Chapter 219: Artificial Organs (8)

Chapter 219: Artificial Organs (8)

"How many people are in the camp here?" Young-Joon asked.

"About 30,000 people,” the facility manager replied.

"30 000 people... If we gather a lot of medical staff and work diligently, we should be able to finish collecting blood samples today. You can send them to the affiliated laboratory at Xinjiang University Hospital."

"Oh, wait."

The manager suddenly interrupted him.

"Come to think of it, it's a little more than 30 000..."

"How many are there?"

"Well, um... Anyway, we can’t finish today.”

"Then how long will it take?"

"... We’ll try to do it as fast as possible,” the facility manager replied hesitantly.

"Alright. You can send it to the place I just told you, and I'll test the blood samples, drinking water, and any common items that might be contaminated for the virus."

Liu returned to his car and drove back to the Institute of Biomedical Research, which was affiliated with Xinjiang University Hospital.

* * *

“It’s going to be quite dangerous from here, Supervisor Kim,” Young-Joon said to Kim Chul-Kwon at the hotel. “Although I’m going to leave it to the experts instead of doing it myself, I still don’t know how it’s going to play out. I think it’s best for you to return to Korea.”

“I cannot.”

“Worst case scenario, we might get arrested by the police. I know one of their weaknesses, so they won’t be able to do anything to us even if that happens, but it’s still dangerous. You should go back to Korea.”

“I cannot,” Kim Chul-Kwon refused again, bluntly.

“I am ordering you as your superior. Go back.”

“Then fire me. I’ll just follow and guard you as a private individual.”

“...:

Young-Joon was dumbfounded. Kim Chul-Kwon slightly bent down and whispered to him.

“Doctor Ryu, I have an idea of what’s going on here, I’m not stupid. You were suddenly summoned into the Hall of Diligence where the President lives, you suddenly came to Xinjiang to investigate organ transplants, and today, you came to see a camp that looks like a prison. Plus, you’re being followed by an interpreter who clearly looks like an intelligence agent,” Kim Chul-Kwon said. “I know that it’s dangerous, and that’s why I can’t go back by myself, you know? I mean, your safety won’t be secure because some private security is with you, but I can’t leave. This is my job.”

“Hm...”

“Do you remember the first day I worked on your security team when we walked past Gwanghwamun after you were discharged from the hospital? A lot of people were rallying to put the person who tried to hurt you in jail because there are seven hundred thousand patients with rare diseases and a million cancer patients in Korea alone,” Kim Chul-Kwon said. “You are a beacon in the medical world right now, that’s what I’ve concluded from watching from the sidelines. The world is very sick, and you have the ability to heal it. You should be more careful of your life, even if it means sacrificing someone like me by putting them in front of you like a shield.”

“...”

“Speaking of which, how dangerous are the things we’re about to do?”

“We’ll only be doing research here. The CIA will do anything beyond that.” Reêad latest novels at novelhall.com

“The CIA?”

“They were the first to ask us to research this.”

Ding!

An email arrived on Young-Joon’s cellphone. It was from Yanag Gunyu. It was a report of Guangdong’s own investigation of the Blood Tyrant Agency. It also contained additional information of the people who had gone missing in Guangdong. Yang Gunyu suspected that this might be connected to that organization and finding Lee Qinqin, the missing person.

“Alright.”

Young-Joon nodded.

“We got a weapon.”

* * *

“We’ll let you uncover the top-secret information that China is hiding in Xinjiang right now.”

“What are you trying to do?”

“We’re going to infiltrate the secret operating rooms over there. Will you help us? Like I said, it could be life-threatening.”

“You’re going to infiltrate a secret operating room?”

Anthony’s eyes widened.

“Yes.”

“Um... I’m investigating this out of a sense of duty, but why is the CIA...”

“Haha. These things are a battle of power between countries. We’ve had many of these with a country like China,” Whittaker said. “The Xinjiang region is culturally and ethnically very different from mainland China. And yet, the reason why the Chinese government has prevented the Muslims in that region from becoming independent is because of the underground resources in Xinjiang.”

“Underground resources?” Anthony asked.

“The natural gas and coal reserves there are forty percent of the entire amount in China. They have the largest oil reserve in China as well,” Robert added. “The United States is going to publicize this political scandal in the international community and push for Xinjiang’s independence. Then, the U.S. influence in the region will be huge.”

“...”

“I could have thrown in all sorts of other causes, Doctor Anthony, but I’m just being honest with you. But it’s not that difficult. It’s just about rescuing and bringing justice to those poor citizens who are being kidnapped and harvested for their organs.

Anthony hesitated for a moment, then nodded with a determined expression.

“Okay, I’ll go.”

“Good. Take a look at this.”

Whittaker laid the materials Young-Joon had sent him out on the table. Anthony’s eyes widened at the incredible information in front of him.

“How did you get... Who gave you this information?” Anthony asked, stuttering because of the shock.

“The source is a secret, which is for your own good. But don’t worry, it’s a very reliable source. And now, we’re going to start gathering evidence,” Whittaker said.

“Evidence?”

“Yes. Because even if we publish it right now and pressure the Chinese government, all they have to do is dismiss it as an urban legend,” Robert said. “We have to raid the donor’s living quarters down here in the basement. They have a ledger with the operations, so we’re going to get that and bring those people over to Kyrgyzstan. Then, all we have to do is take the prepared plan to the United States.”

“I-Is that possible?”

“We’ve secured an escape route, so don’t worry. If you do well, we should be able to disguise ourselves as scientists and get the people out without armed conflict.”

* * *

Young-Joon’s virus research was smooth sailing. Three trucks from the camp in Xinjiang Uygur arrived at the research institute every day. The trucks contained dozens of large boxes, which contained one thousand blood samples each.

However, Young-Joon didn’t analyze them all. He randomly selected two thousand samples by date and conducted drop-seq on them. All of them were infected with Doctor Ref’s virus.

In the downtime, he was doing another experiment. He was trying to see what happened when an organ infected with this virus was transplanted. He created a cardiac organoid and checked the progression of subacute necrotizing encephalomyelitis in an animal model. He successfully reproduced what happened to Chen Shui, the president of China, in ten beagles. This was biological experimental evidence—proof that high-ranking Chinese officials who were dying did receive organ transplants from Xinjiang Uygur camps.

However, he needed proof that they were illegal transplants, which the CIA would provide. Young-Joon was going to release the data when they blew it up. He stalled for time, accepting blood from the internment camps even though the experiment was almost over.

—They’re in.

Rosaline alerted Young-Joon.

It was eleven o’clock at night, and Robert, Whittaker, and Anthony appeared in the underground parking lot of the research institute. They didn’t have a problem getting into the parking lot because it was open to the public, but getting down to the sixth floor involved a lot of security.

—Do you think they’ll do a good job?

Rosaline seemed a little doubtful.

‘Whittaker said he’s confident. There’s no agent in the CIA who won’t be able to get into the basement when they have the complete blueprint and security plans.’

Young-Joon assured Rosaline.

‘Let’s trust them.’