Surviving the Apocalypse: All I Want Is to Find a Husband
Chapter 181: The Hidden Facility

Chapter 181: The Hidden Facility

"What do you mean by that?" Medeia frowned, absentmindedly stroking Bear’s head. "Of course, he can be anywhere in this base. He’s my baby, and he’s not filthy!"

"Right." Tian didn’t bother arguing and simply took a seat across from her.

Naomi leaned forward, her usual sweet smile barely masking the irritation in her voice. "So, tell me, what exactly were you thinking when you decided to use the greenhouse as a prison, my dear leader?"

Her tone was calm, but it sent a chill down everyone’s spine. "I’ve spent months taking care of those hydroponics, and in just one day, you nearly wrecked everything. You’re lucky nothing was actually damaged, or ... well, let’s just say, you wouldn’t want to know the consequences."

Medeia used to think Naomi was a sweet young lady, but after knowing her for the past few months, she realized that there was absolutely nothing sweet about her.

"Nothing bad happened, so what’s the problem?" Medeia huffed, crossing her arms. "Besides, how was I supposed to know one of them wouldn’t turn into the Lost at any moment?"

Naomi didn’t flinch. "I don’t care about your reasons." She pointed a finger at Medeia, her gaze sharp as a blade. "Don’t. Ever. Mess. With. The food. Again."

Back when she was a demon queen, no one would’ve dared to talk to her like this. Even when she made terrible decisions, her subordinates wouldn’t have the guts to question her.

And yet, a small part of her ... kind of liked it when someone scolded her for doing something wrong. Not because she was a masochist, but because it made her feel like she had a family, people who weren’t afraid to call her out.

She had never had that before. This was new to her.

Medeia sighed, lifting her hands in surrender. "I get it. It won’t happen again."

Now that the issue with the greenhouse was settled, they finally moved on to discussing the soldiers’ situation.

Ethan put down the spoon before saying, "I think this whole project is a military top secret. No one in my unit knew the truth. All we ever heard were rumors that gave people false hope. A lie to make them believe humanity still has a future."

Most of the population had been decreasing each year, and one of the main reasons was people turning into the Lost. For years, humanity had lost hope, believing there was nothing they could do to save the world anymore.

That was why this rumor felt like a breath of fresh air. If a serum like that truly existed, then maybe, just maybe, humanity might have a future again.

However, the real question was—was the serum actually created to bring light into the darkness, or was it merely a tool for military interests?

"We never realized the military was keeping so many children locked away," Ethan muttered, his brows furrowing as a thought struck him. Then, suddenly, his eyes widened. "Wait... actually, there is a restricted facility inside the base."

He turned to Max. "You remember that building behind the lab?"

"The one that looks like a giant steel cube?" Max nodded. "Yeah, I do. The higher-ups said it was for storing critical medical supplies and weapons. Only a handful of people were ever allowed inside."

Medeia raised an eyebrow. "None of your acquaintances have ever been inside? I mean, if those kids were raised in luxury, then someone had to feed them, clean their rooms, and do their laundry, right?"

Ethan and Max exchanged glances, falling silent as if piecing something together for the first time.

"Now that you mention it ... that’s the strange part," Ethan admitted. "Whenever someone got recruited to work inside that metal cube, they never came back to the barracks. They never socialized with their old friends again."

"We just assumed they were too busy. But now that I think about it, their behavior was... odd. No, actually, really weird," Max continued. "They always reminded me of the robots I used to see in comic books."

Medeia’s brows knitted together as she considered his words. She muttered, "Could they be controlled ...?"

Orlon had once attempted to create a neural chip that allowed him to manipulate his test subjects like puppets. The experiments themselves had failed to meet his expectations, but the chip—the one that could manipulate behavior—had been a success.

And if he, a man with only an average-sized military base, could develop such technology, then surely a larger military force with far greater resources could create something even more advanced.

And then there was the more troubling thought, what if Orlon’s idea hadn’t been his own?

What if someone else had planted it? The same person who made the Country B military created the same thing.

But who? Orlon wasn’t even from Country B.

"I’m actually curious about something," Medeia mused, stealing a glance at Lucian before turning back to Ethan. "From what I know... the military in Country B dispersed after their general died. But according to a classified source, those kids might have been there long before the late general’s death."

She leaned in slightly. "Do you know anything about that?"

"I ... don’t know much about military history since I was only there 6 years ago," Ethan admitted. "But from what I’ve heard, there was a major dissension within the ranks due to a difference in ideology."

"The current general used to be a lieutenant under the previous regime. When the high general died, the lieutenant and the major went head-to-head over how things should be run."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don’t know all the details, but whatever they were arguing about, it was enough to divide the military into two factions."

The major eventually decided to abandon the base, taking nearly half of the soldiers with him. But before he abandoned the base, he made sure no one else could thrive in his absence.

He set the entire facility on fire, reducing half of its stockpiled resources to nothing but ashes.

The lieutenant had no choice but to abandon the ruined base and start over, building a new one in a more secluded location, somewhere the mayor would never find.

"That guy was a complete asshole." Max scoffed, shaking his head. "What the hell was he thinking, burning the base down like that? Just because you disagree with someone doesn’t mean you have to destroy everything in your path."