A Replacement Bride

Chapter 276

Chapter 276

Joaquin's expression darkened significantly as soon as Katherine's words hit. "Isn't this the venom you mentioned today?"

Katherine nodded slightly. "That's right. The man-faced curse causes fatality because of its venomous properties. Initially, as the curse enters one's body, one will not feel anything. That's because the venom of the curse hasn't developed. The effects of the curse will cause one to feel that something is off, but it is not fatal. The whole time, the man-made curse will slowly generate venom. The venom produced will then slowly disperse within the host's body and muscles. It remains well-concealed so most of the time, the venom will not be detected by routine body check-ups."

She frowned and narrowed her eyes. "Previously, I treated some of the senior officials, but I didn't discover the venom in their bodies. Today, when I referred to the secret parchment scroll given by Grandma, I finally figured out that I'd somehow used the right method by accident."

His eyes landed on the long and complicated formula she had written on a piece of paper, and he paused for a moment as he appeared to ponder the situation.

"Have you come up with an antidote that quickly?" His question wasn't intended to sound doubtful. It was more of an exclamation at her impressive capabilities.

Katherine nodded, but she soon shook her head in response. "I've targeted the symptoms of this venom and came up with a formula to an antidote that can relieve those symptoms, but I'm not too sure if it works. Further research is required. I've extracted the venom from the body of the three of them and would need to conduct more research in the laboratory. I will need to run some repeated tests to come up with a unique antidote that is fully effective."

Early morning the following day, she spoke about this matter to Marcus.

Marcus had been curious and keen to learn about it the previous night. After hearing the situation, he instantly said, "I can sort out the laboratory facilities! Lab 7 has the best laboratory facilities in Kyoland. The equipment available and the technologies in Lab 7 are the latest and most comprehensive. You can rest assured, Miss Cornell. Roughly when would you like to…"

Katherine immediately responded, "As soon as possible, please. The clock is ticking. Right now, I'm unclear of the situation, so producing an antidote quickly is the only way to avoid future disasters."

She wasn't one to drag things along and since she had an idea, she wanted to implement it as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Marcus was naturally open to that since she had mentioned things on her own accord, and he confirmed things with a clap of his hands. "Sure. I'll sort everything out!"

As such, one hour later, Katherine was led to Lab 7.

It was inconvenient for Joaquin to tag along, so he remained at the Fraser Residence. Coincidentally, he could keep an eye on things at the Frasers. Until now, the Frasers were not allowed to interact with the outside world.

At Katherine's arrival at Lab 7, the professor in charge of the laboratory, Howard Walt, was already waiting for her at the entrance. He wasn't aware that Katherine was here to figure out the unique antidote for the man-faced curse. All he knew was that Marcus had found an imposing figure to conduct research.

However, it was obvious that Howard had his doubts upon meeting Katherine. How can this young woman here be an imposing figure? Could it be that Marcus was mistaken?

"Professor Walt, this is Miss Katherine Cornell. She will be using your research institute temporarily to conduct some experiments over the next few days. The actual details of the research are strictly

confidential, so I would need you to clear the place and allocate time for Miss Cornell. Thanks for accommodating me." Marcus didn't mention 'accommodate Miss Cornell' but instead, he mentioned 'me'. It was clear that this research was conducted on the country's behalf.

At that point, Howard became increasingly doubtful. Who's this woman here? Does she come from an important background?! Marcus is respectful toward her and even included her in such a substantial research project!

Of course, his questions were unsuitable to be asked in public, so he merely smiled and agreed.

"Miss Cornell, I'll show you inside." He gestured and led the way for Katherine.

With a nod, Katherine went along and no longer bothered with being overly courteous. She walked into the laboratory with a cold expression.

Just then, there were a lot of researchers crowded in front of the lobby of the institute. They had gotten wind of things and wanted to come over to find out the exact situation.

They noticed the figure that arrived was a stunning beauty. They were initially quite impressed by that, but they developed odd expressions soon after.

The male researchers expressed their curiosity toward Katherine while the female researchers scoffed at her.

"Tsk! I had assumed that the person coming over would have a very prestigious background. However, she's just a pretty face! Mr. Town must be out of his mind!"

"That's right. She must have pulled a lot of strings to be able to come and use our laboratory resources!"

"Gosh. She's got the looks and her figure's impressive too, so it would be a piece of cake. Ha!"

By then, Marcus had left after giving the instructions to Howard. Katherine was left alone in the laboratory, as per her request.

She didn't like the unnecessary hassle and was always fixated on her work when she was conducting research. It would be a waste of time for Marcus to wait there, so it made much more sense for him to continue with his work.

At that moment, the crowd's whispers were audible to Katherine. However, she remained unperturbed and there was not even the slightest change to her expression as she ignored them and laid out her request directly to Howard.

"I won't be using too much of your resources. I have a list here with the reagents and types of equipment I need. Professor Walt, please make the necessary arrangements for me as soon as possible. After that, you just need to allocate a laboratory for my use. You guys can go ahead with your work and you don't need to bother about me."

Howard didn't utter a single word, but as he took the list from her and glanced at it, he furrowed his brows immediately.

"Miss Cornell, your request is too much. There are several facilities needed in your list and the two reagents here are not only extremely expensive but also quite hard to get too. If you damage or waste them, the consequences are…"

Although he did not finish his sentence, his tone and the slight sneering smile on his face indicated his point.

"Professor Walt, do you mean to tell me that you're not going to provide me with these?"

Howard was of mature age and he had tons of experience, so he had a glib tongue. "Of course not, Miss Cornell. You're Mr. Town's guest, so I would need to respect him and help you as much as I can. However, I'm honestly unable to supply the things on your list despite my strong willingness to help. As you can see, there are so many researchers here and every team has a specific task to deal with. Lab 7 is the most important research institute in Kyoland and the research topics are pertinent to the country. I can't possibly instruct my teams to stop their research and help you research this…" Material © of NôvelDrama.Org.

He didn't finish his sentence this time either, but the mocking tone in his voice was unmistakable.

Evidently, he was disdainful of Katherine and felt she had entered this research institute by pulling some strings, so her research topic was not of great importance.

Just then, a woman in her late twenties walked over with a mocking expression. Taking Howard's side, she stated, "That's right. Professor Walt's concerns are quite valid. If you utilize all of our expensive pieces of equipment and reagents, what are the rest of us going to do? Our three research teams here have been conducting our research over the past three years, so we won't be able to stop our work halfway. I don't think you would need to use these pieces of equipment and reagents in your study. It would be a waste of resources. Anyway, based on your capabilities, I don't think that you'd be able to conduct decent research work. Would you be able to shoulder the responsibility of wasting the precious reagents or inflicting damage to our equipment?"