CH 17

Chapter 17: The Fruit of Elpis

Its name was “Elpis”. Once it matured, it would grow into an A rank organism.

“Elpis” comes from the name of the Greek goddess of hope. She was once locked in Pandora’s box, and when the box was opened, all kinds of catastrophes were released into the world. Only Elpis remained in the box.

As an A rank organism of Nibelungen, it possessed an enlightened consciousness. Although it didn’t have a human “brain”, it was capable of complex thinking and awareness. When Zhou Qing discovered the information regarding this organism, he thought that it would be the breakthrough cure for his brain tumor.

Juli Corporation had already been conducting research in Nibelungen for many years. A plant like Elpis has always been one of their key research goals, but they’ve never been able to obtain its fruit or seed, let alone take a sample of it.

Yet now, Zhou Qing had its fruit in his grasp?

None of this was an illusion.

That S rank organism had really been here!

However, what is his purpose in helping Zhou Qing?

Fine. No matter what his purpose is, there is nothing left that the other could snatch away from him.

If he wanted Zhou Qing’s life, he could give it to him… there was nothing unfair about it, and Zhou Qing wouldn’t feel reluctant to part with it.

On the contrary, he would feel grateful.

The fragrance of the Elpis fruit seemed to have a calming effect. Zhou Qing felt as if his thoughts were galloping on the open plains, speeding with the wind, free and boundless.

He fell asleep.

“Zhou Yu! Zhou Yu! Wake up!”

Someone was slapping Zhou Yu’s face. Zhou Yu abruptly sat up and almost knocked into Wu Yun’s nose.

“My God, you sure sleep like a log. Even Dr. Daniel got up earlier than you,” Wu Yun looked at Zhou Yu, then placed a hand on his forehead.

“What is it?” Zhou Yu asked.

“Nothing. I thought you had a fever, but your body temperature is normal.”

Wu Yun got up and went to wake Han Li and Li Qian.

Zhou Yu kneaded his face, he felt like something unbelievable had happened.

What was going on? Why did he sleep so deeply?

“What I mean is, even if you think it’s the problem, we still have to bring it back to the base, it has a high research value,” Wu Yun nodded.

Zhou Yu didn’t want to pay attention to him. He put the little thing back into the silk scarf and tied it to his waist, then continued walking. He looked towards Zhou Qing.

Perhaps it was because they had gotten a full night’s rest, Zhou Qing looked much more spirited than he had been yesterday. Not only were his spirits improved, but even his face also didn’t look as pallid as usual.

“Professor Zhou, you can give me some of your stuff. I’ll help you carry it,” suggested Dr. Daniel.

“There’s no need, thank you. I feel fine today.” Not only did Zhou Qing respect Dr. Daniel, but he also felt grateful towards him.

Li Qian and Han Li were in lower spirits than Zhou Qing. The two had their heads hanging and were rubbing their eyes.

Wu Yun walked up to them and clapped his hands, “Hey! Cheer up! Let’s try to make it out of here today!”

“Actually, our luck has been pretty good. No dangerous organism tried to attack us through the entire night,” said Dr. Daniel.

Li Qian and Han Li also nodded, agreeing that they had been extremely fortunate, but Wu Yun and Zhou Yu looked at Zhou Qing.

In his heart, Zhou Qing understood that their night of peace had been because of the protection of that S rank organism, but he couldn’t tell everyone that.

One, it would cause panic, and two, Zhou Yu’s character would definitely compel him to protect Zhou Qing by breaking off contact between him and the S rank organism.

It wasn’t just because of a scholarly desire for knowledge, it more genuinely due to his deep, subconscious longing for the other.

There was a kind of resonance between him and that S rank organism.

He wanted to always keep the unique understanding they had between them. Even if he ended up as the other’s prey.

“Probably because we all injected the suppressant, we didn’t emit any hormones that mark us as prey,” Zhou Qing replied.

“Maybe,” Zhou Yu looked away.

“Alright, let’s not waste time, keep going.” Wu Yun saw that Zhou Yu wasn’t planning on pursuing an answer, so it was meaningless for him to continue to cling onto the topic.

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Li Qian felt uncertain and asked Wu Yun while walking.

Wu Yun raised his wrist to check his watch. There was a special compass fixed onto his watch that was compatible with the magnetic fields in Nibelungen and could tell the direction.

“We’re going the right way. To avoid two-headed wolf spiders, we went the long way,” replied Wu Yun.

“What if we can’t make it out by tonight?” Han Li asked, extremely worried.

“That’s very possible.”

Wu Yun thought that his words would make everyone nervous, but contrary to his expectations, Li Qian and Han Li—the two who had the most extreme mood swings—were very calm.

They walked for a while. The little guy at Zhou Yu’s waist nudged him, it seemed to have woken up. It stuck its head out of the scarf and opened its large eyes, looking up at Zhou Yu.

“Look at it, it’s black all over, let’s call it ‘coal ball’!” Wu Yun deadpanned.

Han Li rolled her eyes, “What kind of a name is that?”

“Let’s call it little blackie,” Li Qian also came by to chime in, “Are you hungry, blackie?”

Saying that, Li Qian took the leftover compressed biscuit he hadn’t finished eating and slowly waved it in front of its face.

The little guy followed Li Qian’s hand, turning to the left, then to the right. Every time Li Qian moved the biscuit close to its mouth, it opened its mouth and closed its eyes. Then, Li Qian would move his hand away and after this repeated a few times, it simply turned around and buried its face in Zhou Yu’s waist, showing its resentment towards Li Qian by ignoring him.

Zhou Yu placed his palm on top of its head, “It’s better if we don’t give it a name. Once we name it, we’ll become attached to it, and then we won’t have the heart to hand it over to the researchers anymore.”

Zhou Yu’s words caused everyone to fall silent.

As if the little thing understood Zhou Yu’s words, it showed Zhou Yu an expression that was completely different from pathos, resentment, or even grievance.

It was disappointment.

Zhou Yu suddenly started to doubt, could it understand their language?

Before he came here, he once heard that many life forms in Nibelungen were intelligent, and some of them… surpassed even humans.

Zhou Yu teased it a little with his finger, but it didn’t react at all. Zhou Yu slid his index finger down the soft fur on his head, however, it extended a wing and covered its head with it, not allowing Zhou Yu to touch. At this, Zhou Yu thought it was funny for some reason.

“Do you want a name so badly?”

The little guy slightly peeped out from under its wing and looked at Zhou Yu, then it shrunk back under its wing and continued sulking.

After walking for a few more hours, the humidity level in the air became noticeably higher.

“I think I heard something…” Wu Yun tilted his head.

“It’s the sound of water,” replied Zhou Yu.

Everyone turned their ears that way and listened carefully, the sound of water became more and more obvious.

“Is it a waterfall?” Dr. Daniel asked.

“It seems so…”

“I’m suddenly curious, how are the waterfalls in Nibelungen different from the ones in our world…?”

As Li Qian spoke, he found that Wu Yun’s expression had turned dark.

“If I haven’t guessed wrong, this should be the largest waterfall in the forest and the source of all its rivers, ‘Angel Horns’,” said Wu Yun.

“This is Angel Horns? How magnificent…” Zhou Qing was moved, “According to Juli Corp’s research data, the ecological diversity here isn’t inferior to our Malaysia!”

“So… are there any piranhas here?” Li Qian gulped.

“Piranhas are comparatively harmless,” Zhou Qing replied.

There were many animals even more ferocious than the piranha in the Malaysian ecosystem, let alone in Nibelungen.

Li Qian’s face immediately lost all of its color.

“Let’s not get any closer to that waterfall!”

Wu Yun didn’t say anything, he only kept walking. Everyone else silently followed behind him. Li Qian didn’t understand and tugged at Han Li, “Are you not afraid either?”

Han Li gave a bitter laugh, “Will that help? Wu Yun is familiar with this place. If we can go around it, why wouldn’t he bring us around it? It has to be because going around would waste more time. The suppressant compound in our bodies can’t last until then.”

After hearing Han Li explain, Li Qian also lowered his head and fell silent.

The closer they walked, the more they felt the mist and water from the waterfall splashing onto their faces. Li Qian didn’t doubt at all that if he were to be hit by the falling water, the force of its impact would crush his bones to dust.

Under the falls lay the longest river in the forest—”Angel Tears”.