Before long, the day arrived for Ye Xun to report to the medical laboratory.
He was naturally not stupid enough to walk into a trap.
At first light, he left his residence and headed straight to the toy shop where he had seen Tartaglia and Teucer yesterday.
The sky hung heavy and dark, threatening rain that refused to fall.
That stifling, oppressive humidity was the most irritating.
After waiting over an hour, Teucer’s small figure came skipping into view.
Ye Xun’s lips curled into a friendly, warm smile as he stepped forward to meet him.
“Hello, Teucer.
I’m Pantalone, your brother Tartaglia’s colleague from Liyue.” Teucer looked up, his eyes full of wariness.
“What do you want with me?” “We recently produced a batch of Mr.
Cyclops samples,” Ye Xun said with a gentle smile.
“I’d like to invite you to try them out early so we can make adjustments based on your feedback.” “No way!” Teucer refused without hesitation, his little eyebrows furrowed tight.
“You look like a good guy…
but you might be a bad person tricking kids.” Ye Xun’s expression didn’t change.
Calmly, he produced a seal from inside his coat and laid it flat in his palm.
“You should recognize this, right?” Teucer stared, his eyes widening.
“Th-this…
this is Grandpa Pulcinella’s seal!” Their family had always been looked after by Pulcinella, and they enjoyed a very close relationship with him.
Ye Xun tucked the seal away.
“Teucer, you believe me now, don’t you?” Teucer still hesitated.
“But…” “In that case,” Ye Xun shrugged helplessly, “forget it then!
I’ll invite you next time there’s a chance.” With those words, he turned to walk away.
He had taken only a few steps when Teucer’s anxious voice called out from behind him, “Wait a minute!
I’ll go with you!
But if anything seems wrong, I’m running away!” Ye Xun paused, turned around slowly, and smiled even more deeply.
“Deal.” …………………..
The sky was dark, rain impending, and few pedestrians walked the streets.
Tartaglia glanced up irritably at the leaden sky and quickened his pace toward Zapolyarny Palace.
The Harbinger meeting was about to begin, and he couldn’t afford to be late.
Just as he approached the palace gates, a young Fatui soldier intercepted him and whispered a few words.
Tartaglia’s complexion changed drastically, his eyes turning blood-red in an instant.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he turned and sprinted at full speed toward the medical laboratory.
Meanwhile, inside the solemn conference room of Zapolyarny Palace, the Harbinger meeting had already commenced.
No one paid any mind to his absence.
Seated at the head of the conference table, Pierro slowly swept his gaze across the assembled Harbingers, finally letting it rest on Arlecchino.
“Arlecchino,” he said coolly, “should you not be the first to voice an opinion on this matter?” Hearing this, Arlecchino maintained an indifferent expression.
“My opinion is to abolish human experimentation and…
execute every last person responsible.” Before her words even faded, she looked up to stare directly at Dottore across from her, unvarnished murderous intent gleaming in her eyes.
The corners of Dottore’s mouth curled up in a derisive sneer.
“Arlecchino, allow me to remind you—human experimentation exists because it grants Fatui soldiers formidable power.” Arlecchino naturally understood this.
That was precisely why she had always been helpless to stop it.
But now, the situation was different.
She replied calmly, “If we continue to tolerate these experiments, our plans to seize divine authority will grind to a halt.” “I don’t believe it poses much of an obstacle,” Dottore refuted nonchalantly.
“Oh?” Arlecchino let out a soft laugh.
“Then how about you go retrieve the Gnoses yourself?” Dottore’s smile didn’t fade.
“I can devise the strategies, so long as someone cooperates to execute them.” Hearing this, Pierro turned his gaze to Rosalyne, who sat at the far end of the table.
“Rosalyne, then you shall assist the Doctor in his operations.” “I refuse,” Rosalyne said decisively, her tone leaving no room for argument.
“I have no desire to wake up one day and find myself turned into one of his experimental specimens.” Pierro’s brow furrowed slightly at her words.
Among all the Harbingers, Rosalyne was the most loyal to the Tsaritsa.
In the past, no matter how difficult the mission assigned to her, she had never refused.
Yet this time, her refusal was so adamant, carrying even a trace of…
anger?
With no time to dig deeper into her reasons, he scanned the remaining Harbingers.
After looking around the room, however, he gave up on choosing someone else.
Before them lay only one choice: Preserve human experimentation, or ensure the smooth progression of the plan to secure the Gnoses?
The answer was not difficult.
After a moment’s thought, he arrived at a decision.
Just then, Dottore suddenly spoke up.
“Director Pierro, what I demonstrated to you before was merely my mature research.
In truth, I also possess an unrefined breakthrough.” “Speak,” Pierro said, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Dottore tilted his head up slightly, a glint of pride flashing in his eyes.
“Injecting the newly synthesized ‘Archon Serum’ allows a transcendent individual to briefly gain power that surpasses even transcendence.” The moment those words were spoken, the expressions of everyone present shifted.
Beyond ordinary mortals lay transcendent beings, and beyond them were Archons.
Snezhnaya possessed numerous elite fighters.
If all of them were injected with the “Archon Serum” during the war against the Heavenly Principles, it would be enough to alter the entire battlefield.
In an instant, the scales in Pierro’s mind tipped back toward human experimentation.
As for the plan to seize divine authority, its difficulty would merely multiply; it was by no means impossible to fulfill.
Arlecchino immediately sensed the shift in the room and spoke up swiftly, “Director, this serum is still unrefined and carries extreme risks.” “I don’t deny that,” Dottore replied in a chilling tone.
“However, as long as there are sufficient test subjects, it will become fully mature one day.” He paused, shifting his gaze to Arlecchino, a glint of almost taunting malice surfacing in his eyes.
“I’ve already selected a rather excellent test subject.
When the experiment takes place, you are welcome to come watch in person.” Arlecchino subconsciously clenched her fists tightly.
“Dottore,” she rasped, suppressing her rage, her voice icy, “by the time your technology actually matures, Snezhnaya will likely have already been crushed into ruins by Celestia.” Pierro looked at Dottore once more, his voice steady yet stern.
“Can you guarantee success?” “Of course,” Dottore replied without a moment’s hesitation.
To him, any guarantee could be made as long as the experiments were allowed to continue.
After weighing the options repeatedly, Pierro decided to back Dottore’s human experimentation.
“In that case, then—” Just as he was about to announce the final decision, Columbina, who had remained silently seated all this time, suddenly spoke up…