Legendary FBI Detective

Winslow's ex-wife is named Lanita, a woman almost as tall as Luo An and nearly as tall as Winslow.

Lanita's current husband is a bit shorter than Mona, but in the free Federation, women being taller than men is not a big deal; nobody cared. After a simple handshake and introduction of who they were, Lanita and Luo An discussed Winslow's condition.

Winslow and Chenier, now awake in the hospital room, were both experiencing difficulty breathing and muscle weakness, lying in the beds looking pained and uncomfortable.

Fortunately, the doctors said that the botulinum toxin they had inhaled wasn't much, and both were in excellent physical shape, so they were expected to recover quickly and were unlikely to have any lingering effects.

Everyone present let out a long sigh of relief. After making polite conversation, the ex-wife Lanita left first with her son and husband.

Mona and Michelle entered the room to comfort the two patients, while Luo An discreetly took out an antidote in a blind spot of the surveillance and poured it into the drinking water to help Winslow and Chenier.

"Sorry."

After drinking a few sips of water, Winslow felt relief on his dry lips and then said apologetically,

"We didn't expect things to turn out like this."

"It's okay, focus on getting better before thinking about what comes after."

Luo An smiled and shook his head. It wasn't Winslow and Chenier's fault; they ended up like this while trying to save others. Who would have predicted a terror like poison gas in a bank?

"By the way, the doctor just said that the mother and daughter woke up not long ago."

Luo An patted Winslow and Chenier on the arm and cheerfully said,

"Their condition is also okay, and the family is very grateful to you."

A glint flashed in Winslow's eyes, and Chenier struggled to form a smile and said earnestly:

"We should... thank... Luo An... you."

Winslow and Chenier knew who deserved the most credit for what had happened before; they hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary at the time.

If Luo An hadn't reacted quickly and evacuated the lobby in time, by the time they realized what was happening, all the people at the scene may have lost their ability to breathe.

Michelle looked at Luo An with a full face of gratitude. She and Mona were in the deeper part of the surveillance room; if Luo An hadn't rescued them in time, by the time she sensed something was wrong, it would have been 100% too late.

Luo An waved his hand and didn't say much, even though he had warned in time, there were still so many people who died at the scene.

Now, Luo An just wanted to catch the owner of that poison gas bottle as soon as possible and ask why they would store such dangerous poison gas in a bank's storage locker?

After some idle chat, the three of them were ushered out of the hospital room by the doctors and nurses, so they agreed to let Winslow and Chenier rest well, and they would return later.

After surreptitiously administering an antidote to the two, Luo An felt much relieved. However, after a tiring day, he and Mona had no mood for exercise when they returned to the villa; they just had a simple meal, took a shower, and went to bed in their respective bedrooms.

The next day, Reesi continued to work alone, investigating the bank robbery suspects, while Mona went alone to the Special Investigation Team's office area, using the computer to investigate laboratories capable of producing botulinum toxin.

Luo An and Michelle conducted offline investigations, visiting and screening a few university labs that use the regional network.

After a whole morning of busy work, they had no leads.

"So, could we be investigating in the wrong direction?"

Inside the SUV, Michelle took a big bite of her burger, chewed a few times, swallowed, and said:

"The source of that poison gas might not be from a lab."

Luo An finished his burger, tilted his head back, and downed a large cup of cola, letting out a big burp and patting his belly, he replied:

"If not from a lab, then it could only be from the military."

The military is one of the most uniquely structured systems and the most exclusive faction of the Federation.

If the source of the poison gas in the bank is from the military, then this case has nothing to do with the FBI anymore, and there's no need to investigate.

Michelle swallowed the burger in her mouth, just as she was about to speak, Luo An's phone suddenly rang.

He took out his phone to see the caller ID, pressed the answer key:

"What's up, Mona?"

"I found something."

Mona, on the other end of the phone, took a bite of the bread she had found in Reesi's drawer and said while looking at the computer screen in front of her:

"Five months ago, the Federation Army, in conjunction with the University of California, San Diego, and Hudson University in New York, conducted a joint experiment.

The details of the experiment are classified; I couldn't access them.

However, I found that during that period, several students from both universities majoring in biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, bacteriology, virology, and microbiology received several additional A's in their coursework, which had all previously included content related to botulinum toxin."

"Nicely done!"

Upon hearing this, Luo An's eyes lit up instantly and he loudly praised Mona a few times before immediately heading for the University of California, San Diego in his car.

Los Angeles is roughly 120 kilometers from San Diego. Luo An drove the SUV at full speed and successfully arrived at the university at half past two in the afternoon.

By showing the golden badge of the FBI, Luo An and Michelle quickly met with one of the head figures of the level three bio-bacterial laboratory at the University of California, San Diego — a senior Caucasian with half black, half white hair, around 60 years old, dressed in a white lab coat.

"Just call me Brown."

Inside an office, the elderly Caucasian shook hands with Luo An, his face full of confusion:

"What can I do for you?"

"Hello, Professor Brown."

Luo An briefly introduced himself and Michelle's identities. Upon learning the two were there regarding botulinum toxin, Professor Brown wiped his glasses and said:

"Most bacteria require a biological host; botulinum toxin only requires the infected organism to die and decompose in the soil to complete its own cycle, which is why it's called a toxin.

So you mean, the tragedy that happened at the bank in Los Angeles the day before yesterday, the botulinum toxin found at the scene may have come from our laboratory? Are you sure this isn't some kind of joke?"

"I too wish it was just a joke."

Luo An smiled and asked:

"Do you have the equipment here that can refine botulinum toxin?"

"Of course, our laboratory is well-equipped."

Professor Brown walked to his desk behind him and began rummaging through files while speaking:

"However, most of our experimental equipment is shared among a dozen scholars, researchers, and students. If someone were doing something shady, they would be 100 percent found out by others."

Luo An then asked:

"What about when conducting confidential experiments?"

Professor Brown paused in his actions, some wrinkles appearing on his forehead, and he looked up intently at Luo An:

"What are you implying?"

"I mean no offense, Professor Brown."

Luo An gestured with his hands open and continued:

"We know that the military had conducted experiments with you a while ago, but we are not interested in the details of those experiments.

What we want to know is whether the bottle of botulinum toxin that killed a great number of people came from your laboratory, and exactly who put it into that bank."

"OK."

Professor Brown pondered for a moment, nodded, then took out a document from underneath a pile of files, signed it while speaking:

"The person in charge of that top-secret experiment wasn't me, it was Professor Ferdinand, whose office is diagonally opposite mine.

The majority of our laboratories are open 24 hours, but every entry to the laboratory and use of the experimental equipment requires a card swipe to verify identity, including the equipment that can produce botulinum toxin.

This is the authorization I've signed; you can take it to request the usage records of that experimental equipment."

"OK, thank you, Professor Brown."

Luo An smiled and thanked him, taking the signed document from the professor and left the office. He found a student who had just finished an experiment in the laboratory to help retrieve the usage records of the equipment.

After sending all the records back to Mona, as Luo An and Michelle were just reaching the gate of the University of California, San Diego, Luo An's phone suddenly rang.

He pressed the answer button and Mona's somewhat excited voice came through:

"Luo An, I've found the suspect who made the poison gas!"