Chapter 380 - 61: Biological Serum (Part 2)

Advanced Mutant Beasts had been repeatedly hunted in the wilderness, then injected with various serums and potions for modification. Bio-chips were implanted for control, and they were all locked up on the lowest level.

If any had survived, they would be of great use, whether hunted for their resources or controlled and used to command this military fortress.

TAP! TAP!

His footsteps were crisp and clear.

Lu Chao descended the steel-plated staircase, delving deeper until he reached the sub-levels of the underground base.

A silver metal corridor stretched out at the bottom of the stairs. Rooms lined both sides, their incandescent lights flickering as if due to faulty wiring.

The surrounding walls bore the marks of bullet impacts, cracks that looked like they were left by beast claws, and long-dried bloodstains.

Silently, Lu Chao’s Life Sensing detected a new Life Magnetic Field.

He wasn’t surprised. Instead, his eyes shone with sharp focus as he gazed ahead.

THUMP... THUMP... THUMP...

Something was rapidly approaching, its low, guttural roars echoing from a distance.

Lu Chao didn’t break his stride, continuing to walk forward as if unconcerned.

Finally.

WHOOSH!!

A foul gust of wind hit him in the face as several figures appeared at the end of the corridor.

They were all dressed in the same tattered, blue-striped clothes, but their builds varied.

But on closer inspection...

Their eyes were all crimson, and their veins bulged.

Their faces looked as if they had been corroded, covered in pustules that clearly revealed the rotting flesh beneath.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

One after another, they charged, their crimson eyes locked on Lu Chao.

They moved far faster than any normal person, swift and fierce as cheetahs.

Some lunged forward to bite Lu Chao, baring teeth stained with a sickly green saliva. Others swiped at him with hands tipped with long, thin fingernails like steel needles.

At the sight, Lu Chao paused for a fraction of a second.

The next moment.

BOOM!!

With a single shudder of his body, the three creatures that had closed in were sent flying backward into the walls.

The sound of bones cracking echoed from their bodies, yet they still struggled to rise, intent on attacking Lu Chao again.

"Interesting..."

Narrowing his eyes, Lu Chao saw the numbers on their cuffs.

Combined with their attire, it was obvious these people were former test subjects from this very base.

[Biochemical Monster]

[Life Energy: 36]

[Consumption Effect: A carbon-based human who experienced an aberrant mutation after a failed biological serum injection. They have lost all reason and rational thought, making them no different from wild animals. Their bodies have undergone a preliminary enhancement. Those below Superpower Level who consume its flesh will experience physiological discomfort, such as dizziness, vomiting...]

The information from his intuition surfaced in his mind. Their Life Energy was mostly between 30 and 50, though a few had reached the peak of the Professional Level.

A glint in his eye, Lu Chao strode forward.

THUMP!

With a single punch, he blew apart the head of a slumped, struggling biochemical monster, finishing it off.

He followed with a kick to another one charging him, caving in its chest and sending it flying down the corridor, dead before it landed.

’Hopefully, this is a release for you,’ Lu Chao thought. His pace was steady, and with every strike, another biochemical monster fell dead.

He passed numerous bio-labs along the way.

Each room contained enormous glass vats, two to three meters tall, pierced by at least a dozen cables. Some were still filled with a sickly green liquid, with corpses steeping inside. Others were shattered, the floor littered with shards and the stains of dried fluid.

THUMP!

Lu Chao killed another biochemical monster, smashing its head to pieces against the wall in a spray of blood.

’Seventeen,’ Lu Chao silently counted, having completely cleared the first sub-level.

Then.

His gaze sharpened as he looked toward the last laboratory, located near the stairwell leading to the next level down.

Striding toward the experimental equipment in the center of the room, he saw several hundred-milliliter bottles of Energy Liquid resting in slots on its surface.

Most were cloudy, but one bottle, a deep crimson, still seemed viable.

In an instant.

[Biological Serum]

[Quality: Primary]

[Consumption Effect: Created from the blood of various Mutant Beasts and Superpower Herbs. Contains a high concentration of Mutant Beast blood factors. For those below Superpower Level, there is a thirty-some percent risk of aberrant mutation, resulting in transformation into a biochemical monster. For those at or above Superpower Level, there are no side effects, and a high probability of increasing Life Energy...]

"Oh?"

A flicker in his eyes, Lu Chao felt a hint of surprise.

’So there really is some biological serum left. And it looks like it’s still partially effective.’

His gaze swept over the description, pausing on the Consumption Effect section.

He instantly understood. The biochemical monsters he’d encountered earlier must have been humans who mutated after taking this very serum.

’That’s it.’

’The effects of a Primary-quality resource are too potent. Even someone at the Elite Level couldn’t handle it, so it’s no surprise it would have negative side effects.’

Lu Chao mused.

Thanks to his intuition, he was able to spot the flaws that an ordinary person would never be able to discern.

However, for someone at the Superpower Level, there was no risk of mutation and no negative side effects aside from developing a resistance to the potion.

After thinking for a moment, he didn’t rush to consume it immediately.

Instead, he looked around the room and found some new scattered documents.

"Extraction Procedures for Mutant Beast Blood Factors," "Theoretical Methods for Enhancing Potency," "Serum Production Steps"...

To an ordinary person, this information would have been incomprehensible.

But as a Senior Alchemist, he could naturally tell that these were parts of a potion formula.

’This might be the formula for the biological serum.’

’Too bad it’s incomplete, just fragments.’

A glint in his eye, Lu Chao considered for a moment and decided to collect the scattered documents. After all, if he ever found the missing pieces, he might be able to create the biological serum himself.

He soon found a small briefcase in the room and placed the biological serum inside it as well.

With that, Lu Chao continued on, heading straight for the second sub-level.

As time ticked by, he discovered more biochemical monsters—mutated humans.

Amidst a series of dull thuds, bodies fell one after another. Lu Chao also found two more bottles of the serum.

Finally.

As he neared the end of the second sub-level.

’Something’s not right.’

Carrying the briefcase in his left hand, Lu Chao looked down at his feet.

The floor was paved with a special material, something like blast-proof glass.

Looking down through the glass, he could see the third sub-level below—the very bottom floor of the base.

Rows of steel cages were neatly arranged, along with isolated chambers built from alloy.

According to the map he’d found earlier, this area was used to hold the Mutant Beasts that had been experimentally modified, most of them bloodthirsty and vicious.

The experimental base had a contingency: bio-chips were implanted in the beasts’ bodies, which could be detonated via a controller or used to release a powerful bio-electric current to control them.

But as Lu Chao narrowed his eyes, he pushed his Life Sensing to its absolute limit.

The Life Magnetic Fields within his perception were completely empty; there wasn’t a single fluctuation.

Looking down through the glass walkway, he saw that the doors to the cages and alloy rooms were wide open. All that was visible were some shattered Mutant Beast bones and pools of dried blood.

’They’re all dead?’

A theory surfaced in Lu Chao’s mind. ’Were all these Mutant Beasts systematically exterminated when the disaster struck this base?’

’But if so, why were those biochemical monsters still around? Why weren’t they all dealt with at the same time?’

The thought flashed through his mind as Lu Chao started walking forward again.

The next instant.

’Hm?’

A sudden chill ran down his spine, a sense of imminent threat.

His gaze sharpened, and he silently came to a halt.

At the very edge of his Life Sensing’s range, some five hundred meters away in the underground space, there was an incredibly fierce and violent Life Magnetic Field.

’Superpower Level?’

’Limit-Breaking Level... Exploration Level...’

Lu Chao’s expression grew grim as he peered through the glass walkway toward the far end of the underground space.

The farther he looked, the more shattered the incandescent lights became, until they were completely extinguished.

And yet.

In the deepest, darkest gloom, a pair of vertical pupils suddenly snapped open!

They were solid crimson, webbed with blood vessels, and each was as large as a lantern.

An overwhelming aura of violence and bloodlust washed over him, so strong it seemed to interfere with his very thoughts, imprinting itself on his mind.

This was the source of the frenzied magnetic field.

His expression was grave, and the muscles of his body silently tensed.

’Transcendence Level.’

’There’s a Wild Beast King here, one that seems to be at the Transcendence Level.’