In the underground laboratory of the research institute, Dr. William's face was ashen. He swirled the red wine in his hand, which spun clockwise, its aroma rich and mellow, like the alluring hue of fresh blood.
"Is it successful, Doctor?"
The man speaking was the only one in the laboratory daring enough to smoke. He stretched his legs out onto the oak tabletop, appearing to have no surprise at the result, his face etched with anxiety and anger.
If not Jiang Cheng, then who?
"Far from it," the Doctor said, placing his hand on the virtual interactive screen. He pulled a string of data into the virtual projection, presenting it to Jiang Cheng.
"Look, his vital signs are like a dying battery. Once the energy is depleted, he will—"
Before Dr. William could finish, the man scaling the communication tower on the display screen suddenly fell from the dozens of meters high tower, like a robot that had lost power or a kite with a broken string!
The experience of falling from a great height would surely make anyone tremble, but for this man, it was insignificant.
Because, by the time his power was depleted, he was already considered dead.
What fear could a dead person have?
*Splat!*
The withered flesh and bones struck the concrete floor, making a sound like a water-filled balloon bursting as it falls from a great height.
Immediately after, his entire body transformed into a pool of blood and gore, like a painted skin. His bones nearly protruded from his flesh, like sharp swords thrusting towards the sky. The three guards on duty outside the institute watched with ashen faces.
"Ten minutes, shorter than a toy car. Doctor, I'm running out of patience."
The bloodshot veins in Jiang Cheng's eyes resembled malevolent totems, unconsciously instilling great fear in anyone who met his gaze.
"Don't be anxious. The experiment proves our approach is correct. It's only a matter of time." Dr. William drained his wine, a flush spreading across his face. "Brother, why don't you come out with me for some fresh air? Have some fun?"
Jiang Cheng retracted his feet, a predatory glint in his eyes. "Hmph, old man, just say it if you want me to capture someone. This isn't your style to beat around the bush."
...
Meanwhile, in the southeastern waters of Donglü City, not long after the tropical storm had passed, the sea had returned to its former calm.
The moon was high in the sky, and starlight shimmered with the waves in the tranquil night.
At this moment, a floating island, not small in size, slowly appeared at the edge of the horizon. Fishermen generally avoided such waters where fish schools did not migrate, making this island exceptionally hidden.
The floating island was not barren. As one drew closer, it became apparent that in the slightly sunken central area stood a considerable black building.
The outer surface of the building was evidently coated with a paint that blocked real-time satellite scans and monitoring. In the moonlight, it resembled a dark, ferocious beast, lying in wait.
It was hard to imagine how much manpower and material resources, and by what means, were needed to construct a building of such scale on such an unknown island, and to block human sight.
The interior space of the building was divided into many honeycomb-like compartments, with little human activity. However, upon taking the elevator, one would discover a hidden knob on the inner side of the elevator buttons. Turning this knob would cause the elevator to move downwards.
Due to the seawater, the underground space was not excavated very deeply. The rooms were not even neatly arranged, appearing flattened and oval. Countless black pipelines hung on the walls, each like a human artery, eventually connecting to cultivation vessels resembling bathtubs.
There were about twenty to thirty cultivation vessels of uniform size, giving the impression of gourds hanging from a trellis. Bubbles occasionally rose from the transparent liquid, within which naked individuals lay motionless. Their skin was as delicate as a newborn's, and within the gelatinous transparent liquid, one could almost see the long and intricate meridians beneath the skin.
Even more astonishing was that the men and women in the cultivation vessels each had two identical counterparts!
At this moment, on an operating table near the oval vertex, lay a man with no movement, his body riddled with tubes. It was Zhang Liang.
Two people stood beside him. The man on the left had his right hand replaced by a nimble mechanical claw. His fingers, like fan blades, spun, and a scalpel instantly extended from his palm.
He grasped the gleaming scalpel and said coldly, "Sister Hua, you say, after so long, this kid still hasn't woken up. Could he be turning into a vegetable?"
The woman called Sister Hua had a thick layer of collagen on her face. Her foundation was faintly visible in the light. Her chest was like an insurmountable peak, yet on her face, signs of aging were easily visible, such as wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, fine lines in the center of her forehead, and even streaks of gray in her black hair.
"Guan Xishun, Dr. Guan, we can't worry about that now. If we don't replace his arm soon, I'm afraid we'll be unable to help him."
The man surnamed Guan twisted his neck, finally embedding the scalpel held by his mechanical arm into Zhang Liang's withered, almost decayed right arm. After making a cut, the entire arm fell onto a plate like dry firewood.
"Can it be fed to the sharks now?" Guan Xishun's eyes held a hint of excitement.
"Whatever you wish. However, now is not the time to think about sharks. We need to install the thing quickly."
Guan Xishun extended his hand and asked, "You call this thing?"
"What else? The touch of skin is better. Cold things will always be repulsive," Sister Hua's smile carried a deeply seductive hint, but her face easily extinguished interest.
Guan Xishun understood her meaning and sneered, then, like a robot devoid of emotion, embedded the arm, identical to his own, onto Zhang Liang's severed right arm.
And at that moment, a bizarre scene unfolded!
From the end of this arm, fleshy meridians extended, furiously surging into Zhang Liang's clean-cut wound, as if to perfectly fuse with him!
"Now, it depends on this kid's fate."
The snake-like meridians continuously burrowed into Zhang Liang's arm wound, somewhat resembling the slippery things of childhood, crowded in a narrow bucket, sliding back and forth, attacking each other as if competing for something intangible.
"There's no rejection phenomenon. Let's wait quietly..."
The moonlight remained alluring, with specks of starlight scattered across the rippling sea. Suddenly, the texture of the water began to distort, then parted to the sides. A dark green fish fin reflected the cold moonlight, its two rows of sharp teeth embedded in the gums like swords.