelling of scorched plastic and sulfur. Xiao Hei, meanwhile, had practically blended into the soot-covered walls in the dim light.
Crawling out through the chimney into the interior, Jing Shu found herself in a cold, dim room. Half the space was piled with some kind of gritty black residue, impossible to identify by sight alone. Other than that, there wasn't anything worth stealing in the storage area.
No one came to check the noise she made, so she released over a dozen small snakes to act as her eyes, the reptiles slithering through the vents, before heading straight for Mrs. C's location.
Most of the rooms she passed were locked with electronic bolts, and she didn't bother trying to open them. She moved quickly, following her snakes' heightened senses, until she reached a large hall illuminated by flickering monitors.
In the middle of the room stood a man in a rumpled white lab coat. His hair was messy and sticking out in every direction, and a pair of round glasses was perched precariously on his red-tipped nose. He looked like every cliché scientist rolled into one, busy tinkering with glass test tubes at the center table.
Jing Shu held her breath, listening from the shadows. The always-cold Mrs. C now sounded panicked and desperate.
"Bit, someone in the castle managed to cultivate herbs! Aren't you worried at all? She couldn't grow them under the Luminite, but she somehow grew them using her own method! If this keeps up, they will figure out the secret behind the Luminite soon!"
Dr. B didn't look worried in the slightest. He swirled a viscous liquid in his test tube and said casually, "My dear, I already know. The secret of the Luminite will come out sooner or later. But by the time it does, everyone in this castle will already be dead. The radiation from the Luminite will kill them all within five months. Ninety-eight percent will develop an incurable disease before then."
Mrs. C's voice trembled as she spoke. "But what about us? We're practically prisoners here! So what if we have radiation suits? We're not real researchers, Bit! We came here to scam them out of resources, not to play scientists!"
She sounded on the verge of tears. "We can't even recite the damn periodic table! Bit, if we don't find a way to move those supplies soon, we will die here! If they start suspecting us—have you forgotten what happened to Z and Y? Have you forgotten how many people they have tortured in the underground cells?"
"Relax, my dear," Dr. B said soothingly. "I know Z and Y's deaths left you shaken. But if they hadn't pushed me so hard, I wouldn't have released this half-finished product. You are right, though; I need to move faster. Some people are already showing signs of blood cancer, and others keep getting nosebleeds. But no one is connecting the dots. They all think the radiation is just improving their physical strength and endurance."
Mrs. C ripped off her helmet, revealing long brown hair that tumbled over her shoulders in the dim light. She crouched beside the table, clutching her head in frustration.
"Damn it, even with all our supposed power, we can't leave this place! Bit, the radiation from the Luminite is too strong. Even this anti-radiation building isn't enough. No windows, no light, air purifiers—it doesn't matter. We're still end up sick or dead in a few months! You have got to find a way to get the supplies out before the higher-ups get suspicious. I can't stay here anymore, not for another second!"
Dr. B swirled his test tube again, smiling faintly at the bubbling reaction. "You know, China once had a famous trick called creating something from nothing. I borrowed that idea and came up with my own variation. I call it 'The Water of Life.'"
"The Water of Life?" she echoed. "What does that have to do with our plan?"
"Everything," he said, his eyes gleaming behind his glasses. "I will run a few experiments for the leaders and those idiots in the castle. I will tell them that by using the Water of Life and my method, anything—crops, oil, even food—can be improved by fifty percent. Imagine it, a single grain of rice doubling in size! What do you think they will do once they see that?"
He burst into laughter, a mad, gleeful sound that sent a chill down Jing Shu's spine.
Mrs. C's eyes widened. "You will use this Water of Life to gather all their food and supplies in one place? But how will you make it convincing? Some of them are real scientists. They're not that easy to fool. And even if we manage to collect the goods, how will we move them out? We can't leave the castle!"
Hiding in the deep shadows, Jing Shu listened to every word through Xiao Hei's whispered translation. Her shock turned to cold silence. She had originally thought of bringing that miraculous material back to China—but it turned out to be a highly radioactive substance that caused cancer with prolonged exposure.
That wasn't a miracle. It was pure horror.