Five Insurances and One Housing Fund and Genetic Evolution
Shi Xiaoyan ignored Chan Ka-kui's rambling nonsense.
He walked up to him and pressed two fingers on Chan Ka-kui's left shoulder.
Chan Ka-kui grimaced and shrank back.
"Be gentle!"
Shi Xiaoyan ignored her, and with her left hand, she lifted Chan Ka-kui's left eyelid and examined his pupil astigmatism under the cold blue light shining down from above.
"His self-repair speed is about three times that of an ordinary person. It's not quite the absurd self-healing ability of Awakened, but it's already at a monster level."
"The anesthetic has worn off; you can punch and kick normally without any problem."
"Did you hear that? I can kill a bull with one punch right now!"
Chan Ka-kui patted his chest triumphantly, but this aggravated the wound on his left shoulder, causing his eye to twitch in pain.
Sing Sing didn't try to persuade him any further.
"That woman in the bra upstairs isn't the workshop foreman. If you break down halfway, we don't have anyone here to carry you downstairs."
Chan Ka-kui grinned.
"Don't worry, that guy in Death Valley couldn't even knock me down with a two-meter-long cannon. How could that woman doing genetic research up there be any more powerful than a cannon?"
The original seven-person commando team officially became an eight-person team.
Ahead lies the final spiral staircase leading to the Core Zone.
Sing Sing ran his thumb along the lighter's flint wheel, lit the cigarette, and exhaled a puff of smoke.
"Let's go up and meet our multinational corporation's female CEO."
The eight people climbed up the last section of the spiral staircase.
The third core platform is more than half the size of the two below it, and the entire spatial layout revolves around the central spherical main cultivation device.
At this distance, the brightness of the translucent biometal on the device's outer shell had increased to a dazzling level.
Through the translucent shell, the tall, human-shaped silhouette curled up inside can be clearly seen.
The twelve different colored patterns flowing across the surface of the body traveled along the blood vessels.
In front of the spherical device is a curved metal control panel.
Miss Sinister sat in a high-backed metal chair behind the control panel, her long legs, encased in over-the-knee black boots, crossed over each other, her left elbow resting on the armrest, her palm supporting her chin.
The diamond-shaped red mark on her forehead became increasingly conspicuous, and a faint pulsating red light emanated from its depths with her breath.
On either side of her high-backed metal chair stood a giant guard, each over 2.2 meters tall.
These two behemoths were a good two sizes larger than the unfinished ones we'd encountered before.
His limbs and torso were completely covered by a layer of black organic bio-armor, and his entire face was covered by a mask, leaving only two narrow slits around his eyes.
Seeing the eight people step onto the platform one after another, Miss Sinister chuckled softly.
"I thought that according to the military strategies you Easterners follow, you would send a team to flank and launch a surprise attack."
"To charge straight in... that's far more reckless than I anticipated."
Sing Sing stood at the very front of the eight people, a cigarette that was a third lit.
"Reckless? Lady. Claudine, you have misunderstood our department's work procedures. We call this transparent law enforcement."
"A transnational arrest warrant, a search warrant, and an authorization for the use of deadly force..."
"We have all the necessary permits and licenses; we're here legitimately to arrest you through the main entrance."
Miss Sinister lowered her left hand that had been supporting her chin, stood up, and walked around the curved control panel in her high-heeled boots.
"Arrest me? What crime does Director Zhou intend to use to arrest me? Is it for illegally conducting gene modification experiments?"
"As far as I know, hasn't your 749 Bureau in China been searching for Mutants for the past six months or so?"
"I saw a very interesting job title on your resume: Director of the Overseas Special Talent Recruitment Office."
Miss Sinister crossed her arms and curled her dark red lipstick-covered lips into a slight smile.
"Introduction—what a gentle and respectable term... But what is the true nature of things beneath this veneer?"
"You gather those Mutants who have nowhere else to turn and incorporate them into your system."
"Give them a few pieces of paper as identification, pay them a meager wage, and assign them to various positions."
"In the end, all you've done is move the animals from the iron cages into nicer wooden cages."
"Then brainwash them every day, telling them this is welfare, this is social security."
"Director Zhou, put your hand on your heart and tell me, is there any fundamental difference between the business you're doing now and the experiments I'm conducting here?"
Standing behind Sing Sing, Chan Ka-kui was furious and was about to curse.
Sing Sing raised his right hand and waved it behind him, signaling him to calm down.
The playful smile on his face vanished, and Sing Sing took the cigarette out of his mouth and held it between his fingers.
"The difference is huge."
"Let's go through this step by step. The dominant mutant gene used as a biological adhesive in that big jar behind you was skinned alive by Jacqueline, wasn't it?"
Did you get her consent before you used the knife? Did she sign a voluntary organ donation agreement?
"And there's that Thaddeus Ross girl, Bora, whom I met before. She was a promising ballet student."
"You kept her hanging on with the lie that you'd restore her height to 1.65 meters, making her work for you in a dark basement. Did you deliver on even a single promise you made?"
Sing Sing took a step forward, staring at Miss Sinister with murderous intent.
"Our bureau brings in living, breathing people. What you're doing here is called raising a 'poisonous insect' (a metaphor for a dangerous practice)."
"You've never seen anyone human, not even your fellow countrymen!"
Miss Sinister listened quietly, her haughty expression remaining unchanged.
"You're absolutely right, Director Zhou. I've never treated them like ordinary people."
"Because Mutants with the X-Gene, from the moment of their birth, should never be defined by your outdated human moral standards!"
Miss Sinister opened her arms and pointed to the main incubation device behind her.
"The infinite possibilities granted by gene sequences far exceed the scope that your laughable pay slips and Old Jin can measure!"
"Your goodwill is no different from waste paper in the face of the great evolution of life!"
Sing Sing flicked his cigarette ash.
"Waste paper? Dr. Claudine, it seems you've never worked at the grassroots level and don't know what human suffering is like."
"That cage you look down on, we pay the full Five Insurances and One Housing Fund for every new employee according to national standards."
"Housing provident fund contributions will be processed at the maximum rate of 12%, and overtime work on statutory holidays will be paid at triple the normal rate."
Sing Sing looked up and pointed at her with the hand holding the cigarette.
"I'll just ask you one very practical question."
"Since this base was built, have you ever paid even a single penny for the medical insurance and work injury insurance for the people working under you?"