Ten minutes earlier,
in the vast desert tens of thousands of kilometers away.
The scorching sun beat down directly on the desert. Hundreds of meters of sand dunes rolled into the distance, their fine yellow sands curving gracefully under the wind. But the surface temperature of the sand had already risen above eighty degrees, and the air wavered visibly in the intense heat.
The tip of a massive pyramid flickered into view in the distance. Yet the clear waters of the Nile flowed in from a distant canal, reflecting the sunlight. A few white sails dotted the water as people fished, bringing the scene to life.
This was Egypt's Fayum Oasis.
However, amid the endless yellow sands beyond the oasis lay a peculiar valley. At first glance, it seemed desolate and strewn with rubble, but a closer look revealed that many of the stones on the ground were actually ancient shell fossils.
What was more, the remains of eleven ancient giant whales lay exposed in the valley. Their skeletons stretched for more than a dozen meters. Even turned to stone, they still sprawled across the earth, silently recounting the mystery and vastness of antiquity.
This was the famous Valley of the Whales.
Four million years ago, this desolate valley, now scorched by the blazing sun and surrounded by endless yellow sand, had been a beautiful blue sea, a strait stretching as far as the eye could see. Ancient giant whales had thrived here, mating and multiplying, until they eventually died out, leaving behind only enormous fossils as evidence. Visitors came here all year round, one after another.
But the area within a kilometer of the Valley of the Whales had now been sealed off by armed police and military personnel. Tourists were turned away from afar, while a group of stern-faced people in black stood guard at the valley's entrance. Even the police and military were barred from entering.
Several large pits had been dug in the Valley of the Whales. In one of them lay the skeleton of a colossal creature: the Basilosaurus, one of the most ferocious creatures ever to live on Earth!
This behemoth had a body more than twenty meters long and a mouthful of vicious teeth. Scientists even believed that in life its bite could easily have exerted more than thirteen thousand kilograms of force—about thirty times that of a brown bear and six times that of an adult Nile crocodile!
A group of staff in white lab coats surrounded the Basilosaurus fossil's skull. Clearly, however, they were led by a middle-aged, bearded man sitting in a wheelchair. Numerous wires had been connected to the skull, and the data was rapidly gathered and fed back to the screen in front of him.
A man working nearby spoke quickly, his voice brimming with excitement:
"As everyone knows, the Basilosaurus was a very unusual creature. It evolved a unique, enclosed spinal column, with its bone marrow flowing inside in an unusual liquid state. There was also a very distinctive enclosed structure where its cranial cavity connected to its spinal cord. The bone tissue there was more than half a meter thick!"
At this, the man continued excitedly:
"So, if this Basilosaurus was buried by an undersea volcanic eruption while still alive, then carbonized in a coal seam formed from vast quantities of giant seaweed, it's possible that we'll find viable gene fragments inside this enclosed structure in its cranial cavity!"
Just then, the light beside them suddenly flashed. An instant later, the holographic projection of a little girl in a white dress appeared. Her voice was cold and emotionless, entirely mechanical and synthesized.
"Warning. Warning. A Priority One event has occurred."
Everyone turned to look at once, their faces showing surprise. They knew this was only a holographic projection, but it was the projection of Elizabeth, the artificial intelligence of the enormous conglomerate. She had appeared to issue a warning, which meant that something serious must have happened.
The middle-aged man with the beard looked up and said, displeased:
"Elizabeth, we're trying to extract gene fragments from the Basilosaurus. You know how important this is. If we succeed, the combat capability of our biological weapons will more than double! Go find the other directors!"
The artificial intelligence Elizabeth replied coldly:
"Director Swan, this Priority One event concerns you. It is related to the aftermath of the Retroviral Vector Injection."
Director Swan said coldly:
"Wasn't the matter of the Retroviral Vector Injection already decided at the board meeting? The person responsible was sent to become a Test Subject, and we also dispatched an SRT rapid response unit to retrieve the injection. Is there a problem?"
Elizabeth continued in her expressionless voice:
"One of the two SRT rapid response teams we dispatched has been wiped out. The other has suffered heavy losses and has almost lost its combat capability. The target is about to escape. The Asian command center is requesting authorization to deploy the Ouroboros B biological weapon."
Before Swan could respond to Elizabeth, someone beside him loudly objected:
"No! Absolutely not! That's not some backward, isolated island chain in Oceania. It's Tai City, one of the world's seven free ports—a metropolis of twenty-seven million people! If we deploy the Ouroboros B biological weapon there and anything goes wrong, we'll be in a very difficult position!"
Swan, however, replied indifferently:
"Give it to them."
The man hurriedly said:
"But the consequences—"
Suddenly, Director Swan turned his head and looked at the man in his wheelchair. The man immediately panicked. He opened and closed his mouth several times as if to speak, but no sound came out. Then his head exploded with a bang, and a cloud of blood mist engulfed the surrounding area, filling it with a foul stench. His headless body turned around aimlessly a few times before slowly collapsing.
Only then did Director Swan speak calmly:
"There was too much redundant data in the previous run. Restart the server. We'll continue our research."
Elizabeth spoke in her mechanical, synthesized voice:
"Deploying the Ouroboros B biological weapon requires a second authorization. Please authorize by voiceprint, Director Swan. Secondary command received. Analysis server restarting."
Swan said calmly:
"Authorization granted."
As Swan finished speaking, the screen in front of him flickered and began its self-check and restart. But the standby symbol now displayed on the screen was a black-and-red triangle! Immediately afterward, the word "Umbrelia" appeared!!