“You naughty girl, you never follow the rules,” Amber grumbled.
“Aren’t you the one who followed me in?” Ashley glanced at her.
“I’m here to arrest you! Surrender quietly, you villain!” Amber pressed down on her shoulders and bluffed.
“Oh no~ I’ve been caught, what to do, what to do, I can’t escape~ I’m Amber’s girl for life now.” Ashley shrank her neck like a frightened chick and pretended to panic.
Although she knew it was just teasing and taking it seriously would surely lead to mockery—the higher the expectations, the harder the fall—Amber, who had been bruised and battered several times before, didn’t want to get hurt again. Still, she felt secretly thrilled and happy over those deceptive words.
Seeing that the silly loli had grown somewhat immune to her teasing, Ashley felt bored and turned her attention to the experiment.
The dead Rat Rat had indeed come back to life. At first, it seemed quite ‘normal,’ dragging its rear half, crushed by cart wheels, with its two front claws as it crawled around.
But a few hours later, it sat down in place and perished. Mycelium surged out from its ruptured abdomen, and then its head bloomed, growing a walnut-sized fruiting body.
The changes stopped there. After waiting a long time, it didn’t enter the next cycle.
Ashley increased efficiency and tested several corpses at once—dead cats, dead birds, dead bugs, and so on, all picked up from the garbage dump.
She discovered that although they all turned into living corpses, only those animals with spiritual intelligence, like cats, dogs, and crows, formed ‘fruiting bodies.’
The corpses of chickens, ducks, fish, and bugs only stayed at the living corpse stage and stopped moving after a while.
The experiment was incredibly bizarre. The corpses stiffly stood up like marionettes, their heads blooming into beautiful flowers. This drew Amber from bored onlooker to intrigued participant, and she asked:
“Why are the results different? What’s the distinction?”
“Cats and dogs can be domesticated by humans, which means they’re smart, while poultry and livestock are stupid, just eating and waiting to die. This shows that to bloom a head, you first need a brain.” Ashley stared at Amber as she said it.
“What are you looking at?” Amber asked strangely.
“I’m thinking that if dead Amber were put in there, it probably wouldn’t bloom.” Ashley burst into laughter, her eyes mischievous.
“You don’t have a brain!” Amber gnashed her teeth, really wanting to stuff the dead rat into the blue-haired loli’s detestable little mouth.
“Hee hee, don’t be mad. Maybe one day you’ll grow one.”
“You’re too wicked!”
The first cycle ended, and the fruiting body fell dormant. The experiment stalled here unless they found a way to enter the second cycle for further study.
Ashley wrapped the harvested fruiting bodies in paper and placed them one by one into the storage box.
She suddenly recalled a recent book on bioengineering, which stated that the more spiritually attuned a creature, the stronger its brain’s computational power.
According to the captain’s description, at the end of the ‘first cycle,’ the supernatural intensity had greatly increased from the start.
So, could it be inferred that the so-called ‘cycles’ used the organism’s own computational power in exchange for supernatural strength?
After all, the Insect House itself didn’t contain supernatural abilities; it was more like a carrier recording genetic templates. The living cells remaining in the corpse loaded the template and gained new life in another form.
In this process, dead and apoptotic cells turned into nutrients, while the mycelium absorbed sustenance wherever it went.
Ashley’s little head grew clearer and clearer; she felt she was gradually understanding everything.
Those corpses that couldn’t bloom, like insects, lacked a fully formed brain—only regions performing similar functions—so they couldn’t load the information recorded in the Insect House. The hardware didn’t meet the standard.
Ashley wasn’t sure if mutated insects, like that Demon Flower Mantis cadaver, could complete the first cycle. Perhaps as long as it was smart enough, it could.
Then, what was the outcome of multiple cycles?
Did it gradually form something beautiful, or a twisted existence?
Everything required experimentation.
–
The Tribunal’s investigation moved quickly and had already located the merchant Bernice Kerr who sold the Insect House to Doctor Duke.
According to the merchant, this batch of salvaged items had been acquired from a deep-diving team, originating from the seventh major stratum, the Rot Sea. ‘King Insect Molting’ was fabricated; its true origins were unknown. Besides the Insect Shedding, there was a 15-centimeter Broken Claw Tip and a 1-meter Long Tentacle.
These two items showed supernatural fluctuations and had been bought by the same person.
Supernatural item transactions required intermediaries. The Tribunal checked the trading records at the trust bank and, after meticulous tracing, confirmed that both items had ultimately flowed into the hands of the Boothslot Family.
–
Office 207.
Investigation Department supervisor Godfrey Isaac briefed Seventh Squad captain Roy on the mission. After handing over a pile of documents and files, he nodded to the team members, said “Good luck to you all,” and left the office.
Roy gathered the team around him. While building a criminal investigation clue map on the magnetic board, he explained the case.
“There’s recently been a case related to the Boothslot Family, originally handled by the city bureau. It’s connected to the Insect House incident, so it’s been transferred to us. We’ll also investigate the whereabouts of those two salvaged items.”
The team members looked at the crime clue map, which was annotated in detail. It was easy to see this was a serial disappearance case.
In the mapped area, 68 people had gone missing over two years—over 50 times the normal rate.
Most of the missing were teenagers aged 10-20, even some younger.
The missing persons’ home addresses and frequent locations were marked in green. Hundreds of green dots radiated outward from a place called Bull Town, clear at a glance.
“The Boothslot Family controls Bull Town, having operated breeding farms and slaughterhouses for generations. Almost every family in this town makes a living from raising and slaughtering animals. Over half the meat in the Source market comes from Bull Town,” Roy introduced.
“Do you suspect the Boothslot Family is behind the disappearances?” Vice Captain Linden stood nearby, arms crossed, and asked.
“High suspicion. In any case, Bull Town needs to be a priority search area,” Roy said.
“Moreover,” he added, “two years ago was exactly when those two items flowed into the Boothslot Family. It’s a bit of a stretch, but we won’t get the right conclusions without investigating.”
Ashley was also very interested in the broken claw and tentacle. They might have some connection to the Insect Shedding and could aid her research.
“Get ready, everyone. We’ll head out this afternoon and arrive by evening,” Roy said, looking toward the door. “Also, a new team member is joining us. Get acquainted.”
Ashley followed the captain’s gaze. A familiar figure stood there.
It was… the silly loli!
Ashley looked at Amber in shock as she sauntered over to her side. Lowering her voice, she asked, “How did you possibly pass the exam?! The combatant requirements are very high!”
“Hmph.”
Amber let out a smug little hum, her eyes glancing to the side.
“The teacher gave you special training!” Ashley immediately realized and said indignantly.
“You got it,” Amber happily shook her little head.
“What did she give you? Let me guess… You were panting like that from running; it’s not physical enhancement, nor an advanced relic. For the Trial Judge’s disciple to buy her way in would be too cheap. It must be King Insect Technology, right?” Ashley analyzed in one go before asking.
“Heh heh.”
Amber tugged at her collar. A layer of molten silver-like liquid metal emerged from her chest, quickly covering her face and solidifying into elegant patterns of curling teardrop shapes.
Upon closer inspection, each pattern was a flat, small fish scale with lively eyes scanning in all directions.
The mask was half-face style, three-dimensional and layered. Delicate, elegant wings extended from both sides, revealing the loli’s dainty chin and tender lips below. Her pearly white teeth gleamed, framed by the silver engravings to exude an inviolably sacred aura.
“Giving such great tech to a silly loli—what a sin!” Ashley said, heartbroken.
