“Little Chicken Robot?”
Yang Yi smacked his lips, finding the name a bit ridiculous.
“It’s Xiao Ji (1),” the barrel shaped robot immediately replied, correcting him.
Its sound sensors seemed intact, and even fairly sensitive. Its hearing was almost on par with Yang Yi’s.
“No need. He isn’t an experimental subject,” Suna finally spoke up.
Her words carried far more weight than Yang Yi’s. Like a higher level authorization, the robot listened and complied.
Clearly, though, this robot was not a simple program. It even commented on certain behaviors.
“Doctor, Xiao Ji recommends that you carry your ID card with you at all times. Otherwise, you may be detained or even fined.”
Rolling forward on the wheels beneath its body, it came to Suna’s side, completely ignoring Yang Yi, and began leading the way for her.
Yang Yi didn’t really care. He had no intention of arguing with an artificial idiot.
That said, he never lowered the flintlock in his hand. Intentionally or not, it remained trained on Xiao Ji as he walked slightly ahead of Suna.
The Penitent Armor had already been stored away in his ring.
The two of them entered the airtight security door in sequence, first passing through the airlock chamber in the middle, where they underwent a round of sterilisation. The process was rather perfunctory, though, since nothing actually sprayed out of the nozzles.
A few minutes later, they entered the interior of the laboratory.
The environment inside was far harsher than outside, most likely due to corruption by darkness.
It was only when Yang Yi and Suna entered, with the light emitted by the containers on their bodies, that the darkness was truly pushed back.
The laboratory lights were on, but they had no effect on dispelling the darkness.
As a result, experimental equipment such as microscopes, analytical balances, centrifuges, and a number of instruments Yang Yi couldn’t name had all developed rust.
Once equipment like this corrodes and loses precision, its effectiveness drops drastically. At that point, it is little more than a heap of scrap metal.
The floors and walls, however, were clean. They seemed to be cleaned regularly and showed no signs of rust.
The walls of the laboratory were probably made from a special metal, one that was less prone to corrosion.
Seeing that Xiao Ji showed no hostility, Yang Yi shifted part of his attention to the lab itself, trying to locate the source of the darkness.
In theory, this laboratory was sealed, and with the transparent wall in place, it should not have been so severely affected by dark corruption.
Suna, on the other hand, was delighted, as if she had discovered a treasure trove.
She understood these instruments far better than Yang Yi did. Some of them were devices she was seeing for the first time in her life.
She even spotted what looked like a tablet computer sitting on a desk.
It was damaged, though, with a bullet hole punched straight through it.
…
Using his Third Eye, Yang Yi quickly discovered a breach in part of the ceiling.
Although the hole had been patched with metal plates, the seal was incomplete. The darkness was most likely seeping in through the gaps.
Judging from the melted metal around the edges of the breach, it could be inferred that the team that broke through here was very likely the same group that had forced open the gate to Zone C.
They had entered the laboratory this way and fought with Xiao Ji inside.
The outcome, however, was probably not good. They were likely defeated and suffered significant casualties.
The bullet hole in Xiao Ji’s head was probably left over from that battle.
The fight had also damaged part of the equipment. Some glass containers had even been shattered, though it was unclear what they had originally held.
Yang Yi had more or less grasped the overall situation in the laboratory.
Meanwhile, Suna had already placed several pieces of equipment into her bag of holding, clearly intending to take them with her.
Xiao Ji showed no reaction to this at all, tacitly allowing her to do so.
“Doctor, you may want to urge Dr. Wei. She hasn’t rested for 1,745,430 days and has remained in the innermost room the entire time.”
Xiao Ji’s words caught both Yang Yi’s and Suna’s attention at once.
Was there really someone still alive in here?
They exchanged a glance and followed the robot.
It led them to an independent room on the right side of the main laboratory hall. Xiao Ji stopped at the doorway.
“This area is restricted. Personnel other than the Doctor are not permitted to enter.”
It stood guard like a sentry. Judging from the dust on the floor inside, Xiao Ji itself had never gone in.
Suna walked straight in and passed without issue.
Yang Yi followed closely, trying to slip in as well, but Xiao Ji’s mechanical arm blocked his way.
“You are not allowed to enter.”
It issued the warning, its indicator light flashing repeatedly.
Yang Yi was not good at dealing with rigid machines, but he still tried to argue. “I’m the captain. I go wherever I want.”
Xiao Ji did not react at all, as if it hadn’t heard him. It didn’t even bother replying.
The attitude irritated Yang Yi. He was half tempted to dismantle this vision impaired robot on the spot.
“I’ll go in,” Suna said. “I’ve got a force field shield, so it won’t be dangerous. And…”
She trailed off, sending the rest privately.
“And there won’t be any living person inside. Not after all this time.”
Yang Yi nodded, told her to be careful, and said he would keep a close eye on the robot. If necessary, he could tear this pile of scrap apart with ease.
So, one man and one robot stood outside the door, staring each other down.
Suna found the scene a bit absurd. It felt like Yang Yi had gotten into a standoff with the machine.
She proceeded alone, turning up the brightness of the light container at her waist and remaining ready to activate force field deflection at any moment.
Inside was a long corridor, with a bend not far ahead.
After rounding the corner, she found transparent glass walls on both sides, made of the same material as the isolation wall outside.
Beyond the glass were sealed containers several meters tall. The liquid inside had long since dried up, leaving only withered skeletons.
Darkness had seeped into the containers as well, corroding the experimental specimens into bare remains.
There may once have been living subjects inside, but with time and no food, they had starved and turned into skeletons.
Most were humanoid skeletons, though with localized mutations. Some had the wrong number of joints in their arms, others an incorrect number of legs.
These bones held little research value and could not be taken away. Suna observed and photographed them as she went, continuing toward the innermost chamber.
At the very end was a circular platform, likely a personal laboratory. A metal desk stood there, covered in various instruments and gauges.
Seated in front of the desk was a… corpse?
Suna raised her guard and approached slowly.
Only when she got close did she make a clear judgment. It was a dead mutant, its body completely desiccated, little more than bones.
The lower half of the body was clearly inhuman. There were remnants of dried fur, similar in color to that of a house rat.
Suna tried touching it and obtained its information.
【Name: Half Rat Thrall (Wei Qian)】
【Description: A human parasitised by a parasitic house rat, resulting in partial bodily mutation. A house rat resides within the host’s body, and toxins have twisted the host’s mind.】
She read the information and sent a copy to Yang Yi.
This had to be Dr. Wei. She was already dead, having been parasitised by a house rat.
Nearby was a photograph, showing her with a man.
The photo had been carefully sealed. Even after thousands of years, it was only lightly dusted. Suna wiped it clean and looked at it.
The woman’s features were unremarkable, but she had the same vivid red eyes as Suna.
As for the man, judging from his clothing, he was very likely the captain of this ship.