She immediately connected the metal box to the console's dedicated decryption port. An extremely complex, constantly changing, rotating, three-dimensional combination lock interface popped up on the screen, with a biometric verification request superimposed on it.
"Highest-level dynamic quantum code lock, hybrid bio-binding..." Wen Shifei's brow furrowed, her fingers hovering over the virtual keyboard, but she hesitated to move. She looked at her bandaged hands, unable to perform delicate movements, then at the despairing protection level displayed on the screen. A deep sense of powerlessness washed over her. Could it be that the clue was right before her eyes, but her injuries prevented her from unlocking it?
"Use this," Lu Cheneng suddenly said. He extended his mithril left arm to the console, slowly spreading his metal palm, covered with fine energy lines, and aimed it at the biometric scanning area next to the decryption port.
Wen Shifei was stunned: "Your arm...can it work?"
"It's... very special." Lu Chen's voice was filled with a certainty he couldn't quite put into words. He could sense the deep resonance between the mithril arm and the demonic blade, and he could sense the arm's unique affinity for energy and information. Especially after coming into contact with the metal box bearing the chaebol's logo, the mercury-like energy flowing within the arm seemed to become even more active.
Wen Shifei looked at Lu Cheneng's cold, inhuman arm, then at the constantly changing quantum code lock, gritted his teeth and said, "Try it!"
She moved quickly, bypassing the steps that required her fingerprint and iris, and forced the biometric verification request to be directed to Lu Chenen's mithril arm.
Buzz...
The scanning beam swept across the mithril arm.
The wildly changing three-dimensional combination lock model on the screen froze instantly! It was as if the pause button had been pressed!
Immediately afterwards, the countless dots of light that made up the combination lock model began to flicker violently, flickering on and off like a faulty circuit! The entire screen began to jump and distort wildly! The console emitted an overwhelming humming sound and an overload alarm!
"It's... forcibly interfering with the quantum superposition of the code?!" Wen Shifei exclaimed, his eyes filled with disbelief! The energy properties contained in Lu Chen's arm could actually directly disrupt the core mechanism of quantum code!
Click!
A slight crisp sound, like a lock cylinder popping open, came from inside the metal box!
The solidified and flickering combination lock model on the screen instantly collapsed and disappeared like broken glass!
The lid of the metal box slowly and automatically popped open under Wen Shifei's shocked gaze!
Inside the box, there were no weapons or potions, only a thin data chip that glowed with a faint blue light, and a folded piece of waterproof paper with a special texture.
Wen Shifei carefully picked up the data chip with tweezers and inserted it into the console. A large number of encrypted files and communication records instantly popped up on the screen! She quickly scanned them, her expression becoming increasingly solemn, and her breathing gradually becoming rapid!
"We found... the 'Ark'... no, we found part of the truth about the 'Ark' plan!" Her voice trembled, and her eyes flashed with shock and anger. "The chaebols... they're not using the 'Ark' at all! They're... trying to 'tame' it! Or rather... steal the power of the 'Ark'!"
She pulled up a projection of a top-secret document marked "Genesis." "Lu Qiming... the ultimate goal of Project Zero, which he leads, isn't to create a biochemical army! That's just a process and a means! His true ambition... is to use the biochemical soldier Zero as a carrier, using the main control chip in Qingyi's body as a core relay station, to massively and forcibly extract the spiritual energy and spatial distortion energy leaking from the Ark! Convert it into a... nearly infinite, controllable, pure energy! He calls it... 'Source Matter'!"
"Extracting the power of the Ark?!" Lu Chen's brows knitted together, a cold light flashing in his only remaining right eye. This was even crazier than manufacturing weapons!
"That's right!" Wen Shifei pointed at the energy conversion model in the file. "The 'harvest' command...is not just to control the killing of the biochemical soldiers! The deeper command is to use the biochemical soldiers' common connection with the 'Ark' during the killing process, at the cost of their lives and souls, to forcibly anchor and extract the leaked energy of the 'Ark'! Every 'harvest' is to charge Lu Qiming's 'source material' reactor! And Qingyi's chip...is the starting key and energy stabilizer of that reactor! He wants to turn Qingyi...into a living, walking 'Ark' energy absorption and conversion core!"
This bloody truth made the temperature of the entire laboratory drop to freezing point! Lu Qingyi was not just a weapon switch, she herself was a living sacrifice and energy converter designed to extract cosmic-level terrifying power!
"The Black Snake Gang's 'medicine'..." Lu Cheneng pointed to the folded waterproof paper.
Wen Shifei took a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and unfolded the paper. On it was a scribbled list and a few coordinates.
"These are experimental records!" Her voice was cold. "The chaebol is testing the effects of different concentrations and ratios of 'Ark' energy diluent on the physical and mental health of ordinary humans! The Black Snake Gang is their living testing ground! Pump Station 13 of the 'Rotten Sewers'...is not only a delivery point, but also a secret sample collection point! They need to observe the reaction data of those injected amidst the chaos and slaughter! Marcus...is just one of their many test subjects!"
"So, the weakness of the fortress and the chaos in the old city are all part of their experimental field..." Lu Chen's voice was icy cold. All of them were struggling on the cold and grand experimental chessboard of the chaebol!
At this moment, the lab's communicator rang rapidly, and Xiaolin's panicked voice, tinged with tears, could be heard: "Sister Wen! Brother Lu! This is bad! Qingyi...she's unconscious again! And...the chip interface on the back of her neck...is glowing! It's...it's purple!"
Lu Cheneng and Wen Shifei's expressions changed drastically in an instant!
The chip is glowing?! Could this be... a sign of the "harvest" command?! Or has Lu Qiming sensed something and is preparing to forcibly activate Qingyi?!
"Go back to the medical area! Quick!" Lu Chen entropy growled, and his mithril arm suddenly grabbed the magic blade on the operating table, turning around and rushing out of the laboratory like a whirlwind! Wen Shifei didn't care about his fatigue and the injury on his hand, and followed closely behind!
The disguise of power was torn off, revealing a truth darker than the abyss. And the center of the storm once again pointed to the most vulnerable girl.
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