CHAPTER 348: CHAPTER 345: [SOMETHING’S WRONG]

Chapter 345: Something’s Not Right

The left corridor of the Command Center hall.

The sealed corridor led to another module, the place with the "Laboratory" sign that Chen Nuo had seen before.

Nolan left the remaining four armed personnel to guard the door, along with four Ability Users.

No one suspected anything. Others just thought that Nolan, the Commander, wanted to discuss strategies with the two Controllers.

Only Rebecca looked at the backs of the group with a puzzled gaze.

"What do you think they’re doing in there?" Rebecca asked Kamisou Ichiro.

Kamisou Ichiro shook his head, his expression very calm. "Let’s just focus on our own tasks for now."

The female Ability User muttered something and then took a deep breath. "It’s getting colder and colder..."

After thinking for a moment, Kamisou Ichiro actually took out a flask from his coat. "Want a drink?"

"Are you hitting on me?" Rebecca glanced at Kamisou Ichiro, her expression a half-smile. "Too bad. Though you don’t fit my aesthetic, you’re not a bad person. If we make it out of this alive, I might be willing to give you a chance."

Saying that, she took the flask.

The expression on Kamisou Ichiro’s face was the distinctive reserve and coolness of the Neon People. "You’re overthinking it. I don’t like your type."

"Then what type do you like?" Rebecca retorted, a bit annoyed.

"I... like two-dimensional ones."

The door to the laboratory was pushed open, and Chen Nuo immediately looked around.

The module here was not small, but it was divided into different areas by tempered glass.

Many areas were dark, with only one area lit.

Chen Nuo glanced at the sign: Specimen Processing Area!

Next to it were several signs indicating "DANGER."

Nolan walked at the forefront without looking back, his pace rapid.

"What is this place?" Chen Nuo asked directly.

Without stopping, Nolan answered coldly, "This is a company secret."

Chen Nuo said no more, but his eyes remained fixed on the lit glass room.

Four technicians, clad in what resembled hazmat suits, were busy inside. Although they were bustling, it was clear that their movements were very careful.

Chen Nuo happened to see a technician holding a glass case with both hands, placing it into a constant temperature Container.

In that glass case, a large chunk resembling living soft tissue was visible, looking somewhat unsettling.

Living soft tissue—well, it actually looked like a large slab of freshly cut meat.

It was soaking in some liquid, possibly a nutrient solution for cultivation.

Nolan clearly had no intention of giving them time for a tour and led them straight to the innermost part of the lab area, pulling open the second module door there.

Beyond it was a small compartment. A circular isolation door appeared on the wall.

"This is explosion-proof," Nolan said, swiftly entering a password on the keypad on the wall, followed by a fingerprint, and finally an iris scan.

A series of crisp sounds came from within the wall, and the door automatically opened.

"Hurry up! This door only opens automatically for fifteen seconds each time, then closes automatically," Nolan urged.

At Nolan’s urging, everyone hurried through the blast door.

Inside was a warehouse-like space, and at the far end was an electronic door resembling an elevator.

Fifteen meters Underground—about the height of a five-story residential building, give or take a little.

Entering the elevator, Nolan sighed. "It’s not that I didn’t want to dig it even deeper, but as you know, construction costs are too high in this forsaken place. It’s difficult to transport heavy equipment here. Even for our company, excavating such a fortification is a very expensive project."

The elevator door opened upon reaching the bottom level, and the automatic sensor lights came on promptly.

The lights illuminated one by one in sequence, from the ceiling at the elevator entrance to the far end.

The four people besides Nolan soon saw this Underground facility.

It was an Underground room, about four meters high, with an estimated area of two to three hundred square meters.

Nearly square-shaped.

The walls were coated, and the material was not visible to the naked eye.

But Chen Nuo immediately narrowed his eyes!

In this Underground room, rows of material cabinets were neatly lined with half-metal, half-glass vessels. There were also some special English indicators—no names, but labels listed with English letters and numbers.

Chen Nuo looked at the vessel on the closest cabinet; sealed inside was the same flesh-like substance he had seen outside.

It was also soaked in liquid.

The liquid had turned a yellowish-green.

"What are these things?" the Wizard inquired.

"Specimens," Nolan replied indifferently.

"Specimens of what?"

"The company’s secret..."

Suddenly, a ferocious rage contorted the Wizard’s face. In one swift move, he grabbed Nolan by the neck and shoved him back violently!

BANG!

Nolan’s back slammed hard against the wall!

The Wizard gripped Nolan’s neck, staring fiercely at him. "Enough, Nolan! Stop with that act!"

The Wizard was clearly furious, glaring viciously at Nolan. "What kind of bullshit secret! We’re all likely to die here, and you’re still talking to me about secrets? We have the right to know the truth! You Octopus Monster people built a base like this in this godforsaken place, and you have this pile of specimens? Huh?! Tell me what these things are! What are those things soaking in the liquid? You damn well better not tell me you’re storing beef in there!"

Captain glanced at Chen Nuo. Neither of them made any move, just coldly watching as the Wizard interrogated Nolan.

Nolan’s face showed no panic. He allowed the Wizard to hold his neck, coolly staring back at him.

"What if I told you that these things are indeed meat?"

"Meat from what?"

"Aliens..."

"...Are you fucking kidding me?" the Wizard barked, his eyes wide with incredulity.

Nolan gently grabbed the Wizard’s hands, prying them away. He took a deep breath and shook his head. "At this point, I have no need to lie."

The Wizard released his grip and stepped back a little, his expression regaining some composure. "...Continue!"

"Gentlemen, what you are currently witnessing is classified as high-level secrecy within our company... Level A+ secrecy! Are you sure you really want to know? Once you learn this secret, even if you survive and leave this place... the company will initiate emergency measures for this level of security breach."

The Wizard shook his head. "Emergency measures? What will you do to us?"

"Either kill you or enlist you," Nolan said, shaking his head. "There’s no third option."

Chen Nuo laughed, speaking at the opportune moment. "That’s enough, Mr. Nolan! Since you’ve already chosen to bring us here and decided to let us in on these secrets, stop with the pretense. We’re short on Time; hurry up and tell us."

Nolan gave Chen Nuo a look. "Mr. Anderson, although the files I read earlier indicated you were the strategist for the Abyss Organization, your performance this time still greatly surprises me."

Captain stepped forward. "Alright, cut the chatter. Speak."

"I wasn’t lying earlier. The specimens stored here are indeed... aliens. However, to be precise, we’re not entirely sure if they are aliens... perhaps ’extraterrestrial life forms’ is the most accurate term."

"Many years ago, our organization began dispatching exploration teams—search parties, whatever you want to call them—all over the world. Then, by a stroke of luck, we made some discoveries here in Antarctica. An early exploration team found something there."

"What did they find?"

"Well... it’s hard to say. In our terms, it might have been a spacecraft."

Nolan’s answer caused the three Ability Users—everyone but Chen Nuo—to look surprised.

Chen Nuo, glancing at the other three, immediately put on a surprised expression as well.

But inside, a thought flashed through his mind! Wrong! Something’s off!! The Mother’s arrival on Earth wasn’t by any so-called extraterrestrial spacecraft! The Mother is a Pure Spiritual Life Form! It simply couldn’t pilot something as "primitive" as an extraterrestrial spacecraft.

"The first exploration team that discovered this place encountered an accident," Nolan continued. "The spacecraft wasn’t large. They didn’t know how—perhaps by some fluke, they accidentally touched a switch or something—maybe. Some extraterrestrial creatures escaped from the ship, and a fierce battle ensued. Our early search team suffered heavy casualties, but they managed to kill the creatures that had been released. A total of four alien creatures were killed at that time. Subsequently, our company kept this secret and began investing in this location, building a base here, exploring the area further, and conducting research on the extraterrestrial life forms on-site."

"Why not move the research institute elsewhere?"

"Because it’s easier to maintain secrecy here," Nolan replied simply.

"The surveying and research are divided into two parts. One part is mechanical and physical engineering, studying the extraterrestrial spacecraft... Unfortunately, progress has been very slow. Moreover, because the hull of the extraterrestrial spacecraft is extremely hard and difficult to penetrate, our team spent over a year just to reopen it. Then... it self-destructed and exploded. We lost more than twenty of our top scientific researchers in that accident. After that, we could only attempt to reverse-engineer from the wreckage, but the results were very limited.

"A significant discovery was made when we analyzed the spacecraft fragments. We determined it was an extraterrestrial spacecraft... It crashed on Earth before the dawn of our human civilization... Well, none of us are historians or archaeologists, so quoting specific dates is meaningless. However, after decomposing and studying the fragments, we discovered seven elemental substances that do not exist on Earth’s periodic table!"