Chapter 70: Why are you helping me?
The entire biology department experimental area was a concentric circle structure. Area A was the core area, surrounded by dense access control, security checks, and isolation facilities.
Cheng Ming could only take the unusual path as usual. If she couldn’t pass the access control, she would go to the internal pipes and rely on her body’s extraordinary deformation ability to sneak in.
She could sense the distance of the spores and the surrounding movements, and she could also control them. But the spore body, after all, had no eyes and no hearing. If it did not parasitize other living animals, it would be deaf and blind, and would not dare to act rashly. If there were no researchers in the first place, and she had triggered the alarm by rushing in, it would not be worth the loss.
The ventilation pipes were equipped with filter nets, the cable pipes were laid with sensors, and the gas supply pipes had pressure regulating gates, which were not easy to climb. The most important thing was that, unlike in the research institute, she was not familiar with the structure here. She could only stop and go, adapting to the local conditions, and occasionally spreading her mycelia to explore the way. Fortunately, the Fish-Fungus had grown a lot now, and the range it could explore at one time was much larger than before.
As she got closer, her perception became clearer. She had Xiao Ming slightly move the mycelia of the spore body on the other side to explore the nearby environment.
It seemed to be in a narrow rectangular box, with walls on all four sides, and the other two sides were spacious, and she had not yet touched the bottom.
Passing by another fork, she saw the open space below through the dense metal net and asked the Fish-Fungus inside her, “Do you want to go out?”
“No, keep going forward,” the food was close at hand, and Xiao Ming was a little excited. “We’re almost there.”
Where on earth was this spore mycelium?
Cheng Ming frowned and pondered as she moved forward, and she vaguely felt that something was wrong.
At this moment, rumble!
A loud noise came from both ends, and it spread out like ripples on the surface of the water. More rumbling sounds echoed, overlapping with each other, and rushed into her cochlea, causing a tinnitus-like impact.
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep—
The alarm of the biology department sounded with its special rhythm and was transmitted to the entire experimental area at once.
Area A, main laboratory No. 1.
Buzz. The bracelets of the few people present vibrated at the same time.
Qu Ying raised her hand and saw a mission message.
“What’s happening?” Qiu Ju received the emergency assembly notice and quickly answered the communication.
“Team leader, the worm sample is missing! I’m afraid it has escaped! In addition, the R&D department has detected something in its abdomen. Please take a look…”
A holographic projection popped up, and the pale neural network was scanned and reconstructed. A hazy organism appeared in the field of vision in a curled up form.
The people at the scene were all experts in their field, and they recognized at a glance that this was a sub-parasite, a young fish that had developed from a unisexual egg containing the neural bud of an adult Jiao!
“Seal off Area B immediately and evacuate the irrelevant personnel,” Qiu Ju said, giving an order as she walked out. “Are there any missing or injured people?”
With a history of parasitism, the situation had suddenly become dangerous. This fish egg could even change its appearance according to its genes after drilling into a human body. If it were to escape, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Before she went out, she turned back and added a reminder, “For safety’s sake, everyone, please don’t move around for the time being.”
The researcher from the biology department quickly followed, saying, “Team Leader Qiu, I’ll go with you to Area B!” Hearing that it was related to mermaids, this person’s eyes lit up.
Qu Ying looked at her bracelet for two seconds and then looked up and asked, “Has the ‘tracker’ arrived?”
The tracker referred to MM221.
The words were directed at Professor Cheng.
Since it was a fish egg monster, of course, there were specialists in the field. It would be futile for her to go out and not find the target.
The executors of the evolution department had a collaborative obligation when they encountered missions from other departments during non-direct missions, and it was not completely mandatory. The basic principle was that those who were closer had priority, and those with suitable abilities were dispatched.
The code names during the operation could intuitively distinguish each other’s ability focus.
The latter glanced at her and said unhurriedly, “I’m calling her now.”
This meant that 221 had indeed come to the Security Department, although she had not entered the experimental area.
Qu Ying understood, and the corners of her lips curled up into a strange smile.
The corners of her eyes also rose slightly, with a mocking and inexplicable look, “You really take her with you wherever you go.”
…
A straight-line distance of sixty-seven meters, in a ventilation pipe behind a thick building barrier.
Swish. A faint gas emission sound was not obvious in the noisy chaos inside and out.
The good news was that the spore mycelium had been recovered, and for the time being, she didn’t have to worry about Xiao Ming doing anything incredible because of hunger, nor did she have to worry about what would happen if the Security Department got a hold of the live fungus with her gene sample.
The bad news was that the current situation was very bad.
The locking devices at the key nodes at both ends of the passage were activated, the metal gates fell, and the airtight valves were automatically locked, trapping her.
Cheng Ming quietly leaned against a corner of the passage. The vibration of the pipe wall made her nerves highly tense. She couldn’t see clearly, but her other senses were greatly mobilized. The ends of her mycelia extended, and she found that the air flow had changed.
The biology department’s emergency plan had been triggered, and it was probably releasing anesthetic or sedative drugs.
She was annoyed for a moment. She should have been alert when she found that she still had to go into the pipe. This was troublesome. The worm had escaped and was no longer in the laboratory, which had alarmed the entire experimental area.
She was about to face a high-intensity search.
Listening to the piercing, sharp sound from outside the wall that was transmitted along the solid and echoed in the narrow pipe, she cautiously lowered her body, slowed her breathing, and did not move, thinking about what to do next.
This section of the passage was wet and had a pungent, fishy smell, which was the trace of the worm crawling.
The laboratory often stored various chemical reagents and corrosive gases, so the pipe material was corrosion-resistant. But she hadn’t noticed this when she had first arrived. She had supported herself against the wall with her hand, and her five fingers had been burning. It still hurt now.
However, the spore mycelium that had decomposed the worm seemed to have gained some acid corrosion resistance. After being recovered by Xiao Ming, it had spread out and had carefully wrapped and protected her.
And the sub-parasite that had fallen out of the mycelia was still ignored. The small fish body was covered with a layer of egg membrane, and it was as motionless as a stone.
After a pause, Cheng Ming’s gaze fell to her side, to the young fish that had been separated from its living body for too long and was on the verge of death.
…
Qu Ying and 221 had met up.
The field team in charge of security was heavily guarding the various key entrances and exits, setting up capture devices, and at the same time, a small team was sent to follow them to hunt.
Although they had disliked each other these days, one feeling that the other had stolen her mother, and the other feeling that the other had stolen her sister’s mother, it had to be admitted that they were a good team when they cooperated.
…Take back that last sentence.
Twenty minutes passed, and although her teeth were about to be ground to pieces, Qu Ying maintained a decent smile. “Can you hurry up, your highness?”
“You’re so sarcastic,” this girl had slowed down for the umpteenth time. Perhaps she couldn’t walk anymore, or perhaps she was simply treating the mission as an outing, wandering around and complaining unhappily. “Don’t rush, it’s not moving much… Mom said you have to take good care of me. Why don’t you carry me?”
“Do you want to die?” The smile that had been squeezed out was still on the corner of her lips, and this “inquisitor’s” voice had become as light as a ghost.
A wise man submits to circumstances. 221 quickened her pace and walked to the front. “Oh my, can’t you take a joke.”
The members of the biology department behind them looked at each other and quietly exchanged a bewildered look.
The layout of the core laboratories in the four areas was spiral, and Area B was equipped with dense, high-level security facilities.
Passing through multiple airtight doors, they came to a new floor.
This was a transitional area for material transfer, and it was already very close to Area A. The top was not a smooth ceiling, and the cables were exposed. The huge, silver-white metal pipes meandered into the distance, and the sound of the internal fans turning was buzzing back and forth in the narrow corridor.
In order to prevent damage to the facilities, the power supply in this area was cut off. The flickering light of the detector made the entire passage flicker, making this lightless night even more strange and deep.
Drip.
In the pale white light, a long drop of liquid fell from the sky and splashed into a cool spray.
221 suddenly took a step back and looked up. “It’s on top.”
The team leader raised his hand, and everyone dispersed. The team member with the remote control equipment unlocked the corresponding pipe and at the same time released a soft robot that shot up and attached to the bottom surface of the steel pipe.
The retractable mechanical arm, which simulated an octopus’s tentacles, easily and silently dismantled the flange at the pipe connection. Screech. The inspection port was pushed open, and in the expectant gazes of everyone, the moment a black shadow fell, the guns were raised high and a dazzling firelight exploded.
Bang! Bang, bang, bang, bang!
A rare specimen was hard to come by, and capturing it alive was the top priority, so the first shot was an electromagnetic pulse, and the next four shots were sticky nets thrown from different directions.
The gelatinous, sticky substance firmly stuck to the target. The detector had just swept over it, and that large clump of black creature had rapidly withered and disappeared before their very eyes, as if it had completely melted like ice, and not a single bit was saved.
The white light shone down, and only a slightly twitching young fish was left on the spot, with a faint, agate-like blood color.
It was the key sample that was to be recovered, that was for sure.
“What is that? Is it a worm?”
“I didn’t see clearly…”
“Is it solved?” Everyone cautiously approached, and someone said in an incredible voice.
“Wrong, it escaped,” as one of the only two “monsters” on the scene, 221 went up and tilted her head to look closely. “So cunning.”
“Not necessarily,” Qu Ying narrowed her eyes. “The whole area is sealed off now. Where can it escape to. It’s a feint.”
She looked at 221. “Can you smell anything else?”
“Don’t treat me like a dog…” This sister was reluctantly sent on an errand by her, and she muttered. After a long while, she looked at the depths of the passage in confusion, and then, her eyes widened.
“It’s in Area A! Let’s go back quickly!”
…
Area A, main laboratory.
Among the only people left in the room, Chu Lanying glanced at Professor Cheng.
Half of her face was covered, and the latter’s expression still could not be seen to have any fluctuations. She just suddenly walked to the pod door, pressed the open button, and walked out.
A straight-line distance of twenty-seven meters.
Next to laboratory No. 1, in the ventilation pipe diagonally above.
After separating the conidia again and wrapping the young fish with a small amount of mycelia to throw a smoke bomb, Cheng Ming had Xiao Ming pay attention to the movement on the other side and timely activate apoptosis to destroy the obvious information. Then she continued to go deeper into the pipe.
She was afraid of an ambush outside, so she could only bet that the most dangerous place was the safest place, and hoped that the biology department would lift the emergency state after harvesting the fish eggs.
The passage was still full of nerve-paralyzing agents, but… she twitched her nose. So far, she had not shown any obvious discomfort.
It seemed that the nerve toxins had little effect on her.
Walking outside the wall, she could see the door plate number. Walking inside the wall, there was only an endless repetition of similar structures, and occasional alternating ring-shaped light spots.
She didn’t know where she was exactly.
The long-term operation of the pipes was anti-corrosion, but the metal gates that were only used in a crisis had obviously neglected this point. So she had collected the mucus left by the worm, had corroded and pried open the lock, and had opened a path.
The large exhaust fan was buzzing behind her. She moved down from a high place and, following the sound away from the alarm, she stepped on a solid place. This ventilation opening was slightly spacious and could allow her to stay for a long time. She carefully restored the path she had passed with her mycelia and patiently lay in wait.
The dim light came in from the fine gaps of the louvers. Her eyes had long been adapted to the darkness. Cheng Ming looked around and found that this seemed to be a distribution point. Besides being used for ventilation, there should also be passages on both sides, but they were blocked by thick steel plates, and she didn’t find anything like a buckle. She estimated that it had to be opened from the outside.
The pipe wall was still vibrating, and the faint alarm did not seem to be stopping. She was a little anxious.
Just as she was about to use her mycelia to feel around, her movements suddenly stopped.
Clang! A line of light opened up in the dimness. The square diffuser moved to one side, and the sealed structure of the ventilation opening was lifted, revealing a larger exit that led directly to the vast interior of the laboratory.
The light from above shone down without any obstruction, and the sudden brightness made her world a blur of white. Her breathing stopped, her limbs were stiff, and her whole person was as if it had been frozen.
Her eyes, which were not used to the strong light, closed for a second. She didn’t see more furnishings, but she saw a person standing in front of her, blocking most of the light.
She looked closely and saw a female researcher in a white lab coat. She was tall, wearing a mask, and against the light, her eyes and hair were black. Her appearance and age were unknown.
Cheng Ming looked at her in surprise and confusion. Her eyes were so stimulated that tears kept streaming down, but she didn’t dare to close her eyes again, and just stared at her without blinking.
The mycelia also stopped, and they climbed in the darkness behind her.
They looked at each other like this, one was crying, and the other was silent.
Then, the other withdrew her gaze and, not knowing what she had done, she pressed a few times, and the wheel behind Cheng Ming clicked shut. The sharp blades of the exhaust fan were turned off, and the several-centimeter-thick metal plate on the left moved to the side under the traction of an unknown bearing, and a dark passage that was enough to pass through appeared in front of her.
The inner wall of the square pipe was quite clean, but there was some irritating smell left, and there were pulleys like a conveyor belt on the side that was under force.
Was this a waste outlet? Could it lead to the outside?
Cheng Ming’s mood was tight and then loose for a moment, and she was at a loss.
Seeing that she was not moving, this researcher bent down and grabbed her arm, and led her to the exit without any room for doubt.
Cheng Ming saw the hand that was holding her. It was pale and old, very strong, and also very cold, so cold that it chilled her to the bone.
“Why are you helping me?” her thoughts were in a mess. She grabbed this woman, who was a mystery from head to toe, with her backhand, and held her tightly, wanting to get to the bottom of it.
This was a question, and also a test. Her other hand was quietly clutching the self-defense weapon hidden in her sleeve.
The other looked at her, and her gaze was indescribable, distant, calm, or purely void.
The final result of the confrontation was that she raised her left hand and, not very nimbly, unbuttoned the collar of her white lab coat. Thump. A small object fell out.
In the changing light and shadow, it was like a leaping fish coming out of the water.
Cheng Ming only saw a streak of salmon red flash by, and it hit her eyes with a bright light, like a huge stone rolling down a deep pool, and in an instant, there were stormy waves and heavy waves.
It was a red seashell.
Her grip loosened.
Before she could see the details, the other took the opportunity to push her into the mouth of the pipe, which was whistling with a cold airflow, and with a push, she was thrown down.
