283: Experimental process

Lu Chuan's eyes flashed with delight.

"My perception and control over heat have indeed advanced to a new level!"

For top chefs, heat is the soul of cooking.

With the same ingredients and seasonings, a slight difference in heat can lead to a vastly different outcome.

The talent rewarded by this quest brought a tremendous improvement to his culinary skills.

He couldn't resist picking up some ordinary ingredients and simply stir-fried an egg fried rice for an experiment.

With the talent's enhancement, he had a complete grasp of the temperature changes in the pan he held.

The timing for adding the egg mixture, the heat for adding the rice, and the force and rhythm of tossing the pan were all perfectly executed.

The entire process was smooth and effortless, even more so than usual.

The fried rice came out with distinct grains, full of wok hei, golden and inviting, reaching the perfect peak he could achieve with ordinary ingredients at his current stage.

"Amazing! It significantly improved the stability and efficiency of cooking."

Lu Chuan smiled happily.

His culinary skills were already the strongest in the world.

But there is no end to culinary arts; his only opponent now was himself.

Constantly surpassing his past self brought indescribable joy.

Saturday, early morning.

Lu Chuan returned from his morning exercise as usual and saw Lin Wei waiting for him at the door.

Lin Wei said, "Mr. Lu, I'm here to pick you up to go to the research institute to participate in the 'Gourmet Cells' activation experiment."

"It's finally starting."

Lu Chuan took a deep breath, changed into the casual clothes with special markings that Lin Wei had prepared, then followed Lin Wei downstairs and got into a black SUV, driving away.

The vehicle headed towards the city center and finally drove into a parking lot of a tall building.

Just as the vehicle slowly came to a stop, Lu Chuan thought it was time to get out.

The parking space suddenly descended, carrying the vehicle down as if in an elevator.

Lights illuminated sequentially along the way, so the "elevator" didn't seem profound, but perhaps due to the prolonged descent, one unconsciously felt a sense of isolation from the world, a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of the city center they had passed earlier.

"Mr. Lu, the research institute will be here soon."

At this moment, Lin Wei suddenly spoke up.

Lu Chuan nodded.

After another minute, the "elevator" finally came to a steady stop.

This was also a parking lot, but one hidden more than two hundred meters underground.

The vehicle drove out of the parking space and headed towards one of the passages ahead.

During this time, it passed through layers of identity verification and security checks, finally arriving at its destination.

This was an observation and control room filled with a sense of futuristic technology.

Behind a massive circular glass curtain wall was a spacious and bright laboratory.

In the center of the laboratory, several transparent life support pods filled with nutrient solution were arranged side by side. Ban Yangming and other Special Operations Squad members were quietly suspended within them, connected to various precise tubes.

Their eyes were tightly closed, seemingly in a deep sleep, yet their eyelids constantly twitched, and their bodies occasionally convulsed, as if from an electric shock.

Ye Chen stood on a high platform in the control room, and at the console behind him, Ye Er and Ye San were performing pre-experiment data monitoring.

Lu Chuan looked in surprise at Ye Er and Ye San, who were identical to Ye Chen in appearance and build, his eyebrows slightly twitching.

At this moment, Lin Wei saw Lu Chuan stop and quickly said, "Mr. Lu, we still need to go further. The kitchen set up for you is not far ahead."

Lu Chuan glanced at Ye Chen in the control room through the tempered glass, then scanned the row of life support pods, before lifting his leg to follow behind Lin Wei.

Meanwhile, in a conference room many kilometers away.

"The experiment is about to begin," Ye Yi concisely introduced to the leaders present. "The physical conditions of Ban Yangming and others have been adjusted to their optimal threshold. Soon, we will inject preliminarily purified 'active Gourmet Factors' to attempt to activate the 'Gourmet Cellss' latent within their bodies."

He pointed to the projection display screen, where real-time physiological data of Ye Chen and others flickered.

"The activation process will theoretically greatly stimulate metabolism and energy demands, and may also be accompanied by intense physiological reactions, even rejection reactions. But our project team already has a targeted solution, which is..."

..."The highly active, gentle energy nutritional meals you need to prepare will intervene at critical junctures, providing necessary energy support and soothing effects to help their bodies smoothly pass through the activation period and guide the cells to evolve in a stable direction."

Lin Wei said to Lu Chuan.

Lu Chuan heard this, glanced at the brand new, bright kitchen, then nodded solemnly.

He understood that his role here was crucial, serving as the "lubricant" and "stabilizer" to ensure the success of the experiment.

"I understand. I will prepare the most easily absorbed nutritional meals using the otherworldly ingredients you provide."

Lin Wei nodded and exited the kitchen... Ye Chen turned his gaze to the laboratory and issued an instruction through the microphone.

"Final checks for all units. Prepare to begin injecting the active factors."

The atmosphere in the control room instantly tensed. Researchers took their positions, staring intently at the data on the screens.

At Ye Chen's command, a crimson liquid containing strange life energy was slowly injected into the life support pods, mixing with the nutrient solution, and began to be absorbed by the bodies of Ye Chen and others through their skin and respiration.

Initially, everything was calm.

But a few minutes later, the physiological monitoring data within the life support pods began to fluctuate violently.

Heart rate soared, body temperature rose, muscle fibers twitched slightly... expressions of pain began to appear on the faces of Ban Yangming and others, and their bodies occasionally experienced uncontrollable spasms, as if fiercely struggling against some internal force.

"Energy consumption is rapidly increasing, hormone levels in the body are abnormal, and some individuals are showing early signs of rejection."

The researcher reported quickly.

Ye Er and Ye San immediately adjusted the experimental process for these individuals according to the emergency interference plan.

Ye Chen stood with his hands behind his back, watching the large monitoring screen, his gaze moving rapidly across the screens corresponding to each Special Operations Squad member.

The activation of hongjun particles was accompanied by immense risks, and the experimental plan was only finalized after countless experimental failures.

After all, the activation experiment of hongjun particles had never been smooth.

"Human rejection reaction," "individual foundation," and "delusion"—these three major hurdles had stopped the project team countless times.

Fortunately, the first hurdle had been overcome, and a solution for the second hurdle was found. The difficult one was the third hurdle, "delusion."

Why the delusion?

What is the delusion?

These were two major propositions.

Ye Chen knew that with Earth's current technological level, it was impossible to decipher their mysteries.

Fortunately, there was still knowledge from other worlds to refer to.

His thoughts returned, and Ye Chen watched the experiment gradually progress, with the Special Operations Squad members' vital signs oscillating between critical and stable. His expression remained calm and unruffled.