Hui Xin's fall swept through New Star Valley like a winter cold wave.
The research department's morale, in particular, suffered a devastating blow.
The leader who had guided them in exploring the mysteries of life's evolution had ultimately been consumed by the very power she pursued, leaving every researcher lost and doubting themselves.
After his grief, Lie Zhua showed the responsibility expected of a leader.
He did not seize the opportunity to suppress the research department, instead taking the initiative to stabilize what remained of the Spark Project's structure, which was tottering after losing its core.
He understood that Hui Xin's path might have been radical, but exploring the essence of life had already proved crucial to the tribe's future. They could not abandon it out of fear.
Then, with Tu Hu's support, a young scholar named Jing Si was brought to the fore after rigorous screening and evaluation.
She had been one of Hui Xin's assistants, but her temperament was entirely different from her mentor's.
Jing Si was composed and cautious, even somewhat conservative.
Yet her thirst for knowledge rivaled Hui Xin's, and she placed greater emphasis on theoretical completeness.
Witnessing Hui Xin lose control had instilled in her an awe of power.
What Jing Si inherited was a pessimism-ridden mess on the verge of dissolution, along with a charge from Tu Hu: "Remember Hui Xin's lesson. We must go farther, but we cannot fall halfway."
Jing Si did not immediately restart the radical genetic research.
Her first act was to lead the research team in working through the night to organize, then seal away, Hui Xin's experimental data concerning the Shadow Stalker Evil Beast and related high-risk genetic chimerism, declaring it forbidden.
But these records were not deleted. Preserving them served to warn those who came after, so