Thanks, Hanton

Flee!

Yang Ming's ears rang incessantly, dizziness surging alongside a violent urge to vomit.

The instant the red halo erupted, Yang Ming had already bolted into a desperate sprint, yet he still couldn't escape the influence of that crimson light.

"The Valkyrie has broken out!"

He bellowed at the top of his lungs.

Nearby, men and women began to double over and retch; faint arcs of electricity crackled from delicate instruments, screams and shouts rising in a chaotic chorus.

Seven or eight figures in white lab coats surged toward the cabin housing the Valkyrie; their eyes reflected a faint red glow, their faces brimming with devout reverence.

The Valkyrie had long since secretly taken control of the experimental personnel in closest contact with her!

Yang Ming made straight for the nearest emergency fire escape, not forgetting to slap the alarm on the wall, sending a piercing siren howling through the entire research ship.

'Brother can only help you all this far.'

He climbed the spiraling stairs at breakneck speed, scaling over a hundred steps in one breath before he finally heard screams from below the passageway.

Direct engagement had begun!

Three horizontal safety gates were closing rapidly, sealing off this spiral staircase, with the uppermost gate landing right beneath Yang Ming's feet.

'Can these alloy gates, tough enough to withstand high-energy laser beams, hold back the Valkyrie?'

At this moment, Yang Ming felt utterly devoid of any sense of safety.

The walls transmitted the announcer's calm voice, reading out evacuation instructions, ordering all departments to prepare for dispersal, and marking the locations of the lifeboats.

Soon, the hull began to tremble faintly; the battle in the lower decks intensified to a fever pitch.

Perhaps the violent climbing had aggravated an old injury; as Yang Ming sprinted, his eyes gradually became bloodshot, his ear canals filled with a dull roar, and waves of intense vertigo crashed over him relentlessly.

He had no intention of stopping.

A worsening concussion—with the medical means of an interstellar civilization, that was nothing at all.

But if he slowed down and got caught by the Valkyrie, his head would be lopped clean off!

This body's robust physique played a crucial role; Yang Ming charged straight to the very top of the emergency passage in one go.

He barely managed to identify the nearby passage exit.

The dizziness grew so severe he could hardly stand.

But when Yang Ming spotted the safety gate not far ahead, slowly descending, he lunged forward in a single bound, diving headlong and barely rolling inside the gate.

Ding, ding, ding—

A noise like a dozen coins spinning in a metal bowl circled endlessly around Yang Ming's ears.

Something occurred to him; he fished out the small pouch, tipped out the capsules Dr. Lina had given him, pinched two of them flat, tilted his head back, and swallowed.

Then he lay on the floor, eyes closed, breathing heavily.

The tinnitus persisted for a good while.

Yang Ming's breathing gradually steadied; the bulging veins on his forehead slowly subsided, his entire body drenched in sweat.

He raised a hand to cover his forehead; the dizziness receded like flowing water, his chest no longer tight, and his mind became unusually sharp.

'There's hormones mixed into this medicine? The effect is strong.'

When Yang Ming got up, he could only walk by supporting himself against the wall, but after a dozen steps, his body had returned to normal.

Cross-referencing the information in Hanton's memory, his current position was already very close to the bridge, and there should be no more safety gates ahead.

Yang Ming's pace quickened.

From within the walls, disaster warnings kept sounding; the embedded displays throughout the area flashed conspicuous red text.

Of the three lifeboats, one was stored in an outer compartment near the bridge, capable of holding a hundred people.

The bridge crew, counting the guards, usually numbered only forty to fifty; the odds of boarding that lifeboat smoothly from here were the highest.

Of course, the best outcome would be to persuade Geglov to abandon the Valkyrie and jettison the lower-deck laboratory immediately; the worst-case plan was boarding the lifeboat.

—The lifeboat lacked jump drive capability, and this was the border region of the Empire, carrying the risk of being stranded and dying in the void.

He walked along the silver-gray corridor for a long while until two doors bearing the Imperial emblem came into view.

Entering required biometric identification; he pressed his palm onto the control panel on the left, and the two doors slid slowly open to either side.

A faint, half-hearted electronic announcement sounded in the immediate area:

"Third Mate arrives at the bridge."

Quite the reception.

If the engine room housing the jump drive was the ship's heart, then the bridge was its brain.

Yang Ming stepped inside quickly and surveyed the environment.

This research ship had clearly poured its budget into the lower-deck laboratory; the bridge's specifications could only be described as shabby.

Straight ahead were connected arched windows offering the best view of the starfield on the entire ship; to the left and right were control panels that would be a nightmare for anyone with trypophobia, rows upon rows of buttons that made one's scalp crawl.

A dozen men and women in Imperial military uniforms sat upright at their stations, calmly and concisely relaying information, receiving orders, and pressing buttons.

—They were responsible for controlling the ship's navigation and real-time monitoring of its overall condition.

Behind these operators was a sealed, transparent fire-control compartment; inside sat several middle-aged officers, manning the ship's various anti-enemy weapons.

Above the fire-control compartment was the main command platform, where stood the target Yang Ming was currently seeking—Geglov, along with the Captain, First Mate, and several other senior crew members.

Directly in front of Geglov was a projected one-way screen wall, displaying every corner of the chaotic lower deck without blind spots.

Yang Ming lowered his head and moved forward, ignoring whether he had the authority to be on the command platform. He quickly climbed the steps and stood behind several of his "superiors."

Geglov's face was ashen, both hands resting on his cane. His mechanical eye flickered with a red glow, and his withered hair was slightly disheveled.

Yang Ming was drawn to the surveillance footage on the screen.

A standoff was unfolding in the lower deck, with signs of a fierce battle having just erupted.

Over a dozen nutrient tanks had already opened.

Several modified humans lay bloodied near the tanks, their bodies bearing penetrating wounds from high-energy rays.

A little farther off, more than a dozen Imperial Soldiers lay dead, their fates even grimmer—most had their necks twisted clean off.

At the entrance to the Valkyrie's chamber, two rows of men and women in white lab coats raised their hands high, forming a ragged human wall, held hostage by several grim-faced modified humans.

And the Valkyrie?

Yang Ming looked up, searching, and found the surveillance feed inside the Valkyrie's chamber.

That nutrient tank had already been shattered. The Valkyrie stood before it with her arms spread wide, like a saint who had just bathed before a prayer ritual.

Two women under the Valkyrie's control were busy nearby, holding transparent operation panels, trying to unlock the silver collar around her neck.

This?

"Professor," Yang Ming spoke directly, "aren't we going to do something?"

Several senior officers turned their heads to look at him.

The First Mate barked, "Lieutenant! This is not a place for you to speak freely!"

Yang Ming immediately lowered his head and shut his mouth, cursing inwardly.

These old bastards were truly something else—why not just detonate the bomb on the Valkyrie's neck and be done with it?

I finally got a chance to live again, and I'm just here to witness history?

"Lieutenant, what are you still standing here for!"

"Is the anesthetic gas ready?" Geglov suddenly spoke, cutting off the First Mate's reprimand.

The First Mate quickly replied, "It's ready and can be deployed at any time. The assault team is also in position."

Geglov said, "Captain, release double the standard concentration... no, triple."

"Understood, Professor," the ship's Captain pressed a button on his collar and ordered in a low voice, "Execute the Professor's instructions immediately."

Yang Ming frowned deeply.

Geglov still refused to destroy the Valkyrie.

His position as a Third Mate repairman was utterly powerless to change the course of events.

Yang Ming stepped back two paces, standing at the edge of the platform, staring at the changes on the screen.

A pale red gas mixed with markers appeared throughout the lower deck, and the figures standing in various places quickly began to sway and collapse.

Click. A soft sound came from the screen.

The collar around the Valkyrie's neck slowly opened, and the two women beside her had already slumped to the ground.

The Valkyrie looked up toward the corner where the hidden surveillance was, her face—like that of an innocent young girl untouched by the world—appeared dead center on the projection screen.

She seemed to be silently staring at Geglov.

Yang Ming was standing farther back and couldn't clearly see Geglov's expression, but he caught the mad professor's muttered words.

"Child, don't be nervous. I won't hurt you."

Yang Ming turned his gaze toward the escape route, beginning to search through Hanton's memories for the Lifeboat Operation Manual.

He had already seen it.

He had seen the Valkyrie rise to her feet amidst the anesthetic gas;

He had seen her swiftly snap the necks of one assault team soldier after another;

He had seen this ship plunge into a hellish abyss among the stars in utter despair!

On the screen, the Valkyrie slowly lay down.

The Captain said into his collar, "Assault team..."

"Shouldn't we—!"

Yang Ming suddenly spoke up, ignoring the confusion and impatience in the eyes of those senior officers, and said very seriously:

"Professor, Captain, to be absolutely certain, shouldn't we use high-energy laser beams to pierce through the Valkyrie's limbs? It won't cause her any lasting harm, but it will keep her immobilized while she heals, right, Professor?"

"Hanton!"

The First Mate, who had been driving Yang Ming away, immediately bellowed, "How much longer are you going to cause trouble here?!"

But Gigrov turned his head to look, fixing his gaze on Yang Ming, and asked with a frown, "How do you know this?"

This old man's vigilance was quite sharp.

Yang Ming ignored the utterly useless First Mate and calmly began to spin a tale: "There are all kinds of rumors on the ship... Professor, you are the Valkyrie's creator. You know what powerful genes she's fused with. Right now, everyone on board is under her threat."

"Enough, Hanton!"

The burly First Mate charged over in two steps and grabbed Yang Ming by the collar. "You have no say here! Do you want to be confined? Huh?"

"Let him go," Gigrov said with a frown.

The First Mate was a bit taken aback, but on this ship, Gigrov was the pinnacle of authority.

The First Mate shoved Yang Ming against the bulkhead, let out a heavy snort, as if warning him.

Gigrov stared at Yang Ming for a few moments, and Yang Ming met his gaze without flinching.

Is this old man waiting for me to convince him?

Yang Ming's thoughts raced.

Gigrov harbored a special affection for the Valkyrie;

The background introduction of the Lost Voice;

The lines Brother Ji had said when beating the hidden boss...

That was it. What Gigrov cared about most, besides the Valkyrie, was this powerful Sherman Empire.

Yang Ming suddenly spoke, his voice always calm:

"Professor Gigrov, I might sound a bit dramatic, but I overheard researchers mention that the Valkyrie's most terrifying trait should be her infinite evolutionary potential. This is the Empire's border, and she might be harboring hatred for the Empire."

Gigrov's hand gripping his cane tightened around the orb at the end.

"Adopt Third Mate Hanton's suggestion," Gigrov said, looking at the Captain. "Have the most skilled technician operate. Use lasers to pierce through her palms and soles. Absolutely do not strike the heart, neck, or brain... It must be as precise as a scalpel."

The Captain glanced at Yang Ming, a faint smile appearing on his meticulous face, and immediately replied, "Professor, rest assured. I'll handle it personally."

Yang Ming visibly relaxed.

Gigrov added, "First Mate, all of you, go to the lower deck now to supervise. Hanton stays."

The three Senior Officers swung their left hands behind their backs and their right hands forward, snapping an Imperial Salute in unison, then bowed and hurriedly left.

Yang Ming felt the First Mate's hostility but didn't spare him a glance, his eyes fixed on the sleeping Valkyrie on the screen.

Had he just changed 'history'?

No, the crisis was only temporarily resolved. He still needed to leave this ship as soon as possible.

"Hanton."

Gigrov said in a deep voice:

"The request you mentioned before, I can grant it to you now.

"You showed remarkable rationality in the face of crisis. That's a rare talent.

"Congratulations, you've earned this opportunity, Third Mate."

Request? Opportunity?

What the hell?

What request had Hanton made to Gigrov?

Yang Ming was a bit stunned and quickly searched Hanton's memories.

When he found the last conversation with Gigrov, his facial expression almost cracked.

'Professor, I want to become a powerful Modified Person! To achieve this goal, I've been training my physique for years! All for the glory of the Empire! Even if it means sacrificing myself, I'm willing to try!'

The young Third Mate had once pleaded with utmost sincerity.

And from the subsequent conversation between Hanton and Gigrov, Yang Ming learned that the failure rate of the Gene Modification experiments on this Research Ship was 92%, and the mortality rate was...

35%.

Thanks, Hanton!

Yang Ming nearly ground his molars to dust.