Chapter 69: “Yo, Comrade War Criminal. Haven’t…”
Xiang Nanli bent over, hands resting on his knees. He looked back and forth between the moldy seeds on the ground and Beichen, who was squatting in front of the seeds deep in thought, his eyes brimming with anticipation.
These seeds varied in size, some large and some small, but all were equally shriveled.
After observing for a long time, Beichen spoke: “Fortunately, the temperature was low enough. You can’t say they’re completely useless. Extract the embryonic tissue, cultivate it using technology, and after reproducing for one or two generations in the laboratory, they should be able to enter production.”
“Furthermore,” Beichen held up a rhizome-like seed. This rhizome had already sprouted, and fine, withered root hairs could be seen clinging to it. “These seeds are all specially modified breeds, right? Under conditions of insufficient water and light, and with only a slight rise in temperature, this seed actually managed to sprout—even though it ultimately died.” What awe-inspiring vitality.
Xiang Nanli and Xiao Fu couldn’t help but cheer: “Yay!”
Beichen’s gaze shifted to another area. There sat several sealed containers, holding bizarre-looking organic matter (primarily body parts from unknown animals) soaking in solution.
For instance, an octopus tentacle covered entirely in eyeballs.
Black beetles stacked on top of each other.
Crystal-clear fish eggs that looked like magnified somatic cells.
A specimen of a highly venomous spider, its limbs shriveled together.
…
…
His heart pounded, and he wanted to lick his lips, only belatedly realizing that this current body didn’t have a tongue.
According to the data left behind by Gospel 1.2.6, these organic materials were parts of “Mutants” from hundreds of years ago that were deemed potentially useful.
Where exactly did these Mutants come from? It was hard to say. People only knew that after the nuclear war on the surface, many strange creatures appeared on the ground. Some even possessed formidable combat capabilities; once their numbers grew, they were ready to kick humanity out of their own homes. Fortunately, most Mutants had extreme difficulty reproducing.
Perhaps this was the path life found on its own to adapt to nuclear pollution.
Or perhaps, like the deformed mutants, they were the product of some experiment.
In any case, within the Human Alliance’s current medical system—especially in the development of genetic drugs—many discoveries and raw materials were derived from these Mutants.
“These… I want these, too.” Beichen looked up at Xiang Nanli with eager, pleading eyes. “Can I?”
Xiang Nanli weighed the pros and cons in his mind.
But on the surface, he only pondered for a brief moment.
Xiang Nanli patted Beichen’s head: “You can. But Xiao Bei, we must remember: while technology itself is harmless, we must always maintain humility and reverence toward the unknown. So, before you use these specimens, you have to submit a report letting us know the direction of your research. Between you, me, Xiao Qing, and Gospel, if there are three votes of approval, the experiment can proceed. How about that?”
Beichen nodded obediently.
Free, strong labor didn’t require a salary and didn’t count as a cost. Therefore, all that was needed was some culture medium.
And a biological laboratory that met the minimum requirements.
The laboratory, which originally had a lower priority, suddenly became incredibly important.
Everyone at the base worked overtime, day and night, without rest, striving to establish the laboratory.
Robots hauled materials from the first-floor warehouse and began construction.
Building the physical structure of the laboratory was easy; the hard part was the specialized circuit design, plumbing design, and ventilation design. These all required experience.
Naturally, this task was handed over to Dongfang Qingdi, who had a rich database.
Dongfang Qingdi activated his 24-hour work mode. He didn’t feel fatigue, but being outside while Xiang Nanli worked in the television tower a few kilometers away meant he couldn’t see him, which made Xiao Qing miss him a bit.
Whenever this happened, Dongfang Qingdi would pull up a holographic image of Xiang Nanli in his mind and admire it repeatedly. His motivation to work would instantly surge back.
Meanwhile, Xiang Nanli wrote an internal laboratory management software based on Beichen’s needs, primarily for automated recording and data analysis.
Their conversations often went like this: “This, that, like this. I need, then. Do you understand?”
Beichen pointed and gestured at the screen. He also sent a few reference images to Xiang Nanli’s electronic lens.
Xiao Fu, watching from the side, was completely bewildered, but Xiang Nanli had already started working: “I understand.”
Typing code line by line was highly inefficient; most of the software’s code was copied by Xiao Zhi from the database, arranged and combined, then modified a second time by Xiang Nanli, and finally tested.
Miraculously, no matter how much the copied code looked like a mountain of spaghetti, it ran incredibly smoothly and flawlessly in the end.
While the rest of the base had only just gotten electricity, Beichen in his laboratory had already stepped into the era of modern scientific research and production.
Carrying a small backpack, Xiao Fu watched Dongfang Qingdi leading several robots to pour concrete at the construction site. It strolled past, shaking its head in a dramatic manner: “The base leader Xiang Nanli places extraordinary importance on the production and development of agriculture! He worriedly said to Dongfang Qingdi, ‘We must build the laboratory at all costs to lay a solid foundation for the base’s future development. The base must learn the lesson of Ruin No. 1074; we cannot allow the enemy to choke us off when it comes to food!'”
Standing at a safe distance on the edge of the construction site, Xiao Fu called out loudly: “Yo, Comrade War Criminal. Haven’t gotten off work yet?”
Before Dongfang Qingdi could pick up a rock to smash it, Gospel ran off at lightning speed.
“The loyal warrior Gospel played a proactive coordinating role, expressing encouragement to the hard-working robots and extending condolences to the great leader Xiang Nanli on behalf of the base’s masses!”
It arrived at Xiang Nanli’s temporary residence, pulled a small bottle of cola from its little bag (it didn’t have human hands, so it used magnets), and pushed it in front of Xiang Nanli: “Li-Li~ Drink some water. This is the cola Xiao Fu warmed up for you.”
Xiang Nanli placed it on the edge of the desk: “Thank you, Xiao Fu.” Though he actually preferred it ice-cold.
Under the conditions on the surface, cola was absolutely an excellent nutritional supplement for ordinary people to replenish their energy.
Dongfang Qingdi: “…”
Xiao Zhi spoke up in his mind: [Xiang Nanli, we really should find Gospel a new body. I believe the mechanical dog form is a massive waste of labor.]
Xiang Nanli thought its point was very reasonable. But there really weren’t any spare robots at the base, aside from that Gospel 1.2.6.
1.2.6 was an incredibly old model; it felt like it would fall apart after walking a few steps. Its metallic exterior and chips were heavily rusted. No matter how you looked at it, it had reached the age of retirement.
Xiang Nanli was even planning to find a time to bury it.
Thus, he replied: “Let’s change it when we get to the Eternal City.”
Heading to the Eternal City.
Xiang Nanli had been talking about this ever since he first arrived at the base, and now, the time was finally ripe.
Beichen volunteered to stay at the base; his fungi (which had already multiplied into two cups) couldn’t be left unattended.
Among the robots, 03—being the relatively smarter one—was exceptionally promoted to laboratory assistant.
The body of Gospel 1.2.6 served as the perfect refrigerator. Xiang Nanli placed the important biological specimens inside, along with the genetic drugs obtained from the Black Cross Inquisition.
Perhaps because Xiao Bei was only around 1.4 meters tall, Xiang Nanli constantly felt like he was a child, completely forgetting that Beichen or Mo Bei was a highly intelligent adult.
Before departing, he repeatedly instructed: “Xiao Bei, safety is the most important thing. You must let the robots handle any dangerous operations. I’ll figure out a way to get the instruments you need. This is a bottle of Bio-Soldier genetic drug.”
Xiang Nanli had Xiao Zhi organize the data on the Bio-Soldiers he had seen in the Eternal City and transmit it to Beichen.
“See if you can analyze the raw materials or if there’s any room for improvement. If you can eliminate the risk of turning into a brainless mutant, this will be the best genetic evolution drug.”
In short, whether it worked or not, he’d let Beichen take a look first. Anyway, these dozens of bottles of genetic drugs would just go to waste in his hands.
Xiang Nanli wasn’t the City Lord either; he had no way of gambling with human lives.
Beichen took the blood-red solvent and nodded: “Okay.”
The last things Xiang Nanli handed over to Beichen were a gun and a stun baton. The gun was assembled by Xiang Nanli himself, while the stun baton and bullets were purchased from the black market.
Crouching in front of Beichen, he said in a low voice, “The gun can be used to hunt animals, and the stun baton is used to deal with metal. Do you know how to use them?”
The former was out of fear of intruders; the latter was out of fear of a robot rebellion. Even though, no matter how you looked at it, the robots at the base didn’t seem to have evolved high intelligence, what if they did?
Xiang Nanli hadn’t experienced the Omnic Crisis himself, but he had heard about it, and he had seen it using consensus technology.
Beichen nodded solemnly: “I know how. Xiao Fu taught me.”
And so, on the day the laboratory was completed, an empty cargo truck began its journey once again.
Wearing a mink coat, a felt hat, a scarf, and gloves, Beichen stood at the entrance of the base, waving goodbye. It wasn’t until the back of the truck disappeared from view that he finally lowered his hand.
Behind him stood eight robots of various shapes and sizes.
Xiang Nanli also waited until he could no longer see the figures before rolling up the window.
“Do you think letting Beichen experiment freely is the right or wrong choice?” Xiang Nanli rubbed the space between his brows. “There hasn’t been any news from Gusu City in a long time.”
He thought of the deformed mutants Beichen had created, followed by Ezekiel, the Divine Court, the Bio-Soldiers, and the Fungus Humans.
They seemed like different species, but in reality, they all shared similar origins.
Dongfang Qingdi answered: “The electromagnetic field has been quite unstable. Lately, there’s been nothing but static on the radio. It’s also possible that something went wrong in Gusu City, and they ordered a lockdown. Personally, I lean toward the latter.”
But Xiao Qing clearly knew what Xiang Nanli was truly worried about: “Didn’t you say yourself that technology is innocent; it only matters what it’s used for? Don’t stop eating just for fear of choking. Besides, you and I are here to keep an eye on things this time.”
Having said this, he very naturally patted the back of Xiang Nanli’s hand.
They looked exactly like parents discussing their child’s future development.
Crouching in the corner, Gospel refused to be outdone and raised its head: “And Xiao Fu too!”
Xiang Nanli looked down, picked up Xiao Fu’s body, and smiled: “That’s true.”
