Apocalypse, then transforming into a magical girl

After a similar simple deduction, Han Xue's body appeared in front of them.

She collapsed beside the lab bench littered with broken petri dishes, her hands tightly clutching her ripped throat, her posture one of pain and despair.

Han Xue was seen next to a petri dish before her death, clearly still working on a research project. Zhu Hui's desk also showed him reviewing or organizing past project completion reports.

"Judging from the situation at the scene, they should have been killed at the same time," Xiao Lü said.

Xia Zhaozhao's tone was somewhat reluctant: "And there's that guy named Yang Qian, his suicide note was too vague, we can't find his exact location."

Xiao Lü shook her head: "It's alright. Let's check the two corpses and the area around the workstations first, and see if we can find anything more useful."

Zhu Hui's workstation was piled with many experimental records and documents that looked quite old.

The two walked over and casually flipped through the pages.

"Research on plant stress resistance based on such-and-such technology, optimization of fermentation process for such-and-such strains..." She read out several convoluted titles, "So serious, I thought that professor was researching all sorts of wild and unrealistic things."

"There's a sign at the entrance saying it's a national key laboratory, so how could all the projects here be useless?" Xiao Lü said helplessly.

Just then, Xia Zhaozhao's hand, which was flipping through the old project completion report, suddenly stopped.

She seemed to have discovered something incredible, her eyes widening suddenly: "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, Little Green, look!"

She pointed to the column introducing the main participants in the yellowed final report.

In the photo, a young woman with delicate features but looking extremely tired is prominently featured.

This is clearly the "Sasa" they encountered in the illusion before!

However, in the photo, she looked much older than in the previous hallucination, her complexion was much worse, her eyes were dull and lifeless.

Her name and student ID number are clearly marked below the photo; her name is Ye Shasha.

Xiao Lü also went over, and when she saw the face in the photo, she frowned.

She then found some experimental record books from the same period and began to browse through them.

The experimental logbooks from this period were filled with cold and stern annotations on almost every blank page.

"How could you make such a basic mistake? Redo it!"

"The progress is too slow! If you don't have any interim experimental results by next week, you can stop being in charge of this project!"

"The data is completely contrary to expectations! Did they not bring their brains into the lab? Give me a reasonable explanation!"

Upon seeing this, Xia Zhaozhao gasped, "This is too fierce! The person in charge here before... wasn't Qin Zheng, but someone else?"

Xiao Lü pointed to the signature in the notebook: "That's right, it's Qin Zheng's name that's signed."

Xiao Lü continued flipping through the experimental records and final report, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper: "Moreover, after a certain point in time, Ye Shasha's name completely disappeared from all the experimental records."

Xia Zhaozhao's voice lowered: "Did she... drop out of school? Or did she have no other choice and commit suicide?"

Bai Shuyuan's voice rang out: "High-intensity academic pressure is not uncommon in such a research environment, but in the long run, it can indeed easily lead to serious psychological problems."

"If she died suddenly or something else happened, then there would be a long gap in the experimental projects she was in charge of, or someone else would have to take over hastily."

"If it is a normal withdrawal from school, there will usually be a relatively standardized handover process and records."

Xiao Lü carefully compared the timelines of the documents in her hand, and finally sighed: "It seems that she is most likely dead."

A hint of sadness flashed in Xia Zhaozhao's eyes: "What a pity, she looks so beautiful when she smiles."

"...But the Professor Qin Zheng I've heard about isn't like that. Even I, who have absolutely no connection to this field, have heard that he's incredibly kind to his students. How could he be so harsh on Sasha?"

"It seems this professor wasn't like this before you got in. Perhaps it only changed after Ye Shasha's accident," Xiao Lü said thoughtfully. "...Experience teaches a lesson; you learn it in one go."

Xia Zhaozhao seemed to have realized something: "So, Ye Shasha has been resurrected? And she's back to seek revenge on Qin Zheng?"

Bai Shuyuan directly refuted Xia Zhaozhao's conjecture: "The dead cannot be brought back to life. This is something that those aggregates, and even the 'Kaka' who have signed contracts with them, absolutely, absolutely cannot do."

Xiao Lü also agreed with Bai Shuyuan's point of view: "Moreover, even if we take a step back and assume that Ye Shasha really did come back from the dead to seek revenge, the logic of her behavior still doesn't make sense."

"She actively guided us out of the illusion and even warned us of the dangers inside the biological building... This is not the behavior of a revenger driven by hatred."

"Therefore, I still agree with what Miss Bai said earlier. The 'Sasha' we encountered was not Ye Sasha herself."

"Instead, it's a beautified image of Ye Shasha from the killer's memory, one that represents purity and beauty."

……

The group quickly searched through the items at Zhu Hui's workstation but found no further clues.

They then began investigating Han Xue. Han Xue wasn't carrying anything unusual, but on her lab table, Xiao Lü found a printed schedule.

Xiao Lü picked it up and examined it carefully.

The duty roster clearly listed four names. Besides Han Xue and two others who had been confirmed dead, there was another completely unfamiliar name—Ye Hao.

In addition, each name is followed by a student ID number.

Xiao Lü discovered that, based on the information in the student ID number, although Ye Hao was in the same year as Han Xue and others, the number representing his birth year was much larger than theirs.

Bai Shuyuan had been listening silently to their conversation, but finally spoke up: "Mayfly, Shrike. If you feel you have enough clues to deduce the real answer, please close your eyes before stating your conclusions."

Xiao Lü closed her eyes as instructed, and the clues in her mind quickly connected, leading her to make her deduction.

"There are only four people on the duty roster. The first three have been confirmed dead, but Ye Hao is nowhere to be found."

"Judging from his student ID number, Ye Hao is a doctoral student in the same year as the other three, but he is actually much older than the other three, yet about three years younger than Ye Shasha."

"And Ye Shasha and Ye Hao share the same surname. Considering everything we already know, I have a hypothesis."

"Ye Hao is Ye Shasha's younger brother, and the siblings probably have a very good relationship. After Ye Shasha allegedly committed suicide due to pressure from Qin Zheng, Ye Hao came here to get close to Qin Zheng and find an opportunity to avenge his sister."

"His actual age is older than others, which may mean that he transferred from another major, or that he took a break from school for a period of time because of his sister's death."

"However, there are still many doubts. If his purpose was to avenge his sister, then why kill the other three..."

Bai Shuyuan's calm voice interrupted Xiao Lü's thoughts: "We have already ruled out the possibility that other personnel in the laboratory, such as cleaners, administrators, and other visiting professors, were the perpetrators."

"Based on the suicide note and our previous experiences, we can also rule out other factors such as 'the person who is associated with the monster is a madman without a motive'."

"So, after eliminating all the impossibilities, no matter how unbelievable or lacking in direct evidence the remaining truth may seem, it must be the only truth."

A strong, nauseating odor had quietly permeated the laboratory and entered the nostrils of the three people.

Bai Shuyuan's tone remained unchanged, still serene and detached: "The killer's psychology and motives are not issues we should be considering right now."

"Open your eyes when you're ready. I think what we're about to see is what Professor Qin Zheng saw before he died."

The three of them slowly opened their eyes.

Dark, still-pulsating flesh and blood covered the walls, floor, and even the ceiling of the entire laboratory.

A thick, foul-smelling liquid slowly seeped from between the gaps in the flesh.

Clusters of enormous eyeballs, like sunflower heads, are connected by optic nerve bundles as thick as flower stems, growing out of the flesh.

The eyeballs swayed silently in the room, as if a gentle breeze was blowing, exuding a chilling vitality.

Once their gazes were captured, all their eyes turned in unison, their malevolent pupils fixed intently on the faces of the three magical girls in the center of the laboratory.

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