Chapter 285 - 281: Prototype Established

Chapter 285: Chapter 281: Prototype Established

By the time the sky outside began to lighten, nearly half the animals on the test benches—rabbits, mice, and the like—were already dead.

Without exception, all the dead ones were those injected with the Type-B culture, a mixture of Type-A dead cell material and Baru’s blood. In contrast, those injected directly with Type-A were still alive, despite showing some initial adverse reactions.

The test subjects hadn’t died from rejection, but because they couldn’t withstand the corrosion of Baru’s blood cells.

Su Su discovered this through her Magic Divination and Perception.

In the end, the rabbit died, but Baru’s blood cells did not.

However, very little of the Type-A residue that had accompanied Baru’s cells remained; it seemed to have been absorbed by the rabbit.

This discovery prompted Qin Xiaoxia to have Su Su immediately investigate the animals injected with pure Type-A. She found that the amount of Type-A substance in their bodies had indeed significantly decreased.

At this point, the animals still living began to show signs of distress.

Some were convulsing, some were bleeding from their mouths and noses, and some had simply lost control of their bowels and bladder.

"Damn, big cousin is even more ruthless than I am!"

Doudou exclaimed, his keen perception telling him the animals were in immense pain.

Su Su shot him a glare. ’My Mentor is nothing like you.’

Patience is an essential factor in any experiment. To satisfy his curiosity, even the most impatient Doudou had been standing dumbly in the lab for nearly 24 hours with no intention of leaving.

Su Su’s Magic Pattern recording never stopped. However, her hope that her Mentor would wipe her sweat again didn’t come to pass. Mainly because she hadn’t been sweating much later on, and her hands were free, so there was no suitable excuse.

At around the 24-hour mark, the reactions of the surviving animals began to intensify, something everyone in the lab had anticipated.

This was the moment they had been waiting for.

Petals from the Flower of Life floated out of a lab storage cabinet. With a gesture from Qin Xiaoxia, they turned to powder and flew into the animals’ mouths.

With this move, some of the animals that were on the verge of death were kept alive for the time being, twitching nonstop.

It looked quite cruel, but not even Su Su so much as furrowed her brow.

Sentimentality had its place, but not here. Every single possibility of strengthening Dawn was precious.

Through the continuous depiction of the Magic Patterns, everyone could share Su Su’s perceptions at that moment.

Drastic changes were occurring inside the animals’ bodies.

A delicate balance was being precariously maintained only by the power of the Flower of Life.

Half an hour later, Doudou’s eyes went wide.

"Mus... cly... rab... bit!!"

The first few rabbits that were injected had lost most of their fur, but their muscles were bulging rapidly, and they had grown two to three times their original size.

Though they still looked to be in pain, their limbs moved with incredible power.

However, although Type-A was a dark, residual liquid, its various serial numbers represented different biological materials. This variation wasn’t reflected in the test subjects.

Almost every one of them had turned into a "Power Rabbit" or "Power Mouse," as if they’d eaten a special kind of spinach.

This state lasted for nearly an hour.

Then... POP! POP! POP!

With a series of pops, all the transformed animals inside the Secret Realm Membrane exploded one after another, leaving basically none alive.

"Their fundamental constitution was just too weak..."

Their basic physical quality meant that even with the Flower of Life extending their lives, they were just barely holding on. In the end, the imbalance still led to death.

"What a shame. If they had just held on for a few more hours, they might have stabilized."

Su Su also sighed, then turned to her Mentor with a smile.

"Mentor, this is still effective to some degree, right? After all, the physical strength of Dawn’s members should be enough to handle it, shouldn’t it?"

Qin Xiaoxia shook his head.

"You’re mistaken if you think that. Let’s tentatively call this the ’Initial Magic Potion’ for now. Dawn’s members could indeed withstand it, but that’s because their physical constitution is already very strong. This stuff can turn a little white rabbit into a muscle-bound beast, but it wouldn’t provide much of a boost to our members. It would only add to their suffering."

"It might be effective for ordinary people, but we already have several training methods that can safely and steadily improve a person’s strength. Why would we use such a painful and dangerous method? Besides, without long-term training, they probably wouldn’t be able to control such a sudden increase in power."

Sister Su nodded thoughtfully. ’A Mentor is a Mentor for a reason.’

Only Doudou muttered something.

"And the Silent Knight training has nothing to do with pain and danger?"

The remark immediately left Qin Xiaoxia speechless. He flicked Doudou on the forehead. ’You and your damn big mouth.’

"However, once they reach the Soul Burning Level as an Official Knight, they could try a potion with higher-level materials. We just don’t have any suitable ones."

The Type-A Catalyst Magic Potion now has two uses. One is producing a material similar to Magic Steel—the type and formula still need gradual adjustment. The other is creating an inferior Enhancing Magic Potion. It’s useless to Dawn, but it could actually be very useful for ordinary people.

The letter designations are general categories; they can be further subdivided based on materials and effects. This will require subsequent experiments.

Type-B is just Type-A mixed with the blood of a Dawn member. The ones currently being cultured show no effects yet. We can add Magic Energy Crystal powder later or continue the cultivation.

As for Type-C, that’s when nutrients are continuously added while Gou’s Catalyst and the cells are still active. It’s been a day and a night, and there’s been no change. Through several attempts, we’ve found that if it goes without sufficient nutrients for just four minutes, it will collapse within seconds and revert to Type-A.

The good news is that these cells have finally started to divide and multiply. This means that even if they eventually collapse, we’ll get a larger quantity of Type-A Catalyst Magic Potion.

However, the more they divide, the more insufficient the amount of Gou’s Catalyst—the key to the balance—becomes. There’s probably a limit to it.

All in all, it wasn’t a complete waste of time.

There’s really no need to stay in the lab any longer. The next steps are just mechanical repetition or mixing different formulas based on existing materials. Hama Pi is more than capable of handling that.

Qin Xiaoxia was most interested in innovative exploration, but he couldn’t continue. It wasn’t that his mental state couldn’t take it; it was that Brother Gou’s three-vial supply hadn’t lasted very long.

Even after separating and using the last vial, it was all used up before dawn.

’I thought this would be more than enough. I can’t believe I squandered it all in just a day and a night...’

Qin Xiaoxia inwardly debated whether he should ask Brother Gou for another donation, but considering he had only gotten these three vials a few days ago, continuously squeezing him dry probably wasn’t a good idea.

...

"Hah..."

Gou Junbao woke up in his castle room, drenched in sweat.

"Huff... huff... huff..."

He gasped for breath, wiping the sweat from his brow with a tissue from the bedside table.

It was still the middle of the night where he was. He had just woken up from a nightmare.

But he hadn’t dreamed of being squeezed dry. Instead, he dreamed that a pile of monsters were calling him "daddy." He could still accept Gou Dandan leading the pack, but some of them were pigs, dogs, cats, donkeys, and all sorts of other terrifying, grotesque creatures. They all surrounded him, and no matter how he tried, he couldn’t escape the dream.

"Junbao, what’s wrong?"

As someone who had been through the training of Baru Hell, Xiao Lili woke at the slightest disturbance.

"It’s nothing, nothing... Just a nightmare."

But seeing his wife was awake, Gou Junbao immediately cast aside the lingering fear from his nightmare and glanced at the small cooler by the bed.

"Um, Lili, I need to make a contribution to the association..."

Hearing this, Xiao Lili knew what Gou Junbao wanted to do and couldn’t help but squeeze her legs together.

"You... still haven’t had enough..."

"Hehe, I just had a nightmare, right? Just think of it as comforting me..."

With that, Gou Junbao pounced on Xiao Lili like a starving tiger.

"No, no, no!!! I’ll use my mouth..."

Ahem. Because the members of Dawn had such outstanding Perception and freakishly good hearing, every room in the castle was actually isolated by its own Secret Realm, so there was no need to worry about one’s private life being disturbed.

Within the multiple Secret Realms, each layer was its own castle with more rooms than they could ever use. All the exhausting work Qin Xiaoxia and the Red Demoness put into weaving the Secret Realms had paid off.

But today, there was an exception.

At that moment, the Red Demoness was sitting on the surface of the sea. Her long red hair and her body swayed with the ocean waves. Her hair fluttered in the gentle breeze, a picturesque scene under the night sky.

The tide tonight was somewhat special, making her senses unusually sharp, and she couldn’t help but receive bits of information from within the Secret Realms.

She propped herself up with her hands on the sea’s surface, tilting her head back to gaze at the star-filled night sky. A curve like the bright moon in the heavens formed on her crimson lips.

"So you can use your mouth, huh..."

PS: Chapter two for Thursday.