The two guys followed Mua'dib's guidance, passing through intricate metal corridors, eventually arriving at a heavy alloy door. The door slowly slid open, revealing a spacious and cold laboratory.
As far as the eye could see, there were numerous transparent glass jars filled with nutrient solution, arranged at varying heights on both sides of the room, glowing with a faint green or amber light.
Inside each glass jar floated biological tissues of various forms; some were complete organs, gently undulating in the nutrient solution, pulsating with a faint glow; others were amorphous masses of flesh, connected to intricate tubes and sensors.
The air was filled with a strong smell of disinfectant, mixed with the peculiar sweet and fishy odor of some biological culture medium, which sent shivers down one's spine.
"Uh, this doesn't look too good," Caleb couldn't help but whisper, looking around. His body instinctively tensed up a bit, and his stomach felt a little queasy. The organs wriggling in the jars reminded him of scenes from horror movies.
"I think this perfectly fits my stereotype of a biological laboratory," Andrew, on the other hand, seemed much calmer. He even had the presence of mind to comment.
Just then, a tall figure emerged from the shadows in the depths of the laboratory. Magos Reddito, the Tech-Priest, his mechanical eyes glowed red, appearing particularly solemn and detached under the cold light of the laboratory.
"You've arrived," Magos Reddito's voice was as calm as ever, without the slightest emotional fluctuation. He raised a metal finger, pointing to two surgical beds placed side by side in the center of the laboratory. The beds were cold and surrounded by various precise instruments. "Lie down."
The two guys exchanged glances. Although they both felt apprehensive, the allure of becoming an astartes far outweighed everything else. They followed the instructions and successively lay down on the cold surgical beds. After Caleb lay down, curiosity once again got the better of him, and he casually asked, "Magos Reddito, which of these organs are usable?"
"None of them are usable," Magos Reddito replied without turning his head, as he was making the final preparations. His fingertips were adjusting a complex mechanical arm, emitting a faint hum.
"Huh?" Caleb was stunned, somewhat confused.
Magos Reddito's mechanical eyes turned slightly towards them, the light seeming to become more focused. He explained, "I am not a sage specializing in biology. Although I have a large number of finished organs for data analysis and have found the remaining modification equipment and related data from that battle group, the creations of the Omnissiah are not so easily controlled."
Speaking of this, Magos Reddito's usually unfluctuating voice actually carried a clear hint of regret: "Unfortunately, although the sage of the Martyr's battle group who was in charge of the modifications is dead, the encryption he set up is still effective. I only obtained a portion of his knowledge.
If I could have acquired all of it, the modifications would have been much easier. At least the manufacturing of the organ manufacturing machine wouldn't have been a problem, which means I still need a large number of human experiments to determine those fluctuating data."
"Is it really okay to tell us so much?" Andrew, on the other surgical bed, glanced at Magos Reddito.
"It doesn't matter," Magos Reddito's mechanical arm didn't pause for a moment. His red mechanical eyes coldly swept over the two of them. "Anyway, you're both going to die soon."
"Uh, that makes so much sense, I can't even refute it," Andrew accepted Magos Reddito's logic, even nodding. "But what if we both succeed in the modification?"
"Then you will become space marines, and you will also be qualified to know these things," Magos Reddito's preparatory work finally came to an end. He turned and stood beside Caleb's surgical bed. His red mechanical eyes stared intently at Caleb. "Alright, enough small talk. Let's start with you."
Caleb looked at the high-speed rotating circular saw extending from behind Magos Reddito and the various surgical tools glinting coldly beside him. His heart rate instantly accelerated, and he forced a smile that was uglier than crying.
"Wait," Caleb swallowed, "Can I have an anesthetic?"
"No," Magos Reddito refused mercilessly. "At most, I will fully restrain you. Anesthesia is a variable and will affect the accuracy of the data."
His mechanical arm had already extended, beginning to fix Caleb's limbs. Tough restraints bound him firmly to the surgical bed.
"It's okay, Caleb," Andrew watched his brother's predicament, the corners of his mouth curving up as he stifled a laugh. "Anyway, the maximum pain will only be like hitting your finger with a hammer. Just bear with it."
"That's still very painful, isn't it!" Caleb cried out in despair. He could feel the restraints getting tighter and tighter, and Magos Reddito's mechanical arm had already reached towards his body... darkness, boundless darkness.
First, a slight tremor, followed by a familiar "hiss," as if some pressure valve had been opened. Caleb's eyelashes fluttered, and his consciousness broke free from the deep chaos, slowly opening his eyes.
What met his gaze was no longer cold metal walls and eerie culture jars, but the familiar, somewhat messy ceiling of his own bedroom. The energy-saving lamp above emitted a soft white light, and the air was filled with a faint scent of household cleaner. He instinctively sat up, his body a bit stiff, but there was no intense pain or discomfort as he had imagined.
He found himself lying in the streamlined, high-tech gaming pod. The pod's lid had automatically opened, revealing the soft padding inside. He rubbed his throbbing forehead, looking curiously into the pod.
The indicator light on the side wall of the pod was flashing red, indicating an anomaly. He leaned closer and found that the nutrient solution storage tank at the bottom of the gaming pod was empty, with some turbid liquid remaining at the bottom.
"The nutrient solution ran out..." Caleb murmured to himself, instantly understanding. The gaming pod would automatically wake the player when the nutrient solution ran out, to prevent accidents.
Almost as soon as he understood, a similar "hiss" sound came from beside him. Caleb turned his head and saw the lid of the adjacent gaming pod slowly opening. Andrew also sat up from inside, looking bewildered, his hair a bit messy, his eyes showing the daze of just waking from deep sleep.
"Hmm?" Andrew also instinctively checked his own gaming pod, his brows gradually furrowing. "The nutrient solution ran out? But I remember filling it for a week before I went in?"
Caleb's memory also gradually returned. He tried to recall his last experience in the game: "If I remember correctly, today, forty days of Wahammer time after we started the modifications, and after dying more than twenty times repeatedly, that damned oil-man finally said the black carapace problem was also solved, and he even said we were lucky and decided to start the formal modification, and then he gave me an anesthetic shot..."
As he spoke, Caleb's eyes suddenly lit up, and an uncontrollable euphoria appeared on his face: "So, that means we'll be space marines when we wake up?!"
Andrew's gaze was much calmer than his. He slowly shook his head, pouring a bucket of cold water: "Not necessarily. The success rate of modifying adults into space marines isn't high... but it also depends on the situation; the Wolf Lords, for example, are mostly modified adults. But one thing is clear: at least for the next month of Earth time, we won't be able to go online."
Caleb's excitement cooled down a bit: "It seems so... So what are we going to play for the next month?"
"Uh, how about checking the game forums first?"
Caleb scratched his head, climbed out of the gaming pod, and went straight to the computer desk nearby. He skillfully pressed the power button, the screen lit up, and desktop icons appeared one by one.
The forum page loaded, and the sticky announcements and hot posts on the homepage made his pupils contract sharply.
"Holy crap, bro!" Caleb suddenly turned his head, his face filled with shock. "The game updated while we were unconscious!"