A woman's struggles were like a kitten's scratching to Xia Jin; they barely registered.
The woman finally panicked. Looking at the man before her, her initial disdain had turned to solemnity.
She had never understood how a man like Xia Jin, who looked like he could be blown away by a strong gust of wind, commanded the respect of everyone in the entire laboratory.
But in that moment, the woman seemed to finally understand why Gao Ye feared this man.
Xia Jin possessed a primal, terrifying essence.
Now, this threat was laid bare before her, forcing the woman to recoil.
Belatedly, fear gripped her. "Doctor, Doctor, I was wrong. I shouldn't have coveted what belonged to Weng Quan. Please, let me go."
As the woman's breaths grew shallower, her struggles weakened.
Xia Jin's sinister smile widened. "We are all adults. Since you know it was wrong, why did you say it?"
The woman's breath grew fainter. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
Clearly, the woman's pleas brought her no hope of survival; instead, they hastened her demise.
Xia Jin looked at the beautiful face in his hands, gradually losing its color, with the excitement of a child finding a new toy.
A hint of glee flickered across his face.
As the girl's life ebbed away, Xia Jin's inexplicable excitement gradually dissipated.
With pale fingers, he gently traced the lifeless face, letting out a sigh that sounded like regret.
"What a shame, such a beautiful face."
With that, Xia Jin, with the ease of discarding a rag, roughly dragged the woman's now limp corpse to a hidden room behind his office wall.
In the dimness of this room, Xia Jin switched on the lights.
If anyone were to witness the scene before them, they would surely be terrified.
The place was a veritable hell on earth.
Countless bone saws, still stained with dark blood, lay everywhere, like the dismemberment site of a serial killer. Tools, endlessly varied, hung neatly on both sides of the room.
A blindingly harsh incandescent bulb was the room's sole source of light.
The interior walls of this room were lined with metal, implying an exceptional soundproofing capability.
However, the purpose behind such functionality remained a mystery.
"Welcome, you are now my 148th experimental subject."
Behind Xia Jin's sinister grin were rows of silver operating tables.
On these tables lay "things" bound by restraints.
They could no longer be called human.
Perhaps "monsters" would be a more fitting description.
Many of these monsters, bound to the beds, still drew breath. Yet, some had the heads of animals fused with human torsos.
Others had human heads grafted onto various animal bodies.
Much like the rabbit-headed creatures Xu An had seen before.
However, the aura emanating from these monsters seemed even more terrifying than that of the previous rabbit-headed creature.
While the rabbit-headed creature was a result of species mutation, the monsters before him were clearly artificially assembled.
There were visible suture marks at their necks and where their limbs connected.
Yet, Xia Jin was alone here, so this hellish scene was visible only to him.
He gently placed the woman's body on a silver operating table, as if caressing his most beloved lover.
"What kind of body should I find for you?" Xia Jin mused, gazing with delight at the woman's beautiful face.
"Such a lovely face deserves a fitting body."
As he spoke, Xia Jin's upturned lips suddenly fell as if he had recalled something.
"A waste of my fungal strain, truly useless. Even like this, it couldn't kill Qin Chuan."
...
Yes, Weng Quan's true cause of death was Xia Jin's doing.
It was a plan that killed two birds with one stone.
However, Xia Jin had not anticipated that the fire would inadvertently engulf Chu Yu.
After all, no one would suspect that Xia Jin would plot to kill his own capable assistant.
All this, merely to instigate a conflict between him and Qin Chuan.
As for the peaceful coexistence of various factions on the Lighthouse?
Xia Jin scoffed at the thought. What did the Lighthouse's fate have to do with him?
The reason why Xia Jin wanted to kill Weng Quan was even simpler.
When a dog you keep stops obeying, you replace it.
The Enforcement Team.
"Captain, the autopsy results are out. We found nothing unusual."
The forensic doctor handed the autopsy report to Qin Chuan. "As per your request, we even tested the blood samples. Apart from slightly elevated routine blood values, we found no other anomalies."
"No stimulants? Or any prohibited drugs?"
The forensic doctor nodded. "None. We dissected Weng Quan's stomach, but found nothing. We also didn't detect any traces of other drugs."
Qin Chuan circled Weng Quan's body, examining it carefully. Finally, with a hint of doubt, he asked, "Are you absolutely sure there are no drugs that can drastically enhance a person's speed and combat ability?"
The forensic doctor shook his head. "Not with our current scientific capabilities. Even the stimulants used in the past only stimulated the nervous system, making one more excited."
"But based on your description, it increased the person's overall stats, as if expecting a newborn infant to suddenly pass the entrance exams for Tsinghua University. It's fundamentally against common sense."
"Is it possible Weng Quan was naturally skilled and was simply hiding it?" This was the only excuse Qin Chuan could conceive.
"That assumption doesn't hold either. If Weng Quan had been training consistently or possessed combat skills comparable to yours, his muscle texture and body fat percentage wouldn't be what they are now. Even if he were trying to conceal it, prolonged inactivity would lead to muscle weakness, which couldn't be restored to peak condition so quickly through temporary means or drug assistance."
The forensic doctor adjusted his glasses and explained the possibility to Qin Chuan with a serious expression.
However, the more he explained, the more agitated Qin Chuan became.
The incident was developing in an increasingly bizarre direction, completely beyond Qin Chuan's comprehension.
If nothing could explain Weng Quan's madness, then perhaps he had been possessed, transforming so suddenly.
Qin Chuan paced around Weng Quan's body, moving from his calves to his head.
He suddenly thought of a possibility. Though absurd, it was the only one he could currently think of.