Chapter 110: The Source of Nutrient Tanks, Nan Qi
"Where's my terminal? Where's my terminal?"
Morse opened his eyes and touched his neck, but didn't feel the pendant he was carrying. His eyes widened instantly, and without caring about his body that was about to fall apart, he struggled to sit up, alarming the insects guarding him.
The caretaker rushed over, subdued Morse, who was yelling at the terminal with a ferocious expression on his face, and immediately rang the bedside bell.
A few seconds later, a group of figures wearing white coats and masks, who looked like doctors, pushed open the door and walked in.
However, the insects didn't ask Morse what was wrong like a regular doctor would; nor did they ask what had happened to Morse before; nor did they ask about the whereabouts of Experimental Subjects 061 and 062...
The leading insect took out a syringe filled with liquid medicine and stabbed Morse in the neck with it. In the sunlight, the liquid medicine had a green tinge.
Morse seemed to have sensed something and struggled even more violently, yelling something in his mouth.
But as the medicine was injected bit by bit, Morse's pupils dilated and turned blue, veins popped out on his forehead, his face became red and bloodshot, and his body looked like a frozen corpse that had been left for three days, pale, colorless, cold and stiff.
The leading worm pulled out the injection gun, flipped Morse's eyelids, nodded with satisfaction, and said to the worm that came in with him:
"He actually managed to hold up. I didn't expect him to be more useful than his two test subjects. Take him to the First Laboratory and place him in Nutrient Solution No. 6. I'll personally monitor him."
Before he finished speaking, four tall and burly female insects walked out of the group. One of them directly picked up Morse, who was lying stiff on the bed. Another one took the bed sheet and covered Morse from head to toe. Then she and the remaining two insects protected the insect holding Morse and walked out.
One of the remaining insects seemed a little reluctant. Its eyes flickered, and it whispered, "Director, is this really okay? Morse is, after all, a leading researcher in the lab and one of the director's trusted aides. Just like this... I'm afraid I'll be held accountable."
The leader snorted and laughed. "It's already been done. What's the use of accountability? Can they really give up on me for a useless Morse?"
He looked back at the bug that had raised the question, contempt flashing in his brown eyes. "Besides, they'll thank me. Morse was long since crippled, and he's just getting by at the institute relying on the unstable abilities of 061 and 062. These 061 and 062 are also restricted by conditions and can't be mass-produced."
"The higher-ups have long been dissatisfied with Morse, and this time he lost the materials they asked him to bring back. Even if I didn't do this to him, he would be held accountable and completely marginalized..."
At this point, the leading insect reached out and patted the speaker's shoulder. "Dickie, do you know what a so-called genius fears most?"
The noisy bug—Dickie was startled for a moment, then shook his head. The leading bug's brown eyes curved slightly, a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"It's the end of Jiang Lang's talent, a fall from grace, a return to mediocrity," the leading insect said. "The director is in a good mood today, so I'll teach you a little. Do you know why he sent Morse to bring back such important 'material'?"
Dickie swallowed and shook his head honestly: "Please explain this."
The leading insect looked at the few insects who had remained silent throughout the entire process and asked, "What about you? Do any of you know anything?"
The unborn insects looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time: "Please explain this."
The leading insect scanned all the insects' faces. Seeing no insects showing any unusual expressions, he nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile:
"This was a test. Clearly, Morse only completed half of it. He couldn't even manage his own test subjects. He lacked understanding of the mission objectives, and his mission plan was full of loopholes."
"Tell me, if you were in the upper echelons, what would you do to a subordinate who lacks the rigorous principles expected of a researcher, is arrogant, has no ambition, and has poor vision? Would you continue to support him for nothing, or kill him?"
The insects were stunned. The research institute does not keep idle insects. This is something they knew from the first day they entered the institute.
There are usually only two outcomes for researchers who fail to achieve results in the research institute.
The first one is dismissal. This kind of researcher must not have been exposed to the shady research of the institute in order to leave the institute safely.
But because he was dismissed by the institute, other institutes, whether official or private, would not be willing to recruit such a mediocre person.
The second type, those who stay at the institute forever, are researchers who have been exposed to the shady research at the institute.
There must be no risk of these things being leaked out, but the institute cannot support them for nothing, so some of these researchers were assigned to other laboratories to do odd jobs.
Another group of people who were not even wanted by the laboratory for odd jobs ended up being assigned to look after the materials room, incinerator, or archives room.
A very small part is missing.
No one knew where they went or whether they were dead or alive.
But today, they seem to know where this very small group of researchers went.
The leading insect scanned the expressions of the other insects present one by one, then lowered his mask with a finger. A meaningful smile appeared on his overly youthful face. "It seems you understand."
"Researchers who can work at the Imperial Research Institute are all geniuses among geniuses. The difference between geniuses and fools lies in their brains."
The leader pointed to his own head. "A genius's brain has deeper grooves, is heavier, more fascinating, and more valuable for research. Since they can't produce effective value for the empire, then they can provide their own value to the empire. As you know, good experimental materials are hard to find."
The last sentence was said lightly by the leading insect, but it made the scalps of all the insects present tingle, their skulls feel cold, and their nerves hurt like being cut by a knife, as if their brains had been taken out of their heads.
"However, you don't have to be afraid. As long as you can demonstrate your own value, you won't become just another piece of my experimental material," the leading insect said, restraining its smile. "But if any insect slacks off or secretly disobeys, I don't need to explain the consequences..."
All the insects present bowed their heads and answered respectfully in a low voice.
The leading insect looked at them with satisfaction, then set his sights on Dicky, the only one who asked a question. His cold and slippery gaze made Dicky sweat run down his forehead and face and fall into his neat collar.
The leader scoffed, pinching Dicky's chin between his thumb and index finger, forcing him to look up. With his other hand, he patted Dicky's face with a resounding slap. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I really appreciate young researchers like you. You're much more interesting than those yes-men who just agree."
Dicky didn't dare to look into the eyes of the leader insect. His chin was pinched by the leader insect and it hurt. He was also terrified by the leader insect's words and dared not ask any questions.
But he had no more questions. The leader continued to talk to himself, "Want to know why this 'material' is so important? Do you want to use it to test Morse?"
"That's because the higher-ups were stupid. They didn't expect it to get away with it even after the materials were brought to the research institute."
"They thought the material would be gone once it entered the institute. They didn't expect it to not only escape, but also take away 061 and 062. They lost both the wife and the army!"
After these words were spoken, the insects present dared not even breathe, fearing that if they made a sound, they would be stabbed in the neck by the injection gun of the leading insect in the next second.
If you are unlucky, you will be directly incinerated by the high temperature and not even a slag will be left.
Seeing them like this, the leader lost interest and shook off Dicky, looking at them indifferently. "Alright, the time for answering questions is over. I don't want to become an experimental consumable for no apparent reason. I'm sure you all know what to do and what not to say."
"Starting today, your salaries will be doubled, and your families' salaries will also be doubled. As long as you're not too useless, you'll live to old age. Now, go check if that surveillance footage has been restored. I want to find out who took my data."
After saying this, the leading insect turned around and left. The other insects breathed a sigh of relief only when their footsteps could no longer be heard.
The gray-haired male insect next to Dicky wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at Dicky with admiration: "You are so brave. Aren't you afraid of Director Ferguson's anger? We are all small ants. They are fighting like gods, why do you want to butt in on them?"
Dicky pursed his lips and didn't answer. The gray-haired male slapped him on the back angrily: "You're being so annoying again. Weren't you very talkative just now?"
"Alright, you're not making things difficult for Dicky," another male insect said. "He's still young and was sent here right after arriving. It's normal for him to have questions. There's a lot of work to do, so get to work."
After hearing this, the gray-haired male insect let Dicky go, called the other insects to go out together, and left Dicky in the empty ward.
After an unknown amount of time, Dicky, who seemed to be petrified, finally recovered and quietly returned to the first laboratory.
It was already very late, and except for the colleagues who stayed on duty, the huge laboratory was empty.
Dicky skillfully scanned the pupils, fingerprints, and genetic information, passed through three doors, and came to a room with many huge cylindrical culture tanks arranged in an orderly manner.
Under the dim light, one can vaguely see a sleeping figure in most of the culture tanks, most of which are Zerg, with a small number of new humans, rock tribes, and plant tribes.
Some of these figures still show their original race, while others have completely changed.
Dicky kept walking inside. In just a few minutes, the experimental subjects in three culture tanks could not withstand the high-intensity experimental explosion. The tanks were covered with blood of various colors. Rumbling sounds of cleaning and crushing were heard. In just 10 seconds, the nutrient tanks became clean and transparent again.
Dicky continued walking without looking around. When he came to the nutrient tank with Morse's name on it, he stopped for a moment before continuing to walk inside. He was responsible for all the experimental subjects in nutrient solution No. 7, and Morse in nutrient solution No. 6 had nothing to do with him.
He had only taken two steps when he suddenly heard the sound of something hitting the glass. Dicky turned around suddenly and met Morse's eyes, which had turned completely blue and had no pupils, and his face, which had cracked into pieces and looked like it was about to shatter!
"Wow! Is it that scary?" Mellon gnawed on a chicken leg, watching Sly and Slang gradually relax. He stuffed two red bean paste buns into their bowls and continued to ask, "Did it really explode like fireworks? Didn't they even try to save it?"
Sli put the red bean paste buns in Slang's bowl. Slang liked to eat them, so he was embarrassed to take more.
Seeing this, Melon simply pushed a plate of red bean paste buns in front of the two insects and said proudly, "Eat, Nan Qi's cooking is really good, eat quickly."
Sly was infected by Mellon's enthusiasm and finally took the initiative to take a red bean paste bun and put it in his mouth. The soft dough and the sweet and slightly grainy filling made Sly feel the long-lost happiness.
Swallowing the red bean paste bun in his mouth, Sly said carefully: "Our lives are cheap. No researcher will care whether we live or die. Unless we have reached the final stage of the experiment, no researcher will observe us all day."
"But even at the final moment, if we can't bear it, we will still die and there will be no way to save them. Many of our test subjects died in the final step, and those who survived all activated different abilities, but they are very difficult to replicate."
Slang continued, "As far as I know, only subjects 006 and 017 have been cloned. Subject 006's ability is mind control, and subject 017's is said to be water control."
Melon was amazed: "That's amazing, you guys are amazing too."
Pu Bo is an expert in medicine and uses various small animals in his experiments. He pondered and said, "Every step of the experiment is recorded to prevent the same mistakes from being made next time. From what you said, it seems that they don't seem to be able to avoid previous mistakes."
"In other words, the final mistake was inevitable. Without that final mistake, you wouldn't be here."
Sli nodded, confirming Pu Bo's idea.
Pu Bo fell silent. If that was the case, the last step of the experiment was not wrong. The error occurred in the experimental subject. Therefore, after the experimental subject was successful, it was almost impossible to mass produce it. That was why the research institute had experimental subjects of all races.
They are looking for "materials" that can stably mass-produce experimental subjects. Over the years, they must have gained rich experience from many failed attempts.
Carter's change made them focus their attention on Carter. If they failed, they would not lose anything. If they succeeded, they could combine their previous experience and get closer to the truth they wanted. If they were lucky, they might be able to find out the reason why the last step of the experiment failed directly from Carter.
After figuring this out, Pu Bo suddenly looked at Nan Qi. Carter's changes came from Nan Qi's method of refining his spiritual body.
After condensing the spirit body, there is a chance to awaken the innate ability. The level, grade, and number of innate abilities are not fixed. Why does this sound so similar to Sli and Slang?
As if he had noticed something in Pu Bo's eyes, Nan Qi put down the package and looked at Si Li and Si Lang with a smile: "Can I ask you two a question?"
Upon hearing this, Sli and Slang immediately straightened their backs and stood up, as if Nan Qi was a teacher they deeply feared.
Nan Qi was amused by the two bugs' reactions and waved his hand: "Don't be so serious. I won't send you back to the institute if you can't answer. Don't worry."
Nan Qi's gentle voice made Sli and Slang relax a little, but not completely. They knew that Nan Qi and the others did not fully trust them. In order to make them believe in themselves, Sli and Slang were extremely alert and prepared to tell Nan Qi and the others everything they knew.
Taking a deep breath, Sli said: “If you ask, we will not hide it.”
Nan Qi thought about the honorific and didn't correct it. He looked at the two insects with a smile, and said in a gentle voice, "I just want to ask you why you broke into my cave without hesitation."
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