Book 2 Chapter 16.3 - Growth
Helen propped up her chin with her right hand while standing inside the spacious central laboratory. She seemed to be deep in thought as she watched the quickly refreshing data on the screen in front of her.
If someone saw her for the first time, they would definitely be shaken by this scene. No matter which angle you looked at it from, Helen's face was perfect. Even if her face was being replicated by an image, it would still be the same. Her hand was long, slender, and a fine white, and her fingers weren't tender and delicate, but instead possessed a knife-like sharpness and precision. When her hands and face were matched together, it formed an extremely beautiful image. In addition, while she was thinking, she looked exceptionally focused. Men who were devoted were charming, and women who were devoted were similarly charming.
Su was perhaps the only one that knew that under her beautiful appearance laid a great force that could make all lechers impotent.
On the screen in front of Helen, the images of Kafen, Maria, and Lynch's heads would emerge from time to time, as well as their corresponding information. Between their images, the image and information on many other individuals emerged. These individuals all had some level of relationship with Kafen and the other two. These relationships were tangled and complicated like a net, and Helen was currently trying to find some order within this mess.
Ding dong, ding dong!
A sharp and clear sound suddenly rang through this originally peaceful laboratory. Helen frowned, and then she gazed towards the laboratory platform on the side. There was a pure white laboratory counter made of an unknown alloy there. The surface was quite clean, and the only thing on its surface was a half-meter tall transparent colored-glass cylindrical container filled with an unknown dark green liquid.
Inside the green liquid was a strange, fingernail-sized creature that was currently swimming inside the container. It looked just like an irregular piece of flesh without any perception organs, and its shape was still continuously changing. Around its body were several dozen thin feelers, and it relied on them in order to swim through the green liquid. However, its speed was ridiculously fast, almost as if it could swim around this vessel two or three times in a second! Due to its movements, the entire container of green liquid began to continuously spin about and form an irregular vortex. The glass container became unsteady and shook back and forth. The base of the jar pounded against the surface of the table, creating ding dong, ding dong sounds.
It was truly hard for one to think that something this small possessed such extraordinary energy. It could actually shake this glass jar that was many, many times larger than itself!
"It's hungry already? You really can eat!" Helen sighed. As she walked towards the laboratory platform, her eyes were full of expectations and warmth, which was completely unlike her normal appearance.
Helen opened the small refrigerator by the wall and fetched a small piece of flesh that was still oozing out bits of blood. Then, she placed it into the semi translucent apparatus at the top of the glass jar before pressing a switch. The chunk of flesh slowly dropped down a transparent tubing. Each time it passed by a certain distance, the tubing behind it would seal up, and at the same time, a new section would open up.
As if it smelled the flesh, the little creature inside the green liquid's swimming speed abruptly increased, and the green liquid began to surge as if it was boiling, to the point where one couldn't even see the situation inside the jar clearly.
Helen's hand pressed down on the top of the glass so that it wouldn't fall off the laboratory counter.
The piece of flesh finally fell into the glass jar. As soon as it left the tubing, the green liquid immediately spun around, sucking the piece of flesh into the water.
In that instant, the rich green liquid suddenly radiated with a layer of bright and splendid redness! Then, as if the color was being washed away, the redness quickly retreated, but the green liquid wasn't affected at all. Even though it was the thick glass that not even rifle bullets could shoot through, one could still hear the strange rustling sounds that seemed to be everywhere.
In just a few seconds, the boiling green liquid gradually calmed down. It became a clear and transparent green without any trace of impurity, as if this was not liquid and instead pure jade.
That strange creature floated in the center of the green liquid, only, its size had already increased several times. Those with sharp eyes would immediately recognize that the extent of this little existence's growth was practically the same as that piece of flesh. In that short instant, it completely devoured its food. What was strange was that from the outside, no perception organs could be seen, nor were there any organs for absorption or excretion, so it was unclear just how it managed to tear that chunk of flesh apart. The only thing that set it apart from a piece of dead flesh were the ten lazily hanging feelers around its body.
It seemed to be completely full, no longer moving and slowly sinking to the bottom of the jar. Helen seemed as if she couldn't take her eyes off it, and from her expression seeped out a bit of nervousness that was difficult to conceal.
Even though the way the little thing sunk was slow, it got closer and closer to the bottom of the jar. Its feelers simply swayed about with the green liquid without any sign of independent will.
The longer Helen watched, the more nervous she became. Her right hand that was supporting the glass jar from the top subconsciously grabbed the lid. At this moment, a floating display screen suddenly arrived before Helen's face, and on top of the screen was Persephone's face.
It looked like a new battle had just ended. Persephone was calmly arranging her hair amidst the chaos. Her mood seemed to be quite good. Lights continuously flickered within her ashy green pupils. Just from the vague glint of gold, Helen knew that she was definitely thinking about how much she was going to make from this battle.
After giving Persephone a look, she once again returned her gaze to the little thing that was slowly sinking to the bottom of the glass jar. In a completely indifferent tone, she said, "it seems like your profit this time isn't bad."
"But of course!" Whenever Persephone was in high spirits, there would always be a hair-raising beauty to her appearance. She stretched out her body, fully displaying her curves that would immediately turn men into wild beasts before saying, "After this next battle, I'll be able to come back to Dragon City and rest for awhile. Aiya, I've really been out for too long and want to rest so bad! When I come back, you should treat me to a meal!"
"Impossible!" Helen's eyes were staring deathly at the little thing that was about to sink into the bottom of the jar as she directly refused Persephone's request. "You earned so much, so you should first make up for all the laboratory's expenditures! Then, you should be inviting me out for a meal."
Persephone's mouth immediately formed an 'O' shape, and then she said in a slightly miserable tone, "I am about to die from poverty, and almost everyone in the northern battlefield knows that they should be the one treating me. That is why, my dear Helen, your funds will have to wait a bit longer! You can just use your own money to make up for it for now, right?"
Helen released an 'oh' sound and unexpectedly asked, "I remember quite well that it was quite rare that others could invite you out for a meal. Why did your style suddenly change? Those men are all quite troublesome. How exactly did you complain your poverty to them?"
Persephone chuckled, and then in a rather self-satisfied tone, she said, "I told them that because I had to raise a man that is quite good at spending money but not good at earning money, I ended up taking quite a bit of debt, and that was why I could only eat off of them. After I finish speaking, their expressions would all become brilliant, and after they finished eating, they would all run away and hide."
"You really are shameless." Helen didn't even raise her head when she gave her reply.
"Ahahah, pretty much the same as you, my dear Helen!" Persephone said while laughing in an unrestrained manner.
By now, Persephone already finished arranging her hair and switched to a rather enthusiastic expression. "How is my pretty little boy doing? I heard that he went out on a mission together with Ricardo? Even though I don't like that bear-hunting hound who doesn't talk about his true feelings at all, he has some use and is not some completely useless person."
The little thing already sunk to the bottom of the jar and no longer moved. Helen's expression became more and more tense. Her mind was completely focused on its body, to the point where only after Persephone asked two or three times did she understand what she was asking. She didn't even seem to try to cover anything up and directly replied, "Su's situation cannot be said to be good. They did win the battle last time, but it was still a desperate victory. Moreover, there are some degenerates from the dragonriders that are trying to cause him trouble."
Persephone's face immediately froze, and she used the portable intelligence system that generals carried on them to search through the corresponding information. Soon after, a detailed list of the Black Dragonriders' activity within Pendulum City for the last two days was brought out. When the list of items emerged, Persephone's face immediately changed. She repeatedly looked through Kafen, Maria, and Lynch's names, and during this process, her face looked like it was covered in a layer of cold frost.
"They are gathering in the northwest region. What is the goal of those behind them?" Persephone asked. Even though she already guessed seven or eight parts, she still wanted to hear Helen's opinion on the matter.
Small beads of sweat already appeared on Helen's straight nose. She was replying to Persephone's questions almost completely on instinct. "It is evident that these three corpse-eating demons are going after Su. Their official reason for dispatch is to fight over the spoils, or maybe to wipe out the first rank successor of the Fabregas family Ricardo. However, Su and Ricardo should both be bait, bait to lure out an even more valuable target. From the surface, it looks like this target should be you. However, in reality, their true target might be someone else, and you are just a target on the surface. Of course, if they can obtain you, it should still be enough to make up for their investment."
"Then your suggestion is to…" Persephone had already turned pale, her expression ice-cold and arrogant. Her ashy green pupils flickered with a dangerous radiance. This was the appearance those in the northern battlefield saw the most often.
"Stay north and don't go anywhere. As long as you don't leave the northern battlefield, then no one will be able to do anything to you. Meanwhile, if they can't capture you under a short period of time, they will be in big trouble. No matter who it is that is scheming behind the scenes, things have already developed to such a big deal. After you come back, this individual might have to sacrifice all of the chess pieces just to save him or herself. These chess pieces definitely wouldn't happily offer themselves as sacrifices, so there should be some internal conflicts then. As such, as long as you quietly stay behind in the northern front, your enemies will crumble on their own." Helen's reply was precise and machine-like, as if it was the same as a pre-programmed automatic sequence.
The little thing at the base of the jar seemed to be moving, and a few of its feelers floated upwards. Sweat began to emerge on Helen's forehead. She didn't notice Persephone's change in expression at all.
"Then what about Su?" Persephone asked extremely seriously.
"Approximately 80% chance of death, 55% chance of being captured, and 17% chance of being released by the other side. No matter what type of conclusion is reached, the other party will be paying several times more than you. That is why, in my opinion, trying to save him is an extremely stupid plan." Helen continued to release her automatic replies.
"Stupid plan?" Persephone laughed calmly as if nothing happened. Then, she quickly said 'Alright, thank you, Helen.' before cutting off communications.