49: Mars Evolution Fluid under development

The softness of the girl's lips, the scent of her body, and the warmth of her physique all made Xu Jingzhe's mind go blank.

His body felt as if it had been struck by an electric current, surging back and forth, inside and out, repeatedly, causing his pores to open and leaving him feeling utterly euphoric.

If one didn't count Zhang Manyue feeding Xu Jingzhe mouth-to-mouth.

This... should count as Xu Jingzhe's first kiss.

Naturally, it was also Ye Zi's first kiss.

Both of them were clumsy, their teeth clashing, yet they were reluctant to separate, clinging to each other. Lost in the moment, Xu Jingzhe instinctively reached out and pulled Ye Zi into his embrace.

He wished he could meld the girl's soft, warm body into his own, making the two of them one.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

"Cough, cough, cough..."

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Inside the gym, the four sisters coughed, signaling that they were going too far.

They had been kissing for five minutes in plain view.

Couldn't whatever they had to say wait until night?

Ming Xixi sniffled, feeling a pang of jealousy, and said, "Boss, can Ye Zi let me taste the handsome guy's mouth after she's kissed him? I want to know if it tastes like mint."

"Then I want to line up too, can I?" Dilisi also asked.

Lu Xiaoxiao: "..."

"Cough, cough... You are all ranked goddesses in the High Molecular Compound Zone, please maintain some restraint."

"But he's super, unbelievably handsome," Autumn Cicada interjected.

"I know he's... handsome, but Ye Zi got there first," Lu Xiaoxiao said helplessly, muttering internally that she had wanted a sweet romance with the handsome guy too.

After ten minutes, the two finally separated, their eyes holding only each other.

Seeing the four sisters crowd around, Ye Zi's pretty face flushed red, and she buried herself in Xu Jingzhe's chest.

Xu Jingzhe, however, remained calm in the face of danger, looking intently at the computer.

"It's over, it's over. A woman in love. I feel like I'm seeing heavy snow falling, the flakes resting on Ye Zi's brows and the corners of her eyes, emitting an exquisite fragrance." Autumn Cicada shook her head and left.

Out of sight, out of mind.

"I wish you two an early birth of a precious son," Dilisi said, and then she also left.

Ming Xixi walked up to Xu Jingzhe, lifted his chin, and said fiercely, "If you dare treat Ye Zi badly, I will, I will... I will date you instead of Ye Zi, to punish you!"

"Hmph!"

Xu Jingzhe: "???"

Lu Xiaoxiao didn't say anything and wisely left.

Wherever there are young couples, public spaces inevitably turn into private ones.

The two of them continued to dote on each other until evening, when Xu Jingzhe's stomach began to rumble.

Ye Zi insisted on following Xu Jingzhe to the Pollution Zone to look for acorns, and since Xu Jingzhe couldn't talk her out of it, they went together.

The sunset was vividly red like blood, spilling across the ravines and ridges of the Pollution Zone. The two figures shone with a pearly luster as they held hands, their shadows stretching longer and longer... That night, the couple continued their affectionate behavior until around ten o'clock, when Ye Zi finally left reluctantly.

When she reached the doorway, she turned back with a blush, her eyes sparkling with flirtation, and said, "How about I warm your bed tonight?"

Xu Jingzhe's heart skipped a beat, and he swallowed, saying, "Isn't that... a little too fast?"

"Cough, cough..." Just then, Lu Xiaoxiao silently walked past and said, "Ye Zi, early to bed and early to rise. Don't forget your daily training."

"Got it, Boss." Ye Zi stuck her tongue out at Xu Jingzhe, waved her hand, and followed Lu Xiaoxiao out.

"Boss, I'm acting like this, yet 9527 still won't let me warm his bed. Is it because I'm not... flirtatious enough?"

"Should I wear less, show more skin, speak in a sweeter voice, and act more provocative?"

Lu Xiaoxiao stumbled, nearly falling to the ground.

A woman in love—where is her brain!

She took a deep breath, grabbed Ye Zi's ear, and said, "You, are, al, read, y, flirtatious, enough."

"For the sake of us four sisters' reputation, please don't be so... provocative!"

... Xu Jingzhe waited inside the room for ten minutes, confirming that the two had left.

He opened the door, poked his head out, and looked left and right.

System: "Ding. Environmental simulation has been activated. Exit the residential area first."

Following the system's guidance, Xu Jingzhe navigated the twists and turns and successfully reached the depths of the second floor.

This was a very long concrete corridor, stretching out of sight. The dark depths looked like a massive creature opening its mouth, waiting for food to willingly walk in.

The lighting was dim, with large red candles lit at intervals along both sides of the passage.

Xu Jingzhe walked silently; his presence was invisible within the corridor, only the occasional flickering candlelight proving he had passed by.

A thick wooden door. No, to be precise, it was a thick wood-mimicking metal door. Five small, standard Chinese characters were written on the concrete wall above its top right corner: bacteria Culture Room (Bacteria Cultivation Room), with the English translation beside it.

In the center of the metal door was facial and iris recognition.

Xu Jingzhe leaned in, and his face and iris were captured.

"Creak..." The heavy metal door opened.

Upon entering, his eyes were dazzled; the intense light almost blinded Xu Jingzhe's titanium alloy dog eyes.

Inside and outside were two completely different worlds.

Outside, darkness.

Inside, daylight.

Ten meters in front of Xu Jingzhe was a metal platform, two meters wide and hundreds of meters long, reaching roughly to his abdomen.

On the metal platform, every two meters stood a golden metal base, clipping a glass test tube about twenty centimeters long and five centimeters wide. Above the test tube was a white PT plastic seal, and a plastic hose ran through the center of the seal, through which a transparent liquid was slowly being injected into the glass test tube.

Xu Jingzhe walked forward and approached the first test tube. The side of the metal base read:

Name: Escherichia coli

Year: 1035

Purpose: Causes intestinal and urinary tract infections

(This strain has survived for over a thousand years and possesses immense lethality. It can be used in Mars Evolution Fluid proportioning experiments. Even if used on a Contaminator with twenty years of experience, it can cause severe injury and greatly diminish their combat effectiveness.)

Xu Jingzhe knew that the 'humans' who survived in the Pollution Zone were automatically immune to common bacteria. Only bacteria that had survived for a thousand years could cause them harm.

However, the Mars Evolution Fluid piqued his intense interest.

It seemed the higher-ups in the High Molecular Compound Zone didn't just want to develop one type of Evolution Fluid, but also a more advanced one.

It was likely still in the testing phase.

The second test tube.

Name: Bifidobacterium

Year: 2022

Purpose: Increases lifespan, delays aging, and enhances liver strength

(This bacterium is one of the essential components for developing Moon Soil Evolution Fluid Pure Liquid.)

The existence of this bacterium made it easy to understand why there were almost no ugly people in the High Molecular Compound Zone.

The third test tube.

Name: Bacillus cereus

Year: 3022

Purpose: Locating gold ore

(When cultivated and utilized, this bacterium can increase the density and ductility of gold, making it useful in mechas.)

... Xu Jingzhe did a quick count and found there were at least several thousand cultivation test tubes. The minimum survival year recorded for the bacteria in any single test tube was exactly 1000 years.

This indicated that all the bacteria inside this cultivation room had survived for over a millennium.