Chapter 20: Poison

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

“Of course,” Cook said, halfway through and saw that Archie’s face was too dark to look at, he raised his mouth and added, “I know the Marshal won’t be relieved. That’s a reminder. It’s a real concern that this little fellow looks weak. If he’s accidentally frightened and causes a chain reaction, wouldn’t that be bad?”

Wen narrowed his eyes and gave Cook a deep look. He found that some people inherited the genes for an early death very decisively even in different worlds.

“A chain reaction should be considered good news for you.” Dewitt looked unhappy. “Otherwise you’d have a very uncomfortable life.”

Dewitt didn’t seem to want to spend too much time on that man. After that, he went straight into the Academy of Sciences, bypassing Cook. The little fox in his arms gave a timely whine. Dewitt, who was not in a good mood, looked down at the little fox. Looking into his wet eyes, he always felt that the other party seemed to care about him and touched his white furry head gently.

However, the “worried” Wen Jin was not concerned about him but felt a little sympathetic to this big silly man. It must be very uncomfortable not to fight with others. It was also that he did not speak the language here. Otherwise, if he did speak the language, he would be able to scold him for his yellow fur.

Two men and two beasts went in, and Cook outside could not help thinking of Dewitt’s ugly expression. There were members of conservative staff beside him. Some were not assured, whispering, “Mr. Cook, we don’t know if the Marshal has completely recovered or even half recovered. It’s better to be an enemy easily. The prime minister has always been close to him. Besides, we do need his strength to face the Zerg. The so-called ‘stay on the line…’”

“What line is left?” Cook rolled his big white eyes. “Do you know how his old man died? The alliance with Uttar is what I advocate. The line between him and me is long gone. Either he dies, or I die. What’s the use of maintaining that face? Can you eat it?” After a pause, Cook complacently added, “He’s just a half-suspended body. I’ll see how long he can live.”

Cook said that and went on inside. He had not finished his play yet. He came to the Academy of Sciences just to know what Dewitt’s condition was. People in the Academy of Sciences were not united. He knew that Dewitt would not easily put the news out. Then he would follow him directly, and nobody would dare to stop him.

But without taking two steps inside, Cook began to find something wrong.

“… What is that?” The first sound came from the people beside him.

“Yes, why is it so stinky?” When the man spoke, he immediately picked it up.

At this time, Cook also smelled some extremely foul smell, so strong that people could hardly breathe, turning the stomach upside down and most importantly, it seemed to be spreading out of his own body…? Cook’s face changed as he sniffed at his cuffs, while the eyes of a group fell on him.

“Mr. Cook, you were just… Did you step on anything?” Someone covered his nose and asked in a muffled voice. He was also a politician with a clear and sharp tongue who could talk at any time in the House of Representatives. But now he was afraid to breathe in the atmosphere blocked by the smell and could not speak clearly.

Several people looked at him, and he looked at them. They all backed up several steps and Cook, the source of the stink, had a dark face.

Just as the crowd at the door was in a mess because of the sudden stench, a pair of bright black diamond beans were stealthily burying itself into Dewitt’s shoulders, looking in their direction and shaking with laughter.

Dewitt and his party continued to walk inside. Soon after, a neatly dressed old man with white hair came out in front of them. When he saw Dewitt, his eyes flashed. “Marshal.”

“Old Lin.” Dewitt really respected the elder in front of him, even stopped and made a slight bow in the direction of the old man.

“You…” Old Lin clapped Dewitt’s arm, put his hand on his old glasses on the bridge of his nose, and looked at the latter carefully. There seemed to be a lot of questions to ask. However, they were still in the hall of the Academy of Sciences at the moment.

Archie thought of the politicians who were glancing at them and hurried forward. “Professor Lin, I am here. Let’s go in and talk.”

Old Lin looked at the fellows behind Archie. Finally, he looked at Cook, not far behind them. His face turned cold in an instant. He seemed very unhappy. “Yes, come with me.”

After he had said this, his eyes fell on Dewitt again, and he looked and looked at Wen Jin in his arms. He seemed to think for a while before turning to lead the way.

“Professor Lin,” said Archie, who had spent a year in the Academy of Sciences and looked around at familiar and unfamiliar scenes, feeling a little awkward, “I heard that the capital star is not very peaceful recently and a lot of contract beasts have been poisoned?”

“Yes,” said Lin, sighing as he stepped in and saw fewer people around him. “Assyrians pay little attention to beasts, but this kind of slaughter never happened. But now, not only has it happened, but the frequency is so high. It’s really amazing… It’s shocking.”

“Why is that? I heard from my friends that it has lasted for a long time.” Mark told him this when he first went to Liberec. It had been almost a week since they had first heard this news. Capital Star was very closely monitored. If the poison in the streets was happening with such a high frequency, the other side could become more and more rampant. “Is it necessary to maintain the stability of the army regardless of it?”

Old Lin pushed open a glass door, sniffed and sighed, shook his head, and looked very helpless.

Instead, Dewitt, who had been silent, suddenly added, “The responsibility for the contract beasts should belong to the Genetic Survey Center.”

As soon as this sentence was voiced out, Archie was stunned and immediately reacted. Although Cook was a very annoying person, his words at the door were just a pretext. Those poisoned Qi beasts were always sent to the scientific research institute. But if the Qi beasts were the only common poisoning, how could it possibly be sent to the institute? This was the highest-level research site of the Empire, and it was near the Military Department. Every day it was carefully protected by the soldiers sent by the Military Department. If the poisoning of the Qi beasts was brought in, it could only be explained…

“See for yourselves.” Opening the inner door, Old Lin’s eyes flashed with a trace of sadness as he took them in.

Just as he stepped into the room, Archie was stunned. His eyes widened sharply, and he was stunned in place. Even Dewitt could not help frowning. Subconsciously, he reached out and covered the eyes of the little fox in his arms.

Although the research room was already huge, the transparent compartments in the room were still crowded. Every cubicle contained a variety of contract beasts. Some of them had broken heads and were bleeding. Some of them had open wounds everywhere, some of their limbs had been cut off, and you could even see the white bones from a distance.

They had dim eyes, light breath, tired faces, confused, and painful looks that make people very distressed. There were a lot of young beast cubs among them, which were much smaller than Wen Jin. In one cage were cubs that looked like they had just been born. But the places that were not covered by fur and should be pink were unnaturally black and purple.

“It’s dead.” Noticing Dewitt’s eyes, Lin explained, “The female had just given birth, and since she can’t see her children eating, she gets very agitated and bites herself all the time.”

Archie’s eyes were fixed on the small beasts. For a moment, he could not help but pull back to the day when Caicai was thrown in front of him more than ten years ago. His heart seemed to be pulled by someone. It was painful. The bird crouching on his shoulder seemed to feel his mood and depression. His head, with its soft and a little hard bird feathers, rubbed against him.

“This is the only place we keep the beasts.” Looking at the crowded room, Old Lin sighed. “In fact, it’s no use to keep it closed like this. Isolation and cleanliness are not in place. I am not competent enough. They all say that this matter is not under the control of the Academy of Sciences. They argue that I have taken two rooms, and my hands are tied. I can only do it here.”

“What is this poison?” Archie took a deep breath and asked in a trembling voice. His eyes were locked tightly on the wounded beasts, his heartfelt painful, but he was powerless. He could only moan from his throat as his heart was filled with sadness. These were not aggressive beasts. Most of them were barely as big as a human arm. How could anyone do this to any beast? How could someone have such a poisonous hand?

“Neurotoxicity,” Lin said, biting his lips. “Although it’s only speculation, I suspect that the source of the toxin is not simple. There were parts of the extracted ingredients that match the Zerg poison.”

“What?!” Archie stared, almost screaming.

Looking at his unbelieving eyes, Old Lin nodded.

Apart from Dewitt, everyone who had been infected by the Zerg poison was either dead or unconscious. Zerg poisoning was an absolute first-class problem for the empire. However, nowadays, some people could get certain toxins that matched a part of Zerg poison. And now that poison was being found in Qi beasts on a large scale in Asirer, the capital city. What was this?

An idea passed through Archie’s mind in just a second, and he said in a hurry, “aIt’s possible that it’s related to Zerg poisoning, but the stabilization forces don’t care? What about the military headquarters?”

“That’s just my guess. We haven’t completely analyzed the specific ingredients of Zerg poisoning up to now. We can’t go through the process without specific books and texts.”

Archie was amazed. Old Lin had always been a respected professor at the Academy of Sciences. What he said, even if there was no real evidence, no one would respond to it. “You can’t find someone to help you…”

“I also submitted the report on potential safety hazards,” Lin said, took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly. Archie realized that Lin seemed much older than the last time he had seen. “But Cook rejected it.”

There was a moment of silence in the room. The air seemed to be filled with the painful breathing of the beasts. Archie clenched his teeth and could not say a word. The old man looked at the furnishings in the room, with a little self-reproach on his wrinkled face.

It was Dewitt who looked at all the smaller beasts in the room and suddenly asked, “What about the other room?”