The laboratory dome was thoroughly inspected and confirmed to be intact. The underground magma of the dome had been tested and the structure was not damaged. There was no problem with safety.
It would be a big problem if problems occurred with the things that Chen Ming’s spiritual power had repaired.
After waiting for the people arranged by Bai Quan to rearrange a batch of new green plants, Chen Ming moved back into the dome.
Continue with the previous life.
Although he continued to pay attention to Hu Yi's affairs.
But it is not easy for him to investigate now, and there is no suitable way to investigate, so the investigation has to be left to Bai Quan.
He did want to ask the boss.
But after thinking about it, I decided to give up.
After all, the source of the problem lies with him. It is his existence that leads to the conflicts and problems between the boss and Hu Yi.
If he can solve it himself, he shouldn't bother others.
What's more, the boss is well-informed. It is impossible for Hu Yi to come to assassinate him without his boss's knowledge.
Since the boss hasn't contacted me, it is very likely that he wants him to handle it personally.
He is now able to do this.
However, it is impossible for Chen Ming to focus all his energy on Hu Yi.
If you are a thief for a thousand days, there is no reason to guard against thieves the day before.
Hu Yi was taken away by a psychic. How can we chase him in such a big empire? We can only investigate slowly to see if there are any clues to follow.
In the process of tracking clues, Chen Ming still has a lot to do.
He not only had to manufacture the supporting facilities of the core of Purgatory, but also finish writing the thesis.
He also had to give actual demonstrations and cooperate with the researchers and scholars who came from the Fourteenth Legion's headquarters to test how the mechanical race was controlled by his psychic power.
According to the original plan, Bai Quan should have called Chen Ming yesterday.
But because of Hu Yi's incident, for safety reasons, they decided to wait until the three-day geologically active period was over.
It was today that Bai Quan sent the thousand-plus researchers to Chen Ming.
Among these researchers, those who wanted to stay were called by Chen Ming to the dome office building individually.
Chen Ming planned to meet them all in person one by one.
This is not an audit. The audit has already been done on the resume.
Chen Ming simply met with each person individually so that he could remember their faces.
It was just a brief meeting and a few words, so the group of more than fifty people soon reached the last one.
When the last researcher came in, Chen Ming suddenly said to him: "I remember you, you are the one who was going to bring the mechanical people here before, Lu Kang."
Researcher Lu Kang's tone was mixed with a hint of excitement: "Mr. Chen Ming, do you still remember me?"
"Remember."
Chen Ming happened to see this face on the list of people who applied to stay, so he chose him.
Of course, it is also because of his youth. At such a young age, he can be a representative and listen to his meetings. He must be excellent in terms of technology.
I just don't know if the people from his original place will scold him.
There are other researchers who are willing to stay here, but they might also be scolded where they originally stayed.
But it doesn't matter. Bai Quan was the one who got scolded. It was also Bai Quan who brought up the matter in the beginning.
Chen Ming stood up from behind his desk, walked up to him, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Okay, you're the last one, go out, the others should be waiting anxiously."
"good."
When Chen Ming came outside.
More than a dozen restrained mechanical creatures have been placed in the square under the dome.
A large number of large equipment are densely installed near these mechanical families, and some people are doing final debugging near the equipment.
These people, together with those using the equipment and the thousands of people watching outside, made the dome look a little crowded.
Fortunately, there is a large broadcast screen near the square that displays images of the mechanical clan and various complex data, so that people outside can see the specific situation.
Of course, each researcher also uses his own terminal to directly connect to the devices in the center of the square, so that he can obtain the most accurate data at the first time.
The large broadcast screen is mainly for show.
Bai Quan, who had just chatted with Chen Ming, was now talking to someone in the crowd.
When he found Chen Ming coming over, he nodded to Chen Ming, and immediately came up with an old man surrounded by many people, and introduced him to Chen Ming: "This is the director of the Mechanical Research Institute under our Fourteenth Corps, Wu Hao, who has made great contributions to the research of the mechanical family."
Wu Hao waved his hands and said, "I don't deserve it. All the contributions were made by everyone in the institute."
Chen Ming has read many papers related to the mechanical family, and the name Wu Hao has appeared frequently in recent decades.
When he was teaching himself mechanical technology, he also referred to many papers in which he participated.
So Chen Ming took the initiative to extend his hand and said, "Hello, Director Wu."
Wu Hao immediately shook Chen Ming's hand enthusiastically and said, "It is true that the world is ruled by young people nowadays. One generation is better than the other. This is the trend of history. We have to rely on you to figure out things that we cannot research."
"You're overpraising me. I only gained this advantage by relying on my psychic powers."
"That's your talent, and it can't be said to be an exaggeration."
Chen Ming smiled, pulled back his hand and said, "Then let's not keep Director Wu and so many people waiting. Let's start early and finish early."
After receiving the signal that all the users of the equipment were ready, Chen Ming went to the center of the venue and approached the mechanical people trapped by the electromagnetic restraint devices.
As he got closer, he could easily observe the appearance of the surrounding equipment.
It's just that these devices seem to be old devices that have been used before, rather than newly prepared devices.
That should have been brought here by these researchers, not obtained by Baiquan.
The equipment that Bai Quan gave Chen Ming a few days ago was 100% new equipment, there is no doubt about that.
The types of these devices are mainly monitoring devices, which can record the details of everything that happens to the mechanical people.
Although the equipment is a bit old, judging by the number and types, as well as the degree to which they are arranged densely without interfering with each other, it shows that a lot of thought has been put into it.
It can only be said that psychic networks, swarm thinking, and individual consciousness, these terms that seem to have nothing to do with machines, have troubled the researchers, scientists, and scholars who study machines for many years.
With the opportunity that Chen Ming is giving now, we can find out what is going on with the mechanical race.
If they don't prepare more equipment, it would be a shame for all the hard work they have put in over the years.
In addition, there are many devices in this batch that Chen Ming has never seen before, and most of them emit faint spiritual energy fluctuations.
All of them are psionic devices.
Although the mechanical race does not have psychic fluctuations, just like the things controlled by Chen Ming do not emit psychic fluctuations, but after someone tested that the complete blockade of psychic energy is useful for the mechanical race, all necessary preparations should be made.
I just don’t know what the specific functions of these psychic devices are.
Chen Ming took a closer look at the device and then turned his attention back to the Fiery Silkworm that was closest to him.
Although the researchers have also prepared samples of various mechanical species, ranging from small to large.
But Chen Ming felt that it would be better to choose something somewhat iconic at the beginning. A mechanical race like the Fiery Silkworm, which is relatively large in size and can easily leave a deep impression on people on the battlefield, is a good choice.
After selecting the target, Chen Ming continued to move towards the interior of the electromagnetic restraint device.
All the metal objects on his body had been removed in advance, so there was no need to worry about him being locked up.
However, his steps suddenly paused halfway, and then he continued to approach as if nothing had happened.
No one noticed Chen Ming's little action.
Just at the moment when Chen Ming reached out to touch the Fiery Silkworm in front of him.
The signal light of the electromagnetic restraint device above his head suddenly began to flash rapidly, and finally went out completely.
The researcher who was controlling the equipment nearby had a brain freeze for a moment, and immediately shouted to Chen Ming with a cracked voice: "The electromagnetic restraint device is out of order! Back off!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the researchers nearby dropped their equipment and ran away.
His movements were so skillful that it didn't seem like it was the first time he had encountered this situation.
The fiery silkworm in front of Chen Ming had already escaped.
However, at the moment when the fiery silkworm escaped, a small-scale explosion suddenly occurred on its body, and several weak electric arcs flashed on the surface of the fiery silkworm.
This is an electromagnetic pulse bomb that was originally set up to affect the mechanical race and paralyze them.
But it seems that due to the venue, the arc of the electromagnetic pulse explosion was a bit too weak.
This power was not able to completely paralyze the Fiery Silkworm, but instead paralyzed the surrounding equipment, especially the electromagnetic restraint device which was the first to bear the brunt.
Fortunately, Chen Ming's hand was already on the electromagnetic restraint device.
The visual sensors of the eleven mechanical clans present, except for the Fiery Silkworm, had just started to turn and immediately locked onto Chen Ming, who was closest to them and had the highest hatred value.
Their movements froze.
But the Fiery Silkworm that escaped first had already broken free from the restrictions of the electromagnetic restraint device. Its movements were a little faster, and it sprayed raging flames at Chen Ming.
Although the other researchers were standing at a long distance from the beginning, the fire of the Fiery Silkworm did not cause any harm to anyone else.
But Chen Ming's figure had been completely engulfed by the flames.
Baiquan's smiling expression disappeared, bloodshot appeared in his eyes, and anger instantly filled his mind.
But as a scorching red light emerged from the body of the Fiery Silkworm, flames also enveloped the Fiery Silkworm. The surrounding vegetation was ignited by the flames, and thick smoke completely covered the square.
The soldiers who were accompanying him for protection immediately surrounded Baiquan.
I want to take Baiquan to the second underground floor for refuge first.
But before they could move, the flames inside the dome were instantly extinguished, and the thick smoke from the burning vegetation around was dispersed by the dome's circulation system in a few seconds.
Chen Ming, wearing a locust power armor, stood intact in the smoke that had just dissipated.
In a place invisible to everyone, under the armor on Chen Ming’s chest, the Purgatory Core was embedded.
The reason why the fire dissipated instantly.
The Fiery Silkworm, which had struggled to break free from its restraints and resisted, now lay there like a good dog.
The surrounding electromagnetic restraint equipment has all been controlled by Chen Ming, and maintenance has been completed. All the mechanical species are firmly locked in place.
In just a few seconds, Chen Ming had analyzed the reason why the electromagnetic restraint equipment suddenly failed.
Some parts in the equipment are outdated.
Chen Ming had already figured out what was going on when he paused before. This was another incident that was specially planned by someone.
Although this incident seems to be just an accident, it is normal for equipment to age after being used for a long time.
There is no substantial evidence to prove that this was man-made.
But combined with what happened just two days ago, the fact that the equipment was aging and it would have failed sooner or later, but it happened at this time.
It's really hard not to be suspicious.
Chen Ming firmly believes that there are no such coincidences in the world.
He already knew that the incident was definitely not over, but he was really surprised that a second incident would happen so soon.
In fact, Chen Ming was originally considering whether to take the initiative to trigger this danger. After all, he had sensed the danger in advance, and as long as he wanted, he could eliminate the danger directly.
After all, this happened on Baiquan's territory, so Baiquan would definitely be responsible if any accident happened.
It would definitely be best for Baiquan if the problem could be eliminated before it becomes visible.
But Chen Ming thought about it in the moment he paused and found that this was not the case for him.
Some things must happen before they can be better investigated. If something does not happen, then Lieutenant General Baiquan will have no legitimate reason to investigate something that has never happened.
So after thinking that these devices were most likely brought by the researchers, Chen Ming took the initiative to take this risk.
However, with so many people watching, it is impossible for Chen Ming to say directly that someone is trying to cause trouble.
He just wanted Baiquan's help, not to slap Baiquan in the face.
So after Chen Ming got the situation under control, he immediately connected to the broadcasting equipment and broadcast inside the dome: "Don't panic, the problem has been solved."
"There are aged parts in the electromagnetic restraint device, which has caused the voltage of the restraint device to be unstable and the output power to deviate. It has been repaired and we can continue."
Chen Ming's voice covered the slightly chaotic dome.
The researchers here are all smart people and they quickly settled down.
After confirming that there were no problems, everyone returned to their posts quickly to re-inspect and debug the equipment as if they were experienced.
Although these mechanical researchers seem to have gotten used to this situation, mechanical people are indeed prone to problems.
But Chen Ming still didn't think his idea was wrong.
While re-debugging the equipment, Chen Ming came to Bai Quan who was talking on the phone.
Bai Quan's expression was now cold. After Chen Ming came over, he hung up the phone and said to Chen Ming immediately, "This is my problem."
Bai Quan obviously had the same idea as Chen Ming.
This incident was not an accident, but a deliberate arrangement by someone.
Chen Ming didn't rush to respond to Bai Quan's words of taking the initiative to take responsibility. After looking around to see if there were any extra people nearby, he said, "It's not certain yet."
"Let me ask you a few questions. Did you bring all these devices from the headquarters?"
"right."
Bai Quan quickly admitted this, just as Chen Ming had guessed.
"Then you don't have many people doing mechanical research here?"
"Not much. Although you know the situation here, selecting representatives to attend the meeting is different from the overall relocation of the laboratory. The few researchers we have here are all very busy."
Chen Ming asked again: "Have you checked it?"
"After the most stringent port entry screening."
"Oh, that's our problem, not yours. The conditions here make it impossible to tell that there's something wrong with the equipment."
Chen Ming helped Bai Quan get rid of the blame.
"Then it doesn't look like Hu Yi did it. He had already restrained himself before and didn't affect other people. It's unlikely that he would release such a dangerous mechanical body in a place with nearly a thousand people. Who do you think did it?"
"Who benefits from this? Who loses from this? Whoever can gain deeper interests behind all this is likely to do this."
"Do you have any ideas?"
"Maybe a little."
"Okay, we'll talk about it later. We have something else to do now."
Chen Ming glanced at the place not far away where thousands of researchers were gathered.
They are all smart people, and they seem to be used to accidents when studying mechanical people.
The mechanical tribe didn't cause any impact just now, and there was no stampede.
The progress of re-debugging the equipment is also very fast, and Chen Ming can immediately start controlling the mechanical family for the second time.
Bai Quan didn't say much when he saw this, but just echoed: "Indeed."
After waiting for a while, Chen Ming suddenly asked again: "Where is Director Wu?"
"He's fine. He was protected by other researchers right away. He wasn't frightened at all."
"He's the most important person here, right?"
"right."
"Well, then the equipment I saw other than the equipment I originally ordered should be what he asked to bring."
"Please ask him for me who provided him with the equipment he brought with him, and who dared to give him the outdated equipment."
When Baiquan heard the word "aging", he frowned and promised: "I'll ask."
After Baiquan agreed, the two of them waited calmly for another ten minutes.
When the researchers on the other side began to disperse one after another, Chen Ming said, "It's almost done. Let's finish the work as soon as possible. To be honest, I'm a little panicked if so many people die before I die."
"I'm also panicking. Those who can come to participate are either important figures in the research of the mechanical race or have made contributions. Losing any of them will be a loss."
"Speed up."
This time when Chen Ming began to control the mechanical clan, no unexpected incidents occurred.
Under the watch of many people and the monitoring of instruments and equipment, Chen Ming completed the control of the mechanical clan.
Some additional testing was completed in conjunction with this.
All data is recorded and will be shared across the empire later.
Baiquan took most of the people away after the incident was over.
The other fifty or so people who stayed behind and the think tank provided by Bai Quan were arranged to move into the dome by Chen Ming and a secretary specially assigned by Bai Quan to help Chen Ming.
Basic living facilities had been arranged two days in advance.
There is basically nothing that researchers cannot take care of themselves.
Chen Ming just needs to hand over the task to them.
When Chen Ming selected the people, he had already arranged their respective jobs.
Anyway, this dome has a laboratory building and a laboratory, so there is so much space that there is no need to worry about not having enough space for people.
These researchers came here mainly to participate in Chen Ming's research on the mechanical family, so Chen Ming arranged for them to take over part of the design tasks of the Purgatory Engine.
Revealed some data of Purgatory's core supporting equipment to the assistants.
They are all researchers from the Mechanical Clan. Since Bai Quan let them here and didn't remind him, it means that it doesn't matter if these researchers know about the Purgatory Core.
Of course, Chen Ming did not show the key research results to others. Only he could complete the most important part of this thing.
That night.
After arranging the researchers, Bai Quan came to Chen Ming again.
I sat with Chen Ming in a lounge on the second underground floor that Chen Ming had specially arranged for him.
Bai Quan took a bite of the green food on the table, which Chen Ming said he brought with him when he came here before. It was a local specialty he found when he was exploring outside. Then he said to Chen Ming, "I asked Director Wu."
"What did he say?"
"The process he described was a little bit bizarre."
"Director Wu said that he applied for a new set of equipment. There is no problem with that. I have looked at his application form."
"Then when the goods were being loaded, Director Wu said he had personally gone to the site to inspect them and there were no problems. He also recorded videos and conducted random inspections."
"The problem arose when we were unloading the cargo from the ship, and by then all the equipment had become old equipment."
"He didn't have much contact with me and thought I took kickbacks, so he didn't dare tell me and only reported it to the headquarters privately."
"Then he arranged for people to check all the old equipment he had, and put them into use after finding no problems."
Chen Ming interrupted, "The aging of key parts will not go unnoticed. There must be someone with a problem among these 1,000 people. We need to check with the person in charge of the electromagnetic restraint device maintenance."
"We checked it. It was done by one of Director Wu's apprentices."
"Captain Wu's apprentice?"
"Yes, I heard that he is Director Wu's youngest apprentice. We cannot alert him, so I will leave him alone for now. The problem at our headquarters is more serious."
"I don't believe that a batch of equipment could be swapped without an insider."
"so?"
Baiquan was silent for a while and then said, "I can only investigate first, but the result... cannot be guaranteed."
"The more I get involved in high-level things and politics, the more powerless I feel. Often, unless I can get evidence that can directly bring someone down, everything else is just empty talk."
Chen Ming asked back: "So you mean that some high-ranking officials in the 14th Corps do not want to see the current situation?"
"…Just a guess…"
Chen Ming shook his head and didn't delve into it any further.
"Forget it, let's not talk about this. At least I have some good news. With these new people, the Purgatory Core should be ready soon."
Baiquan's tense expression relaxed a little, and he said, "I'm looking forward to it."
After Bai Quan left, several people from the think tank also came to Chen Ming's lounge.
Chen Ming had already thought about his argument before, so when he met them, he said directly: "Your idea has the potential to be implemented, but I need more details."
Yan Ze, the representative of the think tank, immediately said: "We don't know much about your psychic power at the moment. If you need more details, we may ask you to take a psychic test or explain it in more detail."
"I know, that's why we asked you to come here. We'll have plenty of time to chat in the evening."
(End of this chapter)