Chapter 394

These guys weren’t here to chat. If she had to guess, they were probably the cleanup crew sent to keep whatever happened inside this lab buried for good.

A fire this big happened, and not a single headline about it. Someone definitely pulled strings to keep it quiet.

Shermaine placed the sample case in the car, locked the door, then turned and said directly, “Bring it on.”

They exchanged glances, clearly thrown off, thinking, ‘She’s got the face, but not that much brains!’

The leader sneered, “You asked for it. Get her!”

It was cold, which was the only reason Shermaine hadn’t tied up her waist-length hair. She had no hair tie with her either, but she did have a ballpoint pen in her pocket.

She lifted both hands to gather her loose strands, then deftly pulled out the pen, twisted her hair into a bun, and secured it in place.

Their target was the car keys in Shermaine’s pocket. Several men rushed at her at once, but in the next instant, the man in front was sent flying by a powerful kick from Shermaine.

That’s when it clicked for them that she wasn’t bluffing, and her confidence had nothing to do with her looks. She knew how to fight, and she was damn good at it.

It didn’t take long before they were outmatched. The leader whipped out his phone to call for backup, but before he could even dial, Shermaine darted over and, with a swift kick, sent his phone flying and the man sprawling to the ground.

As she landed, the ballpoint pen securing her hair flew out, just as a car approached from ahead. The pen clattered to the ground, while the vehicle behind it screeched to a sudden stop.

Shermaine’s gaze flicked toward the sound. She could’ve stayed and finished the fight, no problem. But there was no time to waste–someone inside was infected and needed her help now.

As she was about to get into the car and drive off to pick the injured man up, a man suddenly stepped out of the other car. It was Bruce, the man she had seen on the news that morning. Shermaine’s hand froze on the car door.

Bruce bent down, picked up the ballpoint pen that had rolled away and walked up to her. “Here,” he said, handing it over.

“What are you doing here?” Shermaine asked.

Bruce didn’t bother to hide anything and explained, “The backer of this lab once hired an operative from the Dark Organization. You know her–Kylie."

“Kylie was leading the lab’s ongoing Immortality Project. Ever since she joined, the experiments started going wrong.” He paused briefly before adding, “I’m here to clean up the mess.”

In other words, he was here to clean up Kylie’s mess. Shermaine raised an eyebrow, thinking, ‘Now, that’s a surprise.’

Bruce had every reason to stay out of this. If this whole thing blew up, no one could pin it on the Dark Organization. He could’ve walked away with clean hands. But instead, he showed up.

And Kylie, that foreigner, had really stirred up a hornet’s nest on their turf.

Shermaine gave a brief nod, then asked, “So what’s the situation now?”

Bruce pursed his lips. “There was a big fire here last night. Many test subjects escaped. I’ve quarantined some, but about ten are still on the loose.”

Among those in quarantine were also the officers who’d gotten hurt in last night’s chaos. Bruce had already locked down the only road into the city, so anyone trying to sneak in would be caught immediately.

Shenmaine’s expression turned slightly solemn. There were so many people infected, yet they still didn’t have a serum that could cure them.

Shemaine thought, ‘Looks like I’ll have to speed up and develop the serum.’

Bruce hesitated before delivering the crucial update. “There’s one more thing. A mutated subject made it into the city. I couldn’t bring her back.” This particular failure had weighed heavily on Bruce all day.

The woman carrying the mutated virus–Natalie–had gone into hiding. In a sprawling city like Horington, home to over ten million people, tracking her down would be nearly impossible. That was when Shermaine’s expression finally turned serious.