Looking at his mother''s familiar handwriting, Tarquin felt his eyes sting.


    He took a slow breath and tried entering a password. Incorrect!


    He tried another one. Still incorrect!


    Lowell started to panic. "Tarquin..."


    Elizabeth''s warning about only five tries couldn''t have been a bluff.


    Years ago, Elizabeth and Kendrick had risked life and limb to steal the sample and send it back to Zhinora.


    Their goal wasn''t to destroy it, but to hand it over to Zhinoran scientists for research.


    After all, destroying this one sample was pointless; those ruthless foreign enemies would just create a new one.


    Only by developing an antidote could Zhinoran scientists truly neutralize the threat.


    But just in case, Elizabeth and Kendrick had taken precautions. They had rigged the box with a bomb!


    If necessary, they would rather blow up the sample and the data than let it fall into the wrong hands!


    The 8th generation virus was extremely contagious. If it ever leaked, the consequences would be unimaginable,pletely uncontroble!


    Logically, the password Elizabeth and Kendrick set should be something only Tarquin could figure out.


    But watching Tarquin fail twice in a row, Lowell was getting nervous...


    Tarquin frowned, staring at the box in deep thought.


    After a moment, he raised his hand again and, without hesitation, quickly typed in six digits.


    Three seconds of silence, and then the box clicked open!


    Lowell jumped, his palms slick with nervous sweat. Seeing the box open, he let out a huge sigh of relief.


    "Oh my God, you scared the hell out of me!"


    With his brows still furrowed, Tarquin opened the lid.


    Insidey a small, transparent vial filled with a beautiful, pale red liquid.


    The vial was housed in a special syringe marked with the number ''8''.


    This was it. The 8th generation virus everyone was looking for!


    Lowell''s eyes widened, his breathing shallow. "Tarquin, is that it?!"


    Tarquin didn''t answer. His gaze was fixed on a micro USB drive next to the vial.


    He ignored the vial, took out the drive, and plugged it into hisptop to see its contents.


    The drive was also password-protected. Tarquin entered the same six digits, and it unlocked sessfully.


    Elizabeth and Kendrick appeared on the screen...


    Elizabeth, wearing a beige dress that was fashionable two decades ago, sat before the camera with herdong hair down. She was young, beautiful, poised, and elegant.


    Kendrick stood behind her in a white shirt and a dark gray vest, his hair neatly styled. He looked dapper and refined.


    Elizabeth looked into the camera and waved.


    "Hi, Tarquin. I''m your mom, and this is your dad."


    "I wonder if we''re still around by the time you see this video."


    "I wonder how old you are now, and if you''ve grown up to be the tall, handsome, and


    brave man I always knew you would be!"


    "And I wonder... have you gotten married? Started a family? Have you... forgotten us?"


    "If we''re right here beside you,


    watching this video with you, then there''s nothing much to say. Our family must be living a very happy life!"


    "But... if we''re already gone, then Mom and Dad want to say we''re sorry."


    "We''re sorry that because of this virus, we had to leave you so early. We couldn''t be there to watch you grow up, to protect you and watch


    you,


    over you, to witness every happy moment of your life..."


    "Without us, your life must have been hard, right?"


    "The Bradfords will torment you, those ruthless foreign enemies will be after you, you..."


    As she spoke, Elizabeth broke down, turning to hug Kendrick''s waist and burying her face in his chest, sobbing.