Chapter 283 - 279: Two Small Goals

Chapter 283: Chapter 279: Two Small Goals

Gou Junbao was a pretty optimistic guy and didn’t take the Red Demoness’s words to heart, but he still had a faint, bad premonition—one that felt different from a sense of personal danger.

He shook his head, deciding not to dwell on it. Wearing a pair of swim trunks, he ran toward the ocean. This beautiful beach was actually Dawn’s private property, which was just awesome.

...

In the lab, after completing the first stage of her work, Su Su immediately put down the test tube. She then stepped aside, positioning herself so that her Mentor was directly between her and the test tube.

Qin Xiaoxia glanced at the test tube, then at Su Su. He seemed to understand.

"Mentor, this part is complete."

The Ear-Piercing Monster removed the separated test tube, poured all the pure liquid into a new one, and froze the remainder for separate storage.

"Mm, set this test tube aside for now. No need to separate it. We’ll begin the fusion experiment."

"Su Su, come over and record the variables. Use Magic Patterns to inscribe the data and visuals. There are some things a microscope can’t capture."

Sister Su froze for a moment. It was the first time she had hesitated to follow her Mentor’s command, but she steeled herself and walked over.

"Don’t worry, you won’t get pregnant..."

Qin Xiaoxia had only meant it as a joke to reassure her, but he didn’t expect his words to make Sister Su flinch so hard she almost dropped the Crystal Ball in her hand.

’Su Su definitely knew there were no more "little tadpoles" in these two tubes. Even if she didn’t trust Hama Pi’s technique, how could she not trust me, her Mentor?’

He found it all rather baffling. Still, since he knew Su Su was genuinely scared, Qin Xiaoxia decided to drop the subject.

There were two main areas where they needed to obtain preliminary results today.

The first goal was the genesis of a "Magic Potion."

The concept of mainstream magic potions existed in the lore of other worlds, but it was completely different from what Qin Xiaoxia was trying to achieve.

Those so-called magic potions were, in fact, similar to the various medicines, poisons, and catalysts found on Earth. They were just more powerful and miraculous, which earned them the "magic" prefix.

What Qin Xiaoxia wanted to develop, however, was something that could help people incapable of awakening Magic Power—like some of the Silent Knights—to undergo a further physical transformation. This would prevent them from being left further and further behind by Magic Controllers.

To put it more ambitiously, he wanted to pioneer an entirely new system of power.

This might have been impossible before, but with the miraculous Brother Gou, they could finally make an attempt.

Other worlds might have similar creations, but this would be the absolute first of its kind designed specifically for humans.

The second goal concerned his ideas about materials.

So far, projects like the "Saint’s Armor" and "Knight Armor" were still in the modeling stage. This "modeling" involved the team of Craftsmen led by South Wind building mock-ups with ordinary metals.

But in truth, unless the armor was made absurdly thick, it would struggle to even stop bullets, let alone attacks from more powerful Demons.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t wear absurdly thick armor. For the members of the association, each one a monster of strength, carrying a hundred-kilogram load was no problem.

The problem was, if you encased yourself in a metal sphere, how were you supposed to fight? By rolling around?

This issue meant that the members’ most common method of combat was still fighting with their bare hands. Their only meager protection came from Mumu’s cultivated "fresh skin"—in other words, living moss.

Although Baru also trained them in firearms, the guns would sometimes be smashed to scrap metal by a single blow.

As for bladed weapons, unless one was a master like a member of the Mo Family who had truly grasped a bit of the "Intent," the other members’ wild fighting style would cause the blades to easily chip, quickly turning them into little more than clubs before they eventually snapped.

Their options were to either use existing materials from Earth and attempt a breakthrough using Magic Energy Crystals, or to wait for Hama Pi to make real progress and procure materials from other worlds.

In all of this, Gou’s Catalyst was a crucial component. With it, fusion was certainly possible; the only issue was controlling the dosage.

Since this was an experiment on materials, not a living organism, a cruder approach was acceptable. They also needed to test whether Magic Energy Crystals could amplify the effect. After all, there was only one Brother Gou, and the catalyst’s yield was limited.

...

The first material Qin Xiaoxia selected was a piece of tissue from an Invisible Salamander—the same type that Huang Jiutian and Tao Xingzhi had killed at the construction site in Jia City.

They had plenty of other tissues from various strange, but not particularly strong, Demons, all of which had been requisitioned directly from the Special Security Team under the guise of research.

As a national special agency with jurisdiction over the entire country, the amount of such materials they encountered was far greater than what Dawn had access to. As a result, they had amassed a sizable collection, though most of it wasn’t particularly valuable.

A Sheepskin Scroll was spread out at the ready. Su Su, fully concentrated, used her Magic Power to maintain a delicate link with the experiment platform.

Meanwhile, Qin Xiaoxia carefully used a dropper to suck up a drop of the liquid and released it into the culture tank containing the Salamander tissue.

PLIP...

The slightly murky liquid rapidly mixed with the nutrient solution in the culture tank. It absorbed the nutrients from the solution at an incredible speed and began to envelop the Salamander tissue.

Beads of sweat appeared on Su Su’s forehead. Her divinatory Magic Power visualized the process, which she then rapidly inscribed onto the Sheepskin Scroll using Magic Patterns.

Qin Xiaoxia, Doudou, and Hama Pi split their attention between the culture tank and the Magic Patterns on the Sheepskin Scroll. Looking at both together was like watching a live broadcast.

"AHHH!! Gou Junbao is this amazing?!"

Doudou couldn’t help but yell. If not for his older cousin’s strict ’no eating in the lab’ rule, he would have needed to stuff his face with snacks to process his shock.

Qin Xiaoxia wore a similar expression of amazement, while Hama Pi was simply impressed without fully understanding why.

Even though the liquid was cell-free, the protease-like substances within it were stripping away the nutrients. Now, they had completely infiltrated the Salamander tissue.

The entire tissue was slowly changing color, yet the process didn’t harm a single cell.

And though the cells appeared to have only changed color, this alteration switched them from a state of rejection to one that allowed those protease-like substances to move in and out freely.

"It broke through in just two minutes? And that’s without the ’little tadpoles’ even being here..."

Qin Xiaoxia couldn’t help but mutter. Doudou and Hama Pi nodded in solemn agreement.

"Time to add the blood."

Hama Pi immediately retrieved a test tube of bright red liquid from the refrigerated cabinet. It was a vial of Baru’s blood.

Taking it, Qin Xiaoxia pulled out the soft stopper and poured about a third of the contents directly into the culture tank.

Su Su immediately began recording the changes onto the Sheepskin Scroll with Magic Patterns.

However, the sweat on her face was increasing. The heaving of her chest, which emphasized her figure, also revealed her inner turmoil. It was hard to tell if it was from the strain of her work or from fright.

Seeing Su Su’s state, Qin Xiaoxia didn’t overthink it. He grabbed a tissue, reached over, and began to wipe her cheek. ’I’m not doing this to cop a feel,’ he muttered inwardly.

Sister Su’s entire body went rigid. Her cheeks turned a visible shade of red, and she quickly lost her focus, the creation of Magic Patterns halting completely.

"Hey, hey, hey!! Don’t stop, Su Su!!"

Doudou’s shouting snapped Sister Su back to reality. Trying her utmost to act as if nothing had happened, she resumed her work.

Unfortunately, much to Su Su’s chagrin, it seemed her overreaction had caused her Mentor to stop wiping the sweat from her face.

’Aaaah, how frustrating!!!’

Su Su looked quite cute when she blushed, but she was clearly not as captivating as the culture tank at that moment. Everyone’s attention was completely fixed on the changes happening within it.

Because the blood came from Baru, the various cells within the newly added plasma were far more powerful than the Salamander tissue. However, under the effects of the proteases in Gou Junbao’s essence, they too quickly changed color.

For a moment, the cells from two different species coexisted in harmony, showing no signs of an immune-system-like conflict.

However, this ideal state lasted for less than a few minutes before it began to deteriorate rapidly.

The excessive activation resulted in an energy deficit. They had been fine for a few minutes, but then, within seconds, they all starved themselves to death. Not a single one survived.

"Sigh. A failure."

Doudou let out a sigh, but then he saw his older cousin and Su Su staring intently at the culture tank, their expressions grim. Even Hama Pi wore the same look.

PS: Second Chapter for Wednesday.