Jing Shu nodded in understanding. Of course that was why they dressed like that, wasn't it? The castle must've been dangerous, and they knew it too.
Thinking that, she made up a random excuse and brushed off Eiffel's nagging about making more pills. After saying goodbye, she took Xiao Hei, her personal translator, and quietly followed Mrs. C. 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 tech and 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... traveled through time too?
Austin Castle wasn't like other places. It was blindingly bright everywhere, so hiding in the dark was impossible. Every intersection had identity checks, but Mrs. C, with that heavy 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, scanning six or seven different ID codes and inputting several verification numbers along the way before finally arriving at a corner building deep inside the castle.
It was a four-story, completely sealed structure, its walls solid and windowless. Not a single pane of glass.
That surprised her. She'd assumed Dr. B would be working in the central zone, surrounded by people and attention. She hadn't expected him to be this discreet, even choosing to live in such a heavily fortified place.
This was his private territory. There were guards and security scanners at the front door. Jing Shu felt out the position of her Five-Step Snake, circled the building, and tried to find an entry point through a window or wall—but there weren't any. The whole thing was a single, airtight unit.
The front door was the only entrance. The guards she could handle, but even Mrs. C had to swipe a pass to get in. If she tried brute-forcing her way through, she'd trigger an alarm for sure.
She wandered around in frustration until she noticed something—smoke rising from a chimney on the roof.
She could get in through there!
Grabbing the clumsy Xiao Hei, Jing Shu scaled the slick outer wall like a spider and reached the roof. She loosened the chimney cover and squeezed herself inside.
"Cough, cough!"
Even with a gas mask on, the acrid smoke burned her throat. She had no idea what they were burning, but the stench was awful. Xiao Hei, meanwhile, had practically blended into the soot-covered walls.
Crawling out through the chimney, Jing Shu found herself in a cold, dim room. Half the space was piled with some kind of black residue, impossible to identify. Other than that, there wasn't anything worth stealing.
No one came to check the noise she made, so she released over a dozen small snakes to act as her eyes before heading straight for Mrs. C's location.
Most of the rooms she passed were locked, and she didn't bother trying to open them. She moved quickly, following her snakes' senses, until she reached a large hall.
In the middle stood a man in a white lab coat, his hair messy and sticking out in every direction, a pair of round glasses perched on his red-tipped nose. He looked like every cliché scientist rolled into one, busy tinkering with test tubes at the center table.
Jing Shu held her breath, listening. 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'll figure out the secret behind the Luminite soon!"
Dr. B didn't look worried in the slightest. He swirled the 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. "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'll die here! If they start suspecting us—have you forgotten what happened to Z and Y? Have you forgotten how many people they've 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're right, though, I need to move faster. Some people are already showing signs of blood cancer, and others keep getting nosebleeds. But no one's connecting the dots. They all think the radiation's just improving their physical strength and endurance."
Mrs. C ripped off her helmet, revealing long brown hair that tumbled over her shoulders. 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'll still end up sick or dead in a few months! You've 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. "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, eyes gleaming. "I'll run a few experiments for the leaders and those idiots in the castle. I'll 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'll 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 mean you'll 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 the hell are we supposed to move them out? We can't leave the castle!"
Hiding in the shadows, Jing Shu listened to every word through Xiao Hei's translation. Her shock turned to cold silence.
She'd 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.