Chapter 1361: Chapter 696: Racing Against Time (Part 2)
In fact, some people had already arrived, while others were still on the way, but the scale was not that much different now.
Having waited for nearly two months, any further delay would soon see the blood fog engulfing the entire Star Alliance.
As they arrived, the lights in the laboratory area gradually lit up, the whole area was pristine and orderly, with precision instruments everywhere.
Meanwhile, in the Dominator Laboratory, Shepherd and others also gathered in the same lab under the summon of the Vermilion Bird.
Shepherd looked around, thinking Azure Dragon had descended, but found no one in the room, his gaze fell on the small red bird before him and he couldnât help but ask, "Vermilion Bird, whatâs going on, does Lord Azure Dragon have urgent matters?"
The Vermilion Birdâs voice was light and ethereal: "The master needs you to connect externally and descend to another laboratory, as biological experts from the Three Great Civilizations, synchronizing research information on the Blood Seed."
"Hmm?" Shepherd couldnât help but be astonished and exchanged glances with the people beside him.
Itâs important to know that their research had always been in a top-secret state, having stayed here for six or seven years without any external contact until now.
And now, Azure Dragon actually wanted them to connect with biological experts from the Three Great Civilizations.
Something must have gone wrong.
Subconsciously, Shepherd thought, his expression couldnât help but become grave, "That thing actually forced Azure Dragon to have to cooperate with the Three Great Civilizations..."
They had been researching that blood-colored meatball for two months and indeed discovered some incomprehensible substances on it, with strange traits in detail.
Now it seemed that the threat of that thing was much greater than they had imagined.
After all, when they entered, the Three Great Civilizations had just dispatched people to besiege Azure Dragon, and it had only been a few years since.
If there was no external force compelling, Azure Dragon would never cooperate with them so easily.
As Shepherd was thinking this, he saw the virtual projection already sketching out around them, hurriedly asking, "Vermilion Bird, did Lord Azure Dragon give any instructions on what not to say?"
"There were none."
None? That means to reveal everything, Shepherd had a bad premonition in his heart, even Azure Dragon couldnât be bothered to play politics with the Three Great Civilizations.
The projection had finished sketching, audio had also synchronized, and a large group of people appeared before Shepherd and others, instinctively scanning past and noticing several familiar faces.
"Rafael, Sernandir, all old acquaintances..."
And several guys they didnât quite get along with before.
"Shepherd?" Anduin, who had arrived at an unknown time, stood to the side, appearing slightly surprised, then contemplative.
Shepherd had been missing for a long time, Anduin even specifically sought out Li Ming once, yet the otherâs reaction was indifferent, confirming Shepherd had not been in trouble.
At the time, he suspected Shepherd was likely working for the other.
"Nandes, Mica, Graham... you guys are actually working for Lord Azure Dragon, no wonder you disappeared for so long..."
There were also some people in the crowd familiar with Nandes and others, greeting them one after another.
Their minds were sharp, and at first glance, they deduced that most likely these guys had developed the Ultimate Gene Seed for Azure Dragon.
After all, in outsidersâ eyes, Azure Dragon had long been the Ultimate Life Form.
Internally, there was inevitably some envy; being experts in tuning Genetic Seeds, who doesnât long for the Ultimate Gene Seed?
"All the biological experts of the interstellar are here, such a grand event..." Shepherd was gradually verifying his bad premonition from the scale at hand.
"Ladies and gentlemen, youâve been researching the Blood Seed for quite some time, in the upcoming period, first synchronize the information at hand to help everyone quickly get into the state."
After both sides exchanged greetings, Li Ming spoke.
Only then did Shepherd realize it was Li Ming standing to the side, even sending students over, Azure Dragon indeed paid a lot of attention.
"Alright." Shepherd nodded.
"Understood, please rest assured, we will do our utmost." Rafael and others were much more respectful, assuring Li Ming.
So respectful?
Seeing this scene, Shepherd couldnât help but feel unexpected, looking around, finding others were similar, he couldnât help but murmur inwardly.
It seems some things had happened in these years as they immersed themselves in studying the Ultimate Gene Seed, and Azure Dragonâs status seemed to have risen quite a bit more.
Shepherd was happy to see this outcome, the more powerful Azure Dragon was, the greater the benefit would be for those who early on clung to Azure Dragonâs metaphorical leg.
Li Ming secretly shook his head, "Itâs a pity these guys have no low Life Levels, generally all at S Level, with several at X Level, life strengths not low, otherwise a Time Distortion Force Field could be applied to accelerate."
Such a high group Time Intensity, once the time differential is raised and the coverage scale is taken to include so many top-notch instruments, the consumption of metal energy would be terrifying, even with over a hundred billion, it couldnât be squandered for long.
In this situation, using metal energy as a consumption power source isnât suitable.
Eternal Silence Star could of course be materialized and used, but the current interstellar era hasnât researched energy sufficient to support Ultimate Weapon routine operation, lagging by a Titan era.
According to Li Mingâs estimation, after the birth of an Ultimate Life Form, with collaborative research samples, the related technology tree would gradually level up.
But now due to his butterfly effect, Eternal Abyss wanted to flip the table, no longer giving this interstellar era room to grow.
Li Ming silently disappeared, while Shepherd organized his thoughts, just ready to speak when he saw someone approaching.
"Rivers?" Shepherd squinted slightly; he and this guy had friction before, the reason he came to Chaotic Star Gap wasnât unrelated to the other.
"What do you want?" Shepherd frowned slightly, not wanting to clash with the other since he hadnât figured out what was going on.
"Shepherd..." Rivers spoke, his face showing a bit of helplessness: "At that time, there was helplessness on our part too; if you continued to stay, the teacherâs heir would surely be you."
"Please, for the sake of past acquaintance, let bygones be bygones."
"Hmm?" Shepherdâs expression shifted slightly, greatly surprised, this guy was actually apologizing to him, even with a hint of pleading?
"Weâll talk about it later, the urgent matter now is dealing with the Blood Seed." Shepherd couldnât ascertain the situation, responding only blandly.
Riversâ face changed, with so many watching, he couldnât say more and had to withdraw.
"This illustrates the importance of mastering a craft." Anduin commented beside him, "However, I didnât expect you to be so capable, even manufacturing the Ultimate Gene Seed earlier than the empire."
"Manufacturing the Ultimate Gene Seed? Who? Me?" Shepherd was dazed, not understanding why Anduin would suddenly say that, but then captured key information and couldnât help asking, "The Empire researched the Ultimate Gene Seed?"
It wasnât just him; nearby Nandes and others all looked at him with disbelief.
His voice wasnât small, and prompted experts who were familiarizing themselves with the surrounding research equipment, even those already in work mode, to look over, faces odd.
"Wait, you didnât know?" Anduin seemed to realize something too, his expression surprised.
"Know what?" Shepherd reflexively asked, with more gazes drawn towards him, some with expressions he couldnât comprehend.
It seemed like anticipation, especially Rafael, whose eyes almost glued to him.
He frowned, realizing something was wrong, and earnestly questioned, "And how did you know the empire researched the Ultimate Gene Seed?"
Anduin didnât immediately answer, this figure already renowned in the interstellar, carried a peculiar smile on his face as he surveyed around, "Are all of you ready?"
Rafaelâs eyes flickered, intentionally responding, "Vice Chairman, you tell him."
"Vice Chairman?" Shepherdâs eyes bulged, staring at Anduin in astonishment, exclaiming, "You are already the Vice Chairman? How can you even..."