Inside the Tower, a Modern Laboratory

Before the tower.

Gao Linzhi watched as several men in black led the young inspector to a stone gate in front of the tower.

The tower was unguarded.

But it seemed to be alive.

After the men in black arrived, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of faces appeared on that door. They flashed by quickly, finally settling on the face of an old man.

The old man looked at the man in black, his eyes revealing a vicious glint.

"If you want to come in, you must first give up something else."

The men in black exchanged glances.

Suddenly, a man in black drew his knife, chopped off his own arm, and threw it at the old man's face.

Then a companion applied a hemostatic talisman to his wound.

The old man opened his mouth wide and began to chew greedily.

It was gone in three bites.

"Not enough, not enough."

The old man's face greedily scanned the men in black, finally settling on the young inspector in their hands.

That's pretty cultish.

Gao Linzhi sighed from afar.

The next moment, a man in black drew his knife and slashed directly at the old man's face.

The old man's face suddenly shrank back, and he reluctantly opened the stone door.

Several men in black then entered the stone gate one after another.

Gao Linzhi followed him in.

The old man's face reappeared.

"If you want to come in, you must first give up something else."

Clearly, Gao Linzhi's stealth abilities were not strong enough to fool it.

Gao Linzhi thought for a moment. Only Game Character could use the Game Backpack, and this Substitute Puppet obviously couldn't use it.

He searched through his belongings and finally found a sword.

This was just something I grabbed casually. If it were a purple-tier item, Ordinary Player would definitely treasure it, use it sparingly, and even show it off.

After all, purple-tier items are already very rare.

Many new players can't even use the white weapons right now.

This is the real gap between us and the big shots.

So he threw it in.

The old man, as expected, wasn't picky and swallowed it whole.

After a while, it opened the door with satisfaction.

Gao Linzhi controlled the Substitute Puppet to go inside.

At the same time, he also learned about the man in black's true nature—he was just a purple-tier material.

Although its strength seems unknown, it is very powerful and formidable, but its true value is still only a few times higher than that of high-grade materials.

Hehe.

Gao Linzhi was immediately taken aback when he entered the tower.

The style inside was completely different from the outside.

The exterior is a classic-style tower.

But inside, it was clearly a modern laboratory.

Clean marble floor tiles, bright lighting, azure walls, and large expanses of glassware.

Large glass walls separate each cubicle.

Inside the cubicles, there were rows of oxen and horses, heads bowed, working tirelessly.

And then there were the white lab coats carrying various materials, moving among them, clearly showing their identities—modern laboratory personnel.

After several men in black entered, a young woman in a white coat with a cold expression walked over.

"Come this way."

The men in black who usually looked very imposing outside were now behaving like schoolchildren.

They followed the girl in the white coat, carefully making their way through the laboratory, step by step, afraid to touch anything.

The girl in the white coat quickly led the group to an empty glass cubicle and then took out a laptop.

Yes, it's a laptop.

Gao Linzhi was shocked when he saw this.

"Name, age, unusual characteristics..."

"Bao Fei, 19 years old, can kill others, absorb their skills, and gain their abilities after devouring them," a man in black said honestly.

Meanwhile, the girl in the white coat typed rapidly, recording information about the experimental subjects.

Throughout the entire process, the man in black behaved very well.

Gao Linzhi even suspected that the laboratory itself was an anomaly.

It has its own rules, and anyone who breaks the rules will be killed immediately.

For example, listening to the instructions of authorized personnel is one of the rules.

The girl in the white coat was one of the authorized personnel.

The man in black was waiting there when the recording was taken.

The girl in the white coat seemed to be thinking about something. After registering, she sat there without saying another word.

The men in black didn't dare to disturb them, but simply waited patiently.

A full hour passed.

"Hey, why haven't you left yet?" The girl in the white coat looked at the group of men in black.

"We dare not leave without your permission," one of the men in black said cautiously.

"Oh, right, put your experimental materials here, sign here, and take a picture," the girl in the white coat said immediately, as if she had just remembered something.

Soon, several men in black signed the papers and had their photos taken.

They're still using a stylus.

This gave Gao Linzhi the feeling of being in a company service hall, where customers could conduct business.

After the men in black finished doing this...

"Alright, you can leave now."

As soon as the girl in the white coat finished speaking, several men in black looked toward where Gao Linzhi was.

The girl in the white coat looked at them. "Is there anything else?"

"Oh, that's all." The man in black ultimately did not reveal Gao Linzhi's whereabouts.

Clearly, they didn't want to do anything strange in this laboratory.

So, the group of them carefully followed the path they had taken and left the tower without daring to take an extra step.

Gao Linzhi could still hear their unconscious sighs of relief as they walked out of the tower.

Looking at their entire process of delivering materials, it is quite scientific, streamlined, and laboratory-like, just like a modern laboratory.

It's fair to say that it's not much different from the company's laboratory.

If Gao Linzhi hadn't just entered this place from an ancient capital, he would have thought he had returned to the offline world.

But after thinking about it carefully, he realized it.

The elders of East Wolf Village had mentioned that players had visited several times before.

So it must have been a laboratory left behind by the previous players.

And this is the dynasty's greatest secret.

This laboratory must have the support and control of the most powerful figures.

Therefore, even the powerful men in black must proceed with extreme caution.

However, considering their actions of drawing knives and chopping at the door...

This leads to the conclusion that the environment inside and outside the laboratory is different.

The laboratory Sacred Tier.

But the goalkeeper might not do the same.

And at this time...

The girl in the white coat led the sealed-off young inspector to an operating room.

Soon, she summoned another group of people.

They were all fully equipped, wearing protective suits.

The juvenile inspector was placed on the operating table.

Gao Linzhi stood aside and watched.

This group of people began inspecting and examining the teenagers.

It was the kind of examination that chills you to the bone.

The doctors in white coats are reporting out cold, hard data.

"Swelling of the liver."

"Swelling of the lungs."

"Corrosion level B."

"This anomaly definitely has no consciousness, only intelligence."

"The host is dying."

"Still struggling."

"The chances of survival are less than 1%."

"This anomaly has been determined to be at the Blue Tier."

As he pieced together the data, Gao Linzhi increasingly sensed the existence of these people, who possessed a long and rich lineage.

"You all deserve to be killed!" The young inspector suddenly opened his eyes and shouted angrily.

Upon seeing this, the girl in the white coat was somewhat shocked.

"You are very resilient."

"Why do you need to wake up?"

"Wouldn't it be better if she just passed out?" the girl in the white coat said calmly.

"You, you all, why won't you let me go? I just want to live a good life." The young inspector's eyes pleaded.

"You died the moment you came into contact with that monster. At this moment, you are merely the monster speaking through your mouth; these are not your words."

"You're not me, how do you know these aren't my words?" the "juvenile inspector" retorted.

"Of course I know, because your soul is here with me." With that, the girl in the white coat took out the laptop.

It contains various records, and of course, photos of the boy.

Gao Linzhi was astonished to see a vibrant young inspector standing on the laptop screen, waving to the surroundings.

Is this the world after death?

"Great! Father, Mother, I'm here..." he called out in all directions.

Gao Linzhi sighed.

Upon seeing this, the "juvenile inspector" on the operating table immediately changed.

The body gradually disappeared, and wisps of White Mist appeared.

Suddenly, streaks of purple light appeared on the girl in the white coat, enveloping her completely.

The purple light came from the floor.

Indeed, the laboratory itself was a marvel.

Gao Linzhi immediately understood why the man in black hadn't stopped him, even though he knew the man was coming.

Who would stop a murderer from entering a tiger cage?

In short, this is a group of people who are hard to imagine.

It can be said that Gao Linzhi foresaw the location of the high-level BOSS in this game world in advance.

Similar to playing Diablo 2, he was only level 10 when he entered Baal's Throne ahead of time.

Under the purple light, the White Mist quickly receded upon contact.

The surgeons, fully armed, were completely unfazed by the White Mist.

This also made Gao Linzhi.

Only a minority enjoy the protection of purple light.

This is clearly a relatively expensive protective measure.

The White Mist returned to the young inspector's body, and soon his body turned into a skeleton, which gradually turned into ashes.

This signifies that the young inspector's last trace in the mortal world has also vanished.

The girl in the white coat had a cold look in her eyes.

Clearly, they've seen this kind of thing too many times.

"This anomaly can kill many powerful individuals, so it seems to be quite valuable," the girl in the white coat said calmly. "Let's seal it away."

"Yes, Director Ouyang."

Gao Linzhi finally learned the official title of the girl in the white coat: Director Ouyang.

Then the group began to seal it away.

At that moment, the White Mist suddenly spoke again:

"Wait, I still need it!"

"Don't you want to Immortality?"

"Don't you want to break this world and go to another world?"

"I can help you!"

"Are you sure it's not conscious?" the girl in the white coat asked doubtfully.

"Yes, we've confirmed it. This should be its own intelligence, similar to that of a puppy or kitten. Although it has some vague intelligence, it doesn't have a clear consciousness like a human," the surgical staff quickly replied.

The girl in the white coat stared at the White Mist, lost in thought.

How do you know those things?

"You've forgotten, I've eaten many powerful beings, and these are the kinds of things they've been thinking about."

Gao Linzhi naturally understood what the other party meant.

Immortality goes without saying; it's something every living being who desires a good life wants.

If you're not doing well, living will naturally be painful.

Therefore, those emperors were the ones who most desired Immortality —they were theoretically the people who lived the best lives at the time.

"Heh, you, a mere Blue Tier anomaly, dare to dream of breaking through that wall?" The girl in the white coat shook her head.

"Hmph, Ouyang Jing, don't think you know everything. There are many things in this world you don't understand."

"You actually know my name?" The girl in the white coat finally showed some change.

"Hmph, I know a lot more. As long as you continue to worship me, I will gain everyone's knowledge and skills, which you can combine as you please," the White Mist said.

In Gao Linzhi's view, this was clearly very impressive.

However, Ouyang Jing clearly did not think so.

"If you were really that capable, they wouldn't have left you out there to roam freely," Ouyang Jing said, shaking her head.

The White Mist remained silent.

This sentence seemed to have broken its defenses.

This kept it silent.

Gao Linzhi was speechless.

He even thought this strange creature could actually do those things.

"Director Ouyang, his devouring only consumes flesh and brains, extracting some memories from the living from cellular remnants and condensing them into skills. It cannot restore the original abilities of the person," a surgeon explained.

"Just as I thought," Ouyang Jing shook her head. "It seems we need to find a better method."

"Seal it up and put it in the warehouse."

"No, no, I am useful!"

"Let me go! I want to eat! I want to eat!"

The White Mist began to panic.

Clearly, it is afraid of hunger.

Gao Linzhi was very puzzled.

The bizarre do not experience fear; they are not living beings.

All I can say is that it's all a performance, just like how computer AI can act out various emotions, but in essence, they are still just cold, lifeless data chips.

At this point, one of the surgeons said, "We can implant it in the operative's stomach so they can retrieve more information."

"Yes, modifying the stomach to absorb different information is a very convenient skill for the execution team. However, it will cause the person to become half-monstrous. Can you control that?" Ouyang Jing nodded.

"Yes, we can turn them into half-monsters and control them. As long as we control the core of the monster, it won't get out of our control."

Does the bizarre have a core?

Gao Linzhi heard a lot of new knowledge.

This was clearly something he wouldn't have known before.

"Okay, keep this weird but useful part, just remember to remove its contaminant properties."

The surgical team then began their work.

And at this time...

Ouyang Jing looked towards where Gao Linzhi was.

"Um, uninvited guest, you've been watching for so long, shouldn't you come out now?" Ouyang Jing said calmly.

Gao Linzhi appeared.

No one was surprised.

"Oh, what can I do for you?" Gao Linzhi was quite polite.

"Do you need this stomach? We can give you a transplant, as long as you sign a work contract."

"I'm very curious about the origins of your place."

"You'll know once you sign the contract," Ouyang Jing said calmly.

"Actually, I've already guessed it. You are all descendants of players and natives, left in this world, yet fantasizing about how wonderful the world your parents lived in was," Gao Linzhi said, shaking his head.

"You..." Ouyang Jing's expression changed for the first time.

She hadn't expected that this infiltrator was so clever.

Just by looking at these things, one can guess the truth.

"But you should also know that the other world is not much different from this one, except that it lacks some of the strangeness. However, the human heart is the greatest strangeness, and it cannot be reversed. No matter how good the methods and systems are, they will be corrupted by the human heart," Gao Linzhi said calmly.

Ouyang Jing didn't speak, but her eyes lit up as she looked at Gao Linzhi's Substitute Puppet.