Chapter 19: “Humans” in Petri Dishes

The Biological Research Building in District 14 of Dongzhou was built on a wasteland in the suburbs of Gangqiao City. The surrounding area was a desolate expanse of ruined buildings and flattened rubble for hundreds of miles. The edge of the wasteland was tightly enclosed by a thirty-meter-high electric fence.

A yellow warning sign stood next to the only entrance, with the words “Danger, Keep Out” in large characters and a conspicuous red exclamation mark.

When a black sedan drove up, the armed guards at the entrance retreated to both sides, only resuming their defensive formation when the car reached the scientific building in the center of the circular wasteland.

The driver stopped the car. He Fengyan got out first, and only after he walked over to open the door did Ji Mingchen slowly emerge.

As he stepped out, he straightened his wrinkled sleeves, his unhurried demeanor making He Fengyan feel anxious: “Chief Ming, you should go in quickly. The situation wasn’t good when I came back to report, and it’s probably even worse now.”

Ji Mingchen smiled as usual: “What are you nervous about? The research lab has a protection system. Director Fei wouldn’t be unaware of that.”

He Fengyan didn’t dare say anything more, and went into the building with him. The entire building was built in a very technological style, with a blue floor as smooth as a mirror. Every mechanical door required fingerprint and facial recognition to enter.

After entering the elevator, He Fengyan pressed “-18”. As soon as the elevator door opened, they heard a deafening “bang bang” sound from afar, accompanied by a strange, eerie cry and a sizzling sound like plants breaking through the soil.

He Fengyan’s face was full of anxiety, and he wanted to hurry along, but Ji Mingchen beside him was very relaxed, occasionally stopping to observe the situation in the petri dishes next to him.

On the left side of the long corridor was a row of metal cages, each containing a human. They were all dressed in prison uniforms, lying listlessly against the bars. Some closed their eyes and hung their heads, while others stared blankly, fearfully and bewilderedly at the corridor outside.

On the right side of the corridor were cages the size of petri dishes. The glass containers held a blue-green liquid, in which “humans” slept.

Some had grown fish tails, some had grown wings, some had grown antlers, some had cracked and peeling skin, some had blood-red eyes and stinking saliva dripping from their mouths… They were all failed rejects, specimens of mutated beings who had lost their intelligence.

In the laboratory at the end of the corridor, several researchers in white coats looked terrified: “What do we do?! The research chamber door seems unable to hold back that mutant…”

The electric grid at the entrance of the research chamber crackled with electricity. Inside was a humanoid monster two meters tall with blood-red eyes and green skin. The monster’s hands were claw-like, with sharp nails, and its fingers could transform into freely retractable vines.

As the vines extended through the gaps, the researchers screamed again and again: “Vines, the vines are coming through the gaps in the electric grid!!”

“Director Fei!!!”

“Press the red button quickly!!”

Fei Qianjiang was so frightened that he sat frozen in his seat. The black pupils behind his glasses reflected the thorny vines that were suddenly attacking. At that moment, a burst of flames surged forth, and the half-burnt vines instantly retracted.

The researchers in the lab all turned around, their eyes brightening: “Chief Ming, Captain He.”

Fei Qianjiang looked back, his fear still lingering. He pushed himself up from the experimental table beside him, adjusted his broken glasses, and said with a lingering fear:

“Chief Ming, you’re finally here. That mutant woke up looking like this, and we were caught completely off guard…”

Ji Mingchen: “Since it’s a failure, why not execute it?”

Fei Qianjiang: “Because I found it to be a bit special…”

Ji Mingchen: “Special?”

A researcher chimed in: “Yes, it seems to be able to speak, not entirely a failure, so Director Fei didn’t dare to activate the kill system.”

Upon hearing this, Ji Mingchen looked again at the monster in the middle of the electric grid and walked towards it. The thing seemed to be afraid, looking at its burnt fingers and muttering in a hoarse voice: “Pain, pain, pain.”

When it sensed someone approaching, it even took a step back, its blood-red pupils trembling rapidly, vigilantly watching the man in white outside the electric grid.

Ji Mingchen smiled: “Hello there.”

Greeting a monster with such a gentle and warm smile made his expression seem sinister and eerie.

The monster didn’t move, as if still afraid, but it bared its teeth and growled at the man, muttering: “Kill, kill, kill.”

Ji Mingchen analyzed: “It’s different, it’s afraid.”

“However, something as dangerous as this can be directly exterminated next time, otherwise it would be bad if it escaped…”

As the words fell, flames flew out from his fingertips, instantly turning into a net of fire that enveloped the monster. After a piercing scream, the monster turned into black ashes and dissipated.

Fei Qianjiang frowned: “But, but…”

He had been overjoyed about this research result for a long time, after all, the research on the wood-type energy awakening agent had finally made some progress. He had originally planned to keep it locked up and study it further, and then use the monster’s living blood to conduct several sample analyses.

Unexpectedly, it was burnt to ashes like that.

Ji Mingchen turned back, his eyes curving as he met Fei Qianjiang’s: “Did you hear that? Director Fei.”

Fei Qianjiang wiped the sweat from his forehead, how dare he say anything more: “Understood.”

Ji Mingchen walked past the rows of display screens, glancing at the data on them: “Half a year, no progress at all?”

Fei Qianjiang was somewhat embarrassed by the question, and lowered his head to explain: “Firstly, the number of mutant samples is not enough. Secondly, this element crystal is only molecular in size and is a volatile substance, making it extremely difficult to extract…”

“Even if it is extracted, it is extremely difficult to adjust it to a specific concentration to complete the experiment, let alone whether the experiment will be successful or not.”

Ji Mingchen nodded, smiling as he patted Fei Qianjiang on the shoulder: “Don’t worry about the samples, Director Fei. Just focus on developing what I want.”

Fei Qianjiang trembled inexplicably and quickly nodded eagerly: “I, I understand.”

On the way back, Ji Mingchen and He Fengyan were still walking together.

Unlike the way they came, this time when they passed a cage, a woman with disheveled hair suddenly lunged forward, screaming at Ji Mingchen: “Ji Mingchen! You’ll die a horrible death!!!”