Chapter 454: Return to the Laboratory
Dr. Deng naturally agreed and said, "Didn't you bring ore detectors? Maybe we can collect some ore on the island to earn some extra money to supplement the potion."
Xu Huo knew he was worried about being too injured to look after him on the train, but he didn't call him out on it. Instead, he said, "Why don't we go back to the laboratory to see if there's anything to gain? Maybe the first and second underground floors weren't flooded."
"Let's get ashore first," Miao Yu also said. "And we still need to be wary of the Bolen Clan's people coming to pick them up."
"Did the Kong siblings try to notify the Bolen Clan when they were on the first floor?" Xu Huo asked.
Miao Yu shook his head, not wanting to be too definitive. "I didn't see it, but it's hard to say if they had a prior agreement."
"Hey, I think we're forgetting someone," Chu Yuan suddenly said. "That rubber-clad player who killed Wan Yunrong. He didn't follow the Kong siblings down. Now that the instance is over, he's free and must have already left the laboratory!"
"Aren't we in great danger!" Gan Qing said with an ugly expression.
"Not necessarily," Xu Huo said. "Besides him, Qiu Xiangdong also disappeared after the explosion. If those two aren't dead, they might have returned to the laboratory."
Dr. Deng's face darkened. "They can't find the potion."
"I'm a bit curious about what kind of potion the Bolen Clan is looking for," Miao Yu asked. "This laboratory has been abandoned for some years. Are the old potions really better than the current ones?"
Dr. Deng said without changing his expression, "This is the level that only top-tier talents can achieve. Even though various game zones can now trade with each other, some techniques simply can't be replicated. The Bolen Clan is looking for a very excellent evolution potion. That kind of potion is currently monopolized by A-level wormhole points, and they deliberately control its outflow, so the Bolen Clan wants to make a fortune from it."
"A-level wormhole points," Chu Yuan said, more interested in other levels of wormhole points than the potion. "I was born in an E-level wormhole point and have never been to other levels. Come to think of it, there are many E-level wormhole points alone, and each one has several zones under it. That makes the game world way too big."
"It's not as big as you think," Dr. Deng said. "Some wormhole points and game zones are unsuitable for human survival. Even if they're divided into areas, no one usually goes there."
"Those are the places where random instances are placed, right?" Miao Yu asked. "Are there many such places?"
"Countless," Dr. Deng said, pulling the topic back. "If Qiu Xiangdong and the others want to leave, they might need a boat."
"They can leave directly with a ticket," Gan Qing said. "As long as he has a ticket for the Sael Coast Station, he doesn't even need to go through all this trouble."
"So what do we do now?" Miao Yu asked Xu Huo and the others. "Go straight to the laboratory or..."
"Let's go to the laboratory," Xu Huo said. "We can leave anytime anyway."
"In my current state, I'm afraid I won't be much help," Gan Qing said.
Chu Yuan was the same. Dr. Deng had no combat ability. Only Xu Huo and Miao Yu were in slightly better condition.
"I'm fine," Miao Yu said. "You'd better come along. We can look out for each other."
The five of them went ashore and headed through the woods toward the laboratory.
Without someone clearing the path, the journey wasn't as smooth as when they first entered the instance. However, along the way, Chu Yuan found some decent ores, and everyone picked up a few.
"Even outside, these ores can fetch a good price," Dr. Deng said. "Some mutated plants and animals are also very popular if they're rare."
"But don't touch things carelessly. Some are poisonous."
After more than three hours, the group arrived back at the laboratory. The instance's sealing effect had been lifted, so they could enter through the main door. There was no sign of Tong Jian on the first floor, so they took the elevator to the second underground floor.
Unexpectedly, the second underground floor had only taken in a little water, and some of the lights were still on.
"The elevator shaft sealed itself off automatically," Miao Yu said after checking. "It should be the laboratory's protective measure. Deep Blue Laboratory was built underwater and used for special research, so it's not surprising the protection is this thorough."
"Can we go down from here?" Chu Yuan asked.
"It's sealed tight," Xu Huo said, trying it from the side. "Going down through the laboratory probably won't work."
The east and west sides of the first and second underground floors were sealed off with metal in the middle. To get past, they'd have to go outside and come back in.
The group circled around to another door and re-entered the laboratory. The western half had been less affected by the explosion, and the second floor hadn't even flooded, with all the lights on.
They moved together and searched all the rooms on both floors again, but still found nothing. Finally, Xu Huo took a painting from one of the rooms.
"What are you doing with that?" Chu Yuan asked, taking one himself.
"A souvenir," Xu Huo said. "Maybe someone will pay a high price for it because it's a master's original work."
"Good point." Chu Yuan stuffed a few more into his luggage compartment.
"Too many and they won't be valuable," Dr. Deng interjected. "Scarcity increases value."
"I'll just sell them in different places," Chu Yuan said without worry.
Having found nothing after circling around, everyone picked up a few paintings and returned to the ground floor to rest in the laboratory.
Chu Yuan brought up two single beds from below and lay down to rest.
Xu Huo sat off to the side, not doing much else but looking at the painting.
Professor Wu of Deep Blue Laboratory was very likely the "Dr. Wu" that Master Nisse had mentioned. This professor had long developed the S-grade potion and seemed to have intentionally placed the potions in different locations. Based on the timeline, Professor Wu should be quite old by now.
Of course, it was possible he was also a player or an Evolver, with a significantly extended lifespan, or he himself was one of the earliest experimenters and beneficiaries of the Perfect Evolution Potion.
A figure like that would have a logical reason for everything he did. He clearly wouldn't stay at Deep Blue Laboratory for long, yet he painted so many pictures. Being consumed by longing for his son didn't quite fit. There had to be some other meaning in these paintings.
At first, he had tried to match the painting's perspective with the internal structure of Deep Blue Laboratory to find the potion, but the potion was hidden inside a false wall, placed inside a sex doll.
This suggested that Professor Wu might not have been trying to hide the potion with great effort, and his mental state was quite stable, not as gloomy and manic as the paintings suggested.
The Game Government and players were in a relatively antagonistic state. Some players were friendly toward the game, while others hated it. Professor Wu seemed closer to the latter. Spreading the Perfect Evolution Potion was like challenging the game.
Perhaps, like Master Nisse, the loss of his child was related to the game, which led to his current actions. The question was whether he would leave clues where he hid the potion.
(End of Chapter)