Chapter 44: The Unknown Seed

Hearing Xia Tong's affirmative reply, Hellman and Wang Hanyang—who had been keeping his nerves strained in the corner—felt as though they had just been granted a grand pardon. It was as if all their strength had been drained away in an instant, and they collectively let out a heavy sigh of relief.

As the words fell, Wang Hanyang collapsed directly, breaking into a fit of violent coughing that aggravated his wounds. Yet, there remained a trace of survivorship's lingering joy on his face.

"How truly 'naive'."

Xia Tong twitched the corner of her mouth, a casual remark that had nonetheless given them immense hope...

"Heh..."

...

Hellman's tense nerves relaxed slightly, but her hand gripping the energy skeleton key was still slick with sweat.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and tremblingly aligned the weak blue-glowing key with a small slot on the side of the incubation chamber, gently pushing it in.

A crisp "click" sounded.

The key embedded itself perfectly.

This was the most crucial step in opening the incubation chamber, and she prayed nothing would go wrong.

After a brief reaction period, the operation screen of the incubation chamber instantly lit up. Countless streams of fine data cascaded like a waterfall, rolling rapidly while emitting a faint buzzing sound.

The air in the laboratory seemed to freeze at that moment, with only the shifting lights of the screen reflecting upon their differently expressioned faces.

Finally, the data streams on the screen abruptly stopped, and a few lines of clear text emerged:

[Energy resonance passed... Unlocking S-grade incubation chamber... Unlock complete.]

"Hum..."

A low humming sound echoed, and the thick metal body of the incubation chamber slowly slid open to both sides amidst a slight tremor.

A strange wave of energy spread out like ripples, and the scent of blood and sulfur lingering in the air seemed to be diluted somewhat by this fluctuation.

Through the widening gap of the chamber, a soft and pure light blue halo emanated. Unlike the unsettling deep blue glow that had previously filled the lab, it carried a strange, tranquil serenity instead.

Xia Tong's glass-like cat pupils suddenly narrowed. Almost the moment the chamber door opened, her petite figure transformed into a swift shadow, leaping silently and landing steadily on the edge of the incubation chamber.

She leaned down slightly, her sharp gaze fixed into the interior.

Inside the incubation chamber, there were no complex instruments or biological entities as she had imagined. Instead, a diamond-shaped seed, roughly the size of an adult's fist, was suspended quietly in mid-air.

The seed was bathed entirely in a warm, light blue hue, its surface covered in profound and intricate golden textures. Those patterns seemed endowed with life, flowing slowly beneath the pale blue halo and exuding an indescribably exuberant vitality, as if an entire world were gestating within it.

Could this be...?

A large seed?

A blue seed brimming with life!

And the very instant Xia Tong laid eyes on this seed, the illusory wood-attribute crystal core prototype that had just formed deep within her body suddenly erupted with an unprecedented, near-mad desire to devour!

That feeling was akin to a dying traveler in a desert catching sight of an oasis, or a beast starved for days smelling the aroma of fresh prey. It threatened to shatter her reason, driving her to pounce forward recklessly and devour the seed entirely!

"Gulp..."

A very low whimper escaped Xia Tong's throat. She forcefully suppressed this instinctual urge to devour, her claws digging deeply into the metal rim of the incubation chamber.

"What on earth is going on with this attraction?"

Simultaneously, a strange fluctuation echoed in her mind, and the cold electronic prompt of the [Origin Core] sounded right on cue:

[Unknown energy seed detected???]

[Composition analysis: Suspected to contain extremely pure wood-attribute energy???]

[Energy level: Unknown (Exceeding current measurable range)???]

[Specific function: Unknown???]

[Warning: This object exhibits a relevant resonance with the host's life essence, highly suspected to be of homologous origin. Forced absorption may entail unpredictable potential risks!]

[Comprehensive recommendation: Absorb with caution???]

...

Xia Tong: "..."

"Absorb with caution? Since it has to be absorbed either way, what difference does this forced absorption make?"

A hint of struggle flickered across her glass-like cat pupils. This longing originating from the depths of her soul was simply too intense, almost drowning out her willpower.

She could clearly sense that once she completely swallowed this light blue seed, her wood-attribute ability—no, even her very life tier—might undergo a heaven-shaking transformation!

Yet, this required bearing unknown risks... Thinking of this, Xia Tong's heart tightened, and she fell into an agonizing internal dilemma.

Even the [Origin Core] could not predict the risks involved, and she had no idea what consequences a rash absorption might bring. She needed to ponder this carefully.

Suddenly, Hellman's trembling voice came from below, tinged with a trace of imperceptible greed and fear:

"This... This is the base's highest secret, the S-class experimental specimen 'Seed of Life'! It is the powerful product of multiple 'gene fusions'. It is said... It is said to allow ordinary people to directly awaken powerful abilities, and can even... Even bring the dead back to life!"

She stared fixedly at the seed, then cast a terrified glance at Xia Tong. "You... You promised to let us go! Now that this seed is yours, you can't..."

"Noisy." Xia Tong didn't even look back, her cold voice directly cutting off Hellman's nonsense.

Hellman instantly fell silent, the familiar chill sobering her up immediately and leaving her too terrified to speak further.

Xia Tong's attention was not on her at all. She stared fixedly at the seed, the balance in her heart swaying violently between desire and reason.

Just as she was trying to analyze the [Origin Core]'s "absorb with caution" advice accompanied by three question marks, the [Origin Core]'s prompts did not end there. Below the line reading "potential risks," an even briefer yet thunderbolt-like message slowly emerged:

[Supplementary information: The core of this seed... is suspected to contain a faint, residual... 'kindred' soul imprint.]

"Huh?"

"Are you kidding me!"

Could they stop shrinking such crucial information so small? Weren't they trying to harm a cat? The moment she read those words, Xia Tong's heart suffered a violent shock, her fur standing on end, and her pupils instantly contracting into two dangerous vertical slits.

That sentence—"suspected to contain a faint, residual... 'kindred' soul imprint"—pierced deep into her consciousness like the sharpest icicle.

In an instant, every hair on her body nearly stood up, and a thrill of horror originating from the depths of her soul made her almost slip off the edge of the incubation chamber.

"Kindred?" The word stirred up monstrous waves in her mind.

"Is it a 'kindred' like her?"

"Could there be other returners?"

It was simply unbelievable. At the core of this seemingly infinitely vibrant light blue seed, the traces of another soul were actually imprinted?

Xia Tong's glass-like cat pupils stared dead at the seed inside the chamber, the gentle pale blue halo now carrying a hint of eerie danger in her eyes.

The previous desire that had threatened to swallow her reason was instantly replaced by a far stronger vigilance and solemnity.