Ling Cage: Twelve Talismans? I have everything I need.

Chapter 120 Thinking too much

The corridors of the ecological base are quieter than the outside world.

The two arrived at the anatomy laboratory without any hindrance.

The airtight door slid open silently, and an even stronger wave of disinfectant rushed out, mixed with a faint, distinctive fishy smell unique to the Devouring Beast.

The laboratory has a spacious interior.

On the platform, the grotesquely shaped corpse of the Devouring Beast was broken into pieces and arranged.

Bai Yuekui stood with his back to the door in front of an analytical instrument, looking down at the report data that had just been printed out in his hand, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he was deep in thought.

She was still wearing that white lab coat, her posture upright, and her focused profile appeared somewhat aloof in the cold light.

Yang Chen went in first, and the sound of his footsteps alerted Bai Yuekui.

She didn't turn around immediately, but spoke softly, her voice exceptionally clear in the empty laboratory.

"You're back?" Her gaze remained fixed on the report.

"Why so late?"

After she finished speaking, she slowly turned around, her gaze first falling on Yang Chen, scanning him up and down to make sure he was alright.

His gaze then shifted slightly, glancing at Bai Yuetian, who was following behind Yang Chen and peeking around curiously.

Bai Yuetian felt uncomfortable when his sister glanced at him. He instinctively shrank back and gave a dry laugh.

His gaze drifted elsewhere, as if he had taken a keen interest in the emergency light on the wall.

Yang Chen walked over to her and explained.

"I bought quite a lot of things, and it took some time to sort through them." He paused, then turned his gaze to the animal carcass on the dissection table.

"ASH said you encountered an attack from a horde of Devouring Beasts this afternoon. Is this the new type of Devouring Beast? What happened?"

Bai Yuekui handed him the report, gesturing for him to read it himself, and then walked to the dissection table.

“Hmm, a species from another continent, I’ve never seen it before.” She stretched out her gloved hand and gently tapped the dark, metallic bone armor on the corpse piece with her fingertips, producing a dull tapping sound.

"What's more troublesome is that spiritual induction is completely ineffective against it."

Yang Chen took the report and quickly glanced through it. Upon hearing this, his brows immediately furrowed.

"Spiritual induction failed? Evolved this fast?"

Using life essence simulation as bait for spiritual induction is an extremely effective method to target the instincts of Devouring Beasts, greatly reducing the risk of direct confrontation.

It hasn't been long since then, yet individuals have emerged who are completely unaffected by temptation?

“It’s not a simple failure.” Bai Yuekui shook her head, her fingers sliding along the patterns on the bone armor, finally stopping at a section smoothly cut by the Alaya consciousness.

"It's more like a kind of 'recognition' or 'ignoring' based on a higher level of perception. It seems to be able to distinguish that it is just a life source used to entice, or that its own desire is more clearly directed and not affected by this level of interference."

She looked up at Yang Chen: "And look at its evolutionary direction."

She pointed to the dark bone armor: "Preliminary analysis shows that the composition and structure of this bone armor are extremely special, with extremely high density and a metallic-like crystal arrangement at the microscopic level. It is resistant to high temperatures and high-intensity explosive impacts, and its ability to withstand physical blows far exceeds that of any known metamorphic form."

"Previous tests with large-caliber firearms and plastic explosives failed to cause effective damage."

Yang Chen reached out and gently touched the bone armor.

"High temperature resistant, resistant to explosive impact," Yang Chen said slowly.

"How does this feel?"

“Hmm, I’m afraid it’s aimed at your evolution,” Bai Yuekui continued.

"Perhaps the cleanup was a bit too frequent. The Mana ecosystem can share information, and after learning about the abilities you displayed, they bred this new species of Devouring Beast on other continents."

Bai Yuetian also came over at this moment, looked at the pile of meat on the table, and smacked his lips.

"Tsk, it's really ugly, but it's so hard..."

Bai Yuekui glanced at him, ignoring his banter, and turned his gaze back to Yang Chen.

"You only bought games today?"

"There are some more for the children." Yang Chen nodded and handed the report back to her.

"I'll try to see if I can break its defenses."

Upon hearing this, Yang Chen's gaze fell once again on the dark bone armor. He stretched out his hand, his palm slowly covering the surface of a large piece of bone armor that was connected to some charred muscle.

In order not to damage the laboratory, he had suppressed his magic output to an extremely low level, his palms were only slightly red, and a barely perceptible heat wave distorted the air above them.

However, at the very moment that scorching heat touched the bone armor.

"laugh"

A soft sound was followed by a sudden, pungent smell of burning.

The dark bone armor, which was supposed to be heat-resistant and able to withstand the impact of explosions, softened rapidly under Yang Chen's palm, like a block of wax that had been heated, dented, and then melted through at a speed visible to the naked eye.

A charred hole with molten edges was clearly visible.

Through the holes, you can even see the carbonized bone and muscle tissue underneath.

Yang Chen immediately withdrew all his magic power, his brows furrowed as he looked at his "masterpiece".

He had tried his best to control it, but he didn't expect it to burn so easily.

He raised his hand, his palm stained with some melted and rapidly cooled bone residue and charred slime, emitting a foul odor.

“This…” Bai Yuetian muttered from the side.

"Isn't it supposed to be very heat-resistant? This doesn't look... very heat-resistant at all?"

Bai Yuekui grabbed Yang Chen's wrist, examined his palm carefully, and then immediately looked at the fresh melt-through mark on the bone armor.

"It seems the ecosystem still can't understand your abilities." She released Yang Chen's hand, her tone relaxed.

"It imitated the form and piled on resistance, but that's about it."

She had originally thought that this specially evolved species would at least cause Yang Chen some trouble.

Now it seems that I have thought too much.

With a slight thought, Yang Chen's palm was instantly enveloped by a layer of flames, which gently swirled around it.

The charred residue quickly dissipated in the flames, and his hands were clean again.

Mana Ecology may be able to record and analyze the fire damage effects displayed by Yang Chen, but it cannot understand what the essential energy supporting this fire is.

"However, these characteristics still need to be recorded in detail."

At this point, ASH said, "I have finished recording the video."

"I will build a more detailed model later."

Bai Yuetian listened from the side, crossed his arms, and proudly raised his chin: "I knew it! What kind of ugly gourds and cracked fruits want to learn targeted evolution? What a waste of effort!"

Bai Yuekui then casually asked while taking off his rubber gloves.

"So, besides buying things, what else did you do when you went back this time?"

Her gaze lingered on Yang Chen's face for a moment, then glanced meaningfully at Bai Yuetian, whose eyes had suddenly started to wander again.

The atmosphere in the laboratory seemed to subtly shift after this question was posed.

Yang Chen remained calm and was about to begin summarizing the itinerary.

Bai Yuetian, standing next to him, spoke up first, stammering, "Well, we also secretly went to see our parents, which is why we were delayed for so long."

After he finished speaking, he didn't dare to look his sister in the eye and subconsciously scratched the tip of his nose.

Upon hearing this, Bai Yuekui's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

Meeting my parents shouldn't be a problem, so why are they acting like this?

There's definitely something they're hiding from me.

She turned her gaze to Bai Yuetian: "And then?"

Her voice was devoid of emotion, but those who knew her well could sense the scrutiny beneath the calm.

"I just... I just took a look..." Bai Yuetian's voice grew softer and softer.

“Dad is giving a presentation in the exhibition hall, he looks quite energetic…Mom is in the lab, with you as a child…Chengzi can testify!” He hurriedly pulled Yang Chen to be a witness.

Bai Yuekui did not respond immediately. She remained silent for a moment, then suddenly turned to the side.

She leaned slightly closer to Yang Chen's neck, who was standing to the side, and gently sniffed.

The movement was very slight, quick, and natural, as if it were just an unintentional approach.

Bai Yuekui then stepped back, his gaze returning to Bai Yuetian's tense face, his tone remaining calm.

"You didn't take Orange to any weird places, did you?"

Bai Yuetian's heart skipped a beat, and she instantly recalled the corner in the mall with the "18+" sign and her own remarks.

Although I didn't end up going, I'm still touched by my sister's question now.
He suddenly straightened his back, trying to appear calm, and his voice unconsciously rose a few decibels.

"You, you actually think so much about your brother? Even before... I've never been to a place like that before! How could I possibly take Chengzi there? Wouldn't that be betraying you?!" He became more and more agitated as he spoke, trying to cover up his guilt with his loud voice.

Bai Yuekui watched his performance silently with an expressionless face until he finished shouting, then added a casual remark.

Did I not say what place it was?

"I would have believed you if you had said that before, but now..." Bai Yuekui looked at Bai Yuetian and chuckled.

"Uh..." Bai Yuetian was speechless for a moment, his mouth agape.

Oh no, I've confessed without being asked.

A brief silence fell over the laboratory, broken only by the faint hum of the instruments.

Bai Yuekui looked at her brother's embarrassed appearance.

A few seconds later, he shook his head almost imperceptibly.

She knew Bai Yuetian well; he had the desire but not the courage, and at most he was just talking big.

More importantly, she believed that Yang Chen would never follow Bai Yuetian's nonsense and go to those shady places.

"Alright." Bai Yuekui stopped asking questions and turned to take off his research coat.

"The preliminary analysis of the sample is complete. The rest is up to ASH and the researchers. Go back now."

She hung up her lab coat and walked out of the lab first.

Yang Chen glanced at Bai Yuetian, his eyes conveying a sense of "I told you not to be so cocky," and then followed Bai Yuekui.

Bai Yuetian breathed a huge sigh of relief and quickly followed, still trying to smooth things over: "I'm such an upright person... Yue Kui, you're really something, always doubting me..."

But his mutterings were immediately silenced when Bai Yuekui glanced at him with a faint look.

The three walked out of the ecological base in silence.

The air in Dragonbone Village was cool at night.
They walked in silence, with Bai Yuekui in the middle and Yang Chen slightly behind her on her left.

Bai Yuetian shrank to the right, trying to minimize his presence.

Although his sister didn't pursue the matter further, the silent pressure she exerted was even more unbearable than being scolded.

Finally, they arrived at the fork in the road in the village. One road led to Bai Yuekui and Yang Chen's house, while the other led to Bai Yuetian's own hut.

Bai Yuetian felt as if he had been granted a pardon and quickly spoke up.

"Um! It's getting late! I... I'll head back now! You guys should get some rest too!"

After saying that, he didn't dare wait for a response. He practically ran away as fast as he could, heading straight for his home.

Bai Yuekui and Yang Chen stopped and watched his figure disappear quickly into the night.

Yang Chen withdrew his gaze, looked at Bai Yuekui beside him, and asked softly, "Go home?"

Bai Yuekui gazed in the direction his brother had left, a fleeting, almost imperceptible curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.

She turned her head to look at Yang Chen, her eyes appearing much softer in the night.

"Come on, go home."

"Mm." Yang Chen nodded and walked alongside her toward the small house with its warm lights.

Bai Yuekui and Yang Chen entered the house, and the door closed gently behind them.

Bai Yuekui habitually scanned the room, his gaze sweeping over the table in the living room.

There was a gift bag there, with slightly fancy packaging, that she hadn't seen before leaving the house.

A hint of warmth flashed in her eyes. She walked forward naturally, reaching for the bag as she asked in a slightly lighter tone than usual.

"Did you bring me another gift?"

Yang Chen, who was taking off his coat and hanging it up, turned his head in confusion upon hearing this.

"Ah? What gift?"

He followed Bai Yuekui's gaze and noticed the conspicuous bag, his brows furrowing slightly.

I remember they neatly organized everything they brought back, but this bag...

No sooner had he finished speaking than Bai Yuekui took a box out of the bag.

The size and style of the box made it look like the packaging for some kind of game.

However, when Bai Yuekui's gaze fell on the box cover, all her movements and words froze.

The packaging features a visually striking, revealing anime female body, accompanied by an extremely explicit and even blatant title and promotional slogan, the content and meaning of which are self-evident.

This type of game can perfectly simulate various physical sensations in the mind.

Bai Yuekui's hand holding the box froze in mid-air as he silently stared at the unsightly cover, his profile appearing somewhat hard under the light.

Yang Chen also saw what it was, and his heart skipped a beat.

He immediately realized that this was definitely Bai Yuetian's doing; he didn't know when he had left this thing here.

"Yue Kui, this isn't..." Yang Chen immediately began, trying to explain.

But Bai Yuekui had already slowly turned his head to look at him.

Her eyes were calm, so calm it was almost frightening.

"I remember telling you at noon that you weren't allowed to buy this."

Yang Chen's scalp tingled, and he quickly clarified, "I didn't buy this! Yue Kui, believe me, this is absolutely true..."

His words were interrupted by Bai Yuekui.

Her gaze returned to the scalding hot box, as if she had just remembered something: "My brother bought it? He was just here?"

"Yes, yes, yes! It's him!" Yang Chen nodded vigorously, wishing he could drag Bai Yuetian over for a confrontation right away.

"That's what he left here! He came here to cause trouble, but then he forgot to take it!"

After hearing this explanation, Bai Yuekui accepted it.

Her brother is indeed capable of doing such outrageous things.

However, just as Yang Chen thought the crisis was over and was about to breathe a sigh of relief...

Bai Yuekui suddenly raised his head again, his gaze falling on his face once more.

Have you played it?

This question was too abrupt and exceeded Yang Chen's expectations.

His brain was still processing the "clarifying the source of the gift" thread, thinking the question was about the VR game he had played in the mall's experience zone during the day.

I subconsciously gave the answer to the question.

“I’ve already played it,” he added.

"That was pretty exciting..."

As soon as he said it, Yang Chen slammed on the brakes.

He saw Bai Yuekui's eyes narrow instantly.

It’s over.

This "play" is not the same as that "play".

This "stimulus" is definitely not the same as that "stimulus".

Bai Yuekui slowly placed the troublesome box back on the table, then walked closer to Yang Chen.

She tilted her head slightly to look at him: "Pretty exciting?"

"How exciting is it?"

Without giving Yang Chen any time to explain or react, Bai Yuekui suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist with such force that Yang Chen was stunned for a moment.

Without saying a word, she pulled him toward the bedroom.

"Moonlight? Wait, let me explain! It's not that! I'm talking about the VR game I played in the mall during the day, a proper game!"

Yang Chen was being pulled by her, and although he tried to struggle, he didn't dare to use too much force, so he could only hurriedly explain.

But Bai Yuekui seemed not to hear at all, or rather, he didn't want to hear it.

With a tense expression and tightly pursed lips, she pulled the person directly into the bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her.

Inside the door, Yang Chen's explanations seemed to be completely shut out.

Only Bai Yuekui's voice could be faintly heard:

"Let me see just how exciting it is."

　With the launch of a new book, Huo Linfei will crush everything!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)