Chapter 55
Now that the matter had come to this, Xu Guizhong could only tell Xie Mingan about the research that the Empire was privately hiding from the outside world.
Xie Mingan learned that the Empire had an independent research department that focused on experimenting with whether humans could fuse with the powerful genes of alien races to improve their own strength.
Xu Guizhong said with a headache, “The experiments finally showed the first signs of success a while ago, as several experimental subjects from No. 43 onward had successfully fused with alien genes. In addition to the physical enhancement and change, they also maintained their memories and thinking as humans after testing.”
This would be what Gu Xiyu had accidentally bumped into at that time.
“However, just after transferring the experimental subjects from the underground base to the research department, their brain waves suddenly began to change, gradually matching the frequency of the aliens. Then they became uncontrollable, killing many people. Their physiques were specially enhanced, and their IQ was slightly higher than that of the common aliens, so the guards left behind were simply unable to withstand their attacks.”
Xu Guizhong still didn’t tell the whole story, like the fact that that spatial portal was created by the Empire. Given Wen Yu’s negative impression of humans, maybe the Empire had already discovered that there were very powerful alien races outside the realm. They had been quietly capturing the creatures they met since that time, and this experiment may have been the Empire’s original purpose for opening the portal.
Unexpectedly, they ended up lifting a stone and smashing their own feet.
Xie Mingan only found it absurd: “Are you crazy? Combining human and alien beings to turn them into vicious species?”
“Then what? If the experiment is successful, the Empire intends to raise an army like that and continue to conquer the galaxy.”
Probably because he had hit the nail on the head, Xu Guizhong’s eyes flashed and his tone was a bit helpless: “This is a decision from above; you know the people above us; we can only do as we are told.”
Xie Mingan sneered: “Above us? Who is that? His Majesty? The Crown Prince? Or… the Second Prince?”
Xu Guizhong was startled, and he turned his head to look around for a few moments before lowering his voice and saying cautiously, “Watch your words.”
Xie Mingan was quite rigid: “The royal palace is almost gone, and instead of trying to solve the crisis, would they want to argue with the words of a small fry like me?”
While they were arguing, Gu Xiyu sneaked past the barrier and infiltrated the Research Department’s base.
All the important researchers had been evacuated, and there was no one in the inner or outer courtyard of the base, and if there was, it was just corpses lying on the ground. The attack had been so sudden that they had fled in a hurry, and there was still a lot of important research and equipment that had not been taken. Moreover, some of it could not even be removed directly, so they could only abandon it for now.
There was also another wave of emergencies that needed to be dealt with at the palace, and the troops sent by the Unification Center were focused on resolving the crisis at the palace first. They could only seal off the research department where the runaway experiments were wreaking havoc, wait for support to arrive, and clear all the dangers inside before they could go back and pack up the important things and materials.
The main electricity had been sabotaged, and the corridors that should have been lit up with large white lights were now only lit up with red lights for emergencies, and the floor was covered in wreckage. Gu Xiyu used his tail to send a current to course through the area to find the small control room, and with a single burst of electricity from his tail, he destroyed all the surveillance cameras.
Only after this was done did he jump down and go towards the depths of the research department. A lot of clutter and paper littered the corridors, as well as broken instruments, showing how panicked the staff had been when they escaped.
The doors of some rooms were wide open, while others were closed. The Scientific Research Department looked like only one floor from the outside, but they had actually expanded several underground floors inside, each with a large space and countless rooms of various sizes. Gu Xiyu felt that it was unrealistic for him to try to walk around every corner in the limited time he had.
He found the floor-direction boards posted on the walls, of which the fifth underground floor was marked with only one sentence on the side – NOVA Special Research Department.
The news anchor said the bead might be the breakthrough to this NOVA plan, so there was a high probability that it was hidden there. Gu Xiyu immediately went over to that department. The elevator was temporarily shut down due to power problems, so he had to go down the stairs.
Just as he pushed the door to the stairwell open, he heard the sound of steelwork rolling down from the two floors or so below. He quietly walked to the edge of the cut-out handrail and looked down, and he could faintly see the slow movement of dark shadows in a red light.
If he didn’t want to meet up with any of the crazed experimental subjects left in the Research Department, he would have to make a long detour to another staircase, and there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t encounter any other subjects. Since Xu Guizhong and the others had called Xie Mingan, they must be expecting him to get rid of the experimental subjects inside, meaning, Xie Mingan would be bringing people in soon, and he didn’t have any extra time.
Gu Xiyu cautiously headed downstairs and eventually saw a naked man who was twice as tall as an ordinary human. He was crouching in front of the exit of one of the floors with his back to him; his clothes were torn, his back was sprouting with bulging streaks as thick and intricate as tree roots, and his ears had become as pointed as an elf’s.
The other man was clutching something he couldn’t make out and chewing something in his mouth that sounded like meat and bones being chewed. There was a bloodstained white coat lying by his legs and what seemed to be some kind of reflective metal object in the corner. Gu Xiyu thought about it and decided that it would be better not to delve into what was lying on top of that pile of blood.
The subject was so big that he took up almost the entire corner entrance, and if he were to walk around him in a normal way, he would be discovered anyhow. He stared at the handrail for a few seconds, then silently waved his tail behind him a few times.
In the stairway, the mutated experimental subject with a black “044” stamped on the top of his right arm was happily feeding when his pointed ears suddenly twitched, as if he heard something. He turned his head quickly, his blood-red eyes glancing warily behind him.
The stairs going up and down were empty. He even went to the stairway and looked up and down a few times, but saw nothing.
On the other side, Gu Xiyu, with the flexibility of a tiger rabbit’s tail, flung himself down the fifth-floor basements through the support of the handrail in just a few seconds.
He quickly found the special department with the four letters “NOVA” printed in red paint. He thought that he could repeat the same trick and open that door by the same means he had used to infiltrate the underground base at the Royal Palace. Instead, he found that the door of this department looked very special and could not be opened by simply swiping a card. There was a groove on the side of the door in a very complicated design, and only by inserting a special key could the door be opened.
This kind of key could only be obtained from the staff.
Gu Xiyu recalled the metal object he saw near the white coat before he came downstairs.
If he had known he would have to go back, he might as well have just taken the big guy down head-on.
After crouching in place for a moment to catch his breath, Gu Xiyu resigned himself to jumping up floor after floor. It was probably at the stairway on the third floor of the basement where he found experiment number 044. This time, he heard Gu Xiyu coming up, and when he turned to glare at him with a fierce expression, he was still clutching a broken human arm with bite marks all over it.
He stared at Gu Xiyu and said in a stiff tone, “Rabbit, son?”
The experimental body’s facial features had also changed, no longer possessing the same correct features as a human; his mouth and nose were much enlarged, and the pupils of his eyes were similar to those of an alien race. Gu Xi Yu saw that the exposed part of his body had a slight greenish tinge to it, somewhat similar to the green-skinned alien he had met before.
Gu Xiyu looked at his salivating expression and knew that he was also being regarded as food.
He jumped to avoid the large hand that tried to grab him as number 044 charged toward him. His long tail took the opportunity to curl around the other party’s ankle and release a powerful electric shock based on his feelings. Experiment 044 let out a dull wail and stumbled back into the corner, looking injured but not dead.
The electric shock alone wasn’t enough.
He unleashed his little claws and scratched 044 hard as he rushed towards him again, the hardened outer skin of his reinforced claw actually made deep blood marks.
In the course of the next confrontation with number 044, Gu Xiyu developed another understanding about this body, and why it was said that the tiger-rabbit clan was tough in battle. It’s not that this little body couldn’t gnaw the experimental subject’s head off; he was just too disgusted to do it.
Secondly, both his claws and his legs were already inflicting a certain degree of injury. His legs could kick the subject several times his size right into the wall, and his tail could be used as a self-electrifying whip, flinging red marks all over the other party’s body.
After confirming his explosiveness, Gu Xiyu completely put his worries aside and proceeded to completely crush the experimental subject that tried to eat him, even using him to unlock several skills of this body. After fusing with the alien genes, the experimental body picked up some of their habits, such as bullying the weak and fearing the tough.
After realizing that he was completely unable to beat him, subject No. 044 instantly lost his arrogance and crouched against the wall with his head in his hands, grunting and sounding a little aggrieved.
Gu Xiyu stood in front of him like a little overload, and every time he came a step closer to him, the other party would retreat another point towards the wall.
He was still trying to use Experiment 044 to discover the Tiger Rabbit’s abilities when his ears suddenly heard blasting sounds from far away, interspersed with gunshots and high-decibel howls.
People from the military were coming in.
Gu Xiyu could only give up this plan and grab the metal key that had fallen to the side before jumping and rushing towards the fifth floor. The backup power had not yet failed in the special department, and after inserting the key, the dark gray doors opened automatically.
A few emergency lights hung along the wall; their glow was faint, and the room appeared very dim. A tiger rabbit’s eyesight was not too good in the dark, and he could barely make out his way around. Inside was a large, office-like area, with many computers, desks, and chairs, and some of the papers were scattered all over the floor.
If anyone had been standing outside the door at this point, they would have seen the back of the little tiger rabbit walking around the room in a frenzy.
[You left the admiral’s mansion.]
The system’s voice rang out after a long time, and Gu Xiyu was in a bit of a trance, almost forgetting that he still had an intelligent system bound to him. The system in this world was quite easy to get along with, but it was not active in the execution of tasks and had a very lax attitude.
The pet ring on Gu Xiyu’s paw was flashing red, a signal from the tracker to the owner indicating that the pet had left the controlled range.
If he did the math, it was about time for Wen Yu to notice this.
He explained to the system in his mind, “There was a great opportunity to come out and find something; I’ll go back when I find it.”
[You’re too disobedient, the target will get angry.]
Gu Xiyu listened to the system’s warning, and his small fleshy palm unconsciously brushed against the metal ring a few times, and he suddenly chuckled. “Really? I still think that he just likes disobedience.”
The system also gave a laugh, its tone sounding as mechanical as ever: [So you know him that well?]
Gu Xiyu answered calmly, “Yes, I also know that he is lustful, a standard old pervert.”
[……?]
Gu Xiyu didn’t explain any more.
The bead was a key research object for the NOVA department right now, and Gu Xiyu quickly found it. It was put away in a glass vessel and set up on a small circular shelf. The light emitted from the inside of the bead was dim, much lighter than what he had seen on TV before, as if it had fallen into self-imposed seclusion and slumber.
It was only when the little tiger rabbit approached it that it glowed again.
Gu Xiyu felt another strange stirring coming from his heart, and as the light became brighter and brighter, that feeling grew stronger and stronger. There was some kind of connection between this bead and the original owner.
The vessel containing the bead was easily broken open, and as he obtained it, a row of strange writing floated up on it. It was strange, but he could read it.
It turned out that the bead contained an important message. Gu Xiyu read through the contents without any obstacles and finally filled in another part of the missing data for this world.
Tiger rabbits were extremely rare in the beast race, and given their high intelligence and powerful combat abilities and powers, they became the supreme rulers of the beast race. They were also one of the few species among the beast race that could fully assimilate into human form, and if things like detectors didn’t exist, they could easily blend in with the human race. Actually, most of the beasts led by the tiger rabbits are uncomfortable with unnecessary fighting and will rarely attack humans unless it is necessary.
Of course, there were a few attacks here and there.
The original owner was a young prince among the beast clan. The beasts knew that Wen Yu had infiltrated the empire and was even dismantling it step by step, and as a race who had received help from humans a long time ago, they did not want to see the human race become extinct. So his father sent him as an emissary to negotiate with Wen Yu, the most powerful of the alien race.
Xie Mingan had been right in assuming that the beast ship had approached the human realm with a purpose, only that it wasn’t to attack the empire as he had expected, it had come to negotiate with Wen Yu to bring peace. The message stated that if Wen Yu accepted the Beast race’s request, they would find the means to close the portal, separating the alien and human races that should never have met.
The exact method of closure was also contained in the bead, and it was indeed an essential key item. Apart from the bead, there was another important item that was needed, and when it came together, the closure of the portal could be completed.
Gu Xiyu went through all the information inside and held the bead in silence for a long time before putting it away in the small pouch under his abdomen.
Having found the bead, he went back in the direction he had come from. He had just stepped out of the special NOVA section when his ears flickered and he heard a slight clanging sound from beside him.
It sounded like the safety of a gun being pulled before shooting.
He stopped walking and slowly turned his head towards where the sound was coming from.
Xie Mingan, dressed in black, was standing by the entrance to the NOVA department, holding a silver gun-shaped weapon in his hand, the muzzle of which was pointed at him. Xie Mingan’s eyes were cold, and they carried the hostility of a man who had been in battle for a long time and had countless lives buried at his hands.
Although tiger rabbits were formidable fighters, his body was as fragile as it appeared, and Xie Mingan’s weapon definitely had enough power to send him away.
Gu Xiyu just stared at him motionlessly, his eyes calm.
Xie Mingan did not pull the trigger immediately but after a long time, he suddenly said, “Gu Xiyu?”
Gu Xiyu froze for a moment, not expecting to be discovered at once. But he had no intention of denying it: “You know it’s me?”
Xie Mingan’s gun was still pointed at him, “I suspected your identity before, and your eyes are very recognisable.”
“Also, I know about you sneaking into my flying machine from the Admiral’s Mansion.”
Gu Xiyu: “……” Anyone whose identity has the word “general” in it is not easy to fool. Xie Mingan deliberately let him sneak in and waited here.
Xie Mingan continued asking, “What are you doing here? What is happening in the Royal Palace and the Ministry of Scientific Research better not have anything to do with you.”
“It has nothing to do with me.” Gu Xiyu answered truthfully, “Your empire took something important from me, I just wanted to get it back, I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”
Of course, Xie Mingan would certainly not just believe him on this claim. Although he did not kill him for the time being, he kept him around as if he were a suspect: “You will stay in my sight until Admiral Caesar returns and gives me an explanation for your identity.”
After all, tiger rabbits were still members of the alien race, and Xie Mingan had some scruples.
After Xie Ming’an finished with the research department, he carried him to his spaceship. Gu Xiyu watched him head over to the military station on the other side of the main city and sat on the co-pilot, asking helplessly, “Can’t I be detained at the Admiral’s mansion?”
“What do you think?”
Seeing his non-negotiable expression, Gu Xiyu sighed inwardly and helplessly.
Xie Mingan originally planned to take him back to his resident work place, but he suddenly received a communication on his way back and directly changed course, going outside the main city.
Although it was spoken in a whisper, Gu Xiyu still heard the content of their conversation.
Xie Mingan knew the whereabouts of Lu Feng.
The mention of Lu Feng made him think of Wen Yu, the guy who was obsessed with packing him back as a gift.
“Since you have something to do, why don’t you first let…?”
Before he could finish his words, Xie Mingan replied indifferently, “No way.”
Gu Xiyu turned his back, not intending to pay attention to him again.
The original plan was to quietly return to the admiral’s mansion once he got the bead so that no one would find out that he had gone out. Now, going back there was out of the question for the time being.
He glanced at the red light flashing back and forth on his wrist and became even more worried.
If the Great Demon saw that he was late in returning to the Admiral’s mansion, he would think that he had gone back on his word and escaped.
If only Wen Yu also knew where Lu Feng was, then they might be able to meet there and explain the situation to him directly.
As he thought about it, Gu Xiyu suddenly felt a little melancholic.
If Wen Yu saw him with Xie Mingan, would he ask, “Don’t be too greedy, you can only choose between Lu Feng or Xie Mingan as a gift, which one do you want?”
—Would he really ask such an odd question?