Twenty years passed. The Protoss had gained twenty thousand newborns, and the Daelaam population had officially surpassed one hundred thousand. This was far slower than humanity's rate of reproduction. Though Shen Jun was dissatisfied, there was nothing he could do about it.
The population base was simply too small, so the growth rate naturally could not rise.
They could only let time do its work.
He Xi returned to the Small Wooden House she had built on Aiur and resumed her old routine.
Shen Jun, meanwhile, warped to a secret research base. Located five thousand meters beneath Daelaam territory, it was not only well hidden but also capable of blocking all detection.
The entire base was dominated by black and red, clearly reflecting the Tal'darim style. Although Tal'darim technology had largely been built on plagiarism, after Alarak became Highlord, the Tal'darim began actively developing their own technology.
The Tal'darim lacked no brilliant minds. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for them to create heavily modified versions from just a few stolen starships without exceptional technological expertise.
What the Tal'darim had lacked was merely the willingness to research technology on their own. After all, in their early days, they had only been Amon's fanatical followers.
Yet precisely because of that, the Tal'darim surpassed all other Protoss in one particular field.
Genetic technology.
More precisely... hybrid technology.
Shen Jun entered the underground base's experimental zone. The area was divided into many sections, with a massive testing ground at its center. Yet in Shen Jun's eyes, both in appearance and function, it looked more like an arena... The entire testing ground was enclosed by walls made from high-strength Psionic Alloy, intended to prevent test subjects from escaping. The walls had been made transparent to allow observation of the conditions inside.
Centered around the testing ground, the other areas were likewise sealed tightly behind Psionic Alloy, forming thousands of individual compartments. These, however, were not transparent, making it impossible to see what was happening within.
The research base had two levels. The experimental zone occupied the lower level, while the true research area lay fifty meters above it.
The research area was not nearly as complicated in layout, consisting of only one large and one small section. The large section occupied eighty percent of the space, but Shen Jun's destination was the small research section at the very back.
"Gaius, how is the progress?"
Shen Jun entered the dim laboratory and asked in a deep voice.
A standard Tal'darim Phase-smith was analyzing a genetic map. His name was Gaius, a Tal'darim older even than Alarak. Unlike the other two races, the Tal'darim held no reverence for knowledge, nor did they possess any belief that life was sacred. They would even use their own people as test subjects.
Although Alarak had come to value the lives of his people more and more under Artanis's influence, and the Tal'darim had changed somewhat, certain habits were ultimately etched into their bones—namely, their contempt for all other life.
That was why the underground base's research could only be entrusted to the Tal'darim.
For the test subjects within the thousands of sealed compartments in the lower experimental zone were none other than the Elephant Men, the original inhabitants of this planet!
The Elephant Men had a population of at least a million. They could have been slaughtered to the last, but that would have been too cruel—and unnecessary. It was better to keep them as subjects for certain experiments.
For example, Super Genes.
Alarak's battle with He Xi had not been entirely driven by a moment of temper. It had also been to obtain a sample of He Xi's genes. Blood was unnecessary; a single strand of hair was enough. Losing a few hairs in battle was nothing, and the Super Gene Code of angels was not so easily deciphered.
Thus, this underground research base came into being. Gaius, the Tal'darim's most experienced researcher, led a team in studying how to crack angel genes and attempting to create Super Genes suitable for Protoss.
At the same time, in order to obtain relatively accurate data, they carried out forced genetic modifications on the Elephant Men, giving them at least eighty-five percent Protoss genes. Such intense genetic mutation without any protective measures caused vast numbers of Elephant Men to die, leaving only a little over a hundred thousand.
The underground base mainly conducted two kinds of experiments. Super Genes were only one of them and occupied only a small part of the research area. The greater focus was restarting hybrid research.
Aiur's Alien Beasts were as numerous as the stars, yet Dehaka was the only species worth cultivating. Thus, breeding Dehaka on a large scale and combining other Alien Beast species with Dehaka to create hybrid Alien Beasts was the best choice. After all, the records stored by Rohana did not cover only the Protoss; they also contained information on humans and Zerg.
Human technology was rather lackluster to the Protoss, not worth the effort of recreating. Still, they could draw upon its strengths to supplement the Protoss tech tree with certain human technologies. Zerg biotechnology, however, was of vastly greater value and had to be put to use.
Zerg biotechnology was not limited to the Zerg. Many organisms could make use of it. Were not all those Alien Beasts naturally perfect test subjects?
This was deeply inhumane and did not align with Protoss morality, but it was necessary. Thus, many high-ranking Protoss knew of it, yet all remained silent.
Gaius froze when he heard Shen Jun's question. He had been working continuously for five days, and no one had disturbed him the entire time. For a moment, he had almost thought he was hearing things.
Only after looking twice did he confirm that Shen Jun had truly returned.
"Hierarch, you have returned."
Gaius's voice was low and hoarse, carrying a chilling undertone.
Though he used the honorific "you," there was not a trace of respect in his tone. Shen Jun did not mind. That was simply Gaius's personality; he spoke to Alarak in the same way.
In truth, most Tal'darim wore that same cold and ruthless air.
"The angel gene decryption was completed ten years ago. However, it proved highly unstable when we attempted to integrate it with Protoss genes, and the research has reached a bottleneck."
Gaius reported truthfully, his emotions barely fluctuating, like a machine.
"This genetic map I am examining is the result of the latest attempt to inject a Super Gene prototype into an Elephant Man. After the Super Gene was implanted, the Elephant Man's physical abilities improved significantly. Its strength and speed increased greatly, and even the degree of brain evolution rose by eight percent."
"But for some reason, every batch of Elephant Men dies within two hours. This differs greatly from our calculated data. From ten years ago until now, we have conducted no fewer than twenty thousand experiments, but unfortunately, we have never found a solution."
Gaius shook his head, finally showing a hint of something resembling confusion. "This problem has troubled us for a long time. Until it is resolved, Super Gene research can only remain stalled."
Gaius pointed at the latest genetic map and explained countless technical terms to Shen Jun. In short, there was only one conclusion: they had failed to make the Super Gene work.
However, hybrid creation had made unexpected progress.
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