booktalesy Chapter 149 The Fish Has Taken the Bait
Chapter 149 The Fish Has Taken the Bait
Top floor CEO's office, Peak Biotechnology Building.
The air was filled with a suffocatingly low pressure.
Lin Feng stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, with the dazzling night view of Changxiang City below, but what was reflected in his eyes was a crumbling empire.
"Useless! A bunch of good-for-nothings!"
With a furious roar, a brand-new tablet computer was slammed against the wall, its screen shattering, the image frozen on the long line of people rushing to buy "Resurrected Stinky Tofu" in front of Renxin Pharmacy.
The bustling, lively atmosphere felt like a resounding slap across his face.
"Dr. Gao was arrested, the Guardians were destroyed, and now even the media are calling me 'Red-Nosed Clown' behind my back..." Lin Feng gasped for breath, his hands gripping the window frame tightly, his knuckles white from the force. "Is this your reward to me?"
Behind him, the female secretary, dressed in a tight-fitting cheongsam, silently stepped forward, placed a cup of perfectly warm black coffee on the corner of the table, and said in a sweet voice that carried a chilling fervor: "Boss, calm down. The setbacks on the surface are only temporary. As long as that one from the 'underground' descends, all the rules will be rewritten by you."
Upon hearing the word "underground," Lin Feng's distorted expression finally calmed down somewhat, a greedy glint flashing in his eyes: "'Symbiote'... how much longer?"
"Incubation progress 99%." The female secretary licked her red lips, her eyes glazed over. "It's like a baby about to hatch, yearning for its last bit of nourishment. Within 48 hours, Changxiang City will welcome its 'new god'."
Just then, there was a knock on the heavy mahogany door of the office.
"Mr. Lin, there's a Mr. Lin Xiang at the front desk who claims to be an international perfumer and says he has an appointment."
"Lin Xiang?" Lin Feng frowned. This name was well-known in the fashion industry, and she was known as "Golden Nose." However, he, who worked in biotechnology, had always kept to himself and that circle full of feminine charm.
"Tell him to get lost... wait." Lin Feng suddenly thought of something, his eyes darting around, "Let him in."
A few minutes later, the door opened.
Lin Xiang was wearing a well-tailored dark gray handmade suit with a Windsor knot at the collar, and she was carrying a gift box wrapped in black velvet.
He walked with a composed gait, his chin slightly raised, and that ingrained artist's arrogance made him seem out of place in this office filled with the stench of money and intrigue.
Only heaven knows that at this moment, Lin Xiang's back was already soaked with cold sweat.
His heart was pounding wildly in his chest. If it weren't for his expensive suit, which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, his legs, which were shaking like leaves, would have given him away long ago.
The moment he stepped inside, his nostrils twitched slightly, his brows furrowed, and he pulled out a silk handkerchief to cover his mouth and nose: "The tarry smell of cigars, the sour smell of cheap coffee, and... the stench of sweat caused by anxiety. Mr. Lin, the air here is practically a murder of my sense of smell."
This sudden display of power startled Lin Feng for a moment. He then narrowed his eyes and gave a forced smile: "Master Lin, you truly live up to your reputation; your nose is sharper than a dog's. May I ask what brings you here so late at night?"
"For art, and also to find a soul that truly knows how to appreciate it."
Lin Xiang suppressed the urge to turn and run away, and gently placed the gift box, which resembled a Pandora's box, on the desk.
As the velvet cloth was lifted, the bottle of "Silent Sea," emitting a faint blue glow, was exposed to the light.
He slowly unscrewed the bottle cap.
In that instant, it was as if a cold wind from the deep sea had blown away the heat and anxiety in the room.
The top notes are cool cedar, the middle notes are deep sea, and the base notes... are a faint sandalwood scent that can strike the depths of the soul.
This sandalwood scent is mixed with trace amounts of specially refined "True Word Agave" pollen.
Lin Feng's tense nerves strangely relaxed the moment the fragrance wafted over.
The feeling was like a drowning person being suddenly lifted to the surface by a gentle hand.
"It smells so good..." The alluring female secretary's eyes instantly became hazy, and her body involuntarily leaned towards Lin Xiang, as if her soul had been bewitched by that scent.
Lin Feng took a deep breath, and the wariness in his eyes was gradually replaced by a strange sense of closeness under the influence of the drug.
"This is more than just perfume." Lin Xiang's voice became deep and magnetic as he entered "persuasive" mode. "This is the culmination of my life's work, and I call it 'Sea of Silence.' Its molecular structure is extremely unstable, like a newborn baby. Any trace of disordered energy—electromagnetic waves, heat radiation, noise—will shatter its very essence."
"So?" Lin Feng felt his thinking was a little slow, but his vanity, which was inspired by "art," was expanding to an extreme.
"Therefore, I need an absolutely 'silent' place to complete the final 'awakening fragrance' ritual." Lin Xiang looked directly into Lin Feng's eyes, her gaze piercing through the floor and pointing straight to the ground. "I've heard that your company possesses the most advanced underground laboratory in all of Asia, a true 'absolute domain' shielded from all external interference. I wonder if Mr. Lin would be willing to grant me this favor?"
An underground laboratory?
These five words stung Lin Feng like a needle, briefly bringing him to his senses.
That's the company's top secret; it must never be given to outsiders...
But the next second, the delicate fragrance mixed with agave pollen once again entered my nostrils, and a certain defense mechanism deep in my brain was quietly dismantled.
"Boss," the secretary said, completely captivated, her voice trembling as she stared at the perfume bottle, "let him try it. I want to see... what this masterpiece looks like after it's been awakened. Anyway, there's top-notch security there; what kind of trouble can a perfumer like him cause?"
Lin Feng looked at the bottle of liquid, which was as deep as the starry sky, and his greed and vanity overcame his reason.
Owning a legendary perfume born on one's own turf is itself a symbol of power.
"Okay." Lin Feng finally nodded, the last trace of clarity in his eyes disappearing. "But I'll only give you one hour. And you must go through the highest level of security, accompanied by my 'guardian' the entire time."
"Of course." Lin Xiang bowed gracefully, using the bending motion to wipe away a bead of cold sweat from her forehead.
……
Half an hour later.
After passing through three X-ray scans and two biometric access control gates, Lin Xiang finally stood on the long corridor leading to hell.
He was wearing a white sterile suit, carrying a constant temperature incubator, followed by two cyborgs whose movements were stiff and whose joints made mechanical grinding noises.
At the end of the passage, the view suddenly opened up.
When the giant incubation chamber, which was ten meters high, came into view, Lin Xiang felt a spasm in her stomach.
A huge, pulsating tumor was suspended in the pale green nutrient solution.
Countless red eyes opened and closed on the surface of the tumor, each opening emanating a nauseating malice.
A luminescent substance is being continuously supplied to the tube connected to the bottom.
This is... "God"?
This is clearly a huge malignant tumor!
"This is it." Lin Xiang suppressed her urge to vomit and turned to the cyborg guards behind her, keeping her voice as steady as possible. "The energy field here... is very pure. Now, please step back ten meters. Maintain absolute silence. Any sound is a desecration of art."
The two cyborgs, expressionless, mechanically carried out the order and retreated into the shadows.
Lin Xiang took a deep breath and opened the incubator.
Instead of grabbing the perfume, he first used trembling fingers to pull a miniature high-frequency sound resonator from his pocket—a "safety pin" given to him by Wang Minyu.
He pretended to wipe the glass and gently stuck it onto the outer wall of the culture chamber.
After doing all this, he carefully took out the bottle of "Sea of Silence".
Unscrew the bottle cap.
The pale blue liquid swayed gently under the light, and a cool fragrance began to spread in this space filled with the smell of blood.
This specially formulated aroma seemed to have a strange calming effect on the frenzied tumor.
Its originally violent throbbing gradually subsided, and its red eyes half-closed, as if it had fallen into a deep sleep.
Lin Xiang stared intently at the watch on her wrist.
Time passed by second by second, each second feeling like an eternity.
Ten minutes... twenty minutes...
Just then, a red light suddenly flashed on the central control panel of the laboratory, and a piercing alarm shattered the false tranquility!
"Warning! Warning! Abnormal fluctuations detected in the core energy source! The 'symbiote' has awakened its self-awareness... The incubation process is forcibly accelerated!"
"roar--!!!"
Inside the culture chamber, the previously quiet tumor suddenly erupted with a roar that, though separated by glass, could pierce the very soul! The blood vessels on its surface bulged wildly, and countless eyes simultaneously opened wide, shooting out a savage red light!
The nutrient solution boiled instantly, and the entire culture chamber shook violently, as if it might explode at any moment!
"What happened?!" Lin Xiang was so frightened that she sat down on the ground with a thud, her face pale.
And in that instant, the bottle of "Sea of Silence" in his hand underwent a terrifying change!
The originally pale blue, calm liquid instantly boiled upon sensing the explosive and terrifying energy source so close at hand!
The color changed from blue to purple, then from purple to red, and finally turned into a deep, dark black!
The dormant "energy-devouring spores" have awakened!
It was a gluttonous beast that had been starving for countless years, and the tumor in front of it was a Manchu Han Imperial Feast!
"Oh no!" Lin Xiang looked at the hot bottle in her hand, and only one thought remained in her mind—throw it away!
With all his might, he smashed the bottle of "Death," which had turned black, into the incubation chamber!
At the same time, the resonator attached to the glass was activated, and the outer wall of the glass made a crisp sound, cracking open a crack.
"Bang!"
The perfume bottle shattered the moment it touched the crack!
There was no fire, no smoke.
Only a black lightning bolt, as if it were alive, pierced into the nutrient solution through the crack, and with a speed that defied the laws of physics, it rushed straight to the core of the tumor—the wildly spinning red "seed"!
The next second, the world went silent.
All sounds seemed to be instantly ripped away.
The moment the black substance came into contact with the "seed," it suddenly expanded and transformed into a small black hole.
It didn't explode; instead, it... devoured!
The tumor let out a silent scream as its massive body shrank and withered at an alarming rate, all its life essence and energy being sucked into that greedy black hole!
……
Meanwhile, Renxin Pharmacy.
Wang Minyu remained lying in the bamboo rocking chair, resting with his eyes closed.
Only the finger that lightly tapped the armrest betrayed a hint of his waiting.
The phone on the table suddenly vibrated, and the screen lit up with an encrypted number.
connected.
"Dr. Wang," came Captain Zhou's usually calm but now slightly broken voice through the receiver, with the faint sound of children singing in the background, "we... have just taken over the underground laboratory of Peak Bio."
"How's the situation?" Wang Minyu's lips curled into a smile.
"The situation... is very complicated." Captain Zhou seemed to be organizing his thoughts. "That 'monster' has turned into a dried-up corpse. But the people at the scene... have gone mad. They've all gone mad."
"Oh?"
"Half of the researchers were sitting cross-legged on the floor, saying they had seen the singularity of the Big Bang and were asking us for paper and pen to calculate the formula for four-dimensional space; the other half... they were huddled in a corner, insisting that they were mushrooms and asking us to turn off the lights, saying that the ultraviolet rays were too strong and would affect the spread of spores."
Wang Minyu laughed out loud, walked to the window, and looked at the brightly lit building in the distance, which, in his eyes, seemed lifeless.
"Captain Zhou, this is good news." He said softly into the phone, his tone laced with a hint of laziness and mockery. "Not only have the fish taken the bait, but they've been caught in one fell swoop. Get your bonuses ready; this 'psychological counseling fee' won't be cheap."