In the laboratory.
Xia Jin looked at the group of people in front of him. The young boy leading them appeared indifferent, while the men on his left and right, and a beautiful woman, seemed evasive.
"You say Weng Quan is dead?"
Xia Jin's voice was calm, his face showing no emotion, as if he were asking the others what they wanted for lunch, not discussing a companion who had followed him.
The people below, seeing Xia Jin's demeanor, couldn't fathom his current thoughts.
After all, just a few hours prior, Weng Quan had been the second-in-command of the laboratory, second only to Xia Jin, and the person Xia Jin trusted the most.
Yet, in a mere few hours, Weng Quan had become a corpse.
They had expected to face Xia Jin's wrath upon their return, but to their surprise, Xia Jin acted as if nothing had happened, casually inquiring about Weng Quan's whereabouts.
Upon learning of Weng Quan's death, he simply uttered a calm "嗯" and showed no further reaction.
"Then you didn't bring back Weng Quan's body?" Xia Jin's voice, soft and gentle, carried a peculiar strangeness.
It was both tender and chilling.
Although they had never seen Xia Jin angry or furious, when it came to Xia Jin,
No one in the laboratory, from top to bottom, dared to underestimate this man who appeared so frail.
"Doctor, Weng Quan's body was taken by Qin Chuan. He said there was a reason for Dr. Weng Quan's sudden rampage and that he was taking it back for research. He promised to send it back after the examination."
The woman, seeing that Xia Jin wasn't overly moved by Weng Quan's death, assumed Xia Jin didn't care about the matter.
She proceeded to recount the events to Xia Jin.
However, midway through her explanation, the woman noticed Xia Jin's gaze growing colder.
Especially after mentioning that Weng Quan's body had been taken by Qin Chuan, Xia Jin's last vestiges of composure vanished completely.
His face was ashen, and the eyes cast a bone-chilling coldness.
In this moment, Xia Jin was like a hidden viper,
Waiting in the unseen jungle for a fatal strike.
Amidst the crowd, as everyone trembled in shock at Xia Jin's transformation,
Only the leading boy looked disdainfully at the surroundings, relishing everyone's fear.
"Idiots!" the boy thought.
These fools actually considered Xia Jin to be gentle.
Behind the laboratory was a team secretly cultivated by Xia Jin. This team was vast, encompassing everything from the leadership of the Lighthouse to the various strata below, including scientists like Weng Quan, whom he had personally mentored.
It had them all.
This group had always dealt with Weng Quan, including all interpersonal interactions within the Lighthouse. Weng Quan, who lived like a puppet, was the one who represented the laboratory externally.
This was also why Weng Quan had so urgently pressured the Gu family's daughter to steal her husband's chip.
A stray dog, picked up and nurtured, grew up only to realize it was not a harmless puppy but an ambitious wolf.
However, Xia Jin, who had let the wolf in, did not seem worried.
Seeing Xia Jin's changing expression, he couldn't help but curve his lips slightly.
These fools actually believed he was a good person.
It was precisely because of Xia Jin's indulgence that Weng Quan increasingly felt the sense of being needed, of being held in high esteem, of being the center of attention.
He became addicted to this feeling. The life of being superior, which he had never enjoyed in the orderly modern society, was fully satisfied by Xia Jin.
And even surpassed expectations.
But human nature is always greedy, and human desires are never fully satisfied.
Once basic needs are met, people want a stable home; with a house, they want a car.
With transportation, they still think why can't I eat better, live in a bigger house, and drive a better car.
Even if a person already possesses all the best in the secular world.
Yet, human nature is never truly content.
At that time, under Xia Jin's deliberate guidance, Weng Quan had become a funnel with its opening facing down.
No matter how much water was poured into him from above, he would never be satisfied.
Weng Quan's desires had grown like a young tiger being fed.
As if sensing the smile on the boy's lips, Xia Jin's gaze sharply swept across the boy's face like a blade.
"Gao Ye, why can't you even handle such a small matter?" his tone was incredibly gentle, but to the boy, it sounded like the cry of a death omen.
"Doctor, there were many people involved at the time, and I did try to come up with some solutions. But Qin Chuan seemed to have sensed something and took Weng Quan's body away regardless. I was afraid of causing further trouble, so I agreed with them that they would return Weng Quan's body after the examination."
After speaking, Gao Ye lowered his gaze as if terrified, his voice trembling slightly.
Xia Jin looked at Gao Ye without speaking, merely observing the boy with keen interest.
This child was someone he had picked up before the apocalypse. The child was skinny then, like a bean sprout, emaciated, like a bean sprout.
He had decided to take the boy in after just one glance.
Xia Jin, possessing memories from his past life, was unlike Xu An, whose mindset was solely about self-preservation and survival.
With technological wisdom far exceeding that of the people of this era, Xia Jin viewed all current humans as mere insects.
This was why Xia Jin had unscrupulously amassed wealth and expanded his influence before the apocalypse.
He also went to great lengths to gain access to important national military bases.
He even inadvertently revealed his ability to foresee the future.
Unlike others, Xia Jin never felt he would be considered insane or captured for research when doing these things.
He himself was a researcher, and he knew exactly how to persuade these scientific fanatics.
Rather than imprisoning Xia Jin for research, the ideas and constructs in Xia Jin's mind seemed more valuable.
Scientists, in a moment, could be Buddhas or demons.
As someone once said, there is only a fine line between a scientist and a madman.
But when these madmen had a more novel toy, Xia Jin's existence wouldn't become a target for "research," but rather a revered "guide."
Yes, just as the end of science is theology; after probing the mysteries of the universe, you discover that no truth can be as despairing as the realization that you are merely a speck of dust in the cosmos.
But Xia Jin's appearance broke this predicament.
The satellite, which was about to be launched into space, was modified. Xia Jin utilized technology hundreds of years ahead of the current human society to consume the material resources of this era to achieve his desired outcomes.