Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

Dexter and I kept our hands tightly intertwined even until we got back home.

We were too afraid of losing each other. The life we had now seemed like a precious gift.

"It’s probably at this location, Dad." Ashton looked at the huge map of Huma in the basement and pointed at the center.

"It should be this location, Dad. There’s a food market nearby, right?" He looked up at Dexter.

Dexter nodded. "This is Huma University, the most densely populated area in Huma. There’s a food market nearby Huma University on that street."

I looked at him in surprise. "Their laboratory is located inside the university?"

Dexter whispered, "Huma University has their own laboratory. The Colemans invested in the construction of a huge basement laboratory for the Huma University School of Medicine many years ago."

As expected, it was within the university grounds. There was a huge secret lying beneath the university, and the campus provided an excellent cover for it.

"What a madman-"I chuckled helplessly.

What a bunch of madmen.

Many university students walked the path daily, yet they never knew that there was a hidden laboratory beneath their campus. There, lives were used as experimental subjects for cruel experiments.

Dexter’s phone rang. It was a call from Eason.

"I need your help, Dexter." His voice sounded anxious.

"What happened?" Dexter asked.

I looked at him, alerted. It was hard for Eason with that personality of his to get even help from Dexter- his pride would take a hit.

Eason said, "We’ve received an overwhelming amount of missing person reports in the past two days. It was as if they were all premeditated. Their families came rushing over with cold cases some as far back as 40 years.

"The most recent ones happened half a month ago before Genome Society was exposed."

Troubled, he continued, "We have no leads right now, so we need your help."

Dexter eyed me.

The serial murder cases, the killing games in the ruined building, the incident on the Death Cruise, as well as those horrifying mutilation cases that exposed Genome Society’s human trafficking incidents back then ... Now, families of missing people were flocking to the police station to report their cases.

"These families came from all over the country, mostly from remote villages and places with limited information. But somehow, they all came to Huma to report their cases. They refuse to tell us why even when asked." Eason was frustrated.

It seemed like another of the Rebels’ counter-attacks against Genome Society.

Dexter replied, "Alright. Please come pick us up."

He looked at me. For once, he wasn’t facing it alone; he told Eason to pick us up.

I held onto Dexter’s hand tightly, unsure of what other shocking and terrifying event we were about to face.

"Should we drop the kids at Xandra’s while we head out?" I asked softly.

For some reason, I subconsciously rather trusted Xandra, whom we had known only for a while.

Besides, Violette was currently still on holiday.

Dexter shook his head. "Just bring them along. Their noses are more sensitive than police dogs. They might be of help."

He ruffled Ashton’s hair after that. Ashton hugged my arm and nuzzled against me. "I’ll protect all of you, Mom!"

I smiled wryly. This kid who had barely grown up was such an actor. I sighed and nodded. "Alright."

Eason had Dennis Colby, his assistant, to pick us up. They were extremely busy sorting through nearly a hundred missing person cases in the Huma Police Department.

"This is a missing person case from 40 years ago. The missing person’s name is an 18-year-old woman named Sarah Leigh. She was known as the most beautiful woman in the village, with a slender and well- proportionate figure.

"It was said that she longed for the big city and came alone to Huma. She had been frequently sending letters and money back home during the early years. Her family was the first to build a new house in their hometown back in the mountains and was the envy of many. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Sarah Leigh has been missing for the longest time among the recently reported cases. Photography wasn’t advanced back then, and this black-and-white photo is the only image we have of her. She had sent it to her grandfather back then." Eason enlarged the restored photo on the screen.

"Damn, she’s stunning. She’d be considered a real beauty even by today’s standards," Phil exclaimed.

The woman in the old photo looked beautiful smiling. Despite her braided hair and a plain plaid top, her beauty still shined through.

"Don’t you guys think... the two of them look alike?" Phil questioned suddenly. He had turned to look at me and was pointing at me before pointing back at Sarah’s photo in surprise.

Eason paused for a moment. Zion also turned back to look. I felt shy having all the police officers staring at me.

I studied the photo carefully. For some reason, I did find our appearances quite similar.

"This was someone who went missing earlier this year. He was also 18 years old during his time of disappearance. He was over six feet tall-handsome, popular, and widely known as the campus heartthrob." Eason continued to display the most recent missing person case from the list.

"There are both men and women among the missing people. There are so many cases, which might not all be connected. But if they were all separate cases, we might be exhausted having to deal with nearly a hundred cases," Phil muttered.

"You can investigate them together," Dexter suggested as he walked over to carefully examine each missing person case. "The Rebels have already screened them for us. Since the families chose to report their disappearance all at once at this moment, there’s likely to be a connection between them."

"Indeed, this issue has already caught significant public attention. The media has started interviewing the victims’ families, and it’s causing quite a stir." Zion massaged his temples.

It would be hard to contain soon. The police would have a tough time wrapping things up if the cases weren’t solved.

The Rebels were using another way to pressure the police in order to mess with Genome Society. "These fuckers!" Phil cursed.

My gaze remained trained on the photo of that woman named Sarah Leigh.

"Does this Sarah Leigh still have any family members? Who was the one who made the report?" I asked. "It’s her biological brother. He’s in his 60s and traveled by train for several days and nights to Huma. He’s an honest person and doesn’t seem like a bad guy," Zion replied, sharing his analysis.

"Don’t judge a person’s character based on their appearance," Eason retorted.

Zion kept quiet.

I looked at the photo. "Can I meet Sarah Leigh’s family?"

Zion nodded. "Alright, I’ll make arrangements for it."

"Mom, this granny..." Ashton stared at Sarah’s photo for a good moment before continuing, "She’s a natural."

Phil was amused. "Of course, she’s a natural. There was no plastic surgery back in those days, so she’s definitely a natural beauty!"

I hesitated for a moment. They might not understand what Ashton meant, but I did.

He wanted to say that Sarah Leigh wasn’t a clone subject—she was the original.