Long Island Estate in the evening is more peaceful than during the day.
The spring outing at the Greenhouse and Botanical Garden went very smoothly, and except for a few hiccups, the children all had a great time.
On the way back, Reggie was already snoring loudly in the back seat of the car, and Annie also fell asleep leaning on John's shoulder.
Dinner is baked macaroni and cheese and grilled ribs made by Lynn.
The little ones who had eaten and drank enough were rushed into the bathroom one by one.
By the time Manor finally became completely quiet, it was already past nine o'clock in the evening.
Lynn opened the door of John's room, and there was a warm pumpkin night light in the room.
The blond boy was already lying on the soft quilt, with only half of his head exposed.
Seeing Lynn come in, John's originally tense body relaxed visibly.
"Can't you sleep?" Lynn walked to the bed and sat down, tucking him in the quilt.
John looked at Lynn, and Azure's eyes looked defenseless in the dim light.
He stretched out his hand and gently grabbed a small sleeve of Lynn.
"Lynn, that woman said... let me go back to the isolation room."
The boy's voice was very soft, with a hint of trembling fear, "I almost couldn't hold it in today and almost killed us... Do you think I'm a bad boy?"
Lynn's heart seemed to be slightly pulled by something, making it feel a little sore.
In the greenhouse during the day, the child endured the fear and stress reaction engraved in his bones just because he didn't want to mess up his family's spring outing.
What he was afraid of was not the woman in the white coat, but the fear of losing everything he had now.
"Listen, John."
Lynn held the boy's cold palm with his backhand, his eyes were gentle and firm, "You did better today than I imagined. You protected Annie's paintings and Reggie's cookies. You are a real little man. No one can take you away from here. Even if God Jesus comes, he has to ask me if I agree first."
Hearing Lynn's assurance, the trace of uneasiness in John's eyes finally completely dissipated.
He nodded vigorously, closed his eyes, and his breathing soon became steady and long.
Lynn sat by the bed and quietly looked at the side face of the boy sleeping peacefully. It was not until he was sure that he had completely fallen asleep that he let go of his hand and quietly exited the room.
As the door made a slight click, the light in the corridor shone on Lynn's face.
The eyes that were full of warmth and softness a second ago turned into bottomless ice the moment he turned around.
He did tell the children that it was over.
But this is just to appease the children.
As an adult, Lynn knows very well that as long as that old madman Jonah·Vogelbaum is alive for one day, Long Island Estate's peace will always hang on the edge of the cliff.
Today it is a white coat, tomorrow it may be a recording, and the day after tomorrow it may be an assassination directly targeting other children.
Lynn returned to his bedroom and put on an inconspicuous dark casual outfit and a peaked cap.
Some things don't need to cause uproar in the city. The safest way is to quietly deal with the person who caused the problem.
It was pouring light rain at New York at eleven o'clock in the night.
There was no one on the fifth underground floor of Vought Tower at this time.
Lynn relied on the highest authority he had just obtained a few days ago to avoid all patrols and key monitoring, and sneaked into the depths of the core laboratory like a ghost.
The lights were on in a separate private office.
Vogelbaum was pacing anxiously in front of his desk, and the coffee in his hand had already gone cold.
Nearly ten hours have passed since Barbara entered Central Park. There have been no news reports and Barbara's phone number cannot be reached.
The old man had a vague premonition of something bad.
The door lock made a slight turning sound.
Vogelbaum turned his head suddenly. "Barbara? What's the situation..."
His words were stuck in his throat.
Lynn locked the office door with his backhand, took off his peaked cap, gently patted the rainwater on his clothes, and looked calmly at the gray-haired old man in front of him.
"Good evening, Doctor, are you still waiting for news from the greenhouse?"
"Lynn? How did you get in!"
Vogelbaum was so frightened that he took two steps back and frantically tried to press the internal alarm under the table.
Lynn moves much faster than him.
He took two steps forward, grabbed the old man's wrist, and exerted a slight force. Vogelbaum immediately let out a painful groan and was forced to fall down on the swivel chair.
"Shh, be quiet. Everyone outside is off work."
Lynn let go of his hand and took out a medical syringe that had been prepared for a long time.
The syringe contains most of the transparent liquid.
"Lynn, you are crazy! This is Vought International! Kill me, Edgar will never let you go, you will be thrown into the river to feed the fish!"
Looking at the sharp needle, Vogelbaum finally felt real fear. He lowered his voice and roared, trying to use the company's background to save his life.
Lynn ignored his struggle and slowly drained the air from the syringe.
"High concentrations of Potassium chloride can cause sudden heart failure when injected into a vein."
Lynn looked at the drop of transparent liquid that overflowed from the tip of the needle, and his voice sounded extremely cold in the quiet office, "For a scientific research madman of your age, working overtime and staying up late at night, leading to sudden death from acute heart disease, is a very reasonable cause of death. The medical examiner can't find any problems."
"No... no! I am the creator of Compound V, and I also created that little monster! You can't kill me for a few experiments!"
Vogelbaum desperately wanted to stand up and call for help.
But Lynn pressed his shoulder firmly with one hand and pinned him down on the chair.
There was no emotion in Lynn's eyes, as if he was cleaning a stone that was blocking his feet.
"Your era is over, Jonah. If you still want to do experiments in your next life, remember not to touch other people's children."
The needle penetrated the vein on the side of Vogelbaum's neck accurately and without hesitation.
Lynn pushed hard with his thumb, and the transparent liquid was instantly injected into the old man's blood vessels.
Vogelbaum's eyes suddenly widened, and his eyeballs were bloodshot.
His hands scratched his throat painfully, and his body twitched violently on the chair.
After only ten seconds, the suffocating twitching stopped.
The old man slumped on the swivel chair, his head tilted to one side, his cloudy eyes staring at the ceiling, completely out of breath.
Lynn pulled out the syringe expressionlessly and gently wiped away the little blood droplets that seeped out from the needle hole with a piece of clean sterile gauze.
He carefully checked the surroundings to make sure there were no fingerprints or traces of his own, and then put the syringe and gauze back into his pocket.
The office was so quiet that only the faint hum of the air conditioner was operating.
Lynn put on his peaked cap again, opened the door, and disappeared into the dim light and shadow of the corridor.
On the way back, the rain had stopped.
Lynn was driving on an empty highway, with the car window open a crack, and the cool night breeze blew on his face, dispelling the lingering smell of disinfectant on his body.
He glanced at the car clock and saw that it was already one o'clock in the morning.
The children will wake up around seven o'clock tomorrow morning. John likes to eat freshly baked blueberry muffins, Reggie likes to add a lot of honey, and Annie likes to have hot milk.
I have to go back quickly to prepare the batter.