Those who travel back in time

Chapter 11 Li Qilin

Wow~

Cool water sprayed down from above, washing away all the blood and grime from my body.

Chen Qing dried her hair and body with a towel, changed into clean clothes, left the bathroom, and went to the morgue on the basement floor.

"Mr. Chen, I don't think I've ever introduced myself before." Dr. Fang was sitting in front of his computer researching data. After glancing at Chen Qing who had entered, he stood up and extended his hand to Chen Qing: "Let me formally introduce myself. I am Fang Xiande, a scientist, and as you can see, the head of this base."

"Dr. Fang, the fact that we're still talking in a post-apocalyptic base means the mission has failed." Chen Qing shook hands with Fang Xiande. "How did the mission fail?"

"It depends on your definition of 'failure.'" Fang Xiande sat back down at the computer. "If you consider failing to change this zombie-infested apocalypse as failure, then yes, it was indeed a failure. But if you look at the mission itself, 'Saving Li Mengfei,' the mission was a success. Thanks to your intervention, Li Mengfei did not die in that plane crash."

"Dr. Fang, do you remember what happened before the timeline was altered?"

"Theoretically speaking, I shouldn't have the memory of Li Mengfei dying in a plane crash, just like everyone else in the base, because in the history you altered, this event never happened." Fang Xiande gestured with his chin toward the time machine. "This time machine saved my memory. I inputted my DNA into the time machine, so I, like you, can remember everything."

"You can use a time machine to preserve memories, but you can't travel through time?"

"Mr. Chen, no one but you can travel through time. The time machine places extremely high demands on the body, exceeding the limits of what a normal person can withstand. More than twenty people before you have entered this time machine, and they all died tragically, without exception. To be honest, I'm very surprised that you can travel through time unscathed. Mr. Chen, you have a secret, don't you?"

"If Li Mengfei didn't die, why is the apocalypse still ongoing?" Chen Qing changed the subject.

"In my previous investigation, I made a mistake. I thought Li Qilin was making the serum to resurrect his dead daughter. But Li Mengfei is not dead, and Li Qilin is still developing the serum." Fang Xiande clicked the mouse a few times, and a photo appeared on the computer screen, showing Li Qilin holding a test tube in the laboratory.

"If he's not going to revive his daughter, why is he developing the serum?" Chen Qing took a step closer, his gaze falling on the photograph.

"According to the data, Li Qilin has visited many virologists. He should be synthesizing some kind of new virus." Fang Xiande took off his glasses and wiped the lenses with a piece of paper.

"Synthesize a new type of virus?" Chen Qing frowned. "What does he want to do? Destroy the world?"

"Li Qilin's purpose in synthesizing the virus is still unknown, and the investigation will take time. Now it's the end of the world, and data collection is much more difficult than before." Fang Xiande typed rapidly on the computer, and web pages kept flashing.

"Dr. Fang, how do you manage to have internet access even in the apocalypse?" Chen Qing couldn't help but ask. Other bases had trouble even getting food, but Fang Xiande not only had no worries about food and lodging, but even had internet access.

"There's a satellite 3.6 kilometers above us," Fang Xiande pointed upwards. "Although it's long been abandoned, it's still operating automatically thanks to solar power and a powerful redundancy design. Our exploration team inadvertently brought its ground terminal back, and I cracked the code and connected to the satellite network. To be precise, it's not a real network, but rather a rotting digital archive."

Chen Qing did not respond.

The reason is simple: I can't understand it.

The part about satellite access isn't too difficult to understand, but the last sentence about the "rotten archives" is a bit nonsensical and requires some thought.

"Simply put, the data stored in the satellite is limited to what it was before the terrestrial network collapsed. After the collapse, it can no longer receive new information, and the data inside is all from ten or twenty years ago. So I'm not surfing the internet, but rather doing archaeology in a huge digital junkyard." Fang Xiande glanced up at Chen Qing and added a couple more sentences.

"It sounds like satellite data has limitations. What if we can't find what we're looking for?" Chen Qing asked.

"Then we'll have to rely on the exploration team. Go to government offices, research institutions, and institutes to find information, whether it's paper documents or computer hard drives and CDs. Bring back whatever you find." Fang Xiande picked up the water next to him and took a sip. "I can send an exploration team to search the Qilin Building again to see if they can find any hard drives or USB flash drives."

"No need for all that trouble," Chen Qing said, staring at Li Qilin's photo on the computer screen. "We're not the police investigating a case here, needing to get to the bottom of his motives. All I need to know is that he caused the apocalypse."

"Mr. Chen, what do you plan to do?" Fang Xiande stood up, leaned against the table, and faced Chen Qing.

"I will resolve this problem completely," Chen Qing said coldly.

"I prefer saving lives to killing them." Fang Xiande clearly understood what Chen Qing meant.

"We've already tried to save him, but it failed," Chen Qing said. "Besides, Li Qilin synthesized a virus; he's not worth saving at all, and he deserves to die."

"Give me two days, and I will organize the information you need." After a moment's thought, Fang Xiande agreed to Chen Qing's proposal.

"Dr. Fang, this time machine has an error." Chen Qing walked to the time machine. "The time and place I arrived at last time during my time travel were incorrect."

"Flights and trains can be delayed, let alone time travel. As long as the error is within an acceptable range, time travel is possible." Dr. Fang inquired about the specifics, "Mr. Chen, when and where were you?"

"The set location was Jiangxin Airport, but I ended up on the other side of the sea in Jiangxin City. The set time was July 5th, but I arrived on July 8th," Chen Qing explained briefly.

"This level of error is nothing, it can be ignored." Fang Xiande came to Chen Qing's side. "But there is one thing that absolutely cannot be ignored, Mr. Chen. It is obvious that you forgot some of my words during this time travel."

"Who is Dr. Fang?"

"I told you not to interfere in the past. Aside from Li Mengfei, don't concern yourself with anyone else. Your mission was only to save Li Mengfei, but you ended up saving an entire plane full of people. When you saw that traitor at the base today, weren't you staring at his face? Did it look familiar?"