Chapter 67

Following the sinister man at a safe distance, they soon found themselves in another building.

To get there, they had to descend through sloping alleyways. What surprised Bill the most was how far down they went. "Wherever we're going, it must be far beneath the base," Bill thought to himself.

"This way! Hurry up, recruit!"

Closing in on Bill uncomfortably, he gathered his courage and entered the door.

If the other building looked like a regular office with minimal technology, this place resembled true science fiction with its scientific equipment.

"Close your mouth, recruit, we have a long way to go to see the boss!"

Walking down a long stone corridor framed by pipes, Bill peeked into every room they passed.

Initially, the rooms seemed like ordinary civilian spaces with shoes and miniature buildings, but as they moved deeper and turned corners, the rooms began to feature electric generators, colorful liquids, and then evident weaponry.

After what felt like a long time, the rooms began to house computers, cybernetic limbs, and large tanks filled with transparent liquid.

Bill had never engaged in scientific research in his past life on Earth, yet he couldn't help but think that something really strange was happening here.

"The Island of Vallipo looked like a 17th-century port city... of course, it was bigger in size, but that was explained by the superhumans and giants walking around... but this..."

The level of technology here was practically incomprehensible. No, Bill corrected himself. It was incomprehensible. The machines he passed could be anything, and just a few rooms back, he had seen an entire cybernetic skeleton standing on its own feet!

Stopping at the entrance of another room, Bill saw something resembling a giant LCD screen with the image of a double helix. Around the room were several stations with glass containers holding chunks of meat.

"Hey, what is all this?"

Addressing the clown, who was now far ahead, appearing like a half-cloud, Bill heard an explicit sigh before seeing the cloud rapidly move towards him.

In fact, it moved so fast that Bill shifted his feet to dodge if necessary. Seeing this, he became alert again.

As he focused on the moving mist, it slowed down before coming to a complete stop at arm's length.

"What is this?" the clown asked, looking into the room.

When the clown, who had now taken on an almost human form, asked this question, he looked at Bill intently. Still maintaining his smile, he said, "Tell me, recruit, where are you from?"

Seeing no need to hide his origins but not wanting to divulge all the details to this person, Bill answered casually:

"I was born on an island in the Southern Blues. My father served in the Fleet there, and here I am.Upon hearing this, although the clown didn't stop smiling, Bill detected poison in his voice as he spoke, "Excellent, just excellent! You're lucky it was me who came for you; status doesn't matter here, only resourcefulness does!"

'How dare they treat me like an errand boy... I'm one of the greatest minds in this place, and they sent me to fetch some country bumpkin, of no importance!' Typically, if someone insulted him to his face, Bill would respond.

But in this case, the words he heard didn't match the clown's lip movements. Moreover, when he said, "Excellent, just excellent."

After this, Bill found himself in a peculiar situation where he heard one thing but saw the clown's mouth saying something entirely different.

Confused and a little perplexed, Bill asked, "Uh, what did you say?"

"I said it's wonderful that it was me who picked you up. I'll be able to show you how everything is set up here once you're assigned a place."

"Wonderful, this village idiot doesn't even understand hints. I hope he never comes to see me."

Now Bill was sure he'd heard something different than what the clown actually said.

Returning to reality, he insisted, "Are you doing this on purpose?After Bill said this, Caesar looked stunned and replied with a feigned smile, "What?! I just want to help."

Not getting a response, Bill didn't want to create trouble right upon arrival, so he simply finished by saying, "Alright, just lead the way."

As Caesar turned to continue walking, Bill heard him mutter, "Ungrateful."

The rest of the way, they walked in silence; Bill was no longer so curious, and the journey went by faster.

Thus, they soon found themselves in the final room of this enormous complex.

About fifty meters ahead of them, in front of a large incubator, stood a familiar old man. Dressed in a customary white lab coat, a striped shirt, and gold gloves, Bill watched the old man as he studied a tablet he held in his hands.

Although Bill thought they should wait, Caesar had no such intentions, and before Bill could say anything, the gaseous man took the form of a semi-cloud and floated forward.

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