Chapter 87
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Chapter 87: Clear Division of Labor
The doctor standing by the bed relayed the notification he had just received. Upon hearing that the research institutes wanted his cooperation, the man said no more.
He shook his head and sat up from the bed as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, his strength had been drained during the capture operation two days earlier, so he could only sit in the wheelchair pushed over by a nurse.
Compared to the efficiency-focused factories and the life-and-death armies, the research institutes, one of the three major organizations, always maintained the most gentle working style.
Based on his understanding of the research institutes and Zhou Zhuo, if something could wait until tomorrow, Zhou Zhuo would definitely not disturb him tonight.
Thinking about this, the man’s expression grew more anxious; even the elevator, which usually felt indifferent, now seemed to move slowly.
Soon, a car drove toward the research institutes under the cover of night.
Half an hour later, “Holy Shield,” in the wheelchair, appeared before Zhou Zhuo and Ji Yongxing.
By now, the laboratory had gathered over a dozen sharp-minded and trustworthy researchers, who were attempting to extract mycelium from the nutritional paste, seeking to reduce experimental errors.
Seeing his old acquaintance had arrived, Zhou Zhuo stepped forward and took the wheelchair from the nurse.
As he pushed his old friend forward, he briefly shared his discoveries.
When he heard that the living mycelium might pose a danger to humans, a trace of guilt inevitably appeared on the weak man’s face.
With Zhou Zhuo’s concise explanation, he quickly understood the purpose of being summoned here in the middle of the night—
To test whether his abilities could inactivate the mycelium.
Ji Yongxing believed that the fact that humans had consumed nutritional paste made from extraordinary beasts for so many years without any problems was an extremely low-probability coincidence.
When the superpowered individual Holy Shield activated his abilities, he typically released the shield’s range to about one kilometer outside the city wall.
This was a reasonably calculated range.
This meant that, during the past time, extraordinary beasts had died within the coverage of the shield.
And this portion of extraordinary beast meat was evidently safe for consumption.
Holy Shield was surprised that his abilities could have such a use.
After all, the awakening of superpowers was nearly elusive, and the scope and effects of their use could only be explored bit by bit by the user.
Over the past few decades, Holy Shield thought he had thoroughly explored his abilities, but it seemed he was still somewhat lacking.
“Can you still release your abilities?”
Zhou Zhuo looked at Holy Shield with concern.
“Yes, but the range may be limited.”
Hearing this, Zhou Zhuo breathed a sigh of relief; as long as the other person’s abilities could still be activated, even a small output would be enough for them to complete the research.
Without delay, with their cooperation, a translucent shield shimmering in light purple quickly formed in Holy Shield’s hand, then slowly moved closer to the clump of nutritional paste confirmed to contain mycelium.
After wrapping it inside, Holy Shield looked at Zhou Zhuo:
“Is this enough?”
Compared to the earlier operation of capturing the Third Level extraordinary beast, this level of expenditure was minimal for him.
“That’s fine; you can release it now.”
Zhou Zhuo delivered the "inactivated" nutritional paste to Ji Yongxing, signaling him to use his extraordinary vision to inspect it.
In fact, Ji Yongxing had already imbued his mismatched eyes with an eerie green glimmer when Holy Shield began to use his ability.
In his vision, the pale purple shield transformed into a fine mesh, continuously filtering and annihilating certain entities within it.
After the other party’s ability was deactivated, Ji Yongxing could no longer detect any fluorescence on the lump of nutritional paste.
He nodded and said,
"It’s no longer a problem."
Zhou Zhuo’s heart immediately settled; indeed, Ji Yongxing’s conjecture was correct. However, a larger issue emerged: how to resolve this crisis.
The situation was clear—Holy Shield’s ability could only destroy the mycelium within the lifeless bodies of extraordinary beasts and had no effect on living humans or beasts.
Thinking of this, Zhou Zhuo swiftly issued orders:
"Assemble all researchers from the Department of Life Technology and divide them into two research directions.
"The first group will collect mycelium for animal experiments to investigate its harm to living organisms.
"The second group will seek other methods of deactivation; we must prepare for the worst."
"What is the worst preparation?"
A silent researcher suddenly inquired.
Zhou Zhuo glanced at him and sighed:
"Prepare for the fall of the outer city."
The laboratory fell into a silence so profound that a pin drop could be heard.
In this atmosphere, Zhou Zhuo handed his identification card to Ji Yongxing:
"Assign a portion of the team to accompany you. Collect all nutritional paste products from the past month as you previously suggested, and investigate the sales situation as thoroughly as possible."
Simultaneously, Holy Shield retrieved his exclusive communicator from the pocket of his hospital gown,
"Under my authority, immediately halt all nutritional paste production lines.
"Prepare the production reports for each line from the last month, and personnel from the research institutes will come to take over the materials.
"Detain everyone. Those who cannot provide reports will be directly interrogated, and those who dare to flee will be executed without reporting.
"No, Wayne, I’m not insane. I’ll bear all the consequences. The official action document should reach you in about fifteen minutes, but time is of the essence…"
The first team served as the foundation for the survival of Hope City. Its members not only bore the responsibility of protecting the city from various threats but also wielded certain powers individually.
Another identity of the superpowered individual Holy Shield was that of a special advisor in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Due to his extensive experience in combat and protecting targets, he had even been responsible for teaching for a period during his earlier days when his health was better.
Deputy Minister Wayne had been his partner at that time.
After concluding communication with another old friend, Holy Shield began to synchronize the information with the military’s high command.
As several influential figures issued one order after another, the dormitory building of the research institutes lit up within seconds.
The same events occurred in many places within the city.
Through the deep night, the people in the laboratory could see others hurriedly changing into work uniforms.
Yet, at that moment, no one had the leisure to observe the scene; everyone realized the gravity of the situation and eagerly focused on their respective tasks.
On the other end of the communicator, Wayne, who had been sleeping In Dream, felt a surge of energy from his old friend’s words.
Though it wasn’t entirely compliant, he quickly prepared the task message.
Looking at the list of cleanup teams lined up on the screen, Wayne began to send the edited message to the selected teams.
"[Crocodile Fish], [Blue Ring], [Honey Badger]… and [Butterfly]."
