Cat and Rose - Cat & Rose - Chapter 72 - An Unspeakable Matter (3)

Chapter 72 – An Unspeakable Matter (3)

The light silver metal spontaneously aggregated into a spherical shape.

Picking it up, it seemed light yet heavy at the same time. When placed under a light source, there was even a vague transparency to it

.

It is almost liquid; if two metal balls bumped together, they would immediately form another perfect ball.

After spraying a special liquid on its surface, it became incomparably hard once more.

Just two kilograms of Chimera metal could hold five grams of antimatter, and they had their own strange dynamic structure inside, which had the ability to maintain the stability of changes at all times.

“How does your field define it?” he asked Adelaide. “Does it count as a living being?”

“Science has spared no effort in creating these kinds of questions for us,” Adelaide dismissed. “Why do I have to make my own life difficult by ruminating over whether a biological robot has a soul or not?”

Lin Si casually fiddled with them, listening to the crisp, ringing sounds of its collisions, and said flatly, “That’s true.”

He continued to ask, “Why are you here?”

“To say goodbye,” said Adelaide. “I’m going to be frozen.”

“A good opportunity for you to sleep away the age gap between us.”

Adelaide pouted.

“It seems that Brother Zheng will be frozen too,” he said. “Speaking of which—when I went to see him, he also asked similar questions as you.”

“Chimera metal?”

“Yeah.” Adelaide continued to shrug. “Whether the fusion of machines and whatever living thing was considered alive or something like that. I say—you people should focus on studying your natural sciences, don’t try to understand our metaphysical stuff.”

“It’s certainly a fascinating project.” Lin Si put away the few pieces of Chimera metal and made himself a cup of coffee.

The water vapour rose, blurring Adelaide’s vision.

He waved his hand to express he did not want to discuss this topic, and said, “I’m also here to check on your mental health, even though you seem relatively normal right now.”

Lin Si was very cooperative this time.

After the check-up, Adelaide made a “tsk” sound. “It’s getting better.”

Lin Si stirred his coffee lazily. “Living isn’t so bad, actually.”

“Thank the heavens. I finally don’t have to worry about you pulling the trigger at your temple one day,” Adelaide sighed.

He scrutinised Lin Si. “You’re not busy lately?”

“I was quite busy at first, but I’ve been running around continuously these days, so Madam Chen gave me three days off,” Lin Si chatted leisurely, making small talk.64

“So…” Adelaide continued to scrutinise him.

As a psychiatrist who had a deep understanding of human body language, he noticed at first sight Lin Si’s slightly lazy sitting posture, as well as the languor that exuded from his eyes.

“So now you’re just living a life of debauchery?”

Lin Si curved his lips in a smile and did not respond.

Adelaide looked at the snow-white turtleneck sweater he was wearing and made a “tsk” sound again. “The more you try to cover it up, the more it shows.”

Lin Si raised his eyebrows. “What am I covering up?”

“What else can it be? Why would a dress-shirt-monster like you suddenly change his ways?“

Lin Si leisurely stirred his coffee. This outfit softened his image a lot. His voice was a little hoarse, with a hint of nasality. “A dress shirt…isn’t that…inconvenient to take off.”

Adelaide: “…”

Fine, you win. 65

Sure enough, anyone who ever tried to pick a meaningless fight with Lin Si all ended up dissatisfied with the outcome.66

He gave up on continuing this topic and finally got serious. “Is something going to happen on the spaceship?”

At the mention of this, Lin Si’s gaze gradually turned cold.

The vast majority of people on the ship believed the rhetoric that large-scale freezing was required as the vaccine was insufficient at this moment, but the sensitive Adelaide noticed something was up.

“Yes.” He knew that those subtle cracks could not be concealed from a shrewd and experienced psychiatrist, so he simply admitted it.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Lin Si pondered for a while. “You need to conduct psychological assessments for all the staff on a regular basis… Have you found anyone who has the potential to be a conspirator? Or anyone who appears special.”

“Are you asking me to assess criminal propensity?” asked Adelaide.

Lin Si nodded.

“To be honest, no,” Adelaide said frankly. “This is part of my work. I do it every year.”

“Thanks,” said Lin Si, thoughtful.

Adelaide casually bid him farewell. “I’ll get going now. Hopefully you’re still alive when I wake up.”

“Mm-hm.”

After the psychiatrist left, the room returned to silence.

Lin Si finished his coffee and checked the time. There was still approximately an hour before Ling Yi returned.

He attempted to analyse the complex and intricate threads, but he still did not know where to start—this was a situation he had never encountered in his life before.

It was like a maths problem—when your hands were tied, perhaps you were lacking an important prerequisite, or the problem laid at its roots and your thought process was wrong.

But no matter where the problem was, one thing remained the same—time was running out.

If the mastermind wanted to do something, they needed to do it soon.

***

Ling Yi was at Area 1, accompanied by Silas.

The spaceship was currently going through a turbulent period.. Due to the large-scale freezing, the summary and handover of various tasks were very busy; Area 3 also had many exchanges to do with the other areas. This time, they were delivering a document that needed Madam Chen’s signature, which was related to the Chimera metals and antimatter weaponry that had recently taken the centre stage in scientific research.

The door was ajar. After knocking a few times, there was no response, so they pushed the door and entered.

When they stepped into the office, they were amazed at the sight.

In the centre is a supercomputer, filled on all sides by hovering screens, projecting countless leaping numbers and curves, with the incessant hum of high-powered machinery operating.

Silas called out, “Madam?”

There was no response.

Ling Yi suddenly froze.

He heard a weak gasping sound.

The next instant, his pupils dilated, the muscles in his body became taut, and he quickly ran in the direction of the sound. Silas did not know what he was doing, but he still quickly followed.

On the other side of the supercomputer, complex calculations were running on the screen, while Madam Chen laid in a pool of blood.

She was wearing her usual dark blue suit. Her hair was dishevelled, her eyes were tightly shut, and her chest rose and fell very weakly.

“Madam!” Ling Yi knelt down to check her condition while saying, “Where’s the robot?”

Why was the medical robot nowhere to be seen?

Silas’ reaction was also very swift. “I’ll go get the robot!”

Ling Yi’s training in Area 3 included first aid knowledge.

But…

He clearly knew that Madam could not hold on for much longer.

Her chest had been pierced through by a sharp object, straight through the heart. Even if they had a medical robot…

He could only lift her upper body slightly to allow her to breathe easier and relieve some pain.

Madam still had some consciousness left. She patted the back of Ling Yi’s hand slowly, as if she was comforting him.

“Madam…” Ling Yi quietly called out.

Madam Chen slowly opened her eyes.

Ling Yi did not know how to describe the look in her eyes at that moment.

Fear, despair, a forced pretence of calmness.

“Who did it?” asked Ling Yi.

The only move he could think of right now was to ask Madam about the murderer.

Madam did not answer him.

Her eyes gradually calmed down. She slowly raised her index finger, pressed it to her lips, and made a silencing gesture.

Then, she closed her eyes, her last look was at the screen full of numbers and curves.

“Madam?”

There was no response. Her breathing had completely stopped.

Ling Yi looked at the entire room.

When they entered, Madam was already on her final breaths—with an injury this serious, two minutes was enough to end a person’s life, so the attacker could not have gotten too far, perhaps not even out of the room. He and Silas walked through a long, straight corridor in order to reach Madam’s office, so if someone exited, they would be seen, but there was no one!

Silas and the medical robot entered together.

The robot emitted a monotonous voice. “Confirmed death.”

Ling Yi looked across the empty room. There was no place that could hide a person.

Behind the supercomputer?

He put down Madam and walked to the blind spot where he just gazed at—there was no one.

He went back to Madam, whose movements stopped at that gesture.

Why was she killed? That silencing gesture, what did it mean?

Ling Yi jerked his head up at the screen Madam was looking at in her final moments.

In that short, short moment, the screen had already turned blank.

A ghost roamed the ship.

*

The author has something to say:

Entering the final part =w=

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