Chapter 1050: The 68th Experiment
The place where the two of them landed happened to be a restroom. Amidst the dripping sound of water, a middle-aged man in a white coat, clearly a researcher, crawled out from under the collapsed ceiling panel.
Upon seeing Xu Huo and the other person for the first time, he didn't scream. Instead, he said calmly, "There's nothing here that you're looking for."
"How strange. I haven't even said anything yet, how do you know what we're looking for?" Chi Minghong said, crossing her arms.
"What players seek are just a few things. This isn't the place you think it is for precious mineral research," the middle-aged researcher said with certainty.
Xu Huo walked up to him, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and lifted him up, warning, "If I were you, I wouldn't try to be clever in front of a player. Stop pressing whatever's in your hand."
Chi Minghong stepped forward, grabbed his hand, and confiscated a miniature communicator.
"You old fox, pretty sneaky!" She used a small prop, and various items he was carrying fell to the ground, including backup communicators and recorders, as well as an ID card.
"Lu Huizhi, First-Class Researcher." Chi Minghong held it up. "This is also a key card. Pretty high clearance. It should get us into the lab."
"Let's go." Xu Huo pushed Lu Huizhi to the front and made him lead the way.
"What exactly do you want? We can talk it out. The lab has many toxic substances; accidentally touching one could be fatal!" Lu Huizhi tried to persuade them.
"You think we *want* to be here?" Xu Huo said off the cuff. "My friend and I came for the beauty pageant. Before we even saw anyone, we were being chased all over the place. Forced to hide in here, tired and hungry, almost out of props and potions. We've got to at least recoup our losses before leaving!"
He deliberately leaned closer to Lu Huizhi. "Using an energy plant as cover to build an underground lab—who are you trying to fool into thinking there's nothing good here?"
Lu Huizhi forced a smile. "Kidnapping me probably won't get you what you want... I do know about some valuable items stored here. I can take you to them, but that might attract attention. Why don't you let me go, and I'll go get them..."
Before he could finish, the suddenly tightened collar choked him, and he heard the person behind him say, "I've never been treated like a fool!"
"Why waste words with him? He's not being honest," Chi Minghong chimed in. "Boss, just kill him! We'll grab whatever we can. What do we care about toxic experiments?"
Xu Huo seemed persuaded and tightened his grip on Lu Huizhi. Panicking, Lu Huizhi quickly said, "I'll take you! I'll take you! But there's no way others won't see you!"
"We have invisibility props. Just cooperate." Xu Huo nodded to Chi Minghong, and the two of them put on their invisibility props, flanking Lu Huizhi on either side.
Only then did the three of them head out.
The first person they encountered was another researcher in a white coat. The man was fleeing frantically and found this place, completely missing Lu Huizhi's pleading look. He acted as if he hadn't seen him and ran off to save himself.
They ran into a few more people afterwards, but none could offer him help, until he opened a door and entered the lab.
Although the lab had protective layers, it couldn't withstand the players upstairs fighting for their lives. There were holes in the ceiling everywhere, and light fixtures were falling down occasionally. But there were players here!
"Help! I'm being held hostage!" Lu Huizhi shouted at the people across from him.
However, the few people across from him turned to look at him, and one of them hesitated, saying, "Dr. Lu, didn't you say these materials are more precious than life itself and must be taken away no matter what?"
Lu Huizhi was stunned. "What are you talking about?"
The people across from him were also puzzled, but they let go of their things and walked past him one by one, saying, "Dr. Lu, we'll withdraw first. You should come out soon too!"
And then, everyone in this lab just left like that!
Lu Huizhi's eyes widened. At that moment, Xu Huo patted the back of his head. "I wouldn't have dared to come down without some skills. I'll give you one more chance."
This time, Lu Huizhi dared not try to signal for help again. He led them through the lab corridors, past several doors, and into an office. Then, he took a box out of a drawer.
"You should recognize Subclass Stones. There are four here, and one of them even has a Time attribute. You can take them all."
"Time attribute?" Chi Minghong was startled. Then she said, "Old man, you're lying, right? Subclass Stones with a Time attribute are extremely rare. They're raw materials for creating Time-Space attribute props. How could a researcher like you just casually pull them out?"
"If you don't believe me, you can test them." Lu Huizhi pushed the box forward. "I have only one request. Since you've already gotten what you want, please don't destroy the lab. There are many precious samples here, the hard-earned fruits of our researchers' long efforts. Once destroyed, they might never be recovered!"
"All these experiments we conduct are for the benefit of humanity. Players are also beneficiaries. Please, at least show us some respect."
"Precious samples?" Xu Huo removed his invisibility cloak, picked up the Subclass Stone, and only then said, "You mean the children locked up here?"
Lu Huizhi's face changed drastically. "How do you... you came for this!"
"That's right." Xu Huo unceremoniously pocketed the Subclass Stone and added, "Using children for experiments, and saying players benefit? Don't you feel embarrassed saying that yourself?"
Lu Huizhi took a step back, staring at him warily. But Chi Minghong suddenly stepped forward, pinned him to the desk, and broke his fingers. "I said you were sneaky. What were you trying to do just now?"
She glanced sideways. "It's a special button."
"Could be an alarm, or maybe he wanted to destroy something important." Xu Huo turned on the work equipment in the room, forcibly logged in using Lu Huizhi's blood for authentication, and found the experimental data and some experiment videos.
He randomly clicked on one. The screen showed a psychotherapist evaluating a child who looked about ten years old. After several questions, the child suddenly flew into a rage and attacked, only to be forcibly stunned by his ankle shackles. The psychotherapist then spoke to the camera: "Sixty-seventh experiment. R17 suddenly becomes enraged when the topic of the medication provided by Dr. Zhang is touched upon. From his mental state, R17 is lucid and not in a state of genuine anger. It is suspected that he is under psychological suggestion, passively triggered to attack anyone who raises such questions."
"Based on data from the previous sixty-six experiments, R17 is expected to wake up thirty seconds after the electric shock..." As the psychotherapist spoke, the child in the chair, the subject designated R17, indeed woke up. "This time is three seconds shorter than the sixty-sixth experiment. This shows that even after being removed from Dr. Zhang's control, R17's physical fitness continues to increase."
The psychotherapist then looked at R17, who was sitting obediently as if nothing had happened, his expression revealing almost nothing about his current state of mind. "His psychological quality is also exceptional. Additionally, he has super learning abilities, repeatedly absorbing experience from experiments to achieve self-improvement. This phenomenon did not occur before he received Dr. Zhang's treatment."
"Proceeding with the sixty-eighth experiment."
(End of Chapter)