246: Chapter 246 The Guinea Pig Breaks the Mold, Five Consecutive Unlocks, Su Family Village Has Changed!

"This problem isn't solved by calculation; it's solved by smell."

Su Che read the instructions on the door panel aloud.

"Identify the scents in the correct order, deduce the ingredient combinations and cooking methods, prepare three designated dishes, have a living carbon-based life form taste them and survive, and maintain stable vital signs for thirty minutes to pass."

Shangguan Li pinched the bridge of his nose. "Cooking?"

"Cooking," Su Che confirmed.

Roger Hamilton took a step back, his expression clearly saying: Nothing to do with me.

Lin Yanqiu squatted down to sniff the bottom-most node, then stood up and shook his head.

"There are several scents here I've never encountered before; Earth's ingredient database might not have corresponding items."

Su Che had already sorted out his train of thought.

"We'll get most of the ingredients from the catering support area and use Earth equivalents for the few that are missing. Kairos doesn't have chefs, so we have to rely on our own people for this puzzle."

He called out toward the end of the corridor. "Kaila."

A blue figure appeared from around the corner and walked over quickly.

"Go to Earth, find General Shen, and send him the ingredient list corresponding to these scent codes on the door. Tell him to procure them according to the list and have them delivered to the mothership by noon today."

Kaila took the scent code transcription list handed to her by Su Che, nodded, and turned to leave.

"One more thing," Su Che called out to her. "Tell General Shen to also send up one hundred lab mice."

"The verification requires a living carbon-based life form to taste it, and if the recipe is wrong, people could die, so we have to use lab mice to test for poison."

"Understood." Kaila left.

Su Che had Ye Zhiqiu lead a team to record the scent codes on the door panel one by one, marking the ones they could identify and archiving the ones they couldn't until the ingredients arrived.

At the same time, he called the three chefs from the logistics team to the tenth door.

The leader was Old Zhou, in his forties, who came from the mess squad and had been cooking in the military for twenty years.

The other two, one surnamed Liu and the other Chen, were both mess soldiers from the field logistics support company.

Old Zhou stood in front of the door panel for five minutes, sniffing every node with his nose. When he came back, his expression wasn't very good.

"Su Che, there are at least ten scents here I can't identify; they aren't the smells of Earth ingredients."

"Skip the ones you can't identify for now, and list the ingredient combinations for the ones you can."

Su Che pointed to the catering support area. "There are enough ingredients over there. Prepare ten portions of each dish according to the different ingredient combinations, and finish them all within three hours."

Old Zhou rubbed his hands together. "Ten portions each? That's enough time."

"Get to it."

Old Zhou took the two mess soldiers into the catering support area. Ye Zhiqiu's team was responsible for translating the scent codes into an ingredient list and handing it to them.

Noon. Kaila returned from Earth, and both the ingredients and the lab mice arrived simultaneously.

The one hundred lab mice, packed into a dozen transparent cages, were carried by logistics personnel to the open space in front of the tenth door.

Not long after, the dishes were all prepared.

The three designated dishes, with ten different recipes for each, totaling thirty portions, were arranged on a long metal table, numbered one to thirty.

Su Che had people take thirty lab mice out of the cages, ten per group, divided into three groups. "Each group corresponds to the ten samples of one dish. Each mouse eats one portion. We'll check the results in thirty minutes. As long as one mouse in each group survives, that dish passes."

Everyone present gathered around. Old Zhou stood by the table, his apron still on, his hands behind his back.

The first batch of lab mice were placed on the table, each corresponding to a portion of food. Some went right up and started eating, while others sniffed for a long time without taking a bite.

Five minutes later, three mice in the first group collapsed. Seven minutes later, two more collapsed.

The second group fared worse, with six collapsing within ten minutes. Four collapsed in the third group, while the remaining ones were still eating.

Thirty minutes passed. In each of the three groups, one mouse was lively, with bright fur and no abnormal vital signs. Twenty-seven had died.

The honeycomb nodes on the door panel all lit up with white light. The hexagonal array went out one by one like dominoes, and the entire door slid inward. The tenth door opened.

Old Zhou let out a long breath and took off his apron, draping it over his shoulder. "I've been cooking in the army for twenty years, but this is the first time I've had mice as my diners."

Su Che patted him on the shoulder. "Keep the remaining seventy-three; the research department will need them for experiments later."

Old Zhou acknowledged this and called the two mess soldiers to carry the cages away.

Behind the door, on the left, was a row of transparent bio-culture pods, inside which spheres of nutrient solution in various colors were suspended and slowly rotating.

On the right was an atomic-level bio-synthesis assembly line, with organic substrates waiting to be synthesized neatly arranged on the conveyor belt.

In the deepest part was a huge gene bank storage wall, with densely packed storage units extending from the floor to the ceiling.

Su Che walked to the storage wall. The panel displayed the gene bank entries for interstellar ingredients known to a Level 3 Civilization, numbering in the millions.

[Shipboard Bio-synthesis and Organic Material Production Area]

Atomic-level bio-synthesis and gene editing cultivation technology can produce food suitable for all known life forms, including carbon-based and silicon-based.

The organic material cycle is 100% closed-loop, and production capacity meets the permanent needs of the entire ship and auxiliary fleet.

It contains a built-in gene bank of interstellar ingredients known to a Level 3 Civilization, capable of precisely replicating any original flavor.

Ye Zhiqiu stood in front of the culture pods for a while. "Theoretically, this thing can synthesize protein directly from the carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in the air."

"Not just protein." Su Che pointed to the storage wall. "This wall stores the genetic maps of over a million interstellar ingredients. Whatever you want to eat, just pull it up and synthesize it; the texture is no different from the original."

He turned around and gave instructions to Kaila. "Hand over the management of this area to Olaf Nielsen and Alan Wexler later; let them come and familiarize themselves with the system first."

Kaila recorded it.

...

The following week, the five groups took turns, keeping a steady pace.

The difficulty of the puzzles increased with each door, but fortunately, the Kairos experts were on call and could always lend a hand at critical moments.

After a week, five doors had been opened without triggering a single penalty.

For the fourteenth door, Patrick led the fourth group. The puzzle was a molecular topology reconstruction deduction problem, which Patrick and his team spent a whole day solving.

Behind the door was the shipboard molecular-level general material synthesis system.

Su Che stood before the synthesis terminal, threw a piece of metal scrap he had picked up from the floor into the input port, and entered "Standard Issue Wrench" on the panel.

Thirty seconds later, a brand-new alloy wrench slid out from the output port. Its weight, feel, and surface precision were indistinguishable from the original factory product.

Lin Yanqiu took it and tested it. "Decomposing any waste material down to the atomic level and then reconstructing it?"

"Clothes, daily necessities, tools, spare parts, building materials—you can make whatever you want. Everyone didn't bring many daily supplies when coming to the mothership, so this comes in handy." Su Che handed the wrench to him. "You and Robert Kane will be responsible for this area. From now on, all daily consumables and industrial supplies for the entire ship will come from here."

Lin Yanqiu looked the wrench over twice and stuffed it into his pocket.

The fifteenth door. What was unlocked was the shipboard nanobot cluster and ship hull self-repair system.

Sato Kenta squatted in front of the system terminal and pulled up the real-time distribution map of the nanobots.

Billions of microscopic robots, invisible to the naked eye, were spread throughout every structure of the ship, like a swarm of tireless ants, repairing microscopic damage in real-time.

Wen Zhiyu stood to the side, staring at the repair logs constantly refreshing on the screen.

"When the hull suffers heavy damage, this system can automatically perform structural reconstruction and functional recovery, repairing over ninety percent of battle damage within a few hours."

Su Che remembered the scene where the luan bird bridge was pierced. If they had had this back then... He suppressed the thought and handed the area over to Sato Kenta and Wen Zhiyu.

The sixteenth door, led by Ye Zhiqiu's first group. The puzzle was an electromagnetic spectrum interference matrix problem. Behind the door was the shipboard global electromagnetic and space interference countermeasures system.

Lu Zheng stood before the main console, his hands operating rapidly on the panel, pulling up a full-band electromagnetic suppression demonstration. On the screen, a simulated enemy detection grid turned black the moment the interference was activated.

Eliezer Cohen added from the side, "Signal shielding, decoy simulation, space distortion interference—we can interfere with the guidance systems of enemy missiles and laser weapons, while our own communications and detection remain unaffected."

Su Che noted down the names of these two; this area would be under their management.

The seventeenth door, led by Su Wanxing's second group. It took a day and a half to solve. Behind the door was the shipboard all-area isolation and lockdown system. It could automatically trigger tiered isolation protocols for vacuum isolation, gravity lockdown, structural sealing, and energy barrier protection for any cabin section.

The eighteenth door, the shipboard organic waste resource processing system.

...

Five doors had been opened, and it was now the evening of the seventh day. Su Che returned to his suite in the high-level residential area. Just as he sat down, his communicator rang. General Shen Wangchuan.

"Su Che, over at Su Family Village, the infrastructure for daily living, storage systems, and security facilities are basically wrapped up." Su Che leaned back in his chair. "What about Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang?"

"He was discharged from the hospital a few days ago and has already arrived at Su Family Village with fifty-six academicians. The next phase of work starts today."

"Those ninety-nine experts from Kairos can be transferred to Su Family Village now."

"One more thing," General Shen Wangchuan paused. "The Second Generation Luan Bird has completed maintenance in the Dry Dock and can now carry out transport missions. The rare materials provided by Kairos can now be transported to Su Family Village."

Su Che's hand tightened around the communicator. The Second Generation Luan Bird, that mothership which had been battered and riddled with holes in deep space, was fixed.

"I'm going back to Earth," Su Che stood up. "I'll arrange the material transport. Also, send the Kairos experts down in five batches; have Kaila handle the trips."

"You're coming back?" General Shen Wangchuan's tone carried a hint of surprise.

"I haven't been back to Su Family Village in a year." Su Che stuffed the communicator into his pocket. "Also, I need to go to the capital to pick up two people and bring them on board: Lin Waner and Jiang Yingxue. The experiments at Jinghua University don't need to continue; the mothership needs them here."

The communication cut off. Su Che walked out of the suite and called all five team leaders to the main control hall. The meeting wasn't long, just three things.

First, while he was back on Earth, the one hundred scientists remaining on the mothership were to hurry and familiarize themselves with their corresponding posts and system operations. Those without fixed posts were to use this time to digest what the Kairos experts had taught them. Once the Kairos people left for Earth, unlocking would rely entirely on themselves, and the difficulty would increase several times over.

Second, as more areas were unlocked later, one person might hold multiple positions, and position assignments would be adjusted at any time.

Third, the nineteenth door would wait until he returned to be opened.

Ye Zhiqiu, Su Wanxing, Friedman, Patrick, and Academician Zhong agreed one by one and dispersed.

...

The next day, Kaila began running to Earth, making five round trips to transport the ninety-nine Kairos experts to Su Family Village in batches.

On the same day, a massive silver-gray hull slowly sailed in from the direction of low Earth orbit and docked at the side of Genesis. The Second Generation Luan Bird.

There were still traces of repairs on the hull; the new welded armor plates had a slight color difference from the old hull, like an old piece of clothing that had been mended.

But the hull structure was intact, the power system was operating normally, and the standby indicator lights of the seventy-two engines were lined up at the stern, blinking quietly.

Su Che stood before the observation window of Genesis, watching that familiar mothership.

The last time he sat on that bridge, Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang fell in a pool of blood, Liu Huaqiang had lost half his body, and sixty Xuannu aircraft turned into sixty blood-red beams of light, crashing into the enemy ship.

He stared at the newly replaced armor plate on the bow of the luan bird for a long time, until Kaila walked over.

"Chief, the material transport list has been confirmed. The cargo hold of the Second Generation Luan Bird can accommodate all the supplies."

Su Che withdrew his gaze. "Start loading."

The material transport took half a day. Kaila piloted the shuttle, carrying Su Che toward Earth.

Cutting into the atmosphere from lunar orbit, fifteen minutes later, the shuttle landed on the newly built temporary landing pad on the outskirts of Su Family Village.

The hatch opened. Su Che walked down the ramp, his feet landing on a hardened road surface, smooth and solid, extending into the distance.

A year ago in Su Family Village, the entrance to the village was a muddy road that could submerge your ankles on rainy days.

Auntie Wang's old sow would be rooting in the dirt by the fence, and Village Chief Wang Fugui would be holding a megaphone, shouting about the ban on fireworks and firecrackers.

Now the road had been widened to four lanes, with solar streetlights installed on both sides.

Five security cordons had been set up around the village, with Ministry of State Security scouts distributed at various nodes.

On the west side of the original farmland outside the village, on a large, newly leveled foundation, construction vehicles were still coming and going, and the steel skeletons of several main building frames had already been erected.

The spire of the Quantum Communication base station reflected light in the sun, and the white dome of the medical station was particularly conspicuous.

Su Che stood on the landing pad, looking toward the village. The old locust tree was still there, the stone roller under the tree was still there, and wisps of cooking smoke drifted above the courtyards in the distance.

He picked up the bag at his feet and walked toward the village.