Chapter 205: Flash Drive (E)
"T-thank you," Mr Johan gulped in some water and handed the glass back to Jin.
"...After the accident, when I was discharged from the hospital, I looked for you everywhere but was unable to find you. If only I had checked the slums as well… you wouldn't have led such a harsh life in the slums," he said with regret.
Jin placed his hand over his and comforted him, "It really wasn't your fault… Father, so don't blame yourself for it."
Knowing that Mr Johan preferred him calling him Father over Uncle, Jin changed his way of addressing him.
Mr Johan smiled at his words and said, "I'm glad you grew up to be such a fine man. Diana is really fortunate."
At his words, Jin felt a little sting in his heart, but he didn't let it show on his face and just continued smiling.
"...So where was I...yes!," the sense of urgency made Mr Johan immediately carry on with the earlier topic, "...Later I got to know from Diana that our apartment had been broken into by someone and there were many things that got stolen. I knew that this was the doing of Zenith, but kept quiet.
I was under their surveillance for quite a while, so I didn't dare to recover the flash drive from the place I had hidden it.
It was only when my mental abilities deteriorated a lot that they let go of their suspicions about me, but by that time, I had long forgotten about this whole matter.
I would have loved to bury this matter, as revealing this would put both your and Diana's lives in immediate danger, but knowing that sooner or later both of you, along with the world, would be affected because of this vile research they are working towards, I must reveal it to you.
The flash drive is kept at Diana's mother's house, where I used to go with Diana during the summers when she was a child. Let me write down the address for you."
Mr Johan wrote the address on a piece of paper as Jin flashed his phone's light for him to write.
"Here," Mr Johan passed a slip of paper to Jin, "It should be inside a book titled 'Genetic Fusion' It's quite a big and boring-looking book, so it would immediately catch your attention on that small bookshelf. Take that flash drive and hand it to the police. Understand?" Mr Johan asked as his breathing grew a little heavier.
"Yes… I'll do as you say," Jin nodded.
"Lastly… Diana… my daughter… she has suffered a lot because of me. I don't have much time left… so please take care of her once I'm gone. I've troubled her a lot in this life," Mr Johan chuckled in a self-deprecating manner.
"Father, don't say something like that! You still have a long life to live," Jin tried to give hope to him, but to it, Mr Johan just chuckled and said, "I know my state much better than anyone… I remember reading about this during my early days of this disease. They called it terminal lucidity.
Now that I've shared everything that I wanted to say, strength has started to leave my body…" As Mr Johan said this, his body leaned towards one side.
Noticing this, Jin immediately helped him lie on his bed and looked at him worriedly.
The mission panel in front of his eyes had just shown a completion message when Mr Johan had finished his words and disappeared without a message.
"...Looks like it's time for me to leave. Jin… please give my daughter the happiness I was unable to give her…" Life seemed to be fading from his eyes.
"No, Father… it's too soon. Diana would be very disappointed if you die like this," Jin tightly held Mr Johan's hands and said pleadingly.
A slight smile appeared on his face when he heard Jin's words. "It's better this way… it would be too hard for her to see me die right in front of her…"
Jin's heart ached when he heard his words while praying for a miracle to happen. He wanted to comfort him, but no proper words came out of his mouth.
Seeing Jin's expression, Mr Johan slightly patted his hands and smiled as his consciousness became fainter and fainter.
The fact that Diana was in Neon City rather than in Miringham told Jin that she had failed in making a cure for her father's illness.
'Knowing her, she must be blaming herself for her failure all this while, and now… if her father too dies now… she might never forgive herself.'
Jin gritted his teeth in frustration, realising how much suffering Diana would be subjected to.
PING!
It was then that a familiar sound rang in Jin's mind, which made him expectantly look towards the screen that had popped up in front of his eyes.
-x-x-x-x-SPECIAL SYSTEM GIFT-x-x-x-x-
Gift -> Serum AZ-20 (20% complete)
Effect -> Will produce new neurons and increase lifespan by a year.
How to use?-> Inject the syringe into the jugular vein, and the drug will do the rest of the work.
Description: A trial product created using the research data of the experiments conducted by Diana and her team for making a cure for Alzheimer's. However, since the research was left incomplete, the product can only prolong the individual's life for a while and not cure it.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-END-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The next moment, a syringe appeared out of thin air beside Jin's hands.
Not wasting a single second to read the description, he immediately grabbed the syringe and injected the serum into Mr Johan's neck.
Mr Johan's eyes widened for a second before he closed his eyes.
Worried, Jin checked his breathing the very next second and sighed in relief, realising that nothing had happened to him.
It was only now that he glanced at the description in the system panel and read through it.
'So it's a prototype of the drug she had been working on…' Jin thought in relief as he glanced at Mr Johan, who was sleeping soundly on the bed.
Jin then glanced at the time. It was 4:42 AM. Seeing this, he soon left the nursing home and rushed back to the hospital. There was still some paperwork he needed to do before being discharged.