Chapter 1782

"Don't say that!" She raised her hand to cover his lips, looking up at him. "What are you going to spend your money on? They don't need it. Besides, what will the children and I eat if you spend all your money?"

Seeing her serious expression, Alexander laughed and pulled her hand away to kiss her. "At least you can still joke around. That means you're not in a bad mood."

"I'm not, but I'm not in a good mood either. It's been a few months, and I still don't have a clue. It's a real mess. I feel like they've been leading me by the nose." Lily pursed her lips, a little discouraged. Before, she had always been confident; now, it seemed to be faltering.

"What?"

Alexander leaned back, resting one hand on the sofa and gently stroking her hair. His gesture was surprisingly calming. She didn't answer but tilted her head thoughtfully. Then, she said, "I've been thinking about things for the past few months. There's always a link between them."

Following her gaze, he tilted his head in thought. "What link?"

"This all started at the research institute. I think Professor Thompson was used by them—their pawn. The initial experiments were a pretense; they just wanted to use the institute's location, personnel, and preliminary ideas to achieve their goals. I didn't realize that at the beginning."

"Yeah." Alexander nodded thoughtfully, listening carefully without interruption.

Lily continued, "Not long after, the plague broke out in Burnwken. Although it seems irrelevant, there's a connection between that and the virus they've developed. Then there's Edward. I don't know what happened to him, but my gut tells me it's also related to them." Alexander's face grew serious regarding Edward, but he remained silent.

"Mhm."

"Needless to say, Austin and Secretary Rollins are connected to Rhea, and Rhea is closely tied to the organization. These viruses looked different, but their ultimate purpose was the same: to manipulate their victims!"

"But the plague doesn't seem manipulative," Alexander finally spoke. If the virus were manipulative, the entirety of Burnwken and even some in Hyderland would be controlled, including him. That wasn't the case; it simply spread rapidly, with high fatality and infection rates.

"I think there are two directions to their research. The plague itself isn't for manipulation. Mind-control viruses are too difficult to develop, and they can't be mass-produced. They're also not contagious."

These were, of course, only her guesses and analyses based on the database. She knew much about perfumery and traditional herbs, but hadn't delved deeply into toxicity classification. In recent years, with rapid scientific advancements, the most problematic diseases she'd encountered were various lesions; the probability of poisoning was minimal. Since this virus was artificially created, and she hadn't participated in its creation, resolving it was even more challenging.