"Professor Wang, where are we going?" Lin Fan walked behind Professor Wang Yuan, the attending doctor of the hospital, and they headed towards the basement of the hospital together.

 "You'll know when we get there. Just bear with it for now," Professor Wang replied.

Since the moment the elevator stopped at the basement on the negative fifth floor, Lin Fan had always sensed a strange pungent smell in the rooms on this floor. Lin Fan first thought of formalin, but then he shook his head slightly. The smell of formalin was a bit better than this one. Among the strange smells in the basement, there was an acidic odor mixed with the stench of decay.

 After walking forward for a while, a rumbling sound of machinery operating came from the front. Although the sound was small, it still gave Lin Fan a start. Looking around, he saw that all the walls were made of white porcelain. Where on earth was the sound coming from?

 "Listen, Professor Wang. There seems to be a sound up ahead," Lin Fan joked. "Am I having tinnitus?" 

"You don't have tinnitus. There's a small reagent room of mine down here, and the equipment in the reagent room has been running all the time," said Professor Wang.

 "Oh, so there's more to this place than meets the eye."

Suddenly, a "bang bang" sound came from the inside of the basement, and Lin Fan was startled at once. He quickly asked, "Professor Wang, is there anyone else down here?"

 At this time, Professor Wang walked up to a door. After the two of them entered, Professor Wang turned around and pressed several numbers beside the door. With a "boom" sound, the door immediately closed tightly. Both Professor Wang and Lin Fan entered the inner layer. Once the door was closed, the sound of the machinery operating inside became even harsher.

 By this time, Lin Fan understood that he didn't have tinnitus. There was indeed a humming sound of machinery operating in one of the rooms in the basement.

 "There's no one else. It's just the two of us down here," Professor Wang explained calmly. "And there are some things that I don't consider to be human."

 Hearing this, combined with the eerie surrounding environment, a sense of horror from the bottom of his heart instantly spread throughout Lin Fan's whole body. On his stiff face, he managed to force a smile. "Professor Wang, I heard a banging sound just now. Did I hear it wrong?"

 "You didn't hear it wrong. Something should have woken up," Professor Wang didn't continue walking forward. Instead, he looked at Lin Fan. After a long pause, he said in a solemn tone, "Lin Fan, tell me, are we doctors?"

 "Of course we are doctors," Lin Fan blurted out immediately. He looked at Professor Wang in confusion, wondering why he would ask such a simple question.

 "Then should we keep the father and son surnamed Zhao healthy forever?"

 "Keep the father and son surnamed Zhao healthy forever? Professor Wang, I'm afraid that's a bit difficult," said Lin Fan.

 "No, I've already achieved some results. You're a young man, and after my observation, only you can fulfill my wish. So, I brought you in here. None of the other doctors were chosen by me."

 "Chosen to do what?" Lin Fan stared into Wang Yuan's eyes. Through his pair of thick glasses, it seemed that he could see the beating of Wang Yuan's heart. Moreover, this old professor usually had a serious face and seldom smiled. In this situation at the moment, there was a somewhat eerie atmosphere about him.

 "Come with me," Wang Yuan didn't explain the reason but walked forward and went directly into a closed room. The reason it was said to be closed was that all the surrounding walls were pitch black.

 Inside this room, on the inner side of the left wall was a rectangular square table. Beside it was an iron wardrobe rack. Wang Yuan opened the iron wardrobe, took out a set of medical clean clothes, grasped them in his hand, then turned around, walked to the square table, took out a thick stack of materials from the middle drawer, and turned to Lin Fan and said, "Sit here."

 Lin Fan always felt that Wang Yuan had something to tell him. Seeing these actions of his, he had an illusion. Did he want him to help him mix reagents? Lin Fan obediently sat down and took the thick stack of materials. There was a heavy feeling in his hand.

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 "All of these are the materials accumulated from my nearly thirty years of experimental research. There are also some CDs among them. I originally intended to leave them to my favorite student. Alas, unfortunately, he went to the United States and couldn't make it back in time. I don't have much time left and can't wait for him. So, I have to entrust this important task to you."

 "That's okay. When he comes back, I'll just give these materials to him," Lin Fan sniffed. The sour and rancid smell in the room became even more pungent. There should be something else in this room.

 "No, these things are for you. You'll understand my intention after reading these materials. As for when he'll come back, whether you're willing to tell him about me after he comes back, and how you'll preserve these materials, these are all things that you'll have to make decisions on your own in the future."

 "Wait a minute, Professor Wang. I feel that you seem different from usual tonight. What trouble have you encountered? If you tell the dean, he should be able to help," Lin Fan stood up. He didn't flip through the large stack of materials but looked up in astonishment.

 "The dean? It's impossible. These things are secret materials and can't be seen by others. Only you are the last person I trust," said Professor Wang.

 "Professor Wang, just tell me directly what you're going to do, okay?" Lin Fan stepped forward and grabbed Wang Yuan's arm. Immediately, he felt that Wang Yuan's arm was strangely cold. His doctor's intuition told him that this wasn't the kind of touch a normal person should have. What on earth had happened to Wang Yuan?

 "Don't get close to me." Wang Yuan suddenly broke free from Lin Fan's hand. He had a dejected expression, sat on a stool in front of him, and hugged his head with both hands, looking extremely pained.

 "Lin Fan, I've been infected with the zombie virus. But don't worry. Through my theoretical research, as long as you're not scratched by zombies on your skin, you'll be safe. But still, please don't get close to me. I don't want you to have any accidents. Now, I'll tell you the password for the exit passage. You must remember it. The password to open the door we just came in through is 871010. I believe you can remember this number because it's exactly your birthday. In a while, I'll go in and conduct an experiment on myself. You stay outside and watch carefully. Don't miss any details."

 During this period, Lin Fan tried to ask several times, but each time Wang Yuan reached out to stop him. After being silent for a few minutes, Wang Yuan continued, "Also, after you go back, check your Industrial and Commercial Bank of China card. I prepared five million yuan of research funds for you on that card this afternoon. Maybe this amount of money isn't too much, but you also know that I'm all alone, and this is pretty much all my savings from half a lifetime."

 "As for the questions you want to ask about the zombie virus and the purpose of my experiment, all the doubts are in this large stack of materials. After you take them back, study them carefully. All of these materials are extremely important. You must take good care of them."

After saying these words, Wang Yuan's breathing became rapid, his cheeks began to turn red, and finally, he asked, "No matter what the result of me is, you can only watch. For the rest, don't do anything for the time being. Do you understand everything I've said?"

Lin Fan was shocked by this sudden instruction on the spot. What on earth was going on? Was this a deathbed will? Suddenly, being asked to take on such a big challenge, could he do it?

"Lin Fan, I know that suddenly asking you to take on this important task has made you a bit at a loss..."

Before Wang Yuan could finish speaking, this time, Lin Fan nodded vigorously. He stood up resolutely, looked at Wang Yuan, and interrupted him. Word by word from Lin Fan's mouth, he said, "Professor Wang, I can do it." Actually, when entering that door, Lin Fan had already peeked at the password while standing behind Wang Yuan.

"Good, good, good. I knew I hadn't misjudged you. You're really just like my previous favorite student. With your words like this, I'm relieved," said Wang Yuan, and finally, a relieved smile appeared on his face.

Wang Yuan then turned around and pointed to the corner on top of the square table. Only then did Lin Fan notice that there was a pinhole camera there.

Wang Yuan said, "There's a camera installed there. All the video recordings are in the electronic disk inside the camera. After I finish the experiment, if it fails, you should have a few minutes to leave. The disk inside the camera contains my final video recordings. You must take it away too. Remember, you can only succeed and must not fail."

After arranging all of this, Wang Yuan finally felt relieved. He walked to the wall and pressed the power button on it. With a "hissing" sound, on the left side of Lin Fan's wall, it suddenly became as bright as day. On that side, there were actually another row of rooms, roughly counting, there were five rooms separated from each other. Between these two rows of rooms, there were just two thick tempered glass panels in between.

"I'm going in. Just watch from the outside. Remember my previous entrustment," Wang Yuan walked to one side of the wall, quickly pressed several numbers on the keyboard on the wall with his right hand, and then put his five fingers on the fingerprint recognition area below the keyboard. Immediately, the door on the wall opened.

Lin Fan moved quickly and rushed forward, wanting to go in with Professor Wang. However, unexpectedly, Wang Yuan seemed to have expected it already, so he had already taken a step ahead. After entering the door, the door instantly closed and fitted tightly. Lin Fan bumped his body against the glass door with a "thud".

Lin Fan had been closely watching Wang Yuan's actions from beginning to end. His brain remembered the numbers that Wang Yuan pressed on the keyboard: 780101. Lin Fan knew in his heart that it was the birthday of Meng Tao, Wang Yuan's favorite disciple.