Reborn As A Doomsday Villainess-Chapter 126: I’ve cried my share in the past

The man didn’t reply, but his shoulders were tense, his eyes locked on the ground as if looking at her would make the pain worse.

"I wasn’t building a weapon. I was building a name. I wanted to prove I was worth the space I took up a job in a lab full of people who saw me as too green, too hopeful. I worked hard. I didn’t ask questions when I should’ve. I trusted the wrong people."

Her voice caught there, just for a second. But she pushed through it.

"The project got taken from me. Stripped down. Changed into something I didn’t recognize. I tried to get answers, but doors started closing. People stopped taking my calls. And then the silence turned into chaos. I’d already gotten the fame I was looking for so I decided to keep quiet"

She crouched slowly so she could look him in the eye.

"I know what it means to lose the people you care about," she said. "I know what it’s like to watch them fall and know there’s nothing you can do. I’ve seen death. I’ve walked through it. Not once. Not twice. Over and over again. And I’m still standing, but that doesn’t mean I’m untouched."

The man’s lip trembled.

"I’m not the villain you want me to be," she whispered. "But if blaming me helps you survive another day, then go ahead. I’ve been blamed before."

She stood up again, slow and quiet, leaving him kneeling there as the silence returned.

"Just know this," she said, her voice cool now. "If I wanted to destroy what’s left of this world, I wouldn’t be here trying to keep it alive or trying to keep the rest of you alive."

The man didn’t say anything, but his shoulders sagged like the air had left his lungs. His hands unclenched, and when the first tear fell, he didn’t hide it.

"Yeah cry all you want. I’ve already cried my share in the past, now I just focus on fixing my mistakes."

The man sighed and wiped his tears, his tears slowly drying.

"My name is Zou Chenggu, 27 male, I’m in the security division. I’m sorry for accusing you miss."

He bowed slightly, speaking to Qingran had been like a wake up call for him.

"It’s alright. You should head back to your division, no need to loiter around."

"Yes ma’am.."

As Zou Chenggu walked away, Qingran sighed as she pushed her hair back. Seems like she would have to collect samples of the zombies, that mutant thing, the toxins flowing around.

The natural disasters that would happen, what could possibly be the cause?

"Alright Lingquan, give me the layout of this place and all the possible weak spots.."

[As you wish, Host. Uploading full internal blueprint of Facility 09 (aka "the lab") now.]

Qingran blinked once as a faint translucent map flickered across her vision. A network of corridors, labs, maintenance shafts, kitchen, bedrooms, interrogations rooms, and restricted wings unfolded before her, etched in pale blue light. Each section pulsed gently, clear markings for doors, vents, energy routes, even power grid lines. The place was vast. Bigger than she had initially guessed.

[There are four primary weak spots.]

[First: the eastern ventilation system. It’s old and hasn’t been fully reinforced. If an outside horde locates it, they could crawl in through the ducts—especially if a mutant takes the lead.]

[Second: the west wing loading docks. They’re connected to an external supply tunnel that remains unlocked—security measures were never completed.]

[Third: central power grid—too exposed, too dependent on external batteries. If that goes down, the inner labs, upper medical bays, and most doors will become inoperable.]

[And fourth: emotional instability. Host, your people are still afraid. If one of them turns or cracks under pressure, panic will spread faster than fire.]

Qingran exhaled slowly and crossed her arms. "Let’s patch the second and third vulnerabilities first. Then divert extra staff from non-critical posts. And send guards to reinforce the east vents." She paused for a bit and continued.

"Tell Chang Saem we’re sealing that section if we don’t get a better solution soon. As for emotional stability, showing this videos of the zombies will make them prepare themselves for the inevitable, this was why I sent Sun Zi Mo with Yizhou, when he comes back he will tell the others what he’s seen, I’m sure they’ll believe his words more than mine." freewebnoveℓ.com

[Understood. Sending updated orders to the internal command system now. If Chang Saem has a phone he will receive it.]

"Good. I’ll start prepping a sample run after Haoyu and the others arrive."

[Do you wish to inform the new division leaders?]

"Only Chang Saem. Fang Ming still looks like he’s trying to figure things out. And Sun Zi Mo’s not here."

She stepped toward the observation glass looking over a lower corridor, brows drawn. Somewhere out there were the things she’d helped unleash. Even if she hadn’t created the virus in its final form, it had still started with her hands, her mind, her name.

Now she would be the one to cage it. To study it. To end it.

"If this facility’s going to be our backbone, I need it airtight. Every inch."

[Already preparing a full diagnostic sweep. It will take four hours.]

"Good. And Lingquan..."

[Yes, Host?]

"Find out where I can get a living sample. Preferably one of the mutating ones."

[That... might not be very safe.]

"Nothing’s safe anymore."

[Very well.]

Qingran headed back to the command office, this was the room where the leader resided, she pressed the elevator button, all the way to the 8th floor.

"Lingquan how many square meters is this facility?"

[Facility 09 spans approximately 21,400 square meters across ten levels, Host. The underground levels account for nearly 65% of that space. It’s a relatively large building.]

Qingran stepped into the elevator as the doors hissed closed behind her, the quiet hum of the motor rising as she ascended.

Light flickered over the panel, casting a soft glow across her face as her thoughts spun faster than the machine.

[The top 2 floors are designated for public access—administration, storage, and low-level personnel. Levels 3 and 5 are the bed rooms, 6 through 7 handle internal logistics, comms, and medical operations. The real heart of the facility begins on Level 8. That includes command infrastructure and several bedrooms as well.]

"And Levels 9 and 10?"

[Restricted. Omega-class storage and deep-level archives. The vent you took to get in directly cuts through to it. Level 10 also contains a cryo-research vault that was never fully decommissioned.]