Alien Hotel.

Chapter 656 Onboarding Process for Disease Control and Prevention
After that, Yu Sheng and the others learned a lot more about Deep Rock Fortress from Momo.

As a "lab assistant" who had survived in Joe's lab for ten years, this girl, Gibraltar, knew quite a lot. Some of it came from things Joe had casually revealed to his "assistants" on a daily basis, while the rest came entirely from her keen observations and conjectures.

Unfortunately, that was all she knew about the Priory of Saints. After all, the cooperation between Old Joe and those cultists wasn't that close, and Old Joe wouldn't reveal the details of the transactions to his "assistants" in the lab.

The good news is that Momo also knows a lot about the factories and laboratories under Old Joe's name. In addition, her "work" in the laboratory over the years—even if it was forced—has given her a lot of knowledge about living metals and implants. Both of these are very useful to Luo and can bring Yu Sheng a lot of indirect benefits.

After all, living metal alone is a huge business in the Dark Current Starfield and the Alglade Starfield.

"To be honest, it's probably because of preconceived notions, but I always thought that living metal was a bad thing," Yu Sheng muttered, stroking his chin. "After all, I only know two cases related to living metal: one is the modifications on your body, and the other is Luna's 'distributed life system.' The people behind these things are not good people."

“It’s not that the technology itself is the problem; the key is who has it,” Luo shook his head. “The Secret Service’s Deep Sea Pilots’ armor lining also uses living metal, and the Algledians use this technology to create high-end robots. This technology was first created by the Black Dot Group and was promoted to various civilizations hundreds of years ago. So, strictly speaking, even the living metal technology used by the Secret Order to create the ‘artificial saintess’ actually came from the Black Dot Group.”

"As for Old Joe... he's a pervert and a villain, but it must be admitted that he is indeed one of the most cutting-edge experts in this field. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to remain stable for so long in such a harsh competitive environment as Black Dot Group. After all, even in Black Dot Group, where everyone is a mad scientist, a beast like Old Joe is truly rare. The people who hate him could line up from the Nagumo Cross Gate all the way to the Amora Fault..."

"Is that so?" Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I thought that kind of behavior was the norm in your company."

"How is that possible!" Luo's eyes widened upon hearing this. "While Black Dot Group is indeed a place with many extraordinary individuals, at least most of them are just delusional, have extreme research directions, dangerous theories, and are insanely obsessed with subspace and dark psionic energy..."

Eileen was completely stunned halfway through the conversation. The little thing slipped and fell onto the table with a thud. She got up and stared wide-eyed: "There isn't a single good word in this!"

“But these traits are somewhat of a compliment when applied to a mad scientist,” Luo shrugged. “At least compared to a psychopath who takes his brain out and puts it in a jar, the danger of Black Spot and the others is still limited to the academic field.”

Yu Sheng quickly waved his hand: "You can't let Baili Qing hear what you said. She'll say that your ideological reform is inadequate, and then she'll have to find an excuse to make you have your stomach pumped."

Luo frowned in confusion: "What does this have to do with stomach lavage? Wasn't my last stomach lavage because I ate poisonous mushrooms?"

"...Then I think it's better if you don't know."

Momo sat across the table with her neck hunched, mostly avoiding eye contact with the people opposite her, but her ears twitched slightly as she listened intently to their conversation.

It was relaxed, free, harmonious, and friendly. Although the topics of discussion sometimes sounded a bit strange, she hadn't felt this kind of atmosphere in a long time.

This is a very interesting group of people, definitely not the same kind of people as Old Joe—although among them is a warlord with a black spot, an artificial saint, and a cursed doll.

Only the fluffy nine-tailed fox and the pale-faced Mr. Yu looked like good people.

But she dared not tell anyone.

“In short, we now know that the Hermitage’s capital planet is called ‘Sacred Realm,’ which matches what the ‘Great Sage’ we met in the underground garage shouted before unleashing his ultimate attack. We also know that they built the Gate of Eden on the ‘Sacred Realm’ planet,” Yu Sheng’s voice woke Momo from her reverie. “So, by further deduction, they also very likely moved the Dark Angel known as ‘Shadowless Skeleton’ from the Adar Pit to the Sacred Realm—unless they have a way to make the Dark Angel ‘remotely’ charge the Gate of Eden.”

“Let’s assume the worst-case scenario. Let’s say both the Gate of Eden and the Dark Angels are on that planet. Then we’ll have to be careful when we take action. The Gate of Eden, which could explode at any moment, is scary enough. But there’s also the 'Shadowless Skeleton' lying next to it, ready to awaken at any time. Moreover, the cultists in the Holy Land are definitely the most extreme and fanatical group. If they’re cornered, there’s no guarantee they won’t just ‘collapse the gate’ prematurely…”

Eileen stared wide-eyed, spreading her hands: "That sounds like utterly hopeless—"

A large, fluffy tail quietly extended from the side, wrapping around Yu Sheng's arm and rubbing against it.

Yu Sheng raised his hand and ruffled the fox's head, then looked up at both sides: "So I need to go back and discuss this matter with Baili Qing. It's unrealistic to rely on the few of us to attack a 'cult state' that may have a dozen or even dozens of sovereign planets, but if the council directly sends a large army to push over, it might cause those cultists to launch a major attack. How to maintain the balance is very tricky... It might be even more tricky than the time with the Evolutionary Planet."

He paused for a moment, thought for a moment, and then his gaze fell on Momo: "Finally, it's your matter."

Momo's tail, which had just relaxed, perked up again: "Me, me?" "Don't be nervous," Yu Sheng waved his hand, "It's about your upcoming plans—what are your thoughts on your future?"

"The future?" Momo seemed completely oblivious to this question, or perhaps she hadn't had time to consider it after just escaping. Only now, reminded by Yu Sheng, did a hint of confusion and anxiety about the future appear in her eyes. After a few seconds of subconscious thought, she hesitated before speaking, "I... I hadn't thought about it... Maybe I'd try to go home? Ten years have passed. I don't even know if any of my colleagues who were captured by the Sky Raider pirates have escaped. Maybe everyone thinks I'm dead, and..."

As she spoke, she raised her now-mechanized right hand and touched the ear on her head that had been replaced with a metal part.

“These things all bear the mark of the Black Dot Group. Some of the living metal growth branches have already fused with my central nervous system. Even the ‘immortal techniques’ of the Flying Feather Starfield cannot safely separate them. With these things, I’m afraid it will be very difficult for me to find a job on a research ship again… Most legitimate institutions will not allow a Black Dot cyborg into their laboratories.”

“Isn’t that a coincidence?” Yu Sheng laughed, pointing at Luo. “Her lab is short-staffed and doesn’t mind your modifications—she has fewer original parts than you do.”

Momo belatedly realized what was happening and immediately looked at Luo, but there was a hint of hesitation in her eyes: "I..."

Upon seeing this, Luo quickly interjected before the other party could finish speaking: "My place is a legitimate organization! It's a registered, official research space station in both the border region and the Feiyu Starfield!"

Whether it was just his imagination or not, Yu Sheng felt that the elf lady's tone at this moment was somewhat like the three heroes kneeling and shouting "We are righteous people"—like a sewer rat who suddenly got a formal position and wanted to weld his name tag to the top of his head.

Momo was startled by Luo's sudden shout. Her cat ears, along with the mechanical ear, tucked tightly back against her scalp. Then she thought of the three "doctors" who seemed to have a very interesting story from before...

However, her thoughts had barely begun to wander when Luo interrupted her with a string of words: "A formal contract, four days on, three days off, one month of paid leave per year, Terra Level 2 Scholar or Alglade Star Scholar benefits, full professional insurance, and we can help you with long-term residence permits and ID documents for border areas or the local area—if you find your family later and plan to go back home, you can also do so, the company will solve your round-trip transportation problem, and the commute time is three to six seconds."

Momo: "...?"

“She’s telling the truth,” Yu Sheng nodded. “Don’t forget how you got from Old Joe’s lab to Shuji—those three to six seconds include the time it took you to turn the doorknob and say goodbye to your colleagues.”

The cat's eyes lit up.

Seeing this, Luo pressed on: "You can bring the others who escaped from that lab with you to join the company. The workplace is on the space station you saw before, so you'll all know each other. The other colleagues are all Star Scholars from Alglade or researchers from the Borderlands. There might also be some 'naturalized scientists' who escaped the Black Dot Group like you. The work environment is very healthy and comfortable."

Momo thought for a moment, then finally spoke: "Really, will they really sign a formal contract? And what about the benefits...?"

“Of course, the entire onboarding process is formal,” Luo’s eyes crinkled into a smile, her sudden burst of enthusiasm even surprising Yu Sheng. “We can complete the formalities now.”

“Well, that’s fine,” Momo’s head seemed a little dizzy, but she still retained the most basic caution. “However, I need to read the contract carefully before I sign it.”

“Of course,” Yu Sheng nodded with a smile, while gesturing to the side, “but first—”

Luna came over and swiftly brought down her knife.

Yu Sheng raised his arm, and a ball of blood floated up to Momo.

"You should drink this first."

The scene fell silent for a moment.

The next second, poor Gibraltar jumped up with a "meow," arching her back in an extremely difficult pose on the chair back, her tail standing upright and fluffy like a fuzzy stick: "No, wasn't it supposed to be the proper procedure!?"

Even Luo couldn't hold back anymore: "No, boss! You can't do this! You should at least wait until she finishes signing!"

(End of this chapter)