READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 70: Experiment Gone Awry
「After the Second Honkai War, Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical began providing free medical aid to those affected by the Honkai all over the world. This humanitarian aid has continued to this day. And after the Third Honkai War, Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical increased its support for the Far East and Shenzhou, aiming to provide a safe and reliable treatment for all those in need.」
「Trust Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical, and we will bring you a better tomorrow.」
The electronic advertisement promoting Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical was still playing on repeat on the billboard. No one noticed the hooded girl who quietly looked up beneath the billboard. A strand of white hair fell down.
Kiana's gaze grew colder as she stared at the advertisement's exaggerated claims.
During her investigations, Kiana had finally made some progress. After she had successfully infiltrated a nearby hospital and obtained the patient transfer records, she had discovered a shocking truth. 80% of the people infected during the Honkai outbreaks had been transferred to Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical for treatment, and even more patients had been drawn there by the company's promotional material.
However, in the transfer records, there were very few cases of patients being successfully cured and discharged.
More importantly, she had discovered that these patients had to sign a voluntary trial agreement before receiving treatment. Kiana wasn't particularly skilled in her studies, but that didn't stop her from realizing that there was something wrong. This was clearly a treatment, so why were they signing a trial agreement?
Therefore, she gradually shifted her focus from a broad search, which had yielded no results, to Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical. And the more she investigated, the more shocked she became. This company was not only a pharmaceutical company, but also possessed its own industrial district.
And according to some obscure clues, Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical also had an inseparable working relationship with Schicksal. Every year, they received a large amount of Honkai energy suppression agents from Schicksal, but the Honkai disasters and Soulium infections in ARC City not only didn't decrease, they had become more and more frequent.
Although Kiana was filled with hatred towards Schicksal, she also understood that Schicksal was humanity's main force against the Honkai. Otto's research into Honkai energy wouldn't have caused this situation—unless he was deliberately inducing the Honkai energy to erupt, just like what he had done to her.
However, Shenzhou wasn't Schicksal's territory. It wasn't possible for Otto to go to so much trouble to cause trouble here.
Honkai beasts would always be attracted to areas of high Honkai energy concentration. Now that the Honkai energy in Kiana's body could be effectively suppressed, then what exactly was attracting them remained a mystery.
But there was no doubt that Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical was definitely involved.
Looking up, the towering headquarters of Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical came into view. This time, Kiana was prepared to take the risk and infiltrate the headquarters for an investigation.
…
"Glub~"
Bubbles kept rising in the pale yellow liquid. The girl in the culture tank had her eyes tightly closed, like a quiet corpse. The light blue short hair floated with the movement of the bubbles in the culture medium. It looked like a dream under the light. No one noticed that a golden glimmer had quietly appeared and then disappeared.
In the laboratory, Jackal's brow furrowed as she looked at the experimental data on the electronic screen.
When she had first begun the experiment, she had discovered that [Moth of Ink]'s daughter had an extremely high adaptability to Honkai energy, enough to make Jackal feel astonished. With such a strong adaptability, she would undoubtedly be able to withstand more Stigmata-inducing agents, and greatly advance the progress of the Stigmata experiments.
But now, the initial surprise had disappeared without a trace. In these continuous days of research, she had already used almost a million worth of experiment materials. The Honkai energy agents she had configured were almost enough to cause a large-scale Honkai disaster. However, when applied to this little girl, it was like throwing a stone into the sea, without even a single ripple.
"Is it really possible for humans to have this level of Honkai energy resistance?" Even the usually arrogant Jackal was starting to doubt herself. But there was no other option. She had already spent the materials, and even if it was a sunk cost, it was still making her heart ache. She had no choice but to continue strengthening her research.
"Dr. Jackal, Schicksal's supply of Honkai energy suppression agents has been completely used up. Are you really planning on continuing?" Jackal's assistant wiped away the cold sweat. He had personally participated in the experiments on Griseo, and he had also personally witnessed how the accumulated resources had been wasted. If these resources had been used on those patients, they might have obtained a lot of data, instead of being as clueless as they were now.
"Do you think that you know more about research than I do?" A cold voice sounded. The assistant looked up, and met a pair of golden eyes. The Arubis mask, engraved with the symbol of life, blocked half of Jackal's face, making her look extremely dangerous.
The assistant gulped, and immediately didn't dare to say anything more. He was very clear that Jackal was a true demon scientist, who would never show mercy to anyone. If he dared to object again, then the next test subject would definitely be him.
"If Schicksal's suppression agents are gone, then just apply for more. It's already the critical moment for the Stigmata research. Even if Schicksal discovers what we're doing, it doesn't matter. The Lord will soon return. Schicksal is not a threat." With a calm voice, she issued the order. Jackal then ignored the assistant, turning her gaze to Griseo in the culture tank.
At this time, the girl's body was covered in needle marks. Many parts of her skin had been cut open. Although it had only been a few days, Jackal had already carried out dozens of experiments on her. At first, the girl would still scream in pain, but gradually, her screams became weaker and weaker, and now, she had already lost consciousness.
"Knowing that your daughter would be subjected to inhuman treatment, you still resolutely decided to send her to me, Moth of Ink, should I call you foolish, or naive?"
She said with a hint of mockery, before using the robotic arm to inject the last remaining mutagenic agent into Griseo's body. As the agent was injected, Griseo's originally numb body started to twitch, and Honkai-infected cracks gradually appeared on the surface of her body.
This made Jackal very happy. The girl's adaptability to Honkai energy was too strong. Now, she had finally started showing some changes. Whether these changes were good or bad, it meant that the experiment had progressed.
"Is it finally starting? Whether you awaken a Stigmata or turn into a zombie, it depends on whether you can hold on."
As the Honkai patterns continued to spread, some strange patterns gradually appeared on her body. They were disorganized, but they carried a peculiar order. And as these patterns appeared, the Honkai energy in the entire laboratory quickly surged, and in an instant, it had surpassed the set threshold.
Jackal's expression changed, and she quickly pressed the termination button, injecting a large amount of neutralizing agents. However, the patterns on Griseo's body didn't stop at all. The chaotic and thick Honkai energy continued to emerge.
In just a few tens of seconds, some researchers in the lab had already begun to show signs of Honkai infection, and were turning into mindless monsters under the extremely strong Honkai energy erosion. They were then directly shot down by the defense system.
Crack—
The glass of the culture tank shattered completely. Griseo opened her eyes, and met Jackal's golden eyes.