As they stepped out of the car, Luis finally voiced the question that had been circling in his mind.
"By the way, Uncle David... those spies stayed hidden for years. How did you manage to find them?"
David didn’t answer right away. He simply smiled and pointed at Ronald. "It’s all thanks to your dad."
Ronald responded with a proud grin, shrugging as if it were nothing. "No effort at all."
Luis nodded slowly, though his eyes lingered on his father with quiet scrutiny. He seed to believe the answer on the surface—but deep down, he suspected there was sothing more to it. More than his father’s involvent, he believed his maternal grandfather had a hand in it. With that vast intelligence network and all those connections, uncovering a few hidden spies would not be difficult at all.
Still, he kept those thoughts to himself. Let his father be proud for now.
"Anyway, co with ," David said, motioning for them to follow. As they walked inside, he continued, "I heard from Ronald about your inventions." He glanced at Luis, his eyes bright with interest. "Soon, I’ll show you sothing very interesting."
The slight curl at the corner of his lips made it clear he was holding back a secret.
Luis raised a brow and shot Ronald a questioning look, but he didn’t say anything. It wasn’t as if his talent for scientific research was so great secret. Quite a few people already knew about it. Whatever this was, Uncle David clearly had a big surprise for him.
Under David’s lead, they descended to the so-called secret level. Unfortunately, Luis realized he might have set his expectations too high.
The entire floor was nearly empty. A few new machines and pieces of equipnt were stacked in one corner, most of them still in their packaging. The place slled faintly of fresh paint and tal.
When David ntioned that this secret level had only been established recently, Luis should have expected this.
If he counted the ti properly, it made sense.
It had been less than a month since he revealed the truth about Aunt Maria’s death to Uncle David. After that ca the preparation for the expedition—and the expedition itself. Once those days were subtracted, only a handful remained.
It was only natural that this place hadn’t started running properly yet.
They walked deeper inside until they reached another section. David stopped in front of a door, knocked once, and then opened it without waiting.
"Dr. Parkins, I’m coming right in!"
Luis’s lips twitched at David’s behavior. Before he could comnt, his attention shifted to the room beyond.
Inside was a small laboratory. A middle-aged woman stood near a workbench, staring at them with an annoyed expression. She had frizzy brown hair tied loosely behind her head, round glasses perched on her nose, and freckles scattered across her cheeks.
"David, how many tis do I have to tell you?" she snapped. "Wait for my response before entering! What if I were in the middle of an experint and you ruined everything?"
’Dr. Parkins—so this was her.’ Luis thought.
"Next ti, for sure," David replied imdiately, nodding without hesitation. He waved his hand casually, looking completely unbothered. There was not even a trace of guilt on his face.
Luis stared at him, surprised. He had never seen this side of Uncle David before. Thick-skinned was an understatent.
Dr. Parkins shot David an exasperated glare before shifting her attention to the others behind him.
"Ronald, you’re here too." She gave him a small nod. Her tone softened at once, calm and polite—completely different from how she had just spoken to David.
"Is it for that...?" she asked, as if she already knew why they had co.
Ronald nodded. "Miss Parkins, you guessed right. Aside from getting an update, I also wanted my son to see it."
Only then did Dr. Parkins look past them and focus on Luis. She narrowed her eyes slightly as she examined him from head to toe.
Luis offered a faint smile and bowed his head politely. "Hello, Dr. Parkins."
"So you’re that brat nad Luis." Her lips curved into a small, knowing smile. "Zeth told quite a bit about you."
Luis blinked in surprise. "You know Uncle Zeth?"
He hadn’t expected to hear that na from her.
Ronald answered before she could. "Dr. Parkins and Mr. Zeth are siblings."
"Really?" Luis’s eyes widened. "That’s new to ." He quickly composed himself and nodded respectfully at her. "Uncle Zeth has taken very good care of ."
"Indeed he has," Dr. Parkins replied with a snort. "He even pestered and harassed endlessly to prepare that batch of phinin for you."
Though she sounded annoyed, there was a hint of amusent in her eyes.
Luis froze. His eyes widened as realization struck him. "You were the source of the phinin?"
He had never imagined that.
"Thank you, Dr. Parkins!" he said sincerely.
She shrugged. "As long as it was useful." With that simple gesture, she dismissed the topic. "Enough chatting. What you’re interested in is over there."
She led them to her workbench.
A digital screen displayed rows of shifting numbers and data. In the center of the room stood a large, reinforced container. Inside it swirled a strange white gas, thick and restless, moving like a living thing. It pressed against the transparent walls, rolling and twisting as if searching for a way out.
A faint unease stirred in Luis’s chest.
Above the container, bold letters were printed:
[Codena:U]
The sight alone was enough to make the atmosphere heavier.
Luis couldn’t look away.
Whatever "Codena — U" was, it was far from ordinary. And judging by the calm yet serious expressions on the adults’ faces, this was only the beginning.
Ronald stepped closer, studying the gas carefully. "How has it been?" he asked. "Has it tried to escape?"
The white gas inside the container shifted again, swirling faster for a brief mont.
Dr. Parkins walked back to her bench and poured herself a cup of coffee as if they were discussing the weather. Leaning casually against the table, she took a slow sip before answering.
"It has been very restless all this while. Fortunately, the sealing formation was strong enough."
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