Return to the Research Institute

"Cough... cough cough! Who are you, and where are you going?" Yu Jing asked, coughing violently.

"I am the supervisor of the Research Institute responsible for this test involving the seven of you. Your current condition is special, so please return to the Research Institute with me. I have important matters to discuss with you. Matters concerning your future, and concerning the successful treatment of your mother."

"You!"

Yu Jing's anger flared upon hearing the other party's identity, but he restrained himself from acting rashly.

"I know you are dissatisfied with our actions of indiscriminately killing innocent lives, but if we didn't do this, this society would have collapsed long ago. If you want to know everything, come with me."

Perhaps due to Yu Jing's uniqueness and the supervisor's slight concern for him, the supervisor, who usually remained unfathomable within the Research Institute, actually revealed secrets that touched upon the fundamental mysteries of this world.

Yu Jing paused for a moment, contemplating the words, then immediately followed the supervisor's pace.

"Don't these corpses need to be dealt with?" Yu Jing asked.

"My 'friend' will naturally handle it."

Yu Jing felt a chill creep up his back. When he looked back, he saw a humanoid figure shrouded in black energy hovering in the woods behind the shattered corpses, seemingly perched on a branch and watching the two of them leave.

A pale yellow eye met Yu Jing's gaze for an instant, causing his hair to stand on end and cold sweat to drench his clothes.

"Hurry and follow me!"

The supervisor's voice brought Yu Jing back to his senses. The terrifying figure on the branch was no longer in sight. He immediately ran towards the black car parked on the road outside the woods.

Inside the car driving on the road, the warm air dispelled the chill from Yu Jing's body.

"What was that black thing just now?" Yu Jing couldn't suppress his curiosity and asked halfway through the journey.

"You will know in the future. It's not beneficial for you to know now. Please refrain from speaking with me until we reach the Research Institute. I am currently analyzing and organizing today's events. I am also considering whether to truly spare your life, as in reality, you are already a puddle of flesh."

The supervisor's words were not a joke, but Yu Jing was not afraid. If the other party had wanted to kill him, he would have been dismembered in the desolate wilderness earlier.

The journey of over two hundred kilometers took them to the initial testing location in District 19's A-Class City around 4 AM. Led by the supervisor, they approached the entrance of the Research Institute.

"I remember when we participated in the test, the bronze door was two meters to the left of where it is now."

"Your observation skills are excellent. Our testers gave you a score of ninety-eight during the test. It seems they were right."

The supervisor took out a black card from his pocket and swiped it on the side of the bronze door. As the door opened, the internal passage structure subtly shifted, creating a direct path to the deepest part of the Research Institute.

Yu Jing followed the supervisor down a straight corridor, similar to the one he had navigated during his test. The overlapping patterned wallpaper on both sides seemed to affect his vision.

"So it's a visual illusion, making me believe that what I see before me and what I'm walking on is a straight path. In reality, we are walking through a complex maze of corridors, aren't we?"

The supervisor did not reply and walked ahead, opening another bronze door at the end of the corridor.

They entered a pure white room together. As the bronze door closed, all external elements were blocked out.

In the center of the room, a white square table and two facing chairs materialized from the floor.

"Please sit. We have important matters to discuss, and these are crucial questions that will determine your survival. Please think carefully and answer me."

In the pure white room, Yu Jing and the mysterious supervisor sat opposite each other at the ends of the white square table.

"Do you have any clothes that fit? This driver's uniform is a bit too large, and it has a strong, unpleasant odor that makes me uncomfortable. It might affect our conversation."

Yu Jing actually made a request to the supervisor first.

"Place your palm on the table in front of you. The system will customize fitting clothes based on your palm size."

Yu Jing had already witnessed the spray that could rapidly regenerate flesh during the test, so he was no longer surprised by the high-tech displays of the Research Institute. As he placed his palm flat on the white material surface of the table, a projected screen appeared before him, allowing him to select clothing styles and colors.

Ultimately, Yu Jing chose a gray hooded sweatshirt and ordinary jeans, similar to what he had worn before. Changing out of the foul-smelling driver's uniform into the custom-fitted clothes temporarily constructed by the Research Institute made him feel much more comfortable.

"Since I have fulfilled your request, it is now my turn to ask questions. First, tell me about your resurrection process, and your understanding of the foreign object in your body based on your observations and deductions."

As the supervisor made his request, Yu Jing clearly felt a shift in the atmosphere. He knew that any lie or concealment on his part would be detected by the lie detector within the room.

Yu Jing pondered:

'I'm not very clear about the changes in my body, the resurrection process, or the plant in my arm. Perhaps I can get some very useful information from this supervisor. To survive, I must cooperate with the supervisor's questioning, and I also need to be tactful with my words.'

With this thought, Yu Jing held nothing back, fully informing the supervisor about his physical condition and his deductions—the stinging sensation on his palm touching the ground in the slaughterhouse, the plant's craving for nutrients, and his conscious control over the foreign object in his arm.

"As expected, the sub-nanometer structured building materials couldn't stop the invasion of this life form. But you're truly lucky to have this unknown dangerous object coexist within your body. Let me show you some classified government data from the desert during your test..."

The supervisor manipulated the program on the table, displaying photographs of deceased experimental personnel and soldiers from the desert to Yu Jing.

In the pictures, the bodies were wearing intact clothing, but their flesh had completely desiccated, with not a single drop of excess nutrients remaining.

"Any life form that comes into contact with this plant has its bodily energy completely drained within one second."

"Why didn't that happen to me?" Yu Jing felt a slight numbness in his right arm as he listened to the supervisor's explanation.