After letting Mu Ke and the others sleep for two or three hours, both of them woke up, thanks to their strong self-management abilities.

Liu Jiayi yawned and rubbed her eyes as she sat on the edge of the bed to put on her shoes. Bai Liu was helping her into a windbreaker jacket that fit her better.

Her previous clothes had been stained with blood. Fortunately, Taishan Station had smaller-sized clothing. After Bai Liu found some for Liu Jiayi, he helped her put them on.

Liu Jiayi slipped her right hand through the sleeve Bai Liu was holding open for her. With her other hand, she skillfully flipped her long hair out from behind her neck. Then she grabbed the jacket with both arms, jumped down from the bed, and landed steadily on the floor.

Bai Liu released the jacket he had been holding for Liu Jiayi. His gaze fell on the fax records Mu Ke had handed to him—the ones Mu Ke had already organized—and he scanned them ten lines at a glance.

His gaze paused for a moment on the five words Mu Ke had annotated and translated, “Particle-ization of Corpse Fragments,” but he acted as if he had seen nothing and continued reading with unruffled composure.

“It seems the final boss we have to fight this time is this scientist named Edmund,” Bai Liu said.

After finishing, he handed the documents to Tang Erda nearby, then turned to look at Mu Ke.

“What about the experimental reports and diaries? Did you filter out any valuable information?”

Mu Ke’s face was filled with shame.

“I’m sorry. I only roughly understood the contents of these experimental reports and diaries. I still can’t determine what use they have.”

“It’s fine,” Bai Liu said. “What are the experimental reports about?”

Mu Ke lifted his head.

“The experimental reports mainly consist of two parts. The first part is temperature measurement data—daily temperatures from various surface locations and sea areas in Antarctica, recorded up until last month.”

Mu Ke rubbed his brow with a headache.

“—The accumulated data is an extremely staggering figure. I still haven’t been able to confirm exactly which parts are useful.”

Bai Liu flipped through the temperature statistics section of the materials.

The pages were covered in dense numbers, along with all kinds of line graphs, pie charts, and histograms drawn from those numbers. At a single glance, there were professional terms so long they seemed intent on gathering all twenty-six letters of the alphabet together at once, as well as chart analyses that made one’s head spin.

Mu Ke looked at the thick stack of charts with a sense of helpless futility.

Even though his memory was top-tier, encountering such profound research from a specific scientific field still made it very difficult for him to process. After reading for a day and a night, he felt as if his mental value was about to drop below sixty.

“Edmund Observation Station released a large number of weather balloons into the Antarctic interior to monitor air temperature, and placed many positioning buoys in the surrounding seas to measure water temperature.”

Mu Ke wiped his face and let out a long breath.

“Because predicting future climate models based on overall temperature data was Edmund’s specialty, there is a particularly large amount of experimental data in this area. Edmund deployed nearly six hundred temperature measurement sites across Antarctica.”

“Edmund believed these six hundred sites were the key to Antarctica’s influence on the world’s climate. They reflected the influence of ocean currents, the stratosphere, solar radiation, and crustal movement on temperature, and required careful observation and timely feedback. So from thirty-three years ago until a year and a half ago, these six hundred sites were measured an average of three to five times a day.”

Mu Ke looked at the thick stack of materials in Bai Liu’s hand with a trace of unwillingness.

“—There’s just too much. I haven’t finished reading it all yet.”

Mu Sicheng stood nearby, listening in dumbfounded amazement.

Thirty-three years of data.

Only Mu Ke, who tended to get stuck in a dead end, would try to force himself to finish reading it in one day.

If he gave Mu Sicheng thirty-three years, Mu Sicheng still might not be able to finish.

Bai Liu moved past this topic and asked again, “What is the second part of Edmund’s experimental reports?”

Mu Ke’s expression turned serious.

“It’s biochemical experimental data regarding Unknown Organism X. The records continue from August 7th of the year before last until December. This section of experimental records paused briefly for the first two weeks of October, but afterward, they became even more intensive.”

“Look here.”

Mu Ke leaned forward to help Bai Liu flip to the experimental diary from early October.

“The temperature records are normal, but the biological experiment records are blank. There are no photographic records of the culture media, no records of them being placed into constant-temperature incubators, and no records of the growth status of these biological tissues. They were in a completely abandoned state.”

Mu Ke’s finger slid down the report.

“But by November, the number of petri dishes and small test tubes suddenly jumped from ten to three hundred. He also continuously requested and mixed in cells from other organisms, such as emperor penguins, seals, whales, and so on.”

“And—”

Mu Ke’s finger stopped on a certain column listing the added cells. His gaze became complicated.

“—Sixty-seven types of human cells.”

Bai Liu stared at that column.

“These should be the cells of the researchers from Taishan Station.”

Mu Ke nodded.

He used the nail of his thumb to trace a straight line along the report, clearly explaining the English text on that line to Bai Liu.

“—Yes. The monsters Edmund cultivated using these human cells were first subjected to some basic exploratory experiments, such as fission reproduction, tissue cutting and re-culturing, death, and destruction conditions—”

Mu Ke’s gaze sharpened.

“After determining that these monsters possessed powerful learning abilities and a tendency to differentiate toward humans, Edmund reported the matter to the political and military control personnel of the observation station in early October. On the grounds that such experiments were unethical, he requested that the research be stopped.”

“But the other party, in the name of developing the military industry, forced Edmund to continue the experiments. They demanded that he develop methods for mass reproduction and control of these monsters. The research direction they gave Edmund was—completely controllable, immortal soldiers with superhuman combat capabilities.”

“Edmund resisted and condemned them fiercely, cutting his own hands and choosing to go on strike.”

“On October 3rd, Edmund’s first attempt to steal the box was discovered. His superiors subjected him to severe punishment. They did not believe in the danger of the experiment Edmund described and contemptuously demanded: ‘Since you’re so afraid and believe this thing will lead to humanity’s destruction, then prove it to us with your own body.’”

Mu Ke took a deep breath.

“The next day, they forced Edmund to eat the biological tissues he had cultivated himself, even though those tissues had already differentiated into human prototypes—or rather, into the appearance of human infants.”

“Edmund began to suffer severe psychological trauma. I found records in the infirmary showing that he began frequently requesting large amounts of antidepressants from the doctor. According to the doctor’s diagnosis, Edmund developed severe symptoms of drug dependency. Meanwhile, as his drug intake intensified, his experiments progressed rapidly.”

“On October 15th, Edmund attempted to steal the box for a second time, but his student, who was responsible for the handoff, betrayed him.”

“So he was discovered again and handed over to the sentries by his enraged superiors for punishment. Because his body was no longer considered human, the superiors ordered—[There is no need to show him the useless mercy reserved for humans; use the biological experimental methods he loves most to torture him!].”

Mu Ke spoke very quickly.

“This torture seemed to stimulate him. On October 28th, Edmund was ‘exonerated’ after two weeks of brutal torture.”

“On October 29th, after a long closed-door conversation between Edmund and his superiors, Edmund’s dosage of antidepressants became even larger.”

“According to the infirmary’s diagnosis, he seemed to have developed certain symptoms of schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder. He would grab the doctor and neurotically fantasize that he was someone from Taishan Station. Occasionally, he would wail and beg the people of Taishan Station to save him, screaming that he did not belong to this evil observation station named after him.”

“But he seemed to have come to his senses and began obeying his superiors’ instructions. He started researching how to make the monsters produced obey leadership while also charging fearlessly into battle.”

“—This is the result of Edmund’s research: the Memory Hypnosis Experiment.”

Mu Ke pointed to a top-secret document stamped with a bright red [Top Secret] seal.

He looked toward Bai Liu.

“Take a look. This experiment is what I think is the most valuable piece of information.”

Bai Liu lowered his eyes and looked at the document Mu Ke was pointing at.

The Memory Hypnosis Experiment originated from an early theoretical deduction made by Edmund.

What exactly was the difference between humans and other species with human-like intelligence?

In the long three-hundred-million-year history of human development, why had only humans developed to such a scale? Why had other species with similar developmental potential failed to survive on Earth in a highly intelligent state, as humans had?

Why exactly had those species gone extinct?

Why had humans been able to survive?

And if there existed a species that had not gone extinct, possessed the same intelligence as humans or even greater intelligence, and remained hidden in the shadows, developing all the way to the present day—what exactly would be the difference between them and humans?

The answer Edmund gave was that humans possessed a tendency toward civilization and community.

—[It is precisely because we feel fear and awe toward the lives that have passed away within the same tribe, and pity for the fellow creatures who share the same collective fate and struggle to survive; because we help one another to the best of our abilities and huddle together for warmth, that we have survived until now.]

—[God bestowed upon our survival instinct a subconscious drive to create civilization.]

This theory was the conclusion of a paper Edmund had written long ago.

And in this experiment, Edmund added the second half to that conclusion—

—[I must apologize for my previous flippant conclusion. Our survival instinct also contains a subconscious drive to destroy civilization.]

—[Unfortunately, this drive is far stronger than the other.]

—[I will use hypnosis to endow these newborn humanoids with both subconscious drives at the same time.]

—[But if these two subconscious drives do not have a reasonable and realistic memory framework to carry them, these newly born children will go mad from self-contradiction. Because from the moment they are “born,” they exist for the purpose of creation and then destruction. Other than humans, no species exists for such a boring purpose.]

—[My superiors told me that as long as I can produce the cutting-edge soldiers they want, they can satisfy all my requests, including allowing me to obtain all the memories of a person’s life and input them into these monsters’ brains. Then, through various forms of information induction, they can be made to believe they are “humans” defending their country, fighting their entire lives for so-called justice.]

—[This reminded me of my friend.]

—[Only then did I suddenly wake up. It turns out my friend—my friend who suffered and repented for his entire life before dying—was once one of the subjects experimented on by these high-and-mighty people. And I, too, will become the person he loathed most, leading a group of innocent “humans” who believe they are creating the future into a deep abyss named destruction.]

The latter part of the experimental report detailed how to inject these people’s memories into the monsters’ brains.

And the most important point was—

“These monsters don’t perceive themselves as monsters,” Mu Ke said with a bitter smile. “So we had no way to lay a hand on you, Bai Liu, because we ourselves weren’t sure whether we were actually monsters.”

Mu Sicheng hugged his shivering self.

“No, how did they get our memories?!”

“Psychological suggestion and hypnosis.”

Bai Liu tapped his finger against the paper. His eyelids lowered, his eyes dark and inscrutable.

“Our memories were very likely extracted unconsciously when we came into contact with that monster Edmund. This is most likely a skill belonging to that monster named Edmund.”

Mu Sicheng was dazed.

“But from start to finish, we never saw that monster named Edmund, did we? My Monster Book hasn’t even lit up a new page—”

“—Wait, when did it light up?!”

Mu Sicheng froze.

“I swear I just saw that my Monster Book was still dark! Why is it lit up now that I’ve opened it?”

Mu Ke also quickly opened his Monster Book, and his face sank when he saw it.

“Mine has a new page lit up too. His skill really is psychological suggestion and hypnosis.”

“I reckon we have to realize it ourselves in order to break this guy’s hypnosis.”

Bai Liu gave Mu Sicheng a faint glance.

“And although we indeed didn’t see this mysterious professor Edmund, have you forgotten that the monsters here can transform?”

Mu Sicheng froze and murmured, “Oh right, transformation... Who would he transform into...”

Bai Liu looked down at the document in his hand and marked it with the tip of his pen.

“I think there is another very strange point in this experiment. The cultivation of human cells mixed with X cells began in November. At that time, Edmund Station should have been heavily guarded, and Edmund was imprisoned in the basement doing experiments all day. It would have been very difficult for him to contact the personnel from Taishan Station. How did he get the cells of those Taishan Station members and bring them back for experiments?”

Mu Ke spoke without thinking.

“Could someone at Taishan Station have been secretly assisting Edmund, stealing the cells and taking them out?”

Bai Liu shook his head, lost in thought.

“There should be someone here at Taishan Station assisting him. But as for stealing cells, I think that’s unlikely.”

“—A group where betrayal exists would be like a white cloth with a stain in Edmund’s eyes. It doesn’t fit Edmund’s aesthetic of mutual aid and collective trust.”

“If Taishan Station truly had an insider stealing cells for him, Edmund might instead have directly killed everyone at Taishan Station, rather than choosing to preserve them as sparks for the continuation of humanity.”

Mu Ke frowned.

“But if no one at Taishan Station was cooperating with him, how could Edmund easily obtain the cells of everyone at Taishan Station while he was under heavy surveillance?”

“Is it possible that Edmund transformed into someone from Taishan Station, infiltrated the station, and took the opportunity to obtain the others’ cells?” Liu Jiayi, who was nearby, spoke up and asked.

“I’ve considered that,” Bai Liu said thoughtfully. “But at that time, the people at Taishan Station had already been trapped in the polar region for a year and a half. Dozens of people facing one another day and night in a narrow space—they were extremely familiar with one another. They could notice if someone missed a day of shaving.”

“Even if Edmund transformed into someone, without the corresponding day-to-day memories, it would be very difficult for him to deceive them. Especially when the members of Taishan Station already knew through the faxes that Edmund was conducting some kind of android experiment.”

Bai Liu said softly, “Unless, by November, he had already created a perfect [Taishan Station member] fused with memories to help him infiltrate Taishan Station.”

Liu Jiayi’s expression also turned cold.

What Bai Liu said was indeed correct.

She frowned and refuted him, “But the timing is wrong. According to the information in the experimental report, cultivating a mature body takes at least a month. The second completed body Edmund created with fused human memories was in December. The experimental subjects from before the end of October were all destroyed by him.”

Bai Liu flipped back two pages of the experimental report. His gaze froze on a certain page, and he narrowed his eyes.

“There is still one monster he didn’t destroy.”

Thinking he had missed something, Mu Ke reflexively followed up, “—Which one?”

Bai Liu lifted his gaze.

“Himself.”

“I suspect that in early October, Edmund began performing memory fusion on himself as well. That’s why he started having mental problems at that time. By November, the fusion was basically complete, and his psychiatric symptoms became increasingly severe, which was why the doctor diagnosed him with dissociative identity disorder.”

“—In fact, it wasn’t multiple personalities, but the presence of two people’s memories in his brain. He could no longer tell who he actually was.”

Bai Liu said calmly, “And Edmund used those fused memories to transform into a certain person from Taishan Station, successfully infiltrating the station and stealing the cells of the other members.”

“Edmund also used this to hide inside that team member’s body, silently coming into contact with us, hypnotizing us and using psychological suggestions on us, seizing our memories and rapidly carrying out the subsequent experiments.”

Bai Liu spoke with a tone of admiration.

“Truly an outstanding researcher.”

Mu Sicheng swallowed nervously.

“So who did he turn into?”

Bai Liu gave him a faint look.

“Isn’t the answer already very obvious? Among the Taishan Station personnel who have been in contact with both you and us, isn’t there only one?”

Liu Jiayi suddenly recalled the overly enthusiastic, excited graduate student from when they first arrived.

“Fang Xiao Xiao?!”

————————

In the blizzard outside Taishan Station.

An extremely old and weary expression appeared on Fang Xiao Xiao’s face.

He looked from afar toward the brightly lit observation room.

In the next second, those expressions faded, and he became clear and pure again.

In the wind and snow, he looked at the incomplete Taishan Station members behind him. Clouded, painful, burning tears streamed from his eyes.

He led this group of ignorant experimental subjects toward the deeper reaches of the ice plain.

The polar night was coming.

—

Author’s Note:

Here it comes!!!

The correct answer is B, because they are the first real sample subjects who came into contact with Fang Xiao Xiao—or rather, Edmund.

Are there any little friends who guessed correctly? Come here and give me a hug!