ryethenovel Chapter 17 requires evidence.
Chapter 17 requires evidence.
"I didn't see it; it's probably somewhere else." Li Shancheng looked around. "There are many petri dishes here, three of which are running. I need to gather evidence."
He took out a miniature camera and began taking pictures. The screen data in the energy monitoring center showed that it was indeed receiving siphon energy from the Wen Shu array eye, with a conversion rate as high as 85%. The control panel of the petri dish displayed the words "Nirvana Project - Carrier Culture - Second Stage".
Just as he was photographing the third running petri dish, he suddenly heard a sound—not from the lab, but from the isolation room. Liu Wei was speaking; although he couldn't hear what she was saying through the glass, he could see her lips moving.
Li Shancheng cautiously approached the isolation room, finding a spot where he could hear clearly. Liu Wei was talking to herself, or rather... talking to someone she couldn't see?
"...I won't tell, just kill me..." Her voice trembled. "Engineer Chen is dead, I know...you're using her identity to continue your research..."
Li Shancheng was shocked. Chen Ya was dead?
"She discovered your secret... That ancient artifact wasn't meant to protect anything, it was... to restart the world... You're all lunatics, you're all lunatics..."
Ancient relics...rebooting the world...these words sent chills down Li Shancheng's spine.
Suddenly, the lab alarm went off—not for Li Shancheng, but from the culture area. The data screen of one of the petri dishes flashed red, displaying "Energy Overload - Carrier Instability".
The researchers rushed over to check. Taking advantage of the chaos, Li Shancheng quickly reached the door of the isolation room. The door had an electronic lock, and he once again used his energy mimicry technique to imitate the energy characteristics of the researchers he had previously observed.
The door opened.
When Liu Wei saw him, her eyes widened: "You...who are you?"
"The person who saved you." Li Shancheng quickly unlocked her handcuffs. "Is Chen Ya really dead?"
Tears welled up in Liu Wei's eyes: "Three months ago... they said she resigned, but I know it's not true... I saw the experimental records; they were using living people as carriers for experiments... Engineer Chen refused to participate, and then..."
She choked up and couldn't speak.
"We need evidence, evidence that can prove all of this," Li Shancheng said.
Liu Wei nodded and pointed to the research area: "Chen's private terminal... She secretly backed up the data and hid it in the terminal case. The password is my birthday plus the last four digits of her employee number."
"Let's go together," Li Shancheng said, pulling her along.
But Liu Wei shook her head: "I can't leave... They implanted a tracker in my body, and... a self-destruct rune. If I leave the lab area, the rune will activate."
Only then did Li Shancheng notice that there was a tiny rune mark on the side of Liu Wei's neck, which was glowing faintly.
Is there a way to undo this?
"It requires the original caster, or... an even stronger energy source to cover it up." Liu Wei smiled bitterly. "You can't do it. Hurry up and go, get the evidence, and expose them."
Just then, a shout came from the other end of the laboratory: "Isolation room! Someone has escaped!"
The researchers discovered them. One researcher pressed the alarm button, and a piercing alarm blared throughout the space.
"Let's go!" Liu Wei gave him a push. "Go get the data! The third terminal from the left, the blue chassis!"
Li Shancheng gritted his teeth and rushed towards the research area. He found the terminal and quickly opened the case. Sure enough, there was a miniature hard drive inside. He pulled out the hard drive and stuffed it into his pocket.
When I turned around, I saw that three researchers had surrounded the isolation room, one of them holding a controller that emitted a red light—clearly intended to deal with Liu Wei.
There was no time to hesitate. Li Shancheng activated the runes on his arm, but not to pass through walls; instead, he transformed them into an attack form—a basic energy surge he had learned from the knowledge of the array's core.
A beam of silver energy shot from his palm, striking the researcher holding the controller. The man screamed as the controller flew from his grasp. The other two turned in shock to find Li Shancheng already upon them.
He had no formal combat training, but his knowledge of formations included basic fighting techniques—how to use energy to enhance his body and how to anticipate his opponent's movements. This knowledge now surfaced instinctively.
He sidestepped the first man's lunge, striking him in the ribs with his elbow; energy exploded at the point of contact. The man groaned and fell to the ground. The second man tried to draw his gun, but Li Shancheng was faster, kicking the weapon away with one foot and striking the man's knee with the other.
In less than ten seconds, all three researchers collapsed to the ground.
Li Shancheng ran back to the isolation room, and Liu Wei looked at him in surprise: "You...how could you..."
"There's no time to explain." He pulled her up. "Can I try to remove that runic mark?"
"It's too dangerous, what if we fail..."
"It's more dangerous to stay here." Li Shancheng placed his palm on the brand on the side of her neck, concentrating all his energy. He needed to analyze the rune structure, find the energy node, and then cover and rewrite it with his own energy.
This was an extremely delicate operation; the slightest mistake could cause the brand to explode or Liu Wei to suffer serious injury. Sweat dripped from his forehead; he could feel the structure of the runes—complex, precise, and bearing Lin Han's unique energy imprint.
Time ticked by, and footsteps could be heard in the distance; more security personnel were on their way.
Just as Li Shancheng was about to give up, a rune deconstruction pattern suddenly appeared in his mind. It didn't come from knowledge of the array's core, but from something deeper—as if he was born knowing how to break this constraint.
His fingers began to move, his fingertips drawing reverse runes in the air. With each stroke, the brand on Liu Wei's neck dimmed a little. When the last symbol was completed, the brand disappeared completely, leaving only a faint red mark on her skin.
"It's off!" Liu Wei touched her neck in disbelief.
"Hurry up!" Li Shancheng pulled her towards the elevator platform.
The platform was rising—someone was coming down from above. They immediately changed direction, searching for other exits. Deep inside the laboratory, Li Shancheng discovered an emergency door, behind which was an emergency staircase leading upwards.
They rushed into the stairwell and ran wildly upwards. The staircase seemed endless, spiraling upwards. After running up about five floors, they finally saw a door, which led to the interior of another building in the warehouse area.
"This way!" Liu Wei was familiar with the area and led him through several rooms to a cargo exit.
A truck was parked outside, and the driver was smoking. Liu Wei walked over, said a few words quickly, and the driver nodded, gesturing for them to get in.
"He's my cousin, he works here," Liu Wei explained. "He can take us out."
The truck drove out of the warehouse area, and the gatekeeper glanced at the driver before waving him away. It wasn't until two kilometers away from the warehouse area that Li Shancheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Contact Xu Qingqing," he said into the headset.
"Received, are you safe?" Xu Qingqing's voice rang out immediately. "I saw you leave the warehouse area and I'm following the truck. Turn left at the intersection ahead, I'll wait for you there."
Five minutes later, the truck stopped on a quiet street. Xu Qingqing's car was already waiting there. Li Shancheng and Liu Wei switched cars, and the truck continued on its way.
"She is Liu Wei, Chen Ya's assistant," Li Shancheng introduced. "Chen Ya is... no longer here."
Xu Qingqing's expression turned serious: "You got the hard drive?"
Li Shancheng nodded and took out a mini hard drive. Xu Qingqing immediately connected it to a portable reader, and the screen lit up, displaying rows of encrypted files.
"A password is required," she said.
Liu Wei revealed the password. The file unlocked, revealing a large number of experimental records, design drawings, meeting minutes, and... a video.
The video, filmed three months ago, shows Chen Ya, looking haggard but resolute: "If anyone is watching this video, it means I've already met with misfortune. Hanshan Technology's 'Nirvana Project' isn't the energy research they claim it to be, but a crazy human modification experiment. They discovered an ancient relic, believing it can 'reboot' the world, eliminating all 'imperfections.' But rebooting requires a vessel—a modified human body capable of withstanding the relic's energy impact..."
The video continued playing, and Chen Ya explained the entire plan in detail: using the energy of the seven array eyes to cultivate seven carriers, and activating ancient relics at a specific astronomical moment, theoretically, could rewrite the rules of reality.
"They believe the world is full of suffering and injustice, and they want to create a 'perfect' new world," Chen Ya said angrily. "But their definition of perfection is an extreme uniformity that erases all differences, all individuality, and all freedom. This is not salvation; this is destruction."
At the end of the video, Chen Ya said, "I know the location of the relics, but I can't say; it's too dangerous. But if the plan continues, they will try to activate the first vessel on the night of the full moon three months from now. Stop them at all costs."
The video ends.
The car was completely silent.
"The full moon three months from now..." Xu Qingqing calculated, "which is four weeks from now."
"Where are the ancient relics located?" Li Shancheng asked.
Liu Wei shook her head: "Engineer Chen didn't tell me. She said the fewer people who know, the better. But she mentioned a clue... 'At the source of knowledge, in the earliest records.'"
"The source of knowledge..." Li Shancheng pondered, "...the library? The archives? Or..."
He suddenly realized something: "The Wen Shu Secret Treasury. It contains records of the array's core from 1,300 years ago. If the ancient relics are related to the array's core, there must be clues in the secret treasury."
"But we've already been to the secret vault," Xu Qingqing said.
"We didn't search carefully," Li Shancheng said. "Last time we only looked at the diary; we didn't study the murals and other records in detail. We need to go again and systematically search for information about the ancient artifacts."
Xu Qingqing nodded: "Let's go back to Qingyun Lane and discuss it with Editor-in-Chief Qin."