After speaking, the woman turned and entered the Research Institute.
Her words had established that the players were interns at the Research Institute, and that they could temporarily change out of their formalwear, sparing it from stains and wrinkles.
Judging by Wei Lanxing's expression, Mrs. Leon had not looked like this last year.
Perhaps something had happened over the past year, or perhaps the authenticity of this setting was questionable.
Putting their questions aside, they hurried to follow the woman.
The Research Institute occupied a sizable area, but its exterior was unremarkable and conventional.
The first floor was a lobby, with areas for office work, reception, cleaning, and changing clothes.
The second floor through the top floor consisted entirely of laboratories. The only noteworthy detail was that the building had no stairs; accessing each floor required identity verification.
Clearly, discovering the secret of the rose vines would require high-level clearance at the very least. Intern status was nowhere near enough.
Mrs. Leon merely led them to the changing room before leaving.
In the changing room, they put their formalwear in lockers and changed into the researchers' designated work uniforms.
Their badges clearly read: Rose caretaker, xxx.
It seemed roses were the Research Institute's primary subject of study.
The four had just finished changing and stepped outside when someone called to them from nearby.
"Hey, it's time to fertilize the seeds."
A young man wearing black-framed glasses approached them carrying four Stun Batons. Shen Ru could clearly read his badge: Senior rose caretaker, Zhao Cheng.
"You're all so careless. How could you forget your Stun Batons?"
As he spoke, he thrust a Stun Baton into each person's hand.
The four: ...
In the livestream chat:
[Hahahahaha, what the hell? Have the roses come to life??? Even their caretakers need Stun Batons. I'm dying.]
[Oh my god, honestly, seeing that Stun Baton in my wife's hand doesn't feel out of place at all.]
[Hahahahaha, I'm instantly hyped. I can still vividly remember my wife beating the crap out of an NPC with an iron rod.]
[...Honestly, I have a bad feeling about this. Is this internship really safe?]
Wei Lanxing had experience drawing information out of people. She accepted the Stun Baton and promptly thanked him. "Good thing you reminded us, or we really wouldn't have known what to do."
Zhao Cheng thought nothing of it and merely nodded. "Exactly. I don't know what's gotten into them lately. They've all become rather disobedient."
The four immediately picked up on the odd wording and discreetly exchanged glances.
Shen Ru weighed the Stun Baton in his hand. Seeing Zhao Cheng's troubled expression, he curled his lips into a smile.
Mo Yu's right eyelid suddenly twitched at the sight of the young man's eager expression.
"I have a solution."
Shen Ru looked at the bespectacled man with utter sincerity and seriousness.
Wei Lanxing and Wen Meng stared at him, their eyes wide with surprise.
What nonsense was he spouting???
Even the livestream chat briefly went silent:
[????]
[You haven't even been inside the Research Institute for five fucking minutes!!! Do you even know what the labs look like? And you're already claiming you have a solution!!]
[Honestly, I keep feeling like my wife's about to do something that'll offend gods and men alike. New fans, please bear with him...]
[It should be fine. Mo Yu's here this time. He won't let him run wild, hahahahaha.]
[Are you sure Mo Yu won't be his accomplice???]
[...]
Zhao Cheng was an honest, straightforward researcher without a scheming bone in his body. Hearing that Shen Ru had a solution, he never even questioned why an intern would be so confident and hastily asked:
"What solution?"
He'd taken the bait.
Shen Ru lowered his eyes slightly, looking every bit the dull, rigid lab worker, and said slowly, "I'll have to see it for myself."
Zhao Cheng considered this for a moment, then nodded. "True. Every type of rose is different. We really can't generalize."
Ordinarily, gaining access to one of the upper floors through a senior caretaker right after entering the Research Institute would have been cause for celebration.
But they had no plan for dealing with the unknown. And judging by what Zhao Cheng had just said, the laboratories certainly housed more than roses, or he would not have referred to them as "all."
Acting rashly would inevitably bring tremendous danger.
Wei Lanxing hurriedly signaled to Mo Yu with her eyes, hoping he would stop this foolish, reckless behavior as soon as possible.
But the man ignored Wei Lanxing and simply watched the young man with interest.
Just then, Shen Ru's dark red eyes curved into a smile, meeting his gaze without the slightest hesitation. The absolute confidence in those eyes only heightened Mo Yu's anticipation.
"Could we come along? Opportunities to observe and learn like this are rare, after all."
Mo Yu added fuel to the already blazing fire, determined to send those flames straight toward the young man.
To Wei Lanxing and Wen Meng's astonishment, Zhao Cheng nodded in wholehearted agreement.
"You're right. We can't pass up any opportunity to learn and grow."
In the livestream chat:
[...Guys, is having two lunatics like Mo Yu and Shen Ru together really okay???]
[Don't even start. I'm already questioning myself...]
[Hurry up and go. Let me see what the hell you're planning. My mom's nagging me to go to bed!]
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Cheng led the four to the elevator, swiped his card inside, and pressed the button for the sixth floor.
Shen Ru noticed that the elevator served eight floors and remarked, seemingly offhandedly, "Ah, who knows when interns like us will finally get somewhere."
Zhao Cheng now had high hopes for him and was quite willing to answer. "Don't rush. You only have clearance for floors one through three right now, but if you perform well, you can reach senior rank within five years. As for me, I probably need to work hard for another three years before I can take a look at floors seven and eight."
That revealed a great deal: interns had access to floors one through three, senior researchers to floors four through six, and top-ranked employees to floors seven and eight.
Shen Ru nodded in satisfaction.
Ding!
They had reached the sixth floor!
As the elevator doors opened, the peaceful atmosphere shattered.
Shrill, eerie cries echoed throughout the corridor.
Unlike the lobby, several laboratories lined both sides of the elevator entrance, each bearing a sign identifying its corresponding plant.
Though every iron door was tightly shut, the horrifying, unbearable sound of nails scratching against them still rang out.
Some doors even boomed as something unknown inside slammed against them with tremendous force.
Merely standing outside was enough to make their skin crawl. It was hard to imagine what kind of gruesome scene awaited behind those iron doors.
From the moment they arrived, Wei Lanxing's heart began pounding wildly, her entire body stretched taut. No matter how brightly lit the corridor was, it could not conceal the dark, sinister aura seeping from behind the doors.
Worried that they might struggle to adjust to such an intense scene on their first visit, Zhao Cheng considerately explained:
"Don't worry. They're all locked inside. A few occasionally break free of their chains, but they definitely can't get past the iron doors. It's completely safe here right now."
Wei Lanxing gave the naive NPC a look of helpless disbelief. Safe now doesn't mean it'll still be safe in a minute...
Zhao Cheng led them to the far end of the corridor. "These seeds arrived recently. They're a little disobedient. Take a look and see what you can do."
The door opened.
The room was pitch-black. Amid beastlike growls, the boundless darkness seemed to conceal an enormous lurking monster, exerting an overwhelming sense of pressure.
"The culture vessel needs to fuse in darkness first. I'll go change the lighting color. Don't approach it for now." With that, Zhao Cheng stepped outside.
None of them answered, but their hearts sank.
When the door opened, light had briefly spilled into the room. With a single glance, Shen Ru had seen the so-called culture vessel.
An enormous object resembling a placenta connected rose vines to a person.
Thick red patches of ringworm covered the person's entire body. Some areas had been scratched raw and infected, and had already begun to fester.
Blood-red pustules densely covered his back. The sticky fluid within had stretched their skins almost transparent, as though they might burst at any moment.
But none of that was the most shocking part.
What stunned them most was that they had parted ways with this man barely fifteen minutes ago.
Chu Rong, the guild leader of the Dawn Guild.
Before you continue