Ling Yi let out a low sigh. Without wasting words, she looked at the somewhat agitated Shen Jie and pointed to the trembling girl on the desk.
"See? ...Look closer. You men are just too careless."
"Didn’t you notice that the color and luster of the Zerg Armor plates on her body aren’t uniform? Even if she were molting, it would all happen at the same time. Those faded plates must be the ones she pulled off with her own hands..."
"Flesh and all..."
At this, Ling Yi added as if just realizing it:
"I was wondering why her Assimilation was progressing so quickly. It must be because of this..."
"Young lady, haven’t you learned that Damage and stimulation accelerate cell repair and proliferation? That’s how you build muscle, you know."
"You’ve been secretly doing this the whole time. No wonder it spread to your head in just a few short days."
"That’s enough! Stop talking!" Lin Feng said, cutting off Ling Yi’s rambling. "Get to the point. How do we fix this now? Do you need more Biomass?"
Ling Yi shrugged.
"That’s easy to solve. We just need another seven or eight tons of fresh fish to add to the Biological Nest. First, we’ll get her back to her optimal State, then we can perform the tissue separation."
"The only thing is, it’ll take a bit longer. The procedure, which would have originally taken less than an hour, will now be dragged out to two hours."
Lin Feng nodded and patted Shen Jie’s shoulder.
"Not a big problem. I’ll go have Li Ran arrange it."
Shen Jie nodded silently, then noticed Zhang Liying clutching her arm and sobbing quietly.
He immediately walked over, lifted her down from the desk, and held her tightly in his arms.
Ling Yi watched from the side with great interest, meeting Shen Jie’s stare with a playful smile.
"You two do your thing. No rush. I’ll just watch from over here. Just watch."
"Heh, just pretend I’m not here."
’Human unpredictability stems mostly from the complexity of their emotions, and the most complex of all is the romantic relationship between a man and a woman.’
’In most cases, the act of forming a pair is driven by genetic imperatives. For a Life Form to begin evolving, its primary task is to overcome the instinct for procreation, which is hardwired into its genes and frequently clouds individual judgment.’
’And what Ling Yi wanted to learn was how to identify other influencing factors in humans, beyond just their genes.’
’Things like concepts of good and evil, morality, or what humans call ’love at first sight.’’
’All so she could perfect her own emotional theories and form and maintain a long-lasting, positive partnership with Lin Feng.’
’Looking at the full spectrum of human relationships, only one emotion can be acquired later in life and have a lifelong impact.’
’And that is love.’
Therefore, Ling Yi’s earlier speech had actually been part of another plan. It was all so she could witness and observe the emotional changes between Shen Jie and Zhang Liying at this very moment and collect it as template data.
Data required extensive experimentation.
And within the Thirteenth Division, besides the couple Lin Feng and Chen Yanyan, Zhang Liying was the only other female human.
So, Ling Yi had actually long since focused her attention on Zhang Liying. The series of developments that followed were all under her guidance and control.
With the foundation of a Tier Three Life Form, Ling Yi might have had to start from scratch in terms of emotional cognition, but when it came to scheming and planning, she was not the least bit lacking.
Especially since before she was converted into a war machine, she was originally a High-level Zerg Race member responsible for scientific research.
Unfortunately, the sense of shame born from the influence of human civilization brought this emotional experiment to a hasty end.
After a simple kiss, Zhang Liying, blushing, shyly turned her head away. This earned Ling Yi a fierce glare from Shen Jie, but she only shrugged resentfully, shook her head, and let out a sigh of disappointment.
Shen Jie was so angry his fists clenched.
But the thought that he still needed her to cure Zhang Liying made him suppress his indignation.
Before long, Lin Feng hurried back, bringing a team of Support Soldiers carrying fresh, live fish, which they placed in the hallway.
After dismissing everyone, he and Shen Jie moved the live fish into the lab and poured them into the gaping maw of the Biological Nest.
Zhang Liying wasn’t afraid this time. She crawled directly into the modified Tier Two Zerg Egg. As the opening sealed shut, she gradually fell into a coma.
The modification proceeded exceptionally smoothly.
Under Ling Yi’s fully focused micromanagement, it took only an hour and a half. The monstrous Zerg Person, once entirely covered in Zerg Armor, transformed back into the graceful eighteen-year-old girl.
After Shen Jie wrapped her in a bath towel, picked up the revitalized Zhang Liying, and left the lab, Lin Feng looked at the remaining Zerg Armor fragments on the floor. He turned to Ling Yi, who was watching the two depart, and asked:
"In the future, would you be interested in..."
Ling Yi pinched the bridge of her nose. Suddenly, her legs gave way, and she collapsed into Lin Feng’s arms.
"Solving this one case was troublesome enough. You want me to be your logistical nanny now?"
"Of course, it’s not impossible... but we’ll have to set a clear price. I’ll need double compensation, for both my body and my Spirit..."
Lin Feng’s mouth twitched.
"Where is your mind going? Zhang Liying was just a special case. What I was going to say is..."
Looking expressionlessly at the "lovey-dovey" Ling Yi in his arms, Lin Feng continued:
"Can you mass-produce the Membrane Wings of Cyan-winged Zergs, or the back-mounted Membrane Wings of Tier Two Wind-winged Zergs?"
"Like this green piece of Back Armor that was stripped off Zhang Liying..."
"They would be of great use to me!"