Chapter 77
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Chapter 77: A Sudden Crisis
After confirming the source of the nutritional paste with Fulan, Lin Qingliu inevitably fell into deep thought.
Although he already had a digestive system enhanced by the Blood and Myriad Paths, tasting the nutritional paste made from the deactivated bodies of extraordinary beasts still felt a bit challenging.
After all, those were extraordinary beasts, and based on what Lin Qingliu had seen in Fulan’s dream, those creatures never had any habits of cleaning themselves.
Moreover, was it really safe to consume the mycelium?
He examined the production information on the nutritional paste packaging, confirming that he did indeed purchase a new product produced by the Department of Food Industry.
He then took out the few unopened packs of nutritional paste from the bottom of the refrigerator, opened their packaging, and placed them in front of Fulan:
“Smell this and see if you can detect the scent of your companion, or that sort of ‘spores.’”
The kitten obediently complied, and after a few seconds, she lifted her head and shook it:
“Nothing, these nutritional pastes just have a, um, chitin taste.”
“You really are knowledgeable.”
Lin Qingliu sincerely remarked,
“I’ll introduce you to Young Genius next time; you two can have an academic exchange together.”
Fulan didn’t catch the harmless admiration and joke in Lin Qingliu’s words; she happily nodded and continued tasting her former companions.
Meanwhile, Lin Qingliu, who had already lost his appetite, laid out the packaging of several nutritional paste tubes, trying to find some clues.
He was not a genuine scholar of biotechnologies, but having had the experience of using blood to strangle the mycelium, Lin Qingliu felt that the spores couldn’t be easily deactivated.
How did the production line manage that?
Were the council members all fools?
Why had such a huge loophole gone unnoticed before?
Lin Qingliu’s questions grew more numerous as he compared the production information on different nutritional paste packages, and he generally identified where the issue lay.
The nutritional paste containing “fungi” that he ate was produced and promoted within the past two weeks; he had decided to buy a taste because he heard similar news on the radio.
And half a month ago…
If Lin Qingliu remembered correctly, half a month ago, there had been a minor beast tide, predominantly of flying extraordinary beasts.
With that thought, Lin Qingliu began to formulate a bit of a theory.
There are two main hypotheses: first, the new nutritional paste production line in Hope City was using the bodies of extraordinary beasts as raw materials.
And the old production line before that was not.
This could explain why the previously produced nutritional paste didn’t have a spore taste, but it still left some inexplicable bugs.
For instance, why was such a production line suddenly established at this time?
In recent months, Hope City had not experienced a large-scale beast tide invasion, nor had there been significant external explorations or major population increases or decreases.
This meant there was no situation where the original production line suddenly became insufficient and had to rely on the use of extraordinary beast flesh.
Now in the year 52 of the New Era, humanity had been cooped up in the city for nearly half a century.
In all that time, it was impossible that no one had ever attempted to make food from extraordinary beast flesh, but there had previously been no issues.
So it is more likely to be the second hypothesis:
Using the flesh of extraordinary beasts to make nutritional paste has been a long-standing practice, but some recent hidden changes in Hope City have caused the extraordinary beast flesh to not be fully deactivated.
With this thought, Lin Qingliu sensed the problem was larger.
Issues that lurk in the shadows are like landmines; you never know when they will blow up.
His seedlings were just beginning to be planted, and he hadn’t even started harvesting the first batch; it would be really distressing if they were washed away by floodwaters.
At the same time, Lin Qingliu thought of another problem:
His location was still somewhat isolated. Although he hadn’t visited the inner city often, he could imagine that if he had the chance to settle in the inner city, many issues would be easily resolved.
With that thought, Lin Qingliu turned to look at Fulan, who had started to roll over.
Seeing the Divine Kitten lacking any cat-like grace, Lin Qingliu smiled and said,
“Fulan, I have a task for you.”
The kitten on the ground rolled around, quickly sprang up, her expression becoming much more serious.
“Please give me your command, Master.”
Where did she learn this?
Lin Qingliu raised an eyebrow and calmly stated:
“Investigate the nutritional paste production line in the Southern District of the outer city, and see if there is any difference in raw materials between the old and new production lines.
“If you sniff the scent of your companions, you can confidently eat them all.”
Fulan licked her lips, clearly excited,
“May I ask when to begin?”
“Right now.”
“At once!”
The kitten gracefully jumped onto the windowsill, skillfully used her paws to unhook the screen, and slipped out, disappearing from Lin Qingliu’s sight at the edge of the drainage pipe.
Once again left alone, Lin Qingliu glanced at the nutritional paste on the table, dumping the remaining portion into the trash can.
Meanwhile, in a certain location in the inner city…
—
[Incident Number: I-0124
Incident Level: A
Incident Overview: On June 8, year 52 of the New Era, at 7:21 AM, an unidentified organism A appeared in the headquarters of the Department of Life Technology building in the Southern District of the inner city.
Location: restroom on the 22nd floor. The unidentified organism exhibits rapid healing and devouring traits, along with a certain level of thinking ability, displaying extreme hostility towards healthy human beings.
7:22 AM, the fire alarm on the 22nd floor was triggered, and researchers began orderly evacuation.
7:35 AM, the unidentified organism fell into the elevator shaft from the 22nd floor, entering the basement area of the building, having previously devoured 31 researchers, including 18 men and 13 women.
7:41 AM, the technicians of the Department of Life Technology completed evacuation and fell into a collective hysteria in the first-floor lobby, displaying mild sleepwalking and drowsiness.
7:50 AM, the Sixth Superhero Team arrived at the scene and engaged in combat with Humanoid Figure B found in the basement.
7:56 AM, the Sixth Superhero Team exited the dream state and began surveying the area, while the collective hysteria in the first-floor lobby ended, waking the researchers.
Note 1: On that day, the surveillance cameras in the Department of Life Technology building were externally cut off, resulting in the loss of all data within 24 hours.
Note 2: Apart from the Department of Life Technology building, a security personnel at the research institute’s gate fell into deep sleep, accompanied by minor concussions.
Missing Persons List:
Minister Zhao Kai;
Level 1 Researcher Walk (identity verified as a forgery);
Level 1 Researcher Li Xia (identity verified as a forgery);
Level 2 Researcher Lorna;
Level 2 Researcher Worm;
Level 2 Researcher Richardson;
Level 2 Researcher…]
