Chapter 153
Star 877 is a small planet located deep in the southern star region.
The Southern Star Region is very vast. There are six large planets, thirty-three medium-sized planets, and one hundred and eighty-nine small planets.
Mu Ling's hometown, Planet 877, doesn't even have a name; it's just a rural planet named with a code name.
Such a small planet doesn't even have a complete starship center. Mu Ling and his team must first reach a medium-sized planet called Guangshi Star in the Southern Star Region, and transfer the ring starship here before they can reach Star 877.
Not only Star 877, but also more than 20 nearby small planets are connected by this ring ship.
At 11pm, Mu Ling walked out of the 877 Starship Station with Xiang Bie, smiling broadly. "Actually, our 877 Star is just a little out of the way. It has everything you need, and the educational resources are pretty good. The School of Life Sciences has a branch here, and I graduated from that school."
They walked and talked until they reached the outside of the starship station. Mu Ling looked at the familiar city streets in front of her and suddenly felt a little melancholy.
It's only been half a year since I left, but it feels like a long time.
Taking a deep breath and calming down, Mu Ling pointed across the street and said, "There are no buses at this time. Let's take a taxi back."
The two got in a taxi, and half an hour later, the car stopped in an old town area.
The old city was not quiet at 11:30. There was a food street outside the block with many night snack stalls.
As soon as Mu Ling and Xiang Bie walked over, someone immediately recognized Mu Ling: "Is that Xiao Ling?"
Mu Ling was stunned, looked at the other party, and said with a smile: "Uncle Wang, long time no see."
"Oh, it really is Xiao Ling."
Others nearby also looked over and were surprised to see it was Mu Ling: "Xiao Ling, I heard you opened a zoo?"
"Mu girl, my grandson said that your zoo has been moved to the God King Planet. Is that true?"
"Xiao Ling, I remember you studied medicine, how come you studied veterinary medicine?"
"Xiao Ling, Xiao Ling, can you take a photo with me? I want to post it on WeChat Moments."
Mu Ling has become popular recently and people in her hometown have also known about it. Mu Ling has lived here for twenty years. Some neighbors even watched her grow up. She did not refuse when they wanted to take photos with her. Anyway, she was often asked to take photos with tourists at the zoo.
After taking photos with everyone, someone noticed Xiang Bie and asked, "Xiao Ling, are you bringing your boyfriend back to burn incense for your grandfather?"
Mu Ling was stunned and looked at Brother Xiang over there. She was about to deny it, but she saw that Brother Xiang had already nodded to the fellow villager who was talking, looking very polite.
Mu Ling: “…”
His nod was like a tacit agreement, and the people around him immediately became more excited.
"She's really pretty."
"Xiao Ling has a good eye."
"What does the boy do?"
Seeing that the topic was starting to get off topic, Mu Ling hurriedly said that she had to go back to put her things away, and ran away with Xiang Bie.
But they were walking in such a hurry that they didn't notice that the owner of a fried skewers stall on the street was looking at them, turning on his computer and making a call.
"Hey, Xiao Ling is back."
-
Mu Ling led Xiang Bie all the way to the alley. Mu Ling pointed ahead and said, "That's my home."
They walked to a locked iron door. Mu Ling took out the key, opened the iron door first, and then opened the security door inside.
On the first floor, there are two doors, just in case.
Because no one had lived there for a long time, a musty smell came out as soon as the door was opened.
Mu Ling frowned and turned on the light, then closed the iron door, but left the security door open. She then opened all the windows so that the room could be ventilated.
Xiang Bie followed her in and stood in the middle of the room.
This is a narrow but tidy one-bedroom apartment. Inside, everything is well tidied. Because the owner will be away for a while, many of the furniture are now covered with white cloth.
Mu Ling went to lift up all the cloths, and Xiang Bie also came forward to help her. After all the furnishings in the room were revealed, Xiang Bie suddenly walked to a big bed and looked at a group photo on the bedside table.
That should be a photo taken several years ago. Mu Ling in the photo looked very young, and next to her, a kind old man with white hair was standing there. They were facing the camera with bright smiles on their faces.
Mu Ling came over at this time, looked at the photo, and pointed it to Xiang Bie: "This is my grandfather. This was taken at the school gate on the day I graduated from middle school."
Xiang Bie said nothing, just turned to look at the girl beside him.
There was no sadness on Mu Ling's face. After so many years, she was used to it.
"My grandfather's belongings are in my room. I'll go get them."
As she said this, she went into the bedroom.
Xiang Bie followed.
As the bedroom light turned on, Xiang Bie saw... a room full of books.
There are really a lot of books. Mu Ling's bedroom is very small, but in addition to a bed, there are three bookcases and a desk. The bookcases are already full, and on the desk, there are two piles of books. The wall is covered with densely packed awards.
I just took a look at a random photo and it showed me the first prize in the Mathematical Olympiad.
Item·Sports Student·Bie: "..."
It was the world of the top students, he didn't quite understand...
"Here." At this time, Mu Ling squatted beside the bed and pulled out a large cabinet from under the bed. There was already a thin layer of dust on the cabinet. He opened the lock and lifted the cabinet open.
Xiang Bie walked over, squatted beside her, and looked at the box full of old things with her.
"These are all my grandfather's belongings: some old books, some old photos, this is the pen he often used, his watch, his reading glasses, and this, his old laptop. Hey, what is this notebook?"
Picking up the hardcover book at the bottom, Mu Ling flipped through it curiously and frowned, "I don't remember my grandfather having this."
Xiang Bie looked at the notebook and said, "It's locked."
Yes, this is a very old-fashioned, lockable notebook, which is rarely seen on the market nowadays.
Xiang Bie searched inside the box and said, "I didn't see the key."
Mu Ling paused, she suddenly touched her pocket and took out the keychain that she had used to open the door.
Because it is an old-style house, their house does not have a fingerprint lock, but a traditional lock.
Mu Ling has been carrying this keychain since she was very young. There are four keys on it: a key for the iron door, a key for the security door, a key for her own bookcase, and a small key.
Mu Ling didn't remember what this small key opened, but she remembered that she had this small key a long time ago. She asked her grandfather what this key was. Her grandfather said it opened a cabinet. She didn't know what cabinet it was. There were many cabinets in the house, so she didn't care and kept it hanging there.
Stroking the small key, Mu Ling pursed her lips and inserted the key into the keyhole of the notebook.
“Crack.”
It’s open.
Mu Ling was a little surprised and immediately turned to the first page of the notebook. Then suddenly, her expression was shocked for a moment.
In the middle of the first page, there was a familiar line of characters written in large characters: [Experimental Subject 0 Observation Record Book.]
Number 0?
Experimental subject?
What is that?
Mu Ling frowned, looked at the words that were obviously her grandfather's handwriting, pursed her lips slightly, and slowly turned to the second page.
July 1st, sunny, arrived at Planet 877. Unit 0 is weakened, and its scales are pale in color, suspected to be an immune response.
Mu Ling's fingers suddenly clenched the edge of the old notebook.
Scales...
Xiang Bie's expression was a little ugly when he saw this. He looked at Mu Ling's expression and called softly, "Mu Ling."
Mu Ling didn't say anything and turned to the next page in silence.
On July 2, No. 0 regained consciousness, remained weak, had diarrhea, and his scales were nearly transparent.
On July 3rd, after taking the medicine, No. 0's condition stabilized. It wasn't rejection, but rather acclimatization.
On July 4th, the scales completely disappeared, fused together like before. This was her third time fusing with a mutant cell. Taking her away was the right thing to do. This kind of experiment is inhumane and shouldn't happen. Experimental subjects like No. 0 shouldn't exist either!
[On July 6, the scales appeared again, and the No. 0 status repeated...]
[On July 19th, community officials came to me and said they wanted to register her. They asked for her name, but she didn't have one, and I didn't know how to choose one. I said, "Number." They registered her as "Ling." Now, her name has become "Mu Ling"... It's okay, it shouldn't affect anything...]
July 21st. The impact is too severe! Now that she has a name, I can't seem to see her normally anymore. Why is she always smiling? I remember that kid Bai Su always cried, and it was so annoying, and he had a runny nose, but she was very clean.
On July 29th, she was able to crawl again. The scales hadn't appeared in ten days, and her vital signs were all normal. It's so pitiful for such a young child to have to receive metabolic fluids for two hours every day, but it's worth it. Once the mutated cells in her body are completely metabolized, she should be able to return to normal. Aqiu has already found an adoptive family. Once she's settled, I can leave.
On August 2nd, the scales reappeared, their color intense, and their metabolism became more difficult. But it was so strange. She was clearly injected with cells from mutant tigers, mutant leopards, and mutant deer, so why did she keep growing pink snake scales?
On August 13th, she grew tiny pink horns on her forehead. Are they deer antlers?
On August 14th, the horns fell off, but the scales remained. I have a wild guess: could this not be her first experiment? Perhaps she'd already undergone other experiments before coming to Lab X. Based on the current data, there are no mutant tiger, leopard, or deer cells in her body. It's more likely that her snake genes devoured the mutant cells that came after her. So, is that why she didn't reject the foreign body?
[August 30th, her snake genes are so stubborn, I can't even find what kind of snake this is from. The data doesn't match. What on earth did she go through before?]
On September 19th, Aqiu urged me, but she can't be adopted now. She has a bigger secret. If I send her away now, she will be abandoned or even sent to another research institution. What should I do?
[On September 26, she could speak and she called me grandpa...]
The data pauses here for a while, and then goes to the next page, where the dates span three months.
[December 18th, it’s very cold today, so cold that our Lingling’s hands are covered with scales. I had no choice but to buy a thermostat overnight. My savings are down to -3,000. A-Qiu won’t give me any money…]
On January 1st, Lingling seemed to know it was New Year's Day. She was so happy all day. I carried her out to watch the fireworks, and she was so excited that the scales on her hands broke out again. I ran home so fast that I sprained my ankle. The medicine cost -150. Oops.
January 2nd. It rained today, and Lingling was startled awake by the thunder. Out of fear, scales started to form on her legs as well as her hands. I held her and comforted her all night. The next day, she had a lumbar muscle strain, and I applied a muscle patch for -410. After standing all night, her sprained foot worsened again, and the medicine cost -600. I still couldn't get through to Aqiu...
On January 12th, Lingling's favorite formula was out of stock. I bought another brand, but she refused to eat it and cried until her neck was covered in scales. I had to ask someone to go to a farther place to buy her favorite formula. The journey took an hour, and she sent me a message saying she had a minor fever and was threatening me. The errand fee was -100, and the formula was -500. Ah Qiu, how can we survive without you, grandparents and grandchildren?
[January 24th, it's so hard to find a job. No one wants a 56-year-old with a one-year-old granddaughter. Damn it, there's no way he can find a job with Mu Huai's identity. He's a loser!]
On January 29th, my milk powder was almost gone, and the neighborhood committee director said they could assign me to guard the gate first. I went back to the living room for nothing, and I was reduced to guarding the gate. I was so angry! But Lingling smiled at Grandpa again today, so I wasn't so angry anymore. Oh, I almost forgot this is the experimental record. The scales still appear and disappear intermittently, with no pattern and no control.
[February 8th, when will Aqiu calm down, when will she transfer money to me, is she really my sister? Is Lingling really her grandniece?]
The record stopped here for a few months and appeared again in May.
[May 10th, even if Lingling is really a mutant like Aqiu said, she won't hurt me. She won't lose her mind. She's not like a beast, she's a human.]
The thick diary, page after page, seems to have no end.
Just as the lights in the Mu family's house were rarely turned on, revealing a warm color in the middle of the night, a few buildings away, on the balcony of a high-rise building, an old woman with white hair was sitting in a wheelchair, holding a telescope and looking at the gate of the Mu family in the distance.
It came quite quickly.
The Night Shadow Bear had only been sent there less than two days ago, but it reacted immediately and was quite sensitive.
The old woman thought so in her heart, put down the telescope again and sighed softly.
Telling her the truth, whether it was right or wrong, she didn't know. For the past twenty years, Bai Huanting had digested all the secrets and dangers himself. He had shouldered everything, yet left her with joy and cheerfulness. This was the granddaughter he had cared for for twenty years, but she couldn't live in ignorance forever.
Bai Huanting also knew this, so he left the key to her.
However, he left the record book with her and let her decide when to tell her.
If this damn old man wasn’t her brother, she really wouldn’t want to care about him!
The old woman turned her wheelchair and went inside to rest.
The wheelchair passed through the living room. On the coffee table, there was an old newspaper that had been lying there for who knows how long.
It was a newspaper from the beginning of last year. The headline of the newspaper was the news that Bai Huanqiu, chairman of the Bai Group, had passed away.
If there was another person in the room at this time, they would find that the graceful old lady in the newspaper looked exactly like the old lady holding the handle and operating the wheelchair at this moment.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
