Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Why is there an alien species here?

This place isn't meant for detaining alien species. It's impossible for an alien to appear so openly here, and Zhou Qiongzhi seemed unaware of it.

Without a second thought, Ark swiftly entered as the door was closing. The sensor system on the door, detecting a living being's entry, stopped closing and reopened.

Too absorbed in her work, Zhou Qiongzhi didn’t notice the movement behind her until she heard "Dr. Zhou". Startled, she turned around sharply to see Ark, who was supposed to have left, standing behind her, nearly causing her to fling what she was holding.

By now, Ark had already glimpsed the object from the corner of her eye.

It appeared to be an utterly ordinary sprouting seed, housed in a box divided into two layers: the top lined with moist tissue, the bottom holding water.

She couldn't help but let her thoughts wander, finding it reminiscent of the hydroponically grown cat grass, or wheat sprouts, she used to keep.

"Miss Ark? Why are you..." She hesitated, caught between hiding and holding.

"Just call me Ark. You were so engrossed, Dr. Zhou, that you didn't hear me calling you several times," she said with a justified smile, then shifted her gaze to the seed in front of Zhou Qiongzhi, showing a perfectly measured surprise.

"What is this? It looks like a seed... and it's sprouted? How is that possible? Did you do this, Dr. Zhou?"

At this point, Zhou Qiongzhi saw no need for concealment. Growing seeds wasn't a forbidden act; it was just a futile endeavor in such a world, unworthy of publicity until a successful result was achieved.

Conveniently, she was in dire need of someone to share and confide in, and Ark, with whom she had no conflicts, seemed ideal.

"Yes, according to the data I've consulted, it should be a wheat seed. It was already sprouting when I received it."

"Originally, there were two seeds, but one died quickly. However, this one has survived."

Though it had only been a day, this was incredibly rare. Zhou Qiongzhi's eyes shone with anticipation, as if envisioning its robust growth.

"The air temperature, humidity, and the water used were identical to the other seed. I'm still not sure what factor influenced it. The lack of comparison subjects is giving me a headache."

The seed was fine, its sprouting was fine, but its survival after leaving Paradise... that raised significant issues, especially considering the displayed message of "In Disguise."

Of course, Zhou Qiongzhi wouldn't know the influencing factor, given it was an alien species in disguise.

"Perhaps observing it for a couple more days will reveal why," Ark said subtly, "You received it already sprouting, Dr. Zhou? Could it be from Paradise?"

The intense stress and lack of sleep led Zhou Qiongzhi to inadvertently reveal that she had exchanged something for the seeds using Ark's information, making her feel embarrassed.

"Ah, yes," she said, shifting the topic. "Why did you come back? Is there anything else?"

Ark quickly realized that besides herself and Fang Xunjiang in the shelter, Caesar, the leader of the vanguard team, also occasionally visited Paradise to exchange information with relevant personnel.

It couldn't have been her or Fang Xunjiang who brought this to Zhou Qiongzhi, so it must have been him.

Was Caesar aware of this? Or did he unwittingly give it to Zhou Qiongzhi by mistake?

From her knowledge, giving an uncontrolled alien species to a colleague didn't seem like something Caesar would do; perhaps he was unaware too.

This was troubling; it meant the alien's disguise had deceived even the experienced Caesar.

Whether it was mimicry or psychic control remained unknown.

Zhou Qiongzhi likely didn't know more, so Ark didn't press further, smoothly shifting the topic to distract her.

"Yes, I do have a question. It's about what Director Zhang mentioned earlier: 'Try not to listen to their whispers.' I was wondering why exactly."

"When you start to clearly hear their whispers, it means you are slowly being consumed and absorbed by the alien. To survive as a 'Devourer,' one must find ways to delay this process of absorption..."

Seizing the moment, Ark summoned a serpentine wire from her palm, forming it into a long thread. She stealthily maneuvered it towards the seed, planning to tentatively make contact and see if she could ensnare and strangle the vine bug disguised as a sprout.

Just as Ark's wire touched the vine bug, she suddenly felt as if the environment around her had inverted—sky as ground, right as left. Her control over the wire, meant to be imperceptible, suddenly surged out, striking the wall in the opposite direction of the vine bug.

Her perception was twisted in that instant!

In the moment Ark's perception was overturned, she glimpsed the true form of the disguised alien.

It resembled a stick insect, entirely green with several pairs of slender limbs surrounded by vine-like appendages. At that moment, its limbs and vines were entwined around the box cultivating the "seed," as it peeked its head out from behind.

Ark heard it emitting a mocking laugh, a series of 'hee hee hee' sounds.

Realizing her perception was inverted, Ark quickly adjusted, redirecting her intended attack on the vine bug towards the wall. As expected, the wire aimed at the wall struck the vine bug, sweeping it along with the box onto the ground.

"Ark!" Zhou Qiongzhi exclaimed in shock, her first thought being that Ark's alien power had gone out of control.

As Zhou Qiongzhi turned around, the vine bug reverted to its disguised form, appearing again as an inconspicuous seed in the cultivation box. Ark's inverted perception corrected itself, and she retracted all of her wire.

Seeing her cherished seed swept to the ground, Zhou Qiongzhi's heart skipped a beat. She immediately grabbed an inhibitor, used against Devourers, to inject into Ark.

"Wait!" Ark immediately halted Zhou Qiongzhi's actions to avoid the injection of the inhibitor, "I'm fine now, Dr. Zhou. Calm down, calm down."

Damn it... what exactly was that situation?

Seeing Ark return to normal in an instant, Zhou Qiongzhi's expression showed surprise. Only after confirming Ark was really alright and lucid did she slowly put away the inhibitor, then turned to check the condition of the seed on the ground.

The cultivation box had just overturned, but the seed remained unharmed.

She breathed a sigh of relief, restoring the inside of the box, hoping that the mishap wouldn't affect the seed's development.

"I'm really sorry, Dr. Zhou. Is the seed alright?"

Zhou Qiongzhi shook her head, then with a very serious expression, she looked at Ark: "What just happened... No, this needs to be reported."

Ark's current freedom was due to her not being overly influenced by the alien within her, and also because of Fang Xunjiang's unilateral decisions.

But if she were to lose control, everything would change, and her freedom of movement would certainly be restricted.

Ark immediately stopped her, "I'm really okay, Dr. Zhou. Just now, when we talked about the whispers, I couldn't resist trying to listen, which led to a brief loss of control."

With this explanation, Zhou Qiongzhi understood the sudden loss of control.

Then, Ark noticed the look in Zhou Qiongzhi's eyes, as if saying "Are you okay?", overall resembling someone looking at a complete fool.

Who would knowingly walk into a tiger's den?

Ark barely kept her composure: "...Thank you, Dr. Zhou. I believe I can fully control my state now and won’t make such dangerous attempts again."

This cursed alien!

She couldn't disclose that this was an alien creature; if she did, she wouldn't be able to explain how she knew.

From her recent discovery, this alien possesses both mimicry and a certain degree of mental manipulation abilities, but its range of influence seems limited, and both abilities cannot coexist during use. Otherwise, it wouldn't revert to mimicry when Zhou Qiongzhi looked back, withdrawing the cognitive distortion imposed on Ark.

Since her recent encounter with this alien, she noticed a change in the information status of the vine bug it had transformed into.

[Alien Creature: Vine Bug]

[Danger Level: A-Class]

[Intelligence Level: D-Class]

[Status (Weak): In Disguise]

"An A-class, rare psychic mimic...," Ark's eyes lit up with excitement.

The word "weak" surrounding it had turned red, emphasizing its vulnerability. Ark's recent actions were not entirely ineffective, but she speculated that the weakness might also be a consequence of it forcibly using its abilities on her.

This could potentially be a breakthrough.

Zhou Qiongzhi seemed somewhat more relaxed, considering her status and the commander's excessive "doting". If Ark didn't wish it, they would find it difficult to impose strict supervision on her.

She sighed and compromised, "You must come here for an evaluation at eight in the morning and eight in the evening every day. Absolutely, absolutely no more dangerous attempts!"

Ark breathed a sigh of relief, having no objections. Smiling, she focused her gaze on the vine bug behind her.

"Of course, no problem. Actually, I'm keen to observe the development of this 'seed', hoping it grows robustly."