Saiyan stowaways on the Ark

"Miss Shining, I'll trouble you to take notes for me. I'll handle the observation."

The black-robed Sarkaz, known as Shining, nodded and helped her to the lab bench. He watched as Liz used a thin blade to cut the refrigerated slices into smaller pieces, transferred them to petri dishes, added reagents, and finally placed them under a microscope, her azure eyes wide as she examined the microscopic structures beneath the lens.

"How about it?"

After all, it was a legendary forbidden creature. Shining, who had been informed by Kal'tsit in advance before the meeting, would naturally be worried about Liz's close observation behavior.

Although it was just a small, insignificant piece of meat.

"Similar to common cell structures, but without the tiny crystals caused by Originium reagent... It is indeed an extremely pure, uninfected organism."

The filter mask made Liz's voice slightly muffled, but she still tried her best to explain what she saw, word by word.

"Perhaps due to refrigerated transportation, we did not see the activity that we were told about in advance."

Then, she took a chalky white syringe from the reagent shelf next to the table.

"Let's try observing it in its active state."

—The perspective shifts to Tomat's side.

The Doctor's personal office is not always empty of outsiders. Sometimes he is alone, buried in a mountain of files, snoring loudly. Other times he is playing baseball in the office with a large group of operators. However, more often than not, Amiya visits the office every day without fail, either bringing a large amount of new work or deliberately coming to see if he is dozing off.

"PhD?"

"Aaaaaah! I wasn't asleep! Really!"

"Let's wipe the drool off the table first."

When Thomas arrived at the office, there were no other operators in the room.

He also saw the scene he expected—the doctor was fast asleep, slumped over the table.

Just like how Thomas spread his reputation as a glutton not long after arriving at Rhodes Island.

The doctor who arrived on the island at the same time as him also spread the legend of him suddenly falling asleep during Dobermann's speech throughout Rhodes Island.

Even though he couldn't see the doctor's face, he could sense the panic in his expression. Thomas gestured for the doctor, who was suffering from nervous breakdown due to the intense work, to calm down.

After all, based on the information he had, the Doctor, who had lost all his past memories, had only been on Rhodes Island for a little over a week.

Putting aside the question of whether he has any common sense about what "ordinary life" is like, it's more normal for the doctor to be so nervous when he's leading a group of people to do all sorts of things as a battlefield commander and business leader who has lost his memory.

"Ah...it's you, Operator Tomato...oh no, Operator Thomas."

"Are you sure you don't want to wash your face?"

"No, I'll just have coffee..." Still dazed, the doctor shook his head as he picked up the cold coffee and downed it in one gulp through the hood that obscured his face. "Is there something you need?"

Thomas told the Doctor about his needs and mentioned his previous conversation with Amiya, waiting for the Doctor's response.

"It's not a big problem, although I don't know why I have so much authority to approve things."

The doctor skillfully rummaged through the messy documents and found a blank agreement. He scribbled down the contents on it, then signed his name and stamped it with the Rhodes Island logo.

Normally, the Doctor would probably worry that if he approved it without authorization, he would be held accountable by Kal'tsit, a "colleague" he didn't know at all but who was very strict with him.

However, considering Tomat's identity—and his consistent help to Rhodes Island—he had the confidence to refute the other party when held accountable, and directly approved Tomat's application.

"Waking up to find yourself as a business leader surrounded by beautiful women and talented people, isn't that great?"

"Ha... But if I were given the chance to be an operator, I'd rather go to the battlefield myself than be a 'leader' here, taking responsibility for every decision I make at all times—do you understand how I feel?"

The doctor let out a muffled laugh, while complaining about his current state of mind.

"I don't understand."

Thomas shrugged.

"But I can feel it."

The PhD student in front of me was not some heartless computer program.

He would feel confused about the “duty of command” he had been told.

What if someone gets injured because of their command?

What if the goal fails because of your own judgment?

This kind of all-too-normal annoyance was something that Tomat felt very familiar with.

The Doctor's confusion is not much different from the confusion that Amiya had shown before, and it is also something that Tomat felt when he was carrying out his "great cause".

“Amiya often says ‘I can feel it’ too.” The Doctor brewed two cups of coffee with the kettle, keeping one for himself and handing the other to Tomat. “But since she can feel it, let me rest a little longer.”

Thomas reached for the coffee the doctor offered. Although he didn't like bitter drinks, it wasn't convenient to refuse outright since it was an invitation.

But his hand remained hovering over the cup, hesitant to take it.

"Doctor, there's something wrong."

[Main Text] Rhodes Island Walking Guide: Chapter Forty-Seven: The Mysterious "Aura"

Inter-organizational cooperation can never be as selfless as that between two close friends.

Rhodes Island provided Rhine Lab with treatments, research platforms, and confidentiality agreements, so Rhine Lab should also pay corresponding material rewards and technical support.

Needless to say, money and similar things were also used as bargaining chips, including some of the high-tech products resulting from Rhine Lab's research.

For example, the chalky white injections used by the Nightingale.

It is a recent research result from Rhein Life Sciences. In addition to being a therapeutic product that accelerates cell division and promotes wound regeneration in a short period of time, it can also be used as an experimental reagent to cultivate a large number of samples in a short period of time in biological sample observation—enhancing the totipotency of individual cells. It is said that it can even regenerate the severed limbs of small animals, but of course, it is limited to "small animals".

"Huh? No response?"

"It's possible that the cell is completely dead. For it to divide or regenerate, it needs to be alive at least."

Liz clearly remembers that the cells under the lens were still slowly moving before she dripped the reagent in.

Although slow, it still proves that it is active.

The agents that enhance activity and stimulate regeneration actually kill it?

"Then I'll continue to analyze new samples from the slices."

Liz reached out and took the petri dish out of the microscope, preparing to process the sample, which had become experimental waste, according to standard procedures.

Shining lowered his head and quickly recorded the first observation in the experimental log.

The latter's initial vigilance was relaxed because no unexpected events occurred during the entire observation process.

Originally, being wary of a small piece of meat was already considered overly cautious, but the information confirmed so far has led Shining to completely regard the so-called "dangerous creature" as a dead body that doesn't require much attention.

"Gurgle."

Just as they were seeking this psychological "relaxation," both Liz and Shining were preparing for their next observation when a surging sound of gas explosions from a viscous liquid quietly reached their ears.

Here, there should be no noise other than breathing sounds or the sound of equipment colliding.

In this laboratory, the appearance of any other sound naturally implies an unexpected accident.

At the same moment, the two looked in the direction from which the sound came, and Shining even stepped forward to block Liz, who was still sitting in front of the experimental table.

The meat slices, placed in the disinfection pool and coated with reagent liquid, ready to be destroyed, had rapidly expanded in what was previously a blind spot for the two people. The paper-thin fragments now resembled a scarlet balloon with vein-like patterns on its surface and covered with long, thin tentacles.

The difference was so great that neither of them realized what it originally was when they first saw it.

But it was just a suspicious lump of flesh.

For Shining, such a thing was not a threat, but she still needed to deal with it for her companions.

"An Originium creature that slipped in? Liz, protect yourself..."

Hiding Liz behind him, Shining faced the ever-expanding, writhing mass of flesh, now nearly the size of a human head. He reached out, his fingertips shimmering with light.

These tiny Originium creatures don't even need to use weapons.

Although the location of this creature's vital point is unknown, tearing it apart would stop its bodily functions.

"Clang—"

However, the second, abrupt sound, coming from behind, made Shining's calm heart leap into her throat.

Her attack was still aimed directly at the fleshy ball, but Shining quickly turned around before attacking to check if Liz behind her had been injured.

When she looked behind her, she saw Liz staring at the laboratory floor with the same surprise as herself—a refrigerated container that had somehow overturned on the floor.

The monster slices inside bounced back and forth, just like fish thrown onto land.

It suddenly unleashed incredible activity, causing the container to fall off the lab table.

Was it just a coincidence that distracted Shining?

Or is it...?

Did it do this on purpose?

The second idea seems far-fetched, but what if it were true?

But when this thought suddenly appeared in Shining's mind, she instantly understood why this creature was called a "dangerous taboo".

Shining wanted to turn around and face the creature again, but in reality, it only took her a blink of an eye to check the situation behind her. From the very beginning, Shining had no intention of giving the unknown creature a chance to ambush her while she was turning around.

But before that—not even a blink of an eye—her opponent, as if deliberately seizing upon her vulnerability, launched an attack.

"boom!!!"

The invisible impact that pounded into her chest gave Shining no chance to turn around, nor any opportunity to retaliate or defend herself. Her light black robe offered no respite. The impact propelled her feet off the ground, and her clothes shattered from her chest to her shoulders. The black robe fell away, revealing a black and white undershirt that she would never normally show, as well as her proud figure as a woman.

However, no one had the leisure to appreciate it here.

The Shining's body slammed into the wall, producing an even louder sound and causing numerous cracks in the incredibly strong building material.

The equipment and facilities in the laboratory were all knocked over by the impact, but what fell last was Shining's body, which had been driven several centimeters into the wall by the impact.

That's no coincidence.

That slice of meat wasn't just alive.

It even possesses intelligence.

So wise as to pretend he is dead.

They are also clever enough to create opportunities for themselves to launch attacks.

"The Shining!!!"