The Collection of The End

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Although I have some doubts about Ariel's connection with this federal secret base, the information here was originally given by her, so it's not like she's calling for a thief.

Renault looked at the vine a few times before, but couldn't find anything because he had no professional knowledge.

"It seems quiet outside, let's go." He said.

"Wait." Tosh raised his hand to stop Tychus from opening the door, then put his finger in his mouth and whistled.

call out--

A flying sword shining with dark red light appeared out of thin air, and then slipped out from the crack of the door, while Tosh closed his eyes and began to control it remotely.

"Man, there's nothing to eat here." Tychus spread his hands.

Hissssss——

Renault vaguely heard the low sound of the lightsaber cutting through the air outside the door, but there was no sound of anything being cut.

"...Okay, they did leave," Tosh opened his eyes again, then took out a piece of military dry food from his armor storage compartment, and while chewing it, he turned to Tychus and said, "If it is not used for a long time, , it’s enough to consume these things as needed.”

"Oh..." Ariel looked at Tosh with surprise.

"Hmm, psykers are really convenient." Tychus turned and pushed open the door.

Renault walked out of the door of the rest area with a standard "entering enemy-occupied territory" low posture and took a quick look around.

The vines that had been banging on the door had disappeared, and only the rust marks on the door and other metal surfaces proved their presence.

"Safe." He gestured to Jimmy and Tychus who were ready to respond inside, and continued to move quickly to the intersection where the mine turned toward the rest area, and then discovered that there was no trace of the vine monster here either.

This is a bit strange, Renault thought. If they were attracted by the noise, they would have to stay nearby for a while after it stopped, but now it seems that they are more like being "summoned" and are useless. Then he was "driven away" directly.

He quietly turned his head and glanced at Ariel, who could do such a thing right there,

There is only one botanist who has been acting strangely, but how did she do it?

"Ms. Hansen, those vine monsters have launched an attack, so the next trip may be in danger at any time." Renault did not intend to guess, and decided to directly test: "Now that you have gained something, for safety reasons, should you return to the ground first?" OK? I can have Jimmy escort you."

"Okay~ Uh, no, I mean, I follow the commander's arrangements." Jimmy cheered for a moment before explaining in a nonchalant manner.

"That's not really a gain, Sheriff Renault." Ariel pushed up her glasses: "As for this small vine, I have roughly guessed the purpose of the experiment on it, but more is needed. Evidence, don’t worry about safety issues, I will protect myself.”

"If you insist." Renault nodded and continued walking deeper into the mine.

There is no need to test. When faced with a vine attack of that scale, she can still confidently say "she can protect herself." It is strange that she has no connection with those monsters.

For the same reason, if she wants to be detrimental to this group of people, she doesn't have to do such roundabout things. Then, there is only one answer:

She wanted to obtain certain research results stored deep in the base by the Federation, but those mindless vines couldn't help her at all, so she made such a trip in person.

Since she wanted to maintain her identity as a "human" so much, there was no need to go out of her way to expose it when she clearly had no intention of harming Haiwen.

The only question is, where are those federal soldiers and researchers?

If she ordered the vine to kill, then...

————

A few hours later, deep in the Diazine Mine.

Renault and his party discovered a second laboratory, but the things inside...

"Wow, vomit..." Jimmy covered his mouth and retched.

"Hey, these things seem to be edible, what do you think, would you like to bake them and eat them?" Tychus was not affected at all.

"Even if I starve to death, I won't eat this!" Tuo Xu expressed firm opposition.

Renault was well-informed, so it was not disgusting, but he thought he still couldn't do it like Tychus, who didn't care at all and even talked about food.

In the laboratory where this discovery was made, a group of strange "hybrid creatures" were on display. They looked like pigs, cows, and sheep, but inexplicably some plants grew out of their bodies. In addition to vines, these plants In addition, there are herbs and even woody plants.

There are various states of "hybridization" of these animals and plants. For example, "onions stuck in pigs' noses" is not just an afterthought here, but there are indeed pigs with onions growing from their noses.

Of course, whether it is an animal growing grass or grass growing from an animal's body, it is all in a state of death. This may be why Jimmy keeps retching but never actually vomits out.

"Ms. Hansen, what are you going to do?" Reno turned his attention to Ariel, who had been wandering around after discovering this laboratory: "I sincerely hope you will not trigger any more alarms."

"I plan to find a living one, but it seems unlikely," Ariel sighed: "Don't you think these animals are cute? Chief Renault?"

"I don't think so at all." Renault replied without hesitation.

"Well...it's really hard for most people to understand the harmonious beauty of this nature." Ariel sighed.

"I would rather never understand," Renault responded again and decided to change the subject: "Then what did you discover? What is the Federation doing here?"

"They seem to be conducting experiments on the fusion of plants and animals, and the main subjects are those vines." Ariel turned over the experimental records left in the laboratory: "In most cases, the vines that are fused with animals will become other types. Plants, and experimental animals will die quickly, but their research found that the higher the intelligence of animals, the lower the probability of death after fusion."

"...Don't say that they finally chose a 'person' for the experiment." The corners of Renault's eyes twitched.

If that is true, it is not difficult to guess what the Federation, which does not regard clones as human beings, will do.

"Perhaps, but at least not in this laboratory," Ariel put away the experimental records: "Their final conclusion is that animals with low intelligence cannot accept plants growing on their bodies, so the rejection reaction leads to The death of both parties, and the higher the intelligence of the animal, the easier it is to accept this fact. If it were a human, there might not be any rejection reaction at all."

"I can already foresee what we will encounter at the bottom of the mine." Renault smacked his lips and decided not to imagine what the "finished product" of that kind of experiment would be.