After the troops dispatched to the Zerg Star safely returned to Kepler 4b, a debriefing meeting for the entire battle was hastily convened within the base. Lin Yuan's mission report, due to its confidentiality regarding the queen of the Zerg and the Half-God Race, was arranged for a separate presentation. During the meeting, Su Ling looked at Lin Yuan with a complicated expression. Then, in her capacity as a senior advisor, she called him into the conference room.
"Lin Yuan, know what the Astral Dew means?" Su Ling asked directly, looking serious.
Lin Yuan was taken aback for a moment, then put on an expression of "I really don't know." "Don't you think it might be just a legend? Maybe it's just a code name for a high-level energy experiment."
"Hehe." Su Ling let out a soft laugh, narrowing her eyes at him. "Stop playing dumb. Li Xingchen has already told you its location, hasn't she?"
Lin Yuan's smile froze on his face. He knew Su Ling was tough to handle, so he forced a laugh. "Since you know, just say it. What's next?"
Su Ling didn't answer but gently patted Lin Yuan on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go see your family. We'll go to the laboratory together."
So, with Su Ling carrying a mini suitcase, Lin Yuan, Lin Wanqing, and their mother, Ye Qingxuan, went to the energy laboratory in the ruins. Although it had been abandoned, the equipment still exuded a sense of the future. The broken metal and floating light screens glowed with a cold light in the dimness. Lin Yuan searched carefully and found the Astral Dew, and a thick stack of experimental reports in a hidden safety cabin.
"This is it..." Lin Yuan looked at the bottle of transparent liquid with a strange luster in his hand, feeling extremely mixed emotions. He remembered Li Xingchen's final words before her death, and a pang of sadness welled up in his heart.
At this moment, the voice of the Jiuchong Ring sounded. "Host, it is detected that the Astral Dew is currently not activated and cannot be replicated. It is recommended to activate it immediately."
"Activate? How? There's no manual for this!" Lin Yuan thought to himself.
Just then, Su Ling walked up behind Lin Yuan and suddenly fiddled with her wrist. A strange device slid out from her sleeve, emitting a faint blue light. In an instant, Lin Yuan, Lin Wanqing, and Ye Qingxuan couldn't move.
"Su Ling!" Ye Qingxuan shouted angrily. "What are you up to!"
Su Ling didn't reply but slowly turned around, wearing a faint smile on her face. But there was a far-off loneliness in her smile. "Don't worry, I won't harm you. I'm just doing my mission."
Lin Yuan strained his neck and, out of the corner of his eye, saw a strange rune halo slowly appear in Su Ling's palm. First, she forced out a few drops of golden Half-God Race blood from her palm. Then she walked over to the opened suitcase, where the energy core of the queen of the Zerg was displayed, and took out a few drops of purple-black energy liquid.
"Aunt Su, what on earth are you trying to do?" Lin Yuan tried hard to control his body but couldn't break free at all.
Su Ling glanced at him and smiled faintly. "The Astral Dew needs powerful energy to activate. And you..." She looked at Lin Yuan once more. "You have a special power."
Coupled with the energy of the queen of the Zerg, these are the complete activation conditions."
After saying that, she forcefully guided Lin Yuan's mental power and drew out a wisp of transparent mental energy from his palm. Then, she placed the blood of the Half-God Race, the energy liquid of the queen of the Zerg, and the strand of Lin Yuan's mental power together on the Astral Dew.
The moment the three kinds of energy mixed, the Astral Dew emitted a dazzling blue light, and the entire laboratory seemed to be enveloped by this mysterious fluctuation. A strange energy field spread out from the bottle. Seconds later, a clear ring sounded, and the Astral Dew was fully activated.
The Jiuchong Ring immediately popped up and shouted excitedly, "The replication begins! Host, don't worry. You can't move right now, which is very convenient for me to complete the replication!"
Lin Yuan was so angry that he almost spat out blood. "Convenient your head! Su Ling is being so mysterious. I didn't even get a chance to ask her questions! You're so carefree!"
Su Ling seemed to hear Lin Yuan's grumble. She glanced at him and said softly, "Don't worry, I won't harm you all."
After saying that, she released the control of the device, and Lin Yuan and the others regained their ability to move. But before Lin Yuan could question Su Ling, she had already turned around and left with a smile.
Lin Yuan watched her figure disappear into the ruins, feeling extremely complicated. He looked down at the activated Astral Dew in his hand and murmured, "What kind of trouble will this thing bring..."
Lin Wanqing sighed, approached Lin Yuan and said softly, "Brother, this is way more complicated than we thought."
Lin Yuan nodded and stowed the Astral Dew.
=======================
被派去虫星的部队安全返回开普勒4b后,整个战斗的总结会议在基地内匆匆召开.林远的任务报告因为涉及虫族女王和半神族的机密被安排为单独汇报.会议上,苏灵目光复杂地打量着林远,随后以高级顾问的身份将他叫到了会议室.
"林远,关于星灵露... 你知道它的存在意味着什么吗?" 苏灵开门见山,一脸严肃.
林远愣了一下,转而摆出一副 "我真的不知道" 的表情:"你不觉得它可能是个传说吗?说不定只是个高级能源实验的代号罢了."
"呵呵." 苏灵低笑了两声,眯起眼睛看着他,"别装傻了,黎星辰已经告诉了你它的位置,不是吗?"
林远的笑容顿时僵在脸上.他知道苏灵并不好对付,于是干笑了一声:"既然你都知道了,那就直说吧.接下来该怎么办?"
苏灵没有回答,而是轻轻拍了拍林远的肩膀:"走吧,去见你的家人,我们一起去实验室看看."
于是苏灵提着缩小版手提箱,林远,林晚晴,还有母亲叶青璇一行人来到那片废墟中的能源实验室.尽管这里已经被废弃,但设备依旧充满未来感,碎裂的金属与悬浮光屏在昏暗中泛着冷光.林远仔细翻找,终于在一处隐藏的安全舱内找到了星灵露以及一沓厚厚的实验报告.
"就是这个..." 林远看着手中透明而流转着奇异光泽的液体瓶子,心里复杂无比.他想起了黎星辰临死前的交代,心中涌起了一丝沉痛.
九重戒的声音在这时响起:"宿主,检测到星灵露目前尚未激活,无法进行复制.建议立即激活."
"激活?怎么激活?这东西说明书上没写啊..." 林远在心中吐槽.
而就在这时,苏灵走到了林远身后,突然摆弄了一下自己的手腕.一道奇异的装置从她的袖口滑出,发出幽蓝的光芒.刹那间,林远,林晚晴和叶青璇都无法动弹.
"苏灵!" 叶青璇怒声喝道,"你想干什么!"
苏灵并没有回答,而是缓缓转过身,脸上挂着一抹淡淡的笑意,然而那笑意中却带着某种遥远的孤寂:"放心,我不会伤害你们.这一切,只是为了完成我的使命."
林远强撑着脖子,用余光看到苏灵的掌心缓缓出现了一道奇异的符文光环.她先是从自己的掌心逼出几滴金色的半神族血液,随后走到打开手提箱,展现出虫族女王的能量核心处,取出几滴紫黑色的能量液体.
"苏阿姨,你到底想干什么?" 林远努力控制着自己的身体,但却丝毫无法挣脱.
苏灵看了他一眼,微微一笑:"星灵露需要足够强大的能量来激活,而你..." 她又看向林远,"拥有一种特殊的精神力.再加上虫族女王的能量,这样才是完整的激活条件."
说完,她强行引导林远的精神力,从他的掌心中引出一丝透明的精神能量.随后,她将半神族的血,虫族女王的能量液体和林远的精神力丝一同放在了星灵露上.
就在三种能量混合的瞬间,星灵露发出一阵耀眼的蓝光,整个实验室似乎都被这种神秘的波动所笼罩.一种奇异的能量场从瓶子里扩散开来,几秒后,一阵清脆的鸣响传来,星灵露彻底被激活了.
九重戒立刻跳出来兴奋地喊道:"复制开始!宿主,不用担心,你现在刚好动不了,非常方便我完成复制!"
林远被气得差点吐血:"方便你个头!苏灵这家伙搞得这么神秘,我连问她问题的机会都没有!你倒是悠闲得很!"
苏灵似乎听到了林远的吐槽,她淡淡地看了他一眼,轻声说道:"放心吧,我不会伤害你们的."
说完,她解除装置的控制,林远和其他人恢复了行动.可林远还没来得及质问苏灵,她已经微笑着转身离开.
林远看着她的背影消失在废墟中,心中复杂到了极点.他低头看了一眼手中被激活的星灵露,低声道:"这东西,到底会带来什么样的麻烦..."
林晚晴则叹了口气,走到林远身边,轻声说道:"哥哥,这次的事情似乎远比我们想的要复杂."
林远点了点头,收起星灵露.