Nuobai saw the Bat-winged Demon about to awaken and immediately prepared to draw her blade and strike first.
However, her hand was held down by Su Mo.
Su Mo shook his head, made a gesture for silence, then pointed to himself.
The meaning was: leave it to me.
Under Nuobai's puzzled gaze, Su Mo walked carefully to the wall, feeling around in the dark, and finally found a liquid crystal screen embedded in the wall.
He activated the screen and entered "that string of numbers" from memory.
As the progress bar finished loading, the password was confirmed, and the control terminal was activated.
Seeing this, Su Mo smiled with relief.
He had been worried that certain details of this world might differ from the original storyline.
Unexpectedly, it was exactly the same.
The password input at this control terminal in the original storyline could still be used now.
Su Mo's fingers moved across the liquid crystal screen and finally pressed a button.
"Boom." The sound of the circuit breaker echoed.
The lighting system in the corridor activated, and the dazzling lights instantly made the surrounding area as bright as day.
"Roar—" The Bat-winged Demon was startled awake by the strong light, letting out an angry roar.
Seeing the two humans in front of it, its emotions turned extremely violent, and it spread its wings and charged at them.
Nuobai thought Su Mo had accidentally triggered something, drew her Tang Blade, and stood in front of him, ready to fight the Bat-winged Demon.
Su Mo patted her shoulder, smiled, and said without a hint of tension, "It's okay, leave it to me."
"Roar! Roar!!" The Bat-winged Demon rapidly approached, the air filled with the stench of its roaring breath.
As the Bat-winged Demon charged halfway, Su Mo pressed the red button on the screen.
A mechanical voice sounded from the control terminal, devoid of ups and downs, "Life Sequence Exploration Center's defense system activated, Corridor One laser net initiated."
In the next moment, trenches appeared on the corridor walls and floor, glowing with blinding light, and high-energy laser beams interwove into a giant laser net that blocked the entire corridor.
The charging Bat-winged Demon couldn't stop due to inertia and crashed directly into it, its body immediately showing countless net-like scorch marks, and the air filled with the scent of burning protein.
"Woosh—" The Bat-winged Demon's body fell apart, cut into countless fragments by the high-energy laser beams, scattering everywhere.
Silence.
Even the sound of breathing was faintly audible.
Nuobai stared blankly at the fragmented remains of the Bat-winged Demon, then looked at Su Mo.
She suddenly realized she was no longer shocked, given the many surprises Dr. Chen had already brought her.
At this moment, the lighting system's lights began to flicker frequently, and the high-energy laser beams became unstable, flickering on and off.
Nuobai typed and asked:
[What's going on?]
Su Mo murmured, "The power system is probably reaching its limit..."
This Life Sequence Exploration Center had been running at low power, and suddenly activating the laser defense system imposed a massive load on the entire power grid.
There are more places that need power later, so Su Mo let it return to low-power mode.
"It's okay, let's go." Su Mo opened the isolation door through the control terminal and led the way inside.
Behind the isolation door was a vast space, with a hollow central area and corridor platforms set up around it, totaling five levels.
The area was covered with thick dust, faded warning signs plastered on the doors along the corridors, and all sorts of equipment and instruments were dilapidated.
In the corners were piles of abandoned documents and papers, yellowed and decayed over the long years, almost unrecognizable, with only vague and incomplete formulas and experiment records faintly visible.
However, one thing remained intact: the cold storage facilities between each level.
Due to the power system being in low-power mode, the cold storage had remained at low temperatures for the past century, and thanks to impeccable sealing, the contents showed no signs of decay.
Su Mo pointed to those cold storages and said, "The genetic compilation proteins you need are there; search through them one by one. I also have something to find; we'll split up."
Seeing the sealed drugs in the cold storage, Nuobai, envisioning her upcoming escape from the nightmare of Blood Code Dissociation Syndrome, was filled with excitement.
She ran to the first layer of cold storage but quickly paused, turning back to look at Su Mo.
Her usual cold eyes seemed to melt at that moment.
She picked up her phone and displayed three words to Su Mo:
[Thank you]
Su Mo did not respond to this gratitude.
Thanks?
Nothing to be thankful for.
If she finds the proteins, it's her good luck.
If she doesn't, he can't help.
He didn't bring her here to save her.
Just for his self-preservation, that's all.
Survival, it's a selfishness everyone has.
Being selfish is okay.
If you're smug and self-satisfied after being selfish, as if you've done something great, then you're just plain crazy.
After Nuobai entered the cold storage, Su Mo set the entry door to "stay open" mode, ready for a quick exit later.
He's familiar with the layout here; after finding what he needs, he'll leave alone, bypassing Nuobai.
Otherwise, if she fails to find the genetic compilation proteins and loses control, going on a rampage, it's no joke.
Su Mo descended the stairs directly to the bottom level of cold storage, looking at each compartment.
He murmured to himself, "Section C, Row 12, Column 5, the compartment with the red label..."
He walked to the designated compartment, took a deep breath, just as he had directed the protagonist there multiple times before, and reached out to open it.
A sealed container appeared before Su Mo, filled with an intensely black liquid resembling Ink, giving off an unsettling and murky feeling.
But Su Mo knew well that this seemingly inconspicuous liquid was the only thing in all of Dawn Realm that could save him.
Xeno Gene Fusion Elixir!
An achievement of peak technology from the old era, far beyond current technological capabilities, its function was to perfectly merge the human body with any xeno genes.
In the original storyline, the "protagonist" absorbed Dr. Chen's Ancestral Blood Code after defeating him and experienced the same backlash as Su Mo.
Later, in the main storyline, the protagonist finds the Xeno Gene Fusion Elixir in this Life Sequence Exploration Center to achieve perfect fusion with the Ancestral Blood Code.
Su Mo opened the outer seal of the container, extracted the syringe inside, and tucked it under his clothes to thaw, then quickly left the cold storage.
He warmed the liquid to an injectable temperature, unscrewed the needle without hesitation, and pierced it into his arm vein to administer.
The black liquid entered his body, bringing a chilling sensation, and he could distinctly feel it flowing through his veins, soon transforming into a warm current, converging at his heart.
Su Mo lifted his clothes to look at his chest, and the black cocoon showed signs of shrinking.
"Whew..." He exhaled a breath, his nerves, taut for days, finally starting to relax.
Finally...
The first crisis, finally overcome...
Just as Su Mo awaited the full effect of the Xeno Gene Fusion Elixir, suddenly, an uncanny sensation arose from within.
"Huh?!" Su Mo's expression changed.
Not right...
This feeling...
"Thud!!!" Without warning, Su Mo's heart contracted violently, his entire body tensed up, and his eyeballs surfaced with densely packed blood vessels, causing him to painfully kneel to the ground.