Under the cover of night, Xie Lingfeng and his group secretly infiltrated the laboratory during the mercenaries' shift change.
Due to the lab's high security, entry required a special access card. So, they first used an anesthetic to knock out a staff member, then snuck in with his work ID.
For the success of the operation, the group split into two teams: four led by Xie Lingfeng infiltrated first, while the other five remained outside, ready to provide support.
When Xie Lingfeng and his team successfully entered, they were instantly petrified by the scene before them. It was a human experimentation lab, and they saw many human organs preserved in an unknown blue liquid within glass containers.
Even more unsettling was the sight of other animal organs combined with human parts, creating a batch of monsters.
Seeing this horrifying scene, Xie Lingfeng and his group immediately took action. Xu Qiang, who was skilled with computers, copied all their experimental data.
Initially, everything went smoothly, but then another staff member entered. He reacted quickly and immediately pressed the alarm device on the laboratory wall.
Xu Qiang had already changed the surveillance footage to that of a month prior upon entering, but who knew that plans couldn't keep up with changes.
Knowing they had been discovered, Xie Lingfeng and his team immediately knocked out the newly appeared person with a hand chop, then fled with the downloaded data.
The fact that these people dared to conduct human experiments indicated they had significant backing. Now, it would be very troublesome for their team to return home safely.
Indeed, after they rendezvoused with the people outside, they found a large group of armed mercenaries pursuing them.
Although the nine individuals fought desperately, they still paid the price of one dead and two injured to escape the enemy's encirclement.
Even though he approached every mission with a willingness to sacrifice and had written a will for his family, Xie Lingfeng was still deeply saddened to see his comrade fall before him.
However, they had to suppress their tears now, as the danger persisted. They had to bring their fallen comrade's body and the remaining eight members back to the border of their homeland as quickly as possible.
By the time they reached the border of Huaguo, exhausted, it was already the afternoon of the next day, and all the surviving comrades were completely worn out.
The main reason was the immense hardship endured while carrying their fallen comrade's body and two injured teammates, which was truly unbearable for ordinary people.
But the mission was not over. The group quickly handed over the hard-won confidential information to their superiors.
After the relevant national experts reviewed the data, they deemed the laboratory utterly insane, believing that continuing such experiments would inevitably lead to problems.
In fact, there was a reason for sending these special forces: border soldiers had discovered a case of a monster injuring someone. The injured person died quickly on the spot, but surprisingly, he resurrected one minute after his death, possessing only the instinct to attack.
This type of monster resembled zombies from movies, so the country prepared to send an elite team to the neighboring country to investigate the source.
Thus, Xie Lingfeng's mission came about. The relevant national departments believed this matter must be immediately reported to the World Health and Security Organization.
Because of the critical nature of this matter, the country dared not inform the public casually and also made everyone involved sign non-disclosure agreements.
However, half a month later, it was too late, as many countries were secretly conducting similar experiments to unlock the secrets of human genes.
Xie Lingfeng and his team still had to undergo a week of secret isolation at the border before being allowed to return home for a period of rest.
In the original novel, Xie Lingfeng first visited the family of his deceased comrade to see his remaining relatives, but by the time he returned home, the apocalypse had already broken out. He later took Father Xie and kept searching for his sister.
Unfortunately, Zhang Wenbin and Lin Yiyi, fearing that Xie Lingfeng would discover the truth of Lin Qingxue's death, used a base mission as an opportunity to harm Lin Qingxue's brother. Father Xie, who had no abilities, was also driven out of the base, and the final outcome was predictable.
Of course, all of the above happened many years after Lingruo's death. When she received Lin Qingxue's memories, she could only see those from her previous life before her death.
In short, Lin Qingxue's family suffered greatly, and their fates were inextricably linked to Zhang Wenbin and Lin Yiyi.