【Interstellar Contract Magician】Ruyuanke

The abandoned experimental base remained utterly silent, its ruins tangled with dilapidated buildings and overgrown weeds. The air was thick with the stench of mold and decay, and occasionally, in the distance, the creaking sounds of machinery could be heard, like a warning left behind. Despite this lifeless scene, for Nightingale and I, every entry here was filled with uncertainty and danger.

I unzipped my backpack. The green seedling had grown considerably. Its branches and leaves had grown denser, gleaming with a faint glow, bringing a rare touch of life to the ruins. Though still small, it already held a certain intimidating power. Its presence gave me some peace of mind, but also a tinge of nervousness—this mission might not be so simple.

"Are you ready?" Nightingale asked in a low voice, his eyes scanning the surroundings. He didn't show much emotion, but I knew that his alertness was higher than ever.

I nodded, took out the seedling, and gently placed it on the ground. Its branches and leaves swayed gently in the air, as if sensing something, and began to slowly emit a soft green light.

"Its reaction is stronger than before," I whispered.

Nightingale observed for a moment, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes. "Its suppression power is also increasing. It seems that the connection between you is getting closer. Let's go, we need to speed up."

I immediately gathered the seedlings and followed Nightingale, heading deeper into the experimental base. This time, the mission was far more complex than before, and we would face even more uncertain dangers. But I knew that since Nightingale had chosen to take me with her, there was no turning back.

I pulled two shimmering green fragments of the Battle Plant Essence Energy from the space hub. A dangerous and alluring light flickered in the darkness. The aura they exuded was full of allure, yet also held a deadly power.

I gently placed one of the sperm nucleus fragments next to the green seedling. As it absorbed the energy, the seedling's branches and leaves seemed to instantly become more vibrant. Its light became brighter, and the branches seemed to have become more sensitive to touch, ready to face the impending threat at any time.

I stuffed the other fragment into my "water gun"—the energy gun. As the energy from the essence cores filled the gun, it gradually heated up, emitting a faint green glow. While this gun might look small, its power couldn't be underestimated, especially against living enemies.

"Ready." I glanced at Nightingale, confirmed that all the equipment was ready, and adjusted my movements a little.

Nightingale nodded slightly, his gaze still fixed on the front, as if observing his surroundings. His reaction to these sperm nuclei was clearly even more sensitive than mine. After all, if this dangerous substance was used improperly, the consequences could be disastrous.

"Let's go." He whispered, then led the way towards the depths of the experimental base.

I followed closely behind, my heartbeat accelerating. No matter how dangerous this mission was, I knew the green seedlings and my equipment might offer us a glimmer of hope.

Suddenly, the image of the missing experimenter appeared on the screen on the wall. It was a middle-aged man, looking calm, dressed in a neat lab coat. His face was stern, his eyes calm, almost without a flicker. He stood in a dimly lit room, the background of the laboratory's various mechanical devices blurring behind him. Then, his voice came clearly through the worn speakers.

"I'm safe, everything's fine." His voice was soft, but remarkably calm, as if he were reassuring an uneasy listener. "Don't worry, don't try to find me. There's nothing wrong here, I'm fine."

The voice and image were completely consistent with his previous appearance in the lab, even a little too "normal," creating a sense of unreality. His casual demeanor almost perfectly masked the strained tone of his voice. He showed no fear of being trapped in the experimental base, as if this were a complete brainwashing, and he had completely adapted to and accepted the "cage" he was in.

But for some reason, I felt something was wrong.

"This..." I muttered, my brow furrowed. The missing researcher was clearly the key figure in the investigation of this series of issues, so why was he suddenly so calm and didn't seem to have any intention of trying to escape?

"He's hiding something," Nightingale analyzed calmly, standing beside me, his eyes fixed on the screen. His tone remained steady, but the alertness in his eyes was far more intense than before. "Did you notice his expression? He seemed normal, but there was...no reaction in his eyes."

I looked back carefully at the experimenter in the video, and suddenly, I realized a detail - although that person's eyes seemed calm, they did not have the agility and reaction of a "living person". It was like... they were controlled by some force or trapped in a false sense of security, without any sense of crisis at all.

"Do you think..." I paused and lowered my voice slightly, "that he has become abnormal? Like those infected or controlled experimental subjects?"

Nightingale didn't answer immediately. Instead, he turned and walked to the control panel on the wall and pressed a few buttons. The image on the screen suddenly froze, then turned black and white. After a few seconds, the image started playing again, a little slower than before.

"Go on." Nightingale ordered softly, her eyes still focused.

This time, the experimenter's image was played again, at a slower speed. He could clearly be seen tilting his head slightly, as if avoiding something. Suddenly, the image flashed, and he lowered his head, seemingly in thought. After a few seconds, his expression regained its composure, and he continued his incomprehensible words: "Don't try to find me. Everything is fine here, really."

My heartbeat seemed to speed up a little, and that unusual pause and avoidance of glance made the whole scene seem even more wrong.

"He's hiding something," I whispered again, my tone filled with suspicion.

Nightingale finally stopped what he was doing and turned to me. "He's trying to hide something. Or rather, he's no longer the same experimenter he used to be." His eyes grew even colder, as if he had realized that there might be a great danger hidden behind this. "We have to be careful. There might be something hidden in this base that we can't predict."

My heart sank. Based on Nightingale's earlier assessment, the "accident" at the base wasn't simple. And this missing experimenter might be the key to solving the mystery.

"If he is really infected or controlled, then he is still in this state now... Could it be that other people have encountered similar situations?" I couldn't help but ask.

Nightingale didn't respond immediately, but simply stared at the still image on the screen, his eyes filled with deep thought. His brows knitted slightly, as if he was pondering something.

"It's very likely," Nightingale said finally, "that they may have been exposed to a virus we don't yet understand during the experiment, or a special control technology. It can make people appear normal, but they have lost their self-awareness and become some kind of controlled existence. We must find out what is hidden behind this."

I felt a chill run down my spine. I used to think that such experiments were just a series of attempts, and that failure would result in them being discarded or destroyed. However...

"Continue to inspect this base." Nightingale ordered in a low voice, "We must find more information and figure out what happened here."

Under his guidance, we continued to advance deeper into the base. My doubts grew deeper and deeper. The once peaceful experimental base seemed to be twisted and becoming unsettling. I knew that what we were facing was more than just an abandoned laboratory.