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Chapter 256: High-Quality Protein
Chapter 256: High-Quality Protein
Chapter 256: High-Quality Protein
Liang Yue observed the laboratory calmly, taking in everything inside. The first thing she noticed was a massive machine that took up nearly a third of the lab, consisting of a long pipeline and numerous other parts. Because it was nighttime, there weren't many people on duty. The staff who had brought in the bodies were lounging around, some even playing games on handheld consoles. The atmosphere was unusually relaxed, with no sense of seriousness. Everyone was busy with their own tasks, and no one seemed to notice Liang Yue's presence.
Two workers brought out a strange corpse, opened a machine resembling a crematorium, and threw the body inside. A loud "rumble" followed, and soon a thick, milky white, viscous liquid flowed from a large pipe into a big metal barrel below. When Liang Yue saw it, her stomach churned violently. The milky white substance was identical to the white paste she had eaten on her first day here.
Did that mean what she ate was actually...
Liang Yue covered her mouth, struggling not to vomit. It took all her strength to suppress the urge. Her worldview felt utterly shattered. She had thought West Hill Base was a sanctuary in a ruined world, but it was a horrifying hell instead. Were they actually turning dead bodies into food? And not just for anyone—only for those in the Fourth Life Pod. The First to Third Life Pods were eating regular food.
The staff went about their business as usual, dividing the milky substance into several portions and adding other ingredients.
"Is there any banana-flavored seasoning left?"
"Some, but not much. We'll have to ask the lab for more later."
"This stuff is high in protein and rich in nutrients. If you don't know what it's made of, it's actually quite good for energy."
"Heh, you say that now. Who knows, maybe one day you'll end up in someone else's stomach too.""Well, at least it saves on burial costs. It's still a contribution to the base, right?"
The workers laughed casually, treating the corpses as if they were nothing more than livestock. Liang Yue's expression twisted in horror. She now realized her missing students had likely been dealt with in the same silent way. Her hatred for the West Hill organization surged.
"But why would they kill my students? Has West Hill Base's food shortage reached such an extreme? Wouldn't young labor be more valuable to them?"
Liang Yue still couldn't understand it all. At that moment, a door in the adjacent room suddenly opened. A tall man struggled to carry a wooden crate out and brought it to the machine, opening the lid. The crate was filled with countless black, wriggling creatures—cockroaches!
Liang Yue nearly screamed. The man casually poured the cockroaches into the machine. Just like with the human body, the machine accepted everything without hesitation. A few cockroaches escaped, crawling towards Liang Yue's feet, causing her to jump back in fright. Soon, another batch of white protein was produced.
Liang Yue's stomach churned to its limit. Though she knew cockroaches were a high-protein food source, seeing them turned into food was still nauseating. Fighting her revulsion, she snuck over to the next room to take a look inside. What she saw next would haunt her forever—a giant, warm room filled with countless wooden boxes, each crawling with enormous cockroaches!
"Gulp—"
Liang Yue's throat kept making sounds as her stomach contents threatened to rise. She quickly left the lab and rushed to the bathroom. The other staff members laughed as they watched her flee.
"She still hasn't gotten used to it after all this time!"
"Can't blame her. Women have a natural fear of cockroaches."
"From now on, we should keep women out of that room. They can just manage the machines."
Liang Yue ran into the bathroom, stripped off her protective suit, and vomited violently into the sink. It wasn't until she had emptied her stomach that she felt somewhat better.
"If I had known it would be like this, I would've stayed at Tianqing Academy! At least the monster there just ate people—it was still manageable."
"But this place... this is a nightmare."
Liang Yue was utterly desolate. Even if she wanted to escape with her students, it was impossible.
"I can't stay here any longer! I need to find a way out."
"But if I leave, where can I take the children?"
Liang Yue felt lost. She had no choice but to pretend she hadn't seen anything and continue to bide her time, waiting for an opportunity.
After a while, she emerged from the bathroom, and the female staff member she had knocked out earlier had already been placed back into her protective suit. Liang Yue had acted so quickly that the woman hadn't even noticed. When she woke up, she would probably think she'd fainted from exhaustion, as it was common for those living and working underground in such an environment to experience health issues. Even if she had suspicions, she wouldn't be able to trace anything back to Liang Yue.
…
Back at West Hill Base, after some arrangements by Ling Feng, a thirty-person special operations team set out. Although the two leaders were not born Superhumans, they were highly trained and formidable warriors. One was named Shen Hong, and the other was Yu Lang; both soldiers were trained by Ling Feng.
The team, led by the two, took sleds to the location where Liu Ziyang had sent his distress signal. After several hours of travel, they finally arrived at the scene, but it was already past 10 a.m., more than ten hours since Liu Ziyang's call for help. By then, Zhang Yi had cleaned up everything. There wasn't a single drop of blood left, let alone the bodies of Xie Huanhuan and Liu Ziyang. Before leaving, Zhang Yi had even let Huahua roll around to erase most of the traces.
Combined with delays caused by internal issues at the base and the snowfall, it was extremely difficult to find any signs of battle at the scene. The team couldn't use professional equipment, but the sled dogs, with their keen noses, caught the scent of blood and barked frantically at one spot.
Author's Note