Unconventional security

Chen Bei was taken aback, and Ye Zhixue in front of him was also embarrassed, the scene was extremely awkward.

It's like when you were a kid, you went to a friend's house to play, and the friend's parents beat you up in front of you.

Should we avoid it?

Fortunately, Ye Zhixue didn't pause for too long, continuing as she pulled the door open.

"Don't be too surprised by everyday phenomena; Dr. Zhou has always called us that."

"He developed a formula called SB rate. As long as there is no improvement over the previous cycle, you can get this honorary title."

The doctor was acting strangely this week.

Chen Bei followed her into the basement. The basement was very large and contained many high-tech scientific research instruments. It didn't look like a group of wanted people at all; it looked more like a research institute.

Besides Ye Zhixue and Dr. Zhou, there were two unfamiliar men and a woman present.

One person is missing; they probably haven't arrived yet.

"Are you the last member of the cryogenic chamber?"

"We were really lucky to have used up all the nutrient solution in the cryogenic chamber before coming out."

An elderly man with a receding hairline walked up to Chen Bei and looked him over as if he were some rare and exotic creature.

Chen Bei met his gaze. This PhD was quite different from the image he had in mind. This PhD was more like the dean of students from his high school days.

"My name is Chen Bei, hello doctor."

Chen Bei extended his hand in greeting, and the other party shook his hand in return.

"Zhou Yonghe, I hope you're not an idiot."

Upon hearing this, Chen Bei's lips twitched. He was indeed an oddball; even his way of greeting people was so unique.

"Alright, Doctor, let me introduce Chen Bei first, and then we'll quickly discuss our response plan."

Ye Zhixue stepped in to smooth things over, pulling Chen Bei to her side and whispering something.

"Dr. Zhou is over fifty years old. He's a research fanatic, but he hasn't unlocked the genetic code yet. Don't take him too seriously."

"Look over there, that guy in the baseball cap is Yang Xiu, 23 years old, he unlocked a gene lock, he's the doctor's assistant, and he's in charge of the surface business of the hardware store on weekdays."

As Ye Zhixue introduced them, Chen Bei waved to her as a greeting.

The remaining two people are a man named Liu Anming, 40 years old, whose gene lock has not been activated, who lives in Zone B, and who is proficient in some electronic technology.

The woman's name is Song Lu, she is 38 years old and her genetic lock has not been activated, but she is a resident of 97 City. She is quick-witted and has a wide network of connections. Ye Zhixue said that she can even contact people in the Upper District.

"There's another one currently in the Upper City District. We don't know how many genetic locks he's unlocked. Only Dr. Zhou knows his name here."

Those who can enter the Upper City have at least three gene locks activated. Each time they activate a gene lock, their bodies receive a comprehensive boost. For example, in terms of strength, a person with two gene locks will have double the strength.

Chen Bei thought to himself that the overall strength of their group was really not weak.

At least in a place like the Lower City, it's more than enough to look at.

"This is Chen Bei, 22 years old, the director of the 103rd District Police Station. Let's begin..."

As she spoke, Ye Zhixue looked at Chen Bei, unaware of the status of Chen Bei's gene lock activation.

"Two paths."

Chen Bei remained calm.

"Alright, that's the situation for everyone, Doctor. We can begin the meeting now."

Ye Zhixue pulled Chen Bei to sit down next to the group. Zhou Yonghe turned around and first tossed the notebook in his hand to Chen Bei.

"This contains some things I've compiled and summarized. Take it back and read it slowly, and return it to me as soon as you're done."

After he finished speaking, he pressed the projection pen again, and a city map of the human city was projected out.

Chen Bei quickly put away his notebook, looked up at the projector, and saw that he and his companions were just like students listening to a teacher's lecture.

"Everyone knows about the actions taken in the Upper District, so I won't repeat them here. But I need to keep you updated on the latest developments. This afternoon, 43 people were arrested in several other districts."

"It's likely that they suspect someone who might be a relapsed person, which shows they're starting to panic and are desperately seeking any treatment."

"I've been thinking about the root of the problem lately. Why are they so actively looking for survivors? What is it that only survivors can do? After thinking about it, there's only one answer—genes."

Zhou Yonghe pressed the projection pen in his hand, and two 3D human body projections appeared.

"After the Adaptation Project succeeded, the genetic arrangement of the first generation of people who unlocked their genes has changed, and the children born to these people have significant genetic differences from ordinary people before them."

"The most obvious manifestation of this is that their physical qualities are stronger than those of ordinary people, but their genetic locks are more difficult to unlock."

Chen Bei silently noted it down. Simply put, it meant that the basic stats had increased, but the bottleneck in improving them had become more difficult.

"The human body is very mysterious, and genes are even more difficult to understand. We don't know whether these genetic differences are good or bad, but judging from the actions that the Upper City Council is taking now, they are looking for the original genes that have not been contaminated."

As Dr. Zhou spoke, he used images to help them understand better.

"Knowing this, we can deduce why they would seek out people like us?"

"I think the most likely explanation is that there's something wrong with their genes."

"This approach to unlocking the genetic lock is a misguided one. Based on super brain calculations, the current human genetic lock can be divided into 1-9 layers."

"But so far no one has opened the ninth level, and it is even unknown whether anyone has opened the eighth level."

"So if they get caught, there's a high probability they'll be subjected to biopsy analysis."

After a few moments of reflection, Chen Bei noticed something suspicious and spoke up directly.

"That doesn't make sense, Doctor. If the councilors in the upper city were only after this, there's absolutely no need for such a fuss."

"Unless they have something urgent to attend to..."

Upon hearing this, Dr. Zhou looked at Chen Bei with a hint of admiration.

"Looks like you might not be an idiot."

"This is what I'm going to talk about next, another direction that Ye Zhixue and I discovered together: forbidden zone creatures!"

Dr. Zhou's eyes were sharp as he pressed a button.

"Some of the creatures in the forbidden zone are intelligent and may have reached certain agreements with humans."

"If that's the case, it won't just be a matter of you being dissected and studied. If you keep hiding, you'll be dug out sooner or later."

Chen Bei remained indifferent. If it was a creature from a forbidden zone, there was indeed no way to hide anymore; it would be tantamount to a slow death.

But what if it's not even a creature from a restricted area?

Dr. Zhou, Ye Zhixue, you guys aren't telling the truth. Besides the code, can't the information about the countermeasures also confirm identity?

Even now, with their massive crackdown on the Fukushima people, they haven't mentioned a word about the methods they used.

Is it that you don't want to be honest with me, or are the security guards in the upper district trying to expose my identity?

"Therefore, I have devised two battle plans for you to choose from."

"The first plan is to escape human cities and go to the forbidden zones alone to find a place where I can settle down and make a living."

"The second set..."