PFRG: Chapter 70

In fact, the contents of the staff dormitory were clear at a glance. There were obviously not many clues that could be discovered.

After Chi Ting walked around in a circle and wanted to see what was going on outside, he heard someone knocking on the door. He opened it and saw a young man wearing the same scientific research coat as him standing outside.

The young researcher saw Chi Ting, glanced at the work badge in a corner of his pocket, and motioned for him to take it out. “You researchers have just come to the laboratory. Remember to pay attention to some rules. You need to use your badge to move anywhere in the laboratory. Don’t just stuff it in your pocket. Remember to wear it on your chest when you go out.”

As he spoke, the researcher also straightened the position of his badge.

Chi Ting glanced at it and saw the name of this NPC: Zu Qiu.

He took a glance before taking out the badge in his pocket and hanging it around his neck very cooperatively.

Zu Qiu was satisfied with this approach. He reminded Chi Ting to follow him. Then he turned around and led Chi Ting deeper into the laboratory.

He gave a brief introduction as he walked. “Researchers who are new to the laboratory can only conduct activities in Area E. Only with higher authority qualification can you go to other areas. But there is no need to be too anxious. Professor Ge Liang will take you to do the formal research project later. Then you just need to advance the research progress, and you will soon be able to unlock the corresponding activity permissions about Area D.”

Chi Ting followed behind and listened quietly. He observed the environment inside the laboratory all the way.

The various structures blocked by the white walls were very complex, making him feel like he was a maze when walking inside.

From time to time, researchers in the same clothes passed by. However, these NPCs were in a hurry and didn’t even give him an extra glance when passing by.

This was until he turned the bend of the last corner and was taken into a relatively open hall.

At this time, there were already a lot of people standing inside. They all looked over when they heard the footsteps.

What was more surprising was that in addition to Yue Ren and Ji Xingque, there were two other people standing there. The very complicated expressions on their faces was enough to see that they should both be players.

Was there someone else brought into the instance with them?

Chi Ting walked over to the group and couldn’t help glancing twice. He found that there was actually a handsome young man around 15 or 16 years old among them. He looked very beautiful and pure in white.

Suddenly, a force pulled Chi Ting away. By the time he came to his senses, he was naturally pulled to Yue Ren’s side.

This action finally caused Chi Ting to turn his attention to Yue Ren.

He looked up and a gentle and elegant figure fell into his eyes. He couldn’t help being slightly startled.

To be precise, this should be the first time he had seen Yue Ren wearing clean white.

He hadn’t noticed it when his back was turned, but now he realized that this man had gotten a pair of gold-rimmed glasses from somewhere and put them on the bridge of his nose. The slight curve of his lips revealed an inexplicable sense of deja vu of a well-dressed beast and educated scum.

Yue Ren seemed very satisfied with Chi Ting’s temporarily distracted expression. He was in a good mood, and the corners of his lips curved even more. “How is it? Do you like this look?”

Chi Ting asked, “Where did you get the glasses?”

“I found it in the dormitory drawer. It looks good so I used it first,” Yue Ren said while tapping the glasses with a smile. “It is a flat mirror with no prescription.”

“……” Chi Ting paused for a moment but still said frankly, “It is quite suitable for you.”

Yue Ren’s gaze swept over Chi Ting, who was wearing a white coat. Then he said sincerely, “Your outfit is also very suitable.”

Ji Xingque listened to the two of them praising each other and couldn’t help asking, “What about me?”

His sudden addition finally made the two of them look over.

Chi Ting didn’t answer. Soon, Yue Ren opened his mouth. “It isn’t bad. There is the feeling of a kid wearing adult clothes and playing house.”

Ji Xingque: “…….” F*k!

The exchange made the middle-aged researcher, who was standing not far away, show a slightly displeased expression.

Seeing that no one cared about him, the NPC finally cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Okay, the new group of researchers are all here now. I will get straight to the point. Let me introduce myself. I am Ge Liang, a senior expert in charge of Area E of the laboratory. During your stay in Area E, I will be mainly responsible for supervising everyone’s research progress.”

After the senior expert NPC finished speaking, he glanced at everyone calmly. “Please follow me now. I will take you to meet the volunteers who have arrived first.”

The others were obviously brought here from the dormitory by young NPCs like Chi Ting. At this time, they were handed over to the senior expert. The other NPCs stayed where they were and didn’t follow.

Chi Ting thought for a moment and was almost certain that the so-called volunteers were the ones they needed to develop in this game.

He followed the group of people and walked inside. Soon, he really felt the purpose of arranging so many guide NPCs in this instance. It could only be said that the Ark Laboratory was too big, and this was just Area E that they were in. If there was no one to guide the way in these areas, they would get completely lost.

As the senior expert walked inside, he didn’t forget to introduce the history of the Ark Laboratory. The specific content was probably not much different from what Chi Ting had heard before.

He listened word by word until he passed by a display window in the middle of the corridor. He saw the contents inside and couldn’t help pausing for a moment. “These are…”

The senior expert turned back, followed Chi Ting’s gaze, and responded, “Oh, this is the history of the creation of the Ark Laboratory that I am telling you. In order to let everyone remember the greatness of the ‘Ark’, such display windows are placed in many areas of the laboratory. If you are interested, feel free to take a closer look.”

Chi Ting didn’t answer.

He stood in front of the display window, and his eyes fell on one of the photos.

According to the caption next to it, this should be a group photo of the first generation of researchers who established the Ark Laboratory.

“This photo was taken when the laboratory was just built. The man in the middle is Professor Jael, the founder of the Ark. If you enter Area A, you will have an opportunity to meet him.”

The tone of the senior expert was full of respect. He was obviously very eager to meet the professor. “Of course, the authority of Area A isn’t so easy to obtain. It has been a long time since anyone has been able to push the research progress to 80%. You know…”

Chi Ting suddenly interrupted his chatter. “What about this person next to him? Who is it?”

“Next to him?” The senior expert was stunned for a moment before realizing who Chi Ting was asking about. “Oh, that is Dr Ling Wenguang. He was originally a leader among the younger generation. Unfortunately, not long after this group photo was taken, he was killed in an experimental accident. Professor Jael has always admired him and treated him as a lifelong friend. If it hadn’t been for this accident, he would be the only one who could stand side by side with the professor now. It can only be said to be a pity. God is jealous of talents.”

“An accident?” Chi Ting frowned slightly and touched the strange stone on his chest.

“Okay, don’t stay here. Let’s hurry and get to business.” The senior expert clapped his hands and asked everyone to continue walking inside.

Yue Ren only spoke at this moment. He quietly came to Chi Ting’s side and asked, “Why? Do you know this Ling Wenguang?”

Chi Ting shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen him.”

No matter from which angle he looked at this person from 40 years ago, it really had no connection to him.

Yue Ren raised an eyebrow. “But?”

“You know there is a but?” Chi Ting glanced at the man. He was a bit surprised about where this man’s strangely keen understanding came from. “He is obviously a person I have never seen before. I don’t know why, but something about him makes me feel like I’ve seen him before. It is like he is a very familiar person, but he shouldn’t be. Even if we have only met once, there is no way I wouldn’t have an impression of his face.”

Yue Ren was silent for a moment before nodding. “This Professor Ling is indeed good-looking.”

This didn’t sound wrong at first, but after a pause, Yue Ren asked again, “Do you like this type?”

Chi Ting: “……?”

At this time, the senior expert had already led them through another door and said, “Okay, the batch of volunteers are here. After entering, select the volunteers you want to work with. Then you will officially start your research project in the Ark.”

He stood at the door and didn’t go in. His eyes swept over all the players, and a strange light flashed in his always amiable demeanor. “Finally, I need to remind everyone that after officially entering the research phase, you still need to act according to your abilities. In the process of ensuring the progress, you should always be aware of your own alienation value and always remember who you are. This is the basic premise to ensure that the research can proceed smoothly.”

The subtle words fell into the ears and the other two players obviously became more uneasy.

Under the direct gaze of the senior expert, the group passed through the final door.

This time, there was no one leading the way, and the surrounding temperature seemed to be much lower.

They reached the end, and the volunteers on the other side of the floor-to-ceiling glass entered their eyes. They could hear the beautiful boy gasp deeply. The other female player was relatively calmer, but she also frowned deeply.

In comparison, Chi Ting and Ji Xingque were much calmer. As for Yue Ren, the expression on his face wasn’t so much surprise as it was clear curiosity.

Several volunteers sat upright on wooden benches and looked up when they heard the movement. Under the inquiring gazes, they couldn’t help lowering their heads in panic. However, one of them had a pair of eyes on top of his head. After such a bow, the pair of eyes looked at them more directly and the whole scene became stranger.

It could be seen that these volunteers were very ill at ease.

The long hands behind someone’s back instinctively pinched the person next to them in a panic. As a result, the surging soft flesh directly wrapped around the other person’s body. Both of them exclaimed and rolled into a ball in an extremely chaotic manner.

The attention of the volunteer with eyes on his head was attention. Two pairs of eyes stared directly at the two people connected together. There was panic on his face, but the eyes on top of his head looked mocking.

Yue Ren was interested. “It turns out that the mutants in your world are all like this.”

Chi Ting paused before clarifying, “No, this is just the most basic mutation situation from more than 40 years ago.”

In order to prove the correctness of this statement, Ji Xingque also testified to it. “This level is indeed not enough to look at!’

Such strange words made the other two players look over in an inquiring manner.

Yue Ren laughed silently. Then he picked up the folder on the desktop, opened it, and flipped through it. “This should be the file information of the volunteers.”

He read page after page. Since the symptoms of each volunteer were very obvious, he quickly matched their names to them.

After he finished reading it, he was silent for a moment in a thoughtful manner. He obviously realized something. “So what the researcher uncle just now means is that if our alienation value increases to a certain value, we will start to become the same as them?”

“There are many directions of mutation. The situation you mentioned might also happen, but compared to physical alienation, mental alienation might be more troublesome. As emphasized in the rules, once the alienation degree on our panel is too high, then we might completely forget who we are.”

This instance was considered a professional counterpart for Chi Ting. He took the file from Yue Ren’s hands and looked through it twice before coming to a conclusion. “These volunteers are all in the primary alienation stage at present, but the direction and degree of alienation are different. It is estimated that these two points will affect the progress of the next so-called research.”

After a pause, he looked at Yue Ren and asked, “What is your current degree of alienation?”

“32%.” Yue Ren had already looked at the panel data when entering the instance. He almost blurted out the answer.

The words came out, and the young man who hadn’t spoken this whole time couldn’t help but open his mouth. “Didn’t you enter the instance with us? Why is it already 32%?”

There had been NPCs around since the meeting, and there hadn’t been much communication between the new players. It was only at this time that Yue Ren took a good look at the other two people.

The gold frame on the bridge of his nose made him look particularly gentle and elegant. Once he smiled slightly, he was actually a bit approachable. “What about you? How much are you?”

“0%.” The young man couldn’t help blushing when Yue Ren looked at him like this. Soon, he remembered what he was doing and added rigorously, “I am 0%. I don’t know what her situation is.”

The female player next to him hadn’t joined the conversation, but now she had no choice but to speak. “I am also 0%.”

Judging from the fact that the two of them didn’t know each other very well, it was obvious that they hadn’t entered the instance together.

Yue Ren slightly raised an eyebrow and his gaze fell back on Chi Ting’s face. “You don’t seem surprised.”

Chi Ting laughed silently. He lowered his voice slightly and said at a volume only the two of them could hear, “After all, I already knew that your human content was only 68%.”

“Hmm, 32% alienation and 68% human content… it turns out that this is the relationship?” Yue Ren thought for a moment before asking casually, “What about you? Are you also 0%?”

Chi Ting smiled silently as if he hadn’t heard the question. Just as he was about to turn around, someone grabbed his wrist and pulled him over.

He looked up and met Yue Ren’s gaze.

He heard the person in front of him ask again. Compared to the previous carelessness, it wasn’t known what Yue Ren was thinking this time. His lowered eyes stared directly at Chi Ting. “Captain Chi, I am asking you. What is your degree of alienation?”

After a brief moment of staring at each other, Chi Ting lowered his eyes slightly.

He didn’t know why this man was always so keen about certain details and why he was so persistent.

Chi Ting’s tone seemed to be stating something ordinary without too many extra twists and turns. “74%.”

Yes, that was how high his alienation was.

74%.

Yue Ren realized the meaning of these words, and the hand on Chi Ting’s wrist loosened slightly. “You…”

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