"Come to think of it, I've heard that Heliopolis Life Sciences also has treatment options for Honkai Sickness. Why didn't you take your mother there earlier?"
Su tried to probe for information. Heliopolis Life Sciences was simply too mysterious. Even with the full effort of the few remaining Mad Hatter Party intelligence agents in the city, several had already been lost, yet no detailed information had been obtained.
And these two doctors in front of him, being locals, must know something.
"Ah, well..."
The two medical PhDs sitting across from him fell silent for a moment. They exchanged glances, clearly hesitant.
In the end, the older brother gritted his teeth and said, "What I'm about to say might sound a bit superstitious, Dr. Su. You can treat it as urban folklore if you like."
"Those people who received treatment from Heliopolis Life Sciences... none of them came out normal."
A trace of lingering fear appeared on the young doctor's face, as if recalling something deeply unsettling.
"Some of our classmates went there. Afterward, they either disappeared without a trace, or they turned into something horrifying, calling themselves 'vampires.'"
"At first, we thought they were joking, or maybe they had just read too many novels. But when we saw those 'vampires' killing and eating people expressionlessly, we realized something was very wrong!"
"So we'd rather try our luck with you than let our mother become... that kind of monster."
Su frowned slightly. "Vampires?"
Was it a blood-craving syndrome caused by genetic defects? Or had they contracted rabies during treatment?
Historically, the legend of vampires originated from the Black Death in Europe.
At the time, medical knowledge was limited. People couldn't distinguish between true death and suspended animation in plague victims, so many were buried alive by mistake.
Later, when coffins were reopened, the bodies inside were found in different positions, with blood at the corners of their mouths.
This sparked fear, leading people to believe the corpses had come back to life to suck blood.
At the same time, many people were suffering from rabies. Exposure to light caused their skin to ulcerate, scab over, and develop large patches of dark pigmentation, making them resemble ghouls.
Rabies patients were also allergic to garlic, had reddened eyes, and could only relieve symptoms by replenishing hemoglobin.
Their blood could transmit rabies as well, spreading the disease further.
The combination of these two phenomena gave rise to the vampire myth.
If it had been two years ago, before he came into contact with Honkai, Su would have dismissed all of this as mere superstition.
But now, with his understanding of Honkai, he knew that the Black Death in Europe had in fact been caused by Honkai. Those vampire rumors were likely not baseless, but grounded in reality.
For Honkai, turning humans into zombies was effortless.
According to intelligence gathered by the Mad Hatter Party, there had indeed been cases of corpses rising from their coffins back then.
After pondering for a moment, Su asked with some confusion, "If that company is so strange, why does it still exist? Why hasn't it been shut down?"
Logically speaking, the North American government had previously used the name of Heliopolis Life Sciences to file a lawsuit against HoMu Company. That implied the World Government still considered Heliopolis Life Sciences to be under its control.
But if Heliopolis Life Sciences was doing something this bizarre, wasn't that effectively slapping the World Government in the face?
And yet North America still brought it up, claiming they wanted justice for Heliopolis Life Sciences. Wasn't that just exposing themselves?
If Heliopolis Life Sciences didn't even care about humanity anymore, why talk about justice?
"Because Heliopolis Life Sciences is the government of this city. It's the emperor here. They've completely sealed off all information."
The older brother took out a handwritten sheet and said, "We don't have direct evidence, but by chance, we managed to get a bit of information."
As he spoke, he handed the sheet to Su.
"This is...!"
Su narrowed his eyes as he looked at it. Rather than a note, it was half of a design blueprint—a blueprint of the human body.
Clenching his fists, the older brother said indignantly, "Our 'vampire' classmate copied this out of Heliopolis Life Sciences before he died!"
After the two young doctors left, Su couldn't help but praise the exquisite design on the blueprint.
From what he knew, even MOTH had not yet mastered human modification techniques to this level of proficiency.
No wonder Heliopolis Life Sciences could create modified humans with "superpowers." Their technology had already surpassed the era.
And this kind of technology was not something a mere company should possess.
Which meant...
"Mr. Moon, my task is complete."
A coquettish voice laced with deference interrupted Su's thoughts.
Liora bowed respectfully to Su.
Mr. Mad Hatter never appeared in person. All instructions were relayed through the two envoys—Sun and Moon.
And Su was playing the role of Moon.
"Mm, come in."
Seeing the faint dust on their clothes, Su walked over and brushed it off for them. "Welcome. You've worked hard. Nothing unexpected happened along the way, I hope?"
As a leader, Su's demeanor was impeccable.
"We're missing one person. Miss Pardofelis didn't make it."
Did Pardo run into trouble again?
Su was already used to it. Whenever Pardo carried out a mission, it would be strange if nothing went wrong.
In the end, it was always the teammates who ended up in chaos, while Pardo herself remained completely unharmed.
Even so, Su would still need to dispatch intelligence agents afterward to rescue her.
From the snowy cleft of her chest, Liora pulled out a string of keys and placed them in Su's hand. "Also, our external outpost in District 25 was destroyed by a gang, but our organization wasn't exposed."
"It's fine. As long as you returned safely."
Holding the still-warm keys, Su calmly placed them into a drawer in the desk.
Even though the shop was gone, they still needed to recover the funds later. The Mad Hatter Party wasn't wealthy—they couldn't afford to burden Miss Vill-V any further.
"There's juice in the fridge. Help yourselves."
"Yay!" Vill-V took off her hat and rushed to the fridge. "I'm dying of thirst. Hua, what do you want? I'll make a refined Aussie white."
"Uh... juice is fine."
"Heh, Senior Hua is still like a child."
Though Inori teased her, she was already holding a glass of juice and sinking into the sofa.
As a former member of the underworld, she had an exceptional tolerance for alcohol, but she still preferred juice. Drinking always reminded her of things she'd rather forget.
Picking up Su's cup from the table, Liora continued, "We gathered some information."
"Judging from their passive attitude, it seems they have no intention of engaging with Honkai."
Su lifted his gaze, studying her as she held his cup. "You probably won't like that."
What?
The thick liquid slid onto her tongue, and bitterness instantly spread across her taste buds.
Freshly squeezed bitter melon juice—undiluted—seemed to possess a soul of its own as it flowed down her throat and straight into her heart.
That bitterness felt like a working person's entire lifetime of hardship, all condensed onto the tip of the tongue.
"Pfft—what is this?"
"Fresh bitter melon juice," Su said considerately, handing her a bottle of mineral water to rinse her mouth.
Damn it—who in the world would actually enjoy drinking something like this? Wouldn't your sense of taste break?"