The guard captain pressed his wristwatch and spoke through the earpiece. "Shut off the alarm. We have the situation under control for the moment. Do not further agitate this visitor from beyond the skies."
"Captain Chen, the alarm is because the test subjects have malfunctioned. They broke out of the lab and are wreaking havoc. Please evacuate your current position at once. You are close to them."
The voice in his earpiece was taut with urgency.
Captain Chen stiffened and barked to his team, "Quick, escort them to the safe zone. The test subjects here have gone wrong."
He looked to Han Lian and Professor Huang and raised his voice, "You two, leave with me now. The subjects in Sector C have broken out and are charging this way. Follow me—"
Before he could finish, Han Lian saw figures and monsters rushing toward them. Professor Huang's face drained of color. His lips trembled. "Miss, let us leave. Those test subjects strike very hard."
Han Lian did not move. She only frowned at the things scrabbling forward on four limbs, human yet not human. Aside from the human head, their bodies were stretched, their four limbs long and muscular. Their eyes were vacant. They attacked anything within sight.
A squad of fully armed guards braced ahead of them and opened fire to cut down the humanoid monsters.
Sensing threat, the creatures let out hoarse roars. Claws flashed as they lunged for the guards' heads. They were fast. Wounded guards appeared at once.
Captain Chen had no choice but to charge with the rest, shielding Professor Huang. He even forgot his fear of Han Lian and shouted, "You go first."
Han Lian stepped forward, calm. "Stand down."
Captain Chen thought he had misheard. He glanced back at Han Lian, and his team was suddenly pushed to either side of the passage by a gentle force.
Han Lian's fingers shifted. Countless ice needles rose to hover at her sides. A breath later, under the control of her divine sense, the needles lanced into the monsters' hearts and skulls. The leading creature was nailed to the wall by four needles. The corridor cleared in an instant. The humanoid monsters all collapsed, breath gone.
Captain Chen swallowed with difficulty. He felt as if his squad had circled the edge of death and come back. His gaze toward Han Lian changed completely.
Han Lian flashed to the monster she had pinned to the wall. Threads of divine sense entered its head to read its memories. Three breaths later, she withdrew, eyes puzzled. She returned to Professor Huang's side and said mildly, "Professor Huang, let us talk in your office."
"Oh. Mm. Yes."
Professor Huang managed only those three words. When his legs felt less weak, he led the way toward his private office.
Captain Chen told his people, "I will take two to escort Professor Huang and the lady. The rest of you stay and assist Third Squad with cleanup."
"Yes, Captain."
A quarter of an hour later, Professor Huang reached his office door, opened it with a palm scan, and courteously invited Han Lian inside.
Han Lian said to Captain Chen, "You need not enter. If you are uneasy, stand guard at the door."
There was nothing he could say. They could not defeat her, and she had just saved them from disaster. Captain Chen nodded and stood watch outside.
Han Lian spent a full day reviewing Azure Star's evolutionary history from Professor Huang and the materials in his office. She also perceived what was wrong with this realm.
What she wanted most was to search souls. That would yield answers directly. But she knew the souls of Azure Star's people were weak and could not endure her soul search. If she searched, they would likely die.
Earlier, she had tried to search the monster's soul and discovered those creatures had no souls at all. They were walking corpses.
So she asked the nearly eyelid-drooping Professor Huang, "What are you studying those monsters for?"
Professor Huang was exhausted in body and mind, half dazed, but he forced his eyes open. "They are products of soul dissipation during reincarnation. We did not deliberately manufacture them."
"Reincarnation? Soul dissipation?"
Han Lian seized on the two terms and asked, curious, "What do you mean by reincarnation? And how does soul dissipation occur?"
Professor Huang rallied and explained, "To say 'reincarnation' is not quite accurate. Without a soul, a person grows up foolish at best. When a person with a soul reaches bodily decline, we recover the soul and implant it into a new womb. One could call it another form of reincarnation.
In this process some souls dissipate for no reason. The newborns then lack autonomous consciousness. Under some unknown influence, a portion of those dull children eventually grow into the monsters you saw.
We retain these failed reincarnation subjects for study to find the cause. We do not create monsters on purpose."
For the first time, surprise broke through Han Lian's calm. Anger followed. "You are reckless. You dare meddle in the Reincarnation Division of the underworld. No wonder such monsters appear."
Now it was Professor Huang's turn to stare. "What is the Reincarnation Division? Do you not control population in this way?"
Han Lian had no desire to speak further. She finally understood the strangeness she had felt since arriving. She raised a hand and calculated, only to find she could not even sense the Gate of Ghosts. Her conclusion hardened. This small world had no connection to the underworld. Reincarnation here was artificial.
She could not decide whether to praise Azure Star's people for their audacity or pity them for pushing themselves toward a dead end. No wonder the laws of heaven and earth here were so weak. Although her divine sense had been suppressed to the Golden Core late stage, she felt that with time it could recover to the strength of the Divine Transformation realm.
More importantly, her Divine Transformation realm combat strength was not restricted. Yet this small world had no spiritual qi and no demonic qi. Once she exhausted the spiritual power within her and all her resources, she would be merely an ordinary cultivator with a powerful soul.
Han Lian rubbed her brow. This was not something she could resolve alone. She had to find her companions quickly. Perhaps they had a way to address it.
Like Ran Xi and Xun Kun, Han Lian took out a message jade slip and sent word to her friends, then waited for their replies. For now, she decided to remain at the research base to gather more information.
Elsewhere, Yun Chen Fózǐ was comparatively fortunate. After the red cord linking him to Han Lian was shredded by the spatial gale, he manifested the golden body of a Fózǐ, shielded himself through the boundary, and fell into Azure Star. By chance, he landed in a deep mountain scenic zone, where park rangers found him and carried him to safety.