Pu Xin cautiously poked her little head out, trying to see what kind of place they had entered, but Ye Hanzhou pressed her down, stopping her from moving further.
“Are you on their side?” he probed.
He had been suddenly grabbed on the street, his mouth covered, and dragged onto a hovering vehicle. The people who abducted him seemed to want him to do something. Since being taken, he hadn’t been harmed.
The man’s baseball cap was pulled low, and his mask tightly covered his face, making him impossible to identify. The only distinguishing feature was the crimson gemstone earring—a Bloody Sunset but Arcius also had such a gem, so it wasn’t a clear identifier.
Hearing Ye Hanzhou’s question, the man chuckled, “Professor Ye, stop testing me. I’m here, pointing a gun at you. If I’m not on their side, am I supposed to be on yours?”
His tone was oddly casual, and Pu Xin even felt he didn’t care whether Ye Hanzhou tried to escape.
“If you’re not on my side, does that mean you can’t join me?” Ye Hanzhou narrowed his eyes, responding with an expression that silently conveyed, “If you’re willing to switch sides, I will accept you.”
The man ignored him, then tossed a small cactus onto the floor and commanded, “Watch them.”
The cactus stood upright, its densely packed eyes darting around. When it locked onto the man’s position, all the eyes focused in the same direction. Like a rusty robot, it mechanically said, “Surgery… surgery is coming…”
In the lab, filled with various equipment, such a sudden voice sounded genuinely eerie.
Ye Hanzhou frowned at the grotesque cactus. Perhaps his gaze lingered too long, drawing its attention. Its eyes rolled, staring directly at him. “What are you trying to do?”
Its tone was cold and firm, causing a slight shock in Ye Hanzhou. He suppressed his suspicions and shook his head, glancing at the man who, after tossing the cactus, was rummaging through the lab.
Who would casually search through their own territory? Ye Hanzhou narrowed his eyes, silently noting the items the man inspected.
Pu Xin, feeling a bit stifled in his arms, peeked out with her soft fluff and saw the man pull a reagent bottle from the lab bench. Inside floated a tiny, soft, furry creature the size of a fingernail.
Her eyes widened slightly, sensing a faint trace of the seed’s aura, but she quickly realized something was off. The small creature in the bottle showed no life, it was dead.
The man, after taking out the reagent bottle, smashed it on the floor without hesitation and stomped on the little creature inside.
Pu Xin, unable to bear it, tried to rush out from Ye Hanzhou’s arms, but he caught her and placed her back inside, remaining calm under the cactus’s gaze. He pretended nothing had happened, but asked, “What are you looking for?”
He never restrained his curiosity. It was this trait that allowed him to continually make breakthroughs in academic research. He wasn’t afraid that uncovering the man’s secret would get him killed; if they had wanted to eliminate him, it could have been done immediately rather than leaving him alive and adding unnecessary risk.
The man naturally ignored his question. After breaking the bottle, it seemed he had completed what he needed to do. He quickly picked up the cactus and left the lab under Ye Hanzhou’s watchful eyes.
Ye Hanzhou, left alone in the lab, couldn’t immediately discern the man’s purpose. He collected some samples from the smashed bottle for his spatial bag before preparing to wake Arcius and leave.
Suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed outside.
Ye Hanzhou, who had only just escaped, was caught again.
A woman stepped out of the crowd. Wearing a mask that blocked mental energy and a white lab coat, she noticed Ye Hanzhou sitting obediently by the lab bench, arms crossed. She smiled faintly. “Professor Ye, how did you end up here? Did you guess what we want you to do and couldn’t wait to see your first experiment?”
The words carried a lot of information. Ye Hanzhou shielded the little dandelion in his arms and calmly replied, “You kidnapped me from the street. I was terrified and ran away impulsively.”
The woman didn’t care that he was lying with open eyes and said, “If you want, this place is open to you. You can go wherever you like, leaving isn’t forbidden either.” She raised her hand, her tone full of temptation.
“Is it that easy?” Ye Hanzhou countered, speaking before she could continue, “Instead of beating around the bush, just tell me what you want me to do.”
Previously, she had hinted at a genetic stripping surgery in front of him. He knew that once his theory of genetic stripping was proposed, he would be in the spotlight. He hadn’t expected someone to act so boldly, abducting him in public.
The woman seemed pleased that he understood quickly. She chuckled softly, focusing her gaze on the still unconscious Arcius. Slowly, she said, “So far, you’re the only one who has successfully completed a genetic stripping surgery. Now I need you to completely remove his hybrid genes.”
At these words, Ye Hanzhou narrowed his eyes, and Pu Xin’s tiny fluff bristled.
He pondered the woman’s intent, while she couldn’t bear the thought of harm coming to her little one.
Repeatedly, Arcius had been kidnapped for such surgeries. Ye Hanzhou knew that as a child, Arcius had undergone an immature genetic stripping attempt, which failed and damaged certain cells, such as his hematopoietic stem cells.
This defect caused Arcius to suffer chronic anemia, requiring medication and special gems to maintain his health.
After successfully demonstrating genetic stripping surgery in theory, Arcius had once brought Ye Hanzhou from the Federation to the Empire, asking if the surgery could be performed on him.
Although reluctant, Ye Hanzhou had checked his body for funding purposes, only to confirm it was impossible.
Arcius’s body had been severely damaged by the previous immature surgery, and the procedure could not restore him; it could even cause further injury.
He obviously couldn’t reveal this, as he needed time.
Ye Hanzhou pretended ignorance, watching the woman while calmly asking, “What’s your relation to him? You want me to do genetic stripping on him? One surgery costs a fortune, you know.”
A successful genetic stripping surgery required nearly all of his lab’s research funds, which was why he had previously had to yield to the capitalist’s pressure.
The surgery’s high cost also led to ridicule from peers, as the procedure wasn’t widely applicable. Mixed-blood individuals in the Empire, who faced discrimination, couldn’t rely on surgery to start anew.
Of course, Ye Hanzhou’s intention with the theory wasn’t to change societal discrimination but to save demi-humans whose hybrid genes had failed.
He believed that if a hybrid existed without genetic disease, it was reasonable. Changing the situation fundamentally required shifting public perception, not surgery.
Even in the more progressive Federation, racial prejudice persisted despite marriage laws.
“Professor Ye, why ask so much? We have no lack of money. If you do it, do it,” the woman said, evading his questions, demanding only a clear result.
Her attitude was determined, so Ye Hanzhou played along, leaning on the lab bench. “Before surgery, we need a full-body check. Genetic stripping is something I’ve only successfully done once. I can’t guarantee this will succeed.”
The woman was displeased, scoffing, “I know your skills. Don’t try to stall. You know that half-hearted work won’t go well for you.”
Ye Hanzhou raised his brow, responding, “Look, do you really think I’m stalling? Even the most skilled can’t guarantee every surgery succeeds, especially one unprecedented like genetic stripping.”
“Enough, enough. Since I need you for the surgery, follow my requirements. Prepare the medical instruments; he’ll need a full-body check first,” she said.
Seeing her frown, Ye Hanzhou adopted a rigorous stance. “You don’t want the surgery to fail, do you? If I’m too troublesome, find someone else.”
No one else could match him; many studied genetic stripping, but only he had successfully completed it and developed a complete theory.
Apparently, his words worked. Despite some reluctance, the woman had the medical instruments prepared.
Because of previous escape experiences, Ye Hanzhou, under dozens of eyes, couldn’t make any subtle moves.
He sat by the sleeping Arcius, lightly patting his cheek. The boy remained oblivious, so Ye Hanzhou settled down, noticing the small dandelion in his arms. The little fluff remained, but the tiny bundle had vanished.
Startled, Ye Hanzhou suddenly heard the sound of reagents and flasks crashing to the floor. Looking up, he saw the woman guarding the lab had fallen.
She seemed to have slipped on the lab bench, knocking down various reagents, which spilled on her. A burning sensation spread across her skin. After a brief shock, she screamed, the smell of burnt chemicals filling the lab. Her thrashing caused even more reagents to fall.
In pain, she shouted, “Where’s the seed? The seed I was cultivating!”
The lab was in chaos; who knew where the seed had gone?
Ye Hanzhou had no interest in playing the hero, and with his little dandelion missing, he ignored the threat.
The unconscious people in the lab remained asleep, and others didn’t understand the woman’s words. Covering her burned face, she pointed her gun at Ye Hanzhou, demanding, “You were the only one here. Did you hide my seed?”
Ye Hanzhou, baffled, replied, “You were here as soon as I entered. Where would I hide your seed?”
Pu Xin quietly slipped out of Ye Hanzhou’s arms. She didn’t rush to take the little one but clung silently to someone’s clothing, exiting the lab.
She thought she was stealthy, but soon the man grabbed her by the nape of her neck. Wearing a very ordinary mask, he lifted the little dandelion to his face and chuckled, “Why are you sneaking along?”
His tone was the same playful arrogance as before, showing a hint of familiarity when speaking to Pu Xin.
The little dandelion moved her fluff pitifully, but the man pressed a finger against her, saying, “Don’t act cute. That won’t work on me.”