Chapter 138: Human Experiments
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
The machine had elegant curves; it was orange red in color, delicate and beautiful like a fresh strawberry. This was completely different from the other instruments in the lab.
Xia Fei took a look at the label to discover that it was a fully automatic mineral particle collector and combiner, which was used to gather tiny minerals and combine them into a single piece of ore.
However, the placement of the machine was a bit strange. Far from all the other machineries, it looked quite lonely sitting in that corner of the lab by itself.
Xia Fei was slightly shocked when he gently touched the machine, furrowing his brows. “Something isn’t right with this machine.”
“What’s not right?” Phantom came closer curiously.
“This machine feels incredibly fragile; it doesn’t have the density of the other machineries here,” replied Xai Fei in a deep voice.
The strength or density of something could be understood just by touching it with one’s hand. It was just like the difference between touching an aluminum can and an aluminum alloy plate. Although both were made from aluminum, one could tell that one was light while the other was heavy. This machine gave Xia Fei an impression that it was incredibly light.
With his palm outstretched, Xia Fei pressed the machine gently. He did not have much strength compared to strength ability users, but he was stronger than the average human. The strawberry-colored instrument made a crisp, clanking sound before the shell dented.
It turned out that the machine was just an empty shell that could not even withstand Xia Fei pressing on it.
Xia Fei squatted and took a closer look on the ground. There was an obvious scratch left on the alloy ground. Obviously, this machine had once been frequently moved.
Pushing it along the scratches, the strawberry-colored machine moved. Without much strength, Xia Fei pushed it aside to reveal a secret passage.
Xia Fei and Phantom looked at each other. No one would have guessed that this seemingly normal mineral research facility had a hidden passageway like this.
Thinking back, Xia Fei finally understood. It was never normal to build a mineral research facility so deep underground. Moreover, it was incredibly secure, requiring four different types of authentication just to make it in, showing that this seemingly ordinary research facility was anything but.
The secret passageway, only wide enough to fit one person, headed downward. The moment the instrument was pushed aside, the lights in the passageway automatically lit up.
Just in case, Xia Fei took a look at his communicator. Although he was this deep underground, the communicator still had full bars of reception. If he actually encountered any danger, he could just send an SOS.
Without overthinking, Xia Fei followed the passageway and reached another sealed door less than a hundred meters away from the entrance.
The protection on this door was much more secure than the ones above. Not only did it have a vibration detection system, but all the opening mechanisms were also connected in series. This meant that if any of the systems were destroyed, it would cause a chain reaction, and the emergency defense system would be triggered.
The more tightly guarded the place was, the more it could intrigue others. Xia Fei spat onto the ground before bringing out his toolbag from his spatial ring, arranging the tools he required neatly on the ground.
The only way was to undo each security one layer after another.
Xia Fei first cut open the control panel like before to reveal the circuitry beneath, then he inspected them to find the most optimal solution.
The results of the analysis was most disappointing. The system was not only much more secure than the one outside but also provided no easy way out. Using brute force would be the worst plan of all.
Xia Fei held a signal-splitting screwdriver and a tiny needle stripper and made it dance in his hands. Perhaps ‘dance’ was an exaggeration, but it would not be too far off from describing his dexterity as possessing the agility of a skilled pianist’s fingers.
The actions of a speed ability user were always more agile than the average joe. Not only did they improve agility on their body, even tiny actions done by the fingers were much different than average. These tiny actions moved quickly like the beating wings of a honeybee—accurate and effective.
It took Xia Fei a good three hours to break through the first defense. Xia Fei had been squatting this whole time as he focused on the circuits, thinking as he explored with his tools.
This was just like a decryption game to Xia Fei; the benefits of cracking the code was secondary. Now, he was focused on breaking one defense after another as he happily welcomed the challenge.
When the defense system let out a crisp sound, Xia Fei’s heart skipped a beat.
A few seconds later, nothing happened in the tunnel, nor did the alarm sound. Xia Fei was confident that he had cracked the first layer of defense.
Xia Fei wiped the sweat off his forehead using his sleeve. Although it was chilly down underground, Xia Fei’s high-pressure work had caused him to sweat considerably.
Without hesitation, Xia Fei moved to crack the next line of defense. Phantom yawned, for not only did he think messing with the circuits was incredibly troublesome, it was incredibly boring as well.
Phantom disappeared with a flash as his voice rang in Xia Fei’s ears. “I’m so tired; I’m heading to sleep. I’ll come out once you get it open.”
Xia Fei ignored him. In his eyes, breaking the defense system of the ancient civilization would provide him with a great sense of accomplishment. These circuits and machinery were so advanced that a normal person would call it an accomplishment just to be able to understand all these, let alone crack them.
Moreover, the cracking process was also a learning opportunity. Xia Fei first had to determine what the circuits did before he could make appropriate changes to crack the system.
As time went on, Xia Fei familiarized himself better with the circuit, and the speed of cracking it naturally increased.
The final defense was finally broken under Xia Fei’s unceasing efforts. Twenty-seven hours had passed at this point.
With a gentle push of his finger, the alloy door rustled open. Xia Fei smiled as he stood up to put away the hundreds of tools beneath his feet.
Using a few hundred pieces of tools only to open a door could be considered a personal best of some sort.
The secret room was one thousand or so meters squared, much smaller than the research facility outside. There were many sealed glass jars along the wall with a pale red liquid inside, and nothing else.
The middle of the room had two rows of instruments neatly arranged, though these were not meant for minerals but for biology, instead.
Xia Fei got curious. Why would a mineral company have so many biology instruments, and in a hidden room no less?
He checked the label on a glass jar.
Name: Unknown
Age: 179
Sex: Male
Ability Type: UV control
Rank: Intermediate Eternal
Percentage of seventh brain region opened: 64%
Note: The brain of an Intermediate Eternal rank light ability user. This person had their seventh brain region opened to a relatively high percentage. A three-star talent level, but because his brain development was too intense when he was younger, further promotion opportunity was lost. Detailed file number: CYN-00792
Xia Fei was utterly shocked. Turned out, this jar once contained the brain of an Eternal rank warrior, and they were doing research on his brain.
The ability levels started from the lowest Star Light, Star Base, Star Domain, Star River, and Legendary Rank to the highest Eternal Rank.
The combat ability of someone from this sixth rank could be described as the pinnacle of strength. It was hard to imagine that someone at the top could have their brains in a jar for research.
This mineral research facility was not so simple, after all. Using it as a front, they performed human experiments in secret, even experimenting with a pinnacle expert.
Suppressing the uneasiness in his heart, Xia Fei quickly checked the labels on a few more jars. Ranging from Primary Legendary to Advanced Eternal, there were fourteen sets of brains from incredibly powerful individuals. With these many elite ability users gathered, their combat prowess was probably beyond expectations, but in the end, they became somebody else’s research material.
Xia Fei had a stern face, for he had immense respect toward all these pinnacle warriors. He was an ability user himself, though he did not have a rank like these subjects, nobody would hope to become somebody else’s lab rat.
Xia Fei also noticed that these pinnacle warriors did not have a high percentage of their seventh brain region opened, the highest was at seventy-eight percent and the lowest was only fifty-one percent.
Xia Fei felt a terrible chill inside him. “They’ve become research subjects with only just over half of their seventh brain region opened. Wouldn’t I be in even more danger with a hundred percent of mine open?”
Xia Fei decided never to tell another soul that his seventh brain region was fully opened, no matter who they were. He did not want to be studied like his predecessors.
After walking around this lab, Xia Fei discovered that there were many pieces of equipment here that could fetch him a tidy sum on the market. However, most of these were rather bulky, meaning that he could not take them away.
This was indeed something quite unfortunate, just like someone who had to guard a mountain of gold but could not take any of it away.
There was also a small door in this secret lab, though no protective measures were attached to it. Xia Fei could walk right through it with a push of a button.
This room was even smaller, less than two hundred square meters. It was a twenty or so meter long hallway with eight well-equipped cells on either side.
Xia Fei had been in prison, so he was quite familiar with this environment.
The only thing different was that the cells were surrounded by alloy bars but used a laser beam to keep the humans within.
The alloy bars would stand no chance against the destructive abilities of all these high-rank ability users, but the lasers were a different case; anyone who dared to get close to it would be turned into charcoal.
These lasers were fatal to high-ranked warriors, for almost all of them wore combat suits according to their ranks. The stronger combat suits easily prevented small-scale energy attacks, but these were industrial laser weaponry, not laser beams but laser walls.
The ability users locked in here would have had their combat suits removed, but even if they had them on, they would not have enough defense to get through these laser walls. One wrong move and they would be reduced into ashes.
“Who knows what they were researching with so many pinnacle warriors locked up?” remarked Phantom.
“From the equipment outside, it’s likely that they’re researching the opening of the seventh brain region. The jars made special note of the status of their seventh brain region.” Xia Fei lit up a cigarette first before replying.
With a press of a button, the laser walls were turned off. Xia Fei was impressed by the incredible technology of the ancient civilization, seeing as the blue laser walls were still working even after such a long time.
Phantom shook his head. “That’s just a possibility; there’s no way for us to know what the ancient civilization’s knowledge of the seventh brain region was. We only know one thing about them, and that’s their technology was incredibly developed.”
“Makes sense,” said Xia Fei. “Our knowledge of the ancient civilization is indeed quite shallow. Is there any institution specializing in the study of the ancient civilization? I bet they’ll have more detailed pieces of information.”
“There are, but due to the Alliance’s regulations, these institute could only do so in secret. Qin Mang in the library for example; isn’t he studying the ancient civilization? Actually, you’re one too; you’ve learned quite a lot about the ancient civilization from Qin Mang, after all.”
Xia Fei pursed his lips. “I’ve only learned a tiny bit so far. It’d be great if I could have access to the introduction to coding robots in the basement. If I knew how to code robots, perhaps I could make a few with artificial intelligence.”
Phantom quickly waved his hands. “That can’t be done. A robot with artificial intelligence is no longer a machine but a person created by a human, instead. That violates the law of nature, and you will be punished by it.”
Xia Fei smiled. “Weird. Why do you sound so much like Qin Mang? He says that all the time, too.”
Phantom’s face turned sour. “Obviously, I’d be influenced by what I heard from your chats as well. What Qin Mang said before actually makes sense; humans are just tiny specks in the universe—nothing compared to the vast universe.
“Even if humans were all wiped off, the universe would still follow its predetermined trajectory, unaffected, so humans should know their place and not try to challenge the universe’s will.”
Xia Fei laughed. “Hehe, let’s set that aside; for now, back to business. How will I carry this equipment away? Do you have any ideas?”
Xia Fei only had money in mind; he needed to buy medicinal ingredients, Quantum Holdings must be further developed, and everything required funds. Xia Fei had gained quite a bit from this trip to the ruins, but bringing these things back was the problem.
Although he had a twenty-cubic-meter spatial ring, this was not even close to sufficient. He might be able to fit one or two apparatuses, yet he was unwilling to leave these many expensive items behind.
Phantom scratched his chin. “You’re quite fit; how about you put these things into your ring and carry it to the surface?”
Xia Fei rolled his eyes at Phantom. “You call that a plan? Whatever. We still have time. Let’s just give the lab a thorough search and gather up everything expensive. If we can’t figure anything out by then, we’ll just resort to the dumbest solution and move all these up to the surface, as you suggested.”
Standing up, Xia Fei walked around the cell. The most important thing to do now was to inspect everything in detail, not overlooking a single thing.
All of a sudden, Xia Fei’s keen perception noticed something white and shiny on the ground in the middle of this cell.
Xia Fei kneeled down and picked up the white thing before inspecting it more closely.
“A tooth?” remarked Xia Fei helplessly after staring at it for half a second.
Humans had thirty-two teeth, and by the looks of this one, it was a molar. Who knew which of the pinnacle warriors left it behind.
The tooth was white and clean like a piece of ceramic. The surface looked to be in perfect condition too, and so was its root of the tooth—it was shockingly perfect.
Xia Fei let out a bitter laugh. “This is a pinnacle warrior’s tooth, after all; it must be worth keeping.”
Phantom was disappointed yet still jested, “The tooth is quite small; you can fit that perfectly in your ring.”
All of a sudden, Xia Fei was stunned before saying in a confused tone. “Hold on; since this tooth was subjected to the annihilation beam, it should have turned into dust. How come it was left behind?”
Phantom was also shocked by this fact. Xia Fei was right; the annihilation beam would vaporize anything human; it was impossible for a human tooth to have been left behind in the cell.
There were only two explanations: one, the planet had not been subjected to an annihilation beam; two, the tooth was not human but something artificial, instead. There was no other possible explanation for this weird phenomenon.
Phantom leaned backward, laughing. “Xia Fei… It’s one thing to pick up a tooth, but you actually picked up a false tooth!”
At this moment, the blue translucent laser walls appeared, trapping Xia Fei in the cell.
The cell confinement system had gotten triggered unexpectedly.
Xia Fei quickly got on his face, walking to the wall with a terrible look on his face.
“Crap—we’re trapped!” said Xia Fei in a rush.
Of course, Xia Fei was anxious to be trapped in a cell and accidentally exerted a bit of force, crushing the tooth between his fingers.
An inconspicuous golden bead fell quietly out of the broken tooth.
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