Chapter 282: Is Your Essence in the Antidote?

On the way back to Eden, Mo Chen recounted everything that had happened earlier in full detail, except for one thing. He left out the matter of the Herrscher of Reason core. 

After all, something like that was too unbelievable, and more importantly, he had no intention of sharing it.

It was his trump card.

Mo Chen simply explained that it was part of his personal training.

Training? What an old-fashioned expression.

Everyone looked at each other, confused.

To be honest, if this had been said before, they definitely wouldn't have believed it.

After all, a person running 100 meters in under 10 seconds still fell within the realm of human capability—but to say someone could break the sound barrier? That would've sounded like there was water sloshing around in their brain.

But now, something so unbelievable had just happened right in front of their eyes. No matter how hard it was to believe, they had no choice but to accept it.

Johan remained silent, his face cold and unreadable.

Noah looked skeptical.

As for Isabel, she believed it without question. Mo Chen suspected that even if he made up an even more outrageous story, she'd still believe it.

Harran, on the other hand, didn't believe a word.

Because a long time ago, she had witnessed Mo Chen's battle with Chatterbox, and the power he erupted with at the time clearly wasn't something that could be explained by "training."

"Cecil has something she wants to discuss with you," Johan said as he walked over to Mo Chen.

"She should be in the lab right now: it's the white research building at the very center of Eden."

He was as cold as ever, expressionless like a poker face.

Mo Chen knew that was just his personality, so he didn't think much of it.

"Alright."

Just as Mo Chen was about to turn and head toward the lab, Johan suddenly spoke again.

"Thank you."

Mo Chen was a bit surprised. He hadn't expected someone so cold to express gratitude.

"It's nothing. Our goals are the same—no need for courtesy."

Johan gave a slight nod, said nothing more, and walked in the opposite direction. As he passed Mo Chen, he said in a low voice:

"Be careful of Dorothy."

Be careful of Dorothy? What did that mean?

Mo Chen froze for a second.

Just as he was about to ask, Johan had already walked away.

Logically speaking, Johan and Dorothy were part of the same faction, allies even—on the same side. From Johan's position, there should've been no reason to say such a thing to him.

This wasn't just a warning—it felt more like a veiled caution.

Otherwise, given the nature of their relationship, there was no way he would warn an "outsider" like this.

So then… why did he say that?

Johan was human. He was a commander of Nikkes. His goal…

Wait.

Human?

Mo Chen suddenly realized something and fell into thought.

That's it.

Johan was human. Dorothy was a Nikke. At their core, they were fundamentally different, and their stances would never be completely aligned.

Naturally, Johan would lean toward Mo Chen, who was also human. Meanwhile, Dorothy—as a Nikke—had once been betrayed by humanity, and her feelings toward humans were extremely complicated.

At one point, she had even considered destroying the Ark.

And if humanity, due to Mo Chen's appearance, suddenly gained power rivaling or even approaching that of the Nikkes—then the existence and importance of Nikkes would be significantly diminished, possibly even pushed to the sidelines.

Considering how shameless the higher-ups of the Ark were, once they discovered that Nikkes were no longer necessary, they would likely strip them of their right to exist immediately, reduce them to production tools, or enslave them entirely. 

And if the Nikkes dared to resist, they would probably be labeled enemies and destroyed without hesitation.

However, he wasn't too worried about this. Not to mention the fact that his power came from the system—making his strength fundamentally unique—even if he did possess the ability to advance humanity, he wouldn't use it recklessly. 

Not unless all the vermin at the top were wiped out first.

Mo Chen paused briefly, glanced around to get his bearings, and then walked in the direction of the laboratory.

Cecil's lab was located at the very center of Eden, surrounded on all sides by layers of buildings. A perimeter of defensive structures surrounded the area, and turrets were arranged like stars across every critical position.

In the event of a war or Rapture invasion, these layers of defenses could offer maximum protection to the lab.

After all, this lab housed the entirety of Eden's technological achievements.

When he stepped inside, he was surprised to find that the setup here wasn't just similar to the Ark's laboratory: it was practically identical. Even the equipment looked strikingly the same.

In the central area of the lab were several high-precision analytical instruments like mass spectrometers, chromatographs, and spectrophotometers. On the lab benches, various electron microscopes, micromanipulators, and image analysis systems were neatly arranged. 

The lab was also equipped with advanced bioreactors, centrifuges, and thermostats. At the very center was an array of bio-research instruments.

Cecil was fully immersed in her work. She wore a simple white lab coat, the edges slightly rolled up, revealing a sense of calm professionalism.

Her long hair was neatly tied behind her head, with a few soft strands falling down to frame her face, adding a gentle touch to her focused expression.

Watching her, Mo Chen thought she possessed an intellectual beauty—something he hadn't seen in the other women around him.

Especially with her natural, unadorned beauty, her impressively curvy figure, and tall frame. The taut black stockings perfectly outlined her long legs: an incredibly rare combination for a researcher.

"You've arrived," Cecil said without looking up, clearly having noticed his presence. But her hands didn't stop moving.

"Please wait ten seconds."

Ten seconds?

Just as Mo Chen was about to ask, Cecil finished placing a test tube onto a rack, turned around, peeled off her gloves, tossed them into a hazardous waste bin, and walked over to him.

"The reason I called you here is about the antidote. To put it simply—there's been a new development."

"A new development?"

Mo Chen's eyes lit up. He thought to himself that Cecil truly lived up to her reputation as humanity's most brilliant researcher—she'd made progress in such a short time.

Without gloves, she casually picked up a test tube from the side. Unlike the previous crimson ones, this one was pure black, eerily lifeless, like ash left behind after a fire.

"The antidote in this tube was completely destroyed upon contact with the Rapture virus."

Mo Chen, who was just starting to get excited, froze for a second, wondering if he'd misheard her.

"Destroyed?"

"Yes," Cecil said matter-of-factly. "But that led me to a hypothesis. Also, before that, I'd like to ask you a somewhat bold question."

"What question?"

"Did the antidote… contain your seminal fluid?"

"...???"