Break out of the courtyard

Chapter 856 There is a Traitor

"I seem to have some impression of him. What happened to him?"

When Zhang Heping was conducting an experiment at the space capsule remote control center that day, his assistant Lao Lü mentioned Professor Cheng from the Department of Biology at Capital University to him.

"He won the International Young Scientist Award!" Assistant Lao Lü said with a smile. "Professor Zhang, do you think it would be possible to have Professor Cheng come here?"

"The recipients of the International Young Scientist Award must be no older than 35!" Zhang Heping said without turning his head, sitting in front of the computer monitor.

"If I remember correctly, he graduated with a degree in botany in 82, went to the United States in 83 to pursue a master's degree in biomedical science, and obtained his doctorate in 86."

"Old Lu, what is your motive for recommending this person?" Zhang Heping's tone suddenly turned cold. "Take your student and go to the security office now to explain yourself."

"Teacher Zhang, I..." Assistant Lao Lü was dumbfounded, never expecting Zhang Heping's words to take such a dramatic turn.

Just as the other assistants came to their senses and were about to offer some words of advice, an alarm suddenly sounded in the remote control center.

Immediately afterwards, two guards rushed in from the door, followed by more than a dozen others.

Zhang Heping naturally pressed the alarm. Too lazy to explain to everyone, he simply deleted the access permissions of his assistant Lao Lü and the group of students he was leading from the system, kicking them out of the rooftop laboratory.

This incident has a significant impact because the remote control center laboratory in the space capsule on the top floor is of the highest standard among the ground laboratories of the Peace Academy.

Twelve of the assistants were selected through a rigorous process, including theoretical tests and multiple rounds of interviews, before being retained by Zhang Heping.

For example, Professor Tang, an assistant, had two major space experiment failures under his supervision, but Zhang Heping only gave him verbal warnings. This shows that Zhang Heping's tolerance for these assistants is proportional to the difficulty of their selection.

However, what puzzled Hua Lao, Director Wang, and others was that Assistant Lao Lü had only casually recommended someone, so how did Zhang Heping kick him out of the top-floor laboratory?

Even if that person studied in the United States and did not meet the Peace Academy's recruitment standards, it shouldn't be enough to kick Lao Lü out!

According to Lao Lü's statement at the security office of Shenzhen Peace College, the reason he recommended Professor Cheng from the Department of Biology at Capital University was because he received a call that morning from an old friend who asked him to make the recommendation.

However, according to Lao Lü's phone records, the call that morning came from a public phone in a small shop in the capital. The shop owner had no recollection of what the person who called that morning looked like.

The old friend that Lao Lü mentioned not only lived in Shanghai, but also claimed to be completely unaware of the recommendation when Shanghai's national security personnel came to inquire.

As for Professor Cheng, who was recommended, he naturally replied that he knew nothing about it.

However, Professor Cheng did express his desire to come to the Peace Academy for exchange and study.

Two weeks later, after the investigation was completed, it was finally finished.

When Hua placed the investigation results next to Zhang Heping, he said helplessly, "We also questioned Professor Lü's family, but found nothing suspicious so far."

Because Lao Lü couldn't prove who made the call, the matter reached a stalemate, and the suspicion that Lao Lü was involved in foreign affairs couldn't be ruled out.

"Peace, could you explain the basis for your decision to dismiss Professor Lü from his position as assistant?"

When Professor Hua asked this question, the other assistants and students in the space capsule remote control center all subconsciously looked over.

“I originally handed this matter over to the security department, but you insisted on interfering.” Zhang Heping frowned as he looked at the brown paper bag beside his right.

"Where is Lao Lü now? How many of his students are missing?"

Upon hearing this, Professor Hua frowned. "Professor Lü said he was too ashamed to stay here and continue teaching, so he has resigned and returned to his hometown."

"Of the seven students he was supervising, two asked for leave, saying they were taking Professor Lü back to his hometown."

After saying this, Zhang Heping remained silent for a long time, as if his basis for his statement lay in those two questions.

Just as Mr. Hua realized something was amiss, an assistant beside him said, "If it were me, I wouldn't resign. I would have to get to the bottom of this and prove my innocence!"

Another assistant spoke up, "Professor Lü resigned, and also made his son and daughter-in-law resign from the high-paying jobs the college had arranged for them. I thought they were just angry with Professor Zhang, but they left without a word the next day!"

One student interjected, "Does Professor Lü and his group have a lot of luggage? Two students even had to take leave to see them off!"

With Professor Lü gone, the people in the top-floor lab naturally sided with Zhang Heping, amplifying the various unusual behaviors of Professor Lü and his group, and taking the opportunity to express their own stance.

However, these assistants and students spoke rather tactfully, without making any bold guesses that Professor Lü had a problem.

But these words were enough to wake Hua Lao up.

He had blindly trusted his subordinates' investigation and Professor Lü's files, never considering that Professor Lü himself might have problems.

"Boss!" A male voice blared from the loudspeaker in the lobby, originating from a bodyguard in black outside the glass partition. "Professor Lü, along with his family and those two students, boarded a cargo ship bound for Japan in Shanghai. The ship is currently leaving the port."

"What?" Old Hua looked at the glass doorway in disbelief.

However, before Hua could ask any further questions, Zhang Heping simply replied, "I know," and brushed the matter aside lightly.

Just as Mr. Hua took out his phone, preparing to contact people in Shanghai to intercept the cargo ship, Zhang Heping spoke up again.

"Didn't you just ask me what the basis was for removing Professor Lü from his assistant position?" Zhang Heping said calmly, while keeping an eye on the experiment on the screen.
"You should still remember the two major space experiment failures that Assistant Tang's students caused before."

Mr. Hua responded softly and put down his phone, ready to listen to Zhang Heping's explanation.

As for Professor Lü, since Zhang Heping had arranged for people to monitor him and probably had a backup plan, Elder Hua suppressed his irritation and did not immediately arrange for someone to intercept the cargo ship.

“The first mistake, humph…” Zhang Heping shook his head and said, “To make a mistake with something as simple as operating a petri dish, my first reaction was to kick their whole group out.”

The assistants and students around him looked somewhat uncomfortable when they heard this, as if the person was talking about them.

"Afterwards, I spoke with that student." Zhang Heping's tone turned cold. "He said that he was operating the machine according to the method that Teacher Tang usually taught him, but the robotic arm in the space capsule seemed to have gone out of control!"

"As I said in my software security course before, even the most secure security software can't withstand an attack from an insider!"

"Afterwards, I retrieved the video of the student operating the device and compared it with the video of the robotic arm inside the space capsule. I did find that the student's hand movements did not match the movements of the robotic arm inside the space capsule."

"After ruling out software and hardware issues, I finally discovered that someone had tampered with my system's underlying code and modified the records related to the space capsule experiment."

"Although I found out who did it, I didn't expose him." At this point, Professor Hua and the assistants and students present couldn't help but think of Professor Lü, who was fleeing to Japan!

“A person who does bad things always has a purpose,” Zhang Heping continued. “Even if he suddenly decides to kill someone, killing is still his purpose!”

"So, I wanted to see what his purpose was, and then a second incident occurred!"

"This incident may seem accidental, but it was caused by Lao Lü's group of students provoking the experimental monkeys with a spherical robot."

"When Assistant Tang's group of students used the spherical robot to transport virus samples, Lao Lü's group of students coincidentally delivered banana paste to the experimental monkey via the robotic arm, and the experimental monkey coincidentally hit the spherical robot with the banana paste."

"Both accidents happened to Assistant Tang. I was thinking, what kind of grudge does this old man have against Assistant Tang to keep causing him trouble?"

"Then, I took the opportunity to give Assistant Tang a warning."

"As Assistant Tang stopped helping others prepare lessons and teach classes, and focused most of her energy on experiments, no one was able to find an opportunity to take advantage of her."

"Just when I thought those people would wait a long time before causing trouble again, he unexpectedly stepped forward and recommended someone to me!"

"Hmph!" Zhang Heping sneered, "We've waited for them for so long, and all they did was plant someone in here!"

"Their purpose in targeting Assistant Tang is probably because Assistant Tang is about the same age as the person who recommended him."

"However, what they didn't expect was that even though Assistant Tang caused two accidents in a row, I didn't fire him!"

Zhang Heping's cool voice echoed in the hall. Following his explanation, everyone belatedly realized why Zhang Heping did not disclose the core technology of the Lifespan 120 and 160 potions. The crux of the matter was here!

"Now that we understand their purpose, all that's left is to find out who's behind it all!" Zhang Heping said coldly.

"Based on the current situation, Japan and the United States are both possibilities, but we cannot rule out the involvement of other countries."

After listening for so long, Elder Hua finally couldn't help but ask, "You let them go to Japan Island to find out who the power behind them is?"

"No!" Zhang Heping sneered, "I just wish him and the forces behind him a long and healthy life!"

Upon hearing the words "live to a hundred years old," Elder Hua was startled!
He could tell that Zhang Heping had no good intentions when he said those four words.

Moreover, Zhang Heping had said something similar before, and even let the Americans steal a portion of the Lifespan 100 potion concentrate.

Otherwise, the Americans wouldn't have been able to develop a generic version of NMN100 so quickly!

The key point now is that the biology professors and experts at Shenzhen Peace Academy have figured out the production method and principle of the Lifespan 100 potion, including Professor Lü who has already left the academy!

Suddenly, Hua Lao had a sudden realization: Zhang Heping deliberately let Professor Lü and his group go because of the recent reports of several unexplained deaths among users of NMN100, which led to dismal sales.

If the Americans had Professor Lü's help, they wouldn't need to imitate it; they could directly copy Professor Zhang Heping's method to create the Lifespan 100 potion.

But would Zhang Heping, who is so bloodthirsty, really let Lao Lü's family and those two students who are good at software technology go so easily?
~
As the cargo ship departed the port, Old Man Lü finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Even now, he still doesn't understand why Zhang Heping suddenly turned against him.

In his mind, he had simply recommended a young professor who had just won an award.

Even if Zhang Heping disagrees because of the other person's study abroad experience in the United States, at least the person has been registered with Zhang Heping.

If Assistant Xiao Tang makes another mistake, the assistant position will become vacant.

Therefore, Professor Cheng, who had previously registered with Zhang Heping, had a very high chance of being selected.

Even if he wasn't selected, according to Old Man Lü's idea, he could still cause experimental accidents for others, drive away a few more people, and eventually get Professor Cheng into the top-floor laboratory to complete the tasks assigned by those people.

As for those people...

Looking back on the past ten days, Old Man Lü felt inexplicably fortunate!
Even though Zhang Heping was incredibly wealthy and had his guards capture Old Man Lü immediately, Old Man Lü still managed to escape to a cargo ship bound for Japan Island thanks to the machinations of those people!

This shows that if he had chosen to be honest with Zhang Heping and explained that someone was threatening him to steal the longevity potion technology, Zhang Heping might not have been able to protect him and his family's safety.

After all, those people managed to move him and his family out right under Zhang Heping and Hua Lao's noses.

With mixed feelings, Old Man Lü went down to the deck and returned to the cabin that the captain had personally arranged for his family and the two students.

It's called a guest room, but it's actually three double rooms. Old Mr. Lü and his grandson share one room, his son and daughter-in-law share another, and the two students share the third.

At this moment, the son, daughter-in-law, and grandson were all sitting in Old Man Lü's room, discussing their future life in the United States.

On his way to Shanghai, Lu Laotou's son heard Lu Laotou recount the whole story and learned that someone was threatening Lu Laotou with the lives of his family members.

Of course, none of this matters!
The reason why the Lü family father and son so longed for life in the United States was the $100 million settlement allowance and the prospect of applying for a patent for the Life 1 drug technology under a different name and then collecting patent licensing fees.

Otherwise, why would they give up their jobs at the Peace Academy with monthly salaries of over ten thousand yuan?

It's worth noting that the term "ten-thousand-yuan household" has only become popular in inland provinces in recent years.

"Dad, how many days are we going to stay in Dongdu, Japan?" Old Lu's son asked worriedly. "I heard from those security guards that Umbrella Corporation has a branch in Dongdu, Japan. What if they find out..."

"Don't worry!" Old Lu reassured his family in the room, "As soon as the cargo ship docks, we'll go to the airport, fly to the west coast of the United States, and then go to Washington, D.C. They won't have a chance to see us."

"Dad, how many days will this ship be at sea?" Lu's daughter-in-law touched her son's forehead and said worriedly, "Yangyang still has a low fever. The medicine we bought yesterday probably didn't work. I want to take Yangyang to see a doctor."

"Mom, I'm fine!" Lu's grandson shook a bottle of mineral water. "The doctor said yesterday that I don't need to take any medicine. I just need to drink more water and rely on my own immunity to get through it."

Old Man Lü reached out and touched his grandson Lü Yang's forehead, then touched his own forehead, nodded and said, "Your forehead isn't hot, it's just a minor cold, don't worry!"

This reassurance allowed Old Man Lü to sleep soundly through the night on the swaying sea.

He was only jolted awake by knocking on the door the next day. After opening the door, he gradually came to his senses amidst a quarrel between his son and daughter-in-law.

"What's wrong with Yangyang? She has a high fever..."

Before Old Man Lu could finish his question, he fainted!
(End of this chapter)