Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 371 White Hair and Red Eyes, Number One Under Heaven
Ethan adopted an attentive expression, which was exactly the information he wanted to hear.

"I never imagined that with current technology, we could actually build starships."

"This is all thanks to you."

"My credit?"

"You made some truly outstanding contributions to space teleportation technology before you were transferred to this department."

Merlin said, “In my opinion, it’s a waste of talent for them to transfer a PhD student from Mochi Tech to this department. The exchange team needs someone like you more… If you’re interested, I can help you write a letter of recommendation to the Democratic Council.”

Merlin suddenly had a strange idea: if he managed to get Ethan onto the starship that was "visiting" the Empire during the dream experiment, would the starship be destroyed after being caught in the black hole?
"I need to discuss this with my family first."

“The Democratic Parliament has taken this into consideration. Visits can take years or even decades, and they are considering implementing a new law that allows family members to accompany visitors. After all, not everyone is willing to leave their families behind and be gone for several years.”

"Is this also related to the prophecy of 'the end of the world'?"

"If the visit goes smoothly, the residents of the shelter might consider moving there in the future—of course, all of this is based on the Empire's permission. We don't want any war... You should have read those materials yesterday, about the path and the faith. There are many people on that side who possess extraordinary powers, almost like superpowered beings!"

When this topic came up, Merlin's longing was perfectly conveyed. "I've been a fan of superpower stories since I was a kid... By the way, you know, the Democratic Council set up a project a while ago and recruited a lot of people on the side. I signed up and only recently came back to take over the department's work."

"What project?"

"The Path of Faith Project".

Merlin looked around and, seeing that no one was around, spoke mysteriously, "Simply put, it's about selecting a group of people to practice the Path of Faith based on the information brought by the Imperial envoy. By the way, I've been assigned to the Elemental Shaper group. Fireball, Frostbolt, Chain Lightning—sounds pretty cool."

"Ouch!"

The conversation with Section Chief Lin went smoothly, and Ethan naturally took the initiative to play the straight man.

He couldn't help but suspect that the new section chief was actually a person created by his subconscious to explain things to him.

"Alas! We followed their methods strictly, but it turns out that the Imperials' cultivation techniques are not applicable to us. They suspect it's a problem with our race."

Merlin sighed, "My dream of becoming a mage has been shattered once again."

"At least you have a youthful mindset."

Ethan found it truly admirable that a man in his thirties still believed he could become a magician, and he was even considering recommending "The Magic of Fireball and Ice Arrow" to Section Chief Lin.

He also wanted to comfort the other person and tell them not to be discouraged, because the most important thing for an elemental sculptor is to practice consistently. He himself had also persisted in training for two years before becoming as strong as he is today.

However, now is not a good time. Suddenly pulling out an old parchment book in this situation would only make him look like a delusional teenager.

Merlin chuckled. "Really? They all say I have a good attitude."

He suddenly felt that this was a wonderful conversation. He and Ethan were both preoccupied with their own thoughts, but the content of their conversation fit together perfectly. Although it was their first day meeting, it felt like they had known each other for many years.

"Old Sen, you're a PhD student at Mochi Engineering and you've seen a lot. I do have a rough idea about this race, and I'd like to hear your thoughts."

"What's wrong?"

"I'll never become a magician in this lifetime, but if I marry an imperial wife, will our children be able to inherit their mother's magician status?"

"I think it's possible."

Ethan was serious. This Section Chief Lin was explaining the mysteries of genetic engineering in a simple and unpretentious way, a fact also recorded in the book "The Half-Blood Prince".

In today's academy, there are also many families where the father is a Muggle and the mother is an Elemental Shaper.

"Really?"

"At least that's what I think."

"Then, brother, I have a favor to ask."

"You say."

"If things go smoothly, you'll become a member of the visiting team. Once you get to the Empire, how about you help the guys see if there are any suitable candidates? Actually, my basic situation isn't bad either. I became a section chief in my early thirties, I don't have any bad habits, and I have some savings."

"No problem, I'll take care of it."

Ethan readily agreed, since, according to his understanding, the starship had not actually reached the Empire, and everything they were discussing at the moment was just empty promises.

It's just unknown whether this interesting Section Chief Lin survived the destruction of the City of Truth.

"See, I told you those people were complicating things. A problem that could be solved by getting married was escalated into something like human experimentation."

After a moment, Merlin spoke in a sarcastic tone, explaining why he had brought up the topic. The "divine factor" Zhuang Xiao had mentioned, combined with Song Xian's unexpected discovery of the sealed-off area, made him think of human experimentation. Following this line of thought, Winter might very well be the successful version of this experiment, perhaps even the only successful one.

Therefore, the committee and Chen Qi both placed high hopes on her.

They still don't know what the "divine factor" is or where it comes from.

Fortunately, the meeting with Ethan went more smoothly than he had imagined. Merlin felt that he was getting closer and closer to the truth, perhaps only lacking the ability to enter the forbidden area of ​​the shelter and find out what had happened inside—of course, in a world without magic and superpowers and full of surveillance cameras, this would be an impossible task.

He had neither the authority nor the invisibility cloak; the only possible outcome was that he would be restrained by security personnel the moment he approached the entrance and taken away for interrogation.

Song Xian was detained for a whole day, and no one was able to get him out of the cell despite orders from the committee members.

Merlin had another idea.

On the other side of the dream, he could swagger into any area of ​​the shelter without fear of being arrested or detained by security personnel.

Just now, he revealed the news of the "divine factor" to Ethan, and in his subconscious, this unknown experiment was about to begin.

"You mean they're conducting human experiments in the shelter?"

Ethan confirmed.

"I only heard it secondhand, after all, it's not convenient to publicize this kind of thing."

Merlin rummaged in the inside pocket of his clothes for a moment, then pulled out a hand-drawn floor plan of the shelter. He pointed to the marked location, "If I were them, I might build the laboratory here."

He wasn't worried that this would arouse Ethan's suspicion, because Ethan had already realized that this was his dream, and it was normal for "passersby" who would follow his wishes to appear in dreams.

His background and identity are not important; what matters is that he will bring Ethan the information he wants to know.

Ethan accepted the hand-drawn sketch of the shelter, and the lunch ended in a pleasant atmosphere. After that, the two tacitly avoided bringing up any further topics related to human experimentation.

That afternoon, Ethan finally got a good reason to work overtime.

He never dreamed that one day he would secretly rejoice at having to work overtime. When Winter asked him why on his phone, he immediately brought up the information about human experimentation.

He's working overtime to uphold justice.

Tonight he decided to sneak into the laboratory marked on the hand-drawn map to find out what was going on. Sneaking in was not a difficult task for him. He didn't even need a spell or an invisibility cloak. After get off work, he swaggered toward the location marked on the map and instilled the idea that "you can't see me" in the security guards at the entrance.

In fact, Ethan couldn't explain the principle behind it either, but after he spread the idea, the two security guards ignored him. He opened the laboratory door in front of them, went in, and then closed the door again.

The air was thick with the smell of formaldehyde, and the laboratory was unusually cold.

He took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself as he pushed open the door at the end of the stairs.

Since human experimentation is involved, the scene in the laboratory would most likely make him uncomfortable.

Even so, when Ethan saw the scene inside the laboratory, he couldn't help but frown—there were many children here.

The children range from newborns to six years old, a number researchers believe represents the age at which humans are most easily reshaped. Through a casual conversation with a researcher, Ethan learned that most of these children were homeless in the city, while the newborns were precious resources obtained through "extraordinary" means.

Those hospitals will regretfully issue death certificates to the parents of the babies, even though these babies were actually transferred here immediately after the surgery.

They firmly believe that infancy is the stage most easily reshaped.

"You're here again."

A voice caught Ethan's attention.

Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw a fair-skinned little girl who looked only four or five years old. She had short white hair and red eyes. Her hands were behind her back, and she was smiling and looking up at him.

Ethan noticed this because he felt the little girl didn't seem to be affected by the cognitive ambiguity.

The researchers seemed completely unaware of her presence—when there were no experiments, the children were kept in their own rooms, and there were no unattended children wandering around in the hallways.

What's wrong with this child?

Ethan asked the researcher, who looked in the direction of the stroller with a puzzled expression, "What child?"

"Have you forgotten? Experiments can cause genetic changes, and altered hair and eye color are among the side effects."

The little girl answered Ethan's question, explaining the changes happening to her body, her smile growing even brighter, "But, white hair and red eyes are the best in the world!"

(End of this chapter)