Dr. Zhao rushed into the core experimental area.
The mini-universe encased in a gray shell was visibly shrinking.
The once vibrant world within grew darker and darker.
"How could this happen?" Dr. Zhao screamed, looking around at the people in bewilderment. "Who, who touched the core experimental area?"
"No one entered!" Old Wang's voice was grim. "I checked all the surveillance; this is an unexpected situation. The world inside this thing is dying."
"Team leader, if the time flow inside is much faster than ours, it might be normal. After all, our universe will also become pitch black in the future, stars will disappear, and with the expansion of the universe..."
"No!" Dr. Zhao immediately interrupted. "Not this fast. Even with a thousand times the time flow, it would take billions of years for this to happen."
What should they do now?
They had been researching for over a week with no results, and now they were just watching this mysterious cosmic body die?
"Perhaps we can inject energy into this cosmic body," someone suddenly said boldly.
Dr. Zhao shook her head. "We haven't even figured out the basic rules of this cosmic body, so how can we inject energy? Are we going to electrify it?"
"We have to try something, since this cosmic body is going to die anyway."
At this moment, Zhang Min exclaimed, "Team leader, there's a star in here!"
Huh?
Everyone rushed to the monitor. In the magnified image, a faint point of light was indeed visible, like a speck of noise on the screen.
But within the mini-universe, it was a young star.
"Observe if there's anything else near this point of light."
Everyone busied themselves and soon found a complete ecosystem galaxy near the light point.
Then, they saw a thin line of light fly up from a small planet.
It was a streak of light burning through the atmosphere.
"There's life, and civilization, on this star!"
Everyone saw it. On the screen, which had been magnified to its limit, various shimmering points of light appeared on the blue planet.
Through computer enhancement and calculation, they discovered that there were artificial structures, as well as rivers and oceans.
The artificial structures even emitted light, clearly indicating a modern civilization.
Dr. Zhao sat down on a chair, her heart pounding in her chest.
Others gathered around, all immensely excited.
Supervisor Yang opened a bottle of wine. "We can celebrate in advance. Our discovery will shock the world."
"Not just shock the world, we've opened up a new world, a civilization within a micro-universe."
Dr. Zhao looked at everyone. "But I implore everyone not to leak any information. We are not ready yet."
"Ready for what?"
Dr. Zhao shook her head. "We are not sure if there are any dangerous things inside. Although it's very small, so small we could easily destroy it, once there's a civilization, it's a different matter."
An expert dedicated to the study of extraterrestrial civilizations nodded. "Once a civilization evolves to a certain stage, size is no longer the standard for determining its strength. To give a simple example, bacteria and humans, the bacteria are negligible in size, but if bacteria and viruses gained intelligence, well, humans would be doomed."
"So, the key is the civilization's intelligence, right?"
They discussed for a long time.
Dr. Zhao stood up and ordered, "Reinforce this level again, re-check all security vulnerabilities. I want not even a bacterium to leave this place."
It was a daunting task, and everyone got busy.
Supervisor Yang and Old Wang requested another security team from their superiors, a professional security team composed entirely of retired soldiers.
Meanwhile, the two comatose patients brought from the hospital were settled into sterile rooms in the East District.
Zhang Min was responsible for examining Su Qing, who had been unconscious for only a week.
Su Qing lay on the hospital bed, in much better condition than Qin Xuan. Her hair, however, had been tangled due to not being washed.
She was a beautiful girl, now frighteningly emaciated.
Zhang Min and Dr. Zhao washed Su Qing's hair together. After drying it, her hair cascaded down.
"Find a hairpin," Dr. Zhao said. "I need to perform a series of checks; don't let her hair interfere with the examination equipment."
Zhang Min didn't have a hairpin; most of the women in the lab had short hair.
This was a dilemma; not even a small hairpin could be found.
"Where's your paperclip?" Dr. Zhao said casually. "Just pin up her hair for now."
Zhang Min walked to the desk and saw the paperclip she had picked up not long ago.
She quickly handed it to Dr. Zhao.
This extraordinary paperclip was then used to secure Su Qing's hair.
The medical team entered and began the various examinations.
Zhang Min and Dr. Zhao came out for some water and started organizing other data.
As soon as they opened their computers and before they could check the data, exclamations erupted from the ward area.
"What's wrong?" Dr. Zhao jumped up and rushed out of the ward.
"Team leader, the patient Su Qing's brain is showing strange activity curves, it's too strange."
"What's so strange about that? A comatose person's brain is not dead."
"We know, but this level of activity, even a normal person couldn't achieve it, it's as if, as if countless brains are working together."
If brain activity could be quantified, Su Qing's brain was now active at over ten thousand times the normal speed.
Not only that, Su Qing, who had been unconscious for days, began to show various reactions.
"Body temperature rising, heart rate rising..."
"Blood pressure... My God, it's already, already..."
The medical team was speechless.
Su Qing's body temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate had all exceeded the limits.
For any normal person, these readings would mean immediate death.
Strangely, after her body temperature exceeded the limit, her internal temperature began to normalize.
Then Su Qing's body started to tremble, followed by rapid convulsions, and her eyes suddenly snapped open.
The doctor performing the pupillary examination was so startled he stumbled backward, knocking over a chair behind him.
Su Qing sat up directly.
Her eyes were bright and alert. She looked around, tore off all the tubes, got out of bed nimbly, and seeing the isolation gown she was wearing, she grabbed the stunned female doctor next to her and stripped off the doctor's clothes and shoes from underneath the gown.
She changed into the doctor's clothes, tied up her long hair, and began speaking in a strange language.
After speaking for a while, she frowned, reached out, and pressed her hand onto the doctor's head.
Her pupils changed in that instant, and upon closer inspection, the changes in her pupils resembled twinkling stars.
After a short while, Su Qing began speaking Mandarin that everyone could understand: "How long has this paperclip been discovered?"
Outside, Dr. Zhao had recovered from her shock. She hit the alarm, and the ward was immediately locked down.
"Are, are you Su Qing?" Dr. Zhao asked, trembling through the reinforced bulletproof glass.
Su Qing looked at her through the glass. "First tell me, how long has this paperclip been discovered?"
In her palm was the paperclip Zhang Min had given her.
Dr. Zhao didn't know what to say.
Including Supervisor Yang, Old Wang, and the security personnel, all rushed over, watching the scene in shock.
At this moment, Assistant Zhang Min suddenly remembered something. "That paperclip was found in the core area. Could it be, could it be something from our world? Is it, is it something from the mini-universe?"
Dr. Zhao immediately reacted. "The consciousness of the mini-universe disguised itself as a paperclip..."
Su Qing, behind the glass, said coldly, "No, the paperclip originally belonged here. But I understand your concerns. Let me put it this way, an evil entity is about to emerge from the mini-universe, but my early appearance is our opportunity."
She used the word "our."
Dr. Zhao shook her head. "Don't believe her!"
The security team had pulled out stun guns, and the medical staff outside prepared syringes and sedatives.
Su Qing shook her head, her pupils changing again, and she muttered to herself, "Zhu Tianqi, you take control of the body. We need to use force."
In an instant, Su Qing's expression and demeanor changed dramatically.
Her calm demeanor shifted to an evil and impatient look.
With a bang!
Su Qing punched the glass.
The entire ward trembled, but the glass, being bulletproof and reinforced, remained intact.
Su Qing exclaimed, "Damn it, my strength is recovering so slowly. This main universe has almost no spiritual energy, crap!"
Muttering curses, Su Qing's form shifted, like a leopard crouching, and then with graceful posture, she concentrated all her strength on her shoulder and rammed into the glass.
A massive force impacted, and the glass instantly shattered.
That was bulletproof glass!
Su Qing stepped out through the fragments, her body flashing again as she nimbly dodged the stun gun. With a grab and release of her palm, the security guard screamed as his wrist was broken.
The next moment, this Su Qing transformed into a close-combat master, crushing all the security personnel.
By the time she reached Zhang Min, fallen security guards lay behind her.
Zhang Min screamed and tried to run, but Su Qing grabbed her and pinned her against the wall.
"When was the paperclip discovered?"
"It, it was..."
Dr. Zhao gritted her teeth. "Tell her! Child, don't resist, she's not human!"
Zhang Min tremblingly stated the time the paperclip was discovered.
Su Qing glanced at the clock on the side and muttered, "Seven hours early. We still have time. Now, Bing Yan, you take the lead. The spiritual energy here is very thin, but you should still be able to use some abilities."
Her pupils changed again, and her demeanor returned to its calm state.
Su Qing released Zhang Min, looked at the ward, and then her body flashed, moving to the side of Qin Xuan, who was emaciated to the point of being a dried corpse.
"Brother-in-law, we still have time!"
Su Qing suddenly pulled off Qin Xuan's various tubes, injecting a weak spiritual energy into his back with one hand while embracing him with the other.
After a while, Su Qing's forehead was covered in sweat, and the frail Qin Xuan's body seemed to tremble.
Su Qing rejoiced, placed him in a wheelchair, and directly pushed him towards the core experimental area.
Ignoring everyone else, she found an electronic timer. After a countdown of six hours and fifty-seven minutes, she sat opposite the gray mini-universe, holding Qin Xuan, and silently waited for something.