Chapter 1866: Clear Clues
He stared at Xu Huo, the smile on his face gradually deepening, while his eyes also became exceptionally bright, a stark contrast to his earlier demeanor of desperately trying to negotiate terms with everyone.
No one spoke, but everyone present felt he had some mental issues.
However, the light in Chang Shoujie's eyes gradually evolved into madness. He fixed his gaze on Xu Huo. "It's true that foreign xenomorphs were researched here, but the safe zone is buried. Whether we can find clues is entirely up to luck... You're quite lucky. Are you still going to the Sand Sea Safe Zone now?"
Seeing that Xu Huo didn't explicitly say no, Chang Shoujie suggested, "There are indeed many Outer Zone players in the center of the Sand Sea. You're a C-level player. Even if you change your appearance, you'll still be targeted. It's better to cooperate with players from Zone 010. With help, you can successfully bring the xenomorph out. You should want a live xenomorph too, right?"
Everyone could sense the change in his attitude, but given his repeated vacillations earlier, Deng Xiahei still found him unreliable and subtly signaled Xu Huo not to agree.
"Let's rest here for now." Xu Huo didn't give a direct answer but instead signaled Deng Xiahei to move Chang Shoujie into the car.
Deng Xiahei had nothing to say but complied anyway.
As soon as the two were inside, the car door closed directly. Deng Xiahei and the others were blocked outside, unable to see what was happening inside or hear any sounds from within.
"Are you and Old Xu friends?" Juan Er quietly asked Deng Xiahei.
"Not really," Deng Xiahei said. "I only ran into him when I came to Zone 010."
"Then I don't understand. Why do you listen to him so much? You don't oppose any of his decisions." Juan Er looked at him curiously. "Does he have some shameful leverage over you?"
The others had all come for a glimmer of hope to clear the instance, but no one was as obedient as Deng Xiahei. If nothing unexpected happened, if Xu Huo went to the Sand Sea center, he would definitely go too.
"Do you think there's any leverage in the game that can control others?" Deng Xiahei countered.
Juan Er rubbed his chin. "That's true. Even if you're socially dead, you can just move to another zone and start over."
"I just want to clear the instance," Deng Xiahei said.
The implication was clear enough, but Juan Er still turned to Pink Hair to ask, "Do you know Old Xu?"
"I do," Pink Hair said, her emotions back to normal. "We came on the same train."
"That doesn't count as knowing him." Juan Er was a bit disappointed. "Looks like no one knows his background."
Deng Xiahei tilted his head back to drink water, showing no reaction to this topic.
Inside the car, Xu Huo took out the sleeping xenomorph and placed it in front of Chang Shoujie. "This is what Dr. Joyce's locator was pointing to."
Chang Shoujie stared at him in shock. "Impossible! Are you saying it's Melissa?!"
"I didn't say it was Melissa," Xu Huo said. "I've emphasized repeatedly that unless Dr. Joyce had other arrangements, Melissa can only be with the CK12 player."
"But this xenomorph is special. It carries a pathogenic gene. The instance mentioned that Melissa carried a defective gene. If this xenomorph isn't Melissa, then it should be one of Melissa's siblings, at least inheriting some of the same genes."
He looked at Chang Shoujie. "Does this xenomorph remind you of anything?"
Chang Shoujie quickly caught on. "You think Dr. Joyce left clues on it?"
"Is there any unique code between you?" Xu Huo said. "Dr. Joyce left the locator with you and placed the signal transmitter originally on himself onto this xenomorph. There's no way it's without purpose. You fought side by side; you should know him better."
Chang Shoujie turned his wheelchair, carefully examining and feeling the xenomorph, trying to find any traces.
Unfortunately, after two thorough checks, he still found nothing. After a moment of thought, he said, "You mentioned it carries a pathogenic gene. What gene is it?"
This stumped Xu Huo. He couldn't even be sure that this special xenomorph was Sample 93, so he contacted Dr. Deng to clarify.
"I was just about to contact you too," Dr. Deng said. "I compared the sample you gave me. It should be Sample 93 as you said."
Xu Huo silently isolated Chang Shoujie from the spiritual realm and listened as Dr. Deng continued, "It does contain a special mutated gene that is effective in controlling Black Thorn Disease. Among the samples, the gene causing Black Thorn Disease in Sample 93 has been dormant, while the other two have awakened."
"I'm currently working on a potion comparison to see if I can create a targeted gene potion based on the potion Joyce left behind. But this will take some time. Will it delay your instance clearance?"
"The sooner, the better," Xu Huo said. "You mentioned Sample 93 has a pathogenic gene. Does it have a specific name?"
Dr. Deng gave him a code and added, "I examined Joyce's remains. He likely contracted Black Thorn Disease while alive."
Xu Huo was somewhat surprised. "Isn't this a gene disease specific to Zone 010?"
Dr. Deng sighed, both helpless and admiring. "He might have experimented on himself to trace the root cause of the gene mutation... If the gene potion didn't work, he died in vain."
"Didn't he entrust the potion to you?" Xu Huo said, also noting that he left Sample 93 as a clue for Chang Shoujie.
But this was also a bad sign. Whether or not Dr. Joyce successfully developed the gene potion, the outcome might be hard for Zone 010's people to accept.
Withdrawing from the spiritual realm, Xu Huo informed Chang Shoujie of the pathogenic gene's code. Chang Shoujie hesitated before saying, "Dr. Joyce and I did set up three sets of codes. This code can be converted into time or location, but it needs a reference point."
Xu Huo paused briefly, then took out the terminal device. The analysis was still a bit short of completion, so he simply placed the terminal on the table and sat down next to Chang Shoujie. "Let's wait."
Seeing the video file's name, Chang Shoujie's gaze froze. "This is indeed Dr. Joyce's naming convention. He left a clue!"
Xu Huo gave him some food. "Don't get too excited. It's still early."
Chang Shoujie appeared calm on the surface, but his eyes never left the terminal screen. He practically counted the decimal points until the analysis was complete.
Just then, Xu Huo finished his meal and casually opened the video.
Sitting in front of the camera was a man with a weathered face but an elegant demeanor. The filming background appeared to be the CK12 laboratory. He pushed the organized files aside, looked ahead, and said, "Sample 93 is the closest to a successful embryonic specimen. Unfortunately, its mutated R-5FH is a pathogenic gene. Currently, there is no suitable dormant or repair potion for this gene."