CHAPTER 349: CHAPTER 346 [KINDNESS]

Chapter 346 Kindness

"You said the research is divided into two parts. What about the other part?" Chen Nuo asked.

"The other part is research into biotechnology... conducted on the corpses of these alien creatures."

"What did you discover?"

"Research focused on organs and biology has struggled to yield anything valuable... These alien creatures are very aggressive and incredibly strong. Their skeletal structures, biological systems, and so on have all been categorized. But the truly valuable aspect is research at the genetic level. Humanity’s technological capabilities in this area are still very rudimentary, for example, in gene sequencing. Therefore, studying the genetics of alien beings is extremely valuable to us and offers considerable enlightenment. However, it’s very difficult, exceedingly difficult..."

Chen Nuo sighed inwardly. After all, it’s only 2001...

"Research into the genetic engineering of these alien creatures is an incredibly valuable gold mine. It could involve production, military applications, medicine, environmental science, pharmaceuticals, life sciences..." Chen Nuo sneered coldly. "But I get the feeling you’re probably not doing this just for those reasons, are you? The Octopus Monster isn’t just a simple commercial consortium; your goals aren’t just about making money, are they?"

"Yes, but those aren’t the topics we’re discussing right now." Nolan shook his head and continued, "Last year, we finally achieved some breakthroughs in genetic engineering. But this breakthrough... it truly gave many people a severe shock... or perhaps... a fright!"

"A fright?" The Wizard’s attendant shook his head. "What does that mean?"

The attendant had always been a man of few words, quiet and unassuming, with little presence. But now that he spoke, his voice was somewhat hoarse. He looked at Nolan, then at the Wizard, shook his head, and said, "Sorry, I spoke out of turn."

"It’s alright. That’s what I wanted to ask as well," the Wizard said calmly. "Nolan, get to the point."

"Chromosomal linear characteristic arrangement..."

"Wait, speak plainly," the Wizard immediately interrupted Nolan. "None of us are experts in this field! Speak plainly!"

Nolan gave a wry smile. "Alright, to put it simply, the chromosomal arrangement of these things breaks linear rules. They exhibited some strictly rule-ordered regressions, jumps, repetitions, and divergences... Then, these rule-formed changes, quite intuitively, formed something even more terrifying... If one were to edit them visually... these changes that break linear rules happen to form, visually, something like this..."

As he spoke, Nolan raised his hand and made three strokes in the air.

"This is... what?" the Captain asked with a frown.

"A triangle?" Chen Nuo asked.

"Yes, a triangle. An equilateral, perfectly regular triangle, precise down to the smallest detail." Nolan sighed.

Then, he added, "Like a... brand."

"A brand?"

"Yes, as if the creators of these alien beings branded them at the genetic level! In other words, these alien beings were damn well manufactured. Moreover, their creator possesses terrifying power, able to casually manipulate genes and leave such a brand on these creatures. A triangle—the most stable shape in geometry."

A brand! Like the mark ancient slave owners put on their slaves?

Chen Nuo began to think rapidly.

Then, he suddenly spoke in a peculiar tone, "A brand... you say? Why do I feel it’s more like... a badge? A totem? Or perhaps... a trademark?"

Everyone now understood why it was called a "fright."

The field of genetics is at the forefront of scientific research, concentrating some of the most brilliant and elite minds among humans. However, humanity’s current achievements in this domain are still at a very nascent stage. To use a metaphor, it’s akin to primitive people making fire by drilling wood. Imagine being at the level of primitive people drilling wood for fire when it comes to genetics, and then suddenly witnessing someone capable of directly creating a controlled fusion nuclear reactor... This kind of disparity is truly enough to shatter one’s worldview!

"If the results from biotechnology research are frightening and disheartening, then the research in mechanical and physical engineering has also led to an almost despair-inducing discovery. After reverse-engineering that exploded alien spacecraft, we reached an unacceptable conclusion: this alien spacecraft had no propulsion system! Gentlemen, this discovery nearly drove an entire research team to despair. Consider this: a car can only move if it has a propulsion system! Without one, a car is just a metal box. So how did an alien spacecraft with no propulsion system fly to our planet?"

Nolan said this and shook his head. "Thus, many previous speculations were overturned. In the end, everyone could only arrive at one conclusion: the craft we found isn’t a ’spacecraft’ in the true sense. It might just be a lifeboat, or perhaps..."

"A cargo hold?" Chen Nuo suddenly interjected, speaking quickly. "It could be a lifeboat, or a cargo hold, released from the main vessel during some accident involving the actual alien spaceship! Don’t forget the genes of several alien beings you’ve obtained—that damned brand or trademark. Maybe what you found is a cargo hold, one that detached and fell. And these alien creatures inside are just... ’branded’ cargo you stumbled upon?"

Nolan looked deeply at Chen Nuo. "Your guess largely aligns with our final conclusion—indeed, it’s become difficult to find other lines of speculation."

Chen Nuo frowned. "So, the question arises. If it’s a cargo hold or a lifeboat, where is the mothership?"

"...We still haven’t found it."

In his subsequent responses, Nolan elaborated on this issue.

The alien craft that was found—or rather, the ’lifeboat’ or ’cargo hold’—wasn’t large, only about the size of a house. It had no propulsion system. Reverse engineering and analysis suggested it had a life support system.

Based on the landing posture and location of this alien metal box when it was found, it was speculated that if a main alien mothership released this container... it did so within the atmosphere! This means the mothership entered our atmosphere. And based on the metal box’s location, it was deduced that if the mothership released it... it must have been due to an accident or emergency. And if it crashed or was destroyed within the atmosphere...

After investigation, the Octopus Monster’s team deduced that the crash site couldn’t be too far away. Eventually, they pinpointed the most probable area: the Red Circle!

However...

"There’s nothing here."

Nolan shook his head. "Satellite and manual exploration were conducted. We built a base here, spending vast amounts of money and manpower. Believe me, we’ve used every technological means at our disposal, including deploying Ability Users for the search. But it all yielded nothing. Remote sensing and surveys were conducted beneath the ice sheet and permafrost. The result of all this: Zero! We even began to suspect that the alien spaceship that jettisoned this metal box never crashed or landed here at all; perhaps it simply left."

At this point, Nolan said flatly, "If a certain high-ranking executive within the company hadn’t insisted, this base project would have been scrapped long ago."

After saying all this, Nolan slowly stated, "Gentlemen, this is everything I know. I’m not privy to anything more, given my rank within the company. I’ve laid my cards on the table now. Part of this mission is also to retrieve the alien biological specimens preserved here and, if possible, transport them out so research can continue."

The Wizard stared at Nolan for a moment. "Alright, I believe you’re not lying. Now, let’s discuss how we’re going to survive. We have more pressing matters to address."

Chen Nuo nodded and looked around the subterranean room.

"There are no signs of cryo-freezing on the walls... which means this place wasn’t affected when the base was hit by the extreme cold! The temperature here is..."

Saying that, Chen Nuo glanced at the instrument on his wrist. "Five degrees?"

"Yes," Nolan said slowly. "There’s an independent system here, separate from the base’s main control system. It ensures the specimens stored here remain undamaged during a crisis. It also has a life support system with reserves of solid oxygen that can be continuously released, making the air supply completely isolated from the outside."

"A ’doomsday bunker’?" the Captain asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. Aside from lacking food and water reserves, it can essentially be considered an independently functioning doomsday bunker," Nolan said slowly. "Now that the barrier has appeared, according to our previous calculations, there are still twenty-seven hours until the next window. Going twenty-seven hours without food or drink won’t kill anyone, will it?"

"What if the window doesn’t come after twenty-seven hours?" Chen Nuo shook his head. "The appearance of those strange creatures means there’s clearly something going on here that we don’t understand. The appearance of the barrier, the window period ending prematurely—it’s clear something is trying to kill us. So we can’t be certain the next window will open as expected in twenty-seven hours."

"Then our only option is the last resort I mentioned," Nolan said, his eyes firm with determination. "Blast open this barrier!"

"Wait a minute... maybe we could dig a tunnel out?"

The Wizard’s attendant spoke up slowly, "Is this barrier bowl-shaped or spherical? We could try... perhaps it only covers the surface..."

"It’s spherical." The Wizard immediately shook his head, glanced at his attendant, and sighed softly. "Luke, I sensed it when I struck the barrier with my spiritual power just now. The barrier that impeded my spiritual power exists not only on the surface but also underground."

A thought struck Chen Nuo. The Wizard and this attendant of his, Luke, had a rather strange relationship. This attendant was always quiet, but the few times he spoke, he came across as very... inexperienced? Like a complete rookie. Why would the Wizard bring a rookie on such an important mission?

"Alright then, have we decided? What now? Do we bring everyone down?" Chen Nuo glanced at the Captain. "Captain, your thoughts?"

"That’s precisely my thought." The Captain nodded, pausing deliberately. "It’s our only option now."

"Then, one last question... This place is a top secret of the company. As for you two Controllers, the company might find it difficult to take extreme measures against you. But the people upstairs... and the four Ability Users, as I mentioned, once they’ve been in here..."

"We’ll be lucky just to survive! This is no time to get hung up on such issues," the Captain immediately shook his head. "Nolan, let’s go up and bring people down."

In truth, Chen Nuo, Nolan, the Wizard, and his attendant Luke all understood Nolan’s underlying meaning. The four of them had followed Nolan down here, and considering what Nolan had said earlier... Nolan’s implication wasn’t hard to grasp: Forget the people upstairs! Let them stay up there, while the five of them who came down would wait here. The external blast door and the elevator shaft could both be sealed. Once sealed, those upstairs would be left to fend for themselves. This was also why Nolan had initially insisted on bringing only the two Controllers down.

The Wizard glanced at the Captain and Chen Nuo, then suddenly smiled.

"You two are quite kind."

He then nodded. "I have no objection. Let’s bring them all down. As for later... let’s focus on surviving first."

"But..." Luke suddenly spoke up.

The Wizard’s attendant, a man who appeared to be in his thirties and wore a full beard, always spoke with a certain timidity and shyness.

He said softly, "Are we overlooking something?"