Dow and Carbon-Based Monkey Breeding Guidelines

Chapter 978: Poems of the Dead (Part )

Luo Binhan had no mood to rest for the next few hours. He wanted to go directly back to Lihai City to see the relics that the stuntman had stolen from the hotel room, but Li Li would not let him leave. She bluntly announced that he would be of no help in cracking the secrets of the black box and would only cause trouble for the technical team.

The medical team didn't want him to leave either. This short night had already made them feel deeply attached to him (and the wonderful micro-robots in his blood). They probably cared about his life more than Li Li did. As Luo Binhan sat on the bed sulking, he even heard a guy arguing with someone outside with a communication device, trying to call one of his students here. There were two other people sitting at the door of the operating vehicle, pretending to play with their phones or fiddling with different kinds of dressing packages, but actually stealing glances at him every few seconds. Luo Binhan really wanted to grab the nurse watches dangling from their chests and throw them out one by one.

But it was useless to get angry with these people. As long as Li Li didn't send a boat over, no one could leave the island. She even locked his chat software and mobile phone location to prevent him from opening the map and walking to the nearby dock to look for someone.

"You said you were planning to travel to the southwest," she said slowly as Robinson tried to reason, "and pointed out that it didn't have to be you. I don't know what you're so anxious about now."

"Of course I'm anxious," said Robinham. "He has a box, too!"

"That doesn't mean the contents of the box are the same. You saw the photos and the data. That box and mine are not the same size."

"It's bigger than your box. Doesn't that mean the contents are more dangerous?"

"The router in your house is also bigger than my box."

"Will he steal my router and put it in his suitcase?" Luo Binhan questioned, "What could he put in his suitcase? Of course it must be someone like you! Maybe 0206 made a new one after you. Another new you, or a calculator with a different personality. This thing might be Zhou Wenxing's accomplice."

Li Li politely told him that this reasoning logic was quite novel, bold and imaginative, but it might not win the appreciation of the technical team. They would just ask him to leave quickly. On the contrary, the medical team loved him, welcomed him, and cherished him. If he left his contact address, they would be happy to send him chocolates every Thanksgiving.

"You can't tell them a word!" Luo Binhan said viciously. The people sitting outside the car looked very disappointed.

"You can't judge based on the similarity in appearance alone." To calm him down, Li Li added, "As far as I know, the shell of my box is just a common material in Wuyuan. They commonly use this kind of material and its variants in a large number of buildings and mechanical equipment."

"What the hell is that? Metal? Plastic?"

"Composite materials. I know there are more than fifteen biological and metal components, and at least three inorganic non-metallic components. But I can't tell you the specific ingredient list. They are locked in an encrypted database."

"What do you mean? You have an encrypted database?"

"Yes. About five percent of the total storage."

Luo Binhan thought about it blankly, making sure he understood the meaning of this sentence correctly. "Five percent of the data in your box cannot even be read by you," he said tentatively, "You know they exist, but you don't know their specific contents."

"Yes. They are encrypted, with only a few first-level directories visible. Unless I meet the verification conditions, I cannot read the lower-level information."

“What are the verification conditions?”

"Not relevant to our present situation, sir. I can guarantee that. I can also guarantee that there will be no more computing devices of my performance in that box, unless another exiled member of the Death Order has self-terminated."

Luo Binhan said nothing more, but his heart was filled with doubts. There was 0206% of Li Li's "brain" that she herself did not understand. Wasn't this worth worrying about? Maybe that % was just the most ordinary information data, filled with "Ingredients of Wuyuan Base Cement No. : a spoonful of stone, a spoonful of robot, a spoonful of cold jokes" and so on; but what if there was something more dangerous hidden in it? For example, the sleeping soul of .

"Are you sure that the locked data is safe?" he asked. "They won't sneak out and do something without your knowledge, right?"

"Sir, a book locked in a box won't suddenly jump out and bite you."

"I can't say for sure," Luo Binhan replied. He wanted to ask for more details, but Li Li started bombarding his phone with messages. She sent him hundreds of pictures and dozens of text reports in one go, diverting his attention.

Those pictures were all of the items they got from the hotel, which can now be called relics. In addition to the box, the remaining fragments were also checked one by one. At first, Luo Binhan carefully checked, thought, and analyzed each one, and then found the inspection report with the corresponding number to read. By the eighth picture, he had completely lost his patience and just quickly browsed through it by swiping the screen.

"That's funny." He put down his phone temporarily and said, "Have you ever played role-playing games before, Li Li? The kind where you go into a dungeon to fight monsters? When you kill the most powerful monster in the dungeon, it will give you corresponding rewards when it dies. Money, materials, equipment... The stronger the monster you kill, the more precious the things it gives you. Good games will reward you like this non-stop, and assure you that as long as you follow the route it designs and work hard to kill a few more monsters, you will be worthy of being a hero, a great man, or a god in this world - have you ever thought about what it would be like if these games didn't give you any rewards when you killed the BOSS?"

“The reward is that we’re one step further away from the cliff.”

"Come on." Luo Binhan said, "This is what the game promised you at the beginning. You are the god it serves, so of course it has to leave you a 100% sure path to clear the game. But if our next opponent is stronger than Zhou Wenxing, Li Li, I suggest you ask the one in the store to go. This one is definitely not a good game. Take a look at what our teacher Zhou left behind."

He lowered his head and continued to read, this time reading the details of the report. If this was a game, and all of Zhou Wenxing's relics were picked up and put into his inventory, Luo Binhan estimated that all the items in these pictures would only occupy one grid, and the name of the items was written as "a pile of worthless sundries": several religion and natural science books with very poor paper quality (the appraisal report specifically pointed out that these should all be pirated books), two boxes of unopened rosin (packaged in plastic boxes, the origin is unknown), two sets of gray thin coats for spring and summer (one set of polyester jacquard fabric, one set of cotton and polyester blended plain fabric, Luo Binhan has never seen their owners wear them), several charging devices and data cables (unknown brands), a laptop computer (unknown brand, internal data has been fully extracted), a matching computer bag (gray polyester), a thermos cup (made of stainless steel, no brand logo), towels and other toiletries (opened hotel supplies, collected by logistics personnel, and now it is being determined whether they have been used by people)...

Robinson stopped reading. "I can't stand it anymore," he said, throwing away his phone. "I thought it was enough to just delete the browser history before a person dies. I just want to ask you why you touched his toothbrush?"

"You know, we haven't fully understood his physiological structure yet. Although the threat has been resolved, this is still a topic worth exploring. If we can collect genetic samples, we can continue this research in the future."

"Do you really think this is reasonable, Li Li? Your people worked for more than ten hours without sleep, just to find out whether he used a towel, what brand of clothes he bought, and what might have been soaked in the thermos... I feel sad for your people to waste their lives on such meaningless things."

"They are all volunteers, sir, and they are quite active. The final number of participants in the team exceeded the original plan by seven people. The radioactive detection team and the chemical analysis team are too redundant. I wanted to transfer more people to do the work of investigation and psychology, but their minds are now on the box. This is not a good sign. I will transfer a new investigation team to take over as soon as possible."

"You are a bunch of shameless perverts," Luo Binhan said. "I want to call the police for the dead man!"

"You know, sometimes we have to go a little beyond the boundaries of conventional custom for the sake of knowledge—and, I guess, we didn't find all of his stuff."

"Why? You think two coats aren't enough for him?"

“I would have expected a guitar, or at least some kind of string instrument.”

“Who brings a guitar on a business trip!”

"But there is rosin in the inventory. If he doesn't have a string instrument that needs maintenance, what is the rosin used for? And there is no label on the package. Rosin sold in a music store should not be without a production label."

"He also threw a toy rabbit here at my place," Luo Binhan said casually. "I think he stole it from some kindergarten."

"I think we should organize some people to trace the source of these items."

"Don't count on it, Li Li. These are our things. There's nothing special about them. You've even tested their radioactivity. What about the box? How's the progress?"

"With limited success. All I can tell you is that it weighs two-thirds less than my box, and there's no data port on the case. I'm leaning toward the idea that it's a storage box."

"What's in that box? Don't tell me it's another dead rat."

"You'll know when you open it."

"You can't open it, can you?" Robinham said. "I knew it wouldn't be that easy. You can stay at the bottom of the sea for ten thousand years. Do we have anything here that can destroy your box?"

"I wouldn't say absolutely. This material is not designed to be indestructible, but if it is not opened in the way it was designed, we don't know what the consequences will be."

"What if someone insists on destroying your box? What will be the consequences?"

"No consequences. My box itself is not designed with a defense system. I think this is intentional by the manufacturer."

"You obviously electrocuted me."

"This has nothing to do with 'defense systems' by Wuyuan's standards, sir. You can also use your cell phone as a paperweight, even though it's not designed for that." Robinson fell back on the pillow, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "You just can't open the box safely anyway."

"For now."

"Let me have a look at the box."

"You got information that looked like a password from the target?"

"No, but I deserve it." Luo Binhan gritted his teeth and said, "I have suffered so much to kill that thing, so of course I am qualified to touch the equipment he dropped!"

"Don't you think this idea is a bit childish?"

"What's that? I didn't ask to dance on his grave. And we have to open the box anyway, right? Maybe my knife can come in handy for that. Let's find a place where no one is around and try to pry it open with the knife."

Li Li did not comment on his clever plan, but only promised to let him see the box with his own eyes after the first round of testing. Even this was the result of Luo Binhan's efforts. She seemed to think that he didn't even need to see it, which was really hard for Luo Binhan to understand. He slept patiently for two or three hours. This time he didn't dream, and he slept peacefully. When he opened his eyes, the sky was hazy and dawn was approaching. Li Li told him that the pick-up ship was already being prepared.

Luo Binhan took off the gauze on his face and tried again. His left eye still couldn't see clearly, but it was much better than when he just woke up. At least he could tell whether it was a stake or a living person standing five meters away. "Can you get me a pair of sunglasses?"

"It's already on the receiving ship."

"And my right hand." He tried to flick the fingers of his right hand. "Can't this plaster be removed? How can I explain this to others?"

"He said you were in another car accident and were on your way to send your junior back to the hotel."

"I'm tired of those bullshit rumors," Robinson said flatly. "My right hand doesn't hurt anymore, so it's okay to remove it."

Li Li refused to give in on the matter, only saying that he was "extremely optimistic" about his ability to recover. But Luo Binhan also insisted that he could not hang his right hand around his neck and swing it around. Nan Mingguang would be back in two or three days, and he couldn't stay away from home for several weeks. His hands and feet had to look good. In the end, Li Li gave in. She told him that there was a new type of plastic brace that could replace the function of plaster, and the material was very thin and could be covered with clothes, but this kind of equipment was not available in Aries City, so she had to spend extra time to adjust it. So they had to wait another two hours for the fracture brace to be delivered with the pick-up ship. Before that, they used a plaster saw to remove the plaster on his right hand and removed the splint on his left knee. Luo Binhan immediately broke into a cold sweat due to the pain from moving around.

"I told you," Li Li said, "It may sound noble to risk one's life, but it is not always the case."

"Why didn't you prepare that brace earlier? We could have used it right from the start."

"It's a question of cost, sir."

"Cost!" Luo Binhan yelled. He had just used his right hand to support the table, and the pain made his eyes go black.

"Communication costs. The stuff you want is not commercially available in this area. We have to get it from someone else's laboratory."

Luo Binhan had no choice but to let her go. He fell on the bed obediently, paying the price for his blindly inflated self-confidence. After the people who removed the plaster left, he said, "Are you still monitoring my acquaintance?"

"Yes, whose current situation do you want to know?"

"No, I was just asking. Just to make sure nothing happened."

"What are you worried about?"

"I... it's hard to believe that we really killed him, do you understand? That was the plan, but even Upsilon couldn't kill him, but we succeeded. Isn't that strange?"

"You are comparing numerical values. But reality doesn't work that way. A cat can catch mice better than an elephant."

"Of course I know that, I just don't understand why it was me. There was absolutely no need for him to do this? He suddenly jumped in front of me and then I killed him. What was the point of this? It was like he deliberately wanted me to do something to him. Did he want me to kill him?"

"It's an interesting thought, but it still doesn't explain why he chose you to end his life."

"They say there's a curse on him."

"To anyone who wants to kill him. Yes, it is rumored that anyone who has such an intention will suffer misfortune."

"What about you and me?" Luo Binhan asked, "What will happen to the two of us? How will that guy who doesn't want him to die retaliate against us?"

"Perhaps nothing will happen. The person is dead, and the effects of the curse may also disappear with him."

"Please keep an eye on it for me." Luo Binhan had to say finally.

After swallowing the painkiller, he managed to sleep for a while until the pick-up boat arrived with clothes, sunglasses and braces. This so-called orthopedic brace looked a bit like an athlete's joint protector at first glance, but its actual structure was much more complicated, with several alloy rings and semi-liquid linings for fixing bones. After someone helped him put it on, it could indeed be hidden under thin summer clothes, but it was not as convenient as he expected. He still walked very stiffly and his right hand could not exert any strength, but it looked a little more respectable. They also put some cream powder on his face and neck to cover some wounds and bruises on his skin. Finally, he put on a pair of pilot-style polarized sunglasses, dressed like a young version of Nan Mingguang, and took the boat away.

He first returned to Baiyang City, and then took a timber truck into the old industrial park of Lihai City. Two months ago, Li Li rented a small workshop here as a place to stay. Now it is almost empty inside, with only a folding camp bed and a box of sundries on the right wall. The luggage he had left in the island homestay and his spare mobile phone were placed on the camp bed, indicating that his stuntman had been here and officially handed over his social identity to the original owner. Luo Binhan walked to the bed and sat down, looking at the brand new fully enclosed glass tank in the corner.

Ignoring the camera on the top and the flamethrower below, the internal environment of the glass tank itself is already quite good. There are rain flower stone bottom sand, sunken wood and various ceramic landscapes, mosses, ficus pumila, golden thread vine, begonia, water flower, various ferns... all covering the middle and lower spaces in the tank. Even if outsiders take a closer look, they will not find other secrets under the branches and leaves. In the center of the glass tank is a volcanic landscape with a stone shell. Usually, moist water mist will be sprayed from the top, and hydrogen for detonation will be sprayed when necessary. Luo Binhan suspected that this miniature volcano was also deliberately chosen by Li Li. She just has this twisted little habit of paying attention to details.

The green bush in the glass tank trembled slightly, and a pool of translucent mucus slowly appeared in front of the tank wall. Luo Binhan raised his hand and greeted it.

"Miffy," he said, "how is your new home?"

The mucus rolled forward, half-hidden under the leaves of mosses and begonias. It did not expose its vocal organs, but Robinhan heard it reply through the speaker in the tank: "Very good."

"I see you like this new place better."

"There's still not enough food," said Miffy, "but it's going to be fresher. Have you sorted out your problem?"

"The most dangerous part is solved."

Luo Binhan noticed that the color of the creature in the tank was more emerald green. He wondered if this was related to the type of food provided by Li Li. As far as he knew, its diet recently mainly consisted of mixed feed, moss, ferns and small insects. Eating these was definitely more pleasant than secretly eating frozen meat in the refrigerator in the middle of the night. But this was not the reason why he stole it from home.

It's mainly a question of trust. Fina and Yu Xiaorong have been getting along very well. They have become visibly fatter and sleep together at night. This will become a safety insurance for Yu Xiaorong. But the creature in front of him is too smart, and it can be said that it is too human. A creature that can think about philosophical problems certainly knows how to think about more complex pros and cons. If he disappears one day, it is hard to say what this thing will do. He also considered letting it serve as bait in the trap box, but this idea was too bad. Li Li was the first to object, and he rejected it immediately. From a rational level, it has no obligation to contribute to the survival of this planet; from a pragmatic point of view, this thing is quite capable, and the probability of betraying them at a critical moment is not low. In a life-and-death battle where the outcome is unpredictable, it is much more important to control it than to use it well.

But now the risk period is almost over. He can start to consider using it. After all, it is free-form and has some knowledge about the outside world.

"I want you to do me a favor," he said.

"What's the deal?"

"There may be a box delivered soon. Please help us take a look. We think there will be something important in it."

The mucus moved slightly and regularly, slowly agreeing to this request. Luo Binhan let it think, and opened his phone to check the messages. The first one was Nan Mingguang, who just ten minutes ago told him briefly that the follow-up results would be available today. Luo Binhan calculated the time difference and estimated that the old guy was having trouble sleeping all night. The second one was Xiaorong, who was asked if he would come to the company today. He thought for a few seconds and then made a video call.

(End of this chapter)