I chose the safe house, and the Human Alliance regretted it.

The cheers from the capital were still echoing overhead, and the small group that had left the group had already walked a long way along the underground passage.

The passageway was long and sloping downwards, with a cold white light every fifty meters.

No one spoke; only footsteps echoed between the concrete walls, rhythmic and muffled, like a deep drumbeat.

They carried the scent of the Kashgar Mountains—scorched earth, blood, and the lingering sulfurous odor of the carcasses of strange beasts.

Some of these people carried a sealed, cryogenic container filled with the blood of frost beasts.

Even in liquid nitrogen at temperatures below -100 degrees Celsius, the blood was still slowly pulsating, as if it were still alive.

Some people were carrying an alloy box containing fragments of the Thunder Beast's scales, with faint arcs of electricity still remaining on the surface, occasionally emitting a "crackling" sound.

Another person was carrying a long, narrow package containing the severed limb of a strange beast—it had been cut from an SSS-class Crimson Mist Beast, and the muscle tissue at the cut was still contracting on its own.

They walked for nearly twenty minutes, and at the end of the passage appeared a heavy alloy door.

The biometric system on the door scanned the leader's iris and fingerprints, emitted a low "verification successful" sound, and then the door slid open silently.

Behind the door lies another world.

It lies beneath the capital city, at a depth of 1,200 meters.

There were no cannon salutes, no cheers, and no waving flags.

There was only white light, white alloy walls, white floors, and researchers in white protective suits busily working at their workbenches.

The air was filled with the smell of disinfectant and ozone, occasionally mixed with a faint, indescribable, fishy-sweet odor.

"The samples have arrived," the leader said in a low voice.

The entire laboratory came to life instantly.

A dozen researchers pushed the transport cart forward, their movements swift and practiced, as if they had rehearsed it countless times.

They took the cryogenic containers, alloy boxes, and sealed bags one by one, labeled them, registered them with numbers, and then distributed them to two different areas.

These two areas are separated by three transparent, explosion-proof glass walls.

One is the conventional research area.

Used to analyze the blood and genes of alien beasts.

Rows of centrifuges spin at high speed, attempting to separate blood into different components;

The gene sequencer is reading the DNA sequence of the alien beast, and the screen is filled with densely packed base pairs.

These researchers are trying to find weaknesses—either a virus that can selectively engulf the cells of alien beasts, or a compound that can block their energy cycle.

The person in charge was a female professor in her forties, surnamed Lin, who wore thick-rimmed glasses.

The other is a special research area.

The equipment here is more sophisticated, and also more dangerous.

The scale fragments were placed in a high-voltage pulse instrument, and researchers attempted to analyze their energy conduction pathways.

The active ingredients in the blood were extracted and injected into mice.

These researchers have a clear goal: to use these alien beast materials to test whether they can enhance humans, be used to create biological drugs, or even weapons...

Professor Lin took a blood sample and personally placed it under the microscope.

She frowned slightly.

"What's wrong?" the assistant asked.

She didn't answer, but stared at the goggles for a long time, then straightened up, took off her gloves, and walked to the transfer vehicle.

She looked at the containers of various sizes, roughly estimated their volume, and her face darkened.

"That's all?" Her voice wasn't loud, but the entire laboratory fell silent.

The leader nodded: "That's all."

"The sample size is too small to conduct large-scale group studies." Professor Lin's voice was calm, but every word carried an undeniable sense of authority.

"Do you know how much data we need to build a complete gene bank?"

"Do you know how many control experiments are needed to screen out effective viral vectors? These samples aren't even enough for a preliminary screening."

The leader was silent for a moment, then said, "The Kashgar Mountains have been overrun by a beast tide. We can't get in now."

Professor Lin glanced at him with a cold indifference typical of researchers, as if it were none of their business.

"I know we can't get in," she said, "but we need more samples. It's for all of humanity."

She turned around and walked to an electronic whiteboard, which was covered with densely written experimental plans and schedules.

She circled one of the items with a marker.

"I have a suggestion."

Everyone looked at her.

"Send a group of late-stage awakened SSS-level ability users to form a team, infiltrate the outskirts of the Kashgar Mountains, hunt lone alien beasts, and collect samples. No need for direct combat, just poaching. With their strength, as long as they don't venture deep into the core area, their survival rate should be quite high."

The lab was silent for a few seconds.

The leader frowned. "The area outside the Kashgar Mountains isn't safe either. Besides, those people have just returned from the battlefield—"

"No," Professor Lin interrupted him, his tone as calm as if he were stating a weather forecast, "Those ordinary people who awakened to SSS-level through the Awakening Era have this obligation!"

The moment that word was uttered, it was as if a layer of air had been sucked away.

Those who were originally just ordinary people, but only awakened SSS-level superpowers during the Awakening Era?

"They were just ordinary people at first," Professor Lin said, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"They've enjoyed the Alliance's resources and the base's protection. Now, for the sake of the bigger picture, they should be given priority to go to the battlefield."

She paused, then added, "This is the most cost-effective option. They have SSS-level strength, but lack combat experience. Poaching outside the Kashgar Mountains will both train them and provide us with valuable samples. It's a win-win situation."

The leader opened and closed his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but Professor Lin had already put his gloves back on and turned to walk towards the lab table.

Her assistant whispered behind her, "Professor Lin, they're going to die."

Professor Lin didn't even turn his head: "Everyone dies eventually; it's just a matter of dying sooner or later."

After that, the laboratory resumed its busy work.

The researchers moved between the various experimental stations.

No one discussed the proposal again, as if the decision had already been tacitly approved.

The leader stood still, his clenched fist slowly loosening.

He paused for a moment, then turned and walked toward the exit.

Behind him, Professor Lin's voice rang out again: "Don't forget, send them to the outskirts of the Kashgar Mountains to stand by within three days. For the sample collection mission, send five hundred people in the first batch."

No one answered.

Professor Lin didn't pay any attention.

She was staring at a cell division of a monster under the microscope, and the sight was so beautiful that she forgot to breathe.

Deep in the Kashgar Mountains, Wang Wei gently stroked a Crimson Mist Beast and sighed softly:

"What a great priority qualification..."

After speaking, he looked into the golden pupil deep within the crack.

"...Have you thought it through?"