Chapter 261: The Identity of the Aurora Lord

Chen Ling walked back, looking blank, very much like a newly graduated college student who had just entered the workforce, his eyes clear and foolish.

As he got closer to Han Meng, the latter reached out and patted Chen Ling's shoulder expressionlessly.

"Chen Xin, I think highly of you."

"..." Chen Ling blinked.

"[Asura] is a path with great potential. I believe your future achievements will be more than this..."

"But Deputy Captain, I've been stuck at the first rank for three years."

"...A hidden dragon in the abyss, accumulating strength before bursting forth," Han Meng said after holding it in for a long time.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"I plan to cultivate you properly. You'll follow me for a while, and I'll teach you how to develop your own potential. After we return to headquarters, I'll recommend you... What do you think?"

Chen Ling's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Of course."

"Thank you, Deputy Captain!"

"It's nothing. But you should have noticed that Captain Qiong Xuan intends to target me, so if you report everything to him, it's easy to give him leverage..."

"Deputy Captain, you have shown me great kindness. I will definitely stand on your side!" Chen Ling replied firmly.

Seeing the excitement in Chen Ling's eyes, Han Meng nodded slightly, knowing that this matter had been smoothed over. He turned and walked toward the third level.

Chen Ling followed closely behind him without hesitation.

"Why are you following me?" Han Meng was stunned.

"Didn't you say you wanted me to follow you first?"

"..." Han Meng was about to speak when he heard footsteps coming from not far away, so he decided not to waste time and walked straight into the depths of the passage. "Forget it... Then follow me closely. Don't tell anyone about today's events, understand?"

"Understood!"

A faint smile curled on Chen Ling's lips.

He wanted to go to the third level even more than Han Meng, but he couldn't pass this ritual artifact checkpoint. If he had followed the original plan, he would have had to wait for Jian Changsheng to coordinate from the inside, but now that the variable Han Meng had appeared, there was another possibility: following Han Meng inside... He had bet on Han Meng's desire not to let others know he had been to the third level, stalling for time and trying his luck. He hadn't expected to succeed in infiltrating, which was an unexpected joy.

As they passed through the passage, the third level of the Aurora Base appeared before them. Although the white-coated figures passing by were surprised to see them, they withdrew their gazes and continued their work after seeing the Deputy Captain badge on Han Meng's chest.

The black Enforcer trench coat moved through the corridor. Han Meng's peripheral vision swept over the doors on both sides, and seeing the experimental subjects inside through the glass, his pupils shrank slightly.

His expression became visibly ugly.

And this scene was also captured by Chen Ling... Chen Ling knew before coming that the Aurora Base was conducting human experiments, so he wasn't surprised, but looking at Han Meng's expression, he seemed completely unaware of this.

Could it be that he entered the base just to investigate this?

Just then, the door to a laboratory was pushed open, and several figures in white lab coats walked out, pushing a hospital bed.

"I think the dosage this time was a bit too high."

"This is the first experiment, and it already produced such a violent reaction. This is the first time I've encountered such a situation."

"That was a full double dose... And he already had those incantations in his body. Adding these together, the actual content in 12139's body has already exceeded the warning line!"

"Indeed. At this level, he might even irreversibly transform into a Calamity and go completely berserk."

"Fortunately, the vital signs finally stabilized..."

"12139's situation is too tricky. Let Dr. Yi take over."

They were talking seriously while pushing the hospital bed, not paying any attention to Han Meng and Chen Ling passing by. As their gazes fell on the hospital bed, their hearts trembled.

The originally snow-white sheets had been stained pitch-black. A figure completely wrapped in mysterious incantations was lying on it like a corpse, his whole body looking as if it had been soaked and swollen, making it impossible to see his original appearance. Coupled with the mysterious black liquid constantly squirming on his back, sometimes turning into seaweed, sometimes into tentacles, and sometimes into an eyeball with three pupils, it made one's scalp tingle.

After just a hurried glance, the white-coated figures pushed the hospital bed away, leaving only Han Meng and Chen Ling staring blankly in the direction the monster had gone, even stopping in their tracks for a moment.

Even Chen Ling was seeing something this eerie for the first time... Or rather, a person?

"Deputy Captain..." Chen Ling couldn't help but speak, "What is the Aurora Base doing?"

Han Meng didn't answer. Under the sleeves of his Enforcer trench coat, his hands were clenched tightly, and anger burned in his heart.

A cold light flashed in his eyes, and he walked straight toward the figures in white lab coats. Just as he was about to stop them and ask, a loud hiccup sounded from the corridor next to them.

"Hic... Isn't this Deputy Captain Han Meng? What are you doing here?"

Han Meng turned to look and saw Dr. Yi holding a wine bottle, looking at them drunkenly, his brow furrowing involuntarily.

"Dr. Yi," Han Meng said coldly, "you'd better give me an explanation."

"Explanation? Explanation for what?"

"These experiments."

"Oh~ you mean these." Dr. Yi smiled. He walked up, his stubble-covered face almost pressed against Han Meng's, staring into Han Meng's eyes. "What? Are you angry?"

"You are actually conducting human-Calamity fusion experiments in secret. How is this any different from the Fusion Faction wanted by the Nine Great Domains?"

"Difference? Of course there is." Dr. Yi spread his hands. "The Fusion Faction's goal is to let humans and Calamities fuse and coexist, adapting to the living environment of the Gray World through racial evolution... That is a crooked path that will cause human genes to completely dilute and collapse, leading to racial extinction. And our experiments are just to protect the Aurora Domain."

"Doing these experiments to protect the Aurora Domain?" Han Meng didn't believe his nonsense at all, a murderous intent radiating from his eyes. "Tell me, what does the Aurora Domain have to do with fusing with Calamities??"

"Don't you know?"

Dr. Yi lifted the white wine bottle in his hand and took a fierce gulp, then spoke slowly with a thick smell of alcohol, his tone full of self-mockery and sarcasm:

"The Aurora Lord, who created the entire Aurora Domain... is the very Fuser that everyone shouts to beat."

The moment the words fell, Han Meng and Chen Ling were both stunned on the spot.