After Picking Up the Rival Boss, It Smells Really Good - Chapter 8

Qin Gou dragged 073 further into a remote corner. After glancing at the other’s attire, he contemplated briefly before decisively swapping clothes with him.

Having changed into 073’s uniform, Qin Gou retrieved a peculiarly designed miniature pistol from his original clothing. He studied it thoughtfully for a moment before tucking it back into his new outfit.

He positioned the communication device beneath the lower edge of his face shield and continued forward.

“Lu Lian?” he attempted to reconnect, but it seemed Lu Lian had disabled the communicator with no intention of further contact.

Qin Gou frowned and shut off his own device. Adopting a professional patrol stance, he proceeded deeper until finally spotting a large door guarded by two similarly dressed personnel confirming his assumed identity as a patrol officer.

Expressionless, Qin Gou approached the entrance.

“Identity recognition,” chimed a mechanical female voice as a beam of light descended from the doorframe, making Qin Gou’s heart tighten. Both guards turned their attention toward him.

The scanning beam passed over the nameplate on Qin Gou’s uniform: “Identity confirmed Patrol Officer 73.”

The door slowly swung open. Evidently, due to the isolation suits, biological recognition wasn’t employed here identification relied solely on nameplates. While seemingly convenient, this approach revealed inexperience, proving Blaise was indeed a novice in such matters. That he’d achieved this scale of operation clearly indicated external guidance. Neither Qin Gou nor Lu Lian would ever make such fundamental errors.

Qin Gou stepped through the doorway into an area filled with numerous large biological instruments he had truly reached the factory’s core. No live animals or Experimental Subjects were visible yet; this appeared to be the machinery operation sector.

At least he hadn’t taken a completely wrong path.

“073!” someone called out. A fully-equipped figure with darker-toned uniform stopped him, bearing the designation 008 on his nameplate likely his superior.

Qin Gou remained silent but halted immediately. 008 showed no suspicion as he ordered: “New shipment arriving today. We’re deploying extra manpower you and 096 are reassigned.”

Extra manpower? Why? The so-called “new shipment” probably meant Experimental Animals. Were they transporting large quantities this time, or perhaps even dangerous beasts?

Following instructions, Qin Gou soon joined 096, heading deeper into the Laboratory together. 096 proved excessively talkative, chattering incessantly throughout their walk.

“Hey, you know about this incoming batch?”

Qin Gou stayed silent, uncertain about 096’s relationship with the original 073 and needing to maintain caution.

“Always so boring with you,” 096 complained, though this worked in Qin Gou’s favor since 073 was naturally taciturn. Unexpectedly, 096 enjoyed monologuing enough to lean in conspiratorially despite the lack of response: “Tsk, tsk. Rumor has it the big boss isn’t satisfied with just animal research anymore. This time they’re shipping in live humans!”

Illegal human experimentation. Qin Gou quickly grasped the key information from the words. On Noah-β063 Habitable Star, illegal human experimentation was punishable by death. Yet those who most frequently conducted these gray-area experiments were often the powerful elites who had established these laws.

Qin Gou seemed to feel the long scar on his abdomen throbbing faintly again. Beneath his mask, he couldn’t help but clench his teeth.

The door swung open, revealing five oversized mechanical trolleys, each carrying a massive black iron cage. Inside were five tall men dressed in white lab coats. They appeared to have been drugged, looking extremely weak and devoid of any strength to struggle. Eight guards were already stationed beside the cages. Seeing the newcomers, they waved them over: “We’ve been waiting for you! Bring the last cage!”

Qin Gou silently moved with 096 toward the final cage. In truth, from the moment he entered, his gaze had been subtly fixed on that last cage.

Inside was a tall man with gray hair, apparently affected by drugs, his head drooping low, making his expression unclear.

…Why was Lu Lian here?

It couldn’t be that he’d been captured so quickly and turned into an experimental subject.

Clearly, there was only one possibility: like Qin Gou, Lu Lian had chosen to assume a false identity. And coincidentally, one had taken the place of a patrol guard while the other had replaced an experimental subject. In a way, it showed a bizarre sort of tacit understanding.

…Still, he needed to find an opportunity to communicate with Lu Lian first.

Qin Gou and 093 followed the team as they slowly advanced. The scenery along this path was noticeably different from before. Instead of large functional instruments, there were now transparent experiment pods, all containing animals. Initially, these were smaller creatures like cats, dogs, and rabbits.

As the team progressed deeper, the scene completely changed. The experiment pods now held various fierce beasts, including tigers and grizzly bears. They all wore bite inhibitors and appeared somewhat restless. Qin Gou frowned silently.

In the post-stellar era, animal species had become much scarcer. The biopods of the exile era couldn’t guarantee the transportation of all biological categories to the new civilization.

Creatures like grizzly bears hadn’t been brought to the new civilization.

These were artificially cultivated through genetic experimentation.

At the far end of the laboratory appeared a massive display screen, before which sat a man in a white lab coat.

“Ah, my precious ones have arrived.” The man put down the precision instrument in his hand and turned around excitedly. A long, deep scar ran across his right cheek, almost spanning the entire side of his face, giving him a fierce and eerie appearance.

Boss Blaise.

He circled the cages excitedly several times. When he reached the fifth cage, his steps halted.

Qin Gou’s breathing slowed. Frowning, he stared intently at Blaise, not missing a single movement.

“Oh!” Blaise laughed excitedly. “What beautiful gray hair, what a magnificent physique! I believe this will definitely be my most satisfactory experimental subject!”

“…” Qin Gou felt inexplicably irritated.

“Take them all into the Experiment Pods and properly secure their bite inhibitors.” The next second, Blaise’s earlier excitement vanished, replaced by the gaze of a venomous serpent as he stared at the cages. “I’m quite looking forward to this experiment.”

Qin Gou and 093 carried the cage containing Lu Lian into the final Experiment Pod. The human Experiment Pod was exceptionally large, practically equivalent to an entire room, with the only distinction being that all four walls were made of transparent glass facilitating observation and experimentation.

096 brought over a metal bite inhibitor and moved to put it on.

Without a word, Qin Gou took the bite inhibitor from 096’s hands.

“Alright, alright, you do it.” 096 shrugged.

Qin Gou opened the iron cage and moved closer. Lu Lian appeared to have fainted inside, though it was also possible he was merely resting with his eyes closed.

Qin Gou bent down, crouching before him, and picked up the bite inhibitor.

At that moment, Lu Lian’s eyes snapped open. The instant those cold gray eyes fixed on him, Qin Gou sensed an overwhelmingly intense killing intent.

Immediately after, a Mental Sea suppressed to an extremely confined range seeped out from Lu Lian’s body. Like a wind capable of freezing a person, it swiftly threatened to envelop Qin Gou. Lu Lian controlled it masterfully; aside from Qin Gou, who was in extremely close proximity, no one else could detect the presence of this Mental Sea.

At the critical moment.

“It’s me.” Qin Gou’s voice was muffled through the face shield.

Lu Lian froze for a moment, the coldness in his eyes shattering instantly. The next moment, the Mental Sea, which had been like a chilling wind, dissipated like a wisp of smoke.