Chapter 268: Death?

The other scientists' hands trembled at his words.

"Triple dose? Dr. Yi, that could kill someone..."

"Do as I say."

Dr. Yi replied calmly, his voice in the darkness like a bright beacon, guiding the numerous scientists to continue the experiment. Without machine assistance, Dr. Yi had to rely solely on observing the subject and his own intuition to direct the experiment. This introduced too much uncertainty, but at present, they had no other choice.

As the triple dose was injected into the black organism, its flickering life force regained a glimmer of vitality. However, the cost was that its body inflated like a balloon, transforming into a mountain of black flesh within seconds. The other scientists were stunned; in all their years of experiments, they had never witnessed such a bizarre phenomenon. Just as everyone stood bewildered, Dr. Yi's brows furrowed deeply.

"Reagent C-03, five times the dose."

Numbed, the group followed Dr. Yi's instructions without hesitation. As tube after tube of unknown reagents were injected into the organism, the mound of flesh rapidly quivered, its form gradually shrinking. Dense black runes appeared to come alive, crawling across its body.

"Reagent D-12, double dose."

"Forbidden Sea Calamity Cell S-09 serum, ten times the dose."

"Restraint agent B-04, ten times the dose."

With each command, the scientists were drenched in sweat. They stared at the amorphous substance on the test table, unable to help but swallow.

"Reagent C-10..."

"Dr. Yi..."

"Silence! Can't you hear me talking??"

"No, Dr. Yi..." Surrounded by the test table, in the dim candlelight, one scientist stiffly raised his head. "He seems to be dead..."

Dr. Yi's body subtly stiffened. He looked at the substance on the test table, which had long been motionless. No matter how many more injections the scientists administered, there was no reaction. The previous wailing had ceased long ago. The air fell into a dead silence.

"...Is he confirmed dead?" Dr. Yi asked hoarsely.

"There are no vital signs... And given his current state, we can't even tell where his heart or blood vessels are," the scientist swallowed. "However, judging by the lack of any stress response, he should be dead."

Dr. Yi said nothing more. He sat in silence for a long time before slowly standing up, bottle in hand.

"The wine's finished... I'll go get a new bottle," Dr. Yi mumbled. "Dispose of him..."

Dr. Yi opened the door and left the lab, seeing several enforcers moving through the corridor. The dimly lit base was already in chaos. He frowned and walked directly towards the other end of the corridor. While the other scientists remained stationary, only Dr. Yi walked through the commotion as if nothing was amiss, immediately catching the attention of the enforcers.

"Dr. Yi, this is a critical time. Please do not move around freely," Qiong Xuan said gravely. "The ritual artifact on the third floor has been deliberately damaged; an enemy might have infiltrated the base..."

"Get lost."

Dr. Yi, holding his empty wine bottle, backhanded Qiong Xuan's arm away. As he spoke, a strong smell of alcohol wafted from him. Qiong Xuan didn't understand what had gotten into Dr. Yi, but respecting his status and scientific value, he dared not resort to force. He could only say as calmly as possible, "Dr. Yi, the base is currently without power. Wandering around alone might put you in danger."

"Oh really? If they're capable, let them kill me."

Dr. Yi had no intention of cooperating with Qiong Xuan. He walked towards his room without looking back, leaving the enforcers exchanging bewildered glances, unsure of what to do. After much deliberation, Qiong Xuan decided not to restrain him by force and let him leave.

"Found anything unusual?" he turned to ask the Level Six enforcer beside him.

"...No, we've searched floors one to three thoroughly. No one dead, no one injured, no one missing, and no signs of anything stolen... Apart from the power outage, there seems to be no other abnormality," the Level Six enforcer said skeptically.

"What about the cause of the power outage?"

"Still investigating."

"The Eye of Truth was destroyed, so someone must have tried to sneak into the lower levels... Since there's no change on the third floor, the problem must be on the fourth," Qiong Xuan's gaze fell on the passage leading to the fourth floor, his brow furrowing deeper. "But how is that possible? No one should be able to pass through that person's checkpoint..."

After a moment of thought, Qiong Xuan decided to investigate himself. He motioned for the other enforcers to stay put and walked directly into the passage. After turning a few corners, a red-haired figure appeared before him.

"Qiong Xuan, Security Captain of Aurora Base, greets the Director." Qiong Xuan spoke respectfully.

The red-haired woman sitting by the door unhurriedly turned a page in her book, her cold gaze settling on him. "Speak."

The moment her gaze fell upon him, Qiong Xuan inexplicably felt the temperature in the entire passage begin to drop, and an unprecedented sense of pressure enveloped him. What's going on? The Director doesn't seem to be in a good mood today.

Qiong Xuan unconsciously swallowed, carefully formulating his words. "Because the base suddenly lost power just now, and the ritual artifact on the third floor was damaged... we suspect an enemy has infiltrated the base. I just wanted to ask you, Director... has anyone entered or exited the checkpoint on the fourth floor?"

The red-haired woman's eyes narrowed slightly. As veins bulged on the back of her hand gripping the book, a chilling killer intent flashed through the passage... Qiong Xuan's heart skipped a beat! In that instant, he even wondered if she would strike him down on the spot. It had been an immeasurable time since Qiong Xuan had experienced such life-or-death pressure.

"Di-Director?" Qiong Xuan stammered nervously.

The oppressive feeling in the passage suddenly dissipated. The red-haired woman emotionlessly turned another page of her book, as if everything that had just occurred was merely an illusion. After a long silence, she replied:

"No... No one has been here."

Qiong Xuan paused, confused. Though he had doubts, he still nodded respectfully: "Understood. I will continue the search then..."

"Qiong Xuan," the red-haired woman suddenly spoke.

"Is there anything else, Director?"

"If you find that intruder, kill them on sight... Understood?"

Qiong Xuan's doubts intensified. Just as he was about to press further, the red-haired woman looked up and glanced at him again... Qiong Xuan shuddered and immediately replied:

"Understood, understood!"