Chapter 445: Open

Bang!

Using the butt of his rifle, Lun Tai smashed the glass wall and broke into the room.

The blinds were pulled down as well.

It was one of the rooms by the corridor. In the middle of the room were several oddly shaped instruments. Lun Tai quickly found what he was looking for among one of the computers located in the corner of the room.

“Is it this one?” Lun Tai turned around and looked at Will.

Will carefully inspected it. His attention soon fell upon a picture frame beside the computer.

Within the photo was an average looking man with a stern face, who looked at the camera with indifference.

“That is him. He is the one I saw.” Will pointed at the picture frame.

Lun Tai nodded and started up the computer.

As expected, a password was required to access it.

“He told me that he had left behind the information inside the computer. We will understand once we view it…”

There was an apprehensive tone in Will’s tone and he said in a whisper, “I don’t know why, but after exchanging some words with me, he disappeared. Additionally, I could not catch what he said at the end properly. It was as though his voice was getting fainter.”

Qiao Qiao stroked Will’s hair. “It is all right. You have helped us a lot.”

After saying that, she turned to Roddy. “Do you have any way?”

Roddy shook his head. “As long as it is a machine, it cannot stop me.”

The layer of security posed by the password was quickly broken by Roddy and they found a folder inside the computer named ‘Alpha’s Recording’.

Naturally, the folder was also locked. However, after Roddy utilized his skill, he managed to open the folder.

They found some video recordings inside the folder.

They were all arranged in order and there were tens of rows of them.

Roddy clicked open the first one and a video popped open on the computer screen.

Seeing the video, Will blurted out, “It is him!”

Within the video was a man facing the camera. He spent a few seconds adjusting the angle of the camera before sitting down. The camera captured his entire face while the dark research lab could be seen behind him.

“Starting the recording.”

The man's voice was hoarse.

“I am Alpha, the chief researcher in charge of Project Zero. This is recording no. 001.”

After saying that, Alpha’s tone took on a note of excitement. “I have to put this out there, but this is the most important day in my entire career! At this moment of recording, I have not slept for more than 30 hours, but I am not feeling tired at all. If everything proceeds well, I believe I might be able to win a Nobel Prize for this.

“This material is something that has never been seen before. Despite all my professional knowledge, I am unable to figure anything out of it. At present, we are still trying to figure out how to analyse it. No matter what, all of us are very excited!

“I have this feeling. We have opened up a certain door in this world.”

…

“Recording no. 009.”

In the video, Alpha’s face had turned slightly haggard. His originally clean shaven face now sported a messy beard.

“Today, we attempted method of analysis no. 26. The results are the same as the other 25 methods of analysis.

“All right, I will admit that we may have gone about this the wrong way. We have encountered a dead-end in our thought process. Thus, I have decided to take a break for now. We need a new inspiration.

“I miss my family. I have decided to take a few days off and bring my children to the beach in Tel Aviv. We will enjoy ourselves there for a few days.

“Just what is this thing?”

…

“Recording no. 011”

“Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! What have I witnessed? It was abnormal degradation! It was fission! I still don’t quite understand it, but I believe there must be some form of rules! We must figure out those rules!

“Maybe we are getting closer! Yes, I have this feeling!”

…

“Recording no. 013.

“Damn it! Damn it! All the batches failed! This is practically challenging my faith in science! It is subverting my knowledge in my field of expertise! This is completely unprecedented!

“No, I cannot give up! Not a single one of us will give up!

“I will definitely find it! I will definitely find the right culture method! This structure can be replicated! There must be some form of rules inside it!”

…

“Recoding no. 016.

“We attempted even more methods, using more than 40 different types of viruses. There were 6 complex viruses among those, but all of them were of no effect. Rather, some of them were utterly deconstructed and assimilated by it.

“However, we have finally made a discovery. It seems to be growing? Mm, that is right, growing.

“We will keep trying new methods.”

…

“Recording no. 019.

“There had been a tragic accident. A virus leak happened, it was beyond our control. Poor Genberg. Hopefully, he can get better soon.”

…

“Recording no. 024.

“After 136 days of research, we finally made a huge discovery! We had confirmed this discovery by repeating the attempts. Up until now, this thing has shown a response toward all of our agitating-type viruses!

“Maybe it will change the entire field of biomedicine!”

…

“Recording no. 026.

“Another failure. After going through the deconstruction process, all the viruses died. It is too miraculous. How should I put it? It appears capable of absorbing all forms of attacks against it.”

…

“Recording no. 027.

“May God bless Eva; she is the best research assistant I have ever met.”

…

“Recording no. 030.

“I really don’t understand. I am at a loss once more. I feel like I cannot find any way to progress!

“This thing… maybe, it is simply not a living object! It does not have any cell composition, no basic features of life! It, it is subverting all I know! Before it, everyone, me included, appear ignorant.”

…

“Recording no. 033.

“Cannot be synthesized! Cannot be synthesized! Cannot be synthesized! All 13 experiments… all of them: cannot be synthesized!

“Damn it! It is right here, but we can neither culture not replicate it!”

…

“Recording no. 036.

“I cannot believe what happened! It created a new life! It is producing it! It produced a new virus! If we have not been checking properly, we would have missed all of it!

“It produced a new type of virus and then… it devoured it.

“What does this mean? Is it nourishing itself?”

…

After recording no. 063, the later videos all gave a video deleted prompt when Roddy clicked on it.

Lun Tai and the others frowned. Lun Tai then asked Roddy, “Can you restore it?”

“Theoretically speaking, yes. However, it takes time. It will be quite slow and I fear we don’t have that much time.” Roddy smiled bitterly.

Even as he was talking, Roddy continued clicking down.

Finally, he clicked on the last video. This time, a video screen came up.

In the video was Alpha, who wore a white gown. A beard covered his face and he looked haggard. His eyes were seriously bloodshot and there was a near mad expression on his face.

“Recording no. … … no, this will be the last!

“We are finished, all of us, finished! We should never have done this! This is not something we can reach for, not something we can pry into. This is a power beyond us!

“Perhaps this is the will of the Creator!

“If given a second chance, I would never have accepted this job!

“Now everyone is dead!

“That thing will devour, it will devour everything! All the hundreds of experiments we did were in fact, nourishing it, allowing it to grow!

“Just now, the security captain, Lev, had personally lured it into the quarantine area. However, he too will have to stay in there for good!

“Even now I cannot figure out how it got out. The quarantine area is absolutely sealed off.

“Rob is dead, David is dead. It won’t be long before I die as well.

“Everything will end!

“This place should have been sealed off long ago!

“This is my final message. We should have ended this damn project long ago!

“I don’t have much time. I will quickly enter the quarantine room and seal myself away. I don’t know what will I become…

“Oh Creator, please forgive us for our sins! I don’t want to become like them after I die!

“May all their souls rest in peace.

“That door must never be opened. We have no way of controlling it.

“After more than 450 days of research, we still cannot understand it.

“This *** thing is simply not part of the biochemistry field!

“I don’t even know what it is! Among all my knowledge, all I have learned, it is nothing like any life form I have come to know!

“The alarm to disperse had been activated. I have no way of doing any more… … may God bless everyone.”

The video ended.

Before the computer, the members of Meteor Rock Guild looked at each other and their hearts felt heavy. Some broke out in cold sweat.

Lun Tai whispered, “This is…”

“It seems some scientists came up with something dangerous.” Roddy gave a bitter smile. “Just like… … Resident Evil.”

“I feel the same,” said Qiao Qiao with a frown. “Is this the storyline?”

“All right.” Lun Tai took a deep breath. “I think… … although things have gotten chaotic, we have at least found some clues.”

After a pause, Lun Tai continued in a whisper, “That Alpha fellow said that his colleagues had died. Additionally, they had transformed into something terrifying and he feared he would suffer the same fate…”

After saying that, Lun Tai looked at Roddy. Everyone else looked at Roddy as well.

“Maybe… … that is the key factor in the zombification process!” Qiao Qiao clenched her fists.

“And?” Roddy smiled bitterly. “That Alpha fellow should be some top class researcher. But even in death, he was unable to figure out what that ‘thing’ is. If this is a form of zombification virus, then Alpha and his team had no antidote for it either.”

Qiao Qiao said loudly, “It doesn’t matter… … this is our only hope! Roddy, it seems the thing being researched here is deeply connected to the zombie virus that infected you. I think we should open that door and check what is beyond there!”

Roddy was silent.

Lun Tai said, “I agree with Qiao Qiao! This is our only strand of hope.”

The other team members showed no objections.

Lun Tai was quick to make the decision. He made a simple description of what had happened and sent it to Chen Xiaolian through their guild channel – as to whether Chen Xiaolian could accept it or not, that was something he was unable to find out.

Chen Xiaolian had not replied to anything through the guild channel, causing them to feel worried.

Presently though, Roddy had been infected. As time passed, his situation only grew worse. However, there was nothing they could do about it.

“Then, let us get ready to enter!”

Lun Tai took a deep breath.

“I will be in front.” Roddy stood up with a very serious expression on his face. “I have been infected after all. Even if I get infected again, it won’t matter. Additionally… … once things goes south, everyone must retreat immediately! There is no need to fight to the death.”

Qiao Qiao turned to face Roddy only to see a look of utter stubbornness on his eyes. She had no choice but to turn away.

“All right, you will be in front. I will be behind you,” Lun Tai said. “Xiaolei, you guard the rear!”

…

They stepped out from the room that they had broken into just now and moved back toward the junction. Then, they headed for the metal door.

Roddy was at the front. He stretched out his hand, touched the handle of the metal door and whispered, “I don’t know how this thing operates. If it uses electricity, then we will need to figure out how to power it…”

“If we use explosives… we should have enough explosives with us. However, we are presently underground. If the explosion is too strong, I fear this place will collapse.” Lun Tai shook his head.

Roddy furrowed his brows. His hand that was on the handle of the door made a gentle twist.

Roddy suddenly felt the handle turning! Ka ka…

An odd expression overcame Roddy’s face.

“The door… was open? It was not locked!”

…

[TL: Some of the science-ish jargons here might not be accurate. Sorry to any scientist who finds this chapter sacrilegious… orz]