After Xia Jin shifted his body to the side, Weng Quan saw the mycelium behind him.
"Doctor! The consciousness source actually moved."
Xia Jin looked at Weng Quan's excited demeanor and smiled faintly, "The day after Qin Chuan was sent back to the Lighthouse, the mycelium suddenly showed abnormal activity. I think it's related to that Lighthouse resident in the desert."
"Then why didn't you just arrest Qin Chuan and interrogate him? This abnormal activity of the mycelium must be related to that person. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence?"
"Calm down. Don't be so rash about everything. If you hadn't been reckless back then, we wouldn't have only managed to preserve this one strain of mycelium."
Thinking of the mycelia that were devoured by the "heart," Weng Quan dared not speak. He lowered his head, glanced at Xia Jin, and seeing that he was no longer pursuing the matter, he felt a little relieved.
"However, the heart hasn't shown any major movements recently," Weng Quan reported cautiously.
Xia Jin's pale face bore a somewhat sinister smile. "Even if it did, the heart wouldn't make any unusual moves. It would rather pulverize this consciousness than leave it for us."
While they were talking, the mycelium in the culture dish seemed to be uncomfortably curling its tendrils. Delicate filaments emanated a faint blue glow.
If Xu An were here, she would surely be surprised. This was the glowing mushroom she had been collecting all along.
However, compared to the fluffy glowing mushrooms Xu An collected, this slender mycelium appeared exceptionally pathetic.
Weng Quan attempted to approach, but Xia Jin stopped him. "Don't get too close yet. It can still affect emotions."
Upon hearing this, Weng Quan stopped in his tracks, looking visibly shaken.
He had unfortunately witnessed the power of this consciousness entity. This mushroom could amplify the malice and desires within a person infinitely, and in severe cases, lead them to commit irrecoverable actions.
Back then, because the heart had devoured more than half of the consciousness source, he thought it would be fine to leave just this one strain. But the subsequent events were something he would never want to recall in his life.
With further experiments, the already small consciousness source was further cut, leaving only the current strain.
Weng Quan thought it was fine, but when he heard Xia Jin's words, although he stopped, he still held a skeptical attitude.
He always had a question in his heart: why was Xia Jin never affected by consciousness?
Xia Jin had once explained to him that his desires were extremely low, so it was still within a controllable range.
Weng Quan couldn't really question Xia Jin.
Xia Jin had suddenly appeared five years ago. No one knew where he came from. His files were kept in the highest bureau's secret vault.
The Lighthouse Project also began five years ago.
Yes, even before there were any signs of the apocalypse, the Lighthouse had already begun construction.
But back then, the Lighthouse wasn't called the Lighthouse. The original prototype of the Lighthouse was actually a space probe, upholding the romantic tradition of the Chinese people.
At that time, the Lighthouse was called the "Trace Seeking Project," implying the search for traces of other life forms in the universe.
However, Xia Jin's appearance changed everything. Nobody knew what he said to the authorities, but a month later, the original "Trace Seeking Project" was temporarily halted and renamed the "Lighthouse Project."
It was also from then on that Weng Quan, who was feeling dejected at Chu Group, received the phone call that changed his life.
...
While their conversation continued, the sinister smile on Xia Jin's face never faded. He seemed to have thought of something amusing and casually fiddled with the mycelium with his finger.
The mycelium seemed to be afraid of Xia Jin's touch, curling into a small ball.
Xia Jin felt a strange sensation in his heart, a wave of inexplicable sadness suddenly filling his chest.
He knew these emotions were not his, but belonged to the mycelium between them.
"Interesting..."
After speaking, he turned to Weng Quan again. "Find someone to keep an eye on Qin Chuan and see who he contacts on the Lighthouse. I think we'll find the person we're looking for soon."
"Yes!" Weng Quan replied, turned, and walked out.
Only Xia Jin remained in the laboratory. The strong daylight shone on his slender body, casting his shadow on the ground infinitely long.
Xia Jin did not notice that the dark shadow at his feet was eagerly trying to engulf him completely.
...
Weng Quan, having left the laboratory, returned to his office. He looked at the mountain of documents piled on his desk and suddenly a nameless fire surged from his heart. He angrily flung all the documents and materials on the desk to the ground.
As the documents repeatedly hit the floor, Weng Quan finally sobered up. He looked at the mess on the ground with a sense of lingering fear.
"I didn't even touch it directly, and the impact is already so great..."
In the office, there was silence except for the "tick-tock" of the clock.
No one knew that the true core of the Lighthouse's operation was a "heart."
There were no artificial components at all. It was just a vibrant, still-beating heart.
If there was any difference, it was that this heart clearly did not belong to a human.
No one knew where this heart came from. Its origin was as mysterious as Xia Jin's.
It could be said that it was because of Xia Jin that the heart existed.
On the entire Lighthouse, fewer than ten people knew about the existence of this heart.
No one dared to speak of such an unbelievable matter, nor would anyone believe that the Lighthouse could operate normally, maintain its ascent, and function properly because of a mysteriously appearing heart.
Weng Quan's face turned cold. He pressed the communicator in his hand, and soon, a sweet female voice came from the other end of the line.
He recalled the days when he was ostracized at Chu Group. If not for Xia Jin's timely call five years ago, he thought he might have given up on scientific research and chosen to go home to find a stable job.
Once upon a time, he too had his own persistence and dreams. But after seeing the blueprint of the "perpetual motion machine" that Xia Jin had painted for him, he had enthusiastically envisioned the future with him.
He thought he would be the "hero" who saved humanity.
Time always changes a person.
He suppressed his inner thoughts and said to the woman on the other end of the phone, "Have you prepared what I need?"
The woman on the other end of the phone paused. "You called me just for this?"
Weng Quan chuckled sarcastically into the phone. "Then is there anything else we can talk about between us?"
"He refused to give it to me, saying the sample was not perfect enough, it was a defective product and could not be used."
"Chu Lingyao, we agreed. I provide you with accommodation, and you give me what I want. If he doesn't give it to you, that's your problem. I just need the result I want."
As soon as Weng Quan spoke, Chu Lingyao on the other end of the phone fell silent.
"Ah Quan..."