Chapter 807 Gene Fusion
"This floor is mainly responsible for the fusion of insect and human genes. Over there are various insect specimens. Some existed before the apocalypse, and some are the products of mutation after the apocalypse." Pang Ansheng served as a tour guide conscientiously and began the introduction from the first laboratory.
From the place he pointed out, one could clearly see a layer several meters high. Inside were mini glass boxes with a ladder next to them. There were two people in white coats lying on the ground, a man and a woman who looked to be in their twenties.
"This is a large ecological box, and inside it are live insects. They should be unconscious by now. Those two are intern researchers who are responsible for feeding them."
The next room looked not much different from this one, except that each box was a little bigger. I originally thought it was also an insect, but then I heard Pang Ansheng say, "These are some creatures that still have experimental value after genetic fusion failed."
Not understanding what he meant, Lu Weiyi pushed the door open and entered. As he got closer, he discovered that each box was deeper and wider, and that in the deepest part were humanoid creatures hiding as if they were hiding.
The closest one was a middle-aged man with a mosquito-like mouthpart, wings on his back, and mosquito-like legs growing on both sides of his body, but his smooth body looked like a human.
Under the glass, like a ward label, it said, "03-211, Common Mosquito Fusion."
There is a clip similar to a medical record hanging next to it. When it is opened, it records the tests conducted daily, including what drugs were given, the changes in the experimental subjects and their status.
"I heard that this man is from a nearby base and is a mutant. It is said that he is the captain of a team. He killed several security guards who brought him back. After coming here, he struggled and injured several researchers. They let him fuse part of the genes with the mosquito."
This is nothing short of an insult in disguise.
Pang Ansheng was not tall, and he needed to keep tiptoeing to reach the height that a normal person could see. However, he knew the situation inside with just one glance.
Lu Weiyi opened the record and saw the entire experimental process.
After the injection of the fusion fluid, his fusion is unstable. At the beginning, he will keep switching between mosquito and human. This is a very painful and exhausting process. During this period, in order to ensure stability, researchers will inject a series of unproven and theoretically feasible drugs according to his condition.
"On March 10, 211 used willpower to resist the transformation into a beast, but his wings were forcibly torn off after they grew out. The doctor demanded that he be taught a lesson."
"On March 11, two doses of growth-promoting drugs and two doses of combined fertility-inducing drugs were injected. Cell activity was enhanced and the wings were fully regrown in two hours. 211 fainted several times."
"On March 12, we will test the flight capability. 211 is not cooperating, so we will inject gene fusion agent here."
"On March 13, the mouthpart transformation sign appeared."
…
"He was the one who resisted most fiercely, probably... about half a year, and then..." Pang Ansheng had a wooden look on his face, a kind of compromise after being tortured and accepting his fate, "He went crazy."
Lu Weiyi glanced at him. Pang Ansheng couldn't understand the meaning of his eyes. He wanted to smile in a flattering way, but he couldn't smile in this environment, so he could only avoid him.
"When the fusion potion takes effect... it's extremely painful, as if the cells in my body are melting..." Pang Ansheng couldn't help but hug himself tightly, his teeth chattering unconsciously.
This is a post-traumatic stress response.
Lu Weiyi didn't know what happened to him, but Ning Yuan, a soldier, knew it clearly and immediately shouted to divert his attention, "Can anyone inside be saved?"
"...I don't know." Pang Ansheng reacted a little slowly. "After we seize the research institute, we want them to try to study it again. Whether it's recovering to be human or completely turning into an animal, it's better than being in this state of being neither human nor ghost."
Following his gaze, they saw from the box a mantis with pincers on its head and spider legs but a human upper body, and another one that had merged with a centipede so that half of its body was in the shape of a centipede and the other half was a real human. They had completely different body shapes and even skin colors, but they were perfectly merged into one, looking weird and harmonious.
They hid in the innermost part of the box, as if afraid of being seen. Even when they were unconscious, they curled up as much as possible. It was an insecure posture, but it was not surprising when you think about it. Where could they feel safe in such a place?
After taking a look around, Lu Weiyi walked towards the next one. There were still some semi-finished products next to him, several of them in a row. Pang Ansheng finally said, "All of these can be successfully transformed."
They went in and took a look. The insects inside were slightly larger than normal insects, but other than that there was no difference. It was hard to tell that they were transformed from human form.
Lu Weiyi asked the same question he had asked before: how could one tell whether they were primitive insects or modified humans?
"There is a testing instrument here. I don't understand the principle, but I can see it after testing." Pang Ansheng did not hide it this time.
"They are already able to convert, why are you still keeping them locked up?" Ning Yuan asked.
"They have not yet been able to switch at any time. Some require a certain time interval, and some body parts cannot be switched uniformly..." Seeing that Ning Yuan didn't understand, he glanced around, led them to a cicada, opened the record book next to it, and turned to the end.
It clearly states that a two-hour interval is required between the body and the head.
"..."Lu Weiyi.
"This is not a success, or rather, it has not yet fully reached their successful existence."
"What about you guys?"
"We don't count either. What they call success is being able to transform between animals and humans at any time without any restrictions. For us, the transformation is extremely painful, and frequent transformations can easily lead to death."
As they were talking, they came to the place where they were blocked by several huge mutant animals. The snake among them had regained its human form, and its body was wet as if covered with mucus.
"Is this the security here?" Ning Yuan asked.
"Yes, after becoming experimental subjects, they were injected with animal fusion genes."
Ning Yuan said in a strange tone, "You are a group of small creatures, but you allow them to be injected with carnivore genes?" No wonder you will be suppressed again.
Pang Ansheng smiled bitterly, "The gene fusion of insects has been listed as a failure. They... generally have a short lifespan, and no matter how successful the fusion is, they won't live long."
"This place was originally set up to research weapons that would aid in combat. Relying on these insects that can be crushed to death with one foot... hehe... this experiment has long been banned. We also don't want to see those who are still breathing die, so we're trying to keep them alive," Pang Ansheng murmured here, "it won't last much longer."
"Hmm?" Ning Yuan.
"The research and development of various medicines requires raw materials. We don't have that ability, so we can only focus on those who have a better chance of survival."
After a tour of the third floor, Pang Ansheng took them to the fourth floor, which was of a similar scale, except that the animals here were larger.
It was like hijacking a zoo, and some species that shouldn't exist here were collected.
There are more experimenters here. Chen Xing and Zhao Gang who were sent to this floor did not kill all of them. Zhao Gang relied on his powerful supernatural powers to freeze them all.
After a rough walk, Lu Weiyi had the two unconscious people taken back for unified placement.
Several people looked at Wen Jing who came out with them, but he seemed not to notice. His eyes lingered on every room he passed by, as if he wanted to remember everything in his mind.
Ning Yuan looked at Lu Weiyi inquiringly, and Lu Weiyi shook his head at him. From the moment he followed him out, it meant that Wen Jing was interested in this place.
Anyone who finds themselves in such an environment will want to know more information. Even if you point it out directly at this point, the other party will find an excuse to follow you, so there is no need to waste the effort.
"Let me take them back," Li Qing offered.
After everyone left, they headed towards the fifth floor. After Ning Yuan thought about it, he felt something was wrong. "The number of people here doesn't seem to match the teammates you mentioned?"
Even if some of them turned into small insects and hid in the corners, they still were not enough for the more than 3,000 people.
"..."Pang Ansheng.
"You won't include those semi-finished products in cages, right?" Ning Yuan was a little confused.
"..."Pang Ansheng.
This surprise made Lu Weiyi unable to help but look at him. Even without him asking, Ning Yuan had already asked the third stabbing question, "How did you take this place in the first place? These people don't look like fools, right?"
Pang Ansheng gritted his teeth and exhaled deeply, "At that time, the internal personnel here defected, killed some people, opened the locks of all the laboratory doors, and created chaos..."
"No wonder!" Ning Yuan thought, just based on the fact that they chose the animals with the strongest fighting power for experiments, one can imagine the abilities and IQ of these people.
It just happened to be encountered by them, otherwise it would be the material that would be locked up again in the laboratory sooner or later.
"Captain Lu, you said before that you met someone who could transform between human and animal. Could it be..." Wen Jing spoke at an inopportune time.
Lu Weiyi felt that he really shouldn't tell these bastards and should just let them die.
Pang Ansheng immediately looked over with hope, "Have you seen them? What about the information they carried?"
"What information?" Wen Jing asked.
"The people who defected were the researchers here. They took away 80 percent of the research data and many advanced scientific research instruments. This also caused our subsequent research to stagnate." After Pang Ansheng explained, he looked at Lu Weiyi again.
Lu Weiyi shook his head and said, "When I met them, they were almost dead. They only asked a few questions before they were killed by the pain of deformation."
Pang Ansheng sighed with some regret, "Maybe it would be easier if they were still here."
"So many researchers can't be defeated by a defector, right?" Ning Yuan knew that even if Lu Weiyi said this, Wen Jing would inevitably become suspicious, so he tried to change the subject as much as possible.
"They detonated some places at that time, and many researchers died."
After chatting for a while about the situation at that time, they went to the fifth floor.
Compared to the two floors above, the fifth floor is much higher. Looking up, it can reach at least the fourth floor.
Although it is called a laboratory, it is more like a large mutant creature breeding farm, with three-meter-tall mutant sheep, five-meter-tall mutant horses, and even a seven-meter-tall lynx.
The spacious laboratory became crowded with all these creatures, especially one of them which was a mutated giraffe. Its neck alone was six or seven meters long. Looking at its long legs curled up on the ground, with its neck tilted, you could imagine how difficult it was.
“This is where the genes of the mutated animals after the apocalypse are collected and raised,” Pang Ansheng introduced.
"Does it need to collect genes and use them immediately?" Ning Yuan felt sorry for these animals.
"No, but the doctor said they haven't fully evolved yet. The genes of the evolved creatures after the apocalypse have changed, so they are kept for comparison."
"Incomplete evolution? What does that mean?"
"This is their description of the current era, saying that zombies are just the product of failed evolution," Pang Ansheng said, then he thought of something and said, "But this was before. Some time ago, they encountered a very powerful zombie. That zombie had human consciousness, could communicate, and could control zombies."
"After they encountered it, they began to overturn their previous statements, saying that all their previous statements were wrong and that zombies were a new species that could adapt to survival better than humans." A hint of sarcasm appeared on Pang Ansheng's face, but Ning Yuan had no intention of paying attention.
He was thinking of another person, "What did the zombie you encountered look like? What was its name?"
Pang Ansheng shook his head and said, “I don’t know.”
Seeing that Ning Yuan was interested, he briefly described the situation at that time.
The team that went out to collect supplies encountered powerful mutant animals. In order to escape, they used the zombies controlled by them to clean up the mess, but they were discovered by conscious zombies.
"He was probably dissatisfied with the zombies being manipulated to die, so he targeted the team and wanted to find out the truth," Pang Ansheng said, "The people in the team didn't know he was a zombie at first. He looked no different from an ordinary person."
"At the time, we were asking researchers to find a way to help us recover, and we needed test subjects..."
"You just captured the person?" Ning Yuan thought of what Lu Weiyi said that the kind of drug they used was also effective against zombies, and suddenly he was at a loss for words.
"Yes," Pang Ansheng now thinks that he was unlucky. "After they came back to check, the doctor told them that it was a zombie."
"After waking up, they found that the zombie could communicate and was at a very high level, so they wanted to control him to serve the researchers."
"Didn't the higher level attack you?"
"There are things here that absorb superpowers. You should have felt it. If you stay here for too long, your superpowers will be exhausted. The same goes for zombies."
"And then?"
At this time, Pang Ansheng had already brought them to the sixth floor. As soon as they entered, they saw densely packed zombies imprisoned inside.
At first glance, it looked like they had entered a zombie den. If they hadn't seen them lying unconscious on the ground forming a messy hill, they would have definitely taken action immediately.
Looking at the situation, what else do they not understand? Here they are studying the genetic fusion of animals and humans, and at the bottom they are studying the control of zombies.
If they had not taken control of the entire research institute so quickly, these zombies here would probably have become victims for them.
After thinking about this clearly, Ning Yuan's face became much colder. If the time goes on any longer and their superpowers are exhausted, letting them face so many zombies would be tantamount to sending them to death.
Pang Ansheng looked at the countless zombies in front of him and said, "Later... he controlled the zombies here, used them to create chaos and left. A lot of us died that time."
"It won't be death, right? You are so kind that you can keep a half-dead person. You can also raise a companion who turns into a zombie and control him as a zombie, right?" Ning Yuan said with sarcasm in his tone.
"..." Pang Ansheng moved his lips and said after a while, "We will not be infected by the zombies' energy."
"What did you say...?" Ning Yuan was surprised.
Not only him, Wen Jing was also shocked by the news and turned to look at Lu Weiyi's reaction.
Seeing his expressionless face, Wen Jing asked directly, "Could it be that the zombie energy-releasing potion in your base was developed through this research?"
As if he had heard something out of the ordinary, Pang Ansheng turned his head to look at Lu Weiyi with a look of surprise, followed by a hint of admiration, the kind of look one would have when looking at an idol.
Lu Weiyi shook his head and said, "That was a research project that was started at the beginning of the apocalypse, and it just happened to be discovered."
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