Chapter 351 - Going in alone

Chapter 351: Chapter 351 - Going in alone

Yunfeng kept both arms raised where the security camera could clearly see them. For several seconds, nobody spoke. The compound remained eerily quiet around them, and even though the people inside had stopped ordering them to leave, Yunfeng could still feel their suspicion through the camera pointed directly at his face.

He needed to prove that Qiu Yue’s discovery was real.

Remembering the small vial tucked safely inside his inner pocket, Yunfeng slowly began lowering one hand.

The reaction was immediate.

"Don’t move!"

The voice exploded through the speaker so loudly that Yunfeng froze.

"Put your hand back up! I’ll release the samples right now! Don’t even think about taking out the cameras!"

"What?" Yunfeng blinked before realizing what they thought he was doing. He quickly raised his hand again. "No, no. Calm down. I’m not touching your cameras."

"Then why are you reaching for a weapon?"

"I’m not reaching for a weapon. I’m trying to show you the thing I’ve spent the last ten minutes talking about."

There was a pause.

Yunfeng glanced up at the camera. "The serum. I brought a sample."

That finally quieted the person on the other end.

Yunfeng waited before carefully pointing toward the inside of his jacket. "It’s in my inner pocket. I’m going to reach for it. Slowly. Don’t release anything, don’t press anything, just watch my hand."

He wasn’t sure if there really was some dramatic button inside that would release their disease samples or if the people inside were bluffing, but he had absolutely no desire to find out.

After several tense seconds, the speaker crackled.

"Slowly."

Yunfeng almost rolled his eyes but stopped himself. The last thing he needed was to irritate a frightened researcher surrounded by deadly pathogens.

He moved his hand toward his jacket inch by inch, slipped two fingers into the inner pocket and carefully pulled out a small sealed vial. The dark red liquid inside shifted as he held it between his fingers.

"This," Yunfeng said, raising it toward the camera, "is what our lead researcher produced."

The camera immediately adjusted.

Its lens zoomed toward the vial.

Yunfeng held it still so they could get a proper look. Qiu Yue had only reluctantly agreed to let them bring a single sample, and before handing it over, the doctor had spent several minutes making Yunfeng swear he wouldn’t break it, lose it, leave it somewhere, expose it to excessive heat, or do anything else Qiu Yue considered stupid.

At the time, Yunfeng had wondered why they needed to bring it at all.

Now he was glad they had.

"Our researcher made this using material isolated from the infected girl I told you about. He tested it several times. The results were the same every time."

"Tested how?"

The voice had changed slightly. The fear was still there, but curiosity was beginning to overpower it.

"On infected tissue. According to him, it stopped the infection from progressing. He believes it could save someone if it’s administered soon enough after a bite."

"You believe?"

Yunfeng sighed. "We’re not claiming it’s perfect. We haven’t tested it on a living infected person yet, and there are side effects for ability users. That’s exactly why we need more equipment. Our researcher can’t continue proper testing with what we currently have."

Silence came from the speaker.

Yunfeng continued before they could dismiss him. "We’re willing to share the sample with you. You can test it yourselves. You don’t have to believe anything I say. If you have the equipment inside, verify it."

That seemed to affect them more than anything else he had said.

For the first time since the conversation began, the people on the other side didn’t immediately answer. Faint voices could be heard through the speaker, too muffled for Yunfeng to make out the words. There was more than one person arguing inside, and this time the discussion lasted several minutes.

Yunfeng glanced back at the others.

Zei had his arms folded loosely over his chest, but his attention remained fixed on the cameras around them. Shao stood slightly in front of Jai without seeming to realize he’d done it, his broad body blocking part of Jai from view.

Jai himself looked increasingly impatient.

Yunfeng almost smiled.

Then the speaker crackled again.

"O-only one of you comes in."

Yunfeng immediately turned back toward the camera.

"All right."

"You don’t choose."

His brow furrowed.

The camera moved.

Its lens shifted away from Yunfeng and toward the three men standing behind him.

For several seconds it moved between them, almost as if the person inside were inspecting each one individually. It lingered on Zei, moved to Shao, then finally adjusted slightly to see around him.

"You."

All three men looked at one another.

Yunfeng frowned. "Who?"

"The one in the back."

Shao’s shoulders stiffened.

The camera moved again.

"Him. The one hiding behind you."

Yunfeng slowly turned.

Jai, who was standing partly behind Shao, blinked.

He pointed at himself.

"Me?"

"Yes. You."

Jai looked genuinely confused. He hadn’t been hiding. Shao had simply been moving in front of him every time the camera turned their way.

Yunfeng glanced at the camera. "Why him?"

"I said one person. I choose who. He brings the sample inside. Nobody else approaches the door."

Shao’s expression immediately darkened.

"No."

His answer was quiet enough that it probably didn’t reach the speaker, but Jai heard it clearly.

Shao turned toward him. "You’re not going in there."

Jai frowned. "Why not?"

"They threatened to release a virus because Yunfeng moved his hand."

"They thought he had a weapon."

"That doesn’t make them less dangerous."

Jai understood where Shao was coming from. He wasn’t particularly thrilled by the idea of walking alone into a sealed research facility full of frightened strangers either. But they hadn’t come all this way to turn around because the people inside were paranoid.

More importantly, he knew why they had chosen him.

"They think I’m the least threatening."

Zei looked him up and down. "That’s insulting."

Jai ignored him.

Shao didn’t.

"You don’t know what they’re thinking."

Jai looked at the camera and then back at Shao. "I’ve been standing behind you this whole time, and I’m smaller than the three of you. Yunfeng is the one doing all the talking, you’re built like you can rip the door off its hinges, and Zei keeps staring at their cameras like he’s planning something."

"I am not," Zei said.

Nobody paid attention to him.

To whoever was watching from inside, Jai probably did look like the safest choice.

Shao clearly didn’t care.

His hand closed around Jai’s wrist before he could step away. "No."

Jai looked down at his hand and then up at his face.

There was no anger in Shao’s expression now. Just worry.

That softened Jai immediately.

He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "I can handle this."

"We don’t know who’s in there."

"Exactly. And they don’t know who we are either. That’s why they’re scared."

Shao’s jaw tightened.

Jai placed his free hand over Shao’s wrist. "I’m not going in there to fight anyone. I’m handing them a vial and coming back out."

"And if they don’t let you come back out?"

Jai gave him a small look.

Shao seemed to remember who he was talking to.

Jai’s ability might have drained him badly yesterday, but he had recovered considerably since then. More importantly, a concrete building wasn’t going to make him helpless. There was earth beneath the foundation, soil outside the walls, stone and concrete surrounding him. If he truly needed to force his way out, he had options.

"I’ll be fine," Jai said. "Don’t worry."

Shao still didn’t release him.

Yunfeng watched the two of them for a moment before turning toward the camera.

"If he goes in, you don’t touch him."

The speaker crackled.

"We won’t hurt him if he doesn’t threaten us."

"That isn’t what I asked."

Another pause.

Then the woman answered more quietly, "We won’t hurt him."

Yunfeng studied the camera as though he could somehow see the person behind it. He didn’t like sending Jai inside either, especially after the amount of power Jai had burned through yesterday. But somebody needed to make the first step toward trust, and forcing their way into the building would destroy any chance of cooperation.

He walked over to Jai and held out the vial.

"Don’t drop it."

Jai took it carefully. "I wasn’t planning to."

"Qiu Yue will murder both of us."

"He’ll probably resurrect us and murder us again."

That managed to pull a reluctant smile from Yunfeng, though it disappeared quickly.

He lowered his voice. "If anything feels wrong, leave. Don’t wait to see what they’re doing. Don’t try to be polite. Just get out."

Jai nodded.

Shao finally released his wrist, but only because Jai gently pulled away. His eyes remained fixed on him as Jai walked toward the entrance.

The speaker came on again. "Leave your weapons outside."

Jai stopped, removed the gun at his waist and handed it to Shao. His knife followed. After a moment of thought, he even turned out his pockets so the camera could see he wasn’t hiding anything.

"Happy?"

There was no answer.

A few seconds later, the electronic lock on the entrance beeped.

Jai glanced back one last time.

Shao looked like he hated every second of this.

Jai gave him a reassuring nod before walking forward.