Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 258 - 241 Ying Lingyun’s Conspiracy

Chapter 258: 241 Ying Lingyun’s Conspiracy

Both are... the answer from the senior researcher made me puzzled.

I don’t need to be hasty. The source of information is right in front of me; there’s no time limit for the interrogation. In the end, I will extract all the information I can from his mind, so I can take my time.

"It seems you know quite a lot." I pondered the angle I should take for my next question, "How did you come to know that Changan is the revival container of Yinyue? I heard that you are a capable assistant to Ying Lingyun; did you provide any assistance during his exploration of the method to revive Yinyue?"

"I have." He admitted, "At the highest level of the Human Bureau, the fact that Dr. Silver Mask is Ying Lingyun is not a secret, and his intent to revive Yinyue is easy to deduce. As his research assistant, I had the responsibility to monitor him from the sidelines.

"Although this duty gradually became obsolete as his power in the Human Bureau grew, I was involved in his research for a very long time, including the research on how to revive the dead.

"The fact that Zhu Changan is a revival container... I didn’t know at the beginning. Later, when I saw Zhu Changan captured by Chen Long at the base, and combined with the information I already had, it wasn’t hard to deduce this point."

I didn’t care about his position within the Human Bureau and continued asking, "So how is Ying Lingyun’s research progressing? Has it been successful? Why does he continue to explore the method to revive Yinyue himself, even when the preparations for Yinyue’s revival are ready?"

"It should be successful. As for why he explores the revival method... it’s likely because the method prepared by Yinyue herself was not complete." He said.

"You say ’likely’... so you’re not sure yourself?" I asked.

"Yes. Because this is just a speculation based on my own observations; Ying Lingyun has not told me the truth directly." He said.

"What observations have you made? Tell us about them," I said.

He could only nod, then said: "This starts from the defection of Xu Gou."

Xu Gou... the name was somewhat unfamiliar, but I had some previous interactions with it. I quickly retrieved it from my memory.

And Fu Feng was somewhat puzzled, not knowing whether it was genuine or feigned, he asked: "Who is Xu Gou?"

"Xu Gou is one of the test subjects of the Human Bureau’s ’Twelve Gods Plan’." I recalled the details, "The objective of this plan was to create Super Soldiers capable of rivaling those of Great Success Rank or above, but in the end, it managed to produce only two successful cases.

"One of them is Chen Long—he achieved Great Success Rank through the ’Twelve Gods Plan’; and the other is Xu Gou."

My knowledge of the person called Xu Gou was almost that much, but the senior researcher showed a shocked expression: "’Twelve Gods Plan’ is a top-secret project even within the Human Bureau. How did you come to know about it?"

"The Human Bureau can actually create a Great Success Rank?" Dong Che was also shocked, "I know about Chen Long; he was originally a standout among those of achieved rank, and he also mastered the superpower of All-round Enhancement. It’s not entirely inconceivable to enhance his abilities through unorthodox and extreme methods to match the level of Great Success Rank... But what’s the deal with this Xu Gou? Did the ’Twelve Gods Plan’ really succeed?"

"No, it was a failure..."

Perhaps knowing that he couldn’t resist, without waiting for me to repeat the question, the senior researcher spoke out: "Xu Gou is also an unreplicable special success case. He could achieve Great Success Rank because Ying Lingyun implanted some unknown substance into his heart.

"Thanks to that, Xu Gou not only gained ridiculous strength but also became a candidate for Impermanence."

I had also seen this in the materials on the shelf of Dr. Silver Mask, but Dong Che couldn’t accept it; he couldn’t help but say, "A candidate for Impermanence? Are you serious? Do you people in the Human Bureau understand what a candidate for Impermanence means? Those are beings whose mere existence affects the rise and fall of civilization, gods on Earth; as long as they don’t die prematurely, they are destined to become Impermanence... How could you possible create a god?"

So not only Impermanence is referred to as a God, even the candidates for Impermanence are viewed as similar beings?

Different from Dong Che, Fu Feng did not question the authenticity of the senior researcher’s words, instead focusing on another aspect: "The ’some unknown substance’ you mentioned earlier, what is it?"

"It’s a substance that looks like black jade," the senior researcher replied.

Fu Feng seemed to have thought of something; a similar item was also contained in this Fufeng Base, and his eyes suddenly changed, "Ying Lingyun actually implanted that kind of thing into the test subject..."

"Keep going. What happened to this Xu Gou that led you to discover that Yinyue’s resurrection method was incomplete?" I said to the senior researcher.

And he continued—

The general background of the incident is not complicated; the Human Bureau was researching the technology to create Super Soldiers and also methods to rein them in.

The purpose of the Human Bureau was originally to "create Super Soldiers who serve under human leaders." If they created test subjects that were powerful enough but did not obey their commands, then it would be as if they created another group of demon hunters who were a threat to the social order of mankind; this was something the Human Bureau could absolutely not tolerate. Therefore, for the test subjects of the "Twelve Gods Plan," the Human Bureau also made corresponding preparations.

Chen Long once mentioned to me that Ying Lingyun implanted a backdoor into his body while he was being modified, and to prevent Xu Gou from rebelling after obtaining great power, the Human Bureau did the same thing, or even worse.

Xu Gou, who had transformed from the "Twelve Gods Plan," possessed Rank of Great Success power and was intentionally burdened with countless defects. He must wear specialized life support devices to survive and move normally, and the maintenance of these devices must be built upon the Human Bureau’s vast and complex logistical system; he was also injected with numerous super-addictive Spiritual Medicines, which would make him suffer worse than death if the drug supply stopped. These were just the tip of the iceberg of the Human Bureau’s control methods.

Moreover, Xu Gou himself only had a lifespan of three months. For the Human Bureau, he was not a combatant but merely a lab rat that existed to progress to the next research phase.

What was more important was that the Human Bureau foresaw they would not be able to control such a super individual for long—Xu Gou, who had always been in an inhumane situation, had endless resentment toward the Human Bureau. Therefore, if they did not execute Xu Gou before he lost control, the ones who would be destroyed would only be themselves.

An event that happened afterward completely exceeded the control of the Human Bureau.

Truth be told, when the senior researcher got to this part, I also felt like I might have heard something wrong—the female researcher who was in charge of monitoring Xu Gou inside the Human Bureau, for some unknown mental process, actually fell in love with her surveillance target; and Xu Gou, touched by her feelings, also fell in love with her.

Then, facing Xu Gou whose life was nearing its end and was increasingly weakening, the female researcher made a resolute decision; she used some ritual technology that combined Mysticism with science that she obtained within the Human Bureau to transfer Xu Gou’s soul into her own healthy body, while she herself perished completely.

Xu Gou, who obtained a new body, did not lose the Mana of an Impermanence, because Mana is fundamentally sourced from the soul. He lost all restrictions placed upon him and also lost his beloved. Overwhelmed by profound grief, he completely destroyed the Human Bureau base he was in, then disappeared without a trace, whereabouts unknown.

"Actually, the ritual technology obtained by that female researcher was the resurrection method Ying Lingyun was studying, and her decision to use it on Xu Gou was also instigated by Ying Lingyun to a certain extent," the senior researcher said, "At that time, Ying Lingyun was in his heyday within the Human Bureau, I couldn’t resist him, and was also forced to be involved in this, so I know roughly what happened.

"That resurrection method’s actual effect is not to switch bodies, but to use the person being resurrected as a living sacrifice to bring them back to life in a complete form... It might sound a bit complicated, perhaps it’s better to call it a ’Rebirth Ritual’ rather than a ’Resurrection Method’.

"Because the Human Bureau’s backdoors implanted into Xu Gou’s original body were too numerous and too intricate, even the Rebirth Ritual would struggle to eradicate them, so a separate healthy body was necessary, and the female researcher had to sacrifice herself."

"I see..." I said, "Xu Gou, as well as that female researcher, were just test subjects chosen by Ying Lingyun to test his own resurrection method, right?"

"I think so. Both Xu Gou and Yinyue achieved the level of Great Success, and by resurrecting Xu Gou to a complete state, Ying Lingyun could obtain the critical data he wanted," the senior researcher said, "The ’Twelve Gods Plan’ was also overseen by Ying Lingyun; it’s possible that he already had this idea at that time. Later, if it weren’t for trying to extricate himself from the incident of Xu Gou’s loss of control, he might have taken even more direct actions.

"Perhaps the only part that went beyond his plan was the power Xu Gou unleashed in his grief, which surpassed his calculations. Originally, he planned to destroy Xu Gou on the spot after the completion, but Xu Gou turned the tables and destroyed the ’possibility clones’ left on the scene along with the site itself."

I was also sorting out some of the logic.

Mr. Zhu had previously told me that if you want to resurrect Yinyue, simply using a direct relative like Changan as a living sacrifice is far from sufficient, and Yinyue herself must be sacrificed to do it. Of course, that would be entirely superfluous, as long as there is a living Yinyue, there’s really no need to resurrect her. But if Yinyue herself was resurrected in an incomplete form, and Ying Lingyun then sacrificed her to bring her back to life in a complete form, then this act of "sacrificing Yinyue to resurrect Yinyue" would make sense.

But... is it really just that?

I sensed a discordant note amidst all this.