Red Blood Base

The sunlight fell on the cave entrance, but was blocked by the roof, forming a dividing line between yin and yang. Following the captain's orders, one after another stepped from the light into the darkness in an orderly manner.

The strange trapping sound waves seemed to be deliberately luring Yu Sheng and Frey into the cave, and they stopped abruptly the moment they stepped into the cave.

The space inside the cave was unexpectedly spacious, allowing two mechas to run side by side. This undoubtedly gave everyone who was trembling with fear a reassurance. Even if they encountered any danger, as long as they could summon the mechas, they would have a chance of survival.

Yu Sheng was not as optimistic as this group of people. The advanced Zerg were not those mutant Zerg that only had brute force and were controlled by others. He must have set up many traps if he had intentionally led them into this cave.

In order to save energy, only the head, middle and tail of the team turned on high-power searchlights. Wherever the light could reach, there was nothing but the damp cave walls and moss in the dark areas, not even a single insect leg could be seen.

Frey's team naturally led the way. After walking for an unknown amount of time, Guila suddenly said, "From now on, we'll be heading deep below the average horizon of the Atlan Mountains."

Yu Sheng paused, narrowing his eyes. Threads of spiritual energy flowed from his body, injecting some of his senses into them and probing deeper. Because the separation of the five senses was very dangerous for the original body, Frey took a step closer to Yu Sheng, standing guard for him.

After a while, Yu Sheng's face suddenly turned pale, he withdrew his mental power, covered his mouth and retched. Everyone surrounded him, and Frey reached out and stroked Yu Sheng's back, "What's wrong?"

"The smell of blood is so strong." Yu Sheng hadn't eaten well in the past few days, and his stomach was churning. "The red blood tree is less than 700 meters away from us."

"Red blood tree!" Upon hearing these three words, someone suddenly shouted excitedly, and the sound was particularly sharp in the quiet cave. Immediately, everyone became agitated, and some even began to run forward in disarray, trying to reach the bottom of the tree earlier than others.

"Hold on!" Some relatively rational captains shouted to control their team members, but there were also some captains who could not resist the temptation, pushed through the crowd and rushed forward, but bumped into someone.

The captain looked up and met Frey's icy eyes. His blood froze instantly, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head. He took a step back, trembling. "I'm sorry."

Frey looked away and used his mental strength to increase the volume. His calm but unquestionable voice echoed in the cave, "Everyone, just disband. Life or death has nothing to do with me." This means that even if you encounter any danger in front of Frey's team, the people in Frey's team will never save you.

As soon as Frey finished speaking, all the agitation ceased. Whether genuine or superficial, at least no one disobeyed.

Frey looked at Yu Sheng, "Are you feeling better?"

Yu Sheng nodded with a pale face and said, "Let's go."

Mars was the forward, walking at the front of the team with Yu Sheng one after the other. As the distance shortened, almost everyone, not to mention Yu Sheng who had keen senses, could smell the strong smell of blood in the air.

There was a loud rumbling sound, and everyone thought the Atlan Mountains were about to experience another earthquake. They panicked and tried to summon their mechas, but Yu Sheng suddenly said, "Wait, look over there."

Everyone followed Yu Sheng's finger and looked at the stone wall not far away. With a roar, the stone wall slowly fell down, revealing a two-meter-wide passage. Bright light shone through the passage, as if walking through it would lead to another world.

At the same time, the smell of blood also rushed out, hundreds of times stronger than before. Yu Sheng's stomach immediately churned and cramped again. He clenched his fists and was about to step into the passage when a big hand came up to his stomach.

Yu Sheng tilted his head and met Frey's gentle eyes, "Let me rub it for you."

"Ahem." Yu Sheng silently prayed that no one would notice his slightly red ears. "I'm not feeling uncomfortable anymore."

Mars, who was about to ask Frey for his next order, twitched his lips and silently took a step away from the two. "Enough! They're still showing off their affection underground! I really want to kill His Majesty for this act of treason!"

"Let's go." Fortunately, Frey and Yu Sheng had no intention of staying here. After they notified the entire team to be on alert, Frey's team was the first to step into the passage.

The overly bright light caused everyone who had been in the dark for a long time to be blinded for a moment. Yu Sheng's whole body was wrapped in mental power, forming a strong defensive shield, alerting him to the enemy's sudden attack.

But all was calm; they hadn't been attacked. Yu Sheng's eyes quickly adjusted to the intensity of the light, and a sturdy, towering "tree" that practically occupied the entire stone chamber caught his eye. Densely packed with red bloodstones hung from its branches, many of which were constantly dripping blood. The blood fell to the ground, seeping into the soil, and over time, dyed the soil a dark color.

"This, this is the Red Blood Tree?" Shock was not enough to describe everyone's feelings. "How could such a plant exist in the interstellar space? No, is it even a plant?"

"Haha, who cares if it's a plant or an animal!" Someone jumped out impatiently, "With so many bloodstones, how much will my spiritual power increase? When I return, I will definitely become the best in the family!"

"How about we just move this tree back? Then we will have an endless supply of bloodstone..." Under the bright lights, the desires of this group of people became even more glaring. The virus of greed spread among them, making them forget their previous longing for their loved ones and their thirst for life.

That's human nature.

Yu Sheng's fists were clenched tightly from beginning to end. Unlike the group of people who were overwhelmed by surprise, he didn't think that such a high-power lamp and this strange "tree" here could have grown naturally, not to mention the stone wall that just opened automatically. This was clearly a research base hidden in the mountains!

"Welcome here, warriors."

Suddenly, a low, middle-aged voice came from the space behind the tree. Everyone immediately entered a state of combat readiness, staring vigilantly in the direction of the sound.

A middle-aged man with a smile on his face walked out. He was wearing a white coat and even old-fashioned black-framed glasses. "Don't be afraid, I'm here to greet you."

"Who are you?" Frey raised his arm and waved his index finger at the red blood tree. "Did you plant this tree?"

"Of course, this is the joint research result of me and my team." A proud look appeared on the middle-aged man's face. He glanced at this group of strong and well-functioning fighters, squinted his eyes, nodded, and muttered something.

When Guila received Frey's signal, she had already quietly turned on the pinhole camera on her chest. Everything here was related to Queen Qiu En. As long as she got out of here, she could expose it to the world.

"Hey! How could this be your research?" an anxious team member jumped out and shouted, "We were personally appointed by Her Majesty the Queen to find the Red Blood Tree. Her Majesty clearly said that the Red Blood Tree is a natural species that is difficult to find!"

"Exactly! I think this person must have found the Red Blood Tree before us, and he's saying this because he wants to take it for himself!"

"Brothers! With so many of us, are we afraid of just one of him? All these bloodstones should belong to us!"

The noisy riots continued in waves, but the middle-aged man was not panicked at all. "I am the 'Father of Blood Stone' appointed by Her Majesty the Queen herself, and this Blood Base was also built for me by Her Majesty the Queen. What? You don't believe it?" As he said, he took out the Golden Emperor Order that was exclusive to Queen Qiu En and showed the glittering Golden Emperor Order to everyone.

Everyone began to feel surprised and suspicious. They felt that the Golden Emperor's Order was real, but they also felt that Her Majesty the Queen would not deceive them.

"Then tell me, since the Queen ordered you to create the red blood tree, why did the Queen issue this useless five-star mission and make us travel thousands of miles to find the red blood stone?" Seeing that no one asked the right question, Yu Sheng simply asked the question himself.

The middle-aged man seemed to be waiting for Yu Sheng to ask this question. He sneered, his lips curving stiffly. "You are personally designated by Her Majesty the Queen to be the first recipients of this batch of red bloodstone. Do you feel honored?"

Seeing everyone talking, he added, "However, anyone who eats the Red Blood Stone must stay at the Red Blood Base and cannot take a single step outside without my permission."

These words were undoubtedly a bolt of lightning that struck everyone's heart. They had only thought about consuming the bloodstone to improve themselves and return home to fame. Now, hearing the middle-aged man say this, it was clear that nothing good was going to happen. The noise and footsteps grew increasingly commotion. Suddenly, a huge explosion echoed at the door of the stone chamber, accompanied by several screams, and everyone's eyes were focused on the door.

Yu Sheng slowly moved his feet and stood beside Guila casually, making it easier for Guila to adjust the camera on her chest.

A headless corpse lay at the doorway, blood gushing from its severed neck. The blood flow was so intense that the surging red quickly overwhelmed the oxidized blue, then turned blue itself. The splattering brains and blood splattered on the person closest to the door, and on everyone else's hearts.

"What do you mean?" Yu Sheng turned around, his eyes locked on the middle-aged man. If he guessed correctly, the young man's head exploded because he tried to escape from the entrance, but how did this middle-aged man do it?

The middle-aged man laughed heartily. "My warriors, you have accepted the gift from Her Majesty the Queen, so of course you must also accept Her Majesty's token!"

That bowl of red blood soup!

Despair exploded in everyone's heart. It turned out that the noble Queen in their minds had already tied them firmly into a trap since the initial issuance of the mission!

This queen could be so cruel to her own people... Several thoughts flashed through Yu Sheng's mind. But what did she want with these fighters, who were considered elite among the common people on the Qiu En Emperor Star? She even went so far as to tamper with the red blood soup and feed it to these people, luring them all the way here.

"Don't be so pessimistic. This is the mission Her Majesty the Queen has given you." The middle-aged man smiled. "Here, as long as you accept the training obediently, you will become Her Majesty the Queen's most powerful army."

After he finished speaking, he pressed a button, and a stone wall behind him slowly opened. A dozen people walked out. They were also researchers wearing white coats. Each of them was holding a tray in their hands, and on the tray were several bowls of soup that were familiar to everyone.

"Don't you want to become stronger? Drink this, and it will be my first gift to welcome you here." Seeing that no one was willing to drink, the middle-aged man's expression changed in an instant. "Why, you don't want to live anymore? You want to experience the feeling of having your brains splattered?"

Everyone's faces turned pale as they stared at the bowl of red soup and the bleeding meatballs, forcing themselves to chew.

The middle-aged man's expression brightened, and he smiled, "That's right. Soldiers are supposed to follow orders. Don't worry, these bloodstones haven't been tampered with. After all, you've already eaten bloodstones containing nanoparticles, so there's no need for us to waste money on giving you another one."

However, these words did not comfort anyone at all. Everyone was frozen, with feelings of regret, hatred, and desire intertwined in their minds, and finally fixed on the fear that could explode at any time.

"Alright, arrange rooms for them." Seeing that everyone had finished eating, the middle-aged man instructed his subordinates, "Pay attention to their physical condition. Today is their second strengthening session, and they should have some rejection reactions."

Rejection reaction?

Galen narrowed his eyes at the new term. With his extensive medical knowledge, he naturally shared common ground with the group's biological research. The moment he laid eyes on the red blood tree, he understood its origins. He hadn't imagined that this "cell-propagating plant," once a mere imaginary concept in textbooks, had actually been successfully developed and was now right before his eyes.

Before he could observe them for a few more seconds, his subordinates led them out of the stone chamber. They were assigned a room for five people, Guila and the others went to one room, while Yu Sheng and Frey went to another room with three others.

Unlike Yu Sheng and Frey's expressionless faces, the three men all wore obvious despair and pain. One of them kept repeating, "Why don't I go home? Why did I come here? Why..."

Yu Sheng didn't stop and climbed onto Frey's upper bunk.

Perhaps he felt sympathy for these people, but he had no intention of helping them. Not to mention that Yu Sheng was incapable of removing their organs, from the moment they chose to consume human flesh and blood, they had already determined the trajectory of their own fate.

Furthermore, Yu Sheng was deeply concerned about the "rejection reaction" the middle-aged man had just mentioned. Does this reaction occur in everyone? If so, wouldn't the members of Group B, who had never tasted the red blood soup, be exposed tonight?

Yu Sheng didn't want to be exposed so quickly. They also wanted to investigate the relationship between this base and the Zerg. Perhaps here, they could find evidence of Queen Qiu En's collaboration with the Zerg!

That night, the men in white coats brought in some food. Yu Sheng and Frey didn't eat it, which wasn't surprising because the other three people also had no appetite.

The people in white coats didn't care and left with the complete food.

At midnight, wailing sounds suddenly resounded throughout the Red Blood Base.