Chapter 240: Caught Between Life and Death

Lin Yun stood in front of a control panel, her eyes fixed on the flood of data flashing past.

She furrowed her brow, deep in concentration.

Just then, Lin Feng arrived, bringing Reynold with him.

“Any news?”

“From preliminary scans, there’s a strange kind of energy clinging inside their bodies,” Lin Yun explained. “And medically speaking, they’re all technically dead.”

“Come again?”

“I mean, they’re not breathing. Hearts aren’t beating. Even their blood has stopped flowing.”

“You can’t be serious—don’t tell me these guys are zombies now!”

Lin Feng couldn’t help but joke.

Even though it had been over six hundred years since Earth’s era, old movies and fiction about zombies were still popular during the Federation age.

Lin Feng himself had seen plenty.

But Lin Yun shook her head.

“No. This isn’t like the whole ‘zombie’ concept. Their brains still work flawlessly, and the rest of their organs are in perfect health, too.”

“The strange energy I mentioned—it’s almost acting as a replacement for blood, keeping everything running. It’s like some kind of evolution, but it’s incomplete, or maybe a failed attempt.”

“If I had to describe their state right now, I’d say…”

“They’re trapped between two planes of life, unable to move forward or back.”

Everyone was stunned by Lin Yun’s explanation.

What did she mean by incomplete evolution, or failed evolution?

What did she mean, trapped between two planes of life?

The more they heard, the more unbelievable it sounded.

“Hold up, sis, are you pulling sci-fi nonsense on me right now?”

“If you think this is fantasy, it’s just because you can’t grasp the tech involved—that’s all.”

“Alright, alright, you win. But what now? If we don’t figure something out, I’ll probably run into the same thing at every star we pass.”

“Give me some time to think it over.”

“Okay, I’ll leave this to you. Reynold, you’re with me.”

“Understood, General Lin!”

Reynold hurried after him.

Moments later, the two of them reached the captain’s quarters.

“Reynold, from what we’re seeing now, all three Vico Line star nodes probably look like this.”

“Prepare yourself. Worst case—everyone from Covallo at those locations…”

Lin Feng didn’t finish, but Reynold understood all too well.

“General Lin, is there really no way to bring them back?”

“I can’t say for sure. I’m no scientist. The woman you saw downstairs is my sister. She’s the chief scientist for our team in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and even if you look at the whole Milky Way, she’s among the best.”

Hearing this, Reynold looked surprised.

That young-looking girl from before was actually that impressive?

Thankfully, he only thought this to himself—if he’d said it out loud, Lin Feng probably would’ve cursed him out.

After all, both Lin Feng and Lin Yun were old enough to be Reynold’s parents.

By Earth years, Reynold was just forty-eight.

That’s why Lin Feng addressed Reynold directly instead of adding any honorifics like his subordinates did.

Part of it was Lin Feng’s status, but it was also an age thing.

To Lin Feng, Reynold was just a junior.

“I do hope the Federation can find a solution. There are two hundred billion Covallo people on those three star nodes…”

“But if there’s really no way, I’ll understand. I just hope that when the time comes, General Lin…”

“…can make sure they don’t suffer.”

——

Three days later.

Inside the makeshift lab aboard the warship.

“Lin Yun, what’s up?”

Lin Feng slid open the hatch and walked in.

“Look over there…”

Lin Yun was busy at her station, not even glancing up.

She just raised her left hand, pointing in a general direction.

Lin Feng couldn’t help but chuckle at his sister’s usual behavior.

She was just like that.

Not that their relationship was rocky—in fact, Lin Feng and Lin Yun got along exceptionally well.

But once Lin Yun was deep in her experiments, she’d ignore anyone except Lin Yu.

It was like she couldn’t even hear them.

When Lin Feng called, she reacted a little more—though not as much as with Lin Yu.

At least she gave him some kind of response.

And honestly, that was remarkable enough.

In the next moment, Lin Feng followed Lin Yun’s gesture and looked toward the experimental bench.

He saw a Covallo lying there, arms, legs and neck all securely restrained.

That wasn’t the strange part, though. What really stood out was…

It was just an ordinary Covallo!

As the captain of the warship—not to mention the fleet commander—Lin Feng personally had to approve any Covallo boarding the vessel. Since sending Reynold back three days ago, not a single Covallo had been authorized aboard.

Which meant having this average Covallo up on the test bench was incredibly out of the ordinary.

Because…

There were only a handful of those transformed Covallo aboard his ship.

So that meant his sister, Lin Yun, had successfully restored one of them to normal.

That gently rising chest…

Was that Covallo really breathing again?

She’d just said these people were stuck between two planes of life—how could that change so fast?

Lin Feng was stunned.

“How did you do it?”

“It was an accident.”

Lin Yun didn’t even look up, still working away at her station.

But she answered Lin Feng immediately.

“Originally, I just wanted to see what would happen if I used X Particle on them.”

“Turns out, the X Particle acts as a natural nemesis to that energy in their bodies. It eats away at it bit by bit, then uses the absorbed energy to repair and rebuild the host’s system based on their genetic information.”

“But don’t expect to use this on a grand scale. The X Particle doesn’t just erase that weird energy and fix the body’s system—it actually makes them stronger.”

“In other words, if you started using this on all Covallo people, you’d end up with tens, maybe even hundreds of billions of enhanced individuals.”

Lin Yun spoke seriously.

Even she understood what it would mean to create tens or hundreds of billions of Covallo whose bodies and minds had been further enhanced.

There was no way the Federation would ever allow that.

“I get it!”

Lin Feng nodded.

Why not help them, you ask, since they can be saved?

Well, for one, the Covallo aren’t human. Saving billions would take an unthinkable amount of manpower and resources.

Not to mention, every one saved would come out physically and mentally stronger.

Lin Yu would never sign off on something like that.

“I’ll tell Reynold there’s nothing we can do. You handle this test subject when the time comes.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it soon.”