Chapter 246 - 237: Cannot Understand
Gu Xi lowered her gaze, fiddling with the tiny green sprout on her fingertip. A smile touched her lips, hinting at a mix of mockery and pity.
She raised an eyebrow. "Project G01, Project Dawnlight? Do they really think that if this plan succeeds, they’ll become the great heroes who usher humanity into a new era? That they’ll get to live forever, permanently seated atop the pyramid of power?"
"So that’s the real Project G01, isn’t it?" Gu Xi looked up at Ye Junhan, her tone unnervingly calm.
Ye Junhan watched her in silence, his gaze deep and composed.
After a long moment, Gu Xi averted her gaze, activated her personal terminal, and contacted Li Ming.
A minute later, the call connected.
"Xiaoxi," Li Ming looked somewhat haggard. "When do you plan on entering City A? We just received word that Zhou Jinyu has assembled a scientific expedition team and already left the Central Base."
The Central Base had been in an uproar recently because of the quarantine hospital incident, with undercurrents of conflict surging between the various factions. Zhou Jinyu had always been clever. His decision to leave at this time was likely a move to avoid the turmoil and forge his own path.
However, certain people at the base were now getting desperate, so they were hell-bent on using Gu Xi to find that batch of Hibernation Chambers for them.
And Zhou Jinyu, focused on his research and eager to climb the social ladder, likely wouldn’t pass up such a golden, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get ahead.
So Zhou Jinyu’s destination this time was probably City A as well.
And to keep all this messy, sordid business from reaching and troubling Gu Xi, Li Ming had recently expended a great deal of mental energy dealing with those people. His body, having only just begun to recover, now showed signs of being utterly spent, like a lamp about to run out of oil.
Gu Xi’s brow furrowed slightly.
But she said nothing.
She knew that Li Ming was prouder and more fiercely independent than anyone.
"Ming." Gu Xi swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue and simply recounted the situation with the crooked-neck tree from last night. Then she asked, "Back then, who knew this was the last place I visited?"
Li Ming’s brows knitted slightly upon hearing that the crooked-neck tree had mutated, possibly evolving into a new, unknown sentient species. But as he heard the second part of Gu Xi’s question, his expression gradually grew grim.
He didn’t know why Gu Xi was asking, but knowing her personality, she would never ask such a thing without a reason.
Li Ming frowned, tapping his fingers lightly on his thigh. After a long moment, he finally spoke slowly, "Xiaoxi, did you leave something down there?"
’Is that why people are after it?’
Gu Xi looked up at Li Ming on the Light Screen. Without denying it, she said seriously, "Yes. Back then, I left Xidao with that crooked-neck tree."
Li Ming was flabbergasted. "Xiaoxi, you..."
But he quickly fell silent. Gu Xi had always been a quiet and soft-hearted child. Growing up in that environment, she must have long grown weary of a life filled with fighting and killing.
"Ming," Gu Xi said with an air of nonchalance, "I honestly didn’t think much of it when I left the blade behind back then."
’At the time, I had just slain the Zombie Emperor, and I felt... lost.’
Gu Xi took a deep breath, pushing the memories to the back of her mind so they wouldn’t affect her mood. She looked at Li Ming and said, "Back then, the crooked-neck tree and I were on friendly terms. It seemed to like my blade, so I left it behind..."
After a pause, she added calmly, "Ming, I thought with its power, it should have been able to survive the second Great Evolution back then."
Li Ming mulled this over for a moment before saying, "Xiaoxi, after the second Great Evolution, someone proposed a new theory..."
Certain experts and scholars believed that the disappearance of the zombie virus was the inevitable result of the natural world—a massive biome—undergoing an orderly evolution.
At the time, many believed this was a sign that the worst was over, heralding that nature had concluded its process of rapid succession.
Humanity was on the verge of entering a new era, one where they could not only return to an age of peace and prosperity but even enhance the physical constitution of the entire population.
After all, gifted individuals continued to be born even after the zombie virus disappeared—that was the best evidence.
Thus, some proclaimed that this was a gift to humanity from the evolved world.
However, it wasn’t long before someone discovered the existence of X Energy in plants...
This indicated that nature’s evolution was far from over.
"Xiaoxi, the situation with that crooked-neck tree you mentioned... it’s not an isolated case." Li Ming then recounted a few similar incidents that had occurred over the years.
Gu Xi listened intently to Li Ming, a pensive look on her face.
’Perhaps Dr. Qi was right. Nature’s third evolution... maybe it’s already begun.’
Humanity was already struggling so much, yet behind the natural disasters lurked even more man-made calamities.
At the thought of those Hybrid Monsters and plant-people, a murderous aura emanated from Gu Xi.
’It would be one thing if certain people were only courting their own deaths, but they just have to drag others down with them...’
Seeing her expression, Li Ming’s heart sank, and he began to subtly placate her.
"Actually, back when the first infected individuals were discovered in the Hibernation Chambers, some people at the institute proposed resuming research on the zombie virus, claiming it might be the only solution to the X Energy problem..."
The theory that X Energy might originate from the zombie virus had been proposed long ago.
On the surface, the danger posed by X Energy seemed far less severe than that of the original zombie virus. In the long run, however, it was a lethal, slow-acting poison.
And the life force of mutant plants was just so tenacious.
If the X Energy problem couldn’t be solved, humanity would be finished, sooner or later.
And this planet would eventually be overrun by more and more mutant plants.
Under such circumstances, Gu Xi could understand why some people would want to seek an alternative path, to search for a solution to the X Energy problem within the old zombie virus.
After all, survival is always the number one priority.
But now that more and more plants were successfully reverse-evolving, X Energy was no longer the noose around humanity’s neck. Yet some people still wanted to unleash the zombie virus upon the world again, all to satisfy their own ambition and greed.
That was something Gu Xi could not comprehend.
A silvery-white scimitar, shimmering with a faint green light, suddenly appeared in Gu Xi’s hand.
With a flick of her wrist, the blade’s arc cast the reflection of a full moon onto the misty surface of the water. It was a breathtaking sight, impossible to look away from.
Beside her, however, Ye Junhan’s pupils contracted sharply. He had noticed that in the instant the "full moon" rose, the creek water at his feet seemed to freeze for a moment.
Ye Junhan’s hand, gripping his scabbard, tightened unconsciously.
Over the years, human abilities had manifested in all sorts of strange and varied ways, but one related to time had never before appeared.
But that slash from Gu Xi just now...
On the Light Screen, Li Ming frowned in disapproval. "Xiaoxi, don’t push yourself..."
Ye Junhan found his words strange and glanced instinctively at Gu Xi.
Gu Xi, however, just looked at Li Ming with a serious expression. "Ming, I have the blade back. And I’ve already guessed the true core of Project G01..."
Li Ming’s expression flickered. His fingertips, resting on the armrest of his wheelchair, curled slightly.
’Since Xiaoxi has already figured it out...’
His expression turned serious. "Xiaoxi, I’ll handle this. Don’t overthink it. The most important thing right now is still to find those Hibernation Chambers and destroy them as soon as possible..."
Gu Xi frowned at his words.
’A thought suddenly struck her. Could it be that Li Ming had told her about the Hibernation Chambers... to get her away from the Central Base before everything erupted?’
’After all, conspiracies and schemes always fester in the seats of power.’
’To solve this, one had to go to the source—the Central Base.’
’Or rather, certain people were the source.’
’Was Li Ming... trying to shoulder this entire burden himself?’
A heavy, helpless, and sorrowful feeling swelled in Gu Xi’s chest. Over all these years, just how much had Li Ming done behind the scenes to protect her?
Just then, Li Ming suddenly asked, "By the way, what about Qi Xiang?"
Gu Xi replied, "She’s resting. She came down the cliff with me last night..."
Li Ming nodded after hearing her explanation. He reminded Gu Xi, "Qi Xiang’s ability is quite special. Don’t let her wander off by herself."
’Gu Xi was a little surprised. She already knew Qi Xiang’s ability was special. Why was Li Ming mentioning it now?’
But Li Ming’s gaze shifted to Ye Junhan, who was standing beside her. "Back when we found Jun Han’s Hibernation Chamber... there were actually two children inside."
One was Ye Junhan.
The other was Qi Xiang.
Upon hearing this, the expressions on both Ye Junhan’s and Gu Xi’s faces changed.