[Kedale Medical Research Institute is a small, privately owned institute for medical drug research, affiliated with Kedale Pharmaceutical Company.]
And this Kedale Pharmaceutical Company is actually a company that the Crocodile Gang disguises in the public eye.]
He Ao glanced at the message from Christos on his bracelet and then closed the message interface, lifting his head to look at the luxury black sedan not far in front of him.
The sedan passed through the Research Institute’s gate and slowly drove into the institute’s underground parking lot.
The entire Research Institute was heavily guarded, with a security guard stationed at nearly every interval, stopping all who wished to enter the institute and checking their entry documents.]
These guards stood at their posts with a fierce look in their eyes, seemingly not just hired civilians but members of the Crocodile Gang moonlighting.
He Ao stood outside waiting for a while, watching the guards’ actions.
Delivery personnel were required to place their packages into the parcel cabinets, and the delivery company’s drones were not allowed entry, and those without credentials were turned away at the door.
One person who appeared to be a researcher seemed to have forgotten their work ID and was stopped outside, but ultimately entered the Research Institute after facial verification.]
However, not everyone without a work ID was stopped.
Shortly after that researcher had gone in, a van pulled up in front of the institute, from which several construction workers disembarked, carrying various tools and dressed in work attire.
They said something to the security guard at the door, registered, and then entered the Research Institute.
There was secrecy, but the level of confidentiality wasn’t that high.
At that moment, He Ao suddenly had an idea and opened his attribute panel, where his physical fitness had now increased from 59 to 80.]
After breaking through in the morning, he had not stopped practicing.
Although the practice of Martial Arts was cumbersome, thankfully the operation of channeling energy was not complex, and once it became a habit, it was possible to multitask, dedicating a bit of attention to channeling energy for practice, with the main focus on other tasks.
Just as one can think while walking, so too can one consider other matters while moving.
Of course, the effects of such practice surely couldn’t compare with wholeheartedly channeling energy, but for He Ao, it was already enough.
Regit’s body had been honed to perfection, with each breath his physical fitness grew stronger.
At this moment, his limbs were once again filled with energy and could not be further enhanced. He Ao guessed that the next direction of practice would likely be to channel energy into his internal organs.
This would require discovery anew, and he currently didn’t have the energy or time for that.
He closed the attribute panel, left the observation point outside the Research Institute’s gate, and then found a hardware store nearby to buy an alloy folding ladder, which he carried on his shoulder.
Then, with one hand carrying the ladder and the other holding a cane, he walked to the entrance of the Research Institute.
"What are you doing?"
The guard at the gate was somewhat puzzled. He looked He Ao up and down, then eyed the ladder He Ao was carrying, apparently lost in brief contemplation.
"Looking for someone," He Ao calmly replied.
"Still doing physical labor at your age?"
The guard was not old and had a hint of ruffianism in his bearing.
"The people ahead of you have gone far," he muttered, tapping the desk in front of him. A large monitor flipped out, "Register."
He Ao calmly hung his cane on his belt and then typed ’Regit’s information onto the monitor without concealing anything.
"Why didn’t you fill in the name of your construction company?"
The guard looked at the information with some confusion.
"Don’t know," He Ao shook his head as if it were only natural.
"You old geezer, you’re not only old but also forgetful," the security guard grumbled as he filled in the name of a construction company in the company column, then flipped back the screen, "Go on, if you don’t hurry, you’ll miss it. At your age, you should stop working already."
Then, shouldering the folding ladder and leaning on a walking stick, he walked openly into the Research Institute.
The Research Institute seemed tightly managed but was actually quite lax.
This was a common problem among gang-run enterprises; gangs are inherently disorganized and lack cohesion. Even if they were structured, it was only a rough framework, with a slack atmosphere throughout the interior.
The fact that Najia used gang members for the security and management of the Research Institute inevitably led to this problem.
After entering the Research Institute, He Ao casually propped the ladder against a wall and walked towards the elevator with his cane, then pressed the button for the underground parking lot floor.
Stepping out of the elevator, he didn’t take much time to find the sedan Najia had used.
The car’s occupants had already left, leaving only the locked vehicle.
Without hesitation, He Ao activated his Super Memory, and in an instant, every detail of the underground parking lot was reflected in his mind.
Najia had left not long ago, and the traces left were still fresh.
He Ao deactivated his Super Memory and followed the traces he had found, eventually stopping in front of an elevator.
This elevator required biometric validation or a specific chip to operate—a special kind of elevator—and the door appeared to be made of a certain kind of strong alloy, very sturdy.
He Ao glanced at the elevator’s biometric interface, then drew the sword hidden in the cane and thrust it into the elevator door’s crack.
Then he gripped the hilt with one hand while his feet spread slightly apart, his muscles bulging.
The blade bent slightly, and the sturdy elevator door trembled.
Bright electrical sparks shimmered at the door, like lights brightening the silent night.
The tightly closed elevator doors slowly cracked open, and then the gap grew wider and wider until they were completely apart.
A dull sound echoed, which seemed to be the sound of a bearing breaking.
The elevator doors lost their support in an instant and flung open to the sides.
He Ao reinserted the sword into the walking stick and looked through the now-open elevator doors into the deep elevator shaft.
Going up was the path to the Research Institute above. Looking from below, he could see the suspended elevator spanning his view; at that moment, the elevator was around the first floor, as if it had just taken someone up.
He Ao shifted his gaze downward, where it seemed there was a deeper parking lot.
The parking lot where he was currently situated was on the second underground level. Parking lots in Dawn City typically only had two levels since digging a third level could interfere with the entire city’s sewage system.
He Ao pondered for a moment, then jumped directly into the elevator shaft and began to climb down.
Soon, he reached the bottom of the shaft.
The bottom of the elevator shaft was slightly lower than the lowest elevator doors but not by much. Being very close to the sewage system, it likely couldn’t be dug further down.
He Ao stood at the bottom, barely able to reach the elevator doors, which took some effort to pry open. When he managed to open the lowermost level’s elevator doors, he was greeted by a wide, small underground parking lot with few vehicles.
He Ao walked in, his gaze sweeping over the thick dust on these vehicles, then he made his way to the edge of the parking lot.
He tapped lightly on the wall at the edge of the parking lot.
A hollow echo came back from behind the wall.