Scream

"Colonel Slade, I truly don't understand you. Ba Di has already told us many times about his planet's racial faith, yet you still tried to stop him. Do you really want him to die?" Dean Bo Li grabbed Slade's arm and hurried ahead. "From this moment on, his value is greater than ever before. It's only a small request to bask in the sun. Even General Vick would be happy to grant it."

Slade moved along with Dean Bo Li, shaking free of his grip as he said coldly, "I have to stop everything he wants to do."

It came from Slade's intuition.

From the very beginning, he had felt that Ba Di was far from simple.

Yet he could not say exactly why. The feeling irritated him, vague and indistinct, beyond his understanding.

Until Ba Di spoke of faith just now, confusing and clouding his thoughts enough for him to realize why he had to stop this alien.

Because Ba Di's will had always made his instincts uneasy.

A flush rose on Dean Bo Li's thin old face as he glared and said, "Do you know how valuable he is alive? It isn't just the knowledge in his head. Jenny's experiment succeeded last night. Using the Gene Catalyst, she dissolved his cells, then used infrared rays to accelerate the Gene Catalyst's evaporation and created a genuine serum. Now all that's left is clinical testing. The results can hardly be far off."

"He cannot die. We should indulge a little of his religious faith and keep him alive, so we can continuously draw blood samples from him."

A glint flashed through Slade's eyes. "I know. That is why I deployed a fully equipped battalion on the surface in front of him, raised the Underground Base's alert level across the board, and closed the passageways between the Negative First Floor and the surface, cutting off any ideas he might have."

"Since he wants a peaceful life and to marry Jenny, I imagine he will not react at all."

Slade's tone was indifferent. He still could not let go of Ba Di going to the Negative First Floor, but he also knew he could not stop it. Even if he reported it to General Vick, he would only be told to take proper security measures, not to trust his intuition and keep Ba Di imprisoned.

Ba Di's value was simply too great. On top of that, with the Gene Serum's success, granting him a little freedom to bask in the sun was perfectly normal.

Unable to stop Slade, they could only let Ba Di go up to sun himself while he made every possible preparation.

Of course, if Slade had merely delayed Ba Di's time in the sun, it would have been enough to destroy everything Ba Di had planned.

Likewise, Ba Di's intense display and the solemnity surrounding his proposal meant it had to be completed today. No one would be so tactless as to forcefully stop him, not even Slade.

Slade's first attempt to stop him had failed, and he could not keep trying.

If it escalated all the way to General Vick, then Slade would be in the wrong.

This could only mean... everything was part of Ba Di's plan! Otherwise, why would he give them so much knowledge?

The flush on Dean Bo Li's old face paused as he sensed Slade's wariness toward Ba Di. "Colonel Slade truly leaves... no gaps in his security measures."

They arrived at the door to Jenny's biological laboratory. When they pushed open the clean white door, the first thing they saw was the crystalline, jewel-like Gene Serum inside a test tube.

Everything in the room was white. The various biological research machines existed solely to set off that vial of Gene Serum.

It caught the eye at once.

Dean Bo Li grew even more excited, like an ecstatic monkey. "Jenny truly is a genius, a genius among geniuses."

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Inside a glass enclosure, a white mouse the size of an adult palm, its eyes red, desperately slammed against the glass with startling force.

The sight delighted Dean Bo Li beyond measure.

"I injected it with the Gene Serum before I came to find you. It took effect very quickly. Its body is half again as large as before, and its strength has increased by at least twofold. The effects are showing so fast."

Slade stared intently at the mouse's furious, bloodshot eyes and frowned. "No side effects? It looks... very 'excited.'"

"We'll examine it now." Dean Bo Li put on a mask, took up a syringe, excitedly pinned down the white mouse, and drew a tube of blood.

"It needs to be observed for a while. For now, I'll test the integrity of its genes."

With that, Dean Bo Li began testing the blood.

Before long, Dean Bo Li cried out, "Its genes are completely stable! There are absolutely no signs of the collapse from before."

"Jenny's Gene Catalyst worked. It stabilized the genetic collapse."

Dean Bo Li trembled with excitement and shouted joyfully, "We may be able to possess bodies as strong as Ba Di's, with enormous strength of ten tons."

Slade sucked in a breath as he stared at the lively white mouse, then shifted his gaze to the vial of Gene Serum. The red liquid resembled a demon's blood, irresistibly alluring.

A body as strong as Ba Di's.

The strength of a ten-ton tyrannosaur.

Slade froze. If he possessed Ba Di's physical abilities and strength, would he still be so wary of him?

No.

Slade asked himself, and the answer was no. He would not lose to anyone.

And if they could successfully manufacture the Gene Serum, then without question, he would receive a share! Slade's heart instantly burned with excitement.

Dean Bo Li walked over to the laboratory computer and reviewed Jenny's experimental records. The screen's light reflected in his round glasses, displaying rows of data. Dean Bo Li's smile gradually widened until his entire face was filled with exhilaration.

"These are Jenny's experimental records. If I hadn't gone to find you just now, I would have already begun replicating her experiment. All her materials are here: the Gene Catalyst, Ba Di's cell samples, using infrared rays to catalyze the Gene Catalyst and intensify cytoplasmic dissolution. Infrared rays can actually affect Ba Di's cells."

Seeing Dean Bo Li fall into something like madness, Slade frowned. He suppressed the shock in his heart, looked at the Gene Serum Jenny had already completed, and an odd gleam flashed through his eyes. Then he said, "Dean Bo Li, if we replicate Doctor Jenny's experiment, can this Gene Serum be mass-produced?"

"Of course. Jenny's records are so detailed that she tested near, mid, and far infrared rays with wavelengths between 760 nm and 1 mm. She even speculated about combining different rays. There may be all kinds of different effects, perhaps even Gene Serum with special superpowers."

Dean Bo Li sucked in a breath. Jenny's talent had utterly stunned him. The possibility of creating genetic medicine that granted superpowers excited him so much that his breathing became ragged and he began panting.

Dean Bo Li widened his eyes and exchanged a look with Slade, both of them shocked beyond measure.

All of a sudden.

Ba Di's devout expression and his faith in the sun appeared in Slade's mind. Doubt flashed through his eyes as he asked, "Ba Di's cells react to far infrared rays?"

"Yes. Among infrared rays, far infrared rays between 4 and 14 micrometers are beneficial to the human body. They generate heat internally, promote the dilation of microvessels from within, improve blood circulation, enhance metabolism, and thereby increase immunity and healing rates. Ba Di's reaction is clearly much more pronounced," Dean Bo Li replied.

Infrared rays were merely one kind of heat radiation from the sun. There were also many other rays, such as ultraviolet rays and bands of light particles.

"Then does that mean he also reacts to the sun's radiation?" A sudden fear rose within Slade.

Dean Bo Li froze. "That... should... require testing."

At that moment.

The radio at Slade's waist suddenly crackled, followed by a shrill, miserable scream!