Chapter 124: The Vile Experiments of the Sakura Nation

As the two men spoke, they remained completely oblivious to the fact that three terrifying entities had already set their sights on them.

It was evident that the ship belonged to the Sakura Nation’s government. Based on the conversation between the two men, Xiao Zi could confirm that their destination was undoubtedly the Sakura Nation itself. This saved him the trouble of moving; he was being delivered directly to his destination.

The ship traveled at high speed and soon came to a halt. During the journey, Xiao Zi had already thoroughly examined everyone on board. The ship was filled with ordinary people, mostly laborers in hazmat suits and staff members in sailor uniforms. Judging by their conversations, this was clearly a vessel for one of the Sakura Nation’s clandestine laboratories. This meant that the place they had stopped at was likely a facility for the nation’s illicit experiments.

Hidden within the shadows, Xiao Zi peered outside. True enough, there stood a massive structure. Its outer walls were composed of thick, heavy steel, and on its front was an enormous gate. Above the gate sat a bridge, and it appeared that the people on the ship were intended to enter through it. As expected, the bridge lowered a moment later, resting against the ship’s hull to serve as a walkway.

With his heightened perception, Xiao Zi could sense a significant number of supernatural creatures and spirit-tamers inside, all of whom possessed considerable power, including A-rank supernatural entities.

The fact that humans were working alongside supernatural entities in such a corrupted laboratory piqued Xiao Zi's interest. He happened to be exactly five A-rank life essences short of upgrading his five skills to Level 4. This was the perfect place to harvest them.

Without hesitation, Xiao Zi possessed one of the staff members and waited to be ushered into the laboratory. As for Wang Hui... he would have tasks to perform in this country later, so letting him wander around and get a feel for the local customs would be a good idea.

The moment everyone stepped into the building, the massive gate slammed shut, and Xiao Zi’s vision suddenly plunged into darkness. As a vengeful spirit, his vision was as clear in the dark as it was in the daylight. The fact that his vision had darkened was partly due to his possession of a human body, but more so because the concentration of supernatural energy here had reached an extreme level. It was hard to imagine why humans would choose to breed so many supernatural creatures.

It was only then that Xiao Zi noticed the laborers were not wearing ordinary clothing; they wore specialized suits designed to insulate the body from supernatural energy. However, the protection was limited, and a significant amount of supernatural aura still seeped into their bodies.

What was this supernatural aura? In his past life, it would be called "yin energy." What happens to a living person exposed to yin energy for a long time? At best, they fall ill; at worst, they turn into zombies. There were many ordinary humans here; what kind of experiments was the Sakura Nation conducting that they would disregard human life to such an extent?

As he pondered this with curiosity, light suddenly flooded the area. He looked up and found that the lights had been turned on. They were incredibly bright, almost blinding, like high-beam headlights. Only such intense light could pierce the gloom of this place.

Before Xiao Zi could fully take in his surroundings, the others began marching forward like automatons. Why did they seem like robots? Because they were all expressionless, moving forward without a single word of interaction.

Xiao Zi followed them to an elevator and descended, finally witnessing the true face of the laboratory. It was a massive underground factory that occupied an area far larger than Xiao Zi had imagined. Through his heightened perception, he discovered something truly horrifying.

This was an inhumane, bloody laboratory. Living human beings were submerged in vats, kept alive by ventilators, preserved like biological specimens. Whenever an experiment required it, they would extract a person and take them away.

Their experiments shattered Xiao Zi’s worldview and helped him understand the origins of the strange half-human, half-supernatural creatures he had encountered previously. These humans were taken to a specific sector where supernatural creatures were kept. The laborers would strip the life essence from the creatures, subject it to indescribable processing, and then forcibly inject it into the human subjects. Throughout the process, the victims remained fully conscious, leading to their agonizing screams. And that was not all; the researchers would then cut open their bodies to observe the internal mutations.

In short: it was cruel. It was hard to believe such things could be committed by human hands. Xiao Zi now understood why the laborers were so expressionless; they had lost their humanity. To be precise, they could no longer be considered human.

Xiao Zi, however, did not care about that. His eyes were fixed entirely on the life essences that had been extracted from the supernatural creatures. On-site, there were two A-rank life essences, two A-rank supernatural creatures, and three A-rank spirit-tamers.

Having assessed the combat strength, Xiao Zi did not hesitate to activate his "Forbidden Domain." A blood-red hue instantly stained the laboratory, and his domineering aura filled every corner of the room.

"A supernatural creature has escaped!" someone shouted. They never considered that the threat was an intruder; they assumed one of their captive creatures had broken free.

Based on Xiao Zi’s observations, all the creatures here were imprisoned in cage-like structures. These cages were laced with strange, pulsating energy that suppressed the creatures' abilities. It was not surprising that one or two might occasionally break out.

The moment the shout died down, Xiao Zi felt three powerful auras rapidly closing in on him. These were the three A-rank spirit-tamers. Without hesitation, they coordinated their attack, striking at Xiao Zi simultaneously.

Had they been elsewhere, Xiao Zi might have dodged their attacks and launched a counter-strike, but within his Forbidden Domain... A-rank? Was that supposed to be strong?

Although the three spirit-tamers attacked from different directions, they were all horrified to suddenly see Xiao Zi’s blood-red, terrifying visage right before them. Xiao Zi’s speed was so great that he didn’t even give them the chance to scream.

As the three A-rank life essences were crushed in Xiao Zi’s grip, the surroundings fell into a sudden, deathly silence. A dozen or so spirit-tamers stood frozen, staring at Xiao Zi in utter shock, unable to utter a word. These spirit-tamers were B-rank—a top-tier force in the outside world—yet before Xiao Zi, they were as insignificant as ants, as if a mere wave of his hand could doom them to eternal destruction.