Awakening

Seeing Ciri carried away by two burly soldiers, Tongus still felt lingering terror.

Ciri truly was a madwoman—unruly and crazed, yet gifted with talents ordinary people could hardly hope to match.

It was difficult to imagine how far she would develop in the future. If she was even slightly like him, she would rapidly surpass decades of his efforts.

But unfortunately, Ciri had chosen a path detached from society and human relationships, isolating herself.

As Ciri's savage shrieks gradually faded, Tongus's lingering fear slowly settled.

Only the faint burning pain in his backside made him frown, and Ciri's crazed appearance occasionally resurfaced in his mind.

But he had no time to worry about the pain.

Just now, the twenty-one biomedical teams had completed their dissection plans. After review by the Pan Pacific United Nations, they had been approved, and the dissection was to begin immediately.

"Everyone, prepare to begin."

Enduring the pain in his backside, Tongus insisted on remaining at the front line. He was unwilling to let leadership authority fall into anyone else's hands here.

"Remove the roof of the treatment room. We need the ultra-high-strength pressure saw used to cut Jaeger alloys."

Tongus issued the order. A large number of soldiers began removing the treatment room's roof, while he ordered the operators to bring over the mechanical crane arm carrying the ultra-high-strength pressure saw.

To preserve as many alien cells as possible, the biomedical teams first tested the ultra-high-strength pressure saw.

The alien's body was harder than ordinary alloys. They had not performed surgery on its body, because no needle or scalpel could cut through it. They needed a large-scale ultra-high-strength pressure saw designed to cut Jaeger alloys.

Powered by the thermonuclear reactor connected to Gipsy Danger, the ultra-high-strength pressure saw would be accelerated and activated to cut the alien corpse apart at its joints.

If the ultra-high-strength pressure saw could not cut through it, they would consider laser or ion-based energy cutting methods. But the extreme heat of laser-ion cutting would vaporize part of the blood cells, potentially causing enormous losses, so the United Nations had temporarily rejected it.

Even so, they had also prepared ultra-high-pressure water cutting. But in that case, the blood cells would mix with water and abrasive grit, making them difficult to process and fairly distribute. None of the nations supported using water cutting.

No one believed they would be unable to dissect the alien. They only regretted that this alien treasure had died.

Most of Anchorage Base had been assembled from massive amounts of steel.

Soon, the treatment room's roof was removed, revealing a dome filled with steel mechanical crane arms. Several arms more than thirty meters long, like enormous spiders, extended into the treatment room, their tips holding gleaming, razor-sharp circular saws.

"Prepare glass containers! Lots of them, quickly!"

Exercising his authority, Tongus ordered every biomedical team to prepare large numbers of glass preservation containers to store the alien's vast quantity of blood. They had to preserve as much blood as possible.

The entire treatment room was wrapped in the latest technological plastic sheeting, with the highest resin purity and the narrowest molecular weight distribution, so that when blood splattered, not a single cell would be missed.

Bwoom...

The ultra-high-strength pressure saw began its test run. The instant it started, its rotation speed reached supersonic levels. Its teeth shredded the air, making people's scalps tingle as though it were cutting through space itself.

With an ultra-high-strength pressure saw capable of easily cutting alloys, it was difficult for people to imagine how steady and swift it would be when used to cut an ordinary human body.

Even with this alien corpse before them, no one believed it could emerge unscathed beneath those saw teeth.

"Preliminary pressure test complete. Pressure boost stable, rotation speed normal."

"Ultra-high-strength pressure saw Number One tested normally. Pressure boost and rotation speed normal."

"Ultra-high-strength pressure saw Number Two tested normally. Pressure boost and rotation speed normal."

"Ultra-high-strength pressure saw Number Three tested normally. Pressure boost and rotation speed normal."

"Ultra-high-strength pressure saw Number Four tested normally. Pressure boost and rotation speed normal."

Staff members reported the test results.

Tongus asked, "Has the pressure saw data been entered?"

"The specimen has been secured."

Staff members directly bound He-El's limbs tightly with iron plates. After loudly reporting, they began entering the target position data for the pressure saw according to the body's placement.

"The pressure saw data has been entered. Adjustments complete!" a staff member reported.

"Good. Maintain silence. Nonessential personnel, leave. Contact every nation for authorization. Everything is ready."

Tongus's face lit up with excitement as he impatiently shouted.

He was adept at handling people. The twenty-one screens brought out from the conference room had already been mounted high on one wall of the dome and connected. Representatives from twenty-one nations appeared on the screens one after another, ready to watch the alien dissection from above from start to finish.

The entirety of Anchorage Base fell silent.

"Permission granted." The United States representative, speaking for the local authority, answered the Pan Pacific United Nations' request for approval and authorized the dissection.

The representatives of each nation on the twenty-one screens watched with calm, fixed gazes.

Tongus felt the attention of countless people upon him. A surge of pride rose in his chest as he put on a full protective suit alongside twelve biomedical experts, holding a tablet wrapped in transparent plastic.

Tongus and the twelve biomedical experts in full protective suits entered the treatment room together. The thirty-meter mechanical probe arms and their circular saws had already extended before the alien's body, positioned and ready.

Five biomedical experts stood with Tongus, each holding a plastic-wrapped tablet. They would assist him in this unprecedented, monumental alien dissection experiment. The other seven would collect the blood cells.

Tongus exchanged glances with the five biomedical experts. Once each of them nodded to show they were ready, he said gravely, "Begin the dissection!"

"We will begin with the wrist joint. First, dissect the hand, then continue with more detailed dissection."

"Activate the ultra-high-strength pressure saw."

The ultra-high-strength pressure saw spun with terrifying speed, blurring into a circle as it cut toward the alien's wrist.

All eyes in Anchorage Base gathered here. Large numbers of staff stood on distant steel frames beneath the dome, watching the people in the treatment room appear as tiny as ants. They held their breath as they watched this moment. Even breathing was nearly inaudible. The silence was unnatural, broken only by the frantically spinning ultra-high-strength pressure saw as it sawed through history.

The faces on the twenty-one national screens were solemn and focused as they watched the first dissection.

Closer!

Closer!

It's there! It's there!

Cut into it!

Tongus and the five biomedical experts stared at the tablets in their hands, their eyes fixed on the alien's wrist. They watched the circular saw teeth, blurred into a spinning disc, inch forward across the display. Tension rose in their hearts, and they could not help holding their breath as they stared without blinking.

Suddenly.

Screee... clack-clack-clack-clack...

The circular saw abruptly stopped at the wrist artery. The pressurized mechanical arm clattered as though it had become stuck. Unable to release its pressure, it began to tremble.

Tongus's heart jolted. He quickly set down his tablet and looked toward the wrist, only to see two fingers gently rise and pinch the circular saw.

Tongus's mind went blank. His neck stiffly turned as he looked toward the alien's face.

The alien opened its deep black eyes and stared at him without emotion.

"..."