"Hello, boss!" Er Mao stood ramrod straight as he greeted Nie Yun.
"Hello, boss..." The other two brothers beside him looked utterly drained. Their pale faces were covered in cold sweat, as though they had been put through a washing machine's spin cycle several times.
Bzzzt... Just then, the lights in the room flickered.
"Uh... boss, the power aboard the ship has seemed unstable for a while now. Is something wrong with the Sea Wolf?" Er Mao looked up in confusion.
"Well... perhaps. Ahem! Anyway, how did your space-adaptation trial go?" Nie Yun hurriedly changed the subject.
Could he tell them that merely giving the AI a name had crashed it, and that he had only just managed to reboot it? How embarrassing!
"Terrible... The two of us started feeling dizzy, nauseous, and sick the moment we entered the Sea Wolf's zero-gravity zone... Those reactions are slowly improving, but as far as the experience goes... one star..." Lao San said weakly.
"Reporting, boss! My sense of direction was a little confused, but I experienced no other discomfort!" Er Mao answered.
"Hmm... That should be your body's balance system adapting to a zero-gravity environment. Things look pretty good! It seems enhanced humans can already adapt quite well to space. That's good news!"
"Boss, is there a reason you're so concerned about our ability to adapt?" Lao Da voiced the question on his mind.
"Heh! You'll find out later. Since you've more or less adapted, let's begin your enhancement!" Once Nie Yun finished speaking, two oval, horizontal experimental pods rose from the floor.
The two exchanged a glance, then lay down inside the experimental pods as Nie Yun instructed, feeling a little apprehensive. Soon, the transparent lids closed, and silver liquid Mechanical Insects flowed in, slowly submerging them.
On the microscopic level,