Chapter 307 Using His Own Flesh and Blood to Grow Plants
Under Steven's watchful eye, Chase rolled up his sleeve, revealing an arm packed with seeds just under the skin.
Suddenly, he clenched his fist and started to strain. Steven noticed a white glow flickering between Chase's eyebrows.
In the next moment, Chase's arm began to squirm like a bunch of bugs were trying to break free from under his skin!
The skin split open, and a blood-stained stalk of wheat sprouted out. It was a vibrant green, but the blood made it look super creepy.
Then came the second stalk, the third, the fourth...
As the seeds were forced to grow, Chase's face got paler and paler.
"Enough, I get it!" Steven cut him off, not letting him continue with his demonstration.
This ability was dangerous. Basically, it was a form of "self-sacrifice," using his own flesh and blood to grow plants.
If Steven had to rate this ability, it would definitely be low-tier.
The cost was too high, and the payoff was just meh.
Chase was panting hard, then called Joseph in to help remove the seedlings and transplant them into petri dishes.
"Snowfall Cult..." Steven muttered, feeling a mix of curiosity and caution.
Clearly, Chase's ability wasn't like a normal psychic's; it was triggered by something external.
The white glow between his eyebrows had to have some side effects.
Even though Steven didn't know what those side effects were yet, he didn't believe anyone would give something for nothing.
If Chase had shown off a combat-related power instead of this plant-growing one, Steven would've killed him on the spot.
"That's it, I'm outta here." Steven lost interest and turned to leave the cultivation room.
Chase collapsed to the ground, finally realizing his back was drenched in sweat.
For Steven, this was just a curiosity visit, but for Chase and everyone in Building 18, they had just danced on the edge of hell.
If Steven had changed his mind even a little, they'd all be dead.
Steven headed back to the safe house, planning to wait for the next developments before deciding his next move.
If the shelter got hit by a missile, he'd need to quickly figure out where to go next.
That place wouldn't be Sunshine Community, since it wasn't completely safe either.
Maybe another safe spot in Starlight City, or perhaps somewhere more remote in the suburbs.
'I hope Lily pulls it off. If she can get that chip into the network center computer at West Mountain Base, I could turn the tables,' Steven thought.
But for now, all he could do was wait for Lily's next move.
At West Mountain Base...
After her trip to The Fourth Life Warehouse, Lily was dead set on getting her students out of there ASAP. Otherwise, most of them wouldn't make it through what was coming.
Failing to capture Steven had cost West Mountain Base a lot of their top fighters, including half their cyborgs. To make up for the loss, they were definitely going to ramp up human experimentation.
Time was running out.
Lily headed towards The Second Life Warehouse.
She lived in this area, and it was also where the information department of West Mountain Base was, along with some other key departments.
When she got to The Second Life Warehouse, she found the hallway packed with people.
These were villagers from Cox Town, all dressed in gray clothes and wearing electronic handcuffs, lined up against the wall.
Armed guards were patrolling back and forth, their sharp eyes keeping the villagers in check, making sure no one got any funny ideas.
Seeing Lily, a soldier immediately saluted. "Captain Evans!"
Lily's combat uniform had the gold star insignia of a captain, a big deal at West Mountain Base.
Lily nodded and walked over, casually asking, "What's going on here?"
The soldier glanced at the downcast villagers, then stepped closer to Lily and whispered, "Orders from the top. They're set for mass mutation experiments!"
Lily's eyes widened.
'Mutation experiments? This many people, all at once?'
She couldn't help but think of the twisted bodies she'd seen being shoved into the food processing plant.
The human mutation experiments at West Mountain Base were an open secret; everyone in the higher levels of the Life Warehouse knew about them.
It was just that the test subjects in The Fourth Life Warehouse weren't in on it.
"Why so many? The success rate of these experiments isn't that high, right?" Lily asked quietly.
The soldier looked a bit surprised. He glanced at Lily a few more times, asking, "You mean you didn't know about this?"
As a captain-level natural psychic, Lily had certain privileges at West Mountain Base, and the soldier assumed she was in the loop.
Lily said, "I haven't been at the base for long, so I'm not fully aware."
The soldier nodded, understanding. "Oh, got it. That makes sense."
He continued, "Actually, it's pretty straightforward. The special forces team that went on the mission suffered almost total casualties, causing a significant loss in the base's combat power. The higher-ups probably want to make up for that loss in combat strength!"
Lily quietly clenched her fists, her knuckles cracking, her eyes filled with hatred for Peter, the base leader.
She had thought these villagers were taken as laborers, but she hadn't expected Peter to be even more ruthless than she imagined!
These villagers weren't even considered laborers; they were here to be test subjects!
Looking at her missing students, she knew how low the success rate of these experiments was.
Lily looked at the long line, as if seeing a flock of lambs waiting for the reaper's scythe.
Most of these people would die, and their bodies would be processed into protein substitutes.
Lily's throat moved twice, her stomach churning, almost making her vomit on the spot.
She turned and walked inside.
But suddenly, she realized a problem.
The Second Life Warehouse housed all the core departments of West Mountain Base.
The Experiment Department, Information Department, Engineering Department, Food Safety Department, Storage Center... and so on.
However, the underground space of West Mountain Base was limited, so these departments were interconnected and not far from Lily's quarters.
Moreover, it seemed Peter believed that the root of the base's unrest could only come from The Fourth Life Warehouse, as the people in the higher Life Warehouses were beneficiaries with no reason to rebel.
Therefore, West Mountain Base mainly guarded against people from The Fourth Life Warehouse.
As a result, although the Second Life Warehouse housed all the key departments, it wasn't heavily guarded.
On normal days, there were patrolling guards. However, the failure of this mission had significantly reduced the number of patrolling guards.
Additionally, a large number of soldiers were needed to maintain order while sending over 400 Cox Town villagers for experiments.
So many people crowded the corridors of The Second Life Warehouse, causing a certain degree of chaos.
For her, this was the best opportunity to enter the Information Department!
Lily walked while observing her surroundings.
This operation couldn't afford to fail; she had to be cautious.
As she passed the entrance of the Information Department, Lily slowed down a bit to scope out the situation.
Just then, a soldier guarding the villagers noticed her.
Lily bypassed the Information Department and, as she turned a corner, suddenly heard a voice behind her, "Ms. Evans, please wait a moment!"
Lily's back tensed up, but she forced herself to turn around calmly.
She saw a soldier in combat uniform walking toward her with a gun.
"Is there something you need?" Lily asked, keeping her voice steady.
To her surprise, the soldier was silent for a moment, then took off his helmet, revealing a somewhat youthful face.
"Ms. Evans, it's me!"
Seeing the person in front of her, Lily couldn't help but exclaim, "Nathan!"
The soldier in front of her was one of her students who had been taken away.
Nathan Ellis looked around cautiously, then approached Lily and said, "Ms. Evans, so you became the captain of the special forces. I'm so envious of you!"
"What's going on? Why are you part of the special forces?" Lily asked, staring at him.
Nathan gave a bitter smile. "Don't you really know? I'm the only successful test subject among the students who were taken away."
He unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his chest.
There was a terrifying dark red scar, like a bizarre grafting mark left by a plant.
Lily felt a surge of emotion and couldn't help but hug Nathan tightly. "Thank goodness, you're still alive! What about the others? Are they all dead?" Lily asked nervously.
Nathan's eyes dimmed as he nodded. "They're all dead."
Although she had expected this outcome, Lily still felt a pang of sadness.
Other soldiers passed by, but seeing Lily talking to Nathan, they said nothing and walked away.
After all, Lily was the captain of the special forces and had authority over them. It wasn't unusual for her to talk to Nathan.
Looking at Nathan, Lily suddenly had an idea.
If she acted alone, the risk would be high. But if someone could cooperate with her, especially a member of the special forces, the chances of successfully infiltrating the Information Department would be much higher!
Lily looked around and said to Nathan, "Come with me, I have something to tell you."
Nathan didn't hesitate for a moment. Since the apocalypse began, he had endured countless horrors.
Now, there was only one person he could trust in this world—Lily.
Without Lily, he and the other students would have perished long ago.
Now, in his monstrous form, he still longed for warmth and redemption from Lily.
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