Defeat the system! Kiss my little monster!

The laboratory's layout was similar to what Pei Du remembered.

Several somewhat dilapidated old buildings were piled together. Pei Du walked into the innermost part, opened the door, and saw the walls inside that already had cracks.

A new experimental building is under construction, but the relationship between the military and the laboratory is becoming increasingly tense. Most of the experimenters have to go to the front line and come into direct contact with the alien species, which directly threatens their lives.

Most of Pei Du's former colleagues have resigned and gone elsewhere, with only a few choosing to stay like Pei Du.

Pei Du walked up the stairs. There were no windows in the corridor of this experimental building; the interior was lit entirely by incandescent bulbs overhead.

The lights on the third floor had broken at some point. Pei Du pressed the button a few times, and the lights above his head flickered for a few seconds before going dark again.

The entire stairwell was dark and gloomy. Pei Du withdrew his hand, turned on his phone's flashlight, and walked up the stairs. He suddenly regretted not bringing his "Survival on the Gouqie" walking headlight with him.

Pei Du felt a pang of regret. He continued walking uphill, and as he looked up, he suddenly saw some familiar lights.

At the corner of the staircase, a sphere emitting a faint glow floated in the air. Its white color was as soft as moonlight, illuminating the walls and path beside it.

Pei Du paused, "Living a life of ignominy?"

The sphere seemed startled; it suddenly darted into the adjacent room, and all the light emanating from it vanished from Pei Du's sight.

Pei Du frowned. The real-time monitoring on his phone was still ongoing. Pei Du switched to another screen and saw Sheng Shixian's figure grinding his teeth while biting the iron chain.

Sheng Shixian tossed the Rubik's Cube on the table aside, still clinging to life at home while keeping an eye on Sheng Shixian.

...What was that white ball just now?

Pei Du quickly walked in the direction where the white ball disappeared. He walked around the corner and almost bumped into the person coming out of the room at the door.

"Sorry, sorry... Are you alright? I was in such a rush when I came out." The man's collar was a little messy and his hands were wet, as if he had just come out of the bathroom.

Pei Du turned to the side and took a step back to avoid close contact with the person in front of him.

"It's nothing." Pei Du glanced at him. The man wore black-rimmed glasses and had thick, long hair that hung down, covering half of his eyes.

He was still wearing his lab coat, the collar turned up, obscuring the subtle, ambiguous hickeys on his neck.

"Hello? Director, okay, I'll be right there..." The man said as he spoke on the other end of the line, and quickly walked past Pei Du.

Pei Du withdrew his gaze, went into the restroom, and turned on the tap to wash his hands.

The sound of running water could be heard inside. After washing his hands, Pei Du took two pieces of paper to wipe his fingers. As he wiped them, he observed the space inside the toilet, but he could no longer see the sphere.

The ball appeared for a very short time, a flash of white light that was so fast that Pei Du now doubted whether it was an illusion.

The toilet was so quiet you could hear people breathing. The toilet in this old laboratory wasn't very good either; the stall doors were wide open, and the condition of each stall was completely visible.

Pei Du took a few steps inside and suddenly heard a soft sound from the innermost toilet stall.

The sound was not loud, but it was especially noticeable in this open space.

Pei Du stopped in his tracks. The door to the last toilet stall was tightly closed, and the person inside seemed to have taken a few more steps in a hurry.

"Thump, thump."

It sounded like high heels.

Immediately following this was another suppressed sob.

"No, don't come any closer..."

The voice was low and tearful, a very clear and distinct female voice.

Pei Du suddenly stopped in his tracks. He thought of the hickey on the neck of the man he had just met at the door, and he had already guessed most of the reason.

Pei Du was even more speechless.

Everything can be played with. It's one thing for a man and a woman to play in the men's restroom of a laboratory, but after they were done, the man left, and the woman was left inside.

Pei Du turned around and didn't walk any further: "He's already gone. There are still ten minutes until the lab technicians' break. If you don't want to be seen, leave quickly."

The girl in the toilet stall made a soft sniffling sound, and she said in a low voice, "...Thank you."

Pei Du had no desire to stay inside any longer. He half-closed the toilet door and left the place.

The laboratory building was quite old, and Pei Du noted down several damaged areas as he walked along the road.

Pei Du returned to his original laboratory first. After he fell ill, he handed over many experimental tasks to others, but the things in the laboratory remained as they were.

Pei Du found the experimental vessel from before. He reached into his pocket and took out the pieces of meat wrapped in a thin film from his shirt pocket.

It was originally rotten flesh from Sheng Shixian's leg. Qi Sheng cut it off and threw it all into the trash can. In order not to arouse suspicion, Pei Du secretly rummaged through the trash can in the middle of the night and picked up the rotten flesh.

The virus in Sheng Shixian's body was unusual, but no matter what, Pei Du didn't want him to stay in this foolish state forever.

Not only could they not get any clues out of him, but Pei Du also had to spend money to support this Buddha.

He only has one year left. If Sheng Shixian has to go another year to recover, Pei Du will still be doomed to die.

The best way is to get Sheng Shixian to remember what happened in the past as soon as possible.

Pei Du used tweezers to pick up the items on the table and placed them under the microscope.

*

The test results should be available in three or four days. Pei Du tidied up the equipment and wiped the table clean.

About ten minutes later, the break bell rang throughout the laboratory, and the once quiet corridor was quickly filled with noise.

"Senior Brother Pei, when did you arrive? The director just asked about your situation!" The laboratory door opened, and a lab technician, slightly shorter than Pei Du, walked in carrying documents.

Pei Du also greeted Lu Zifan, "I just arrived recently, and I'm about to pack my things and go find the director."

"Then you'd better hurry up. The director has been quite upset with you lately..." Lu Zifan lowered his voice, piled all the documents in his hand on Pei Du's desk, and said, "These are the task documents that have piled up since you got sick, a total of 136 documents. The director wants you to complete them within three months."

Pei Du: "..."

"Wasn't my task assigned to someone else?"

“Yes.” Lu Zifan nodded. “They were all assigned to others before, but you’re back now, aren’t you? You were in charge of these from the beginning. When the director heard you were coming back, he had them give the tasks back to you. Anyway, those experiments haven’t officially started yet.”

Pei Du looked at the data files piled up on the table, almost like a small mountain, and hesitated, "Actually, I'm not fully recovered yet, I..."

"I know, senior brother, you're working despite your illness, so selfless!" Lu Zifan said with a smile. After he finished speaking, he brought in a bunch of documents from outside and piled them all on Pei Du's lab bench.

"The director also told me to learn from you. If you ever need any help in the future, just call me!"

Pei Du remained silent for a few seconds before saying, "...Okay."