Chapter 357: Chapter 357: The Echo of a Real Mother

"Look at the upper corner there."

Helen Lloyd zoomed in on the image. A faint marking appeared: K-07.

"Laboratory K-07." Kieran Talbot said in a low voice: "This is a top-tier security zone, a place where deep neurological intervention experiments were conducted."

"Wait, zoom into the reflection on the glass to the right." Julian Sterling suddenly spoke up.

He was feeling much better now, fully capable of participating in a normal discussion. Kieran Talbot’s presence here was due to Julian Sterling’s previous state, which had frightened Ethan Caldwell so much that the man had no choice but to summon Kieran Talbot to his home urgently.

However, even Kieran Talbot could not precisely determine what Julian Sterling’s condition had been at that moment, as all his vitals were normal. Ultimately, Kieran Talbot could only conclude that conflicting past memories had caused Julian Sterling’s mental state to become momentarily unstable.

Fortunately, he had returned to normal very quickly.

On the glass of the incubator, the shadow of a woman in a white lab coat was reflected. Though faint, that elegant figure was unmistakable. It was a young Catherine Sterling. In those years, she looked remarkably similar to how she appeared now.

"She wasn’t just the mother of the test subject... she was a direct participant." Julian Sterling gritted his teeth.

"Look at the child’s hand." Helen Lloyd continued to zoom in.

Inside the small, thin hand of the child in the photo, something was being held tightly. After passing through several color filters and sharpening layers, a small, crude piece of wood became clear, carved into the shape of a sun with radiating beams of light.

Kieran Talbot looked at Julian Sterling and sighed: "Memories associated with extreme emotional pain or obsession often do not disappear completely. The brain simply locks them away to protect the subject from a neurological collapse. This wooden piece might be your memory ’anchor.’ If the right point is stimulated, you might remember everything."

Julian Sterling stared intently at the sun-shaped wooden piece on the screen. A strange sense of familiarity welled up within him, but it was accompanied by a splitting headache.

Meanwhile, at the crumbling Sterling residence, Catherine Sterling sat alone in a cold tea room. The butler stood behind Catherine Sterling, his voice trembling: "Madam... why did you have to give that photo to the young master? Didn’t you promise them that you would let Julian Sterling live a normal life?"

Catherine Sterling looked at the tea that had already formed a film on its surface. Her eyes, which were usually calm, suddenly flashed with a trace of bloodshot anguish: "Because there is no more time. CORE has begun its public hunting phase. If he doesn’t remember, he will die without even knowing why."

She slowly opened the desk drawer and took out a photograph identical to the one she had given Julian Sterling. But this photograph was wider and more comprehensive.

In the photo, there wasn’t just one glass incubator. Right next to incubator A-01, there was another incubator, but that one had been torn away by a black streak, leaving only another small hand reaching out toward the child labeled A-01.

"That experiment... he wasn’t the only one who survived." Catherine Sterling whispered, her voice sounding like the wind whistling through the leaves.

Late at night at the Caldwell villa.

The smart security system suddenly alerted them to a physical delivery placed right in front of the gate. After the security team confirmed there were no explosives or toxins, the package was brought to the office.

Inside was an ebony chess set, polished to a black shine. But the pieces were not arranged like a normal chess set. Instead, they were tossed in haphazardly. Among the black and white pieces was a black queen that had lost its head, the break was fresh and very clean, likely severed by a knife. Beside it was a hand-written invitation in silver ink on black paper:

"Tomorrow at noon, the top floor of HJ Capital. I will return to you the questions you have long yearved for. Just you, A-01. Cedric Harrington."

The letter was brief and addressed Julian Sterling by name, as if the person on the other side no longer wished to hide anything.

But before Julian Sterling could speak, Ethan Caldwell blocked him: "I will not accept any terms of negotiation. You are not going!" The situation at the Sterling house had scared Ethan Caldwell enough, the man did not want his lover to venture into danger again: "Right now, Cedric Harrington is essentially admitting he is a hunting dog for CORE. I don’t want you walking into the lion’s den."

Julian Sterling’s gaze was fixed painfully on that headless queen. Finally, he replied firmly: "I want to go."

"Julian!"

"Ethan, look at me." Julian Sterling stood before the man: "We cannot keep running away forever. Cowering only puts us in a passive position and makes things more dangerous. If I don’t go, I will forever be that child locked in a glass incubator, waiting for others to decide my fate."

"I don’t want to spend my whole life hiding in the cage of your protection. I want to trace it back, to see exactly what that child who wasn’t allowed to remember... actually saw."

In the end, the two of them still failed to reach a consensus.

Later that night, Julian Sterling lay in bed but did not sleep deeply. The rain outside continued to drizzle, blending with Ethan Caldwell’s steady breathing beside him.

In a state of half-slumber, for the first time, a fragment of memory appeared vividly, not as an image, but as a sound.

It wasn’t the beeping of machines, nor was it the sound of screaming. It was a woman’s voice, gentle yet trembling, her hot breath close to his ear, whispering through choked sobs: "Jules, don’t look at them... close your eyes... no matter what happens, do not look at them..."

Immediately following that was the heavy thud of a metal door slamming shut, and the cold, sharp sound of a lock turning.

"Ah!"

Julian Sterling bolted upright in the middle of the night, cold sweat soaking his back, his chest heaving violently.

Ethan Caldwell was a light sleeper. he woke up instantly and grabbed the shoulder of the person beside him: "Jules? Did you have a nightmare?"

Julian Sterling gripped the man’s arm tightly, his neatly trimmed nails unconsciously digging hard into Ethan Caldwell’s skin. His voice shook: "Eth... I remember now. It wasn’t her... That wasn’t Catherine Sterling’s voice."

He turned to look at Ethan Caldwell, his eyes filled with shock: "I just heard my mother’s voice. A real mother."