Chapter 1870: Successful Experiment
"This child learns really fast. She should be a normal person." Xiao Hui crouched in the distance and watched for a while before saying, "Where are we sending her next?"
Deng Xiahei had already heard the specific clearance mission from the deceased Zeng Zhao, so he said, "Probably just any safe zone that still has people. We can't send her back to CK12 Safe Zone."
He paused, then looked at Juan Er and the others with a hint of hope. "What do you think the chances are that she's the lighthouse of Zone 010?"
Juan Er and the others had the same thought, but at that moment, Xu Huo suddenly said, "I'm afraid Melissa will have difficulty bearing the next generation."
"What do you mean?" Deng Xiahei didn't quite understand.
"If Melissa were suitable for bearing the next generation, Dr. Joyce wouldn't have put her into the hibernation pod. Aside from the fact that she carries defective genes that make her unfit for reproduction, there's also the point that she herself is constrained by those genes. Without a suitable environment, she probably can't grow up healthy, and childbirth itself is a major hurdle." Whether it was letting her experience childbirth firsthand or extracting eggs for in vitro cultivation, Xu Huo looked at the child playing in the sand and understood in his heart that Dr. Joyce had likely left her behind as an experimental subject. The mutated genes she carried that suppressed Black Thorn Disease were better used to develop a suitable genetic agent, rather than burdening her with the task of population growth.
Additionally, regardless of whether Dr. Joyce's decision to abandon informing the other players of CK12 was out of care for Melissa or some other reason, and instead chose to let her wander in the desert, the most likely explanation was that Dr. Joyce understood his breeding experiment had completely failed. Melissa was useless to the CK12 players who urgently needed to restore their reproductive ability.
"So from my perspective, it's unlikely she could become the lighthouse in your instance mission." Xu Huo said. "And if that were the case, the clearance missions of the two instances would overlap."
"But that's not to say there's no connection at all. The Sand Sea Safe Zone is east of most safe zones in Zone 010. The clearance content points east, which might refer to the Sand Sea Safe Zone. Since it's a Zone 010 instance, this lighthouse targets Zone 010 people. The Sand Sea Safe Zone itself is a sore point for Zone 010 people. To clear it, you might need to do something in the Sand Sea Safe Zone."
"You mean destroy the order established by the cannibal players?" Brother Wu frowned. "Wouldn't that be too difficult? There are plenty of outer zone players in the Sand Sea Safe Zone, and they'll all be obstacles."
"As long as the Zone 010 people are willing to act, that's not a problem." Xu Huo said. "War between Zone 010 people and the Sand Sea Safe Zone is inevitable."
Deng Xiahei perked up. "Chang Shoujie agreed earlier to spread the news about the newborn precisely to let Zone 010 people wear down the players in the Sand Sea Safe Zone, so they wouldn't become too powerful and eventually impossible to deal with."
Xu Huo nodded. "We just need to find a way to speed up that fermentation process."
The group understood his meaning. He intended to use Melissa as bait to provoke both sides into war. As long as they ensured Zone 010's side held the advantage, they might be able to clear the instance.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Deng Xiahei urged.
"Do you think people will just believe you?" Brother Wu said. "Besides, the safe zones in Zone 010 are so scattered. How do you notify all these people?"
Xu Huo took out the hotel and lifted little Melissa inside. "We'll talk after we rest."
The temperature outside was gradually rising, and the group had been searching without sleep for two or three days. They really needed a good rest.
After the hotel door closed, Xu Huo took little Melissa to the suite upstairs. In a safe environment, he drew some of her blood and sent it back to the Rose Castle villa through the Under Dimension. Then he removed the child's protective suit, gave her some candy to calm her down, and dialed the communicator.
Dr. Deng appeared on the screen with a haggard face. When he saw Melissa, his eyes widened. "There really is a child?!"
Xu Huo showed him the bone protruding from the back of little Melissa's neck.
Dr. Deng understood immediately. With a sigh, he said, "She's a lucky one. Her parents probably hadn't shown obvious signs of degeneration yet, so she could be born. Under normal circumstances, people who have already begun to degenerate have great difficulty reproducing. Even if they have the ability, the offspring would be no different from xenomorphs. It's impossible to give birth to a normal human."
"You can think of her as an ordinary person who took an evolution agent. Because the evolution agent wasn't good enough, some ordinary people also degenerate when using it to enhance their physique. Those with bad luck might die from illness in a short time, or show rapid signs of degeneration and no longer look human. Those with better luck might have a very long process, similar to players."
"As for this child's exact situation, we'll have to see how she grows."
"She also carries the O9 gene that suppresses Black Thorn Disease. To research a genetic agent, the best way is to bring her out."
"Isn't Sample 93 enough?" Xu Huo said. "They carry the same genes. Besides, a child like Melissa probably won't appear a second time."
"It's very difficult." Dr. Deng nodded. "There must be quite a few failed samples like 93. Her parents are both irreproducible, so naturally, she is too."
The key issue was that both parents were likely highly unstable degenerates. The changes in degenerates were unpredictable in themselves.
"This child is closer to a normal person. Using her as an experimental subject is the best option." Dr. Deng paused. "Though it's a bit cruel, her birth was also for this purpose."
"We'll talk about it later." Xu Huo ended the communication and then released Chang Shoujie.
As a Zone 010 native who had spent half his life fighting for the future of Zone 010, Chang Shoujie couldn't take his eyes off little Melissa once he saw her. He first went completely stiff, opened his mouth as if to speak, but ultimately didn't utter a single sound. After two seconds, he began to tremble, raised his hand to touch the child, but raised and lowered it several times without daring to make contact.
"Daddy!" Little Melissa called out.
Hearing this, Chang Shoujie's eyes reddened. He forced himself off the wheelchair, knelt on the ground, and reached out to embrace the child. "Heaven's will, this is heaven's will... From now on, you are my child. I will protect you and won't let anyone hurt you..."
Xu Huo didn't expose the origin of this "heaven's will." He only reminded him, "Children get sick easily."
Chang Shoujie quickly let go of little Melissa and asked him for cleaning agent. He carefully cleaned the child's arms and clothes. When he saw the bone protruding from the back of her neck, he only paused briefly before moving on.
"Next, I'm going to send this child to a safe zone, but there's one thing you need to understand in advance." Xu Huo sat down, raised his hand, and helped the person across from him to his feet.
(Chapter End)