Klay's office was located on the third underground floor of the military headquarters, accessible through a dedicated entrance. Daley granted Ye Zhizhou the next level of clearance, allowing him free access to most areas on the underground levels.
"Ned is upstairs completing his reinstatement paperwork, and he'll come down to meet you afterward," Daley took his communicator and led him to a small lounge area. "Later, someone will bring you a military-specific communicator; your codename is 'Zhizhou.' When you activate the communicator, make sure not to make any mistakes. I need to go upstairs to see my father and will be back in about half an hour. There's a light brain on the table; you can start writing the report. His Highness is waiting for it."
Ye Zhizhou nodded in understanding.
"That red button by the door leads directly to logistics. If you need anything, you can contact them directly," Daley thought for a moment and added, "Except for a few select rooms, the entire area is monitored. So, be a bit cautious about your words and actions. The people in the monitoring room are a bunch of busybodies who love to dig up the newcomers' dark history."
A rough male voice suddenly came from a corner loudspeaker, "Daley, you scoundrel, are you smearing our reputation in front of the newbie again? Come over for a one-on-one!"
Daley adjusted his glasses, reached out to turn off the room's power, and smiled at Ye Zhizhou. "See, it's like this here. If you and His Highness want some privacy, remember to switch off the power in advance. Don't worry; each room has its own power supply, so they won't interfere with each other."
After a crackling sound of electricity, the power switch automatically returned to its original position, and the rough male voice resounded again, "Daley, come over for a fight! I'm going to give you a good beating!"
Daley didn't hesitate to pull the power switch down again and shrugged, "But sometimes, turning off the power doesn't work well either. The guys in the monitoring room control all the electrical equipment in the office area, and they're both ruffians and shameless. I really don't understand why His Highness recruited them into the team."
Ye Zhizhou remained silent.
"Alright, I need to go now," Daley checked the time on his communicator and handed Ye Zhizhou a file. "This contains some information discovered in that research institute. You can take a look." With that, he turned and quickly left the room.
Relaxing his body, Ye Zhizhou stepped back and sat on the couch. He looked around the small lounge, then lowered his head to examine the documents in his hand. He reluctantly took out the light brain and started working on the report. His freedom of movement would likely be restricted until his lover returned, all for the sake of the mission.
Suddenly, the small mirror in his pocket vibrated, and a screen popped up, "Detected instrument scanning fluctuations. Should I intercept the signal?"
He glanced at a small desk lamp in the corner and replied in his mind, "It's probably a routine check; no need to bother. By the way, can you analyze the system used for the protagonist's mecha manufacturing?"
"Analyzing protagonist's status... No anomalies detected."
It seemed that the system couldn't detect anything. He furrowed his brow, opened both the old and new versions of the storyline materials side by side, and began to search for any flaws in the mecha manufacturing system.
In the old storyline, Edie's mecha manufacturing system was highly prominent, serving as Edie's main support apart from the male protagonists. However, in the new storyline, the system's presence had significantly diminished, becoming merely a learning tool to help the protagonist acquire mecha manufacturing knowledge quickly. All the other unrelated features that Edie had used in the old version of the story were absent.
He considered two possibilities for this change: either the mecha manufacturing system had malfunctioned after Edie's death and the version transferred to Ynez was incomplete, or the parasitic creature within Edie no longer relied on the system after transferring to a new host, using its own abilities to achieve its goals. If it was the former, it suggested that the parasitic creature's transfer was not without consequences, and the mecha manufacturing system might not be the mystical golden finger it appeared to be. If it was the latter, it meant that the parasitic creature was growing stronger and no longer needed the all-around assistance of the system.
As he contemplated this, his typing paused, and he picked up the information Daley had left behind, flipping through it carefully. The more he read about the conditions of the incomplete experimental subjects described in the documents, the heavier his heart sank.
Light brains, brain-damaged experimental subjects... To confirm his suspicions, he meticulously reviewed all the sections related to Edie and mecha manufacturing in the old version of the story. After roughly categorizing them, he entered the network with the protection provided by Tiantian and compared Edie's mecha manufacturing theories and design drawings with the works of all the mecha masters in history.
Twenty minutes later, the scrolling screen stopped, and a person's name was magnified in the center of the screen.
Jennifer Bovton, Carol's great-aunt... He couldn't help but cover his face, preventing the surveillance personnel from seeing his troubled expression. So, that's it... The problematic component that the protagonist found in the mecha manufacturing factory was the last work Jennifer completed before her disappearance...
A light brain, a brain-damaged experimental subject, a missing mecha master, and the protagonist's powerful mecha manufacturing system... It was indeed a human experiment, and the most despicable kind—replicating human brains to serve as intelligent light brains.
A powerful light brain with various popular instrument functions on the market, coupled with a copied mecha master's brain, that was the truth behind the protagonist's golden finger—a bloody truth.
Images of illegal human experiments he had seen in his own world, which had been uncontrollably buried deep in his memory, surged forth, causing his psychic energy to flow uncontrollably. He took a deep breath to suppress his emotions, and a hint of coldness flickered in his eyes. Damn those parasites! Damn human experiments! It seemed that intelligent parasites were even more disgusting than unintelligent ones!
The door to the lounge suddenly knocked, and he rubbed his face, forcing himself to regain composure. After clearing his throat, he said, "Come in."
Ned pushed the door open with a tray in hand, offering a somewhat awkward but gentle smile. He approached and placed the tray on the table. "Your Highness should be able to return tomorrow morning... The autopsy downstairs has concluded. Would the Empress like to go down and take a look?"
He glanced at the delicious pastries on the tray and couldn't help but rub his face again. "Yes, I'll go take a look. I happen to have some questions that need answers."
Edie's body was severely damaged; there were hardly any intact areas on his skin. Ye Zhizhou couldn't bear to look at the body for more than a moment and covered his mouth.
"At the scene of the accident, there was a very long skid mark. I've already examined it and even simulated it with synthetic flesh. The conclusion is that based on the trajectory of that skid mark, it's impossible for the injuries on the body to be distributed evenly on both sides like this." The young, cold-faced forensic examiner pointed his finger at Edie's leg, raised an uninterested corner of his lips, and continued, "Furthermore, the way this body was separated, at the top speed limit of ground vehicles, similar to that tortoise over there, unless several vehicles tied the body and pulled it in different directions, it wouldn't have ended up like this."
Ye Zhizhou's mind began involuntarily imagining the scene, and he quickly asked, suppressing his discomfort, "The brain and internal organs are missing? How big of a portion is missing?"
"The missing internal organs are quite fragmented, adding up to about the size of two fists. The brain is also partially damaged, approximately the size of an eyeball." The forensic examiner confirmed with a glance at an eyeball specimen soaking on a shelf. He nodded, "Yes, about the size of an eyeball."
Ye Zhizhou quickly swallowed another pill and, after regaining some composure, asked the forensic examiner, "Did you find anything inside the body that doesn't belong to the human body?"
"Something that doesn't belong to the human body? Are you referring to those small stones, tiny screws from the car, and countless pieces of glass?" The forensic examiner handed him a detailed autopsy report and pointed to a tray on the other side. "Everything taken out from the body is over there. If you want to take something as a keepsake, please submit an application to me first. Considering that you and this body were once classmates, I'll approve it."
"...No, thank you." Ye Zhizhou declined and then walked to the tray, opening the system's scanning function.
Ned approached with a puzzled expression, whispering, "Empress, did you find something?"
[Detected remnants of parasitic creature genes. Target: Small metal fragment in the upper right, third row.]
"Yes, indeed." He turned off the scanning function, picked up the small metal fragment with tweezers, and placed it aside. Then, he patted Ned's shoulder and said, "I have a feeling this small metal fragment is suspicious. You should carefully examine it."
Ned: "..."