Reborn As A Doomsday Villainess-Chapter 10: I want to know everything about Dr. Gu Qingran

Elsewhere, in a high-rise office overlooking the city, the man known as Red Mask leaned back in his chair, watching as lines of code ran across his screen.

His system had given him a task: Find Host G and the Omni system.

He didn't know their identity yet. But he was getting closer.

[Ding! Surveillance report: Target entered Yunhai Pharmaceutical Research Group at 7:45 AM. No unusual activity detected.]

"Yunhai research, huh?" He smirked, his deep voice carrying a faint amusement. "Looks like I've found a rat in the laboratory."

He tapped his fingers against the desk.

A pharmaceutical scientist. That meant they were gathering medical resources.

Smart.

He liked smart people.

But he liked winning even more.

He had 25 days to find them. 25 days before the apocalypse began.

And he had never lost a hunt before.

—

Gu Qingran spent the rest of the morning working on her experiments, but her mind remained elsewhere.

The security breach. The surveillance report. The system's warning about other users preparing.

Too many things were happening at once.

She needed to confirm whether anyone else inside the company was aware of the impending disaster. If they were, it meant the competition was already inside the building.

At lunch, she headed to the break room, scanning the room casually. Researchers sat at different tables, chatting about projects, complaints, weekend plans—normal, everyday conversations.

But normalcy was a façade.

Somewhere in this room, there could be someone like her.

She grabbed a coffee—despite not drinking caffeine anymore—and made her way toward Lu Zhao, who was sitting near the window with a few others.

"Mind if I join?"

Lu Zhao waved her over with a grin. "Of course. You're never in the break room at this hour."

"I figured I'd change my routine a bit," she said lightly, taking a seat.

Lu Zhao nodded as he sipped his drink. "Hey, you know, the breach this morning got me thinking. If someone really was trying to access restricted files, what do you think they were looking for?"

Qingran kept her face neutral. "If it was just some hacker, they were probably after financial records. If it was industrial espionage, then formulas and research data."

"Mm, yeah, that makes sense," Lu Zhao agreed. "But get this—IT said the logs showed activity in the warehouse database."

Qingran's grip on her cup tightened slightly.

Lu Zhao was watching her, just for a second, as if testing her reaction.

Was he also interested in the warehouse?

She took a sip of the coffee she didn't want. "The warehouse? That's weird. Why would anyone be interested in storage records?"

"Exactly." Lu Zhao set his drink down. "Only a few people have access to that system. It's not like some intern can just log in and poke around."

"Maybe it's nothing," one of the other researchers, Zhang Wei, chimed in. "IT probably just caught someone using the wrong login credentials or something. No way someone actually got inside."

Lu Zhao hummed in thought, then suddenly grinned. "Hey, Dr. Gu, what would you take if you could grab anything from the warehouse?"

The question was asked so casually, like it was just a joke.

But Qingran knew better.

Was this a trap? A test? Or just harmless curiosity?

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She feigned amusement. "That's a dangerous question. Do I have to answer honestly?"

"Of course." Lu Zhao leaned forward with interest.

Qingran took her time, pretending to consider.

"A full stock of emergency medical kits," she said finally. "The company always keeps enough to support a small city in case of a disaster. If I had access, I'd take those."

Zhang Wei laughed. "Spoken like a true scientist."

But Lu Zhao only smiled.

It was a knowing smile.

She had to be careful around him.

—

Back in her lab, Qingran leaned against the counter, deep in thought.

Lu Zhao was suspicious. He had been asking too many questions. Did he know about the apocalypse? Was he another system user? Or was he just an opportunist who had figured something out?

[Ding! Warning: Host has drawn attention from a potential competitor.]

Qingran exhaled slowly. "I figured as much. How high is the threat level?"

[Ding! Evaluating... 52%. Not an immediate threat, but caution is advised.]

That was manageable.

Her biggest concern wasn't Lu Zhao—it was whoever had tried to access the warehouse system last night. If it wasn't her, then someone else was after those supplies.

And if someone else was after those supplies, then they knew what was coming.

She had to move faster.

She turned back to her screen, pulling up inventory records. The emergency kits she had mentioned earlier were kept in Sector B of the warehouse. Most of them were reserved for military and government use.

Meaning... if she wanted access, she had to create a reason for the government to hand them over.

"System, what's the best way to legally acquire high-grade medical supplies in bulk?"

[Ding! Three options available:

1. Military contract request—high approval difficulty.

2. Research trial proposal—moderate approval difficulty.

3. Fake a public health emergency—low approval difficulty.]

The last option was tempting. If she could manipulate the health department into believing a viral outbreak was imminent, they might release the stockpile for emergency distribution. But it was tough risky.

A research trial was safer.

She made her decision. "Start drafting a proposal for a clinical trial. Something related to viral outbreak prevention."

[Ding! Understood. Generating draft...]

She had less than a month before the world fell apart. Every decision mattered, because this time she was planning on playing the cards!

—

His system chimed.

[Ding! Host G's activity detected. New research proposal submitted.]

He chuckled. "Oh? What are you up to now?"

A new research proposal? That meant they were trying to gain access to something.

His fingers tapped the desk.

"Caocao, pull up all past research projects related to infectious diseases from Yunhai research labs."

[Ding! Searching... Files retrieved.]

Lines of text filled the screen.

He scanned them quickly. Host G had submitted a proposal for viral outbreak prevention.

Interesting.

If they were setting up for a long-term plan, that meant they didn't have access to the warehouse yet. That was good. It meant he was ahead.

He smirked.

But not for long.

He had waited long enough. It was time to move.

He picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Send someone into Yunhai research group. I want to know everything about Dr. Gu Qingran."

If Host G thought they could stay ahead of him, they were wrong.