Chapter 120 Underground Laboratory

The North Star Region Border Army member on the escalator: "..."

He raised the heavy cannon on his arm and looked at Mingyu and Mu Baixing who were talking.

This is a bit troublesome, the border troops thought to themselves.

The strength of these two people cannot be too weak, otherwise they would not be able to remain so calm under a row of gun barrels.

It's best if they aren't enemies. Otherwise, things could get really awkward.

The handsome young man spoke not the language of the Northern Star Region, but the common language of the human star region. He looked at everyone with a somewhat docile demeanor, at first glance resembling an innocent, unworldly student. His gaze around him was scrutinizing and evaluating, without any overly aggressive intent.

But the fact that he remained calm under the threat of the Black Tide Hive and the barrage of cannons was enough to show that this young man was more than his appearance. If we were to classify awakened humans according to their categorization, the border troops would consider him an excellent observer.

The other taller man brought a strong sense of oppression to the border troops.

The border troops watched him cautiously.

The other person spoke with a pure accent and his appearance was consistent with the characteristics of people from the North Star Region.

Black hair, black eyes, captivating dark golden spiritual power, and a cold and sharp temperament...

All these things combined together reminded the border soldier for a moment of a figure he had seen from a distance long ago at a parade ground on the border under harsh conditions.

Shortly after the last Celtic King of the Northern Star Region ascended the throne, he personally patrolled the border in his powerful starship.

That was the end of the corrupt rule of the old king of the Northern Star Region and the beginning of a new page.

The North Star Region, which had been gradually declining in strength, has regained its glory under the leadership of its new king...

If it weren't for the sudden expansion of the Black Tide and the deliberate concealment and deception by the old nobles and the fallen prince, they would have had a hopeful tomorrow ahead of them.

The border soldier was lost in thought. The aura of the man before him was about 70% similar to that of the Celtic King, and it even made him feel momentarily dazed.

"Chirp!" Amidst the silence, a tender bird chirp suddenly echoed from Mu Baixing's pocket. The bird, noticing the quietening of its surroundings, poked its furry brown head out of his pocket. Mu Baixing glanced down, then reached out a finger and gently pushed the bird's head downward.

"......Chirp!" The young bird chirped in dissatisfaction, rolled over in Mu Baixing's pocket, arched upwards again, but was pushed back by Mu Baixing.

After repeating it once more, Mu Baixing simply took the Firebird out of his pocket and stuffed it into Mingyu's pocket like a small cake. Then he looked at the young man beside him and curled the corners of his lips.

Mingyu: “…”

He inexplicably read in Mu Boxing's eyes that the child was disobedient and uncontrollable, and asked him to help discipline him.

Border troops: "..."

Forget it, he thought to himself, whether it is raising birds or falling in love... it is not something their cold and icy emperor would do.

What's more, that person's mental strength was much higher than that of the man in front of him.

"Please come with me to perform a Kuroshio energy measurement." He suppressed his chaotic thoughts, refocused his attention on the situation before him, and spoke in the common language. His voice was slightly muffled, coming through the layers of protective clothing.

"This is the underground Kuroshio biological research laboratory on the fifth star in the Northern Star Region. We were once invaded by Kuroshio creatures that parasitized humans, so we must conduct security checks on all who enter."

Mingyu blinked.

From this statement, it doesn't sound like the other party is some cruel and anti-human organization.

"The Black Tide Laboratory on the Fifth Star is a confidential laboratory approved by the Northern Star Region and is not an illegal business," Mu Baixing said calmly, "but the border troops are stationed on the more distant Seventh Star."

"When the Kuroshio hit, our communications were cut off, and my team was sent back to a safe area to seek assistance. Near the fifth planet, we were chased by a second burst of Kuroshio energy and forced to land."

The border soldier finished his statement, and then suddenly realized that something was wrong.

...Why did he answer the unknown person's questions in such detail?

Mu Baixing simply nodded, as if satisfied with his answer, and continued concisely: "Lead the way."

Border troops: "..."

The intruder acted as if he was the master of the place.

He grumbled inwardly, but didn't say much. He leaned over, still pointing the barrel of his gun at the two men, keeping them within his sight, and then pressed the button for the upward elevator.

The security robots' gun barrels were also in a charged state. As Mingyu and Mu Baixing moved, these robots followed closely beside them, ready to open fire at any time.

Mingyu jumped from Mu Baixing to the ground, but his wrist was still held by the man.

The young man tilted his head and looked at Mu Baixing.

The man walked with a cautious but not overly tense posture. It seemed that he felt that even if the other party opened fire, he could easily deal with it.

Despite this, he refused to let go of Mingyu's hand, as if he was still a little scared.

Mingyu also let Mu Baixing hold him, and while walking, he memorized the route to the underground laboratory in his mind.

They ascended in a wide, vertical tunnel. The elevator wasn't sealed, only fenced off to waist height on all sides. The pitch-black elevator shaft was sparsely lit, and Mingyu used the charged light from the security robot's muzzle to gauge their ascent speed.

In less than a minute, we climbed at least a thousand meters.

After reaching the upper floor, they walked through another narrow corridor. The two light tubes on the wall of the corridor were all in Celtic languages ​​that Mingyu did not recognize.

"Emergency evacuation route signs, warnings before entering the experimental area, and directional signs for each experimental area." Mu Baixing said, "These are indeed the construction standards of the North Star Region Underground Laboratory."

The border trooper glanced at him.

Mingyu held Mu Baixing's hand and felt a lot more relaxed.

This old-fashioned underground space gave Mingyu a much friendlier feeling than Albin, who could turn into a Black Tide Moth at any time. Moreover, even if the situation was worse, it would not be worse than being kidnapped by Albin and being asked to take him to the Black Tide Star Sea.

At least he wasn't alone now.

Mingyu thought so as he and Mu Baixing were facing more than a dozen gun barrels as they walked hand in hand in the corridor, inexplicably showing a sense of leisure as if they were shopping.

Border troops: "..."

He was carrying a heavy gun barrel on his shoulder. He was supposed to be escorting a suspicious person, but now he looked like he was acting as a third wheel for a couple.

Several people have reached the end of the passage.

The border soldiers didn't dare to turn their backs to Mingyu and Mu Baixing. They turned sideways and verified their pupil patterns, then opened the door in front of them, revealing a well-equipped energy detection room.

The lighting inside the examination room was much brighter than in the corridor. In the center sat a medical examination cabin. This cabin had clearly undergone multiple modifications, and the added wiring no longer fit within the original metal shell, leaving it sprawled and scattered outside.

Mu Boxing took a long stride and was the first to enter the medical examination cabin. The border guards breathed a sigh of relief at his efficient and smooth movements.

The doors of the medical examination cabin closed, and the colorful indicator lights on the hatch lit up one after another, like a game console in an amusement park. A light screen then opened in front of the medical examination cabin, and after a few minutes, it refreshed the data line by line.

"The examinee's physical function indicators showed no abnormalities."

"A sample of the spiritual domain energy fluctuations has been obtained."

"Reference for mental strength level: A-."

"Special situation in the Spiritual Domain: Part of the Spiritual Domain is damaged, and the damaged area is approximately two-thirds of the original Spiritual Domain area."

"The damaged area of ​​the mental domain has abnormal organization, and the energy spectrum cannot be analyzed."

"No suspicious black tide energy wavelengths were detected in the active portion of the spiritual domain."

"Full-body energy scan of the subject is in progress—"

"The Kuroshio energy wavelength has been detected. The concentration is within a safe range. Testing the speed at which the concentration is fading—"

"Thirty seconds—sixty seconds—one hundred and five seconds—the black tide's energy concentration is fading at a remarkable rate. The black superpower within the body should be the residual of external radiation."

"Strengthening energy scanning detection in progress—"

"The scan results are safe."

The border soldier looked at Mingyu: "Have you come into contact with the Black Tide creatures in the past 24 hours?"

Mingyu nodded.

"High-level Black Tide creatures have invaded the human star region," he said. "Perhaps a violent explosion during combat caused a spatial rift, and they happened to reach your experimental base."

The border soldier was silent for a moment, then muttered, "What a coincidence."

Ming Yu agreed, "From my perspective, I would also suspect that you are connected to high-level black tide creatures, and that the spatial rift just happened to open here."

If Mingyu didn't know that Albin's black tide energy had been completely annihilated and therefore could not support the opening and closing of the space rift, he would really think that there was a big problem with this place.

The border soldier looked at him and couldn't refute.

The information on the screen continued to refresh line by line. After more than ten minutes, Mu Baixing finally passed the full set of tests. He left the medical examination room, and Mingyu entered, also passing the monitoring without any suspense.

The border troops finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The security robot retracted its gun. Mingyu watched as the border guard lowered his arm barrel and pulled back his protective mask, blinking.

"Do you want to go in and test it as well?" Mingyu suggested, "So that I can be sure that I haven't entered the lair of a high-level black tide creature."

Border troops: "..."

Half an hour later, the border soldiers who passed the test came out of the physical examination cabin.

He removed his powered exoskeleton and protective suit, revealing a face that wasn't old, but rather veiled in a layer of maturity and vicissitudes, appearing to be in his seventies or eighties. A hideous scar ran across the left side of his face, extending from his lower eyelid to his lip.

"You can call me A Fei," the Border Soldier introduced himself. He touched the scar on the side of his face and said, "This scar is from exploring the Black Tide during my first year of service in the Border Soldier."

There was a hint of nostalgia in A Fei's eyes.

The border troops' missions were all very dangerous, but compared to now, life back then was like heaven.

But there’s no need to dwell on the past.

Compared with many of his comrades who have sacrificed their lives, he can be considered lucky.

"The Black Tide Biological Laboratory on the Fifth Planet is the highest-security laboratory in the Northern Star Region." Ah Fei led Ming Yu and Mu Baixing out of the testing room and back into the elevator shaft. "Because it's used for studying Black Tide creatures, the defense level is very high, and a large amount of supplies are stored there. After the fall of the Fifth Planet, the lower half of the laboratory building was preserved. The deeper the underground level, the safer it is."

"Over the past few years, the Kuroshio's erosion has become increasingly severe. We have been forced to abandon dozens of layers of living space and move to the lowest level."

"You arrived at the right time. If you had come a few weeks later, this base might have been completely destroyed..."

The elevator stopped at the bottom floor, and the passage door opened to both sides, revealing the man behind.

He wore a golden mask and stood tall and straight.

One hand dangled at his side, the other cradling a delicately crafted portable energy gun. The fully charged muzzle pointed directly into the elevator, the finger on the trigger poised to pull the trigger. Before Mingyu could react, a massive golden mental shield descended, encircling the three of them.

The person on the other side of the passage didn't move.

Mu Baixing frowned, looked at it for a moment, and suddenly chuckled: "Door God?"

The golden spiritual power spread out in all directions. Mu Baixing took the lead and walked towards the man on the other side of the passage.

It was not a real person, but a lifelike holographic projection that was so realistic that it gave Mu Boxing a strange but difficult to trace sense of familiarity.

Mingyu stood behind him, leaned half of his body, looked at the projection in front of him, then looked at Mu Baixing, and a strange feeling arose in his heart.

Mu Baixing and the holographic projection in front of him were of similar height and build. For a moment, Mingyu even thought that if he put a mask on Mu Baixing's face...

He stood before the holographic projection of the last Celtic king, and it was like... looking in a mirror.