The man’s gaze was so calm it bordered on cold. "They all volunteered for the calibrations."

The female Beta seemed enraged by his words, veins popping on her forehead. "Then you could have waited until the technology was mature before letting them try! How old are they? Medical pods can’t save them from cortical death, and this serum only has a one percent chance of working."

She was trembling with agitation, her fury reaching its peak.

Her breathing was ragged. She had to forcefully suppress her anger to keep it in check.

But the man standing before her remained expressionless. "If everything was as you say, then I wouldn’t be here."

The female Beta looked up at the man, who was much taller than her, and ground her teeth. "You’re the one in a hundred who made it. This is being paid for with lives. Do other people’s lives not matter?"

She took a deep breath and turned away, knowing that arguing with him any further would be pointless.

She reined in the fire in her chest. "I’m going to report this. If this continues, everyone will be doomed sooner or later."

A look of grief flickered in her eyes. "They’re just kids."

The man met her words with silence. He turned as well, adjusting the brim of his hat. "Do as you wish."

He got into his car in silence, and soon the vehicle that had been parked in the courtyard drove away.

Leaving the woman standing there all alone.

The brightly lit building was like a giant beast that devoured human lives, its fangs perpetually bared, waiting to claim its next victim.

She hadn’t even started walking back inside when she saw the assistant from earlier run over, panting. He looked at her with an equally strained expression and shook his head.

Shannon Stone’s feet felt as if they were trapped in mud, as if she were sinking into a swamp. She couldn’t lift them, and even her throat felt dry.

"Make the arrangements as usual," she said, her voice hoarse, as if she had resigned herself to her fate.

The assistant looked at her nervously. "Dr. Sloan, are you all right?"

"I’m fine. You go on back. I’ll just stand here a little longer," Shannon Stone said slowly.

Since she had said so, the assistant could only comply. He walked away, looking back every few steps at Shannon Stone, who remained rooted to the spot, simply staring up at the sky in silence.

Shannon Stone didn’t slowly walk back through the wide entrance until the wind had chilled her to the bone.

Zoe Pierce and the others had watched the entire exchange from the shadows.

Although they still couldn’t determine the exact cause of death, they now knew that more Betas than expected had died recently.

People shouldn’t be dying in a place that just manufactures Mechas.

But when they thought about how Mechas were piloted, it made a grim sort of sense. Alphas needed spiritual power to link with a Mecha, but Betas were born without it.

Cortical death—in terms everyone could understand, it was brain death.

Medical pods could treat superficial wounds. Even severed limbs could be replaced with mechanical prosthetics. As long as a person was still breathing, external injuries could be healed to a non-lethal state.

But when it came to neurological damage, medical pods were useless.

These people had somehow found a way for Betas to link with Mechas.

But the technology was clearly not mature enough. It was causing the Betas who linked with the Mechas to suffer a direct, complex neurological shock, resulting in cortical death.

They all thought of the man who had driven up earlier. From what he’d said, it was clear there had been successful cases.

The group retreated some distance. Only after confirming there was no one and no mechanical eyes around did they begin to speak.

"This must be a hospital," Miles Sherman said, glancing at the faintly lit building in the distance. "There might have been some major development on Planet B36 recently, causing a sudden increase in the need for people who can pilot Mechas."

Erin Xavier and Zoe Pierce whispered at the same time, "A Xenobeast Tide?"

It was just a tentative theory, but if it were true, the situation was far more serious than any of them had imagined.

Was it possible that Planet B36 hadn’t actually been free of Xenobeast Tides all these years?

Instead, the Xenobeast Tides were being suppressed by Planet B36 before they could cause large-scale damage.

The price was a supply of Betas capable of piloting the Mechas they had developed, a process that was clearly fraught with risk.

Success meant survival. Failure likely had only one outcome: death.

’Is Planet B36 conducting human experiments?’

If this scandal ever broke, the fallout would be sensational.

Looking at just Wesley White and this hospital, they were already getting a glimpse of the shadow’s edge. And they hadn’t even begun to investigate the most confidential locations yet.

"The N781 Ore... is it possible..." Zoe Pierce murmured. "Could it be used for the link between Betas and Mechas?"

The previous night, Chase Shaw had explained the properties of N781 very clearly. N781 acted like a lubricant for Mechas, allowing various metals to integrate smoothly.

She didn’t know much about these metals, but that didn’t stop her from some wild speculation.

’Using such a large quantity on metals alone isn’t logical. So what if it’s being used specifically for the link between Betas and Mechas?’

She looked at Miles Sherman.

Miles was the only one on the team from the Mechanical System. Even if he didn’t know as much about ores as Chase Shaw, he was still very knowledgeable.

"The spiritual power interface of a Mecha contains a certain amount of N781."

This wasn’t a secret; it was common knowledge.

But now, actually considering this possibility, Miles Sherman still found it absurd.

’Why would Planet B36 go to such great lengths to develop such a flawed Mecha? Was it just for the Xenobeast Tides?’

’The price for that is far too high.’

Besides, Siren Star was established to aid surrounding planets suffering from Xenobeast Tides. It had always treated everyone equally and never caused any trouble. There was no need to pay such a price for Mecha pilots.

And combining that with what Julian Chambers had said, a subtle and pervasive form of spiritual abuse had been taking place on B36 for a long time.

Planet B36 was transforming the entire planet into a pure Beta planet, devoid of Alphas and Omegas.

’What are they trying to do?’

Miles Sherman now felt that it had been reckless for just the few of them to investigate this. This matter had to be reported to the officials on Siren Star.

He was deep in thought, as was Zoe Pierce.

’In that case, there’s probably an eighty percent chance her guess is right.’

"Miles, you’re thinking about pulling out, aren’t you?" Erin Xavier knew Miles Sherman better than Zoe Pierce did. Seeing Miles’s expression, he had a good idea of what was on his mind.

A muscle in Miles Sherman’s brow twitched. As expected, he saw the look of opposition on Erin Xavier’s face.

This was a common problem of his—being too cautious when taking action. His gaze fell on Zoe Pierce.

He didn’t want anything to happen to anyone.

"Let me make this clear, I’m not leaving," Erin Xavier said, a smile playing on his lips. "This is getting too interesting."

Every discovery was like a small hook, scratching at his heart.

How could someone like him, who loved excitement and investigation, let this go?

"Right, Zoe Pierce?" He tilted his head, his round eyes curving into a smile at her.