The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne) novel Chapter 234

"What?" The old man grumbled as he took the pack of cigarettes Anna tossed to him, skillfully slipping it into his jeans pocket. "People are always rummaging around here, as if there's something worth finding among all this junk. It’s truly preposterous."

"Has anyone else been here recently?" Anna asked, her face showing signs of concern.

"Yeah. Some weirdos in black suits were here a few days ago and were tossing things around. I asked them who they were and got nothing but bad attitude in return." The old man retorted, clearly irked by the disrespect he was given by those men.

"You're okay, right?" Anna asked, her anxiety mounting.

"I'm fine. I threatened to call the cops, and they ran off." The old man puffed out his chest with pride.

Anna let out a sigh of relief. She and her friends, Percival and Vivienne, exchanged looks.

"Let's get what we came for." Anna led the way to the basement.

Percival and Vivienne followed. As Vivienne looked back, she locked eyes with the old man, who snorted before walking away with his head held high, making Vivienne frown.

...

Inside the basement.

This used to be Karen's main lab. Upon entering, Vivienne noticed an abandoned 3D bio-printer.

She blinked in surprise, while Percival looked around the lab as a softness crept onto his normally stern face.

When he first visited this lab, he was just a child. At that time, he was completely awestruck by the wonders inside.

Later, when he understood that many of the beneficial medical advancements in the world came from here, he felt a swell of pride for his mentor.

Unfortunately, the visionary behind all this was no longer with them.

Anna, oblivious to their thoughts, headed straight to a hole in the corner. It was the entrance to a rat's nest.

She bent down and gently tapped on the entrance.

Two small, white heads popped out. They were lab rats.

Recognizing Anna, they squeaked and retreated back into their hole, only to return shortly with a small glass vial filled with a green liquid.

"Did you train these rats?" Vivienne asked as Anna picked up the vial and rewarded the rats with some cookies and candy.

Anna bought the cookies and candy from a 24-hour convenience store earlier, along with the cigarettes for the old man.

Vivienne thought Anna was hungry, not realizing it was for the rats.

"No. They're probably descendants of the lab rats used here before." Anna replied while shaking her head.

"When I first came here, they were bold enough to ask for food. I found them to be quite intelligent and unafraid of me, so I decided to hide the drug here."

Who would have thought she'd hide something so important in a random rat hole?

"Here you go." Anna handed the potion to Vivienne.

Vivienne accepted it without a word.

"Let's get going." Percival suggested.

Anna patted the rats, which were still squeaking around her feet, and followed Vivienne and Percival out of the basement.