From Abyssal Invasion to Bursting Stars with a Single Sword-Chapter 220 - 180: The Scientist Who Studied Demons

After ending the call, Lu Heng placed the visa bracelet back into the inventory and changed his drop-off point to avoid exposing his whereabouts.

Today marked the 9th day since entering the Abyss Battlefield.

According to the main quest description, the duration of this Abyss Battlefield was 15 days.

So, in another six days, he could return.

Although the matter with the Zevel Matrix and the Black Feather Spirit had not been resolved, it wasn't a mission that had to be completed.

If it really couldn't be resolved, he could temporarily give up.

What really needed to be dealt with were the missions issued by the Abyss Battlefield.

Su Muyu would always carefully read the mission prompts each time she entered the Abyss Battlefield, thinking about the content of the missions to extract useful information.

After completing a mission, she would confirm it again.

She checked the missions and reminded him, "We still have six days left, we need to think about how to complete the missions, this relates to Divine Energy, and other matters are secondary."

Lu Heng opened the mission panel to look at the completion status of the missions.

Out of the three main quests, the first and second had been completed.

The third main quest was to survive for 15 days and didn't need consideration; he just had to stay alive until the time was up and then choose to return.

The requirements of the main quests also suggested that.

Although the world's Danger Level of the Abyss Battlefield was level 5, the actual mission danger level was below 5.

The main quests were essentially completed, and what needed to be considered next were the challenge missions.

There were three challenge missions.

[1. Source Material Battle, complete Source Fusion, and attain a Second Transition Class.]

[2. Find and eradicate the Abyss Pollution Source.]

[3. Join one of the three major factions, and complete the mission issued by that faction.]

This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēnovelkiss.com.

Among them, the first challenge mission had already been completed by Lu Heng before he came in, and Su Muyu had completed it as well.

Only Lin Zeyu had not yet attained the Source Material for Second Transition Class; this needed attention.

The third challenge mission of joining a faction had also been completed; the faction mission still required follow-up.

Finally, what needed special attention was the second challenge mission, to find the Abyss Pollution Source and clear the pollution.

So far, they didn't know where the Abyss Pollution Source was.

However, that "thing" in the Gaseous Street which had consumed the four corpses was very likely a clue.

If that "thing" was really a demon as speculated, or even a mechanically modified demon.

Then, tracing this demon might provide an opportunity to find the Abyss Pollution Source.

...

Although Lu Heng felt that the case in the Gaseous Street had no connection with the Zevel Matrix, this was just a speculation and needed further investigation to verify this conclusion.

Therefore, Lu Heng considered visiting the Zevel Matrix's plant garden again for inspection, one reason being to investigate for any demonic traces, and another to learn more about the secrets of the Black Feather Spirit.

The next morning.

Lu Heng used an Illusion Pearl to transform into a Sikes individual and went with Yeliana Sikes to investigate the plant garden.

The reason for changing his appearance was to avoid being detected by the Sikes officials and causing unnecessary trouble.

Moreover, Yeliana Sikes agreed to take Lu Heng over only after he had changed his appearance.

Because of that day's battle, the Zevel Matrix's plant garden was severely damaged.

Half a house had vanished into thin air.

The plants in the garden were badly damaged and basically beyond saving.

Only a broken flowerpot lay under the courtyard wall, saved by the wall's barrier, preserving the plants inside it.

Although it was left with only two leaves, the root system was intact.

Lu Heng picked up the goose-yellow thistle-like plant, wrapped a bit of mud around it, found a container to put it in, then held it in his palm, ready to take it back to see if it could be revived.

At that moment.

Another team walked into the garden; it was a Descent Faction Sikes person leading three members of Alex Austin's team.

This American team did not bring all five members, only three had come.

Alex Austin scanned the area and, seeing Lu Heng holding a plant, asked the neighboring Descent Faction manager, "Is that within the rules?"

The Descent Faction manager immediately pointed at Lu Heng and demanded, "What is your identity? Items at the scene should not be touched at will."

Yeliana Sikes immediately stepped in front of Lu Heng and retorted, "Nelson, since when do you have the authority to question my employee?"

This Sikes person named Nelson was the city manager for the Descent Faction's third city and was considered high-ranking within the Descent Faction, but not at the leader level.

Yeliana Sikes, on the other hand, was the number one leader of the Escape Faction; although the Escape Faction was not as powerful as the Descent Faction, Yeliana Sikes held more authority in terms of office.

Nelson emphasized, "Items at the scene must not be touched, let alone taken away. Is there any need for discussion on this matter?"

Lu Heng returned the Yellow Thorn to the half-collapsed encircling wall and then remained silent.

Alex Austin approached, briefly examining the plant and container, not finding anything unusual and therefore not pursuing the matter further.

As he passed by Lu Heng, his gaze swept over Lu Heng's face.

Lu Heng also glanced at him; the instant their eyes met, a fleeting change flickered in both their gazes.

However, there was no follow-up; the two men brushed past each other without looking back.

Yeliana Sikes didn't want to stay in the same place as Nelson and gestured for Lu Heng to join her in the basement of the courtyard.

This courtyard's basement was the experimental laboratory of the Xavier Matrix.

There were a total of three floors underground, filled with numerous experimental materials as well as mechanical parts.

However, all the data files had been erased, so the Sikes officialdom hadn't obtained any experimental data.

Lu Heng walked around the basement not to search for experimental data but to look for traces related to Demons.

Then, on the second floor of the underground laboratory, he found something special—a pair of Scary Claw Demon horns.

Yeliana Sikes also noticed the Demon horns and said, "As expected, Xavier Matrix indeed has connections with Demons; there are traces of them right here in the laboratory."

Lu Heng put on gloves and picked up the pair of Demon horns to examine them.

They were certainly Demon horns, with some experimental tools and several Demon fingernails placed nearby.

It was clear that Xavier Matrix had been studying Demons.

However, it seemed there were no signs of Abyss pollution here.

Based on previous experience, places that had been contaminated by the Abyss would inevitably leave traces.

Therefore, Lu Heng felt that the discovery of a pair of Demon horns in the laboratory did not prove a direct connection between Xavier Matrix and Abyss pollution—it only suggested that he had been studying Demons.

In a world invaded by the Abyss, it was only natural for scientists to study Demons.

If even the scientific study of Demons wasn't allowed, how could a civilization find ways to combat them?

Unless it could be proven that Xavier Matrix was related to the Abyss Pollution Source, researching Demons should not be a reason to convict.

In the underground laboratory, Lu Heng found several pieces of armor similar to the Black Feather Spirit, picking them up to examine; they were shoulder parts of the battle armor outer shell, with no apparent special features.

As for the functional modules of the Black Feather Spirit, none were found in the underground laboratory.

Besides that,

Lu Heng discovered a microscope specifically for observing plant cells in the laboratory, with a dried-up piece of plant leaf tissue still on it.

After the tour was complete, Nelson, the Descent Faction administrator, arrived with Alex Austin.

Yeliana Sikes turned and asked Lu Heng, "Have you finished looking?"

Lu Heng nodded, then followed her out of the underground laboratory.

Back in the courtyard, Lu Heng looked around, no other clues were to be found; in the end, he took the Yellow Thorn from the wall with him.

...

In the anti-gravity car, Yeliana Sikes asked, "Did you find any clues? Can you tell me now why you're helping Xavier Matrix? The man is a madman; he'll stop at nothing for his research, and his laboratory even contains Demon horns and fingernails, I don't understand why you would help him."

Lu Heng, holding the plant in his hands, replied, "I don't see anything wrong with studying Demons; to find a way to deal with them, it's necessary to research them."

Yeliana Sikes looked intently at Lu Heng's face, saying in a heavy tone, "Your answer is very dangerous. I'm starting to regret giving you a visa."

Changing tack, Lu Heng asked, "What was your purpose in deliberately leading me to investigate Xavier Matrix?"

The clues about Xavier Matrix initially came from Yeliana Sikes.

Yet she had no evidence to prove that the Gaseous Street case was related to Xavier Matrix, but she had steered the investigation toward the mad scientist.

In reality, Lu Heng had been suspicious of this from the beginning, but he followed her lead and started investigating Xavier Matrix.

Because the third Challenge Task in the Abyss Battlefield was to complete a faction mission.

And investigating Xavier Matrix was indeed a faction mission given by Yeliana Sikes.

Despite his suspicions, he followed her request and started the search for Xavier Matrix.

But Yeliana Sikes hadn't expected that this foreign human would indeed find Xavier Matrix so quickly.

Confronted with Lu Heng's questioning, Yeliana Sikes did not respond directly but maintained her silence.

Lu Heng continued, "Are you trying to get something from Xavier Matrix? I believe you should tell me the truth because the Descent Faction also wants something from him. If you do not speak the truth, I can't guarantee that this thing will not end up in the hands of the Descent Faction."

Yeliana Sikes' eyes narrowed slightly as she asked, "Do you still have a way to find Xavier Matrix?"

Lu Heng did not answer her question and instead looked down at the Yellow Thorn in his hands.

After a while, Yeliana Sikes finally spoke, "I need the Mechanical Angel research data he has worked on; it holds technology coveted even by the military—a very important piece of technology. Moreover, there's information that he has developed a special technology that has never been seen before."

In fact, Lu Heng had already guessed the answer.

The Combat Mechanical Angels created by Xavier Matrix were capable of single-handedly taking on thousands of drones and sinking anti-gravity fighters.

Had it not been for the arrival of Alex Austin, the Sikes Military operation to capture Xavier Matrix would never have succeeded.