Chapter 258: Shadows Over the Experimental Base

The group advanced without a hitch.

Under Yenir’s supreme authority, inside the sprawling experimental base, researchers watched in astonishment as Yenir stormed in.

Before they could even ask a question, a battalion of soldiers—acting on his orders—swiftly took them into custody.

“Relay my orders!”

“Lock down the entire base!”

“Monitor all researchers, projects, and incoming and outgoing vehicles!”

“Not even a fly should escape until you have my command!”

Without hesitation.

With ruthless decisiveness, Yenir deployed a massive force, erecting a dense blockade around the base without a second thought.

At his signal, this place could be reduced to rubble in an instant!

He had no interest in frivolous anomaly hunts.

It would be downright absurd if someone tried smuggling something out upon noticing any anomaly.

As waves of soldiers and fighter jets arrived, panic instantly gripped the entire research base.

Rushing straight to the underground laboratory, Yenir dashed like the wind, dragging Krock along with him.

Within minutes, the group reached the Human Origin Project Laboratory.

“Where are the ‘failed’ samples?”

“Where is the research data?”

Calmly scanning his surroundings, Yenir observed everything in silence.

In a dim underground hall, hundreds of survival pods floated with numerous ‘humans’ inside, their slender feeding tubes probing in like tentacles.

These seemingly normal humans floated naked in green liquid, their eyes tightly shut.

“They’re still in there—the failed experiments and hybrids are in the core area…”

Krock’s face turned pale as he spoke, barely holding back a heave.

Yenir’s blistering pace nearly had Krock’s insides jolting out.

He couldn’t fathom why anyone would bother inspecting these.

The project had been underway for a long time, implicitly approved by the Federation.

Nodding slightly, Yenir strode to the core area and, using his highest clearance, flung open the warehouse door labeled “Abandoned.”

With a clank of machinery, a vast underground complex—far larger than the main hall—unfolded before them.

What the heck is that?!

Right behind him, Ming Luo’s heart skipped a beat. One glance was enough to reveal a mass of experimental subjects, grotesquely different from normal humans, submerged in green pods.

Unlike the specimens outside, the defective ones here had clearly expired.

They floated like lifeless corpses, twisted and slack in the green liquid.

“This is disgusting…”

Even the battle-hardened squad members couldn’t hide their grim expressions at the horrifying scene.

Among nearly a hundred specimens, many of the corpses were horrifically deformed.

Even three-armed, six-handed beings seemed normal compared to some that looked less human and more like grotesque ‘toys’ cobbled together from organs.

Eyes misplaced on chests, intestines turned outward, with water-filled sacs oozing out of mouths…

Mouths agape at their feet, and windpipes sprawling from the calves downward…

These subjects looked like something straight out of a horror film.

Trailing at the rear, Lin Rui’s face turned ashen.

“You guys…”

“You’re actually using humans for this kind of research?!”

Unlike Yenir and the others, who were methodically examining which specimen might be the source of a zombie outbreak, Lin Rui—seething with righteous anger—glared at Krock. As a mere student, he could scarcely imagine the Federation engaging in such brutal experiments!

This wasn’t experimentation at all—it was a massacre!

Especially when he reached a pod nearly two people tall; staring at the cocoon-like mass inside made his whole body tremble.

Through the semi-transparent cocoon, he could just make out two human brains and organs, grotesquely fused together as if blended in a mixer.

Both the upper and lower halves were essentially ‘upper halves’—two faces arranged in a bizarre inverted symmetry, their parched mouths bubbling continuously.

Clearly, this experimental subject was still alive! But as Lin Rui beheld those vacant eyes, his scalp went numb.

“What is this?!”

As his voice faded, Yenir furrowed his brow and shot a troubled glance at Krock.

He, too, had noticed that this specimen was far too perverse.

Facing Lin Rui’s fury and panic, Krock merely offered a rueful smile and started explaining.

“Oh, this one is codenamed the Cocoon Breaker.”

“Inspired by caterpillars that undergo a ‘perverse’ transformation into butterflies, we wondered if we could create a specimen with dual sets of organs.”

“Have you ever observed caterpillars?”

“Before becoming butterflies, they envelop themselves in cocoons. In that state, they revert to an embryonic phase—a mere mass of cellular fluid.”

“It’s a marvelously bizarre process!”

Growing more animated, Krock abandoned his earlier timidity as he excitedly described his research.

“Did you know that caterpillar cellular fluid can spontaneously form into various biological tissues?”

“A simple blob of liquid somehow figures out which part will become the head, the body, and the wings!”

“Not only that—if you slice open the cocoon, it can hatch into two half-butterflies!”

“The top half forms a head while the bottom forms the body!”

“Cut it right down the middle and you’re left with half a head on one side! It’s astonishing—the cellular fluid seems to know its own design!”

With manic enthusiasm, Krock paid no mind to the strange look on Lin Rui’s face as he grew even more excited:

“And here’s the even more fascinating part!”

“If you halve the cocoon and insert a straw to bridge the gap, the specimen will hatch into a butterfly with a straw running through its body!”

“Mix the cellular fluid of two cocoons together, and you can even form a butterfly with its brain in its stomach! They’re completely unbothered by the chaos and still manage to develop proper organs!”

Listening to Krock’s description, even the squad members—veterans of countless grotesque zombie encounters—couldn’t help but grimace.

They could only imagine what kind of humans Krock and his team had engineered while simulating cocoons.

Is this what triggered the apocalyptic outbreak?!

Did they really spawn a horde of grotesque monstrosities?!

Sensing the furious glares from the group, Krock suddenly recalled why they were there and hurriedly clarified:

“These experimental subjects aren’t human!”

“They’re dead! Their brain cells never fully developed! In truth, they can’t feel pain or think!”

But his explanation fell on deaf ears.

As Lin Rui clenched his fists, the youth struggled to suppress his anger.

While everyone else was consumed by outrage, Yenir remained calm, piecing together the clues.

Krock’s creations, though barbaric and perverse, were—according to him—not particularly exceptional.

No, that wasn’t quite it.

These specimens, despite their monstrous appearance, were nothing more than decaying lumps of flesh. He saw no sign that any of them could morph into zombies or true beasts.

The problem wasn’t here…

The true cause of the apocalyptic disaster wasn’t due to a leak of these specimens!

Yenir’s right eye, layered with the Ghost Eye, swept the surroundings, emitting a faint blue glow.

So…

What is the real issue?

What exactly does the ‘Apocalyptic Origin’ disaster signify?

With a powerful sixth sense, Yenir suddenly realized that this challenge was anything but simple.