Man on the ark, forced to become king

"Injection discontinued."

……

snort~

The automatic cooling system operated at full capacity, and as the drug injection stopped, Ifrit's body went limp, and the overflowing flames quietly extinguished.

Ifrit! Are you alright?

Hemer rushed in impatiently and ran to the lab table. The little girl, who was soaked in sweat, heard the familiar voice and struggled to open her eyes. Her voice was so weak that it was almost inaudible.

"Hime... I'm sorry, I... I couldn't help it... Saria..."

"Director Seraya, this is interference in another department's project, and I protest!"

Outside the door, Palvis's face was gloomy. His planned experiment had been forcibly interrupted by external forces, which made him feel terrible.

"Ifrit's Originium Arts are far more powerful than previously assessed. Do you want the tragedy of Hayden's Labs to repeat itself here?"

Saria forcibly suppressed her anger, but even so, her tone carried a hint of reprimand.

"..."

"Assessing the strength of Originium Arts is the responsibility of the Structural Engineering Department, and I believe that everything is currently under their control."

To be honest, Palvis felt a little uneasy facing the clearly angry head of the defense department.

There are very few people in the entire Rhine Life who are not afraid of this woman.

However, there is only a little bit of that, because no matter how angry she is, she will abide by the rules and regulations, and there is nothing to fear as long as she does not decide to abandon the shackles.

Therefore, Palvis wasn't too worried, and a plan quickly came to mind.

"As the head of the defense section, I requested the structural section to adjust the treatment plan and submit it to the defense section for reassessment."

'As expected...'

Parvis remained calm and immediately retorted.

"Your request is unreasonable, especially the interruption of this treatment, which violates the scientific working principles of our institution, or perhaps..."

His expression grew increasingly grim, and he said pointedly, "Has Ifrit lost her investigative value? Does her life or death no longer matter?"

"If the Structural Department is no longer able to take responsibility for the safety of the patient and Rhine Life, then the Defense Department will find a suitable treatment facility for Ifrit."

Saria sensed something was wrong, but still firmly expressed her opinion.

"..."

Seeing her reaction, Palvis shook his head.

“Director Seraya, I expressed at the beginning of the treatment that this was a risk. That’s why I specifically applied to the Command for permission to conduct experimental treatment. But if the Structural Department is unable to proceed with the treatment according to the established plan because of your intervention, the Structural Department will no longer be able to bear all the consequences on its own. If you want to change the treatment institution, you need to report to the Command.”

"If you insist, then we'll let her decide."

Saria's sense of foreboding grew stronger. Kristen... she wouldn't...

-------------------------------------

"Mr. Lin, regarding Ore Defects..."

Christensen put down the documents in her hand, her expression solemn. She looked up and was about to say something when she was interrupted by the ringing of a bell.

"Hmm? Okay, let them come."

After putting down the communicator, the leader of Rhine Labs looked up again and gave an apologetic smile.

“Excuse me, Mr. Lin, I have some matters to attend to, you…”

"It's alright. If it doesn't involve confidential information, we'll wait here until you've finished your work. After all, our time is very valuable, isn't it?"

rude!

Christensen's expression froze for a moment, and after a brief silence, she slowly nodded.

Since the person has already adopted this attitude, what else can she say?

"In that case, please wait a moment. It won't take me long."

"Regarding the collaboration on Orepathy, there is no doubt that your choice is correct. Rhine Life Sciences has a wealth of technical expertise and a large number of researchers in the field of Orepathy research. I believe you will be able to obtain a satisfactory solution."

"Then I'll wait and see."

Lin Lu neither confirmed nor denied her statement. The so-called collaborative project was just a pretext; he hadn't really come for that, so there was no need to pay too much attention to it.

The matter of cooperation can be handled by Lin Qingyan.

……

Click~ The office door opened softly. Lin Lu looked up and saw the woman from Vaifan walk into the office together with the old man Caprini.

"Commander-in-Chief, we're here."

Upon entering, Palvis and Seraya noticed the visitors in the office and couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.

"These two are..."

"They are friends from Longmen."

Christensen mentioned it casually, not intending to explain in detail. He leaned forward, resting one hand on his chin, a slight smile appearing on his usually serious face.

"Saria, it's been a long time. How have you been?"

"Thank you for your care, Commander."

Seria stared directly at the woman, her friend who co-founded Rhine Lab, her expression as hard as stone.

At some point, the once intimate atmosphere between them had vanished without a trace.

She sat there, yet it was as if she were sitting at a great distance, as if an invisible barrier stood between the two of them, completely separating them.

Before I knew it, everything seemed to have changed.

"..."

Christensen narrowed her eyes slightly, leaned back in her office chair, and the faint smile completely disappeared.

"What brings you two here?"

"The thing is like this..."

Parvis glanced discreetly at the Dragon Gate guest sitting on the sofa sipping tea, hesitated slightly, made some modifications to his prepared remarks, and began to explain.

"I understand."

After a short while, Kristen finished her narration, her expression unchanged, and looked at Saria.

"Director Seraya, do you have any objections to Director Palvis's statement of the situation?"

"……No."

Parvis's words were extremely well-chosen and flawless; even Saria couldn't find any fault with them and could only nod in silence.

"Then I don't think treatment needs to stop."

"I'm not asking for a complete halt to treatment—"

"Excuse me for interrupting, Ms. Christensen, and Director Seria?"

Suddenly, a voice from the side interrupted Seria's words. She frowned and looked over. The man, who was supposedly a visitor from Yan, stood up and forcefully interrupted their conversation in slightly broken Victorian.

"Longmen has also accumulated some technical expertise in the study of mineral defects."

"Then, I'd like to ask, who proposed your so-called 'chimerism therapy,' and who drafted your treatment plan?"

Lin Lu stood up and glanced at everyone present. Even Chief Principal Christensen felt an inexplicable sense of oppression.

The research on Oripathy has indeed been ongoing at the Golden Tree. Although he didn't remember much of it, he does understand Originium!

Lani has been researching whether there are any substantial similarities between Originium and Pyroxene, and she also has a lot of knowledge about Originium, a specialty of Terra.

Isn't the so-called 'chimera therapy' that Rhine Lab people talk about essentially just Originium grafting?

Implanting Originium fragments into the human body to allow them to absorb debris from the infected person's body? Who are they trying to fool with this claim?

Originium fragments are not magnets, and the debris produced inside infected individuals are not iron pieces!

Directly implanting Originium into the human body will only worsen Oripathy, and will have no other outcome, even if it shows good results in the short term...

Haha, there's a word from Yan that fits perfectly here: 'a final burst of energy before death'.

Using chimerism therapy to treat Oripathy is not treatment at all, but human experimentation under the guise of treatment!

Based on the intelligence gathered by Lungmen regarding Rhine Lab and Columbia, it's not hard to guess what these guys are really thinking.

Is this another so-called 'super-infected person plan'?

They attempted to create super-infected individuals with overwhelming military power by implanting Originium, a method strikingly similar to 'Chimera Therapy'.

"Mr. Lin."

Christensen quickly realized what was happening, her face showing displeasure as she frowned and said, "This is an internal matter for Rhine Labs, you shouldn't be doing this—"

“Answer me, Ms. Christensen, do not test my patience. You may take this as a warning.”

Lin Lu had no patience to listen to her rhetoric anymore; he just wanted to know the truth.

He can't do anything about what he can't see, but now there's a young child being pushed onto the experimental table by these guys. Are they just going to stand by and do nothing?