Dominic slowly shook his head. “I don’t suppose so.”“Suppose?” Taken back, Austin was put ill at ease by his uncertain tone.“I haven’t done much research on venomous symbiotes, and what I know is only based on ancient texts. I’ve never encountered them in real life before, so I can only guess.”He thought it was better to be cautious about the matter as he could not be 100% sure. Austin understood what his granduncle meant and nodded. After thinking about it, he asked, “So… how does the disease transmit?”He subconsciously glanced at Alexander as he was in contact with him too. If the disease got transmitted through direct contact, many others would have gotten infected by now.“My guess is through blood,” Dominic concluded after pondering.“Blood?”Dominic nodded and breathed. “You’ve been in contact with many people since returning. However, until now, the infected people are just my servants and me. Since you’ve stayed here for some time, we can’t be the only ones if the tr
Stunned, Dominic frowned and pondered carefully. Then he slowly shook his head. “He hadn’t, I suppose.”The child was naughty, but Dominic cared for him well and would never let him do anything dangerous. He would even keep the kid away from things that could hurt him. Thinking back, he believed Galen did not expose himself to Austin’s blood, nor was there such a chance.Alexander heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that his son did not come into contact with Austin’s blood. However, he was puzzled by something and asked, “But… Galen has a fever.”“Fever?” Dominic was shocked. “What other symptoms does he have?”Leaning forward, he nearly sat up in alarm.Alexander noticed the older man’s anxiousness and tried to calm him down. “No, he has no other symptoms besides having a fever. He also has a good appetite and fell asleep after having some soup and biscuits. I took his temperature just now, and his fever has subsided.”Dominic was relieved to hear that Galen had no other symp
No matter how hard Alexander tried, he couldn’t stop worrying and felt overwhelmed by anxiety. He dared not think what would happen if Lily was indeed infected. ‘She’s a pregnant woman, for God’s sake! How’s she going to cope?’The call rang several times. If it were before, he would stop calling and wait for her to return his call, but he could not wait for another second and kept calling. Until…Someone finally answered, and a familiar voice sounded. Alexander suddenly felt like a deflated balloon and almost went limp.“Hello?” Lily’s gentle voice had a sense of bewilderment. “What happened?”She saw her phone vibrating non-stop when she returned to her resting place. She grew even more puzzled seeing Alexander’s number because he had never called her repeatedly like this before.“Are you… feeling any discomfort?” Alexander said hesitantly. He was anxious but did not want to act too nervous, affecting her mood.“No,” Lily said, puzzled, “What’s going on?”Alexander pursed his
Alexander felt much more relieved after hearing Lily’s confident response, even if it was only meant to comfort him. He felt less anxious and chuckled before imitating her tone, saying, “I know my body well.”Lily was speechless.“How are you over there?” Alexander changed the subject.“Things are going well.” She loosened her hair and shook her head to stretch her neck. She palmed it, looked up, and glanced around before saying blandly, “I can return to you and Galen once I complete the task here. You guys… just be careful.”Alexander knew the organization monitored her, and it was sometimes inconvenient for her to talk, so he did not ask why she said that.“I’ll take care of things here, so don’t worry too much. If you experience discomfort, you must tell me, okay?” After a pause, he suddenly sounded much more relaxed. “But I think you’re not infected either.”Lily was surprised.“If you are, wouldn’t everyone there be infected as well? Since they’ve created it, they wouldn’t
“You know you do!” Alexander pulled Austin back forcefully, causing him to lurch due to inertia.Austin was in a momentary daze as he staggered to a stop.Alexander looked at him solemnly. “Now the situation is unclear, and not even Dominic knows what the hell these symbiotes are. You’ll only worsen things by being so reckless.“You especially mustn’t wander around because you’re the source. Your family and the servants might not truly be infected and could be displaying symptoms of other diseases. Therefore, you could play right into the organization’s hands if you recklessly go out there to pick up your family, okay?”His words got through to Austin. Austin cooled down as if a bucket of cold water had poured over him. He opened his mouth. “Then… what should I do?”He was too anxious. He hated himself and wished he had died in that hellhole when he thought about the torment his parents and grandfather might be facing. Now that Alexander had laid it out for Austin, he thought the
Alexander immediately told his men to carry out his plan while Austin called his family.The latter did not mention the symbiote because it was hard to explain to his family, and he did not want to cause panic. All he said was that there was an unknown disease, and he asked them not to panic nor go anywhere but to recuperate at home as Dominic had started to develop a cure.He also told them Alexander’s men would deliver daily necessities to them and told them not to go to a hospital. Austin knew the hospitals could not deal with the symbiotes, and they might even spread the disease.After the duo settled some things, it was already dark outside. Alexander made a simple meal, and after feeding Galen, he held his son and sat on the balcony to look at the stars. It had been a while since Alexander sat and peacefully gazed at the starry sky.As they were in the suburbs and no buildings or light sources were around, the stars shone brightly in the clear night sky. The twinkling stars w
Lily spent the entire day at the laboratory and read the document about R10. There was no huge problem; it was more or less the same as the previous experiments regarding its focus on toxins.However, it was interesting that the drug formula included medicine that could enhance one’s muscles and bones. Although it would not counteract the effects of other ingredients, Lily could not figure out the purpose of its addition.‘They’re trying to poison someone secretly and simultaneously enhance the muscles and bones? It doesn’t make sense!’Of course, she did not ask about it. She knew they would not tell her if she did, and even if they did tell her, it might not be the truth. She felt what they were trying to do was too bizarre.‘The organization seems to be trying to rule the world as they could use the things they created to control people. Yet they spend so much effort using raw materials to make their creations undetectable.’She had a hunch there must be a deeper purpose to it.
After finishing what she was doing, Lily turned around and looked at Rhea nonchalantly.Rhea was standing behind her, observing. However, the disdain and disapproval on her face were unmistakable.Lily did not care. She smiled lightly and continued, "Don't you know that every failure looks the same but is actually different? You might think the steps are the same, but as a matter of fact, even a subtle difference will cause a significant change in results."After a pause, she added, "It's no wonder you keep failing even after doing so many experiments."This sentence was like salt to Rhea's wounds. Her expression changed immediately. She always thought highly of herself, while others praised her, from her studies to her work ethic. It was not until entering participating in this project that she constantly felt frustrated.She also did not know much about raw materials.Rhea had never liked perfumes or fragrances, so she had never studied or even wanted to fiddle with them. Now,