My childhood friend is in her mature, sophisticated form again today. - Chapter 33

“Um.”

“You previously said that stargazers were conducting human experiments. How much of that did you participate in?”

Cheng Ran’s fingers tightened slightly on his knee. “I participated in the system development. The system for storing and analyzing experimental data. I don’t know who the test subjects were, nor did I ask.”

“Now I know. It was me.”

Cheng Ran looked at her. “Are you blaming me?”

Lin Jiqiu thought for a moment. “It’s not your fault. You wouldn’t know anyway.” She turned the photo over; on the back was a line of text—1999, East China Sea, research vessel “Xiangyang.” The handwriting was Lin Xiao’s, in blue ballpoint pen, some parts already blurred. “My father passed away when I was very young. I only remember him liking to drink tea and sitting by the window reading. He never mentioned any experiments. Maybe he wanted to protect me, or maybe he felt there was no need to tell me—I was too young then, and my abilities hadn’t awakened yet.”

Cheng Ran was silent for a few seconds. “What’s your father’s name?”

“Lin Yuanzhou.”

Cheng Ran opened his tablet and checked. “Lin Yuanzhou, marine geologist. He worked at the Institute of Marine Science for fifteen years. He died in an accident when you were three years old. His file says ‘experimental accident’.”

“Experimental accident?”

“Hmm. There’s no specific description of what kind of experiment it is.” Cheng Ran turned the tablet around for her to see. There was a line of information in the file that had been redacted, the redacting was very rough, and you could still vaguely see the text underneath. He zoomed in on the line and adjusted the contrast.

“Equipment testing related to deep-sea exploration projects”.

Lin Jiqiu’s fingers tapped lightly on the coffee table. “He had the accident during the follow-up research of that project. Lin Xiao said he wanted to stop the experiment, but he was refused. And then the accident happened to him.”

“You don’t think it was an accident?”

“What do you think?”

Cheng Ran didn’t answer. The two looked at each other, and the answer was exchanged in silence.

A-Zuo walked in from the doorway, carrying two cups of tea, and placed them on the coffee table. “Boss, do you have any other memories of your childhood? For example, did anyone come to you and ask you any strange questions?” Lin Jiqiu thought for a moment. “No. After my father passed away, I lived with my mother. She never mentioned him again, and rarely talked about the past. Later, my mother also passed away, and I was all alone.”

A-Zuo didn’t ask any more questions. He turned back to the doorway and stood there like a quiet statue.

Lin Jiqiu picked up her teacup and took a sip. The tea was cold and very astringent. She put down the cup and stood up. “I’m going to find Sun Yuan. I want to see everyone who was rescued from the underwater facility. Maybe some of them know about my father.”

Cheng Ran stood up as well. “I’ll go with you.”

The two left the hotel and got into the car. A-Zuo started the car and drove towards the health center. The wind on the sea was stronger than yesterday; clouds pressed in from the west, blocking most of the sunlight, turning the sea a dark gray. The car stopped in front of the health center, and Lin Jiqiu and Cheng Ran got out. The corridor was much quieter than last time; most of the rescued people had been transferred to other hospitals or discharged, leaving only Lin Xiao and Zhou Wan. Lin Jiqiu walked to Lin Xiao’s ward and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

Lin Xiao was half-reclined on the bed, holding a book. Seeing Lin Jiqiu, he put the book down and took off his glasses. “You’re here again. Is there anything else you want to ask?”

Lin Jiqiu pulled up a chair and sat down. “Do you know exactly how my father got into that accident?”

Lin Xiao remained silent for a long time. “An experimental accident. Equipment explosion. I don’t know the specific details; the project team wouldn’t let me participate in that part. I only know that your father was in a sealed laboratory at the time, dealing with the technology brought back from the deep-sea facility. After the explosion, the laboratory was sealed off, and all the data and equipment were stored away.”

Where is the body?

“Your father died on the spot…” Lin Xiao lowered his head. “I went to the funeral. You were too young to remember.”

Lin Jiqiu’s fingers tightened slightly on her knee. “Who is the person in charge of that project team? Are they still alive?”

“His surname was Chen, and his name was Chen Weisong. He was the deputy director of the Institute of Marine Science at the time. He was transferred after the project was shut down, and I don’t know where he went.” Lin Xiao looked at her. “I’ve also been investigating your father’s case. During the three years I was locked in the underwater room, I thought a lot. They arrested me, maybe not just because I saw things I shouldn’t have seen. Maybe it’s because I knew your father.”

Lin Jiqiu’s breath hitched. “You think this is related to my father’s death?”

“I’m not sure. But when they arrested me, they asked me one question—’Do you know Lin Yuanzhou?’ I said yes. Then they didn’t ask anything else.” Lin Xiao’s voice was low. “They arrested me not because of what I saw, but because of who I am. I’m your father’s friend.”

The room was eerily quiet.

Lin Jiqiu stood up. “Thank you for telling me all this.”

She walked to the door and stopped. “Lin Xiao, do you have a photo of Chen Weisong? Or any information about him?”

“No. But I remember what he looked like. If you need me to identify him, I can help you.”

“good.”

Lin Jiqiu walked out. Cheng Ran leaned against the wall in the corridor, holding a tablet in his hand.

“Chen Weisong.” Cheng Ran read the name aloud. “Let me look it up.”

Some information popped up on the tablet screen. Chen Weisong, 63 years old this year, worked at the State Oceanic Administration before retiring and currently lives in a coastal city in the south. Lin Jiqiu looked at the photo on the screen—an elderly man with gray hair, wearing glasses, with a kind face, looking like an ordinary retired cadre. “This person may know about my father.”

Cheng Ran looked at her. “Are you going to find him?”

“Yes, but not now. I need to prepare. Also, the underwater facilities issue isn’t finished yet, and we need to explore the passage behind that wooden door again.”

Which one to deal with first?

Lin Jiqiu thought for a moment. “Take care of the underwater facilities first. Crack the access control system and see where it leads. Then go find Chen Weisong. These two things might be related.”

Cheng Ran nodded and put away the tablet.

The two left the clinic and got into the car. A-Zuo started the car and drove towards the hotel. Lin Jiqiu leaned back in her seat, watching the sea rushing past the window, her mind filled with her father’s face. She had so few memories of him—only a blurry outline, the sound of him drinking tea, the rustling of pages turning. Now someone was telling her that her father had participated in a secret project, in which he had come into contact with things that shouldn’t exist in this world. And she was the successor to that project—a living experimental subject.

“Cheng Ran”.

“Um.”

“Have you been exposed to those technologies? The ones brought back from deep-sea facilities?”

Cheng Ran thought for a moment. “I’ve had some contact with them. The Stargazers have some prototypes of energy technologies, supposedly salvaged from the deep sea. I’ve done reverse engineering, but the data is incomplete, so I can’t determine their origin. I can only confirm that they’re not technologies currently used by humans.”

“Not human?”

“It’s uncertain. It could also be something secretly developed by some country, exceeding the publicly available technological level.” Cheng Ran looked at her. “But whatever it is, your father had contact with them. Your abilities might be related to those technologies.”

Lin Jiqiu looked down at her hands. These hands could transform, they could become anyone, they could grow gill slits to breathe underwater, they could grow webbed membranes to swim quickly in the water. These abilities were not innate, they were endowed, etched into her genes before she even knew who she was.

“Cheng Ran”.

“Um.”

Do you think I can ever go back to being a normal person?

Cheng Ran remained silent for a long time. “I don’t know. Do you want to change back?”

Lin Jiqiu thought for a moment. “I don’t know. Sometimes I feel this ability is very useful; it can save people and allow me to do many things. Sometimes I feel it’s a burden because I’ve never asked if I’m willing.” She paused, “But it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s already happened.”

Cheng Ran reached out and grasped her wrist. His fingers were cool as they touched her pulse.

Are you checking my heart rate?

“No. We’re just confirming if you’re telling the truth.”

“Everything I said is true.”

“I know.”

His fingers did not loosen.

The car stopped in front of the hotel. Lin Jiqiu got out, and Cheng Ran followed behind her. The two walked into the lobby, and A Zuo went to park the car. Lin Jiqiu walked to the sofa, sat down, picked up the now-cold cup of tea on the coffee table, and took a sip. Cheng Ran sat down next to her and opened his tablet.

“We found Chen Weisong’s address. It’s a small city on the southern coast, about a thousand kilometers away from here.”

“I’ll go after I finish dealing with the underwater facilities.”

“I’ll try to brute-force open that access control system tonight. If all goes well, I can get through tomorrow.”

Lin Jiqiu put down his teacup. “I’ll stay with you tonight.”

“No need. You can rest at the hotel. It doesn’t take two people to break the access control.”

“I’m not going to help. I’m going to keep an eye on you. I haven’t settled the score with you for giving the oxygen cylinder to someone else last time.”

Cheng Ran’s finger paused on the tablet. “That person is dying.”

“You will die too.”

No. You’re right here.

Lin Jiqiu looked at him. “What if I’m not around?”

Cheng Ran didn’t answer. His gaze was fixed on the tablet, but Lin Jiqiu knew he wasn’t looking at it.

“Cheng Ran”.

“Um.”

“Next time, don’t give the oxygen cylinder to others.”

Cheng Ran was silent for a few seconds. “Okay.”