bookrandom Chapter 8 Chapter 7 Base
Chapter 8 Chapter 7 Base
Outside the Seventh Base was a sanatorium, or rather, it was disguised as a sanatorium.
When the convoy drove into the so-called "sanatorium," Li Fulan knew that she would probably have little to do with the word "freedom" in the second half of her life.
The two sentries at the gate stood like javelins, holding not ordinary Type 95 rifles, but special modified ones with tactical rails and holographic sights. Although the muzzles were hanging down, the murderous aura that seemed to have rolled out from the pile of corpses emanated through three layers of bulletproof glass.
"Is this your sanatorium?"
Li Fulan looked out the car window at the high walls and electric fences receding into the distance, as well as the automatic machine gun turrets hidden in the shadows, and curled her lip.
"This setup is more than enough to keep aliens out, right? Anyone who didn't know better would think they were researching the T-virus inside."
Lin An sat in the passenger seat, typing away on his tablet without even looking up.
"In a sense, you're rarer than aliens. I don't know if aliens can cure late-stage cancer, but your mushroom can."
The car stopped in front of a drab, gray cement building. The place was disguised quite well; from the outside, it looked like an abandoned military warehouse, with peeling paint and withered ivy covering most of the walls, exuding a desolate and lifeless atmosphere.
But when the lead-core explosion-proof door, half a meter thick and weighing several tons, slowly opened like the mouth of a giant beast, accompanied by the muffled sound of the hydraulic rod, the secret inside was only partially revealed.
cold.
This was Li Fulan's first impression after getting off the bus.
It wasn't the kind of cold you get in winter; it was the industrial cold created by high-powered central air conditioning, icy metal walls, and piles of precision instruments crammed together. It was utterly inhuman.
The air smelled of engine oil, ozone, and disinfectant all mixed together.
"Keep up." Lin An put away his tablet without saying anything more.
They walked through a long metal corridor lined with fully armed patrols on both sides. When these men saw Lin An, they gave him a tactical nod, not even glancing at Li Fulan. Their discipline was as strict as that of programmed robots.
At the end of the corridor is a huge freight elevator.
This elevator is so big that a main battle tank could fit inside. The floor is made of non-slip steel plates, and the four walls are made of reinforced alloy.
Lin An scanned his palm print on the panel, then checked his iris, and finally typed an absurdly long password on the virtual keyboard.
"Click".
With a sickening clang of gears meshing, the car suddenly lurched and began to descend.
Once this price drop started, it just wouldn't stop.
Li Fulan counted silently in her mind.
Ten seconds... twenty seconds... thirty seconds...
My eardrums started to swell; it was the discomfort caused by the rapid change in air pressure, similar to the feeling of a plane making a sudden descent.
"Are we drilling into the Earth's core?" Li Fulan swallowed, trying to equalize the ear pressure. "At this depth, even if they drop a nuclear bomb, we'll probably only hear the bang, right?"
"Three hundred meters underground."
Lin An stared at the constantly changing red numbers on the display screen, his tone flat.
"This place was originally a nuclear command bunker during the Cold War, and later it was converted into the Seventh Special Operations Base. I've said it before, it's absolutely safe here. Unless the Earth's tectonic plates break apart, no one can dig you out of here."
"bite--"
The elevator finally stopped, bringing a slight feeling of weightlessness.
The huge metal gate was pulled open to both sides.
A blinding white expanse met my eyes.
Completely different from the rugged industrial style above, this place is practically a pristine, futuristic world. Operating lights illuminate every corner clearly, the floor so bright it could be used as a mirror. Researchers in white dust suits move like worker ants among various obviously expensive instruments.
As soon as Li Fulan stepped out of the elevator, a figure rushed towards her like a cannonball.
"They've arrived? Where are they? Where's that live specimen who could perform magic tricks?!"
He was an old man with gray hair and a messy, unkempt hairstyle. He wore thick glasses that looked like the bottom of a beer bottle, and his white coat had a few bluish reagent stains on it, and the buttons were all askew.
He completely ignored Lin An and rushed straight to Li Fulan. His eyes, hidden behind thick glasses, were frighteningly bright, like a hungry wolf eyeing its prey.
"Are you the one who traveled through time?"
The old man reached out his hand, not intending to shake hands, but directly grabbed Li Fulan's wrist and began to squeeze it. Although the hand was rough, it was very strong, and his fingers pinched and kneaded Li Fulan's forearm.
"Normal bone density...muscle fibers are a bit loose, lack of exercise...this is the container that can hold otherworldly energy? He looks no different from an ordinary otaku?"
Li Fulan felt like she had been tricked by an old rogue, and got goosebumps all over her body. She quickly pulled her hand back.
"Sir, just talk, don't get physical, okay? I'm a respectable man."
Lin An then interjected, stepping aside to introduce, "Mr. Li, this is Professor Yuan, the base's chief biologist, and the project manager in charge of your physical monitoring and martial spirit research."
"Professor Yuan?" Li Fulan looked the fanatical old man up and down. "He doesn't look like a professor, he looks more like a mad scientist."
"Just call me Lao Yuan! Don't give me any of that formality!"
Professor Yuan waved his hand, completely unconcerned. His gaze was fixed on Li Fulan's right hand, and he swallowed hard.
"I heard you can conjure mushrooms out of thin air? And heal injuries instantly? I've seen that wind baboon corpse; its cell proliferation is simply miraculous!"
"Quick! Show me one! Let me see it alive!"
He looked exactly like a starving ghost urging a roadside stall owner to serve him food, his eyes practically gleaming with greed.
Li Fulan sighed.
Well, we've just escaped one wolf's den only to fall into another.
The old man's eyes were even more terrifying than those of the baboon from before.
But he didn't hesitate. After all, he would still have to work under this person in the future, and if he offended this supervisor, he might really be cut up one day.
He spread his right hand out and made a thought.
A soft light shone, and the familiar little white mushroom reappeared, carrying that somewhat shabby white spirit ring, floating leisurely in the palm of my hand.
"hiss--"
Professor Yuan gasped sharply, his old face instantly pressed against the mushroom cap, his nose almost touching it, his hot breath spraying onto Li Fulan's hand.
"It's really...it's true..."
He muttered to himself, his hands trembling as he pulled a portable magnifying glass from his pocket, examining the mushroom from left to right while muttering something under his breath.
"No roots, no spores or dust, an entity entirely composed of energy... but its texture, its surface pattern, perfectly matches the biological characteristics of fungi! It's unscientific! It completely violates the laws of thermodynamics! How could energy directly construct such a complex biological structure?!"
He suddenly looked up, staring at Li Fulan with a fanatical gaze, as if he were looking at a treasure that had not yet been dissected.
"Can I have it?"
"I want to slice it up and see! To see its cell wall structure!"
Li Fulan felt a little pain in her back molars.
This dialogue sounds so familiar... Do all mad scientists have a thing for dissecting parts?
"Forget about slicing it. This thing falls apart in about ten minutes without my hands, it's completely drained of energy." Li Fulan held out the mushroom in her hand. "But you can try it. It tastes alright, a little sweet, and the texture is like cotton candy."
"Want to try some?"
Professor Yuan was stunned for a moment, then, as if he had received a great inspiration, he suddenly slapped his thigh.
"That's right! Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs! The first step in biological experiments is, of course, sensory testing! Instruments are cold; only the human body is the most sophisticated sensor!"
After saying that, he actually opened his mouth wide and went to bite the mushroom without hesitation, his movements as fast as a dog snatching food.
"Hey, hey, hey! Mr. Yuan!"
Lin An, who was standing next to him, was startled. His poker face, which he had been maintaining, finally broke down, and he quickly grabbed the crazy old man's arm.
"This is a product made from an unknown alien creature! What if it's poisonous or contains parasites? It needs to undergo quarantine and toxicology testing first! That's the regulation!"
"Rules my ass!"
Professor Yuan swung his arm with such force that he almost knocked Lin An off balance; Lin An was as stubborn as a donkey.
"He himself said it was for treatment! It even healed that policeman's face! If he poisons me, it'll provide you with firsthand autopsy data! A sacrifice for science, you could say!"
Before Lin An could react, he took a bite of the mushroom and snatched it directly from Li Fulan's hand.
"Smack smack".
The chewing sounds were particularly clear in the quiet laboratory.
Watching this scene, Li Fulan rolled her eyes countless times in her mind, and even wanted to applaud the old man.
Do these researchers have brains that are different from normal people? Are they willing to risk their lives for data?
"How is it?" Lin An asked nervously, his hand already reaching for the emergency call button on his waist, ready to call the medical team.
Professor Yuan closed his eyes, frowned, and savored the taste for two seconds before swallowing it down with a gulp.
next second.
He suddenly opened his eyes, and a surprising light burst forth from his old, somewhat cloudy, bloodshot eyes.
"hot!"
"I feel a surge of heat in my stomach! Like I've just drunk a mouthful of strong liquor!"
He ripped open the collar of his white coat, revealing a faded old man's shirt underneath. His wrinkled old face now had an eerie flush, as if he had just run five kilometers.
"This...this is soul power?"
Professor Yuan touched his stomach, looking blissfully satisfied, as if he had just taken a breath of pure oxygen.
"It's not just treating...it's stimulating my cell activity! My mitochondria are cheering! I feel...I feel like my damn rheumatism doesn't hurt anymore! My back doesn't ache either!"
He suddenly turned around, grabbed the shoulder of a dumbfounded young assistant next to him, and shook him violently.
"Quick! Draw blood! Draw my blood! I need to see my current blood count! White blood cells, red blood cells, metabolic rate, everything!"
"And another thing! Get a full MRI scan ready! I need to know exactly how this energy works in the human body! How it fools the immune system!"
Looking at the chaotic and disorganized laboratory, Li Fulan took two steps back without making a sound, leaned against the cold metal wall, and crossed her arms.
He looked at the old man who seemed to be on steroids, and a playful smile appeared on his lips.
"It seems that Earth's scientists aren't much better than that charlatan Yu Xiaogang."
"Even crazier. Yu Xiaogang still has a sense of shame, but this old man doesn't even care about his life."
Lin An walked over to him, adjusted his glasses, regained his composure, but his tone carried a hint of helplessness.
"You'll get used to it. Here, madness is the passport to genius. Although Yuan Longping was mad, he was the top biologist in the country, without a doubt."
"Come on, I'll take you to your room. What you need most right now is a bed, not to be stared at like a panda here."
Li Fulan nodded and yawned.
"Just make sure the bed isn't too hard. That interrogation chair almost broke my back."
"Also," he pointed to Professor Yuan, who was roaring at people to have their blood drawn, "tell that old man that he can come to me anytime if he wants to eat mushrooms, but these things are energy bodies after all, and eating too many can cause internal heat. Tell him to take it easy and not actually overdo it."
Lin An gave him a deep look.
"Don't worry, we will record every single 'medical order' you give."
After the two left, the laboratory behind them remained in chaos.
"Data! I need data! Not a single second of change can be missed!"
"This is simply a gift from God! It's the key to unlocking the secrets of life! We need to rewrite our biology textbooks!"