Chapter 809
Newell set his coffee aside and dabbed at his mouth with a napkin, looking every bit as refined as always before he slid his finger across the screen to answer.
“Charlotte?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
Newell went quiet for a whole minute, like the call had knocked all the words out of him. Then his voice finally came through, rough but happy. “Wow, I’m impressed. You still remember my number?”
“Not really,” Charlotte said, totally deadpan. “I had to try a few times before I got it right.”
Newell’s smile faded, replaced by a cold smirk. His features were elegant, but the look in his eyes turned sharp. “If you’re not going to use that mouth for anything good, maybe you should donate it to someone who’ll put it to better use.”
Charlotte didn’t miss a beat. “It’s useful enough. I can still annoy you with it, can’t I?” Newell rolled his eyes so hard she could probably hear it through the phone. “Alright, let’s hear it. What do you need this time?”
He needed a moment to cool off and took a slow sip of coffee, fingers steady and pale around the cup.
She never called unless she wanted something. That much he’d learned.
“I’m looking for Covid-X,” Charlotte said. “The N Organization’s intel team is already searching, but so far, nothing.”
“So, now you want me to help track it down?”
“Yeah.”
He’d given her her first medical book. Technically, Newell had been her first real mentor.
He’d spent years traveling, meeting scientists and researchers all over the world. If anyone had heard rumors about Covid-X, it would probably be him.
“Covid-X?” Newell’s whole vibe shifted. He got serious, voice dropping low. “That stuff vanished over a decade ago. It hasn’t been on the market in years. Honestly, it might be gone for good.”
It was a long shot, but Charlotte didn’t flinch.
“I know,” she said, frowning a little. “If I can’t find Covid-X, the ingredients will do. Anything to speed up the research. I just need to come up with something before my grandma’s out of time.”
The ingredients were a closely
guarded secret too. There were dozens of possible components. She’d have to test combinations, run clinical trials, and hope something worked. It was going to take
everything she had.
“Why are you suddenly looking for Covid-X?” Newell asked, lips pressed together. “I thought your gene mutation didn’t cause any issues. You shouldn’t need that formula.”
He remembered meeting her in
Lamplighter Village, how he’d picked her as his student because her
abilities were off the charts. Hornet’
memory, the way she learned he’d never seen anything like it That’s why he’d trained her to take over at DM someday.
“It’s not for me,” Charlotte said, her tone lazy but her words softening. “It’s for my grandma.”
Grandma.
Now it clicked for Newell. He remembered how the woman who’d adopted Charlotte
in Lamplighter Village had gotten sick. Charlotte hadn’t been able to find the right medicine in time, and her grandma passed away.
No wonder she sounded so desperate—she couldn’t let that happen again.
“I’ll do what I can,” Newell promised, sounding more sincere than before. “There’s a big pharmaceutical R&D auction in Solenia at the end of the month They’ll have rare drugs and ingredients that scientists have been working on in secret If Covid-X isn’t there, maybe you can use what you find to start your research. Sometimes you just have to work with what you’ve got.”
With Charlotte’s brain, it was only a matter of time before she cracked it.
“Alright. Thanks,” Charlotte said.
Newell hesitated, then asked, his voice a little softer, “You’re okay, right? Nothing wrong with your health?”