Animal Whisperer: Take Back My Life and Love Chapter 448: Strategic Partners

"The other party arrived fully equipped with a massive team and an experimental schedule ready to go," Antonio said, his voice heavy. "But the night before they reached the site, the reagents were stolen."

He let out a heavy sigh. "Now both sides are in a panic. Those reagents will completely lose their stability if they are not recovered within seven days. If that happens, hundreds of millions of dollars worth of clinical-grade drugs prepared for this partnership will be worthless."

"And two days have already passed," he added.

The air in the car tightened instantly. Nancy felt a knot in her stomach. "Antonio, can you tell us what the Elpis reagents are actually for?"

Antonio looked conflicted and shook his head. "The security clearance for the specific application is too high. I do not have access. Once we meet the research team, they will brief you." He paused, lowering his voice. "I can only tell you that it is directly related to saving lives."

The SUV continued north, driving deeper into the isolated mountain forests until it finally pulled up before a temporary police outpost nestled on the leeward side of a ridge. Simon and Nancy threw on their heavy police coats and stepped out into the biting wind. Their breath formed thick white clouds in the air.

Nancy pulled Snowball from her coat, using the warm weasel as a natural hand warmer.

"It is too cold out here. Let's get inside," Antonio said, leading them toward the outpost. "I'll introduce you to the primary victims of the theft."

Nancy stepped into the station, met by a blast of heat and a thick layer of tension. Her eyes scanned the room and stopped dead on a familiar face. What is Jorgan doing here?

"Jorgan?" Nancy asked, her surprise evident. "Are you telling me you are one of the victims in this case?"

Jorgan looked just as surprised to see her, though he quickly realized why she had been called in. He offered a wry smile. "I certainly wish I wasn't."

So Goodman Corp is also partnered with the state on a national project, Nancy thought. They kept that well hidden.

On second thought, it made sense. Many top-tier national research projects brought in private technical powerhouses to collaborate, provided they passed rigorous background checks and held world-class technology. Goodman Corp’s medical R&D was among the best in the world.

Just then, the door opened, bringing in a fresh gust of freezing air. Nancy turned around.

It was Barry.

He was wearing a sharp, dark overcoat, with unthawed frost still clinging to his shoulders. The cold air traced the powerful lines of his frame as he stepped in, his brow slightly furrowed. His eyes, usually distant, swept the room and locked onto Nancy’s.

Barry’s stride faltered for a fraction of a second. Snowball, huddled in Nancy’s arms, shrank back in terror. "The meanie is here too!" the weasel squeaked.

Nancy’s eyes curved into a smile. "Well, it looks like our other victim has finally arrived."

Beside her, Simon’s expression shifted into a mix of resignation and high alert. It was the look of a man seeing a familiar, dangerous wolf wandering near his garden again.

"Nancy. Simon."

Barry nodded to the siblings, his gaze lingering on Nancy for a moment before he pulled it away. He turned toward Snowball and reached out, familiar and gentle, to squeeze the weasel’s tiny paw. "And Detective Snowball."

Snowball stayed perfectly still, letting him hold the paw like a stuffed toy, too afraid to make a sound.

Antonio looked between them. "So you are all acquainted? That makes things easier." He stood up, sensing the complex dynamic in the room. "Mr. Goodman, Jorgan, I will leave it to you to brief Miss Nancy and Officer Simon on the project. I need to coordinate the perimeter teams."

The door clicked shut behind him. For a moment, the room was silent, save for the howling wind outside.

Jorgan nodded to Simon and opened a laptop. "Elpis is a top-level collaboration between Goodman Corp and the state. Our core samples come from a rare symbiont found deep in the Ambient Woods, consisting of a low-temperature fungus and a specific moss."

He pulled up an image of a grayish-green organism clinging to the cracks in frozen rocks. "In extreme environments, it produces a powerful cell-repair enzyme and a metabolic activator. We call it Pro-Regenerin."

Barry’s voice was deep and steady as he took over. "The goal of the project is to treat pathological organ failure. If we can stabilize and control this substance, we can theoretically cure organs that have failed due to disease."

In his peripheral vision, Barry noticed a draft coming through the old window frame, the chill blowing a few stray hairs across Nancy’s face.