The entrance to the basement was hidden beneath a pile of abandoned equipment; the White Bone had cleared away the obstructions, revealing an iron door.
The iron gate was unlocked.
Ling Yi pushed open the door and went downstairs.
The basement was small, about twenty square meters, with Map and photos covering all four walls.
The Map marks the various areas of Dafeng City, with several locations circled by a red cesium marker.
Ling Yi leaned closer for a look, and his breath hitched slightly.
The circled locations are...
Dafeng City No. 3 Middle School.
Dafeng City No. 1 Middle School.
Dafeng City Experimental Middle School.
Three schools.
Three test centers for the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE).
The fragmented memory flashed violently through his mind once again.
Scene: Examination room... Green cesium gas... Students collapse... Black cesium scales grow on their skin, their eyes turn blood red cesium...
The picture is clearer than before.
Ling Yi closed his eyes, took five seconds to calm himself down, and then opened them.
"Take a picture of it," he said to the White Bone.
The White Bone took out its phone.
I took more than a dozen photos of the Map on the wall.
There's one more thing.
The White Bone walked to a glass cabinet in the corner of the basement and pointed to several test tubes inside.
The test tube contained a pale green cesium liquid that shimmered faintly under the light.
Ling Yi's pupils contracted again as he looked at the liquid.
Pale green cesium.
The gas that I remember coming out of the ventilation duct is the same color cesium.
The potions of the Kami Cult.
Or rather—the weapons of the Kami Cult.
He carefully opened the glass cabinet, took out three test tubes, wrapped them in a cloth, and stuffed them into his schoolbag.
Let's go!
"It's time to go back."
The two figures sank into the shadows below like flowing water and disappeared.
Four o'clock in the morning, in the apartment.
Ling Yi sat on the sofa in the living room, with the documents he had brought back from the basement and a Map photo taken on his phone spread out in front of him.
The White Bone has returned to the Summoning Space to rest.
The Summon entity is in a dormant state within the space, allowing it to quickly recover its consumed super energy.
Chu Ran stood at the bedroom door, wrapped in a blanket, her gaze fixed on the documents and photos.
She wasn't involved in tonight's operation, but Ling Yi told her everything he had discovered when he returned.
"Three schools." Chu Ran's voice was very soft, as if she was afraid of disturbing something.
"They're going to target the college entrance exam."
"It's not just about making the move."
Ling Yi took the test tube out of his bag and placed it on the coffee table.
Look at this.
Chu Ran's gaze fell on the three pale green test tubes, and her expression instantly changed.
"This is..." Her voice trembled.
" Kami Elixir? This Yan Se must be the latest version of the Kami Elixir. How did you get it?"
"In the basement of the factory in the north of the city."
The Kami Elixir? The name itself screams Aura.
Chu Ran slowly walked to the sofa, sat down, and stared intently at the test tubes as if she were looking at some kind of terrifying monster.
Her voice carried a suppressed anger.
"My parents were forced to develop this thing."
Ling Yi remained silent, waiting for her to continue.
My parents are researchers in the field of biological genetics, working in a state-owned enterprise laboratory.
"Two years ago, the Kami Cult kidnapped them and imprisoned them in a secret laboratory."
"Pippa and his team are developing a drug that can grant ordinary people superpowers."
"They initially refused."
Chu Ran's voice grew softer and softer.
"But the Kami Cult threatened to kill me if they didn't cooperate."
"I had only recently awakened my superpowers when the Kami Cult started targeting me."
"They're using me to blackmail my parents."
"So that's why you voluntarily joined the Kami God Cult?" Ling Yi asked.
"Yes."
Chu Ran lowered her head.
"I told them that I would do anything for my parents if they were released."
"They agreed, but only verbally; in reality, they never intended to release them."
Ling Yi was silent for a moment, then asked, "How much do you know about the workings of this medicine?"
Chu Ran looked up at him.
Why are you asking this?
"If the Kami God Cult intends to use this kind of thing in the college entrance examination."
"I need to know its effects, duration, and -- whether there is an antidote."
Chu Ran frowned.
"I don't fully understand how the drug works, but my parents secretly told me some things during the research and development process."
She recalled, "The core ingredient of the potion was a substance brought back from a spatial Rift; they called it divine blood."
"This substance can activate dormant super-powered genes within the human body, granting ordinary people superpowers."
"Divine blood?" Ling Yi frowned.
"God's blood?"
"Right."
"A spatial Rift?"
"Yes, a spatial Rift. Don't ask, because I don't know the specifics either."
Ling Yi frowned.
Fragments of memories surged through my mind.
Everything matches up.
"The spatial Rift not only contains monsters, but also some special substances."
"Divine blood is one of them."
"It is a dark green cesium liquid containing some unknown active factor that can rewrite the human gene sequence."
Ling Yi glanced at the pale green cesium liquid in the three test tubes on the coffee table.
What about the side effects?
"I already said it, it consumes lifespan." A hint of fear flashed in Chu Ran's eyes.
"But there's an even more terrifying side effect: genetic collapse."
"Approximately 30% of those who receive the injection experience genetic breakdown and irreversible mutations in their bodies after the effects of the drug wear off."
"Skin keratinization, bone Shapeshifting, loss of consciousness, ultimately transforming into a... monster."
The image flashed through Ling Yi's mind again: after the student fell to the ground, black cesium scales grew on his skin, and his eyes turned blood red.
That's not superpower awakening.
That was a mutation that occurred after the genes collapsed.
The Kami Cult's plan is not to grant ordinary students superpowers.
Instead, they turned them into monsters.
"Is there an antidote?" Ling Yi asked.
Chu Ran shook her head.
My parents couldn't develop a cure.
"They... they've been secretly sabotaging the potion's formula, trying to render it ineffective."
"But the Kami Cult discovered their activities and moved them to a place I don't know about."
"You haven't seen them since then?"
"No." Chu Ran's voice became hoarse.
"After joining the Kami Cult, I was assigned to the Dafeng City branch."
"I tried to find out where my parents were, but my rank was too low to access the core information."
"Later, I couldn't resist any longer, so I stole an internal document and prepared to escape."
"And then!" Chu Ran said, glancing at Ling Yi.
"I saved you?" Ling Yi asked.
Chu Ran nodded.
"Do you still have the document you stole?"
Chu Ran hesitated for a moment, then pulled a USB drive out from under the blanket.
"They're all here."
Ling Yi took the USB drive and plugged it into his Computer.
There are many files, most of which are encrypted.
But he quickly found several unencrypted documents.
The organizational structure of the Kami Cult branch in Dafeng City, a summary of its recent action plans (partially encrypted), and a document titled "Project Skyfall".
Ling Yi clicked on "Project Skyfall".
Most of the file is encrypted, but there is an unencrypted digest.
[Project Skyfall: To use the Kami Elixir to massively deploy it at three college entrance examination sites in Dafeng City, creating a superpower awakening event.]
[Estimated number of people affected: over 3,000.]
[Objective: Through a large-scale genetic collapse event, gather sufficient data to refine the divine blood formula, preparing for the descent of the Kami.]
[Time: 9:00 AM, the first day of the National College Entrance Examination.]