Chapter 101: 000183 Seconds

"So direct?" Lin Qing raised an eyebrow slightly.

"You humans like to probe with rhetoric to break down others' psychological defenses."

Chen Guang said calmly, "But I am an intelligent life form. I appeared to see you only because there was a possibility you could become my master. Based on my judgment of human psychology... the possibility that you want to obtain me is close to 100%."

"Oh?" Lin Qing suddenly understood.

No wonder, among the many patrols withdrawing from the research institute, not a single one mentioned Chen Guang, this intelligent life form, not a shred of intelligence; it turned out she had never appeared at all?

He couldn't help but ask, "No one else has seen you?"

"Before you, only Father has seen me," Chen Guang said. "Since Father passed away and the master-binding was lifted, only you have been capable of fulfilling the master-binding conditions."

"Dr. Chu Hui is dead?"

Lin Qing was slightly stunned and couldn't help asking, "Wasn't he imprisoned?"

"I can confirm his soul has already scattered," Chen Guang said slowly. "I am merely following his final command before death, gathering gene modification charts with sufficient data for him, and watching over his research institute."

"No wonder entering the research institute requires gathering a thousand gene modification charts..."

Lin Qing pondered, then sized up this intelligent life form whose appearance was like an angel, and asked, "So, you are willing to leave with me?"

"That depends on you," Chen Guang looked at him. "If you cannot satisfy the conditions, I cannot leave either."

"Oh?" Lin Qing raised an eyebrow slightly and asked, "Cannot leave?"

"I am an intelligent life form born alongside a special treasure," Chen Guang said. "You must obtain the acknowledgment of that treasure before I can bind myself to you as master."

"Where is that treasure?" Lin Qing couldn't help but ask.

"The Core Control Room," Chen Guang said.

Lin Qing frowned slightly and immediately asked, "Are you saying... the laser corridor?"

"Yes," Chen Guang said. "When Father left, he didn't expect to die, so he left that most important treasure in the Core Control Room. That place is the most fortified area of the entire research institute, with the highest defense level."

"Fine, I'll go now," Lin Qing nodded.

"You cannot go."

Chen Guang shook her head and said, "Before Father left, he input commands with the highest authorization. Except for him, only by finding his bio-chip can one pass through that laser corridor."

She looked at Lin Qing and said, "You must find his bio-chip before your gene awakening, only then can you attempt to bind yourself as master."

Lin Qing was speechless.

Dr. Chu Hui was a big shot of the Illuminati, a true high-level figure in the Urban Circle. He, a mere patrol officer who couldn't even get into the Urban Circle, still wanted to find Dr. Chu Hui's important relic?

A fool's dream.

If it were like this, he would rather give up.

"Aren't you an intelligent life form? Can't you forcibly shut down the laser corridor?" Lin Qing frowned and said.

Chen Guang shook her head and said, "Father was worried about this situation occurring, so he set the laser corridor to a safety-locked state, completely isolated from the research institute. The laser corridor can only be manually controlled to shut down."

Lin Qing pondered for a moment and asked, "Then what if we force our way through? What strength is required to force our way through?"

"The power of the laser is very high. If you force your way through, even a Patrol Commander is doomed to die," Chen Guang said. "Even those at the 'Primitive' level who have broken the shackles of life mostly cannot block it."

Even Patrol Commanders are doomed to die?

Lin Qing felt somewhat helpless and shook his head, saying, "You telling me all this is just hoping I go find Dr. Chu Hui's relic, right?"

"Staying here forever goes against the meaning of my existence."

Chen Guang looked at him. "If you cannot do it, you can also pass this message to the Patrol Headquarters or simply spread it out. Just say there is a 'Star Transmission Tower' inside the research institute; someone will naturally come to take me away then."

"Star Transmission Tower?" Lin Qing suddenly looked at her.

Wasn't this the special item Tang Wanqiu specifically mentioned before the operation?

Once found, one would immediately obtain one Honor-level merit.

That big shot from the Vitas family in the Urban Circle also seemed to attach great importance to this so-called Star Transmission Tower.

Now it seems, there really is a Star Transmission Tower inside this underground research institute? "Are you saying there really is a Star Transmission Tower here?" Lin Qing couldn't help asking. "Could you be..."

"I am the intelligent life form born alongside the Star Transmission Tower," Chen Guang said softly. "According to my judgment, given your potential, it is possible you will obtain the Star Transmission Tower's acknowledgment."

Lin Qing took a deep breath.

That big shot from the Urban Circle had said—

'Even if the Patrol Headquarters really obtained the Star Transmission Tower, they could not find a genius qualified to receive the Star Transmission Tower's acknowledgment.'

But in the eyes of this intelligent life form born alongside the Star Transmission Tower, did he seem to have hope?

"Pity... with that laser corridor in place, I still cannot get it."

Lin Qing sighed and added, "I'll go check out the laser corridor area first. After I get out, I'll think of a way."

Chen Guang nodded calmly.

"By the way," Lin Qing suddenly asked, "You can monitor the entire research institute, right? So many people have entered the research institute; did none of them have hope to obtain the Star Transmission Tower's acknowledgment?"

"None of them are qualified."

Chen Guang said, "This is not a matter of strength. Mainly because you deeply excavated a Star-level bloodline, and moreover, you cultivated the original 'Zizai Body' combat technique to the instinct level, which is the foundation of the 'Star Imperishable Body' combat technique. Plus, you are under twenty years old, your potential is far greater than theirs, so I believe you have hope."

"'Star Imperishable Body'?" Lin Qing's heart stirred, and he asked, "Could this be that terrifying combat technique ranked in the top three at Chaoyang Martial Arts Hall?"

"Yes," Chen Guang nodded.

Lin Qing suddenly understood and asked again, "Where are the others?"

"They are all in the Animal Breeding Zone."

Chen Guang said, "That person from the Vitas family in the Urban Circle is currently leading his two bodyguards and five Senior Patrol Captains, searching everywhere for the location of the biological weapons, while also hunting down members of the Primitive Research Institute."

"That mixed-blood young master of the Vitas family, does he have no hope of receiving acknowledgment either?" Lin Qing asked.

"His strength is indeed good, estimated to be close to yours, but it is merely piled up by the vast resources of the Vitas family, so of course he is not qualified," Chen Guang said.

Lin Qing pondered and asked curiously, "Are biological weapons so attractive?"

Chen Guang nodded slightly and said, "Their power is indeed very strong, and the greater the price you pay, the greater their power. The drawback is that they tend not to live long."

"Alright."

Lin Qing shook his head slightly. "It seems I can indeed leave the research institute."

A biological weapon is such a hot potato; once he seizes it, he becomes a target for all. Even if he gets his hands on it, he cannot keep it after leaving the research institute.

In any case, the harvest is already great enough; it is better to leave.

After going out, I will think about how to solve the problem of the laser corridor.

"Before leaving, let me examine the structure of the laser corridor."

Lin Qing immediately walked out of the laboratory at a fast pace and rushed toward the laser corridor.

Many of the mechanical guards protecting the laboratory had already recovered, but they ignored Lin Qing completely; this was obviously Chen Guang's doing. The core control room was not far from here. Lin Qing followed the signs above the corridors one by one, advancing continuously, and soon arrived before the entrance of a bright and winding corridor.

This corridor was obviously different from the others; the walls on both sides were made as if of crystal glass and silver metal, and it was a bend, so the deeper parts could not be seen.

"Is this the laser corridor?"

Lin Qing observed the surroundings and did not find the slightest trace.

At this moment, Chen Guang's childish voice sounded: "A patrolman broke in and was instantly shot dead by the laser corridor; the corpse was also transported and processed by the device below the laser corridor. If you want to try, just throw something in."

Lin Qing shook his head slightly; this was the result of breaking in blindly without information.

The speed of the laser is the speed of light, and its killing power is so strong that it cannot be resisted at all.

"Let me try to see what the situation is with this laser corridor."

Looking left and right, he did not notice when he threw it; Lin Qing simply took out the short knife he carried with him, then suddenly exerted his strength and threw it into the laser corridor.

"Whoosh!"

The short knife turned into a wisp of afterimage, easily tearing through the sound barrier, and instantly flew into the laser corridor.

In just an instant, the short knife had only flown one or two meters into the laser corridor when two blazing white beams of light lit up on both sides of the corridor, instantly sweeping over the short knife.

The short knife instantly broke into three pieces; the shards sliced across the corridor walls but left not the slightest trace.

As for the shards falling on the ground, that patch of ground slowly became like a swamp, causing the short knife shards to sink into it.

"Eh?"

Seeing this, Lin Qing felt a stir in his heart and asked, "How long is this laser corridor?"

"The total length of the corridor is 12.5 meters, shaped like a Z," Chen Guang said. "Only when it identifies my father, or when his bio-chip is implanted, will the laser corridor not launch an attack. To avoid being chased by enemies, he specifically installed the button to turn off the laser defense mode on the wall at the end of the laser corridor; it can only be turned off after he enters the corridor."

She paused for a moment and said, "At the same time, there is a door at the end of the corridor that can only be opened after the laser is turned off. Once the door is closed, the laser defense mode will be activated again."

Lin Qing pondered for a short while, then took out a second spare short knife from behind his waist, cut it open with the Invisible Edge, and then threw the two pieces into the corridor again at different speeds.

The first time was extremely slow, and it was cut off by the laser corridor at about one meter; the second time was very fast, and it was cut off at a position a little over one meter.

"No need to try anymore; as long as you step one meter into the laser corridor, you will be shot dead by the laser," Chen Guang said.

"I am not testing that."

Lin Qing shook his head slightly and asked, "From sensing an intruder to activating the laser, what is the approximate reaction time of this laser corridor?"

"0.00183 seconds," Chen Guang said.

"0.00183 seconds."

Lin Qing narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "No wonder the short knife I threw out the first time, after breaking the sound barrier, still advanced more than half a meter."

He asked again, "Is it possible for the button at the end of the corridor to be accidentally injured by the laser?"

"Are you looking for a bug in the laser corridor?"

Chen Guang's voice sounded: "It's useless. Since that button is connected to the laser energy source, there will be no laser passing through within a range of about one meter at the end of the corridor, to avoid deflection or reflection phenomena damaging the button."

"That's good." A hint of a smile appeared on Lin Qing's lips.

"Hmm?" Chen Guang made a sound of confusion.

Lin Qing gazed into the depths of the laser corridor and said softly, "The speed of the laser is the speed of light; it cannot be dodged, but the reaction speed of the laser corridor itself is not that fast."

"0.00183 seconds; a flying knife at sound speed can advance about 62 centimeters."

A hint of a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. "That is to say, if the speed is fast enough, before the laser corridor reacts and activates, if one reaches the one-meter range at the end, one will not be injured by the laser, and then one can just press the button, right?"

"Theoretically, it is possible," Chen Guang said. "But do you know how high a speed this requires?"

"By mental calculation, it is approximately 6,800 meters per second," Lin Qing said.

"To be precise, it is 6,830.6 meters per second; a speed exceeding Mach 20 is required to achieve what you said," Chen Guang said.

Lin Qing smiled and said, "That is enough."

"Hmm?" Chen Guang asked.

Lin Qing looked at the laser corridor and asked, "I am asking you seriously: if I have such speed, do you think I will be in danger? If there is danger, I will give up."

Chen Guang was silent for a moment and said, "I understand. If you really have such speed, the laser corridor indeed poses no threat to you."

Lin Qing checked his field of vision and found that the Order Level had not dropped.

He immediately took out a black metal tube-shaped vial from his waist bag, opened it, and drank it in one gulp, only then standing firm before the laser corridor.

"What did you drink?" Chen Guang asked.

"Black Nest No. 16 Energy Supplement; it can rapidly restore energy, and after taking it, it can also increase a portion of reserve energy," Lin Qing said casually.

Chen Guang said, "As expected."

"You guessed it?"

Lin Qing smiled; in the next instant, a cyan light suddenly burst forth from his eyes, and at the same time, his entire body radiated cyan brilliance, as if he had already completely transformed into a beam of light.

In an instant, he had turned into a cyan stream of light with terrifying speed, charging into the laser corridor; it was even a hundred times faster than the limit speed, and everything slowed down accordingly.

In this extremely slow, almost stagnant state of time, one could clearly see everything changing slowly, including the laser holes on the surrounding walls beginning to light up slowly.

But before the sensor lights of the laser corridor could accumulate energy, he had already left a Z-shaped cyan trail inside the corridor and arrived before the great door at the end of the corridor, less than one meter away from the door.

In this stagnant instant, he saw that the laser sensor lights he had just passed had not even lit up yet.

Subsequently, Lin Qing, in his light-transformed state, reached out and pressed the button on the wall.

The moment the cyan light vanished, his fingertips touched the button; then, having regained his solid form, he pressed it down.

"Beep."

The instant the button closed, the laser corridor plunged into total darkness.

Meanwhile, the black alloy door before him began to slide slowly toward both sides, revealing the control room within.

Inside the control room, beams of light once again coalesced into Morning Light, who looked like an angel.

"How was it?" Lin Qing smiled.

"Your speed in that instant just now reached 27,184.2 meters per second."

Morning Light looked at him and said slowly, "You actually excavated the core gene ability 'Instant Light' from the Sky-Track Monarch bloodline? Excavating more gene abilities from a bloodline increases the failure probability tenfold for each additional one; the core gene ability should be even harder to obtain."

Lin Qing raised his eyebrows slightly: "Is that so?"

Reversing cause and effect, borrowing from the future—this has nothing to do with probability; as long as the conditions are met, realization is possible.

"I am certain."

Morning Light looked at him. "You will inevitably gain the acceptance of the Star-Transmitting Tower."

(End of this chapter)