"This project had been underway for forty years. If you paid attention to Nethermark Humanity's internal structure, you would find that it had three layers."
Doctor Chen Siqi spread out a structural diagram and explained to Li Aoz and the others:
"The first layer was a normal containment and treatment center, meant for public display. The patients contained there really were Esha Infected. Although the professor had taken them in for experiments, without the professor... they would probably have died long ago."
As she spoke, she looked curiously at Li Aoz. "Since you went inside and awakened Aoneng, did they rate you? Judging by your condition, you should have been Level 4."
"Level 5."
"You're seriously badass." Chen Siqi rolled her eyes at him. "The theory behind Esha infection levels simply doesn't hold up. Head Nurse Nordly and Assistant Physician Anna had always doubted it, but the professor's personal charisma was so overwhelming that no one stepped forward to question it. You being classified as a Level 5 Infected in there... makes me suspect the professor did it deliberately."
The professor was highly intelligent and skilled at manipulation, so it was not strange for Chen Siqi to think so.
"ZX-102's ward was on the first level," Li Aoz said. "My ward was even deeper than ZX-102's. But no one ever mentioned ZX-102."
"Because it was a scandal. Or, more bluntly, it was the starting point of Nethermark Humanity's internal split."
Chen Siqi's tone grew heavy. "From the very beginning, Xue Nuo received special attention from Frostplate. In the professor's view, the child had been born with an infection level of 4. If she did not regularly take genetic medicine, the immense burden caused by the Aoneng in her body would kill her before she turned eight. For that reason, Nordly