Chapter 309

Just then, the isolation door of the laboratory slid open, and Bai Mu Yun walked in.

He still wore a black trench coat, his gold horizontal pupils sweeping over the piled aberrant corpses and the mess on the floor, then glancing at Ying Duo, who was replacing the magazine of his energy pistol.

"Looks like you're having fun here?"

Bai Mu Yun's voice echoed in the spacious experimental field, though with a hint of amusement.

"I heard you went to the Chen family as a guest, yet now they won't even let you out the front gate? With that hair, it's surprising you dare to act so openly."

He walked to Fang Zhiyan's side, but his gaze fell on Ying Duo.

"If I'd known you'd attract so much attention, I shouldn't have shoved you into Mitera."

That remark was half teasing, half genuine displeasure.

After finally making contact with Tianmian City's people, the moment we got the news, Ying Duo was suspected of being a Chen family invader and is currently being detained by them.

As a result, lowering my eyes to the team channel, I saw this brat had already run from Tianmian City to the ground to harass Fang Zhiyan.

Bai Mu Yun merely glanced at the dizzying data on the screen and felt a wave of nausea.

Ying Duo holstered his gun and calmly looked at Bai Mu Yun through the isolation glass.

"Just temporary."

"Temporary?" Bai Mu Yun snorted.

"You should be grateful the Chen family is only placing you under house arrest for now, rather than handing you straight to the Heresy Tribunal or the Supervision Bureau; with your conspicuous abilities and hair, to anyone paying attention, it's hardly different from announcing your own name."

Bai Mu Yun didn't wait for Ying Duo's reply, turning instead to continue speaking to Fang Zhiyan.

"The Field Operations Department hopes we'll share some resources with them, since after the previous resource allocation, most supplies are already with us; they just need a few guns."

His peripheral glance flicked to Ying Duo, making it clear he'd come down to ask Ying Duo for something.

Fang Zhiyan briefly drifted from his frenzied data analysis, his dark-red eyes turning to Bai Mu Yun, his tone returning to that gentle aloofness.

"Field Operations Department? I recall they've been lurking in Tianmian City all along, yet never taken action."

He said that, but without intending to stop it, merely looking at Ying Duo and asking, "What do you think?"

Ying Duo nodded, asked no further questions, and directly took two wholly matte-black pistols from his pack, handing them to Bai Mu Yun.

These two pistols are green-grade, the worst tier in his pack; originally made to grind 【Modification】 proficiency, he never had time to disassemble them back into parts.

Bai Mu Yun took them, feeling a slight heft; he practicedly checked the energy circuit—though not top-notch, they were sufficient.

Ying Duo's talent in this area is indeed beyond reproach.

Then his gaze swept again over the aberrant corpses in the experimental field, especially Fang Zhiyan's state of total immersion in research, and Ying Duo's expressionless face.

Fang Zhiyan........

He had evidently discovered something quite special about Ying Duo, and he'd developed a strong interest in it.

And Ying Duo not only went along with his frenzy, but seemed to enjoy it thoroughly.

This "master-disciple" pair appeared on the surface as one gentle guide and one calm acceptance, yet they actually bore a hint of mutual respect like guests.

But Bai Mu Yun knew Fang Zhiyan too well.

Whatever this man takes an interest in ultimately ends badly.

Either they're thoroughly dissected, every secret studied, then discarded, or remolded to fit his "ideal" but losing their original form as a "tool."

Ying Duo may now be treasured for his unique value, but once that value is exhausted, or a more interesting specimen appears......

Bai Mu Yun suppressed the rising discomfort in his chest; anyway, those two wouldn't care whether he stayed or left.

"Since I've got what I came for, I won't disturb you, Director, while you continue your research."

He bowed slightly, preparing to leave; staying here would only make him feel queasy.

He'd rather go up and have a couple drinks with Lu Mu, listening to that noisy Raven spout some nutrimentless chatter.

"Hmm."

Fang Zhiyan answered casually, his attention already returning to the constantly refreshing data stream on the light screen.

Bai Mu Yun lingered no longer, turned and briskly left the experimental field.

After Bai Mu Yun's footsteps faded completely down the corridor, Fang Zhiyan slowly lifted his head, his dark-red eyes fixed on Ying Duo; the gentle aloofness he'd shown Bai Mu Yun was gone, replaced only by greedy research desire.

"I've preliminarily verified your experience acquisition mechanism," Fang Zhiyan said, his voice tinged with faint excitement.

"Compared to regular cultivation, combat is your best way to improve; the question is whether your means of gaining experience has a 'saturation' or 'decay threshold'—in other words, does continuously and massively killing same-level or lower targets cause your experience gain efficiency to drop?"

This is a crucial question.

If decay exists, it means the "grinding monsters" leveling strategy has an efficiency bottleneck; if it doesn't......

Theoretically, as long as enough "experience packs" can be supplied, Ying Duo's strength could achieve near-infinite rapid growth.

He looked at Ying Duo, his dark-red pupils glowing in the experimental field's cold white light.

"Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth."

Fang Zhiyan smiled, that smile brimming with a researcher's pure delight.

Ying Duo's golden eyes fixed on him as Fang Zhiyan's tentacles, eager, flung a heavily anesthetized aberrant at him; previously, Fang Zhiyan had waited for that aberrant's anesthetic to wear off before letting him act.

Fortunately, he too was somewhat impatient.

He poured all his energy into the pistol, aiming the muzzle at the aberrant's head.

【Congratulations on your successful kill of XXX, EXP +185】

【Congratulations on your successful kill of XXXX, EXP +162】

【Kill Scythe‑claw Aberrant Lizard (Lv. 28), EXP +.......】

System prompts began flooding the screen.

Fang Zhiyan didn't pause; his tentacles kept sending in one aberrant after another, merely anesthetized or confined, ranging from Lv. 15 to Lv. 35, various types.

Ying Duo was even more delighted; these were all living experience packs, requiring no effort on his part—just aim at the weak point and fire.

Perhaps because he noticed Ying Duo wasn't familiar with these aberrants, often unable to precisely locate the weak point for a one‑shot kill, Fang Zhiyan kept feeding him aberrants while explaining where the weak points were.

Ying Duo was merely watching the catalog's numbers surge at a speed that could be called ultra‑high, and could only lament that Aberrant Species near Tianmian City were still too few.

Ying Duo's level kept climbing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

When the last Aberrant Species was successfully slain, Ying Duo finally slowly lowered the muzzle, and the barrel warmed slightly.

In front of Fang Zhiyan, the light screen's data‑refresh speed finally began to slow.

Fang Zhiyan let out a long sigh, the tentacles drooping a bit from fatigue, yet the face wore a nearly satiated, joyful expression.

"What a pity." Fang Zhiyan glanced at the now empty confinement chamber, feeling somewhat helpless.

"Bai Mu Yun and Lu Mu can only capture and transport these Aberrant Species here in the short term; higher‑grade Aberrant Species are not only hard to capture alive, but also pose great transport risks."

Having become accustomed to the abundant life under the Dome, Tianmian City truly feels like an injustice to them.