"Hey, Mira," As nodded slightly, keeping his voice low. "I didn''t spill the beans about yesterday."


    Mirabe''s cheeks twitched a bit, and after a moment, she said, "No worries."


    As scratched his head, "Oh, and by the way, Mira, we''ve tracked down the guy behind the scenes who messed with Zach."


    He briefly mentioned that Carl had been taken into custody.


    Mirabe wasn''t surprised at all; she just nodded slightly.


    As watched Mirabe carefully, noticing her calm demeanor, as if she already knew. It made him pause for a second.


    Ignoring As''s gaze, Mirabe suddenly remembered something and asked, "Since they caught the guy, Zach''s workers''p is still on, right?"


    As was bbergasted: "???"


    Mirabe seriously went over thepensation details with As before heading back to the hospital room.


    Zach was still awake. Even though his hearing wasn''t the best, he caught the word pensation." So, when Mirabe walked in, he red at her.


    Mirabe raised an eyebrow and sat back down, "A hefty payout just shows how valuable you are."


    Zach, thinking it meant ''d you''re still worth some cash,'' just red at her harder, silently pleading for her not to justify her money-minded thinking!


    Mirabe cleared her throat, pulled out her phone, opened Messenger, and sent a message, "Can you snag a sample of that new analysis solution from the med school?"


    Adler, who had just arrived at the research institute, heard his custom ringtone and grinned, quickly grabbing his phone.


    After reading the message, he scratched his head and cautiously replied, "Didn''t you say that stuff goes against the grain, ethically speaking?"


    He remembered how she almost bit his head off when he brought it upst time, which had him on edge ever since, worrying she''d give him the cold shoulder forever.


    Mirabe replied, "So, can you score it or not?"


    Adler swiped his card to get into his office, sat at his desk, and thought for a moment before replying, "I''ll give it a shot. It''s still in the experimental phase, so they''re probably guarding it like it''s gold."


    His department was all about virus research, and even though they often teamed up with the med school folks, getting their hands on the school''s research goodies was a tough nut to crack.


    Unless you were part of the inside crew.


    But since the boss rarely asks for favors, he was determined to get it done.


    After wrapping up the chat with Mirabe, Adler mulled it over, grabbed a report from his drawer, and headed to the department head''s office.


    After discussing some official business, Adler casually asked, "Hey, chief, didn''t the med school roll out a new analysis solution? How about we try to get some?"


    The chief paused, pen in hand, and nced at Adler, "You''ve got your ear to the ground, don''t you?"


    Adler chuckled, "Theirb''s too shy; you can''t help but notice."


    "This stuff isn''t really useful for our work, and the med school doesn''t have much of it. Just stick to what you''re doing," the chief said nonchntly.


    Seeing this, Adler didn''t push further, stood up, and said, "Alright, I''ll get back to it."


    "Sure," the chief replied, but as Adler was about to leave, he remembered something, "By the way, Adler, you''re not working with radioactive materials, are you?"