447 Chapter 447: Infiltration again (2/2)
”That's what we're here to find out.”
As a precautionary measure, I scanned the dead, though several had their heads torn off or their faces mauled so badly it was hard to recognize them. Thankfully, they all had ID tags or something pinned to their coats, though some evidently had their ID badges shorn off when the Barbaric Baboons butchered them. Even so, it wasn't that difficult to confirm whether they were Ling Dan or not, based on the physical attributes provided in his data.
”Not here…and not here.”
I was going through the first couple of labs, but that was as far as the carnage went. The other labs seemed untouched by the slaughter, their doors sealed tightly.
”What do we do now?” Melina asked, staring at the sealed doors, perturbed.
”We enter,” I replied.
”How?” Melina fidgeted as she grasp her stealth device. ”As I said, we can't make any physical contact…we can't hack into the doors and force them open, can we?”
”We might not have to,” I replied as an idea formed in my mind. Returning to the first two labs, which were still open because the Dark Church had not gotten around to securing the sites and locking them down – they were still too busily dealing with the Barbaric Baboons that ran about the base, I picked up a bloodied ID that had been thrown to the side after one of the monsters' claws ripped into the poor owner's chest. Grimacing as I wiped the blood off the surface, which revealed a photo of a young-looking research assistant, and her name, Joanne Olsen, I then straightened up and turned back toward the kids. ”Let's hope this works.”
We then returned to the locked laboratories, and I gingerly raised the ID to the scanner. The stealth field had to be adjusted to allow the scanner to sense the ID card while still keeping us hidden, but as a precaution I had the kids stay some distance away from me. If I get caught, I didn't want them to get dragged into it too.
In fact, I had left very clear instructions that they were both to escape as quickly as possible, by themselves under the stealth cloak, without me. I would deal with the fallout on my own, and while they were unconvinced I reminded them that I couldn't fight at my best if I had to take care of them as well. There was no argument after that. Neither of them wanted to be a burden.
The scanner clicked green, and then the door slid open. Sighing a breath of relief, especially after glancing around and seeing that there was no security personnel barreling down the corridor to check the intrusion (and the alarms were already going off because of the Barbaric Baboons' assault), I peeked inside.
”Who…who's there?”
”Everybody, get back!”
The scientists gathered inside the room were retreating from the suddenly opening door, frightened as hell. I strode in, and with a gesture, had Melina and Adrian retreat so that I would be out of range of the cloaking field.
”It's just me.”
”Oh, one of the assistants, huh?” An elderly scientist – a man with frizzly white hair and a mustache – looked at me in relief as I walked in, becoming visible. ”You survived the Barbaric Baboons, eh? Good, good.”
Evidently they had mistaken me for one of the research assistants. Thanks to me wearing glasses and looking like a nerd most of the times, I managed to fool them. The blood splatters and stuff I got onto my clothing during combat earlier made that impression a lot more convincing. However, they noticed my swords and went tense.
”Actually, I'm part of security,” I quickly assured them, and they relaxed at that with a big sigh of relief.
”Are the Barbaric Baboons still out there? Has security finally dealt with them?”
A female scientist was posing the question. I shook my head.
”We're still fighting.” As if to punctuate my sentence, gunfire and the roar of an explosion from a spell resounded from the corridor. ”They're pretty tough.”
”Then shut the door! We can't let them in!”
”Yeah, I will. But I've been tasked to search for Ling Dan. Do you know where he is?”
”Huh? Ling Dan?” the scientists exchanged confused glances. The old man in particular, was astounded. ”Wasn't he locked up in the prison cells below? Why would he be here?”
”He escaped in all the chaos,” I replied. Good thing I was adept at ad-libbing or I would be found out here. ”So we are looking for him right now. You know how it is…he's a high-value prisoner, after all.”
”Yeah, we can't let him get away.” The old man was nodding. ”His knowledge of receptary is invaluable. We'll need him to cooperate if we want to develop a new batch of combat drugs, and the psychoindoctrination drugs to bring the monsters under our control.” His expression hardened. ”Make sure you find him at all costs.”
”I will,” I promised, and then I left the lab, making sure to shut the door and sealing the scientists back in. Turning to an awaiting Adrian and Melina while disappearing back into the stealth field, I grinned. ”We have a location.”