Cang Liu didn't know what to say. Bai Cha was terrifyingly sharp when it came to missions. Sometimes, a single hint was all it took for Bai Cha to deduce the rest, and explore numerous possibilities.
At times, Cang Liu even suspected that Bai Cha's deductions were more comprehensive than the butterfly effect.
"However, there's one thing that bothers me. Regarding the Bai Ze incident last time, I thought they were researching human genes and potential development. But what about the 'oddly-shaped variants' you mentioned?" Bai Cha pondered, resting her chin on her hand. "If it were merely about transplanting genes from other species, the gene super-mutation surgery should have been quite advanced by now."
After all, their abilities were to some extent derived from transplanting genes from other species and stimulating their potential. For example, Meng Qinghuan had dragon genes transplanted, Li Rong had genes from a rare snow lotus plant, and Xiang Nan had genes from the royal families of various insects.
Some people had genes from creatures like tigers and spiders transplanted, but the results were rather poor. After their potential was stimulated, humans always exhibited unexpected effects. The stranger the transplanted genes, the better the results.
Take Yan Ziyu, for instance. Despite only having the genes of an octopus king transplanted, he suddenly became like Ma Liang with his divine brush.
"I'm not sure either. Those people seem to have undergone extreme body modifications, like grafting humans with enlarged versions of animals," Cang Liu recalled. "I remember some of them had all four limbs transformed into beastly ones."
Bai Cha nodded thoughtfully. "In a month, when I leave, keep a close eye on Mo Ziye."
"No matter the reason for locking up Mo Ziye, don't let him leave this place," Bai Cha added. "However, realistically speaking, you might not be able to hold him. If it's truly impossible, let me know in advance."
Cang Liu: "?"
Even Lucifer, who had been standing silently by, listening to Bai Cha and Cang Liu's conversation, was taken aback. He didn't understand why Bai Cha suddenly mentioned Mo Ziye.
"The 'oddly-shaped variants' modified by human technology cannot be stronger than Lucifer. Even reaching S-class wouldn't be enough to cause widespread destruction in the capital and make headlines," Bai Cha explained, seeing their confusion. "So, I'm most likely being held back."
And the person most likely to be holding her back was undoubtedly Mo Ziye, given the precedents. Mo Ziye had caused disruptions in previous missions to varying degrees.
"Inform Meng Qinghuan and Xiang Nan about this matter. Have them closely monitor Mo Ziye or Zhiyue's actions. If there's any unusual activity, find ways to report it immediately."
"Yes."
And so, a period of peaceful life continued.
After another half a month passed, everything had fallen into place. The newcomers had finally managed to keep up, and those who had prior training saw their strength improve. Almost everyone was brought in by Bai Cha for individual "tutelage."
Or rather, one-sided beatings.
However, their strength had improved significantly, so no one complained. Besides, everyone was only beaten up once in rotation. Cang Liu and Yun He had received private training from Bai Cha several times. The most frequent sparring partner for Bai Cha was Lucifer, and their duels were the most exciting on the arena.
Of course, there was another even more "exciting" kind of match playing out daily, and this type of confrontation occupied most of Bai Cha's time, leaving everyone astonished each time.
First was Freya. Every time she sparred with Bai Cha, her pink crystal arrows were super dazzling. When she fought Bai Cha, the entire venue was filled with exploding fireworks.
The most peculiar thing was that before every match, she would decorate the training ground into various shades of pink, practically blinding everyone.
And even more peculiar was that Bai Cha would quickly gain the upper hand in the early stages. However, after a period of time, when both sides started to feel a bit tired, Bai Cha would inexplicably lose.
There were all sorts of strange ways she lost.
Sometimes Bai Cha would surrender voluntarily, sometimes Freya would suddenly hit Bai Cha, and sometimes Freya would hold a weapon to Bai Cha's vital points. In short, it was a myriad of ways, but the unchanging core was that Freya won again.
However, many people were very confused. Bai Cha always seemed to be going easy, yet also not. In any case, the way she lost was incomprehensible. Their boss was on the verge of winning, so why did she suddenly lose?
Of course, this was the thinking of some straightforward men.
"Oh dear, Cha Cha, is it really okay for you to always lose to me like this? Will people gossip about it~" Cang Liu overheard Freya say this one time when Gu Mingze dragged him out to eat.
Although it was a question of concern, it carried an air of pampered arrogance when spoken by Freya.
And Bai Cha's response was:
"You always lost to me before, now I'm losing to you, aren't we even?"
"Besides, didn't you tell me to indulge you?"
In short, nothing went wrong during this period, and everyone lived surprisingly comfortably.
The hour of silent meditation each morning and evening had also helped to temper Zhiyue's fiery temper. She was no longer just a flashy show-off who only knew how to burn things with fire. After she managed to draw with Gu Zitan, Bai Cha finally declared Zhiyue to have met the standard.
As for Zhiyue, even she didn't know how she felt now. When Bai Cha praised her, she didn't object; instead, her face turned red. Only a very few people knew about Cang Liu's affection for Bai Cha; he was too introverted and unobtrusive. However, Zhiyue was one of those few.
But whether it was because Bai Cha forgave her past transgressions and treated her very well, or for some other reason, Zhiyue couldn't stay angry with Bai Cha. She still acted awkwardly around Bai Cha, her tone brusque, but she did whatever Bai Cha said.
She was almost like a little follower.
This afternoon, Bai Cha canceled the training and summoned everyone to the conference room again.
"I'm going back for a bit. I've just told you what happened. Someone went missing, was murdered, and was framed. It's exactly as I predicted. I'm going back to reel them in," Bai Cha said, pointing to the large screen. "When I return, I'll be taking people to the sea. Continue training during this period; don't slack off."
The screen displayed a detailed timetable and the current situation. The content was very thorough, except for the cute, chibi pink Bai Cha in the upper left corner, which was slightly distracting.
Everyone looked at Freya, who was sitting beside Bai Cha and appeared very well-behaved, and fell silent.
It was obvious to everyone who was responsible for this.
"Going to underwater ruins to look for treasure!" Mo Ziye exclaimed excitedly upon hearing this. He immediately waved his fist. "Little Bai, can you take me with you!"
"Treasure hunt?" Bai Cha asked, confused.
"Ah? Aren't underwater deserts and the like the easiest places to find treasure?" Mo Ziye scratched his head, looking very excited. "And it's ruins, too! It sounds like a trial ground with great opportunities, the kind that makes you stronger afterward."
Everyone: "..."
Bai Cha put her hand to her forehead. "Ziye, read fewer fantasy novels. It's fine to read novels and watch TV shows, but don't get too invested."
Mo Ziye: "Ah? It's not?"
"Of course not. It'll be a disaster if anything, where would there be treasure?" Bai Cha was a bit weary. She hadn't expected Mo Ziye's first reaction to a mission to be treasure rather than danger. "Our missions are always inseparable from danger."
"Disaster?" Mo Ziye was a bit confused. "Didn't they say the underwater secret realm had things that could enhance everyone's strength? And we even got World Crystals from the vortex gate?"
He remembered his uncle had specifically told him to tag along on Bai Cha's missions...
So, his uncle had misunderstood as well?
"World Crystals are used to fight the final boss; you think you can find them everywhere?" That was a path the World Tree painstakingly opened. Bai Cha pulled out a chair and sat down, opening a string of data. "This is the seabed detection data your father sent me. You're from your father's family; you don't even know this?"
Mo Ziye immediately became serious. Although his combat experience was not high and his thinking was very unconventional, his intelligence in scientific research was definitely sufficient. As a genius who had been assisting his scientist father since he was a child, Mo Ziye was quite sensitive to scientific research-related knowledge.
With just a glance, Mo Ziye noticed something amiss. He picked up his phone, brought up the interface, and began calculating.
"The fluctuation in numbers is so large?" The data was too strange. Mo Ziye didn't need to calculate carefully; a quick comparison revealed something was wrong. "Is this secret realm alive?"
Bai Cha: "..."
This child's thought process was truly peculiar.
"The secret realm isn't alive; it's that there are living beings inside," Bai Cha said helplessly. "When I resonated with Lucifer back then, they recorded Lucifer's data, and the numerical fluctuations in this secret realm are only slightly weaker than Lucifer's."
"What?" Mo Ziye suddenly stood up, startling those around him. Before he could exclaim, Bai Cha casually threw a book at his head, forcefully knocking his exclamation back down his throat.
Mo Ziye silently crouched down, covering his head which ached from the book, and closed his mouth aggrievedly.
"Why are you so jumpy?" Bai Cha sighed, picking up the tea Lucifer had just refilled for her and taking a sip. "The numbers are very high, most likely a dragon. The chance of a dragon being controlled is not high. I'll find a way to get close. It would be best if I could bring it back..."
"No! It's too dangerous!" Mo Ziye interrupted again.
Bai Cha gritted her molars, feeling that this brat Mo Ziye was too much of a handful. How many times had he interrupted her already? Couldn't she finish speaking?
"Sit down. Once I finish speaking, there will be plenty of time for you to offer suggestions," Bai Cha said, pressing her temples. Mo Ziye was good in all aspects, his strength was decent, and his character was acceptable, but he was often jumpy and restless, which really made Bai Cha tired.
"But, but bringing it back is too exaggerated! That's a dragon. What if it goes out of control?" Mo Ziye said anxiously. "Dragons are so dangerous, what if it gets out of control..."
Everyone silently looked up, looking uniformly at Lucifer, who was standing straight beside Bai Cha with a gentle and proper smile on his face, and collectively fell silent.
Who didn't know that Lucifer was a dragon?
"No, no, I'm not targeting Lucifer, I mean outside of Lucifer!" Mo Ziye realized he had said the wrong thing and quickly corrected himself.
Everyone silently looked up again, uniformly shifting their gazes to Bai Cha, and collectively fell silent once more.
Who didn't know that Bai Cha's father had resonated with a dragon?
Although the final outcome wasn't good, Samael had been an obedient, first-class good dragon before that incident. He had an illustrious record of military achievements.
This time, Mo Ziye simply stopped talking. What he said was completely different from what he intended to express!
"Most evil dragons are destructive because they are controlled by the Dragon Mother galaxy. However, S-class dragons are rarely controlled. While there's a certain risk in not capturing them as embryos," Bai Cha shook her head, switching the screen to another interface to continue explaining, "many years ago, the world already enacted regulations stating that dragons are also considered citizens, and even part of the protected species. If we can save them, it's better to help."
Of course, they would need to obtain Chinese nationality, but that wasn't a big deal.
Besides, this wasn't the most important thing. The most important thing was that the laboratory would be conducting an illegal experiment in a few days, and it was uncertain whether this would be related to Mo Ziye.