Before this exploration, Jiang Baimian was wondering if Holm Reproductive Medical Center had any connection with the Northern Company.
After all, Fan Wensi's vegetative son was highly likely connected to the Changhe City United Steel Factory and the Tieshan City Second Food Company, two major Buddhist holy sites. As a volunteer, he was sent to a place in the north for treatment, which inevitably reminded people of the Northern Company that Yu Fahe attended the 29th International Biotechnology Expo.
Therefore, it was a logical deduction that Holm Reproductive Medical Center, as another Buddhist holy site, had some degree of connection with the Northern Company.
Now, this speculation has been confirmed, and everything is slowly converging in a certain direction.
Jiang Baimian's spirits lifted, and she looked at Oak, the vice president of the Northern Company, with a mix of excitement and curiosity.
This man was over 1.8 meters tall, with blond hair and blue eyes, belonging to the more common Red River race.
Although he was impeccably dressed in a suit and had a polite smile, Jiang Baimian still felt that he was closer to a researcher or technician than a company executive.
This judgment was made from small details:
The small rebellious tuft of hair at the back of Oak's head, the poorly tied tie, the obvious acne on the sides of his face, and his restless hands all indicated certain things.
Of course, Jiang Baimian didn't dare to say that her speculation was definitely correct.
What if he had just drunk heavily the night before, had a minor endocrine problem, and didn't have time to groom himself properly in the morning before rushing to lead the delegation?
After remembering Oak's slightly rough appearance, Jiang Baimian naturally looked at the man next to him, who was suspected to be the director of Holm Reproductive Medical Center.
--This man appeared in more than a dozen photos, so Jiang Baimian made this judgment.
He was about four or five centimeters shorter than Oak, with a plump physique, light yellow hair, and thin metal-framed glasses. Both the hair gel on his head and the watch on his wrist were perfectly matched.
"Chikhov," Jiang Baimian read the name softly.
Behind Chikhov and Oak stood a neat row of people. The left side was clearly the named employees of Holm Reproductive Medical Center, and the right side belonged to the Northern Company's delegation.
Unlike the Holm Reproductive Medical Center, which was all Red River people, the representatives of the Northern Company also included Ashlanders and Red Coasters, with the former being no less numerous than the Red River people.
This reminded Jiang Baimian of Tainan's boss, Ai Nuo, introducing the nine major research institutes:
The research institution jointly established by the most powerful Ashlander country and the most powerful Red River country before the destruction of the Old World, whose purpose seemed to be oriented towards the future.
The composition includes Red River people and Ashlanders, which is quite close... Jiang Baimian carefully scrutinized these personnel.
--They were not labeled with names, so she could only rely on their appearance to remember them.
At this time, Long Yuehong had overcome his embarrassment and was looking through the books, pictures, and brochures on the ground, hoping to find something worth noting.
Soon, his eyes lit up, reflecting the name of a brochure:
《Gene Optimization During Pregnancy for the Radical Cure of Certain Congenital Diseases》
Isn't this common knowledge? Long Yuehong, who came from "Pangu Biology," quickly finished reading this brochure and looked for similar materials.
Before long, he had a stack of books and brochures such as "The Impact of Gene Optimization on Fetal Intelligence" and "The Practical Significance of Gene Optimization in Early Pregnancy."
If he wasn't wearing "Black Swamp Iron Serpent" bionic intelligent armor and holding a "Berserker" assault rifle, Long Yuehong would have thought he was back in his childhood.
In that era, he often saw similar promotional materials at his grandparents' and grandparents' homes.
This was "Pangu Biology's" effort to promote genetic modification.
Once everyone saw the results and experienced the benefits, such promotion gradually disappeared.
However, "Pangu Biology" internally preferred to use "genetic modification," while this area represented by Holm Reproductive Medical Center was accustomed to using "optimization" to describe this matter.
There was no right or wrong between the two; it was just a different preference in wording.
"This reproductive medical center is still doing genetic modification," Long Yuehong straightened up and told his companions about his discovery.
Shang Jianyao, who was not far from him, chuckled honestly:
"Before the destruction of the Old World, genetic modification was a general trend, and many key achievements were quite mature."
This was not a field that only "Pangu Biology" and the "White Knights" could get involved in.
After the destruction of the Old World, over the years, under various intentional and unintentional propaganda, many major forces regarded genetic modification as humans intruding into the forbidden zone of the gods and violating natural selection. They believed that this was the root cause of the destruction of the Old World and the outbreak of "Heartless Disease." Therefore, corresponding technologies became taboo in most areas. Even if someone unearthed valuable information from the city ruins, it would likely be destroyed.
For this kind of thing, "Pangu Biology" was happy to see it happen, and the nobles of "Initial City" were obviously too.
After several generations of accepting optimization, providing feedback, and making improvements, the genetic modification technology currently mastered by "Pangu Biology" and the "White Knights" had long surpassed that before the destruction of the Old World.
Long Yuehong defended:
"What I mean is that we can't regard this place as a simple reproductive medical center."
"Of course, it's not simple; it's also a Buddhist holy site!" Shang Jianyao said earnestly.
Long Yuehong chose to shut up.
Seeing this, Jiang Baimian explained that she had discovered that the Northern Company had visited Holm Reproductive Medical Center and said at the end:
"The Northern Company came to the Fahe area to participate in the International Biotechnology Expo in order to showcase its latest genetic research results."
Bai Chen's heart moved:
"Then they received an invitation from Holm Reproductive Medical Center?
"The two sides decided to conduct some cooperation in genetic research?"
"In theory, that's how it is," Jiang Baimian said, recalling, "But judging from the dates, the Old World was destroyed less than a week after the Northern Company visited here and left the Fahe District."
No matter what kind of cooperation, there was not enough time to develop it.
In other words, even if the two sides really had cooperation, it had nothing to do with the destruction of the Old World and the outbreak of "Heartless Disease."
Long Yuehong said "Uh":
"Then the reason why this place became a Buddhist holy site can't be because of that very weak connection with the Northern Company, right?"
If that's the case, then the place in the Fahe District that hosted the International Biotechnology Expo is even more sacred!
"This is the direction of our next exploration," Jiang Baimian did not make any prior judgments.
After a round of searching, except for Shang Jianyao stuffing some "holy magazines" into his tactical backpack, and Jiang Baimian remembering the appearance of Oak, the vice president of the Northern Company, Chikhov, the director of Holm Reproductive Medical Center, and others, the "Old Task Force" had no other gains.
Back in the central location of the hall, Shang Jianyao asked with great excitement:
"Can we start?"
Jiang Baimian nodded and said to Long Yuehong and Bai Chen:
"You go outside and look at the situation in the hall through the windows."
This was their experience from exploring Room 302 of Building 4, Area 2 of the Steel Factory Ruins Family Area.
After Bai Chen and Long Yuehong took their positions, Shang Jianyao was already sitting cross-legged, holding the "Six Senses Beads" in one hand and unfolding the Steel Factory Ruins medical record restoration in the other.
He "chanted" the content of the medical record in the tone of chanting Buddhist scriptures.
Everything inside Holm Reproductive Medical Center was as usual.
After confirming this from Bai Chen and Long Yuehong via walkie-talkie, Jiang Baimian signaled Shang Jianyao to take out the small jade Buddha.
Shang Jianyao followed suit, reached into his pocket, took out the lake-green small jade Buddha, and held it in his palm.
This time, there was still no change in the surrounding area.
The methods that were useful when the "Old Task Force" explored the Tieshan City Second Food Company had lost their effectiveness.
"It's not working..." Shang Jianyao held the small jade Buddha and stood up regretfully.
Jiang Baimian pondered slightly and picked up the walkie-talkie:
"Little Bai, Little Hong, you can come back.
"Then we'll search the second floor and do a similar thing again."
After Long Yuehong and Bai Chen returned to the team, the members of the "Old Task Force" maintained their combat formation and stepped up the stairs to the second floor.
The interior of Holm Reproductive Medical Center was indeed less damaged. It basically maintained its original state, with only a small number of tables and chairs overturned or deviating from their original areas, and black bloodstains could be seen in a few places.
While walking along the long and quiet corridor, Jiang Baimian and others entered each room, looking for clues.
After checking room by room, Long Yuehong habitually took the lead and entered the room on the right front.
The first thing that caught his eye was an oil painting of a woman with exposed breasts, and then he saw a large number of similar objects and LCD screens, etc.
Long Yuehong blushed and retreated from the room.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Baimian asked.
Shang Jianyao came forward curiously, came to Long Yuehong's side, and glanced at the situation in the room.
Bang!
He patted the side of the "Berserker" assault rifle and said:
"I understand.
"This is the Sutra Acquisition Room."
After speaking, he chanted a Buddhist chant in a low voice:
"Namo Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi."
Jiang Baimian and Bai Chen instantly understood Shang Jianyao's true meaning.
Suppressing her laughter, Jiang Baimian simply instructed:
"Just search quickly; there shouldn't be any clues here."
As she said, the "Old Task Force" did not find any useful information in this room.
After leaving this area and turning into the transverse corridor, Jiang Baimian saw a nameplate with a glance:
"Director of the Center's Office"