Chapter 5120 — The Center's New Experiment
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Could Dafeng really be a problem? Lan Xiaoru's heart lurched. This suspicion had taken root half a year ago. Though Dafeng-ge had never raised it openly, his efforts to probe the Center's headquarters by every means imaginable had been far too conspicuous. It was hardly strange for branch personnel to harbor such curiosity, yet few were as zealous as he. Given Lan Xiaoru's cautious, suspicious nature, a thorough investigation had been inevitable.
Only—even if Dafeng could command the entire Red Conch Branch, his handful of men and meager strength could never have dealt with Number One. The man was an early-Foundation-stage expert, after all! Even hopelessly outnumbered, he should at least have been able to flee with his life.
"According to Dafeng's report, it was supposedly the work of a Heaven-Dao-stage expert from the Primordial Alliance. The man had also tamed a gigantic Blood Corpse Worm. Number One engaged him in battle beneath the sea, and afterward all trace of him vanished. Most likely they destroyed each other," the Spectacled Doctor said with a sigh.
"The Primordial Alliance? How did they provoke someone from the Primordial Alliance?" Lan Xiaoru frowned at this. In truth, ever since learning that the Primordial Alliance had emerged into the world, she had kept people searching for intelligence on them. Though she had yet to make direct contact, she had learned a good deal through various overt and covert channels, and she could not help voicing her doubts: "Why have I heard that the Primordial Alliance's people have all been recalled as of late?"
"I didn't ask about that in detail. I only heard the man was from the Bixie Sect—probably one of the few cultivators the Primordial Alliance keeps operating on the outside," the Spectacled Doctor speculated.
"Perhaps." Lan Xiaoru's expression was unreadable. After a moment of silence she gave a cold snort. "Curse it. Of the first batch of ten, this one was the only success, and now the second batch has hit a bottleneck because we can't find test subjects that meet the requirements. And now this—the sole surviving Number One has run into trouble. How am I supposed to explain this to the higher-ups?"
"Dr. Lan, I do have an idea." The Spectacled Doctor's lips suddenly curved.
"What idea?" Lan Xiaoru looked at him.
"Finding test subjects in the mortal world who meet the requirements is like fishing a needle from the ocean—that's the crux of our bottleneck. But aren't there ready-made targets right in front of us?" The Spectacled Doctor smiled sinisterly.
"You mean the Primordial Alliance?" Lan Xiaoru's brows knitted slightly.
"Exactly. Think it over carefully, Dr. Lan. Our task is to mass-produce Foundation-stage experts, and it would of course be best if we could achieve that under mortal-world conditions. But since we've hit a bottleneck, why not shift our approach? If we find a way to bring over a Foundation-stage expert from the Primordial Alliance, controlling him would be far easier than manufacturing one ourselves—wouldn't it?" The Spectacled Doctor pushed up his trademark black-framed glasses.
"Go on." Lan Xiaoru's expression did not change.
"As long as we can control the first one, acquiring a second and a third will be much easier. Before long we could command a whole host of Foundation-stage experts! That way, not only can we meet the higher-ups' demands, we might even go a step further and begin experiments in the mass production of Golden Core-stage experts. After all, those people come from the Primordial Alliance, and their qualities in every respect must far surpass mortal-world cultivators. With them as experimental samples, the success rate is bound to rise dramatically!" The more the Spectacled Doctor spoke, the more excited he grew. In his own eyes, this was nothing short of a genius idea.