CHAPTER 150: CHAPTER 150: DEMONIC EXPERIMENT SUBJECT (5TH UPDATE)

They were both a little awkward for a moment. Dora glanced around, saw no danger, shrugged, and said, "Get down!"

Chen Gu reluctantly and slowly dragged himself down. Inwardly, he compared the feel of the two ponies’ haunches and silently gave Big Rabbit an extra point.

Qing Ruyan is thin and tall, a bit bony. That’s not healthy; they say cyclists are prone to GW cancer—the same principle applies.

「...」

Leder hid behind some ghostly rocks. He watched a massive, all-black creature roar furiously as it smashed an Energy Gathering Mechanical Species to pieces and then devoured it voraciously. He murmured to himself, "Success, success!"

"Next, I must verify the controllability of these test subjects."

He clenched his teeth, took two items from his coat, stepped out from his hiding place, and whistled at the behemoth.

The feasting creature suddenly stopped, spun around, and lunged towards Leder as swift as the wind.

Just as its terrifying claws were about to pierce Leder’s body, he gently pressed a button on a transmitter in his hand.

A subsonic wave, indiscernible to ordinary people or even professionals, was released.

The giant monster abruptly stopped, its claw tips just one centimeter from Leder’s right eyeball.

Confusion filled its eyes; then, it slowly calmed down, squatting beside Leder like a hunting dog, drooling.

Leder breathed a sigh of relief and quietly tucked away the "prop" he held in his other hand.

If the test subjects proved uncontrollable, he would have to use the prop to destroy them, which would be a great pity.

Leder carefully observed the test subject, took out a small notebook, and quickly recorded various data about it.

Finished, he felt somewhat dissatisfied. "So many professionals, and only this one used the drug?" he muttered. "Judging by its state, it must be Hu Ling. Just an old profession. It would be perfect if the President were here; we’ve always lacked high-Energy-Level experimental materials."

Leder adjusted the controller in his hand and began to input commands. He made several mistakes in succession, which frustrated him immensely. "These things can’t accept complex instructions!" he grumbled. "Let me think... let me think some more... What’s the command for seeking kin?"

After a long while, he finally figured it out and pressed the button on the controller. Hu Ling suddenly stood up, sniffed the air a few times, and ran off—THUD, THUD, THUD.

Leder hurriedly followed.

「...」

Chen Gu and Dora proceeded with extreme caution, looking three times for every step they took. Dora, wielding two handguns, was a little scared of the dark. "Hey," she said, "you think we’re going in the right direction, don’t you?"

Chen Gu didn’t know either, but he said confidently, "Don’t worry. Back in school, they called me the Human Compass!"

"I’m counting on you," Dora said, greatly reassured, nodding vigorously.

"Wait," Chen Gu suddenly called out, leading Dora to the side where there were some marks on the rock wall.

Years of accumulated dust on the stone wall, combined with the special environment here, had formed a crusty layer. It took Chen Gu quite an effort to remove it.

The stone wall behind it was very smooth, clearly shaped by human hands, with symbols and formulas engraved on it.

Chen Gu was utterly puzzled.

Dora had a very laid-back personality. She was completely oblivious that there were nearly hidden marks on the nearby stone wall—marks that even she, a professional, had failed to notice. The fact that Chen Gu could spot them was highly unusual.

She stared at this section of the stone wall in astonishment, gesturing with her hand. "This... someone smoothed the stone wall directly with their hand, and then wrote these calculation processes with their fingers!"

"That person must be at least Third Energy Level! Even the President couldn’t do this!"

Chen Gu looked at her in surprise. "These are calculation processes? What are they calculating, and how do you know?"

Chen Gu had good grades in school. The old principal had high hopes for him, considering him a ’talented recruit’ destined for the Tiangong Military Division. Yet, he couldn’t understand any of these formulas.

Dora glanced at them casually. "This is probably the level of a doctoral candidate at a top-tier university. It’s normal that you don’t understand."

"The result of the calculation is a set of coordinates," she added.

Chen Gu looked at the formulas, then back at Big Rabbit. "So, what level are you really at?"

"Me?" Dora was still nonchalant. "In terms of actual ability, I could probably supervise doctoral candidates. But... never mind. Forget it. Just wait for me to work it out."

Chen Gu quietly waited, feeling intellectually crushed.

"Still," Chen Gu voiced another doubt, "who would perform such calculations and insist on carving them into a stone wall? Even if they were extremely powerful and could do this easily, wouldn’t the normal reaction be to just grab a stick and draw on the ground?"

"Unless," he continued, his voice trailing off as he thought aloud, "they needed to preserve the calculation process and results long-term, for those who came later."

Chen Gu stroked his chin, speculating further, "Could it be people from the *Four Hundred Braves*? Leaving clues for Dilina and the others?"

Dora had already bounced back like a rabbit. "Done calculating."

"That fast?"

But Dora said helplessly, "Calculating this is very simple. The problem is, we have no way to locate these coordinates."

The team’s only positioning device resistant to electromagnetic interference was in Leder’s possession. Such devices were expensive and outdated; outside of environments like the Yingudusi Devil’s Pit, they were practically useless.

"In other words," Chen Gu concluded, "we need to find Leder now."

Chen Gu looked around, hoping to find more traces. If, as he guessed, the person who originally wrote down these formulas did so to guide those who came later, then they must have left other markers.

He led Dora around, searching for these so-called "clues." After about half an hour, Chen Gu realized that he... was lost.

But Big Rabbit, at his side, wore an expectant expression that clearly said, "We’re counting on you!" Great Actor Chen, who had boasted earlier, couldn’t bring himself to admit he was lost.

Suddenly, he saw a human-shaped figure squatting on the ground ahead!

He was just about to warn Big Rabbit behind him to be careful, but Dora had already dashed out excitedly. "Boluo, what are you doing here?"

Then, her eyes sparkling, she glanced back at Chen Gu. "You really are a Human Compass, finding a companion so quickly!"

He really is reliable as a guide!

Chen Gu didn’t blush in the slightest. "Of course!"

Boluo was surprised to see them too. When he heard Chen Gu’s supposed title of "Human Compass," he said eagerly, "Quick, get me out of here!"

Chen Gu stepped forward. "What are you squatting here for? It’s dangerous."

Boluo was full of complaints. "I have no idea which unscrupulous person went around drawing crosses everywhere." He pointed to a cross mark on a nearby stone.

Chen Gu winced.