Although the elites from the National Bureau of Statistics had rushed to the scene at the fastest speed possible, they were still greeted by a big mess.A big, troublesome mess.
Three retired veteran soldiers lay injured. One had a broken leg, while the other two were severely bitten, the joints on their hands and feet covered in blood - for some unexplainable reasons, quite a number of pets in the mall had simultaneously gone berserk and attacked them.
But that was not all. It was no big deal for the staff to be injured or even killed on duty. The most crucial thing was that their target had disappeared among the crowd. There are about 300 million people in the United States, and the population of China is more than 4 times that. Can you imagine the crowd in a busy shopping mall in a large city?
The head of department sighed. Since they could not catch the thief, there was only one way to prevent the worst from happening -- they had to heavily protect what the thief wanted.
Sheyan and Sanzi, of course, did not know the various chain reactions triggered by their actions, nor do they want to know.
***
Having escaped from the pursuit of the National Bureau of Statistics which was as hard to get rid of as mercury that had seeped into the ground, Sheyan sighed with relief and said, "It"ll be really hard to get our hands on the SARS virus now that we"ve alerted them."
But Sanzi broke into a smile, "This may be true in Mainland China, but you"ve overlooked something, bro. SARS didn"t only spread in China back during the epidemic period. China was only the place of origin (Shunde, Guangdong Province) and a serious epidemic area, but it eventually spread to 29 countries."
Sheyan"s eyes brightened. "You have a way?"
"We can try other countries. The countries that are publicly known to have SARS strains now are the United States, Russia and China, but Canada, Vietnam and Singapore were also epidemic areas back then. Canada and Singapore are both developed countries, so their pathological laboratories should have them too. I got this information for 130,000 yuan and a package of cigarettes."
Sheyan rolled his eyes. "I"ll make sure to reimburse you. Let"s try Singapore first. I should still have some contacts there. But since we"re going abroad, we"d better not buy if we can rob. We don"t have much money left."
"But bro, I don"t think we need to worry about money any longer," said Sanzi seriously.
"Why do you say that? Did you win the lottery?" asked Sheyan in surprise.
Sanzi suddenly flashed him a sneaky, vulgar grin. "No, I"m saying that because I heard Zi"s loud moaning coming from your room...."
"Ugh..." Sheyan was suddenly speechless. He immediately put on the air of an elder brother and tried to hit Sanzi. Sanzi instantly ran away like a naughty child. This teenage boy would only show his childish side in front of Sheyan -- though the topic of their discussion was adult level.
***
Sheyan and Sanzi"s operation in Singapore went smoothly. Although Sanzi believed that they would not have to worry about money any more, Sheyan still chose the simplest and crudest method, which also happened to be free. He made the property of others - the sacred Republic of Singapore, to be precise - his own, by force. Everyone who disagreed with him had been knocked unconscious.
After that, Sheyan, carrying the freezer containing the SARS virus, still had no choice but to give Zi a call.
"h.e.l.lo, I"m looking for Ms. Lingzi Su. What? She"s sleeping? Please wake her up then! Okay, fine, I know you can"t, but can you place the phone next to her ear, please?"
Three minutes later, Sheyan heard a lazy voice from the other side of the phone. He could imagine her drowsy-eyed appearance just by listening to her voice.
"h.e.l.lo, who"s calling me so late?"
At this moment, Sheyan suddenly felt a little awkward because he had not contacted her at all after what happened between them. He fell into a moment of silence. After sorting out his thoughts, he said, slightly embarra.s.sed, "Zi, it"s me. I"m sorry, but there"s an urgent matter I need your help with."
Hearing Sheyan"s familiar voice, Zi instinctively tidied up her soft but slightly messy long hair even though they were thousands of miles apart and Sheyan could not actually see her.
"Yeahhh?"
That single syllable was stretched long. It was very charming, like the purr of a Persian cat.
"You"re carrying the SARS virus? You want to borrow the Gulfstream? Okay, no problem. Is that all? Is there nothing else you want to say to me?"
"Don"t moan so loud next time," Sheyan replied very seriously from the other end of the phone.
Zi"s eyes opened wide. "You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! You... You..." she shouted in anger and embarra.s.sment.
Sheyan laughed and hung up the phone, leaving Zi to blush in anger. But soon after that, her lips gradually curled into a smile as she played with her hair. She yawned leisurely, then made a call.
"h.e.l.lo, I need Gulfstream 1 to pick someone up from Changi Airport in Singapore right away. The guest is our VIP No. 12. In addition, ask the pharmaceutical company under us to prepare a sterile high-specification laboratory as quickly as possible."
An astonished voice came from the other end, "But Director Su, Gulfstream 1 is about to set out to pick up Prince Olic from the United Arab Emirates. Everything"s already prepared."
"Why was I not notified of this?" asked Zi with a scowl.
"It was arranged by Director Stephen...." her secretary answered.
Zi instantly replied with impatience, "Then you can give him the same answer when he asks you."
The secretary could hear the anger behind Zi"s voice. She cleverly chose not to say anything else. When kings fight against each other, the people suffers, that was the cruelty of workplace politics. But it was always better to choose a side early rather than to try to make everyone happy, only to end up getting nothing in the end.
After her slumber was interrupted by Sheyan, Zi no longer felt sleepy. She went to the mirror to tidy up her hair. She was currently wearing a silk nightgown of the highest grade, which rippled like water as she moved, occasionally revealing the beauty inside. Her slender waist, long legs and alluring curves could hardly be contained by the gown. For some reason - perhaps because she thought of something - she suddenly blushed again while biting her lower lip. She cursed in a soft voice.
There was currently a l.u.s.ter to Zi"s face. Though it was faint, if one were to look at her carefully, it could still be easily seen. It was as if a cool, refres.h.i.+ng rain had washed away the dust, revealing the unique freshness of life within, making her even more attractive.
***
Four hours later, in the rainy outskirts of London, a Mercedes-Benz S600 brought a group of visitors to a manor.
The manor"s lawn had obviously been carefully managed. The style of the manor announced that the manor itself was at least 300 years old. The interior of the manor had a traditional feel with an old gramophone, a European style fireplace, an old wooden bar, and a wine table.
Just as Sheyan began to wonder if Zi was taking them here for a one-day tour of an ancient European castle, they reached a spa.r.s.ely laid out bedroom, which had obviously been deliberately decorated in the same traditional style as the rest of the manor. The heavy Scottish wool carpet on the floor was the only commendable thing about the room.
Suddenly, Sheyan felt his entire body shaking slightly. No, not his body, the whole room was faintly trembling because it was moving down. Sheyan immediately understood that this was no room, it was a carefully concealed elevator.
When he got out of the elevator, he saw in front of him neat office desks, microscopes, test tubes, Petri dishes, and people who were busily moving about. It was a bustling scene.
"The consortium have always had some business in the grey areas, so just to be safe, these kinds of laboratories which may cause legal disputes are well-hidden from public view," she led him forward as she explained.
A blond middle-aged man in a white coat approached them.
"I"m the person in charge of this project. Can Director Su disclose the details of the task now? I have to make the preparations."
There were obvious traces of unhappiness in the scientist"s voice. Zi smiled and said, "We found a volunteer who"s willing to test out a new type of SARS virus. Your team"s task is to record his data after the infection. Of course, your most important task is to ensure the survival of the volunteer. We"re not murderers after all."
Although the government had prohibited this kind of research, sometimes the government"s ban would just become a catalyst instead. For example, when a country bans prost.i.tution, ma.s.sage centres and spas would spring up like mushrooms after the rain.
This was especially so in Great Britain and France. In order to be the first to discover the "atomic bomb" of genetic research, live human experiments were conducted almost semi-openly. E.S consortium could already be considered very cautious compared to other inst.i.tutions.
Therefore, the professor did not doubt Zi"s words. He certainly wasn"t foolish enough to question why the company would want data about the new SARS virus. After that, Sheyan was washed clean and pushed onto the test table like a lab rat.