CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 44: J-2796

Sun Hang didn’t think he was speaking on behalf of the investigators and the sheriffs; he was simply stating the facts.

The organ used for thinking should be located above the neck, not cushioning the chair.

...

With such an incident occurring, Sun Hang didn’t feel like going "home" anymore. Instead, he directly stepped into the doors of the Mysterious Creature Research Institute—he planned to see how those inside the institute would handle the alien long knife and conveniently visit Wang Xiyi, who had been carted away in an "iron coffin" last night.

After all, this woman could be said to be the only "kindred spirit" Sun Hang had in this city.

He glanced at the directional signs in the institute’s lobby. According to the signs, the exclusive office of the Mysterious Creature Hunters was located on the third floor of the institute—Sun Hang was about to take the elevator upstairs, but as soon as the elevator door opened, a familiar face entered his vision.

"As soon as I got the message that you were returning to the institute, I rushed here!" the one-eyed female researcher spoke quickly, "Honestly, even if you hadn’t returned, I wanted to contact you actively!"

She had already taken off the tactical-style field uniform and changed into the white lab coat that almost everyone in the institute had. However, her silver-white long hair was still covered with a lot of lime dust—evidently, she had rushed straight from the scene to the laboratory, anxious like a virgin groom on his wedding night.

A standard identification badge hung on her chest, with her ID photo stuck on it, alongside her position and name.

"Level 2 Researcher, Adelle Song Yarong."

"Uh? Should I call you Adelle or Song Yarong?" Sun Hang asked.

"Either is fine. My mom is of British descent, and my dad is of Yanhuang descent. They argued for a long time over my name, and in the end, they had to compromise." She shrugged, looking helpless, "However, in the institute, everyone prefers to call me by my Chinese name."

"Alright... by the way, do you need something from me?"

"Follow me!" Song Yarong pulled Sun Hang into the elevator and pressed the button for Basement Level 3.

...

...

Basement Level 3, temporary containment room.

Through the thick safety glass, Sun Hang could see the alien long knife entirely suspended, "lying flat" on a long table. Besides the long knife and this table of unknown material, the containment room was empty.

"Floating?" Sun Hang was slightly startled, recalling the time he held the alien long knife and fought Taotie, he didn’t feel its weight at all... Could its "ability" be related to gravity?

Song Yarong fished a round prosthetic eye out from her lab coat pocket, wiped it on the hem of her clothes, and then "popped" it into the empty eye socket.

The prosthetic eye rolled twice in its socket, then focused through the glass on the alien long knife. The next second, a ghostly blue hue shot from the prosthetic’s pupil, passing through the glass, falling on the surface of the alien long knife.

A dotted outline appeared on the glass. From Sun Hang’s perspective, this outline just enveloped the alien long knife.

"This outline you see, is the range of gravitational anomaly around ’J2976’," Song Yarong said, "The reason you could lift it and fight Taotie was largely due to this anomaly, which canceled out its own weight."

"Are you telling me that even before it made contact with Taotie, this thing was already a mysterious creature?" Sun Hang slightly frowned.

It seemed that his previous intentional guidance was completely pointless.

Fortunately, Taotie’s ability was too versatile, and the ability of this alien long knife wasn’t absurd to the extreme, so there was still a "reasonable explanation" to be found...

"Yes, based on my personal judgment, the deceit virus source of ’J2976’ is most likely you," Song Yarong said, "Not only did it create its entity, but it also imparted the deceit virus’s mimetic properties... So, you are the complete creator of the mysterious creature ’J2976’."

Her words were filled with uncontainable excitement and thrill, with her one good eye staring at Sun Hang like she had discovered something invaluable.

"Since this thing can affect gravity, does that mean if I hold it, I can fly?" Sun Hang asked.

"Theoretically, yes, but it’s just theoretical," Song Yarong replied.

"Theoretically... what does that mean?"

"The gravitational anomaly field of ’J2976’ can extend only about two centimeters beyond its body. If you want to use it to completely offset human body gravity..." Song Yarong paused for half a second, then continued, "You’d have to mash the body into a pulp and evenly coat it over the surface of ’J2976’..."

"Are all you researchers this heavy on taste?" Sun Hang imagined that abstract scene and subconsciously thought of minced meat skewers sold at street BBQ stalls.

That thing is made by chopping up beef and pork, mixing it well with various spices and seasonings, then wrapping it around a steel skewer to grill—honestly, if this alien long knife could be scaled down, it would really look a lot like those skewers used for grilling.

"Unless you have a way to change its gravitational anomaly field range..." Song Yarong suddenly turned her head, eyes shining as she stared at Sun Hang, "You can do that... right?"

"Uh... actually, I’m not quite sure how I ’created’ it." Sun Hang scratched the back of his head.

He was telling the truth.

He realized there were many secrets hidden within himself, yet he couldn’t remember any of them; every time he tried to recall, his brain would respond with unbearable pain.

"Actually, I have a suggestion." A white male researcher suddenly pushed the door open, looking at Sun Hang, "Since you can coalesce the steel bars from the ruins into this weapon, you should be able to change its shape... All you need to do is transform it into an armor that wraps around your body, and maybe you’ll be able to cancel out all body gravity."

"Mente, can’t you knock when you enter?" Song Yarong gave the male researcher an unfriendly glance, complaining.

"The temporary containment room is a public area within the institute, not your private residence," the researcher named Mente said with a smile, shrugging, "Adelle, you shouldn’t monopolize this research project for personal reasons."

"But I won’t let an idiot like you get involved either—not to mention whether ’J2976’ would still maintain its original properties after being reshaped... Even if the gravitational anomaly field still exists, the range it affects would only be up to two centimeters beneath the surface. According to your suggestion, to really cancel out human body gravity this way, you should melt ’J2976’ into liquid form and inject it into the bloodstream... I really don’t know how you passed the researcher’s entry exam in the first place, it couldn’t be through the back door, right?"

"Adelle... we’re all colleagues here, and best not to speak so harshly when we see each other every day," Mente’s eyes flashed with a trace of resentment, speaking in a low voice, "The institute is currently understaffed; we should be focusing our limited research power where it’s most needed. The ’J2976’ research project should be taken over by me, a materials science expert... Your primary focus is in biology. You should be dissecting beasts mutated by the influence of the blood moon at the southern cemetery."

"Ahem, you two, enough with the bickering." Sun Hang suddenly coughed intentionally, interrupting the two’s argument, then looked at Mente and asked with genuine sincerity, "This... uh, Researcher Mente, if you take over this research project, you wouldn’t actually melt this thing down and inject it into my bloodstream, would you?"

"... Of course not!" Mente’s expression stiffened, casting a venomous glare at Song Yarong, "I just think I can offer more valuable suggestions..."