Chapter 12: Stuck on the Mission
As it turns out, you should never put off eating for the sake of work.
Because if you keep putting it off, you will find that you have completely lost the time to eat.
Just like now.
Through a thick pane of specialized glass, and wore identical expressions, both pairs of eyes filled with the same bewilderment.
“What... is this thing?” swallowed hard.
Inside the isolation incubator, the petri dish that had originally held only a thin layer of inoculated sample had completely transformed.
The bright red colony of bacteria was long gone, replaced by a fist-sized lump of flesh, blood-red all over and covered in slime.
It pulsed irregularly like a heart without its shell, and dozens of thin, fleshy tendrils extended from the surface of the “heart,” striking the inner walls of the incubator like demonic snakes writhing in a frenzy.
“Slap!” “Slap!”
’s bewilderment was even more serious than ’s.
Since entering the biology field, she had cultivated quite a few things.
Some had been raised to death, some had been half-dead, and some had been raised for nothing.
But she had never imagined that one day she would see a “microorganism,” relying on the pitiful nutrients in a culture medium, complete proliferation visible to the naked eye within just a few hours and evolve such an efficient, high-energy bio-dynamic structure.
The force this thing produced was far beyond her realm of knowledge.
It could crack the petri dish from the inside—what kind of Alien was this?!
“Sister Wan, are you okay?” Seeing look like she was about to collapse, steadied her with concern.
“I’m fine,” said, holding her forehead and feeling her temples throb. “Just... my head hurts a bit.”
She took a deep breath and let it out as a long exhale.
Then, like a deflated balloon, she slumped into the chair behind her and said in a tone of near surrender, “Forget it. I’m done with it.”
“Some of the data won’t be out for another dozen or so hours. Anyway, no matter how strong this thing gets, it can’t get out. So just... keep it in there for now.”
She looked up and called out to an inconspicuous surveillance camera on the ceiling, “ , please keep an eye on it. Let me know if anything unusual happens.”
The signature electronic voice representing “ ” sounded.
[No problem.]
Of course had no problem with it. In fact, he was rather interested in the thing.
After all, as a fan of the Alien movies, he now felt a fresh novelty at seeing a fantasy creature step into reality.
If he were not afraid of disrupting ’s research plan, he would have wanted to slice the thing open right now to see just how this little oddity had grown.
Of course, that was rather difficult for him at the moment— did not have arms capable of such fine manipulation.
What’s more, was actually a bit busy right now.
This robot, currently the unit with the highest combat capability in ’s hands, was silently gliding along ’s corridor.
And in front of it was a that had pushed half its body through a gap in the perimeter wall of .
did not pause in the slightest.
Its high-intensity flashlight suddenly blazed on, a blinding beam locking precisely onto the ’s head.
Dazzled by the light, the turned its head blankly.
“Pfft!”
The muzzle, fitted with a silencer, spat a small flash, and a 9mm bullet precisely blew off the top of the ’s skull.
skillfully marked the location of the gap for to handle later, while also glancing at another mission.
[ 3: Restore the power station to normal operation.]
[Current progress: 48%.]
“It’s a long and arduous road!” sighed in his mind.
Although he had resolved the core meltdown crisis and prevented radioactive leakage, this massive nuclear power station was still riddled with problems.
Just the damaged wiring and control panels in the main control room were not things a few ordinary people could easily repair.
To fully repair it, he needed to obtain more “Universal Repair Tools” or unlock new missions as soon as possible.
But the problem now was that he was stuck on a mission. The new mission required sheltering 10 people, and that all depended on how and the others were progressing.
***
At the “ ” residential complex.
Once a mid-to-high-end residential area, it was now a playground for wandering zombies.
The black car stopped at the community entrance. and got out, and followed close behind, pointing at the first floor of a building not far away. “ and the others... are in that convenience supermarket.”
It was a community supermarket of about 200 square meters, its glass door packed tightly from the inside with shelves and clutter.
“How many of them are there?” asked while observing the surroundings.
“Counting the kids, around fifteen in total. ’s group has eight people, all men,” said, sounding a bit tense.
“But that was the situation before I ran away. I don’t know the exact situation now.”
checked his magazine and said quietly to , “ , the area is clean. They’ve clearly cleared out the zombies around here too.”
nodded and said in a low voice, “Right. You provide cover from a distance, and stay safe!”
Then looked at and said calmly, “You come with me.”