Upon hearing Baili Qing's suddenly serious tone, the researcher dressed in heavy protective gear immediately became nervous, and even through the transparent visor, Yu Sheng could see beads of sweat forming on the other's nose.

"From what we can tell, that seems to be the case," a somewhat muffled voice came from beneath the protective suit, "but not all materials are affected. So far we've only confirmed that one type of rock undergoes this strange transformation near the Mother Crystal."

Baili Qing's face remained tense. "… So, you're saying it spreads this way? The 'secondary crystals' produced through assimilation have the same properties?"

"It doesn't look like we need to worry for now," the researcher relaxed a bit as he said this, "The 'secondary crystals' produced through assimilation don't show similar properties. At least up until now, this phenomenon has only been observed around the Mother Crystal, so it shouldn't develop into a 'chain reaction' that gradually engulfs the entire world."

Baili Qing's taut expression relaxed slightly—Yu Sheng felt quite perceptive, as he could even discern the subtle micro-expressions on the face of this Ironclad Expression.

"How wide is the range of the crystal's influence?" Yu Sheng asked casually.

The researcher, hearing Yu Sheng's question, hesitated at first, then turned his gaze to Baili Qing with an inquiring look.

"Just say it, no need to look at me," Baili Qing said, "He's Yu Sheng, and this is Erin. They have the same level of access to information about Dark Angel as I do."

"Ah, alright!" The researcher seemed to know something inside, and upon hearing the name "Yu Sheng," his expression changed, with a slightly invigorated spirit, he quickly began to speak. "So far, we haven't measured an exact range, but we've roughly determined it doesn't exceed twenty meters, forming a spherical area centered on the Mother Crystal."

"So the range isn't that large," Erin muttered, "How should I put this, it's kind of like an... 'obedient child'? I mean, compared to the other Dark Angels."

Baili Qing gave a slight nod and then asked, "Anything else? Any other discoveries?"

"There exists a certain resonant link between the Mother Crystal and the secondary crystals. We observed them alternating with a low, gentle vibration within a range of about one hundred meters, but we can't yet determine whether this 'resonance' has any 'significance'—it might just be a natural phenomenon, or it could involve some type of 'life activity' that we can't comprehend.

"Additionally, we've observed complex structural changes within the secondary crystals. Roughly every 33.3 seconds, they realign their lattice structure, which we call 'reconfiguration'. This reconfiguration doesn't alter their physical characteristics on the surface, like hardness, transparency, and color, but intrinsically, it's as if every 33.3 seconds, the secondary crystal becomes a new individual—yet within the Mother Crystal, this variation doesn't occur; its structure remains consistently stable.

"Currently, these are our main findings. More advanced testing plans are under careful consideration since the samples are valuable, we must avoid causing any damage to the Mother Crystal. Thus, any method that might result in physical harm can't be easily employed."

"Necessary caution," Baili Qing nodded lightly, acknowledging the careful approach, "This is humanity's first time collecting remnants following an Angel Fall, so we need to be careful."

Yu Sheng had been staring at the crystal on the platform since earlier, his eyes gradually tinged with eager anticipation. His shoulder-mounted Puppet first noticed the change in his gaze, "Hey, what are you planning to do?"

"Ahem," Yu Sheng coughed lightly, glancing at the researcher, "How many 'Mother Crystals' are there in total?"

"The recovery team sent a total of four," the researcher replied casually, "Why, is something wrong?"

"...Can I touch this one?" Yu Sheng raised his hand, pointing to the platform, "But I'm afraid I might damage it, so I'm asking in advance, since you just said these samples are very precious."

The researcher's expression froze momentarily, then he turned to look at Baili Qing—this wasn't something he dared to agree to casually.

Even Baili Qing's expression appeared slightly stunned.

Yu Sheng scratched his head, "If not, then just forget it."

Baili Qing took a deep breath, as if many rounds of internal struggle played out in her mind before she finally replied with a stern face, "I guess you don't mean an ordinary person's 'touch', right?"

Yu Sheng was somewhat embarrassed, "If possible, I'd also like to smear some blood on it."

Several researchers around began sweating immediately, and Yu Sheng even suspected that if Baili Qing wasn't present, these people would either pounce on him or faint.

But after a long period of weighing the options, Baili Qing finally nodded.

"Go ahead and try," she said solemnly, "but... be careful."

"I must emphasize, this isn't part of the standard lab procedures," one researcher muttered softly behind, "Just placing your hand on it violates seven or eight regulations..."

Yu Sheng pretended not to hear. Under the tense and conflicting gazes of everyone around (including Baili Qing), he stepped forward and placed his hand on the "Mother Crystal."

Cold, quiet, like a deep, still pool with no bottom, it did not respond to Yu Sheng's touch.

No "Dead Communication" occurred—to be honest, Yu Sheng felt a bit disappointed at that moment.

Anka Aela was truly gone.

He composed himself, took a small knife from his pocket, and cut his hand—it didn't cut, so he tried again, still no cut.

The atmosphere seemed a bit awkward, and Yu Sheng couldn't help but smile wryly, "Uh, I've used this to cut my hand quite a bit, it seems to have dulled."

"That's not dull, it's serrated!" Erin exclaimed, "How tough has your skin got now?"

Yu Sheng didn't say a word, just kept cutting with a knife, struggling for quite a while before finally managing to get a wound on himself. Then he started to grimace and squeeze out blood while moving closer to that Mother Crystal.

The people around him were stunned. This scene impacted them even more than their concerns about the crystal. One researcher even muttered, "That's a tough guy... Did he literally saw it open?"

"Someone who can fight the Dark Angel isn't ordinary," another researcher followed up, "I was actually thinking of finding a painless blood collection device..."

Yu Sheng was busy squeezing his blood out when he heard the comment and turned his head, his eyes wide open, "You had that thing and didn't tell me earlier? Just watched me saw it open here?!"

"Don't even think about it," Erin tapped his head, "Even with a blood collection device, it probably wouldn't pierce your skin now."

As they spoke, bright red drops of blood had already fallen onto the Mother Crystal.

Everyone's gaze immediately focused on that drop of blood.

Even Yu Sheng himself became nervous, watching his blood slowly flow down the crystal's surface.

Then, the blood was silently absorbed by the crystal.

"Do you feel anything?" Erin immediately asked.

"...Nothing much," Yu Sheng frowned, but then added, "But that's normal. Establishing a blood link often takes time to come into effect, especially with lifeless or strange life forms. Remember, the blood I smeared on your frame took a while to work..."

"Yes, that's right..." The little puppet nodded dumbfoundedly, but then quickly snapped out of it, "Wait a minute! Are you calling me strange?!"

The researchers, having witnessed the scene of the blood being absorbed, looked shocked and one of them exclaimed quietly, "Absorbed?!"

Soon the place bustled with excitement, researchers like they were injected with adrenaline, "New abnormal phenomenon! It can absorb blood! Get the equipment, get the equipment! Start the comprehensive analyzer, hurry hurry hurry ..." "Adjust the data! Platform data!"

Listening to the researcher's commotion, Yu Sheng was startled and then looked around awkwardly, "Um, the characteristic isn't of the crystal, it's mine, my blood is a bit special..."

The surroundings fell silent, and several eyes then turned to focus on him.

Yu Sheng: "..."

This was the first time he encountered such a look.

But he quickly understood.

"You better do something," he turned to Baili Qing, "These people seem to want to dissect me."

Baili Qing also felt a bit awkward, coughed twice, and without saying much, the researchers quickly redirected their gaze.

But Yu Sheng could be one hundred percent sure that their redirected gaze did not equate to redirected attention...

However, he didn't mind, researchers having strong curiosity was very normal.

Then he poked the puppet on his shoulder, "Do you want to try too?"

Erin looked puzzled, "Try what?"

"Those threads of yours, you've used those threads to interact with many things in Anka Aela's Dream Realm before, which also established a link with Anka Aela herself. You should try it out, see if the crystal reacts to you."

Erin felt Yu Sheng's whimsical thinking wasn't logical but his "try it out" suggestion was as enticing as ever.

"Then I'll give it a go," the little puppet rubbed her hands and adjusted her position on Yu Sheng's shoulder, "If it doesn't work, it's not my fault..."

While speaking, she grew serious, and under Yu Sheng's expectant gaze, reached out her right hand towards the Mother Crystal.

Threads of black "spider silk" extended from her fingertips, cautiously approaching the crystal.

The eerie cold aura caused the two researchers closest to her to subconsciously retreat half a step.

Then, when the threads were still about ten centimeters away from the crystal, Yu Sheng heard a clear buzzing sound.

The black threads seemed to collide with a vibrating barrier and were instantly repelled, breaking inch by inch.

"What the heck!"

Even Erin herself was hit by the impact and fell directly off Yu Sheng's shoulder.

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