Although I have some doubts about Ariel's connection with this secret federal base, the information here was originally given by her, so it's not like she's calling for a thief.
Renault looked at the vine a few times before, but couldn't find anything because he had no professional knowledge.
"It seems quiet outside, let's go." He said.
"Wait." Tosh raised his hand to stop Tychus from opening the door, then put his finger in his mouth and whistled.
call out--
A flying sword shining with dark red light appeared out of thin air, and then slipped out from the crack of the door, while Tuosh closed his eyes and began to control it remotely.
"Man, there's nothing edible here." Tychus spread his hands.
Hissssss——
Renault vaguely heard the low sound of the lightsaber piercing the air outside the door, but there was no sound of anything being cut.
"...Okay, they did leave," Tosh opened his eyes again, and then took out a piece of military dry food from his armor storage compartment. While chewing, he turned to Tychus and said, "If it is not used for a long time,
, it’s enough to consume these things as needed.”
"Oh..." Ariel looked at Tosh with surprised eyes.
"Hmm, psykers are really convenient." Tychus turned and pushed open the door.
Renault walked out of the door of the rest area with a standard "entering enemy-occupied territory" low posture and took a quick look around.
The vines that had been banging on the door had disappeared, and only the rust marks on the door and other metal surfaces proved their presence.
"Safe." He gestured to Jimmy and Tychus who were ready to respond inside, and continued to move quickly to the intersection where the mine turned toward the rest area, and then discovered that there was no trace of the vine monster here either.
This is a bit strange, Renault thought. If they were attracted by the noise, they would have to stay nearby for a while after it stopped. But now it seems that they are more like being "summoned" and are useless.
Then he was "driven away" directly.
He quietly turned his head and glanced at Ariel. The only person present who could do such a thing was this botanist who had always behaved strangely, but how did she do it?
"Ms. Hansen, those vine monsters have launched an attack, so the next trip may be in danger at any time," Renault did not intend to guess, and decided to directly test: "Now that you have gained something, for safety reasons, should you return to the ground first?"
OK? I can let Jimmy escort you."
"Okay~ Well, no, I mean, I follow the commander's arrangements." Jimmy cheered for a moment before explaining in a nonchalant manner.
"That's actually not much gain, Sheriff Renault," Ariel pushed up her glasses: "As for this small vine, I have roughly guessed the purpose of the experiment on it, but more is needed.
Evidence, don’t worry about safety issues, I will protect myself.”
"If you insist." Renault nodded and continued walking deeper into the mine.
There is no need to test. When faced with a vine attack of that scale, she can still confidently say "she can protect herself". It is strange that she has no connection with those monsters.
For the same reason, if she wanted to be detrimental to this group of people, she wouldn't have to do such a roundabout thing? Then? There is only one answer:
She wanted to obtain certain research results stored deep in the base by the Federation? But those mindless vines couldn't help her at all, so she made such a trip in person.
Since she wanted to maintain her identity as a "human" so much, there was no need to go out of her way to expose it when she clearly had no intention of harming Haiwen.
The only question is, where did those federal soldiers and researchers go?
What if she ordered the vine to kill? Then...
————
How many hours later? Deep in the Terrazine Mine.
Renault and his party discovered a second laboratory? But the things inside...
"Wow, vomit..." Jimmy covered his mouth and retched.
"Hey, these things look edible? Can you please bake them and eat them?" Tychus was not affected at all.
"Even if I starve to death, I won't eat this!" Tuo Xu expressed firm opposition.
Renault is well-informed, so it doesn't make him sick? But being like Tychus who doesn't care at all and even talks about food? He thinks he still can't do it.
In the laboratory where this discovery was made, a group of strange "hybrid creatures" were displayed. They looked like pigs, cows, and sheep, but inexplicably some plants grew out of their bodies. In addition to vines, these plants
In addition, there are herbs and even woody plants.
There are various states of "hybridization" of these animals and plants. For example, "onions inserted into pigs' noses" is not just an afterthought here, but there are indeed pigs with onions growing from their noses.
Of course, whether it is an animal that grows grass or grass that grows from an animal's body, it is all in a state of death. This may be why Jimmy keeps retching but never actually vomits out.
"Ms. Hansen, what are you going to do?" Renault turned his attention to Ariel, who had been wandering around after discovering this laboratory: "I sincerely hope you will not trigger any more alarms."
"I plan to find a living one, but it seems unlikely," Ariel sighed: "Don't you think these animals are cute? Chief Renault?"
"I don't think so at all." Renault replied without hesitation.
"Well...it's really hard for most people to understand this harmonious beauty of nature." Ariel sighed.
"I would rather never understand," Renault responded again and decided to change the subject: "So what did you discover? What is the Federation doing here?"
"They seem to be conducting experiments on the fusion of plants and animals, and the main objects are those vines." Ariel turned over the experimental records left in the laboratory: "In most cases, the vines that are fused with animals will become other types.
plants, and the experimental animals will die quickly, but their research found that the higher the intelligence of the animals, the lower the probability of death after fusion."
"...Don't say that they finally chose a 'person' for the experiment." The corners of Renault's eyes twitched.
If that is true, it is not difficult to guess what the Federation, which itself does not regard clones as human beings, will do.
"Maybe there are, but at least they are not in this laboratory," Ariel put away the experimental records: "Their final conclusion is that animals with low intelligence cannot accept plants growing on their bodies, so the rejection reaction leads to
The death of both parties, and animals with higher intelligence are more likely to accept this fact. If it were a human being, there might not be any rejection reaction at all."
"I can already foresee what I will encounter at the bottom of the mine." Renault smacked his lips and decided not to imagine what the "finished product" of that kind of experiment would be.
