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Chapter 34 The Shadow of a Friend

There was silence in the car. Xiao Ran was driving attentively, looking behind him through the rearview mirror from time to time.

Lin Che sat in the back row, his eyes wandering, sometimes lucid, sometimes dazed.

Lu Zhao closed his eyes, as if he was lost in some painful memories.

"Where are we going?" Xiao Ran broke the silence.

Su Wanqing closed her notebook and looked out the window. "Let's find a safe place. I need to take a closer look at this information."

"I know a place," Xiao Ran said, "An old comrade of mine has a safe house in the south of the city. It should be empty now."

The car drove into a remote road, and the trees on both sides cast shadows in the night.

Su Wanqing noticed that Lin Che's condition was not right. His eyes were sometimes clear, sometimes confused, and his fingers were shaking unconsciously.

"Lin Che, are you okay?" she asked.

Lin Che turned her head, her eyes regaining clarity for a moment. "I'm fine, just... some memories are coming back."

"What memory?"

"Laboratory matters, and..." His voice gradually weakened, and his eyes began to become confused again.

Su Wanqing looked at Lu Zhao. "Do you know what happened to him?"

Lu Zhao opened his eyes and glanced at Lin Che. "Perhaps the inhibitor's effects are wearing off. The implants in his body suppress certain memories, but over time, the effects will wear off."

Half an hour later, the car stopped in front of an abandoned warehouse. Xiao Ran got out, checked the surroundings, and then gestured for everyone to follow.

"It's safe here," he said, "at least for now."

The interior of the warehouse was simply converted into a makeshift residence with a few beds, a table and chairs.

Xiao Ran turned on the generator and the light illuminated this simple space.

"It's not a luxury hotel, but it's good enough," said Xiao Ran.

Su Wanqing put the notebook and photos on the table, and others gathered around.

"Whose notebook is this?" Su Wanqing asked Lu Zhao.

Lu Zhao picked up one of the books and gently stroked the cover. "This belongs to my friend, Alan Howard. He's one of the lead researchers on the Origin Zero project."

"Where is he now?"

Lu Zhao's expression turned gloomy. "Missing. He suddenly disappeared a few days before the project went wrong."

"Missing?" Xiao Ran asked, "Has he been dealt with?"

"I don't know," Lu Zhao shook his head, "but I suspect so. Alan discovered something, something about the true purpose of the project."

He flipped open his notebook and pointed to some complicated formulas and graphs.

"Alan is a physicist specializing in quantum field theory. He is one of the core developers of channel technology."

"What did he find out?" Su Wanqing asked.

Lu Zhao took a deep breath. "The last time I saw him was three days before the project went wrong. That night, he came to me, looking extremely nervous. He said he'd discovered something, something that could change everything."

Lu Zhao's voice deepened, and pain filled his eyes. "He said he needed to check some data and would contact me later. That was the last time I saw him. The next day, his lab was locked down, and everyone was told he'd taken a leave of absence for personal reasons."

Su Wanqing flipped through the notebook. Most of the content was complex physical formulas and technical instructions, but it was interspersed with some personal notes.

"Most of these notes are encrypted," Lu Zhao said. "Alan is always very cautious."

"Can you crack it?" Xiao Ran asked.

"Partially. We used a common cryptographic system. But some parts use encryption methods I'm not familiar with."

Lin Che suddenly stood up and walked to the table. His eyes became unusually clear, but his tone was not like his usual self.

"Let me see," he said, his voice characteristic of Aze, "I might be able to help."

Su Wanqing realized that Aze had appeared again. "Aze?"

He nodded, picked up the notebook, and quickly scanned the contents. "I've seen this type of encryption at the research institute. It's a code based on DNA sequences."

"Can you crack it?" Su Wanqing asked.

"Part of it is possible, but it will take time." Aze said, and then began to focus on the notebook. Lu Zhao looked at Aze with a complicated expression. "Your other personality seems to know a lot of secrets of the institute."

"He's Lin Che's protection mechanism," Su Wanqing explained, "He appears when Lin Che can't bear it anymore."

Lu Zhao nodded, then continued. "After Allen disappeared, I tried to investigate, but encountered numerous obstacles. All the information related to him had been deleted or blocked. But I found this."

He pulled a small USB drive from his pocket. "Alan left this in a secret place we both share.

There's a coded diary inside, but I can only partially decipher its contents."

Xiao Ran took the USB drive and plugged it into an old computer in the corner of the warehouse.

The screen lit up, displaying a series of encrypted files.

"A password is required," Xiao Ran said.

Lu Zhao entered a string of characters, and the computer began to decrypt the file. A moment later, a diary appeared on the screen.

"This is a record of Allen's last few weeks," Lu Zhao said, "but most of the content is still encrypted."

Su Wanqing leaned closer to the screen and read the visible part:
"...doubts about the project's true purpose. Data suggests the other side of the channel is not what we thought." The board knew the risks but decided to proceed.

"What do these mean?" Xiao Ran asked.

Lu Zhao shook his head. "Not sure. Alan seems to have discovered some hidden purpose for the project."

Aze looked up from his notebook. "Here are some records about 'Source Zero'."

He pointed to a coded text on a page. "According to my interpretation, this text mentions the connection between the 'Source Zero' project and an international organization."

"What organization?" Su Wanqing asked.

"I can't be sure," Aze said, "but it looks important. And..."

He flipped to another page and pointed to a partially erased chart.

"Seven elemental holders are mentioned here as keys."

Lu Zhao nodded. "Alan mentioned this before. He said the channel requires a specific energy frequency to be stable, and elementalists happen to provide this frequency."

"So this is why they capture elemental users?" Xiao Ran asked.

"Yes," Lu Zhao said, "but Alan suspected there were more reasons."

Su Wanqing noticed that the last page of the diary had been torn off, leaving only a few blurry words: ".The truth about her. The price of the passage."

“Where’s the last page?” she asked.

Lu Zhao shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe Allen tore it off himself, or maybe someone else did."

Aze suddenly frowned, his expression becoming painful. He put down his notebook and put his head in his hands.

"Aze?" Su Wanqing asked worriedly.

"I can't hold on any longer," Aze said, his voice becoming intermittent. "Lin Che is coming back. But you need to know that Allen's notes mentioned a name. Elizabeth."

His voice gradually faded, his body swayed a bit, and then he resumed his Lin Che posture.

Lin Che looked around blankly, seemingly unable to remember what had just happened.

Su Wanqing briefly explained the situation, and Lin Che nodded, but his expression was still confused.

"Who is Elizabeth?" Su Wanqing asked Lu Zhao.

Lu Zhao's expression instantly stiffened. "Elizabeth is my wife's name."

There was silence in the room.

"Your wife?" Xiao Ran asked, "Is she also involved in the project?"

Lu Zhao nodded, his expression pained. "She's a biologist, responsible for studying the effects of channel radiation on living things."

"Where is she now?" Su Wanqing asked.

Lu Zhao was silent for a moment, then said, "She died. At least that's what the official account says. In the first channel experiment accident."

(End of this chapter)