(Outskirts of Heurn Province)
(Hidden Location- Secret Military Complex)
Qin Lan carefully glanced around her nearby surroundings for any trace of movements or signs of life.
Nothing.
They had spent over twenty minutes wandering around the outskirts of the military complex which meant that either Subject 001 was not here or he was inside one of the buildings.
Both possibilities were not good news.
"Take a small five-minute break and get something to eat," Qin Lan softly whispered as she led the girls behind a nearby pile of rubble.
Liu Yifei snapped her fingers and a few granola bars appeared out of thin air. She handed them out to Gong Li and Qin Lan who thanked her softly.
The scent of rotting meat hung over their bodies which made it very difficult to eat but Qin Lan reluctantly unwrapped the packaging and shoved the bar into her mouth.
It was important to maintain her energy for the upcoming fight even if she had to force herself to eat.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bottle of water.
Qin Lan let out a light sigh as she felt the cool refreshing sensation of water sliding down her throat.
She needed to proceed carefully.
It was reasonable to assume that Subject 001 was more likely to be found in the buildings that were left relatively intact so there were a few choices to start with.
A few hundred meters to the north was a relatively sturdy building whose door had been ripped off its hinges and there were a few shattered windows but that was the extent of the damage.
There were a few half-eaten carcasses in front of the door and judging from the large size of the bites, the bloody remains must have attracted the zombie dogs that used to roam the complex.
Those beasts…
Qin Lan checked the original Qin Lan's memories but could not find similar creatures from her experiences in the apocalypse.
Actually, the original Qin Lan had never even heard about test subjects or the potential origin of the end times.
"Come on let's make a move," Qin Lan whispered in a hushed tone when she saw that both girls had finished eating.
She pointed at the building that had caught her attention and made a series of hand signals to indicate that they would be going in that direction.
They proceeded from behind the pile of rubble and Qin Lan kept her eyes peeled for the first signs of trouble.
The complex was now eerily silent.
There was a quiet stillness in the air that seemed almost unnatural.
Qin Lan furrowed her brows as she walked towards the building and stepped over the corpses on the ground.
The grip on her knife got even firmer as she crouched slightly and stepped cautiously inside of the building.
Unlike its relatively undamaged exterior, the inside of the building was a complete mess. Bullet holes could be seen on the floor, walls and even the ceiling.
Corpses… or rather chunks and bits of meat were scattered around the corridor. Something had torn these soldiers apart limb from limb.
Liu Yifei and Gong Li gagged slightly as they saw the horrific sight. Qin Lan placed one hand on Gong Li's shoulder and shot her comforting look.
She didn't want the girls to see this massacre, but it would be too risky for them to wait outside.
Qin Lan proceeded through the building and her lips slowly curved downwards.
Numerous rooms were connected to the corridor, and one could see inside the rooms thanks to the glass windows that were installed.
Inside each room was a large container filled with greenish liquid that bubbled and hissed slightly.
There were men, women and even children inside most containers but a few were shattered, and their occupants were currently missing.
Laboratory equipment were connected to each container, but the screens were black since there was no electric current to power them on.
This place…
Qin Lan stopped in front of one of the doors and casually punched forward using her enhanced strength.
The metallic door crumbled as if it were made out of paper, but blood dripped down from the top of Qin Lan's knuckles.
She hissed in pain and reached into her pocket to pull out a handkerchief to stem the bleeding. Qin Lan tightly wrapped the handkerchief around her palm and then entered the room.
She walked up to the large container and saw a skinny woman floating inside the liquid.
The woman was extremely thin and pale to the extent where one could see her ribs sticking out against her chest.
Qin Lan tapped her knuckles against the side of the container but did not receive any response from the woman who appeared to be dead.
She turned around and walked towards the table in the far corner of the room. There were a few computers on the table but naturally they were all turned off.
Even if they could somehow work, Qin Lan had no knowledge of hacking and would be unable to guess the password to access what was inside.
Instead, she examined the drawers underneath the table and tried to see if she could find any files or reports.
If this was a top-secret military project, then the most important information had to be written down or recorded on paper.
Most intelligence agencies in the world used paper to record their top secrets.
Qin Lan discovered a certain locked drawer and used her enhanced strength to rip open its metallic frame.
Inside the drawer was a single piece of paper.
The paper did not appear to be an official document but rather a draft for one.
It was covered in scribbles and several words had been crossed out using a ball point pen. The document only filled up the first half of the page.
Qin Lan gestured for Gong Li and Liu Yifei to walk over as she closed the drawer and stood up from the ground.
The two girls crowded over her shoulder and Qin Lan tilted the paper so that they could see what had been written down.
[Project: Mercury's Angel]
[The enhancement project has so far been an unequivocal failure. All of the test subjects chosen to test the [REDACTED] have died immediately.]
[We must now seriously consider alternative host organisms for the [REDACTED] such as livestock, bears or even wolves]
[I understand that it is difficult to predict how animals will react, but I must disagree with my colleague Dr. Huang]
[His claims that his current test subject will survive the bonding process are dubious at best and blatantly false at worst]
[It is impossible for a heavily dissected and damaged test subject to survive an implantation of the [REDACTED]. I believe that Dr. Huang knows this and is merely trying to delay the inevitable…]
The writing stopped at that point as if the author of the file no longer wished to record his concerns about the project.
"Project Mercury's Angel?" Gong Li asked curiously as she read the file for a second time.
"Yes… this is the place where the apocalypse started so who knows what we will find in here," Qin Lan replied solemnly as she slipped the paper in her pocket.
There was a brief moment of silence as Qin Lan approached the test subject with an expression of pity on her face.
"I'm sorry," Qin Lan did not know why but an apology flowed out of her lips. She bowed her head at the test subject and then walked out of the room.
She did not know what else to say.
Humanity was capable of doing great evil even before the world turned to shit.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶