Inside the medical room, Fu Linyuan's condition had clearly improved. By the time Su Nuan returned, he was already able to sit up and eat on his own. Although his face was still pale, the sharpness had returned to his eyes.
"Where did you go?"
He set down his glass of water, his gaze falling on her tightly clenched hands.
Su Nuan did not answer immediately. Instead, she locked the door from the inside and checked to make sure the surveillance cameras were turned off before sitting down beside his bed.
She pulled her mother's notebook and the data chip Xu Zheng had given her from her pocket.
"I went to your study."
She looked directly into Fu Linyuan's eyes.
"And I found this."
Fu Linyuan's expression instantly became complicated—surprise, hesitation, and finally, a strange sense of relief.
"Finally," he said quietly. "I should have told you myself a long time ago."
"Told me what?"
Su Nuan's voice trembled slightly.
"Told me that I'm a human test subject? Told me that you knew I existed from the very beginning? Or told me…"
She took a deep breath.
"That my mother altered my genes before I was even born?"
Fu Linyuan did not answer immediately. Instead, he reached out and gently covered her tightly clenched fist.
"You are you first, Su Nuan. Only after that are you Lin Xue's daughter, Su Mingyuan's daughter, or whatever anyone else wants you to become."
His answer caught Su Nuan off guard.
She had expected Fu Linyuan to deny everything or make excuses. Instead, he chose to acknowledge the truth while emphasizing that she still had control over her own life.
"Xu Zheng came to see you."
It was a statement, not a question.
Su Nuan nodded and handed him the data chip.
"He gave me this. He said he intercepted it from Lin Xiu."
Fu Linyuan took the chip and inserted it into the tablet beside the bed. A series of encrypted files immediately appeared on the screen.
He skillfully entered several strings of code, and the files began unlocking one by one.
"This is…"
Su Nuan leaned closer to the screen, shocked to discover that the files contained internal military communications spanning more than ten years.
"Evidence of Wang Zhengguo's connection with the Purifiers."
Fu Linyuan quickly scanned the documents, his expression growing colder with every second.
"I should have realized it sooner… Lin Xiu has been working for them all along."
"The Purifiers?"
Su Nuan remembered the extremist organization Fu Linyuan had mentioned before.
"A global secret society that believes humanity needs to be 'purified.'"
Fu Linyuan's voice was low.
"They've infiltrated governments, militaries, and research institutions around the world. The Prometheus Project is just one of their tools."
He opened a file marked Blood Moon Protocol.
Its contents were horrifying.
The plan was to deliberately release a genetically engineered virus, wipe out ninety percent of the world's population, and use the remaining "superior genes" to establish a new world order.
"So the virus outbreak wasn't an accident…"
Su Nuan suddenly felt sick.
"It was murder. Mass murder."
Fu Linyuan nodded.
"Your mother discovered the plan and tried to stop it. That's why they killed her."
For once, his voice carried barely restrained anger.
"Your father continued her work, and eventually…"
He did not finish the sentence.
But Su Nuan understood.
Her father's "accidental" death had been murder too.
"And you've been investigating the truth all this time."
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Fu Linyuan's eyes grew deeper.
"Not just investigating it. I've been preparing a counterattack."
He pointed to another group of files on the screen.
"All these years, I secretly built Ark Island and more than a dozen hidden bases around the world. I was preparing for this day."
Su Nuan suddenly realized that Fu Linyuan's paranoia and controlling nature had not come from nowhere.
He had been fighting an enormous invisible enemy all this time—an enemy so powerful that one wrong move could have meant total destruction.
"What about Xu Zheng? What role does he play?"
Fu Linyuan's expression immediately became guarded.
"On the surface, the Genesis Organization is an alliance of survivors. In reality, it has been infiltrated by the Purifiers. Xu Zheng is very likely one of their senior members, specifically responsible for obtaining your blood samples."
"Why is my blood so important?"
Su Nuan finally asked the most important question.
Fu Linyuan was silent for a moment, seemingly weighing how to answer.
"Because…"
He paused.
"You are the only one."
"Your mother didn't just make you carry antibodies. She also engineered a special genetic sequence capable of reversing the virus's effects on the human body."
He brought up a complex genetic map.
"Ordinary infected people gradually lose their humanity and become walking corpses. But the elite members of the Purifiers undergo another form of genetic modification, turning them into…"
He hesitated.
"Something much stronger."
"Your blood is the only weapon capable of stopping them."
Su Nuan struggled to process everything she had just learned.
She had always believed that she was simply an ordinary person who happened to possess unusual antibodies.
In reality, she was her mother's carefully designed "creation"—a secret weapon created by humanity to fight the Purifiers.
"So Xu Zheng wants my blood…"
"Not to save humanity, but to perfect their ultimate weapon."
Fu Linyuan's voice was firm.
"That's why I've protected you all these years. I couldn't let you be exposed."
Su Nuan suddenly remembered the photograph of a young Fu Linyuan holding her as a baby.
Something clicked.
"How long have you known my parents?"
Fu Linyuan's expression softened.
"Your father was my college roommate. Your mother…"
He paused, his voice becoming gentler.
"She was my most respected mentor and one of my closest friends."
"When you were born, I was at the hospital. When you turned one, I rushed back from the military base to celebrate your birthday."
He smiled faintly.
"You used to call me… Uncle Linyuan."
The familiar nickname made Su Nuan's heart tremble.
She vaguely remembered that, as a child, there had indeed been a tall "uncle" who occasionally came to visit her, always bringing strange and wonderful gifts.
But she had never connected that vague childhood figure with the Fu Linyuan standing before her now.
"What happened afterward? Why did you disappear?"
"I was sent to an overseas base for five years."
Fu Linyuan's expression darkened.
"When I returned, your mother had already 'died in an accident.' Your father had taken you and disappeared under new identities."
"It took me two years to find you."
Su Nuan remembered her father constantly moving from place to place throughout her childhood.
So that was the reason.
They had been hiding from danger all along.
"Why didn't you tell me the truth?"
"Your father insisted that you live a normal life until the very end."
Fu Linyuan gave a bitter smile.
"I promised him that, unless absolutely necessary, I would never drag you into this war."
Su Nuan fell silent, trying to absorb everything she had just learned.
Her entire life, her understanding of her own identity—everything had been completely overturned within a single hour.
Yet strangely, she did not feel angry or broken.
Instead, she felt a strange sense of relief.
Finally, all the mysteries had answers.
"What do we do now?"
She finally asked.
Fu Linyuan's expression hardened once again.
"First, we make sure you're safe. Xu Zheng won't give up easily."
He tried to sit upright, but pain flashed across his face.
"Second, we prepare for General Wang's attack."
"And finally…"
His words were interrupted by the sudden sound of an alarm.
Chen Mo's urgent voice came over the broadcast:
"Attention, all personnel! Radar has detected a large-scale aerial target! Estimated arrival in fifteen minutes! I repeat, this is not a drill!"
Fu Linyuan and Su Nuan exchanged a glance.
At the same time, they realized—
General Wang's retaliation had come far sooner than expected.
"Help me get dressed."
Fu Linyuan gritted his teeth and forced himself to his feet.
"And hide the notebook and the chip."
Su Nuan caught him before he could lose his balance.
"Your injuries haven't healed yet!"
"We don't have time."
His eyes were as sharp as blades.
"If this is the final battle, I have to be at the command post."