"Don't worry! It's just an old problem from equipment aging. I'll go deal with it right away!"
The Dog-Headed Monster Researcher agreed readily, took a sip of coffee, and began his self-inspection work, completely ignoring Han Sen's presence.
Han Sen nodded with satisfaction.
"Mind Penetration" had its first test, and now it seems to be extremely effective.
Very good.
Having resolved the only variable, this time, Han Sen walked openly towards the huge cultivation tank.
The mountain of countless twisted hearts piled within seemed to be calling out to him with the most alluring summons.
Next...
It's time to eat!!
Black light flickered, and Han Sen, like ink merging into the sea, transformed into a shadow that silently passed through the reinforced glass tank wall and entered the tank.
The pale green nutrient solution smelled like even more pungent seawater, but Han Sen didn't care in the slightest. He decisively changed his form and reappeared.
What assailed him was a bizarre aura so dense it was almost tangible, and a powerful life energy that made his pores feel as if they were expanding.
If the black light carapace had pores, that is.
Countless "Monster Cells" gently pulsed around Han Sen, like tens of thousands of hearts resonating in unison, emitting a faint, dense "gurgling" sound.
This environment would be enough to instantly shatter an ordinary person's mind, assimilating them into an irrational flesh-and-blood aggregate by the will of the Great Serpent lingering within the twisted flesh.
But for Han Sen, this place was simply...
Heaven!!
His armored, pitch-black arms suddenly spread wide, plunging deep into the mountain of flesh formed by the piled-up "Monster Cells."
Han Sen's eyes burned, as if sparks were flying.
"System, convert all of it for me!!"
Time passed, and specks of powdery residue floated up in the pale green nutrient solution.
The turbid liquid with impurities quickly triggered a equipment alarm. The Dog-Headed Monster Researcher, whose cognition had been rewritten, acted as if he didn't see Han Sen inside, grumbling as he initiated the tank cleaning procedure.
Inside the tank.
The small mountain beside him vanished completely. Han Sen withdrew his hands, having instantly refined an entire cultivation tank's worth of "Monster Cells"!
[Conversion successful! Gained Origin Points × 5,279,600!]
The number of "Monster Cells" in one cultivation tank was roughly around 50,000. The Origin Points gained from the conversion instantly surpassed the total income from the previous half-month!
The top-ranked big brother reluctantly fell from grace; the S-Class Rich Woman is still the eternal god!
"With this scale of production line and liquid reserves, it's no wonder they don't feel any pain throwing 1000 fixed wages at me every day."
With over 5 million Origin Points safely in his pocket, Han Sen had already calmed down from his initial excitement during the instant refinement, and composure once again occupied the high ground of his thoughts.
In the thick pipe above his head, "Monster Cells" still occasionally fell, and at this frequency, it wouldn't take long to re-cover the bottom of the tank.
However, he didn't intend to wait.
On one hand, he didn't want to drain the pond to catch all the fish; he wanted to leave Psykos some to maintain daily consumption.
(Psykos: Thank you very much!)
On the other hand, it was because...
There were still a full 9 more cultivation tanks of the same specifications in the laboratory!!
If he harvested all of them, his Origin Point balance would be close to half a small goal, so there was no need to bother waiting for these few scraps.
If the plan succeeded, he could just come and harvest a batch every once in a while.
"Then let's continue!"
[Conversion successful! Gained Origin Points × 5,416,100!]
[Conversion successful! Gained Origin Points × 4,981,600!]
[Conversion successful...]
Dense system prompts, like a waterfall, frantically scrolled across Han Sen's consciousness.
The liquid levels in the huge cultivation tanks fluctuated, and the mountains of "Monster Cells" accumulated within rapidly melted at a visible speed, turning into residue and impurities and disappearing without a trace.
The constantly shifting dark figure, like a glutton, silently carried out its clean-plate operation.
...
...
In the monitoring room on one side of the laboratory.
A Lizard Monster responsible for monitoring data was yawning idly, its slippery long tongue occasionally flicking.
Before its eyes were dozens of segmented electronic screens. One part showed surveillance footage of the laboratory's periphery, and the other part was connected to the laboratory's various information systems.
Suddenly, its amber vertical pupils moved. The bar charts representing various values such as nutrient solution energy density and liquid level in the cultivation tanks plummeted like a cliff dive, falling at an abnormal rate.
"Huh?" The Lizard Monster Monitor frowned in confusion, perked up, and tapped the screen, "What the hell? Did the filtration system's power blow a fuse?"
The Lizard Monster Researcher pulled up the internal monitoring screen, but only saw a field of static interfered with by a strong magnetic field.
It pouted unhappily: "That guy 'Red Dog' must be doing some illegal experiment again, setting the electromagnetic shielding device's power so high."
After thinking for a moment, it picked up the communicator and connected to the Dog-Headed Monster Researcher's channel.
"Hey, Red Dog, what are you doing? The cultivation tank's data has been fluctuating abnormally. Did you mess with the equipment again?"
On the other end of the communicator, the Dog-Headed Monster Researcher's voice could be heard singing while typing on a keyboard.
"Data anomaly? Is there? Let me see... Oh, it's nothing, just the adult picking up the goods was a bit noisy."
"It's nothing, normal wear and tear, normal wear and tear."
"The adult picking up the goods?" The monitor was stunned.
"Alright, alright, don't disturb my work, I'm hanging up."
Listening to the silence on the communicator, the Lizard Monster Monitor was utterly bewildered.
"Can the pickup be that noisy...? Forget it, since Red Dog said it's nothing, then it's probably really nothing."
"As for the affairs of important figures, it's better for a regular Monster like me to not pry."
After muttering a few complaints, it yawned, leaned its neck back, and soon, steady snores began.
...
...
As the last "Monster Cell" turned into fine dust and dispersed in the nutrient solution, Han Sen stood tall.
No expression could be seen on the black insectoid mask, but the grin of the little person in his heart could no longer be suppressed.
[Origin Points: 53,978,319]
Looking at the dizzying string of eight digits, if Han Sen hadn't undergone professional training, he would have burst out laughing on the spot.
As expected, the final gain directly exceeded 50 million!
A full and complete half of a small goal!!
Han Sen exhaled slowly. Bubbles were still churning in the nutrient solution, and his dark, slender figure had already appeared behind the Dog-Headed Monster Researcher, Red Dog.
There was no impatient hunger to add points, only the peace of mind and composure that came with having a huge sum of money in hand.
There was still the final wrapping-up work.
Sitting down on the swivel chair that Red Dog very perceptively pushed over, Han Sen's sharp claws gently tapped the control panel, asking, "Red Dog, introduce me to the laboratory's personnel composition and workflow."
"Yes, sir."
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