Reborn : Space Intelligent Woman

Chapter 2789: Chapter 2789: Two Strange Children

Long Hui retrieved a bottle of water, opened it, and held it to her lips.

Yu Qi took a few slow gulps, the cool water soothing her dry throat and gradually stabilising the lingering dizziness in her head.

”Thank you.” Yu Qi offered a weak smile. ”I am feeling much better now.”

”Let’s retrieve Neko-chan and get out of this underground facility.” Long Hui said.

”Mhm.” Yu Qi nodded.

They retraced their steps, returning to the primary laboratory where they had deployed the USB drive earlier.

The laptop screen was still glowing brightly. The moment Neko-chan detected Yu Qi’s presence, the virtual kitten on the display immediately bounced up and down excitedly.

’Master! Master! I have extracted everything!’ Neko-chan declared triumphantly. ’And guess what? This terminal is not just a local research database. It has root administrator access to the entire island’s internal network!’

Yu Qi’s eyes lit up. ”Were you able to pull data from the whole facility?”

’I sure did!’ Neko-chan purred proudly. ’I have copied every single useful file. Core research data, security logs, personnel rosters, transport manifests, financial transactions, surveillance archives, emergency escape routes, lab access records, and encrypted comms. Everything is backed up safely!’

”Fantastic work.” Yu Qi smiled in relief. ”We are heading out now. Xiaohua and Xiaoliu should be finishing up their sweep by now.”

She carefully disconnected and retrieved the USB drive from the terminal.

Together, Yu Qi and Long Hui made their way back toward the surface exit.

Whenever they encountered straggling facility personnel frantically navigating the halls, Yu Qi casually dispersed crushed sleeping pills into the air. The invisible powder quickly spread throughout the corridor. Before any of them could even realise that something was wrong, their eyelids became heavy, and their bodies lost their strength.

One after another, they collapsed silently onto the cold floor, falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Yu Qi and Long Hui finally made their way out of the subterranean complex. The moment they returned to the surface, Yu Qi took a deep breath of fresh air.

”I will call Xiaohua and ask her about the situation in her area.” Yu Qi stated.

”Hmm...” Long Hui nodded.

Yu Qi immediately established a telepathic connection with Xiaohua.

’Xiaohua... Xiaohua... Are you there?’ Yu Qi called out mentally.

’Yes, Master!’ Xiaohua answered cheerfully.

’How is everything on your end?’ Yu Qi asked.

’Xiaoliu and I are having a blast!’ Xiaohua replied excitedly. ’I think we have cleared almost everyone on this island. Oh... except for one person inside that room.’

’Alright. Good job.’ Yu Qi stated.

Yu Qi ended the telepathic conversation before turning toward Long Hui.

”Xiaohua said only one person remains.” Yu Qi stated.

”Who?” Long Hui asked.

”Hector Vaughn,” Yu Qi stated plainly.

”Then let me go and interview him.” Long Hui nodded.

”Yeah, let’s go.” Yu Qi agreed.

However, things did not unfold the way Yu Qi had envisioned. She initially assumed Hector Vaughn would remain inside his office until the evacuation was complete. Unfortunately, Hector Vaughn suddenly stepped out of his quarters to personally inspect the progress of his subordinates.

The moment he stepped outside, he immediately picked up on something bizarre. It was entirely too quiet. He could not hear the usual ambient noise of people talking, walking, moving equipment, or executing orders. Normally, even if the conversations were too distant to discern clearly, a constant low murmur echoed across the facility grounds.

Now... there was only silence.

The total absence of sound immediately sparked Hector Vaughn’s suspicion. His expression darkened. He quickly rushed toward the central deck.

The scene awaiting him made his heart plummet into his stomach.

His men were strewn all over the ground, completely unconscious. Some were slumped beside heavy equipment. Others were sprawled across the floor as though they had simply collapsed mid-stride.

”What on earth happened here?” Hector Vaughn muttered under his breath.

He quickly squatted down beside one of his fallen mercenaries and checked his pulse and breathing. The man was still alive.

Hector Vaughn breathed a tiny sigh of relief and immediately tried to shake him awake.

”Hey! Wake up!” Hector Vaughn shouted.

He even slapped the man’s cheek several times, but the mercenary did not even flinch. His expression turned grave. He moved toward another guard and tried to rouse him.

The result was identical. The man remained completely uncommunicative.

”What the hell...” Hector Vaughn growled.

He checked another section of the deck, then another. The result was the same everywhere. His personnel lay scattered on the hard ground, as if a sudden wave of deep sleep had washed over the entire island at the exact same second.

Hector Vaughn’s heart began hammering against his ribs. Someone had launched an attack. Yet he had not heard a single gunfight. There were no pooling trails of blood, no bullet holes, no shattered glass, and no obvious physical trauma on any of the men. Whatever had taken down his entire force had done so completely silently.

Hector Vaughn scanned the open deck frantically. Then, something caught his eye. Two small figures were standing further off near the edge of the perimeter.

Hector Vaughn immediately sprinted toward them. As he closed the distance, he pulled up short, frowning. They were two children. He automatically assumed they were experimental subjects who had somehow managed to escape their holding cells during the chaos.

”Hey! Both of you! Stop right there! Turn around right now.” Hector Vaughn bellowed.

The two children stopped. Slowly, they turned around and looked at him.

Hector Vaughn was taken aback when he caught sight of their faces. These kids bore no resemblance to the weak, terrified, malnourished children his smugglers usually dragged onto the island.

***This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l. c o m. If you do not read this novel on w e b n o v e l. c o m, that means it has been stolen. Thank you, from your shameless author, ZerahNeko***