Chapter 118: Spirit Severing Flower
"On average, only one in five plants survives. The repulsiveness of the heterogeneous spirit energy within the spirit liquid is indeed too strong. Using living people for experiments would be too costly, but if it's just consuming these weed-like things, then we have as much as we need. All in all, it's not a loss."
For several days straight, Bai Mo continued his research on artificially cultivating spirit grasses in the underground second-floor laboratory. He had tested over three hundred types of herbaceous plants, and only now had he selected a dozen or so with relatively higher success rates for spirit liquid catalysis for further experimentation.
To support the large-scale testing, over half of the reactors on the second floor had already begun operation, with nearly eighty individual reactors continuously supplying spirit liquid.
Every time he produced a new type of spirit grass, he would first personally explore its properties downstairs, ensuring there was no possibility of it harming him, before handing it over to the traditional Chinese medicine experts arranged upstairs for research.
"Let's call this thing 'Spirit Severing Flower'. Its petals can greatly reduce the activity of spirit energy. It should be quite effective for controlling ability users. I really didn't expect the common roadside wild chrysanthemum to have such miraculous effects after spirit energy transformation." Bai Mo entered a new plant into the institute's spirit plant record database.
To test its effect on high-tier ability users, he even tasted a bit himself, but it was instantly dissolved by the surging spirit energy within his body.
"It seems to be merely a relationship between water and fire; a single drop of water cannot extinguish a great blaze. But perhaps this thing can undergo a secondary evolution. Whether it will be effective then is hard to say; further experiments will be needed." He marked this item with a bold symbol in his experimental records.
"Help me arrange a meeting with those busy people." After completing the experiment, Bai Mo picked up the phone in the testing ground and dialed Chen Xi.
"Understood!"
"Just you this time?"
"You didn't state any reason, just suddenly said you needed a meeting. Our personal schedules are all arranged by our secretaries and are difficult to change. So, only I, who happened to have time, came over."
"Consider me presumptuous. Come, take a look at this flower." Bai Mo handed Liu Zhen a Spirit Severing Flower.
"It looks a bit like a wild chrysanthemum. Is there anything special about this flower?"
"If you were to eat this one, you would likely be weakened for a week, and at the same time, you would lose your abilities during that period. Care to try?"
"No thanks."
"Given the immense base number of ordinary wild chrysanthemums, even if only one in a thousand naturally mutates into this, that's still a terrifying quantity."
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
"Nothing much. I just feel that managing criminal ability users is quite troublesome for the state. Why not hand them over to me?" Bai Mo suddenly changed the subject.
"While managing them is indeed a problem, and their crimes are far from deserving of the death penalty, prison staff also find it difficult to control these individuals with superhuman powers. However, they aren't death row inmates, and too many sudden deaths would certainly attract attention."
"After they're anesthetized, send them over to me for a week of 'processing,' then send them back. If you add a bit of this chrysanthemum powder to their daily meals, they'll be much easier to manage from now on."
"I can understand adding something to their food, but why send them to the testing ground first? What use do you have for them?"
"It's classified for now. I'll reveal it once I have results."
"Don't kill them. It would still be troublesome to deal with."
"Don't worry, I know how to apply just the right amount of force. Also, all surveillance cameras on the second underground floor of the testing ground have been removed by me. I don't like being spied on while I work."
"I know."
"I know you know, but I'm still reminding you."
"What exactly is the ability of his eyes? Aside from the different visible spectrum, there must be something else hidden, otherwise, such concealed spy cameras couldn't possibly be discovered." Liu Zhen pondered silently to himself.
Seeing Liu Zhen remain silent, Bai Mo continued, "Don't try to guess what my abilities are. You'd be better off cultivating more with that effort." R`ANObES
"How did you know what I was thinking?!"
"Stop guessing wildly. My ability isn't mind-reading, and even if it were, I wouldn't let you guess it." Bai Mo read the inner panic from the blue light emanating from Liu Zhen's body.
"It seems the integration of the spirit energy system was completely successful this time. I finally gained a complete version of the ability; my drop of blood wasn't wasted." Looking at the light blue on Liu Zhen's body, which indicated slight panic, he mused inwardly.
While Bai Mo was conducting various human experiments safely in the rear at Tianqing, the Sea Race also launched several waves of suicidal assaults, asserting their presence. However, against the well-prepared armies of various nations, these attacks were useless beyond expending ammunition. Still, the ceaseless self-sacrifice began to numb the nerves of all nations...
The Sea Race's renewed landing forced the American government to withdraw some troops from the civil war front line for defense, reducing the pressure on the Independent Army and giving them a chance to catch their breath during the anti-encirclement campaign.
Deep beneath the sea.
"Great Elder, how are the preparations for the plan coming along?"
"It'll probably take another two or three years."
"Speed it up!"
"Mmm..." the mutated whale replied slowly.
"These guys have absolutely no sense of time! What kind of dreadful work efficiency is this? They're not even on the same level as the Zergs I commanded back then, and arranging a plan like this actually takes two or three years!" The Brain Bug suddenly thought of the idiom "anger at one's failure to live up to expectations." "It's more reliable if I supervise it myself."
"Although there hasn't been a high-intensity war, the loss of support from maritime trade has severely impacted the original economic system. The astronomical unemployment figures alone are enough to trouble the old geezers, given that they've always insisted on stability overriding everything." He watched the news on the computer, stretching boredly. The immense power bursting forth from his muscle movements made the surrounding air tremble incessantly.
Ever since getting used to staying in this basement, Bai Mo simply had a dedicated line extended from the Tianqing Contribution Point Center to his location, then reconnected dozens of computers to continue his work of reviewing data.
This behavior, typical of an experimental recluse uninterested in power, naturally garnered unanimous praise from the upper echelons. Laying a few more fiber optic cables or spending a bit more money and resources was no big deal; whatever he needed, he received, as long as his words and actions truly aligned and he didn't attempt to seize power. They were deeply uneasy about this Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, yet for the time being, they had no choice but to rely on him.
Ultimately, they only needed Bai Mo as a grand tiger skin to awe the ability users below, not a real tiger stepping on their heads.
Bai Mo, too, found joy in their, at least on the surface, impeccable cooperative attitude.
Every day, he was busy operating on the ability user prisoners sent from outside, extracting a portion of their spirit energy structures, leaving only enough for their survival. Then, over the next week, he would conduct various torturous tests and experiments to obtain relevant data. Under the supply of super-large doses of anesthetic, these prisoners would remain in a coma for an entire week until they were returned to the prison.
Although they were all ability users with bodies stronger than ordinary people, after such a harrowing ordeal, nearly everyone was as if they had suffered a severe illness. Gradually, as such cases multiplied, rumors began to circulate in the prison...
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