Bard rarely saw such a hesitant look on Bertilla's face. Whether it was during the Cult of Darkness era or the current Empire era, his impression of the Dark Matriarch was always tough and unhesitant. Therefore, when he noticed the difference in Bertilla's attitude, he was immediately curious.
Keeping his curiosity in check, he did not ask. Instead, he got up and followed Bertilla. He followed the former Dark Matriarch through the rest area and the central area of the laboratory, through the connecting section full of culture capsules, biomass containers, and biological vascular tubes, and through a 'Ye Gate' that he had never seen before. Finally, they arrived at the lower level of the laboratory.
This was an area that he had never seen before. In fact, he did not even know that there was a 'lower level' in this laboratory. Wrapped in layers of thick branches, leaves, and fiber partitions, Bertilla had separated out a more secret space in her 'private residence'. This space was obviously not connected to the transportation tubes in Solin's giant tree, nor did it have any holes that could lead to the outside world. To get here, one had to pass through the upper level of the laboratory. Obviously, no one was allowed to enter without permission.
The fiber partitions slowly closed behind Bard, and the glowing vines gradually lit up along the walls. The space in front of Bard brightened up. He saw an oval-shaped hall with no doors or windows in all directions. There were blood-vessel-like tissues that emitted a dim red light buried in the cracks between the ground and the surrounding walls, flickering slowly like breathing. Several pillar-like wooden structures grew out of the ground and connected to the dome above. Around those 'pillars', Bard saw a number of closed culture capsules, which looked similar to the culture containers in the factory area.
"This is your … secret laboratory within a secret laboratory?" Bard looked at Bertilla curiously, and then subconsciously asked, "Did you report this place?"
"His Majesty knows about this place," Bertilla glanced at Bard. "Only he knows about this place. You know, I have a certain degree of autonomy, and I am only responsible for some things to His Majesty himself. "
"Well, I do know. After all, you are a 'special citizen'." Bard waved his hand, and then his eyes fell on the dormant capsules. "What are these? Are they your pets or agricultural by-products? "
Bertilla did not speak. She just walked forward slowly. The vines wriggled and curled under her feet, supporting her body like a cluster. She came to one of the capsules, reached out her hand, and gently brushed the gelatinous shell of the capsule. The pale green shell immediately trembled and quietly receded. A transparent culture container appeared in front of Bard's eyes. His eyes suddenly widened in surprise.
It wasn't some oddly shaped "bioengineering product", nor was it a biological substrate waiting to be processed. In the thin biomass solution, what floated quietly was … a petite elf. It was a silver elf with pale blonde hair who looked like it had just reached adulthood.
She floated in the pale yellow biomass solution with her eyes closed as if she was in a deep sleep. A layer of gelatinous protective layer tightly covered her slender body. External nutrient pipes and nerve monitoring nodes could be vaguely seen inside the protective layer. Several dark red life-support pipes extended from her spine and connected to the pump organ on the top of the container. With the circulation of gas and liquid inside, tiny bubbles constantly drifted out of her mouth and nose and rose to the top of the container. There were various signs that this "culture body" had completed the growth of the body itself, and the heart and lungs were working autonomously. However, she was still in a deep sleep, as if the last step had not been completed.
"This is …" Bard blinked. At first, he was very confused. He could not figure out why Bertila had set up such a secret laboratory and cultivated an elf's shell in it. But soon, he seemed to have thought of something. His expression became thoughtful, and then complicated. "I think I have some impression of her …" Bard said as he blinked his eyes.
"You still remember? Ah, right … You have seen her once, when she was still alive, "Bertilla said softly, her eyes never leaving the sleeping Silver Elf's face." Berna Lightwind, a naive girl who never imagined how dangerous the outside world was … "
Bard's expression was complicated. He said with a reminiscent tone, "I remember that she was severely injured near the Shadowy Swamp. But in a daze, she went to the stronghold of the All End Society to seek help. The clerics in the stronghold treated her as an experiment subject, but she thought she had found a doctor …"
Bertilla still did not look away from Berna Lightwind's face. "This experiment subject was sent to me. I asked her what she wanted. She said she didn't want to travel anymore and wanted to go home. I promised her and gave her a dose of anesthesia."
"Ah, I was there. You promised her and then ate her to replenish your biomass reserves and genetic sample library," Bard said slowly. He then looked up and looked around the hall with a look of understanding. He looked at the growing pods around the pillars. He could no longer maintain his calm expression. A shocked and heavy look appeared on his face. "I think I know what you are doing … You are doing something that is almost impossible to succeed … You are trying to resurrect all those that you have devoured …"
"Not resurrecting, at least not completely, Mr. Bard," Bertilla interrupted him. "Resurrecting the dead is a great feat in the realm of miracles. I don't have the ability to pull those souls that no longer exist in the world back from the dead. I am just 'restoring', reversing what I did back then. In a sense, these people are not dead. Their genetic samples are completely recorded in my biological core. Their souls are 'housed' in the depths of my soul. Theoretically, this process can be reversed. Of course, I could not do this in the past. But now … my ability is just enough. "
Bard was silent for a moment. He turned his head and looked into Bertilla's eyes. "What is this? Some kind of 'atonement'? "
Bertilla smiled and said, "His Majesty said that a crime is a crime, and a real crime cannot be redeemed. If I want to stay on this land, what I have to do is to make meritorious contributions. Scientific research is meritorious contributions, infrastructure is meritorious contributions, and solving the food crisis in the Holy Spirit Plain is also meritorious contributions. These things are not redeeming, but 'making meritorious contributions'. Besides that, everything I do is just to give myself an explanation … What you see is the explanation I give myself.
"These aren't for Your Majesty to see, nor are they for those who survived the Crystal Cluster War. I didn't plan to show them to you in the first place. I'm doing this for myself … Of course, I've already discussed this with 'them'. Only those who intend to return to this world will I start the 'restoration' process for them."
The expression on Bard's face seemed to relax a little. Then he asked curiously, "So, what's your progress now? If the situation is as you said, and the biological data and soul are all there, then it is theoretically possible … "
"The Berna Breeze in front of you is the first individual to start the restoration process. The previous stages are very smooth. She can actually wake up now." Bertilla finally showed a smile on her face. She gently knocked on the container in front of her, and a few nerve fibers in the container immediately lit up. A moment later, the young elf floating in the liquid actually slowly opened her eyes!
Bard was taken aback. Clearly, he did not expect Beltila's "secret project" to be so advanced that it could awaken an individual. Then, he made eye contact with Beltila in the container. Soon, he realized that Beltila's expression was very dull, and there was a hint of confusion and confusion in her eyes. After staring blankly outside the container for nearly half a minute, the delicate elf slowly raised a hand, as if she was trying to greet the people outside. However, the process was still abnormally stiff, and her reaction was slow.
Bard raised his hand to respond to Berna, and then looked at Bertilla. "She seems to be … not very awake … Can she hear us?"
"Yes, but her thinking is not efficient enough, so she may not be able to keep up with the rhythm of our normal communication." Bertilla nodded. "Her current state is a bit more like a half-awake state. Her soul is not well adapted to the new body, and the regeneration of personality has hit a bottleneck, and …"
Bard frowned. "And?"
"And her body can't leave the container now. Once she leaves, her spirit will quickly wither and her nervous system will quickly fall into a state of chaos and self-destruction. In short, the external environment is fatal to her. "
"You just said that 'the previous stages were very smooth'. So you are now encountering a bad stage?" Bard suddenly realized something. He remembered the reason why Beltilla brought him here in the first place. "Wait a minute. Is Beltilla the only one like this?"
"You are very sharp, Mr. Bard." Bertilla nodded slightly. "Yes, only Berna is like this. The reason is the special nervous system of the elves and the 'format' of their souls. Their nervous system is too complex and sensitive, and they have a lot of special structures to sense magic and spiritual power. Their souls are not as' stable 'as humans and other races. Their souls are more likely to connect with other realms outside the material world. This means that once their souls leave their bodies, or try to enter a strange body, it will immediately trigger a very serious rejection reaction … "
She paused for a moment before continuing. "These two problems are very serious, and the internal mechanism is very complicated. Whether it is the ancient classic Druil spell or the flesh biochemical technology I'm using now, which has been 'enhanced' by the Everything's Demise Council, it can't be perfectly solved."
Bard finally realized what Bertilla meant by the 'clues'. He thought of the information that the Theocratic Council released internally, and the information related to the sisters Firna and Rayna. His eyes slowly widened. "So … Firna or Rayna couldn't have used some Druil technology to recreate their bodies, and they couldn't have used one soul to control two bodies. Unless they didn't use a technology known to mortals!"
Bertilla nodded gently and said slowly, "Firna and Rayna are ancient rebels, and according to the Theocratic Council's information, the two sisters had met with a terrible accident a thousand years ago. They were sucked into the divine realm, and no one knew what they went through, and no one knew how they survived. People only knew that one of them returned to the real world alive, and not long after, out of some 'obsession', she used the Druil technology of the time to replicate her sister's body, and used one soul to control both bodies to maintain the illusion that the sisters were still alive …
"I have to say, it's a sad and touching story. The sacrifice of the rebels is worthy of all of us, but we never noticed the anomaly behind it. It's no wonder, because even in the Gondor era, the replication of human bodies was a very sophisticated and taboo thing. Even though the rebels often violated the taboo, their main members and research were limited to the human race. The elves have never replicated themselves, nor have they carried out any research in this field. They are not a deviant species, and they don't like people doing deviant things on them, which led to —"
Before Bertilla could finish, Bard took the initiative to finish the sentence. "Which led to the fact that no one had ever discovered the fact that elves can't use biochemical technology to replicate and parasitize their souls. The Firna sisters deceived everyone."
"That's it."
"Then the next key is — why did they do it? How did they do it? " Bard had begun to think quickly, and his brows furrowed even more. "At that time, the rebels thought that the one who came back alive had replicated her sister's body, and then used one soul to control both bodies to pretend that her sister was still alive. But the truth is that it's not technically possible, unless they're using an unknown technology. The rebels were already the pinnacle of technology in the mortal world back then, and the biochemical technology you're using now is also at the same pinnacle. Even you can't do it …"
He shook his head, curled his fingers and tapped his temples, forcing his slightly agitated mind to calm down. "Rayna or Firna used an unknown technology to create a body. Is it really just to pretend that her sister is still alive? I'm suddenly very suspicious of this … If they're using knowledge beyond the mortal world, if they're somehow contaminated when they're sucked into the divine kingdom, then it's really scary. "
"What's even scarier is that this happened a thousand years ago," Bertilla suddenly said. "For a thousand years after that, they were the rebels, the great Druil who inherited ancient knowledge, the pope of the Church of All Things's End, and the planners and executors of many plans. Their words and actions were indeed strange, but even so, we still treated them as' mortals' like ourselves for a long time … That's the scariest thing."
Bard's expression instantly turned extremely ugly.
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