After a brief discussion, the group didn't rush toward the third underground level's office area but instead decided to search the first and second floors first, trying to determine the cause of the mutations.

"The power has been off here for quite some time," the Stonemason, leading the team, commented as he looked at the ash accumulated on the metal floor. "The air circulation system has been out of service for ages. If the mutation disaster outside was really caused by the leakage of pathogens from this laboratory, the researchers either evacuated immediately or were trapped here."

Li Ang chuckled. "Considering those two large elevators stuck on the first underground floor due to the emergency power cut, I guess the second possibility is more likely..."

Before he finished speaking, the six players who had rounded a corner saw a trail of dried black-red bloodstains on the metal floor in front of them—blood that had dried for who knows how many years—leading to a staff lounge. The dried bloodstains formed a messy drag mark, as if someone, frantically banging and shaking their head, had smeared trails of blood on the floor with their blood-soaked hair.

The players' expressions turned solemn, but Li Ang seemed unaffected. Holding his firearm, he pushed open the broken glass door and entered the staff lounge.

The dark room was in disarray, with tables and chairs overturned, and coffee cups and various books scattered about. The bloodstains ended abruptly in a corner of the room, where a substantial amount of spattered, cast-off, and splashed bloodstains marked the wall and floor.

"An adult male, 1.8 meters tall and severely injured, had fled here in a panic, trying to hide. However, his pursuer tracked him down and mercilessly murdered him." Li Ang bent down to examine the bloody footprints left on the floor and calmly stated, "The pursuer left human footprints, but its body structure may no longer be human. From the bloodstains on the wall, it seems the pursuer cornered the victim, used two long, sharp instruments to cut open their chest—creating the spatter—and then 'bit' off the victim's head."

He stood up. Amidst the others' horrified looks, he calmly scraped a large, dark red chunk of dried, coagulated material from the wall. He crumbled it in his hand before speaking.

"It stood there and began to chew. But the victim's skull was too hard, and its mouth wasn't large enough. So, these skull fragments, along with flesh and blood, were violently expelled, splattering against the wall."

Wanli Fengdao felt that if Li Ang hadn't been wearing a hazmat suit, he might have even held that suspicious, coagulated piece—likely a skull fragment—to his nose for a sniff.

"In any case, we can confirm that the mutated monsters upstairs are indeed connected to this underground laboratory," Li Ang said casually, tossing the coagulated matter to the ground. "Although we're not clear on how this pathogen is transmitted, there's a definite possibility that the hazmat suits we're wearing won't effectively protect us from the mutated pathogens."

This was something everyone was mentally prepared for. Several players either had good relations with large organizations or were members of such organizations themselves, and they weren't short of skills or items to cure diseases. At worst, they would just need to drink a Miniature Life Potion immediately after exiting the script world to fully restore their health.

The group began searching the staff lounge. Li Ang picked up four or five English scientific journals that had fallen on the floor. After flipping through them briefly, he was somewhat disappointed to find that the level of cutting-edge technology documented in them was comparable to that of Modern Earth, perhaps even slightly behind.

Li Ang's brow furrowed, not just from disappointment, but also from confusion. The sophistication of the mutated entities upstairs far exceeded this world's leading biotechnology. Completely worthless, he thought.

"I've found something," the Dusk Knight called out in a muffled voice. He took a corporate brochure for Libra Company from a magazine rack by the wall, laid it on a table, and shone his flashlight on it.

Libra Company was founded in Boston in the 1960s by Smith Anderson. It initially managed local orchards, producing and selling fruit juice beverages, but business was always lukewarm. It wasn't until the 1980s, following the death of Smith Anderson, that his son, Alphonse Anderson (Ph.D. in Biochemistry), assumed the role of CEO. Within a year, he launched several functional drinks that became global bestsellers.

Subsequently, Libra Company started producing fruit-flavored e-cigarettes and fruit-scented nicotine patches. Their effects significantly outperformed similar products, earning Alphonse Anderson enormous profits. As Libra Company always insisted on independent operations and never went public, Alphonse Anderson wielded near-absolute power within the company. He wasn't content with the ever-increasing profits on paper. Every few years, he would improve the products and aggressively phase out old production lines.

By the beginning of the second millennium, 60% of the world's population was using harmless chemical patches launched by Libra Company on a daily basis. These chemical patches had effects comparable to prescription drugs for treating ADHD, enhancing memory, stimulating thought, increasing happiness and self-confidence, and helping to alleviate sleep deprivation and mental fatigue.

All medicines are toxic to some extent; excessive use of Adderall or Ritalin, for example, can harm the body. However, Libra Company's various products, despite rigorous FDA inspection, consistently showed no harm to the human body. They could even strengthen health and slow aging.

Thus, Libra Company officially monopolized the chemical patch industry, ushering the world into an age of chemical euphoria.

"Alphonse Anderson's ambition was greater than his wealth. It seemed he wasn't content with just selling chemical patches; he was also aggressively expanding into the pharmaceutical, medical hardware, and defense industries," the Dusk Knight said gravely. "This research center was one of Libra Company's many research institutes, primarily focused on studying allergic reactions and infectious diseases. Clearly, they overreached."

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The small corporate brochure was quickly perused, and the six players, each with their own thoughts, fell silent.

The chemical patch produced and sold by Libra Company was strikingly similar to the Datura compounds Li Ang had encountered in the real world, but its technology was more mature, and it had fewer side effects.

Li Ang thought to himself, This thing would definitely be worth a lot of money in the real world. Even if sold to the Special Affairs Bureau, it could be exchanged for many valuable items. The only problem is, are these chemical patches really completely harmless...

After confirming there was nothing of value in the staff lounge, the players left. They followed the corridor to an auxiliary laboratory room where, after rummaging through cabinets, they found some of the research center's research logs.

They were researching viruses such as smallpox, Marburg, Ebola, and Lassa, as well as prions.