No one noticed the movements of the little merman in the tank, because everyone's attention was focused on the Source Blood culture tank in the center of the hall.
When Firstborn Zhuom connected his consciousness to the two brain cores and used them as converters to release the control signal, the red liquid in the culture tank suddenly fell completely still. It did not even ripple anymore. Rather than being controlled, that calm state looked more like it had suddenly lost all activity. Lily leaned over the railing curiously and peered down. "Why do I feel like something's wrong...? Is this what Source Blood looks like after being controlled?"
"I can't sense any vitality." Muru had already furrowed his brows. He bent down to inspect the tank. "This unnatural stillness... It's as if its vitality has been suppressed or severed. Zhuom, did you do this?"
"I don't know what's going on." Firstborn Zhuom's voice came from midair. "I just connected to the brain cores. I haven't even sent a signal yet."
Hao Ren turned around and fiddled with the equipment on the control console. Of course, he did not really understand how any of it worked; he could only roughly make sense of the reports. "Something seems to have gone wrong. There's a very strong suppression signal in the laboratory. It's blocking the connection between the brain cores and the Source Blood, and the Source Blood's own activity has been suppressed as well."
Doudou remained motionless against the outside wall of the crystal tank, staring toward the Source Blood culture tank. Because of the angle, her view was actually blocked by the floor of the ring-shaped platform, so she could not see anything at all. Some inexplicable sense had merely made her curious about that direction. The little one's curiosity