The most valuable thing in her possession right now was the system-rewarded soil purification agent. Perhaps she could use it as a pretext to walk openly into the heavily guarded laboratory and continue her investigation.
She could also claim the raw materials needed for production were scrap batteries, and get the base to organize collection for her, sparing her the risk of digging them up alone in the dark.
The plan felt workable. The real question was who to approach.
It was already late, and night patrols demanded plenty of stamina, so she decided to sleep first and think it through tomorrow.
The next morning, arriving at the Patrol Center, she spotted Sheng Wei walking in from outside, two dark circles under her eyes.
“Someone followed me home yesterday. I think they tracked me through Zhou He.” Sheng Wei rubbed her temple, fatigue heavy in her voice.
“No use worrying now, the important thing is conserving energy. If I had a reagent that could purify land, who should I talk to about it?” Sheng Wei had been at the base longer, she might have better ideas.
Sheng Wei, still a little groggy, snapped fully alert. “Purify the land? Restore it to what it used to be?”
“More or less. Enough to grow things on, at least.” There hadn’t been time to properly test it, but Jiang Lin trusted the system wouldn’t be wrong about something like this.
Faced with her calm confidence, Sheng Wei didn’t know what to say for a moment.
While Sheng Wei stayed quiet, Jiang Lin turned it over in her own mind. Her first thought had been Lin Dehou, the highest-ranking official she currently had access to. But given that both she and Sheng Wei had been investigated in quick succession, she doubted anything happened at the Patrol Center without at least his tacit awareness.
“Maybe this person would work.” After running through everyone she knew, Sheng Wei landed on a gentle middle-aged woman. “Professor Gu at the Ability Evaluation Center, Gu Yuzhi. I’ve dealt with her a few times. Character and authority both check out.”
The name rang a bell, Jiang Lin’s own brief encounter with Gu Yuzhi the day before, and something in her settled into place.
“The Ability Center closes at five. If we’re going, we’ll need to swap shifts and take night patrol today.”
That evening, Jiang Lin caught Gu Yuzhi just as she was leaving her office.
“Professor Gu, I have something to show you,” she said, pulling a small bottle from her pocket, a diluted version of her purification reagent. If the effect proved too dramatic, it would be hard to explain away.
Gu Yuzhi took the bottle. Inside was a small amount of pale-green liquid, faintly alive-looking. “What’s this?”
“A formula I stumbled onto by accident. It purifies contaminated soil to some degree, might let our land grow things again.” Jiang Lin’s tone stayed level, as if she were discussing something entirely mundane.
Gu Yuzhi looked skeptical, but her grip on the bottle tightened slightly. “I’ll need to run proper tests with the lab.”
“If it’s not too much trouble, could you bring me along?” Jiang Lin wanted to negotiate terms with the lab herself.
“That’s fine. But only you.”
Sheng Wei understood, the laboratory was one of the most sensitive places in the entire base, it made sense she couldn’t come.
Jiang Lin leaned close and murmured something in her ear that visibly startled her, but before Sheng Wei could react, Jiang Lin had already left with Gu Yuzhi.
Researchers of Gu Yuzhi’s rank rated a dedicated base vehicle. Jiang Lin felt a flash of envy, skipping the shuttle bus really was a luxury.
Gu Yuzhi glanced at her with a faint smile. The earlier Jiang Lin had always seemed too emotionally guarded, now she finally looked closer to her actual age.
“If this reagent of yours really works, I think the base will assign you a vehicle of your own. Your housing will probably change too.”
A reagent that could purify the land, Gu Yuzhi genuinely hoped it worked.
She studied the small bottle in her hand, an unreadable emotion flickering across her face.
Thanks to the better transportation, they reached the laboratory entrance in mere minutes, a trip that would have taken far longer by shuttle bus.
With Gu Yuzhi leading, they passed through the entrance almost without friction. This time, Jiang Lin walked in through the main building, openly and officially.
Gu Yuzhi brought her straight to the fourth floor. Only once inside did Jiang Lin grasp how absurdly large the place actually was, layered structures, sealed rooms everywhere. Alone, she’d have gotten lost in minutes.
At the target laboratory, several researchers were already waiting. This floor was clearly dedicated to plant research, metal shelving lined the walls, packed with hydroponic vegetables.
“Yuzhi, where’s the thing you mentioned?” The lead researcher was an older woman, thin-faced, with a look of severe focus.
Gu Yuzhi handed over the small bottle.
Every eye in the room fixed instantly on the pale-green liquid. This world had been in ruin too long, any chance of saving it was precious beyond measure.
Even Jiang Lin, who’d stayed calm until now, felt a flicker of nerves. The researchers’ faces were too serious, and yet lit with something close to hope.
The thin woman took the bottle, her hand trembling faintly as she held it.
A soil sample already sat prepared on the table, a small pile in a glass container. Jiang Lin had no idea what effect the diluted liquid would actually produce.
Every eye in the room fixed on that container. The lab fell silent enough to hear a pin drop. The woman opened the cap and carefully dripped a few drops onto the soil.
Jiang Lin’s purification liquid could treat a full cubic meter of land per bottle, and she’d diluted this batch ten-to-one with water, the amount in the small bottle was minimal to begin with. But the test sample was small too, so it should hold.
The green liquid soaked into the gray-yellow dust below. Almost instantly, the soil began to shift color, and within a minute it had turned dark, moist, and rich, releasing a faint earthy scent.
The lead researcher stared at the soil, tears welling in her eyes. She hadn’t run any detailed analysis yet, but she already believed, Jiang Lin’s reagent truly worked.
She turned and gripped Jiang Lin’s hand tightly, mouth opening as if to speak, but her throat was too raw to make a sound.
Jiang Lin had only ever known, secondhand from the system, that the reagent could restore soil. But watching real purified earth release that half-remembered scent in front of her, she found herself briefly stunned too. Maybe this world really could get better, slowly.
“My name is Cui Yawen. Miss Jiang Lin, your office is already being arranged. Would you like to see it?” Cui Yawen had steadied her emotions by now. She’d devoted her entire life to planting research, and Jiang Lin’s reagent had struck her work like a thunderbolt.
Jiang Lin was a little surprised at how fast things were moving.
“I’ll apply for your housing right away too. You could move in as early as tonight.” Cui Yawen moved quickly, she’d already sent her assistant to test the newly purified soil while filing Jiang Lin’s new identity status and housing request in parallel.
“Professor Cui, just call me Jiang Lin.” She felt genuinely embarrassed by all the enthusiasm and reverence directed her way, every researcher in the lab was now watching her with something close to fervor.
Without dwelling on it further, she followed Cui Yawen to the office.
The whole floor seemed devoted to plant research. Hydroponic setups lined every wall, evidence of real passion in the people who tended them.
Every plant looked meticulously cared for. Even the glass was specially made to soften summer’s harsh sunlight into something gentler.
The green walls of hydroponics made Jiang Lin feel unexpectedly at ease, even the air smelled fresher than outside.
Noticing her genuine fondness for the plants, Cui Yawen’s regard for her deepened further. “Everything on this floor belongs to our Planting Research Institute. Once things mature, feel free to pick some to eat.”
Jiang Lin decided her bold decision to walk into this lab had been entirely worth it. The perks here were simply too good to pass up.
Soon they reached the office Cui Yawen had arranged for her. At the doorway, though, stood a familiar figure, instantly reminding her of the real mission: uncovering what was happening on the lab’s underground second floor.