Central Base, the outskirts.
Dr. Qi stood in a pile of stinking, withered branches and dead leaves, surrounded by a circle of armed soldiers.
They had just finished another simulation of the environment in the NX1984 Area before the mass plant mutation, hoping to discover the cause.
But clearly, they had failed again.
Dr. Qi took out a snow-white handkerchief and wiped a speck of dirt from his glasses, then silently stepped back.
A soldier with an Earth Ability immediately stepped forward and activated his power, exposing the remaining root systems of the plants and the various Crystal Core Fragments that had been buried beforehand.
Some began taking pictures, some began digging through the soil, and some watched the surrounding mutant plants with wary expressions, on guard against a sudden mutation...
Dr. Qi, for his part, took the petri dish and gloves handed to him by his assistant and began collecting samples for on-site analysis.
