Chapter 61 - The Institute (2)

For these aborigines who had never left the Planet Star 1329BV since their birth, what happened next felt like a dream.

They washed their bodies with clean, non-contaminated water for the first time, put on dry clothes that didn't smell like rat and insect dung, got fed a full meal, and even had their own personal ID's . It was just as the High Command had said, they really were given a new identity. 

The players naturally separated themselves from the aboringes and they all congregated around the different canteen table and spoke in low whispers , they didn't speak until the meal was done, for who knows when they'd be able to eat without fear in the coming times.

Chu Yi picked up the plain white cup in hand, and casually skimmed the inferior grade tea with the lid of the cup and took a sip, he doesn't drink in a hurry and the posture of drinking was smooth like flowing clouds. The taste of the tea wasn't unique, and had a non-descript smell, nevertheless it was soothing enough for the weary players. Due to their identities the players had been given a debuff from the beginning , therefore even though they didn't seem as greyed and unhealthy as the NPC's, they still had weakness and convulsive pain in the stomach from long term malnutrition.

Chu Yi observed the surrounding terrain, the cup in his hand, hiding the scheming light in his eye, he could hear the marveling of the excited aboringes,

"The air is so fresh!"

"...The clothes on my body turned out to be intact, not a single hole torn..."

"I didn't feel hungry at all... it was incredible!"

"They are really just like angels!."

Chu Yi chuckled faintly with derision, Tang Shun's description was really very accurate.

Mu Fang, as the only official player among the group, naturally designated himself as the leader and started issuing tasks to the players immediately.

"We should take every opportunity to explore before we reach the so called 'Institute', usually this time right now is a buffer period for the players to find out as much as possible and there is a really low chance that we'll face attacks from monsters as long as we don't get caught."

"As long as you find an chance, then I'd suggest you take it."

The others nodded in agreement.

At this moment, a few tall men in uniform walked over and led them into the rest cabin. The rest cabin was not small, but it was very crowded. The narrow beds were tightly packed against the wall. There were four beds in total, each with a number on the bedplate, and they could only accommodate one person each. There were multiple such rest cabins which corresponded to the number on their ID Card.

After a period of confusion, all the passengers finally found the bed with their own number. Lying on the narrow and soft bed, the slight vibration of the starship as he jumped from starpoint to starpoint formed a low almost trancelike lull across the silent ship, many of them had tight nerves, in high tension due to excitement and anticipation, originally in this state it would be difficult for them to fall asleep, but when the light on the ship dimmed, the passengers all felt a burst of unstoppable drowsiness, pulling him into a dark sleep instantly.

They had been drugged!

Chu Yi had also been a victim to this sudden onslaught of drowsiness , but unlike the others, he had only vaguely tasted the somewhat unpalatable dish of bread and green beans, before frowning in disgust and sipping on the tea instead, and there as could retain a semblance of sanity under the influence of the powerful anesthetic . Dimly, he heard something in a distance, like someone was talking. The voices however seemed to be coming from thousands of light-years away, separated by an impenetrable film.

"...Is the anesthetic fully injected?"

"Certainly."

"Don't worry, they all fell asleep like dead pigs."

The bionic light source illuminates the corridors of the starship, and the metal structure reflects cold light.. Several men in uniform stood at the door of the rest cabin and peered inward. The half-open cabin door was dark, and one after another light breathing could be faintly heard inside. Among them, was a familiar figure, Yan Ziyi.

"How many do you think are going to survive this time?'" Yan Ziyi asked with a sneer

One of them laughed and shook his head at Yan Ziyi,

"You know the crazy scientists down by the Institute, would never let go of any of these guinea pigs."

"A better question is, how long do you think they'll last for."

Yan Ziyi laughed along with him, the kind and compassionate gaze had long given away to cruel mirth "My bad, it was naive of me to even think of survival. Anyone who steps into the 'Institute' never comes back"

"Its you who is too evil, don't they call you the savior. Wouldn't those imbeciles be heartbroken to know that their savior was the one who pushed them to death in the first place"

"Who wants to be called savior by those animals. "He sneered," I just hope they die faster, that's enough to honor me."

The other person nodded with a smirk and said, "Okay, by the way, choose another fifty good-looking ones later to send to the Red Zone in Tauras Planet, the military there just placed an order."

"Come on, Lets go back to the Control Room, I can still smell their filthy stench." The cargo hold was crowded and sultry. Although the residents of Planter 1329BV had simply washed their bodies, the stench that had been soaked in them for decades was not so easy to dissipate, it had practically clung to their bones and it was suffocating in the packed cabin.

With the sound of fading footsteps, the ship was once again returned to silence.

Then there was a faint shuffle, followed by the rustle of clothes as someone struggled to stand. Chu Yi felt as if there was a heavy weight on his eyelids, the feeling of dizziness and nausea was overwhelming and even as he stood, he felt as if he would topple with a slight breeze. 

It took him a long time to finally stabilize himself and shake off the effects of the anesthesia, ignoring the log-like bodies numbered like goods on a shelf, he ventured out of the cabin.

[Confirm Activation of the skill: Invisibility (Green) ; Effective Time: One Hour; Bonus Effects: Muffled Sounds; Invisibility will automatically dissipate when the player speaks] 

"Confirm."

He walked aimlessly through the cold, metaled walls of the star ship with only the sound of his own beating heart. The entire ship looked deserted, there was no patrol, no alarm, no camera ,it almost seemed to have been deliberately done, however Chu Yi knew that it was just a lack of vigilance, none of the people on board, seemed to even fathom the thought that something could go wrong.

However soon enough, Chu Yi found something of interest. 

A door leading down into an underground basement under the ship, he could hear the unbroken chime of dripping water and smelled the unique scent of formaldehyde that he was familiar with. In more ways than one.

As he open the door at the end of the underground cabin, a green murky light appeared in the darkness and soon a cylindrical glass capsule came into view. With red eyes showing an unnatural glow, he managed to make out the blurry, curved shape of a slender shadow in a cluster of aquatic plants and overgrown moss , in the capsule, lying emotionless, seemed to be something that resembled a merman. It had sunk to the bottom of the capsule and was barely even breathing, Through the pale, grey drifting hair, he could see the drooping, sharply outlined face, just like a silent demon in the dark.

He approached the thing closer, to have a better look but even as he stood there, the thing did not respond, seemingly asleep with his guards down. This was obviously artificial, the seams and black hideous scars along the waist that attached to the fish tail of the merman was enough to indicate that this creature had once been a regular man. 

It wasn't hideous by any means, but there was a sort of unnatural beauty to it that made you think of death. It wasn't the only capsule of its kind, different creatures of varying types were all crowded in the same green murky water, dirty and obviously neglected. With one capsule, even having been completely drained of fluid and whatever had been inside having turned to nothing but black mush. This was to say, that these thing couldn't live without whatever chemicals were inside the capsule. Chu Yi spotted something, on the floor in front of the capsules, there was metal card that had been dropped carelessly there, after reading the words on it, a sly smile slowly spread across his face.

Splash...

In the dim water light, the long streamlined tail of the merman in front of him coiled around a cluster of aquatic plants like a python. His three wing-shaped tail fins overlapped like black smoke, similar to the black ink sprayed by a group of cuttlefish, except the feeling of abnormality, made the ambience in the dark room even more disturbing. That tail had been from something of colossal length, the king of the deep sea, ghostly and terrible as a shadow from hell, it hunted everything because the entire ocean was its prey.

It was impossible to accurately measure the length of its lower body, it could only be judged by visual measurement which seemed to be about 3 meters long. Adding his upper body length, he was about the same size as an adult tiger shark, it more than likely also equally matched in aggressiveness.

Splash…

This time, the merman was even more restless, the sound of rushing undercurrents stirred underneath, the murky green light in the long capsule suddenly sank to a pitch black and a dull blurry color, quite different from the normal brightness of the water, swept past. The merman's eyes were opened! His eyes hidden behind the veil of his hair emitted a faint blue light that looked similar to the pupils of a wolf shown in night vision camera lens.

Demonic

But Chu Yi smiled, those eyes that sunk deep down into the shadow of his eyebrows, soaking in the gloom of the deep sea, amused him. The corners of his mouth slightly raised, as if ridiculing something, that smiling expression is full of indescribable flirtation and wickedness. 

"Such a strong creature and yet so pitifully locked away. Were just the same aren't we."

"So let me help."

"Failed Experiment 5005"

********

The door to the underground cabin opened abruptly, a crew member from the ship walked it with a tray, under his breathe you could hear him cursing angrily, 'those damn thieves, who wants to come to this god forsaken place. If it wasn't for those mad researchers, I would have let these monstrosities die already'

The man suddenly stopped, the instinctive alarm inside his head was blaring with red signals; danger!

But it was too late,

A hoarse and low voice came from behind him and it sounded softly against his ears, like the whispers of his sweet lover by his pillow, 

"Are you looking for me?"

The man was horrified, but before he had time to turn his head, he felt a pair of cold hands cling to his neck and pinched his carotid artery precisely and harshly, in the last moments before he lost consciousness, he seemed to see glowing red eyes shining in the dark with sly cold light. As if the beast sleeping in the abyss slowly cracked its bloody mouth, and pulled out an evil and crazy smile at its prey.

Then, the cabin returned to silence.

Chu Yi suppressed the excitement in his eyes still gleaming in darkness.

He moved his somewhat stiff wrist, then bent down, and skillfully began to search for useful things on the man.

It wasn't much different from what he had guessed, the whole Institute was a scam from the beginning. Those abandoned stars on the edge of the galaxies were the garbage dump of the Federation, They were also conveniently used as a human farm and they would raise children from young like how a farmer raises its pigs, breeding them and sending rations every once in a while to keep them alive. Then they would select the best ones out of the batch each year to be sent to the Institute as guinea pigs to do whatever they wanted. They also used the leftovers as cheap labor to mine the precious Lithin ore that could only be created under extreme toxicity. In this way, every one gets what they want, the Federation could use the least amount of resources for cheap labor, the Institute gets to have as many human experiments as it wants and the other regiments would also benefit no doubt. It was a open secret in the Federations upper class and was covertly approved by the Empire.

But to a certain extent, the Federation has not lied, and the Empire will be responsible for post-retirement support after the selectors have completed the basic service period of two years.

....If they can live that long.