People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

"I don't understand, Director Seria, what did I do?"

Saria clicked her tongue, turned the computer on the table around, and displayed it in front of Himer:

"Can you explain what you're doing?"

“This is…” Hemer stammered as he looked at the screen on the computer.

Just when Saria thought she couldn't deny it, Himer answered with a slightly flushed face:

"This was to surprise Mr. Palvis the next day, so I made some special preparations the night before."

"A surprise?" Saria frowned.

But Hammer nodded, taking the initiative: "Professor Palvis likes tea, so I used my connections to get some Victorian Costa tea. I put the tea bag and card next to Professor Palvis's teacup."

"After all, I often receive his help, so I want to repay him in some way... Could it be that Director Seria is worried that I might harm Teacher Palvis?"

Saria opened her mouth and stared at Himer for a moment.

He spoke quickly and his eyes darted around, but he told the story smoothly, clearly having prepared in advance.

Hmph, they've already made preparations for being exposed.

If Ernst were to lie, Saria might not be able to spot any flaws. However, Himer is not skilled in this area, and even with Horhyah's guidance, it would be difficult for her to quickly pass Saria's high-difficulty human lie detector test.

However, even though she realized that Himer was lying, Saria knew very well that she couldn't expose her.

Since Hermer could so evade the issue and even recount the details, it means that she did indeed do these things.

Although going to the director's office in the early morning just to deliver tea seems absurd, if Himer insists, Saria really can't refute it.

Unless she calls Palvis.

The surveillance footage inside the director's office is kept by the respective department heads themselves. This is a privilege granted by Christensen and belongs to each department head.

Seria had suspected back then that such power would pose certain security risks, and now it had indeed come true! When Christen returns, she'll definitely bring this up again!

But that's a story for another time. Given how much Palvis values ​​Himer and the kind-hearted nature of that old goat, he might not necessarily choose to hand over the video or identify Himer.

Not everyone prioritizes the "big picture and overall interests." At least in Seria's memory, her colleague Palvis, with whom she had worked for several years, was not that kind of person.

Clearly, Himer was taking advantage of Parvis's fierce protectiveness of his own to justify using such an excuse.

From Himer's perspective, Saria turned her head away with a hint of helplessness, but in the shadows, the Defense Department Director's ever-present smile unexpectedly appeared.

You have an expert to guide you, but haven't I had one too?

My expert is also your expert's boss!

When Saria turned around again, she had already resumed her serious expression.

She looked at Himer and warned, "I will confirm this with Director Palvis. But I advise you, if you are really doing something detrimental to Rhine Life, stop immediately."

"Don't force me."

"You go."

Saria turned away, no longer looking at Himer.

Hammer didn't leave immediately. Instead, he gritted his teeth, stepped forward, and said:

"Even if something Rhine Lab does might harm innocent people, would you just ignore it?"

Saria was slightly taken aback.

She knew that Hermer wasn't very shrewd, but she hadn't expected him to be this naive.

She didn't even have to provoke her much for her to ask such a self-destructive question.

Saria sighed inwardly, but without turning around, she replied briefly:

“That’s a problem I need to judge and stop, and it’s not your business.”

You're just a researcher, you've only led this small part of the company, you're not the founder, you've only been with it for less than a year, and you don't really have any feelings for the company.

Why bother with this?

Saria thought to herself. Himeru simply nodded somewhat dejectedly, turned around, and left the office.

The defense staff in the office were all somewhat stunned.

After a long while, once they were sure that Saria wasn't really angry, they sent out a brave but unlucky guy and tentatively asked:

"Director, are we just going to let her go like this? Her explanation is clearly untenable!"

Seria glanced at him but did not answer.

The employee continued to ask:

"Even without evidence, we're not a court. Suspension, surveillance, or dismissal are all we can do as long as we pay the penalty for breach of contract. There's not much she can do to us."

"Yes."

Saria then nodded slightly.

Rhine Labs is not a court of law. It doesn't need to present any evidence to prosecute a researcher. Moreover, Himer's lies were far from perfect. With an investigation, clues can always be found.

But once it's been found, what happens next?

It's simply a matter of cutting off another tentacle of Horhaia and the Tin Man in the Rhine. As long as she isn't captured, she can continue developing new ones.

At that time, Saria will have to face another task of finding the traitor from scratch.

Moreover, this time, the mole might not be as naive as Himer. The difficulty might even be significantly higher. Therefore, it's better to keep Himer alive.

This is what Ernst meant by "fishing".

The bait was Himer, and the fish to be caught was Horhyah.

Perhaps this tactic could also be called "luring the snake out of its hole"?

However, she was still somewhat unclear about the "fish washing" steps that Ernst mentioned after fishing.

Capturing Horhyah would indeed guarantee the smooth resolution of this trouble, the successful implementation of the Flame Demon Project, and prevent Rhine Lab from facing pressure and trouble from the military.

But how will he clean Horhaya then?

This made Saria quite excited.

"Oh, speaking of which, is Levy in the lab?"

Saria suddenly remembered something and asked the employee next to her.

The employee immediately nodded: "Yes, it is."

“I’ll go over there.” Saria set off immediately.

She also gained some unexpected inspiration during her conversation with Ernst.

"Does the Flame Demon's physical form have to be a living being? Can it be a machine?"

Chapter 184 Originium Life

"Human remains, animal bodies, and robots. I was just mentioning it casually, but I didn't expect you guys to actually come up with some new tricks."

Standing in the observation room, separated by a glass window, Levi gazed at the girl Safra, sitting quietly on the hospital bed in the room next door, her head bowed and her eyes lifeless.

The girl named Ifrit had been in a listless state since the day before yesterday.

This is due to the level of activity of the Flame Demon fragments in her body.

As the activity of the Flame Demon fragments increases, the memories of the Flame Demon's will remaining within them become more active. Consequently, Ifrit, as the dominant consciousness of this body, needs to exert more effort to suppress them.

However, theoretically speaking, this suppression can never be successful indefinitely.

The Flame Demon is too powerful. Once it is fully activated, even a child of Ifrit's age would find it extremely difficult to suppress, let alone resist, let alone suppress it.

To slow down this process, Levy naturally took measures.

"You've found a way to suppress human consciousness?" Palvis asked in utter astonishment.

Consciousness, or rather the mind, involves a realm that remains exceptionally mysterious to the scientific community today. Although the existence of a "consciousness empire" was recorded in ancient texts dating back thousands of years, to this day, no scientist has actually entered or confirmed the existence of that "second world."

If Levy's research can indeed manipulate human consciousness, then he is undoubtedly the first scientist in modern times to have grasped the key to the gate of the consciousness empire!

A pioneer in a completely new scientific field! This is an achievement that countless scientists have dreamed of!

But Levy, turning back, gave him a rather puzzled look and asked in return:

"What's so difficult about this? Haven't you already done it before?"

"What?" Palvis was taken aback, and subconsciously began to recall the experiments he had conducted in the Balrog Project.

Is there actually a method targeting human consciousness among these methods? Why has he never noticed it? Has his mediocre brain missed another opportunity?

“It’s not as complicated as you think.” Levi opened the drawer, took out a small bottle of medicine, and placed it in front of Palvis. “A sedative will do.”

"what......."

Palvis glanced at the vial on the table bearing the Rhine Lab logo and instructions for use, then looked at the listless Ifrit, and suddenly burst out laughing:

"Hahahaha, yes, just use a sedative."

He wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, shook his head with a wry smile, and said, "I was overthinking it."

Levy glanced at him: "It's good for scientists to have an exploratory spirit, but sometimes, the more you pursue something, the less likely you are to get it, and that's normal."

"Hmm." Palvis nodded. Levi wasn't sure if he'd actually heard him, but he just shrugged and said:

"Then get ready and let's begin today's experiment."

According to the planned experiment, today will be the last "Flame Demon Awakening" experiment before finding the original body. He will collaborate with Palvis to record the changes that occur in Ifrit's body after catalyzing the Flame Demon fragments.

Palvis primarily focused on Ifrit's various physical parameters, while Levi was mainly responsible for observing her appearance and mental state to ensure that no accidents occurred during the experiment.

Even with the reinforced glass and barriers providing protection, Palvis and Levy still donned protective gear. With the confirmation command to begin the experiment, Levy pressed a button on the control panel.

In Ifrit's hospital room, on the display table in the center of the room, the protective shield slowly opened, revealing the high-purity Originium that had undergone special treatment.

Under the light, the Originium exhibited an almost transparent luster, radiating a pale golden glow from within. Levi pushed the lever, and the processed Originium began to gradually activate the surrounding devices.

"!"

A strange wind began to emanate from the center of the room and spread outwards; it was the energy from the activated Originium being amplified through a conduction device.

Within minutes, the green plants that had been in the room withered, their surfaces covered with dense Originium crystals. The Originium lamp, a product made of Originium, also shattered, its Originium core shifting from a stable state to a dangerous one, spewing out one menacing black spike after another.

But these are all normal reactions. In previous experiments, Levy had precisely controlled these changes and implemented protective measures for every facility that could potentially cause an accident.

The green plant, covered in dense Originium crystals and transformed into a unique "Originium plant," was protected by a sturdy protective shield. The shattered lamp was also encased by a rapidly rising mechanical outer wall; its menacing spikes, though frightening, were unable to harm any living creatures in the outside world.

"No matter how many times I've seen it, I'll always find this scene incredibly magical."

Palvis exclaimed from the bottom of his heart.

Levy knew what he was lamenting.

It was naturally that green plant that had changed.

In the epicenter of natural disasters and other Originium-related calamities, the high concentration of Originium contamination in the environment often leads to Oripathy infection simply by entering. Even with protective measures, the probability can only be reduced, not completely eliminated.

If this is true for humans, then plants are no exception. In the ruins after a natural disaster, you won't see any greenery. They were either destroyed by the Originium storm or underwent high crystallization, then exploded like dead infected, turning into deadly dust.

This is why the concept of Originium life form is still considered a paradox in this day and age.

No one can survive in the Originium environment; contracting Oripathy is certain death—this is a common understanding.

But Levy is gradually changing this consensus.

The plant that became the "Originium Plant" was not the first byproduct of the experiment. Rhine Lab currently has three such plants, and once had five, all of which originated from Levi's laboratory and were part of the Balrog Project.

Unlike common plants, they did not die quickly in the Originium environment. In fact, they survived. Even after testing and research revealed that their biological properties had fundamentally changed, making them almost unrecognizable as the plants they once were, they did survive and are still growing!

The first Originium plant and the second one died (disintegrated) due to Rhine Lab's lack of experience in caring for them. However, the remaining three plants, plus this one, are thriving under the care of Ecology Director Commuel Seth!

If plants are like this, what about humans?

Parvis knew that this technology was still a long way from being applicable to humans. After all, plants and humans are practically two different life forms, with too many structural differences. Normally, "biological experiments" would only be conducted after mastering the method of cultivating Originium plants.