Chapter 1845: Xenomorph Embryos
Before long, an armed robot emerged from beneath the sand, carrying two boxes in its hands. It spoke to Xu Huo in a high-pitched tone: "We found Dr. Joyce."
Everyone present was slightly startled, their gazes unconsciously turning toward the boxes in its hands.
Not disappointing them, the robot crouched down and opened the two boxes, pouring out the neatly arranged bones inside. "This is Dr. Joyce Number One, and this is Dr. Joyce Number Two."
"My companion also brought back Number Three and Number Four."
As it spoke, another robot crawled out, carrying not only boxes but also neatly packed tattered clothing.
"We picked up many pieces of fabric torn apart by wild beasts around Dr. Joyce Numbers One, Two, Three, and Four, along with this identity certificate for Dr. Joyce. Through data analysis, we couldn't accurately determine which set of remains truly belonged to Dr. Joyce, so we brought back everything."
"You may choose freely."
Dr. Joyce's identity certificate was essentially a work badge, containing a sensor chip. It was likely his work ID from when he was employed at the CK12 Safe Zone, with a half-length photo on it.
Based on this photo and the physical description of Dr. Joyce provided by Chang Shoujie, Xu Huo and the others narrowed it down to two individuals, though it was unclear which specific one.
"Is there anything else?" Xu Huo asked the robot.
The robot replied that the location where they found the remains was a laboratory, mostly buried by sand. The remaining space was filled mostly with experimental equipment, and the terminal instruments had already been taken away, so there was no readily available data.
Before long, Brother Wu and his companions' machines also returned. They hadn't brought back anything but had recorded videos. From the traces left in areas of the city not completely filled with sand, it appeared that many people hadn't had time to escape back then. Most had been buried alive or suffocated, with their bodies relatively well-preserved. Traces of xenomorph activity were surprisingly scarce.
As for why Dr. Joyce Numbers One, Two, Three, and Four in the laboratory had been eaten so cleanly, it was highly likely that xenomorphs raised in the lab had escaped and caused it.
However, beside the remains was only the skeleton of a single xenomorph. From its form, it belonged to some kind of mutated animal, not a mutated human.
"Is there a way to clear out the laboratory?" Xu Huo asked the others.
"I do have a container item that can hold sand, but it's not very big," Deng Xiahei said. "I'd probably have to make multiple trips back and forth."
"As long as it can hold sand, that's fine." Xu Huo put on his protective suit.
To ensure safety, Chang Shoujie still entered the painting frame and went into the safe zone with him. Besides Deng Xiahei, Juan Er also went. Brother Wu and his companions, along with Pink Hair, stayed outside to keep watch.
Since most of the city was filled with sand, moving around wasn't easy. The sand wasn't like dirt or stone—relatively hard—and anywhere they opened a gap, it would quickly be filled again by flowing sand.
So Xu Huo set up space barriers along the paths they walked, allowing Deng Xiahei to free up his hands and seal off the excess gaps.
After working in the laboratory for a long time, they managed to clear out only two rooms.
Earlier, they had known that the important data from the laboratory had already been taken away. Some experimental equipment in the sand-buried areas had been shattered, making it impossible to restore to its original state. However, some dried-out experimental materials had been left behind. Deng Xiahei picked up a glass container, turned it over, and looked at the label stuck to it.
"Embryos?" He stared at the few shriveled, jerky-like things they had cleared out. "These are embryos? They don't look human."
"These are embryos of mutated animals," Juan Er pointed to one of them. "This pair of prematurely developed canine teeth resembles a type of mutated animal I've seen before. Their teeth were used as currency in Zone 010."
"The currency system in Zone 010 hasn't collapsed," Xu Huo said.
From the safe zones he had passed through, normal buying and selling transactions were still ongoing. The common currency was still White Notes, though ordinary people more often bartered goods. In other words, the average person didn't really need currency, and the maintenance of the currency system served only the players.
Since they were players, there was no need for xenomorph teeth to serve as currency, and ordinary people lacked the means to obtain them, making it completely unnecessary.
"I'm not sure about the reason," Juan Er shrugged. "I can't clear the instances anyway, so why would I care about Zone 010's local currency?"
"Is this currency circulating in the Sand Sea Safe Zone?" Xu Huo asked again.
"How did you know?" Juan Er was somewhat surprised.
"Probably those cannibal players want to use their own invented currency to replace White Notes," Deng Xiahei said. "They control the entire Sand Sea Safe Zone. If instance players stay long-term, they'll inevitably spend money in the safe zone. They can exchange water and food with newcomers at high prices or in exchange for instance information, then resell those to stranded players, making them spend White Notes. Then they forcibly circulate beast teeth as currency, allowing them to collect White Notes with almost no cost."
Juan Er wasn't very familiar with this aspect. "If they say to exchange, do players from other zones have to comply? If they can't stay in the Sand Sea Safe Zone, they can go to other safe zones."
"Probably resources," Deng Xiahei glanced at Xu Huo. "Most players' items can't carry water or food. Location items like hotels are very rare and can't be bought with just money. Maybe the people in the Sand Sea Safe Zone have similar items. If someone outside helps, continuously sending resources in, the Sand Sea Safe Zone would be the most resource-rich place. Stranded players would definitely be willing to stay."
"Besides, new instance players will more or less go to the Sand Sea Safe Zone to gather information. Whether they want to clear the instance or not, it's convenient to wait for instance players there."
"No wonder those cannibal players don't want to find a way out. Aside from the harsh environment, being a local tyrant here is more comfortable than outside." Juan Er clicked his tongue.
Getting back to the point, Deng Xiahei poked at the underdeveloped mutated animal embryos and said, "Was CK12 experimenting to see which type of mutated animal had stronger reproductive capabilities?"
Xu Huo and Juan Er both looked at him.
"Isn't that way too terrifying? Humans and degenerated humans are already shocking enough, and now you're adding real animals?" Juan Er said, somewhat speechless. "Drawing inferences is fine, but going overboard is not. Haven't you heard of reproductive isolation?"
Deng Xiahei didn't think his idea was wrong. "The world has become like this. What's impossible?"
"That possibility is very slim," Xu Huo said. "If it succeeded, the game should be full of half-human, half-beast monsters."
Xu Huo looked at the embryos scattered on the ground and said thoughtfully, "Maybe they were conducting other experiments."