For humanity, burn the stars.

Luke seemed unaware of the intense inner turmoil in Li Lin's mind, or perhaps even if he was aware, he didn't care.

Its synthesized sound continued smoothly:

"We recently had a seminar at school, and the theme was 'humanity'."

"Yes, not a shell person, but the human you perceive yourself to be."

"Therefore, I need a special 'exhibit'."

"A living specimen that embodies certain characteristics of 'humanity'."

After a slight pause, Luke circled Li Lin's body twice before returning to face him and continuing:

"And you, perhaps, can be the answer I'm most satisfied with."

"If you agree to become my 'exhibit' and cooperate with my exhibition."

"In exchange, I can use my resources to give you back your human body."

"'Each gets what they need,' that's what humans say, right? This should be considered a transaction."

"Of course, you must be under my supervision."

After understanding the cause and effect, Li Lin's eyes trembled slightly.

He had considered that these two aliens must have some purpose, and were even prepared to be experimented on.

But the reason is actually this...

Li Lin no longer cared about this issue.

The fact that the other party has needs of you is actually good news.

Prove that you do have some value, something that can be used as leverage.

After a moment's thought, Li Lin continued to ask:

"In what form does your so-called regulation take?"

Luke turned his head to the side, seemingly puzzled.

"Wasn't I clear enough? It's an exhibit."

"...Oh, I see."

"Don't worry, since you're an exhibit, I naturally won't damage you or restrict you too much."

"On the contrary, you will be able to enjoy a completely different level of preferential treatment than you are now."

Li Lin fell silent, pondering the suggestion.

Exhibits...?

Rather than being trapped in this hopeless District 51, slowly rotting or eventually collapsing and committing suicide;

Rather than being forever imprisoned in this nauseating "shell-man" body...

This proposal, at least, opened a window of opportunity.

He no longer cared whether the despair outside the window was another kind of despair.

He wouldn't completely believe what the other person said; agreeing to the proposal might mean death, or something even worse.

But if you don't do it because you're afraid of dying, then it's the same as being dead.

Taking this first step is the most important step.

The shell-like human's body is completely incapable of doing anything, and even if they stay here, they will never be able to contact the starry sky.

The opportunity to make contact is right in front of us, so there's absolutely no reason to hesitate.

Li Lin spoke slowly, then asked again hesitantly:

"I... need to know if you are truly capable of doing this?"

"And... exactly how do I do it?"

This must be determined.

After all, the other party seems to be just Vera who is still in the education stage, and may not have that much power.

Although the gel just now was indeed a display of wealth, Li Lin recognized that it was a highly effective and valuable gel.

However, when he was playing the game, this substance was stockpiled in tons.

Hearing Li Lin's question, Luke was not offended and said in a relaxed tone:

"Verification? Easy."

It made a gesture with one of its tentacles in the direction of the spaceship, shook the tentacles, and the hovering spaceship started moving again.

A beam of traction shot out from the bottom of the spaceship, accurately capturing a shell-like creature rummaging through a pile of garbage not far away.

The shell-like creature screamed and struggled in terror, but was firmly bound by some invisible force field and instantly dragged into the dilapidated house.

The shell-like creature crashed heavily to the ground, its limbs pinned down by the force field, desperately begging for mercy.

However, Li Lin couldn't understand it, but Luke and Varian didn't care.

Varian took the initiative to approach, and without even using any special tools, simply waved his tentacles at the shell-like creature in front of him.

The tentacles twitched slightly, and the shell-like creature that was being held down let out an extremely shrill screech.

The scales on its chest, along with the flesh beneath, appeared to have been neatly flipped outwards, as if sliced ​​open by an invisible, sharp scalpel.

And so, from that wound, a strangely colored organ wriggled inside.

The shell-man was in extreme pain, but bound by the force field, he couldn't even tremble slightly and could only be cut like a dead object.

The purpose of the live dissection was to allow Li Lin to understand the physiological structure of the shell-like human.

And to prove—that they are capable of doing so.

Li Lin was somewhat shocked as he looked at the live dissection in front of him.

Of course, it's not that we're shocked by their behavior or their atrocities against the shell people.

But it was the first time he had ever learned that Vera's whiskers possessed such abilities.

In the game "Star Ocean", the battles are naturally set against the backdrop of space combat, and the deciding factors are naturally the level of technology and resources.

Therefore, even with a fully immersive, motion-sensory gaming experience inside the game pod, very few players would likely choose to engage in hand-to-hand combat with aliens.

While it offers a rich gaming experience with gameplay elements such as physical cultivation, mechanical ascension, or telekinesis and psychic powers, it is ultimately a science fiction strategy game.

Having never fought a melee battle with Vera in his previous life, he was only now discovering that they possessed close-combat abilities.

Putting aside his astonishment, Li Lin quickly began to seriously examine the autopsy.

As the dissection proceeded, Varian calmly explained in synthesized speech:

"As you can see, the physiological structure of the 'shell people' is very different from that of primitive humans."

"The circulatory system, digestive glands, skeletal support structures, and even the chemical composition of body fluids..."

"They have all been deeply modified to adapt to carrying their shells and to survive in such harsh environments."

Li Lin focused his gaze on the opened chest and abdominal cavities.

The structure of the shell-like beings is vastly different from that of humans.

The position, shape, and color of the internal organs have changed, and other aspects such as body fluids have also been altered, which is quite different from the human physiological structure he knew.

He couldn't even recognize the function of some of the new organs.

As the shell-like body was disemboweled and thoroughly cleaned, Li Lin confirmed a fact.

The current "shell people" have long since changed beyond recognition and are completely unrelated to humans.

Even if he only has the most basic knowledge of medicine and anatomy, he can still make such an assertion.

Apart from……

Guided by Varian's whiskers, his gaze finally settled on a soft, grayish-pink mass of tissue that had been carefully separated.

—That was a brain.

Varian used his tentacles to lift the brain and bring it to Li Lin's eyes.

"Look, this is the only organ on the 'Shell Man' that, so far, is highly consistent with the standard human physiological structure in the database."

"Of course, the microscopic neural synaptic connections and bioelectric patterns may change due to modification and psychological intervention."

"But the macroscopic structure and basic physiological units... have a very high degree of similarity."

Li Lin reached out, cupped the soft brain tissue in his hands, and brought it close to his eyes to examine it closely.

Under the current observation conditions, only the brain part of the "shell man" is basically the same as that of humans as we know them.

Moreover... he transmigrated into this shell-like body.

If we disregard the concept of a soul, since this brain can perfectly accommodate its own thoughts and memories, it should indeed not change much.

Looking at that brain, Li Lin suddenly understood their plan.