Back in the hotel room, Milluki kicked off his shoes and tossed the unlucky bag containing the Pope's head onto the table before throwing himself in front of the terminal. Light flickered across the screen as rows of component-ordering pages that ordinary people could never understand flashed past at breakneck speed.
Bai Zhu ignored him and walked to the window alone. He looked down at the lively Carnival streets below, but his mind replayed the scene at the abandoned Composting Center.
The delivery van had led them to the Composting Center.
The scratches and footprints in the warehouse showed that living creatures had once been imprisoned there and had tried to escape.
The massive shed snakeskin in the drainage ditch and the scraps of cloth hanging from the wire fence pointed to an even more complex underground world.
The test subjects and that giant snake had most likely occupied the same underground space.
"Hey." Milluki's voice came from behind him. Without looking back, his fingers flew across the screen. "What are you thinking about? You look constipated."
"I was wondering whether that snake ate our target." Bai Zhu turned around and leaned against the windowsill. "Then we could just go back, and you wouldn't have to buy all this junk."
"Bullshit! I ordered the latest nano-scale detectors and miniature power components!" Milluki finally spared him a glance, his face brimming with a tech nerd's pride. "And if it got eaten, the trail would be dead. You're here for fun, not an idiot."
"I'm just lazy." Bai Zhu shrugged. Watching Milluki bury himself in a mountain of data again, he realized he could not help much. He simply pushed open the door and left. "I'm going downstairs for a look around. Take your time."
By the time Bai Zhu had made