You're a US police officer, what are you thinking about going back to the East for?

Lyon then opened the car door and climbed back into the truck.

The carriage, which had previously been filled with the sounds of Jacob chewing on a burrito and Kevin typing on his keyboard, was now deathly silent, making one's eardrums throb.

Everyone's eyes, including those of FBI agent Perkins who always considered himself an elite, were involuntarily focused on Leon, and then quickly shifted to the camouflage tent that was faintly visible in the rain outside the car window.

Mia curled up in a corner of the chair, her notebook lying on the floor without her picking it up. Clearly, she had just given a detailed account of the human body puzzle to everyone.

"Why are you all staring at me?"

Lyon sat back in the passenger seat and glanced around.

"That's someone else's business. Your job is to keep an eye on those damn warehouses. Kevin, is the thermal imaging working?"

"No...no response, boss."

Kevin swallowed hard, his fingers moved stiffly on the keyboard, and he even swallowed back his usual witty remarks.

"That area is now just a blue-green background, not even a mouse."

"Jacob, have you finished your burrito?"

"I've lost my appetite, sir."

Big Jacob crumpled the remaining half of the tortilla into a ball and threw it into the trash can, saying in a muffled voice.

"I've seen people get shot in the head at close range, and I've seen people stuffed into oil drums and burned, but that girl said... they were sorting and boxing them inside?"

"Fuck, are these drug dealers selling drugs or running a grocery store?"

"That's why I had you keep an eye on things!!"

Lyon's voice rose a few decibels.

"The lunatics in Seattle are evolving. If you don't want to be put in a food container and labeled one day, you'd better be on your guard!"

Although everyone was reprimanded by Leon and turned their attention back to the monitor screen, the atmosphere of unease just wouldn't go away.

Everyone seemed somewhat distracted, with Agent Perkins frequently pressing his earpiece as if confirming something with Hayes, his brow furrowed.

About twenty minutes later, two pale lights appeared at the end of the dark path in the distance.

A black, unmarked refrigerated truck silently glided through the floodwaters and pulled up next to the camouflage tent.

The vehicle had no Renai Bio logo or the Red Cross symbol of an ambulance; it looked like an ordinary freight truck delivering frozen meat to a restaurant.

Lyon watched through the one-way glass as the car came to a steady stop and then turned off its headlights.

"They're here."

Lyon said something in a low voice, preparing to push open the door and get out of the car.

Mia instinctively grabbed his sleeve and muttered, "Boss, should I not go?"

"I feel like I can save money on food next week."

"Stay in the car and don't look around."

Leon slapped her hand away and stepped back into the rain.

The driver's side door of the refrigerated truck opened, and a figure wearing an oversized black raincoat jumped out.

Immediately afterwards, the passenger door was also pushed open.

Another figure, also wrapped in a black raincoat, jumped down, but his movements were much clumsy. He almost slipped when he landed, and he looked very hesitant.

Lyon went to meet him.

Alex, who was walking ahead, took off the hood of his raincoat, revealing a pale face and faint dark circles under his eyes.

Although this guy always jokes that he's fat, he's actually quite burly.

He is nearly 1.9 meters tall and weighs 200 kilograms, but due to his somewhat chaotic lifestyle, he seems to lack energy.

"This awful weather, I really don't want to go out..."

Alex mumbled in his northern-accented Chinese as he greeted Leon.

Leon gestured with his chin toward the short guy huddled in the back:

"Who's that? They don't look like the group of veterans you usually lead."

"Hey, don't even mention it."

Alex let out two bitter laughs.

"A newly hired intern. I don't know what young people these days are thinking, giving up a perfectly good office job to do this kind of work dealing with body parts."

"I guess they were lured in by their advisor and haven't seen much of the world yet."

As he spoke, he turned around and called out, "Come here and meet our contact."

The figure trembled slightly, then slowly moved in front of the two people and raised its head.

Using the light from the car headlights next to him, Leon was able to see the face clearly.

Then, his eyebrows shot up, and his expression became quite interesting.

The expression on his face was numb and dejected, a stark contrast to the brilliant biology student with a ponytail, cunning eyes, and a thirst for knowledge he had just a few days ago.

But that was indeed Irina.

"Irina?"

Leon called out her name with some surprise.

Upon hearing her name, Irina's eyes flickered, as if she were finally focusing on Leon's face.

Upon seeing Leon, a look of surprise finally flashed across her face. Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but she lowered her head in shame.

"Why is it you?"

Lyon looked her up and down.

"Weren't you doing experiments at university? How did you end up in the morgue?"

Alex, who was about to reach for a body bag in the back of the truck, paused upon hearing this and looked at the two of them with surprise.

"Holy crap? You guys know each other?"

"It would be great if we knew each other."

Alex breathed a sigh of relief as if a burden had been lifted, waving his hand dismissively without giving Leon a chance to explain:

"Since she's someone I know, that's perfect. Leon, could you look after her for me?"

"This girl is new here, clumsy and doesn't know any of the rules."

"I'm so tired my heart is about to stop, I really don't have the energy to do pre-job training for new employees."

"I'll go check on that pile of puzzle pieces in the tent. You should prepare her mentally first, so she doesn't go in and throw up on that pile of meat. Cleaning that stuff will cost extra."

After saying that, Alex didn't care whether Leon agreed or not. He picked up his toolbox and strode toward the camouflage tent that reeked of blood.

In the rain, only Leon and Irina, who looked like she could break at any moment, remained.

She hunched her shoulders, put her hands in her raincoat pockets, and stared blankly at the ground.

"Tell me about it."

Leon didn't show any extra warmth just because she was an acquaintance. He simply turned slightly to shield her from the wind and rain blowing from the side, his tone indifferent.

"The last time I saw you, you were a passionate female college student handing out relief food. How come you've become an intern collecting corpses for Ren'ai Biotechnology after just a few days?"

"Isn't this a bit of a leap? From a biological laboratory to a dismemberment scene?"

Irina sniffed, her voice sounding muffled:

"I don't know if I've been scammed or not..."

She looked up at the blood-stained tent not far away and gave a bitter smile:

"Actually, it was my supervisor who approached me at first. He is a well-known professor in the field and has always been very kind to me."

"He said he had an experimental project in collaboration with an external company and was short of a reliable assistant."

"They told me the benefits were great, that the salary was several times that of a teaching assistant at the school. You know, even though my family's situation isn't bad, the pressure of student loans is still immense."

Irina paused, seemingly recalling that incredibly tempting pie from back then:

"Most importantly, he promised that once I finished this project, I would have an internship at a top biopharmaceutical company on my resume."

"With this, getting a job at a big company like Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson after graduation will basically be a formality."

"You know the current job market..."