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Chapter 167 Secret Recording
The room fell silent for a while, broken only by the intermittent ticking of the instruments. Su Wanqing noted down a set of gradually stabilizing data and was preparing to change shifts when a new message suddenly popped up on the communication station.

She glanced at it; it was an encrypted signal, neither belonging to the military nor an internal number from a laboratory.

The message consisted of only one sentence: "Please note the attachment."

Su Wanqing remained silent, put on her headset, and entered the decoding command.

This was followed by an audio clip with low background noise, in which Lu Zhao could be vaguely heard talking to a man.

The man's voice was a little hoarse as he asked, "Can you send all the data from your end? Headquarters said that as long as there's progress, the samples can be brought back as well."

Lu Zhao's voice was hesitant, "The data can be sent out by sampling. It's just a sample, and we'll have to see how things go on-site. If necessary... I mean, if it really comes to that, I can try to take it with me."

The man said, "This is part of the agreement. All data must be backed up. As long as everyone is safe, we can configure all the resources."

The recording suddenly stopped. Su Wanqing turned up the volume and heard Lu Zhao add, "Let's make it clear beforehand that this is on the premise that the team's safety is the top priority."

The recording abruptly ended there.

Su Wanqing remained calm, unplugged her headphones, and copied the encrypted recording separately.

She pursed her lips, lowered her voice, and beckoned Lin Che and Xiao Ran to the secondary rest area.

Lin Che looked up, about to change shifts, when he saw this and came in. Xiao Ran closed the door tightly behind him.

Su Wanqing silently opened the audio file, and after the three of them listened, no one spoke for a moment.

Before Xiao Ran could utter a second sentence, he frowned and lowered his voice, "You believe Lu Zhao would hand over the samples? He agreed to all their conditions in the recording."

Lin Che rested his hands on the edge of the table. "If he really intended to be an informant, he would have acted long ago. There was no need to drag it out until now." His hands unconsciously tightened. "But his statement that he could take the samples away doesn't sound good."

Su Wanqing closed her laptop, her eyes still glued to the recording interface. "How did this audio suddenly end up here? The sender isn't the military, nor is it on our internal network. The recording content is also fragmented."

Xiao Ran lowered his head and rubbed his wrist. "I think it's probably the military cutting ties. They're using recordings to gather information first, and once we react, they'll seize control of the conversation."

Lin Che held the line on the instrument's surface in his hand, his brows furrowed tightly.

He thought for a moment: "But if there really is a third party, someone might be using us to stir up trouble now. Su Wanqing, do you trust Lu Zhao?"

Su Wanqing did not answer directly, "Some parts have been edited. The recording was not done in the main experimental area; it was more like field communication."

She looked at Lin Che and Xiao Ran, "This kind of pace, besides sowing discord within, can also force us to completely break with the military."

"Should we lay it all out in front of everyone?" Xiao Ran glanced at Lin Che.

Lin Che squeezed the bandage, his tone calm, "Talking directly is better than investigating secretly."

Su Wanqing tapped the table and calmly instructed, "Now is not the time to draw conclusions. After Lu Zhao finishes checking the data, I will ask him about everything one by one. You two must not reveal a single word to anyone else."

Outside the door, Dr. Zheng was still monitoring the girl, occasionally coming in to check the wound medicine and coolant.

Lin Che noticed that he had an extra vial of blood in his hand, with a label attached.

He followed to the lab bench and saw Dr. Zheng putting the extra sample into the refrigerator, a different dosage than the one he had just taken.

Dr. Zheng turned his head and noticed Lin Che, casually rolling up his sleeve. "This is a spare. The case is so special, we need to keep a lot for comparison later."

Lin Che didn't respond, but sat on the side waiting for Su Wanqing to ask her questions. Dr. Zheng picked up his phone again and took a few pictures of the analysis terminal screen.

The phone was very quiet, but Lin Che heard it clearly.

"What are you doing?" Lin Che asked, his tone scrutinizing.

Dr. Zheng bent down to organize the medicine boxes. "There are a few real-time parameters that need to be returned to the main medical control team."

The girl's levels of certain elements exceeded the standard values. If she has recurrent fevers, we will need to trace the cycle. Lin Che nodded without saying much, memorizing the entire process.

As the clock struck four in the morning, Lu Zhao finally finished organizing the monitoring data.

Su Wanqing beckoned him in and played the recording clip without any beating around the bush.

Lu Zhao frowned slightly, and only after the audio stopped did he say, "This is the communication I had with the military last time, but I gave you the logs for each time. This part has been edited and has no context."

Xiao Ran crossed his arms and stared straight at him, "How would you put it more clearly in the original text?"

What does "if it's necessary to take the sample away" mean?

Lu Zhao put the notebook on the table. "We negotiated with the military to get equipment. They made conditions, and I could only give vague answers. They said they could guarantee safety and supplies, but I said it depended on the team's situation. It was impossible for them to actually take the people away. The following part actually says 'the team has to agree.'"

Su Wanqing touched the message terminal and said in a calm tone, "Have you considered that if we're provoked, this situation could get out of control?"

Lu Zhao did not argue, his expression was very calm, "I am not afraid of recording all the communication records. No matter how much they are investigated, there will be no problem. But now someone has been able to intercept this recording and even edit it. Don't forget that the incidents related to the virus system are deeply involved. The rebels and the military are both watching us."

Lin Che interjected, "It's good that you're being honest with us. But we also need to be wary of someone colluding with us from the inside."

Lu Zhao pushed the device. "Okay, I already have all the communication logs, complete recordings, and reports saved here. If you're worried, you can check them anytime. The most important thing right now is that I wasn't the one who leaked the information. You can check me all you want."

Xiao Ran frowned and leaned against the door. "No matter who's causing trouble, we need to encrypt all commands. If our morale is low before we even move, we'll become sitting ducks if outsiders interfere."

Su Wanqing composed herself. "I can conduct another team investigation. All subsequent communications and data will be processed offline. Lu Zhao, you keep a close eye on the main laboratory. Record all abnormalities of Lin Che and Xiao Ran tonight in the log, don't miss any details."

Lu Zhao nodded and handed over his USB drive. "You can save this as you like. Include all interactions with the military this time. Also, the 'samples to be taken away' in this audio recording is actually 'in case of an emergency security threat, the samples will be transferred first,' not 'handed over,' but rather evacuated after ensuring the safety of the sample personnel."

Su Wanqing put the USB drive away and looked at Lin Che and Xiao Ran. "Write a supplementary report for each of you later. I'll save this recording first. If another group appears, it means there's definitely someone in the team being watched."

Lin Che pursed his lips and didn't say anything more. He rearranged the route map and quickly scanned the data next to Su Wanqing.

Outside, Dr. Zheng walked back, his steps neither fast nor slow.

Lin Che stared intently at the rearview mirror at the entrance of the main experimental area, peering through the glass at the medicine box in Dr. Zheng's hand.

When Dr. Zheng saw Lin Che looking over, he deliberately moved the blood plasma bag out to show it off and said, "There are two more sets of samples. You can review them after the tests are done tomorrow morning. Doing more comparisons will make subsequent screening easier."

Lin Che didn't reply, but instead took out the key to the storage room in the corner again to check it.

He jotted down a note: "The backup blood sample exceeded the standard dosage, and Dr. Zheng did not keep a record when taking the data."

Dr. Zheng tidied up the workbench with the test bags, smiled slightly, and said, "In special circumstances, procedures must yield to reality. The more comprehensive the understanding, the more confident the patient can get through the night."

Xiao Ran leaned against the wall, stretching his neck, but didn't say anything. Su Wanqing sat in the control room, checking communications, encrypting raw data, and taking notes on process sheets.

The remaining medical records and medicine box in the case were cleared out quickly.

Lu Zhao set new passwords for the remaining monitoring equipment and disconnected the external network interfaces one by one.

Lin Che memorized the identities of everyone who appeared at the experimental station, his eyes never lifting.

Only a few electronic clocks chimed in the lobby. Su Wanqing repeatedly confirmed that the communication system was entirely set to manual command, with no remote backup.

Lu Zhao checked the latest sample data report again, his words devoid of any extra emotion, "These parameters are publicly available for you to see. Anyone with objections, speak up now."

Xiao Ran rummaged through the medicine box. "There's nothing else that needs replenishing. Safety is the most important thing. Let's add another set of emergency evacuation signals so that the data can be self-destructed immediately in case of an emergency."

Lin Che locked the locker, stuffed the note that read "Take extra spare samples" into his diary, and made a mental note of it for future reference.

Su Wanqing checked her watch; it was almost dawn. She didn't say anything more and simply put the recording into a special file.