Anomaly in the Sample

This was a large house with a garage.

The room was clean and tidy, with a comfortable layout. Through the curved glass windows on one side, they could even see the jungle outside.

The house had every kind of furniture, brimming with the atmosphere of everyday life. It was hard to believe this was a room inside a hunter monitoring station.

But why was there a swimming pool?

Were they here to explore the Abyss or to go on vacation?

If he did not need to explore the Abyss, Mo Ling would have liked to laze around here forever.

Having money was great.

Li Luo opened the refrigerator, which was already packed with food.

"What do you want to eat?"

As she spoke, she took out the food and laid it out piece by piece before the Cube.

After Mo Ling chose his food, Li Luo took out an electronic screen and placed it on the table. "You know how to use this, right? You did in the dream."

Mo Ling pulled the electronic screen inside and wrote a single word on it: "Yes."

Li Luo looked delightedly at the electronic screen that had been teleported back out.

"Then we can communicate through this!"

Li Luo took out another electronic screen and tried having Mo Ling send messages outside.

Mo Ling then discovered that the metal Cube's shell seemed to block all signals.

Inside it, the electronic screen could neither receive nor send messages. He could only use it to write things for Li Luo.

Mo Ling suddenly realized that his plan to bring Li Luo's wristband for controlling the little vehicle inside was ruined. He had previously thought he could control the vehicle and take it out for a spin himself.

Still, at least they could communicate now.

Through the electronic screen, Mo Ling told Li Luo about the abilities he currently possessed, though he described them all from the perspective of a Relic.

Only after communicating did Mo Ling realize just how deep Li Luo's misunderstanding of the Cube had been.

Even now, Li Luo believed the Cube was a Relic—a Relic with self-awareness.

Thus, Mo Ling still concealed part of his situation. He did not tell Li Luo that he was actually trapped inside the Cube.

She can't know that I'm not a Relic.

Their cooperation was still going fairly well, so he could maintain it for the time being. He would have to keep hiding it a little longer.

After learning the principles behind Mo Ling's abilities, Li Luo was visibly delighted.

Mo Ling was somewhat puzzled as well.

Were there many Relics that could communicate?

Mo Ling did not ask Li Luo that question, afraid it would arouse suspicion. It seemed he would have to find the answer himself.

After discussing his abilities, Li Luo became unusually curious about the cost of using the Cube.

"What kinds of things do you like to eat? Can you write them down?"

Mo Ling wrote several foods he liked on the electronic screen.

"So few?" Li Luo was full of confusion. "Will eating these upgrade your abilities?"

"And what flavors do you like?"

"Where does the trash from what you eat go?"

"Can you eat more? Would that let you teleport farther?"

"..."

Watching Li Luo's boundless enthusiasm for food, Mo Ling seriously doubted whether she was really the same cold girl he had met at the beginning.

Time passed quickly.

During these days at the Monitoring Station, Li Luo was remarkably obedient. She did not take on another mission, and she did not even leave the house.

She leisurely vacationed in the room, having others deliver food whenever she got hungry.

The girl's only daily activity was browsing all kinds of information about Relics and Abyss Creatures on the electronic screen.

Then she would tirelessly talk to the Cube, mostly about various foods.

Compared to the principles behind the Cube's abilities, she was clearly more interested in its cost.

Mo Ling really wanted to force the girl to answer when she planned to take another mission.

"Weren't you in a hurry to reach the Abyss Second Layer? What about the points?!"

Mo Ling was soon proven wrong.

Over the next few days, the data and biological samples Li Luo had uploaded were approved one after another, and the electronic screen kept refreshing with new information.

Shock Beast Image Data approved. Reward: 300 Monitoring Station Points.

Red String Worm Parasite Image Data approved. Reward: 500 Monitoring Station Points.

Dream Qilin Image Data approved. Reward: 500 Monitoring Station Points.

Dream Qilin Biological Sample approved. Reward: 500 Monitoring Station Points.

All sorts of miscellaneous notifications popped up on the electronic screen as Mo Ling watched Li Luo's points soar.

Finally, after all the materials had been approved, Li Luo's points reached 5,000.

Even Li Luo herself seemed not to have expected such a result. Every time the screen refreshed, she could not stop herself from beaming with delight.

Mo Ling was also very surprised.

It seemed that Monitoring Station Points were not earned solely through missions. The various materials gathered during missions were the real source of points.

The rarer the materials, the more points they earned. After all, the Monitoring Station had been established to research the Abyss.

The only reason she had gained so many extra points this time was that the data Li Luo uploaded filled several extremely important gaps in the records.

After all the mission materials had been settled, Li Luo appeared to be planning to take on a new mission.

She opened the electronic screen and checked the latest missions.

Just then, a message suddenly arrived.

Station Master Liang: "Li Luo, if you have time, please come to the research institute. There's a problem with the Red String Worm parasite sample you delivered last time."

After receiving the message, Li Luo took the little vehicle and headed toward the research institute.

Inside the research institute, Station Master Liang was explaining the oddity of this biological sample to Li Luo.

"You may not be able to see it on the macroscopic level."

"But our institute tested these cells and found a major problem."

Station Master Liang led Li Luo to a monitor displaying the parasite sample at a microscopic level.

Mo Ling stared at it for a long time but could not see any problem.

Li Luo looked equally confused.

Station Master Liang quickly pulled up several images and explained.

"These images show normal Red String Worm cells and Shock Beast cells. But the cells currently displayed on the monitor are neither of those."

"Within the entire parasite sample, we found two kinds of cells. One belonged to the Shock Beast, while the other was this unknown type of cell you are seeing."

"And it isn't a Red String Worm cell."

Station Master Liang asked solemnly, "Li Luo, are you certain the sample you sent over came from a Shock Beast that died after being parasitized by Red String Worms?"

Li Luo nodded firmly.

"Then the problem is serious. I remember you mentioned in your uploaded materials that the reason for this Shock Beast disturbance was large-scale Red String Worm parasitism?"

Li Luo nodded again.

After receiving her answer, Station Master Liang pondered for a moment before speaking.

"Red String Worms do not normally parasitize hosts on such a large scale. That was also the point of doubt you mentioned in your report. But if this is the case, then it explains everything."

Station Master Liang led Li Luo to a piece of equipment in the research institute and pointed at the screen. "Those unknown cells in the sample are very familiar to researchers like us. Look, they're this kind."

Mo Ling looked at the screen. It showed a cluster of transparent cells constantly writhing.

They lay quietly inside the cultivation device and did not seem strange at all.

Mo Ling compared these cells with the unknown cells in the parasite sample from before and found that they were indeed the same kind.

Why had this happened?

He had personally watched Li Luo use a capsule to wrap up that infected slime.

That capsule had remained inside the Storage Box, within Mo Ling's field of view. There was no possibility of it being switched.

Could it be that they had been these unknown cells from the very beginning?