Dear sweetheart novel (Rayna and Julian) novel Chapter 700

Snapped out of deep thought by her voice, Curtis put the phone to his ear. “I'm here. What's wrong?”

“Nothing. I heard what you and Cassidy were talking about and was wondering if there's something suspicious about Mr. Zeller.” Rayna leaned back against her bed while leaving her phone on speaker.

“I'll get someone to check.” Thereafter, he turned to Cassidy. “Can I go in now?”

Cassidy nodded. “Yup, remember to close the door behind you.”

With that, Curtis opened the door to the living room. Fortunately, it was still clean inside as the Serekos had yet to enter the house.

Curtis ascended the stairs hurriedly and arrived at a bedroom after passing through a long corridor.

Outside the corridor window, one could still see the Serekos crawling slowly. Curtis then shone his flashlight on them, allowing him to examine them up close for the very first time.

After taking a high-resolution picture of them, he sent it to Theodore and Jeremy with the message: Help me find out about the Serekos' habitat and their medicinal properties.

Upon receiving the picture in the group chat, James, who was still in the Norwal City research center, was instantly jolted to attention.

James: The size of the Serekos doesn't seem right.

Curtis: You know what this is?

James: I do. I've seen them when I was young. My impression of them is that they're similar to caterpillars but smaller in size. The one you showed us is many times bigger, as if it has mutated.

Curtis: Do you have a picture for reference?

James: I do. Bear with me while I turn on the computer. James swiftly returned to the office to do so.

Observing the Serekos crawling across the window, Curtis noticed the slime it left in its trail. Within it were small specks of white.

He subsequently put his phone closer to the window and made a video recording of them. It was then that he noticed the seemingly unknown tiny organism moving.

After watching the video Curtis had shared, James furrowed his brows. James: They're parasitic eggs.

Curtis broke into a frown as he replied: Do you mean they're Serekos eggs?

James: No, Serekos' spawn doesn't look like that. Instead, their young are usually found in dirt, just like cicadas. After replying to Curtis, James typed furiously on his keyboard to bring up a picture of a Serekos on his screen. Subsequently, he sent it to Curtis.

James: This is what an ordinary Serekos looks like.

Curtis opened the picture on his phone and compared it to the Serekos on the window. Curtis: They have a different color. Yours has a lighter tone. Also, the legs on their abdomen are different too. Yours have two lesser pairs than mine.

James proceeded to compare the two pictures in detail.

James: You're right. They're different. Could someone be experimenting on them? He shared his speculation in the group chat.

Curtis: My thoughts are the same. Anyway, have you checked their medicinal properties yet?

James: Wait a moment. After placing his phone on the desk, James put it on speaker mode to talk to Curtis and began to search for the corresponding information.

Curtis added, “By the way, can you find out what Arachrede poison is?”

“Arachnid poison?” James was puzzled. “Like spiders?”

“It's a kind of plant. The poison it contains is called Arachrede poison. The owner of the Gilroy residence mentioned that your sister was poisoned by it on Shvomhid Mountain before.” Curtis related to James what Cassidy had said verbatim.

“You mean twenty years ago?” James immediately realized what Curtis was talking about. Back then, Shvomhid Mountain was known by a different name.

“Yes,” Curtis affirmed.

“But Rayna never mentioned that she was poisoned there.” James continued to dig up information on the plant.

Finally, he shared with Curtis what he found. “The poison is carried by the flower thorns belonging to the Arachrede flower.”

When Curtis clicked on the picture of the Arachrede flower, it looked no different from that of a rose. Upon taking a closer look, he could see that thorns densely covered the underside of the flower petals.

“You haven't sent me the medicinal properties of the Serekos yet,” Curtis reminded after going through the information James had forwarded.

“That's the thing that confuses me, I can't find any. Also, why does the Serekos in front of you have such a big head? And what makes you think that it has any medicinal properties?” James asked curiously. “Is it just because a member of the Gilroy family said so?”

“Yes. She did say that it can be used as a medicine, similar to that of caterpillar fungus.” In the midst of his discussion, Curtis went through an introduction about the Serekos. The mention of Element 2 caught his attention immediately.

“What's Element 2?” he asked James.

“Element 2 is something used in electron crystallography, but there are no further details on its actual usage.” James' quick search didn't yield any further details.

“Electron crystallography?” Curtis' brows furrowed as he felt helpless when it came to a field he knew nothing about.

“Anyway, can you find anything on this person called Fernando Zeller?” He then changed the topic to Fernando.

Since the latter planted the Serekos in the Gilroy residence, there must be useful information on him.

“Curtis, there's no record of such a person.” James failed to find anything on Fernando. “However, there's this person called Jamie Zeller.”

“What does it say about him?” Curtis probed further.

“It just says that he's a skincare researcher.” James sent the picture and details of the person to Curtis. “I've also done some digging on Zeller Group just in case there's some connection. However, they're in technological research that focuses on electronics, not skincare.”

“Send everything to me.” Curtis continued to watch the Serekos outside the window. “Can you also check what the eggs contained within the Serekos' slime are?”

“I'll need a physical sample of it. It's hard to tell just by looking.” Just as he spoke, the wary James reminded, “You had better not touch it with your hands. The Serekos slime is harmful to humans.”

“But you need a sample,” Curtis responded calmly.

“Do you still have those kept in the back?” James asked as he narrowed down Curtis' location. “If you do, I'll come with my men to collect them.”

“There's some in the warehouse, but they might be dead,” Curtis answered flatly.

“It's fine as long as they're Serekos.” With that, James sent out a string of code. Someone responded immediately: I'm close to the place. Shall I head over?

James: How long do you need?

The person replied in their black chat window: Half an hour.

James typed in another string of codes and replied: All right. You should go on ahead of me.