Chapter 48: The Fall of the Meteor

"Hurry up, bring the ID card!" a young researcher in a white lab coat shouted to another researcher rummaging through a shoulder bag beside him, while frequently glancing through the thick glass window on the heavy laboratory door.

However, because this laboratory featured a double-door structure, the glass window only offered a view of a tiny fraction of the brightly lit interior.

"I'm looking, I'm looking." After searching frantically to no avail, the chubby researcher being hurried simply dumped the entire contents of his bag onto the floor.

"No good, I can't find it. I... I remember now, my access card was borrowed by Professor. The Professor must have taken it inside with him."

"What? How did your ID card end up with the Professor too?" The researcher by the window stared in astonishment at the fat man on the floor.

The chubby man on the floor looked as if he was about to cry. "Zhuangzi, when the Professor asked to borrow it, did I dare refuse? You'd better think of something... This is the very last place we haven't checked."

Hearing this, the researcher called Zhuangzi felt his face twitch. After a moment of thought, he muttered, "The access control system is entirely managed by the Professor... Well, there's no other choice now. Call the fire department."

"Huh?" The chubby man found it hard to believe. "This is a heavily shielded security door, it's extremely expensive..."

"Is the Professor more important or the door? Fatty, you still don't understand that?" Zhuangzi glared fiercely at the fat man and pulled out his phone to make the call.

Accompanied by the wailing siren of a fire engine, a team of firefighters quickly arrived.

Four firefighters carrying door-breaching tools—sledgehammers, axes, crowbars, and saws—looked at each other in dismay as they stared at the experimental security door. One of them even stepped forward to stroke its surface.

"Goodness gracious, this door doesn't look cheap at all. Are we really going to just smash it open?"

"Break it open! My Professor is inside, it's a matter of life and death!" Zhuangzi urged.

One of the firefighters looked from the heavy laboratory door to the breaching axe in his own hands, and quietly concealed the axe behind his back.

The team leader measured the door with his eyes and asked calmly, "Since your Professor is inside and has the access card, why don't you just call him?"

The chubby man scratched his head. "This security door is top-quality; sound and electromagnetic signals simply can't get in or out."

The firefighter who had touched the door earlier clicked his tongue in amazement.

"No spare key?" the leader asked.

"It's on the Professor," the fat man answered honestly.

"Alright. However, the lock mechanism for this door is on the inside. If we just break it open, this door will be ruined."

"It doesn't matter, saving lives comes first. My Professor is inside."

The fire captain walked over, estimated the position of the lock, and said, "Sledgehammers won't work. Get the cutting torch..."

Not long after, the captain and a firefighter hauled over a specialized cutting torch. Operating it together, a shower of sparks erupted instantly, and a deafening grinding noise filled the corridor of the experimental building.

The firefighter who had worried about the expensive door watched for a moment and asked, "Isn't your door way too sturdy? What if someone inside doesn't have an access card and gets trapped?"

The chubby man, unable to hear the question over the roaring noise in the corridor, blinked in confusion. "What?"

"I said, what if someone inside doesn't have an access card and can't contact the outside world? What then?" This time, the curious firefighter raised his voice by two octaves.

The chubby man looked at the firefighter as if he were crazy and shouted back, "You open this door from the inside without needing an access card!"

"So high-tech?" The firefighter's curiosity was satisfied.

"Cut it out and stop making a fool of yourself. Can't normal doors be opened from the inside?" mocked the firefighter who had stood by the whole time refusing to let go of his breaching axe.

"Oh, right."

"Right my foot, come and help," the fire captain said, halting the cutting torch just as he caught the muttering. "Bring the hydraulic spreader, pry this section open..."

Under such brute-force dismantling, let alone a shielded security door, even a bank vault wouldn't hold up. Once the locking mechanism was destroyed, the heavy door swung open effortlessly.

The moment it gave way, Zhuangzi squeezed forward.

With no locking mechanism left on the door, he pushed it open and peered anxiously into the laboratory.

Then, his gaze fixed on the corner of the laboratory furthest from the door, and he froze, a look of utter disbelief washing over his face.

The chubby man struggled to squeeze through, shouting for people to make way as he wedged his body past, before finally stretching his neck to look inside the lab.

He froze as well.

The fire captain, who was busy packing up his equipment, suddenly sensed something was amiss. Ever since he finished clearing his gear, these two kids had been staring blankly into the room without moving an inch.

Even with his years of training, the silence had lasted quite a while.

Curiosity getting the better of him, the fire captain walked up behind them, craned his neck to take a peek inside, and then his expression changed drastically. He shoved the two blocking the doorway aside.

"What are you standing around for? Call an ambulance!"

...

After listening to the paramedics' account outside, a veteran detective among the police officers slipped on shoe covers with the assistance of an aide, pulled on white gloves, and stepped silently into the laboratory.

The first thing that caught his eye was Academician Tang, positioned in the corner furthest from the door. The experimental benches surrounding him were in complete disarray, with scattered components littering even the floor.

The veteran detective's footsteps felt unavoidably heavy. If nothing unexpected happened, the nation would soon have to issue another obituary for the falling of a national pillar.

Yet, this was not the time for such thoughts; others would worry about that in due time. His duty was to fulfill his responsibilities and investigate the cause of this national treasure's death.

As he drew closer, Academician Tang's appearance became increasingly clear.

He wore his white lab coat, curled up on the floor with his hands wrapped around his knees, his head slightly and unconsciously lowered—much like someone huddling against the howling wind and snow to ward off the cold, trying to preserve the last vestige of their body heat as it faded away.

Clutched in his hand was the burnt-out butt of a cigarette. Piles of ash surrounded him, accompanied by a heap of finished cigarette butts and an empty carton to his right.

It seemed he had smoked continuously throughout his final moments, chain-smoking until the very last cigarette was consumed, after which he maintained that exact posture, never moving again.

Scattered around him were several sheets of paper covered in red ink. Bending down to inspect them closely, the detective saw that the pages were filled with strange characters composed of numerous sharp angles and curves, interspersed with countless dizzying circles sketched across the draft paper.

Academician Tang's lowered head was positioned just right to keep these contents in view.

Yet, these symbols appeared completely devoid of meaning.

The detective suddenly realized that with just a single lift of his head, he would be face-to-face with Academician Tang's expression. So, he did just that.

He raised his head to reveal a visage etched with pain and bewilderment, traces of tears faintly glistening in the corners of the eyes.

It was the expression of a man tormented by the difficulty of discerning the path forward for civilization, yet deeply lost as to where his civilization was ultimately headed.

He had rallied his spirit with tobacco, but right until the bitter end, when the very last cigarette had burned down to ash, he had still failed to fathom the answer to the questions haunting his mind.

The veteran detective rose in silence, adjusting his white gloves. He knelt down beside the body and began to search Academician Tang's pockets with meticulous care, terrified of disturbing his eternal rest.

Before long, he found the target of his search: the student ID cards that Academician Tang had collected and kept.

This item constituted a crucial piece of evidence, determining who else could possibly have passed through the door of this laboratory.

The veteran detective gazed at them with a solemn expression, silently swearing an oath to bring the culprit to justice.

Outside the window, night fell, and a crow cawed harshly in the darkness, echoing like the cynical sneer of an unseen mastermind.