"Whatever the deficit is, I'll make up for it," Gong Qian said, looking at Yu Xian and taking everything upon herself without hesitation.
This was her first battle since joining the Evil-Slaying Squad. She would rather take a loss than fail to handle it cleanly and brilliantly.
Besides, she truly was not hurting for merit points right now. Her Pangu's Blood had been compensation for her father's sacrifice, her storage ring was an heirloom left by her mother, and the clothes on her back were a reward from a meritorious deed several years ago.
She lacked nothing at present. Hoarding so much merit served no purpose, so she might as well use it to crack the case.
"Don't act on impulse just yet. Once the test report on the serum comes out this afternoon, we might have new leads," Qingniao said with a smile, soothing the two who were growing a bit too impatient.
Zhang Shou nodded as well. "Yeah, we still have the serum as a lead. Let's not rush."
"Then let's wait and see," Gong Qian agreed.
The four then adjourned the meeting. Yu Xian left the office and returned home in an instant.
He walked out to the balcony and sat down, basking in the sun while mulling over the currently known clues. At the same time, his fingers guided several tiny bubbles to spin continuously in circles.
Compared to when he had first acquired this ability, he could now adeptly manipulate multiple bubbles to rotate and spin on their axes in different directions.
A bubble actually consisted of two layers: an outer layer and an inner layer. The outer layer was formed of a spatial energy membrane, whereas the interior space was composed of the universe's own spatial energy. Both possessed spatial properties, but while the former belonged unconditionally to Yu Xian, the latter did not.
Yu Xian could sense the difference between the two; the former was easy to control, but the latter could not be manipulated directly at all and could only be influenced indirectly.
This was by no means easy, yet through his unremitting efforts, he had made progress nonetheless.
From zero gravity inside the bubbles at the very beginning to introducing gravity later on, then reversing that gravity, and even achieving telekinetic control of objects inside.
His goal in training this ability was to achieve absolute mastery over the space within his bubbles. Although it was of limited use for now, if he could one day create a colossal bubble capable of swallowing the entire Earth, then Earth would fall under his absolute control. That was the value of honing this power.
That afternoon.
Yu Xian was summoned back to the agency by Zhang Shou.
When he entered the office, in addition to Gong Qian, Qingniao, and Zhang Shou, there was also a young man in a white lab coat inside.
"Officers, I am Grade-3 Researcher Lin Yun. I will be presenting the test results to you today. If there are any deficiencies, please feel free to point them out," the researcher stated politely and respectfully.
Gong Qian nodded. "Mm, everyone's here. Go ahead with your report."
"First of all, we detected a high-concentration nutrient solution in the unknown fluid from the syringes. This type of nutrient solution normally requires a hundredfold dilution before it can be safely absorbed by the human body," Lin Yun began, holding the report.
Zhang Shou chimed in, "What happens if it isn't diluted?"
"The vast majority of living organisms would burst from an overload of energy," Lin Yun replied.
Zhang Shou frowned. "That doesn't add up. Sun Youhu and the others injected it directly last night, and they didn't explode."
"Lao Zhang, let Researcher Lin finish," Yu Xian said calmly.
Receiving the nod from Yu Xian, Lin Yun continued, "In addition, this fluid contains three unknown elements. As this is the first time they have been discovered, they have been temporarily designated Q1, Q2, and Q3. Furthermore, we also discovered that roughly one-tenth of this fluid consists of aberrant worm serum."
"Aberrant worm serum? What connection does it have to aberrant worms?" Yu Xian couldn't help but ask upon hearing this.
Lin Yun answered, "Aberrant worm serum exists only within the eggs of aberrant worms. It is a fluid with rather bizarre properties. The professors in Yanjing are currently still studying it, and its precise effects remain unknown."
"What do you guys think?" Yu Xian asked, looking toward Gong Qian and the others.
Keenly sensing the anger simmering beneath Yu Xian's calm expression, Qingniao immediately ventured a guess: "Salty Fish, do you suspect that all those aberrant worms in Silver City were deliberately bred and released by someone?"
"Where else would they get so much aberrant worm serum?" Yu Xian countered.
Aberrant worm eggs were exceptionally tiny, smaller even than grains of rice. Yet ten percent of the fluid inside a single syringe was aberrant worm serum. Just how many eggs would that require?
With only a moment's thought, one could see that producing enough aberrant worm serum would demand a staggering number of eggs.
At that moment, everyone realized the gravity of the situation. If the aberrant worm invasion of Silver City had been orchestrated by someone pulling the strings from the shadows, that person deserved nothing less than death ten thousand times over.
"Dammit, if that's really true, I swear I'll slaughter them!" Zhang Shou fumed, his rage reignited as memories of his classmates' gruesome deaths at school flooded back.
Yu Xian looked at Lin Yun and asked, "Is there any possibility that aberrant worm serum can be synthetically produced?"
"The possibility is very slim. Fluids involving extraordinary elements, primitive embryos, egg fluids, and the like tend to have exceedingly complex causes of formation. The chances of artificial synthesis are practically nonexistent," Lin Yun said, shaking his head.
He then glanced down at his documents and hesitated before adding, "However, officers, I don't believe the aberrant worm crisis in Silver City was an intentional release. It is far more likely an accidental containment leak."
"Why do you say that?" Gong Qian asked.
Lin Yun explained, "Aberrant worms are not restricted to parasitizing humans; they can parasitize nearly any animal. If so, why wouldn't they use insects, which offer much better cost-efficiency?
"Insects reproduce rapidly and have short lifespans. The eggs they produce also contain aberrant worm serum. Theoretically, one could obtain a massive quantity of eggs in a short time, which would be vastly cheaper and more efficient than using humans as raw material."
"That makes sense," Zhang Shou agreed upon hearing this.
Qingniao said in a grave tone, "Let's shelve this topic for now. Whether intentional or accidental, we'll find out once we track them down. Attacking the Public Security Bureau is already a capital offense in itself!"
"Since the potion in the syringe hasn't provided any further clues, let's submit an application for Hetu and Luoshu," Gong Qian said.
Zhang Shou chimed in, "This time, I'm all for applying for Hetu and Luoshu. I feel this case is far from simple. If we can track down whoever created this serum, it'll definitely be a tremendous merit."
"I agree as well," Qingniao said.
Yu Xian looked at Lin Yun and asked, "Researcher Lin, is high-concentration nutrient solution expensive? Are there many channels to purchase it?"
"Officer Yu, many alchemists can concoct high-concentration nutrient solutions. The price hovers around three hundred thousand yuan per milliliter, and there are countless purchase channels. I'm afraid it would be very difficult to trace the origin of the high-concentration nutrient solution in that mysterious fluid," Lin Yun answered.
Yu Xian looked at Gong Qian and said, "In that case, I also agree to apply for Hetu and Luoshu."
"Since that is decided, officers, I shall take my leave," Lin Yun said with a slight smile, seeing that he had completed his role.
After Lin Yun left, Gong Qian immediately took out her phone to apply for the use of Hetu and Luoshu. Before the application could be approved, however, Minister Yu Lie called to ask why she was applying for Hetu and Luoshu.
After all, Gong Qian had only just joined the Evil-Slaying Squad—this was merely her second day!
Yet when Gong Qian explained how they had caught a thief, followed the trail, and discovered that someone was likely breeding aberrant worms in secret and using the worm eggs as ingredients to develop a mysterious drug, Yu Lie was thoroughly shocked.
Yu Lie's first thought had also been the possibility that someone was deliberately breeding and releasing aberrant worms. But once Gong Qian finished, he too grasped the logic, realizing that intentional release was unlikely, whereas an accidental containment leak was highly probable.
Regardless, the aberrant worm crisis in Silver City was very likely a man-made disaster rather than a natural calamity—and that alone was enough to warrant Yu Lie's utmost attention.
Chapter 58