Chapter 34: The Greatest Blame-Shifting in History
Su Xiao stared at the test tube on the metal table. The boiling red solution inside rapidly cooled, first turning purple, then, as if corrupted, quickly darkened into waste liquid.
Another failure. Su Xiao had tried many times to remove the inhibitor within the Mutagenic Solution. The two were bound too tightly, as if they had merged into one.
To replicate the Mutagenic Solution, he first had to purify it and eliminate the inhibitor. Otherwise, with the inhibitor mixed in, even if he analyzed the solution, it would be useless. What he concocted would only be Mutagenic Solution Type 5, not the 100% pure version.
Su Xiao was very curious about what exactly this inhibitor was made of. Why was it so intractable? Even with his current level of alchemy, he found it extremely troublesome.
After pondering for a moment, Su Xiao picked up a beetle from the experiment box and dropped it into the black waste liquid, wanting to see what changes would occur when the inhibitor came into contact with a normal organism.
As soon as the beetle was dropped into the black waste liquid, it began to struggle violently. Within a few seconds, the beetle died and sank to the bottom.
Su Xiao observed for a while but didn't notice anything particularly unusual. He used tweezers to pick it up by its leg and tossed it into the waste trough beside him.
*Clang!*
A crisp sound reached Su Xiao's ears, surprising him slightly. Earlier, he had sensed that the beetle had simply died, but this sound was like tossing a small metal lump into the waste trough.
Su Xiao fished the beetle out of the waste trough and sensed it again. No abnormality—it was still a beetle, all biological structure. He tried squeezing the tweezers in his hand.
*Crack!*
Half of the beetle's body shattered, while the remaining half was nearly as hard as metal. This was cellular metallization, a characteristic of the Vassal Race.
Su Xiao observed the remaining half of the metallized beetle. No matter how he sensed it, it was still a biological structure, yet it had become metallic.
Seeing this, Su Xiao realized what the Vassal Race used as an inhibitor to suppress the effects of the Mutagenic Solution.
Back then, a "Black Rain" had fallen on this world, leading to mechanical pollution. The inhibitor the Vassal Race used was likely diluted "Black Rain."
Earlier, Su Xiao had wondered why the inhibitor made by the Vassal Race was so difficult to remove. Now it made sense—of course it was hard to remove. "Black Rain" was one of the pinnacle creations of the Second Era: Alchemical Civilization. Even after being diluted many times, it was still a tough nut to crack.
Knowing what it was made things easier. Su Xiao fetched over a dozen beetles and dropped them all into the diluted Mutagenic Solution.
Before long, the beetles died one by one, with parts of their bodies metallized. Su Xiao fished them out and tested the remaining solution. The inhibitor inside had disappeared. As for the formulation encryption, Su Xiao felt it wasn't too difficult.
Ten minutes later, Su Xiao put down his pen. The original formula of the Mutagenic Solution had been decoded. He believed that several of these dozen or so materials would be strictly controlled by the Vassal Alliance. That didn't matter—finding substitutes was what Su Xiao did best.
He took out a communicator to contact Kaisa. When it connected, Kaisa's end was very noisy, with the sounds of an audience cheering, shouting, and roaring. Upon learning it was about alchemy, Kaisa immediately hung up.
An hour later, in the alchemy laboratory of the Base Camp fortress, Kaisa pushed the door open. He had a great passion for alchemy, but unfortunately, his talent in this area was even more eye-catching than the back of his slippers.
Using Kaisa as an intermediary, Su Xiao remotely contacted a traveling merchant. These guys dared to sell anything and often bought items from hunters and scavengers, giving them a wide range of sources.
After cautious probing, Su Xiao gradually understood the market situation for materials. The Vassal Race hadn't banned all materials needed for the Mutagenic Solution, but two main ingredients were strictly prohibited. Even merchants operating in gray areas would find their families dead the day after selling them.
Su Xiao didn't buy everything from one merchant. First, he used 16 units of Living Ore to reserve Life Polymerization Substance, Dissociated Flesh, the Soul Blood of Mechanically Polluted Creatures, and a few other materials he didn't need. Then, he had Kaisa help contact other merchants through channels.
By 11 PM that night, thanks to Kaisa's efficiency after being paid, the materials Su Xiao needed were laid out on the test bench before him. Processing the materials → Mixing → Cooling the potion → Final product. The entire process was smooth and seamless, making Kaisa watch with envy, grinning and grimacing.
After studying alchemy for so long, if Su Xiao still stumbled while mixing a 100% pure Mutagenic Solution after decoding the formula, he might as well give up on alchemy.
**Prompt: You have obtained Mutagenic Solution.**
**Mutagenic Solution**
- **Origin:** Ser Star · Pending Alchemist (Alchemist name can be set by the Hunter).
- **Quality:** Special (This potion has a special use; no need to fix its quality).
- **Type:** Permanent Enhancement Potion
- **Effect:** Injecting this potion into the core of a mobile fortress allows it to break its limits. Afterward, it only needs to absorb the living energy of Living Ore to upgrade its fortress level (maximum upgrade to T0-level fortress).
- **Description:** Pending (Can be freely set by the Hunter).
- **Price:** Pending (Can be freely set by the Hunter).
Su Xiao looked at the two successfully concocted bottles of Mutagenic Solution and tossed one to Kaisa. Kaisa had also contributed funds when buying the materials, so this was his due.
"My dear friend, Kaisa has already made contact with the Tribunal side."
Kaisa said this with a beaming smile. He could feel a large sum of money beckoning him.
"How is Li Xiniwei developing now?"
"Not bad."
Kaisa didn't say much, clearly not interfering too much over there. After all, Li Xiniwei was Su Xiao's plant within the Tribunal.
Kaisa had established a relationship with the Tribunal, and without thinking, it was through Li Xiniwei's line.
The plan over there could begin. Su Xiao's first step was to get a large batch of second-hand weapons retired by the Vassal Race's military. The Vassal Race soldiers used cold weapons + firearms. Normally, firearms sufficed, but against tough enemies, they used cold weapons and metal-based supernatural abilities.
What Su Xiao was eyeing were the second-hand cold weapons retired by the Vassal Race's military—cheap, abundant, and ready to use.
"Kaisa, do you think Li Xiniwei can access channels for heavy artillery-level weapons? Even outdated models would do."
"Well..."
Kaisa hesitated. Even for him, getting heavy artillery-level weapons was tough. If Li Xiniwei knew Su Xiao's thoughts and that he had to handle this, he would definitely lose sleep for days.
"Should Li Xiniwei and I give it a try?"
Kaisa's tone was still hesitant.
"Mm, give it a try."
Su Xiao tossed a collector's gold coin to Kaisa. This time, Kaisa didn't hesitate. After greeting Su Xiao, he left the fortress.
Su Xiao took out the fortress core, which looked like a pocket watch, and opened it. Inside, he saw fresh red flesh beating like a heart. As long as he injected the 100% pure Mutagenic Solution into it, the future upgrade of the Doom Fortress wouldn't be a big problem—just a matter of paying with Living Ore.
He loaded a glass tube of Mutagenic Solution into an injection gun and injected it into the fortress core. Nothing changed at first. A few seconds later, the fortress beneath him trembled, as if it had come alive, its internal structure rapidly transforming.
A few minutes later, the fortress's changes subsided. It was still a T4-level fortress. Su Xiao checked the fortress's data.
**Name:** Doom Fortress (**).
**Level:** T4 (Fortress levels range from T0 to T5).
**Total Population:** 7,322 people.
**Living Energy Reserve:** 5,780 points (can be converted into 5,780 kg of Living Ore).
**Upgrade Required Living Energy:** 5,000 points.
There was no need to mess with different types of Mutagenic Solution anymore. Now, the Doom Fortress only needed enough living energy to upgrade smoothly.
Su Xiao immediately chose to consume 5,000 points of living energy to upgrade the Doom Fortress to T3 level. As soon as he made the choice, the fortress core in his hand sprouted flesh tendrils that burrowed into the fortress walls.
The upgrade to T3 level would take some time. Su Xiao quickly walked out of the main command room and went to the second floor of the fortress. No wild boar people lived here; it was filled with organs or metal machinery connected to the fortress itself.
On the second floor, Su Xiao stopped in front of a wall made of black flesh. He took a cold storage box from his storage space and opened it, revealing three rows of injection guns, with cold mist wafting out.
Su Xiao pondered for a moment, then took out two of them. One contained the gene from the Bug Nest Evolution Chamber, and the other held the Demon Beast's gene fragment, "Instinct."
As Su Xiao took out these two injection guns, the black wall in front of him began to concave inward. The Doom Fortress, as a living entity, sensed the insect race's aura and intent of devouring everything to evolve.
Su Xiao stabbed both injectors into the black flesh wall in front of him and injected. After doing this, he constantly sensed the fortress's changes, ready to rescue it at any moment to prevent it from dying.
After sensing for a few minutes, Su Xiao noticed that the Doom Fortress's biological fluctuations were steadily weakening. He signaled Amu, who had been waiting nearby, to act.
Amu held an injector nearly half a meter thick, aimed it at the fortress wall, and injected. Behind him, he carried eight of these oversized metal injectors.
A muffled wail came from the surroundings. Hearing this, Su Xiao was slightly surprised. The fortress could cry? He had never heard of such a thing.
Su Xiao's preparations were correct. Under the Bug Nest gene and the Demon Beast's gene fragment, the Doom Fortress hovered between half-dead and sudden death. If not for Su Xiao, the alchemist, rescuing it, the fortress would have withered into a pile of scrap metal and rotting flesh.
Su Xiao worked until 6 AM, and the Doom Fortress's condition finally stabilized. It was already evolving to T3 level, and injecting the Bug Nest gene at this stage was the optimal timing.
The Doom Fortress had evolved to T3-level fortress.
**Warning (Void Tree):** Detected gene fragments from an external war species!
**Gene Fragment Source:** Demon Insect Race.
**Race Danger Level:** Ultra-High Intensity!
**Warning (Void Tree):** This world is in a World Conquest phase. If a Contractor summons the Demon Insect Race to this world, it will cause fundamental changes to this world or biological extinction-level destruction.
**Warning (Void Tree):** Detected that you are a Contractor of the Apocalypse Paradise.
**Warning (Void Tree):** According to Initial Clause 127753, the Apocalypse Paradise's notarized reputation in this World Conquest is reduced by 5.