Blue-Ringed Octopus.
The fact that Lilith wanted to hunt the Blue-Ringed Octopus was no secret within the core levels of Apocalypse.
As the acting leader, understanding all of Lilith's needs and plans was a required course for Leah.
Klein was slightly taken aback for a moment, then nodded.
"Understood."
He didn't ask what the Blue-Ringed Octopus's genes were for.
At this moment, not asking what shouldn't be asked was the most basic rule for survival.
One must always maintain reverence toward the strong.
Lilith glanced sideways, looking at Leah.
That gaze was calm and rippleless, but Leah keenly captured a hint of appreciation.
She felt a surge of joy in her heart, but remained composed on the surface, maintaining her serious expression as a professional adjutant.
Inside the main control room, the tapping of keyboards, the hum of equipment, and hurried footsteps intertwined.
Lilith stood barefoot on the spot, her crimson eyes calmly scanning everything.
Outside the window, the low, long hiss of the Alien Queen could be heard faintly.
In the distance, those Aliens carrying corpses were still busy.
This paradise, which once represented the pinnacle of human genetic technology, was now changing hands in another way.
Standing by the main control seat, Klein looked at that petite back, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
The kingdom he spent his life building had collapsed so easily in the face of absolute power.
But he felt no resentment, no unwillingness.
Because she was worth it.
He suddenly remembered a scene from many years ago when he first met a high-level executive from Umbrella Corporation. That person had said to him:
In this world, true power never belongs to the smartest people, but to the strongest.
At the time, he had dismissed it.
Now, he believed it.
Outside the window, a gust of wind blew by.
The massive silhouette of the Alien Queen moved slowly in the afterglow of the setting sun, like the new master of this broken paradise.
And its master—
Was currently standing barefoot in the center of the main control room, waiting for her spoils of war to be presented one by one... The researchers moved very quickly.
Or rather, under the gaze of Lilith's crimson eyes, no one dared not to be fast.
In less than ten minutes, rows of specialized shelves were pushed over, neatly arranged in the open space in the center of the main control room.
On the shelves, white low-temperature mist slowly descended from above, shrouding the transparent containers of various sizes below like a thin veil.
That was cryogenic gas used to maintain genetic activity; every wisp of mist was worth a fortune.
Inside the containers, liquids of various colors swayed slightly under the cold light.
Some were crystal clear, some glowed with a faint fluorescence, and some presented an eerie dark red.
Those were the optimal gene fragments extracted from different organisms, concentrating the evolutionary essence of their respective species.
"Leader, this is the Blue-Ringed Octopus gene."
Leah took the first container presented and handed it to Lilith with both hands.
It was a palm-sized transparent glass bottle with a detailed label attached to the body.
Collection time, extraction method, activity index, genetic purity—every data point was precise to four decimal places.
But Lilith's gaze only fell on the liquid inside the bottle.
It was a blue so deep it was almost demonic.
Not an ordinary blue, but an ethereal blue found only in the deepest parts of the ocean.
When shaken gently, there seemed to be countless tiny points of light swimming in the liquid.
The optimal fragment of the Blue-Ringed Octopus gene concentrated the terrifying toxin of that tiny creature—enough to kill twenty-six adults—along with its unique Mimicry, color-changing, and nerve control abilities.
Lilith took the glass bottle.
Her fair, slender fingers gripped the bottle, her crimson eyes fixed on that touch of ethereal blue inside.
Then—
She tilted her head back and opened her small mouth.
She poured the entire bottle of genetic essence into her mouth in one gulp.
"???"
The eyes of the researchers secretly observing nearby almost popped out of their sockets.
That was highly concentrated gene raw liquid!
Not sugar water!
Not a drink!
It was the purest gene fragment extracted from a highly venomous organism!
Its toxicity was enough to kill any ordinary life instantly upon contact!
Even those enhanced gene-modified soldiers could only slowly integrate it through micro-injections, in batches, and combined with a large amount of inhibitors and stabilizers.
Drinking it directly?
And an entire bottle?
What! Kind of monster is she!
However, Lilith ignored those horrified gazes.
The blue liquid slid down her throat, cold, slightly viscous, with a hint of faint saltiness.
[Gene Dominator] activated!
Countless cells in her body activated simultaneously, like an extremely precise devouring network, instantly wrapping, decomposing, absorbing, and assimilating that mass of restless genetic essence layer by layer!
Toxins? Those were nutrients.
Rejection? Non-existent.
Lilith closed her eyes, and in her ears, notification sounds rang out one after another.
[Foreign gene detected—Blue-Ringed Octopus optimal fragment.]
[Absorbing...]
[Gene fusion progress: Blue-Ringed Octopus gene fragments % → 23% → 41% → 67%...]
In just a few seconds, the progress bar soared all the way up.
[Fusion complete. Current Blue-Ringed Octopus gene fragments: 87%.]
Lilith opened her eyes, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly.
87%.
Just from one small bottle.
If she relied on hunting Blue-Ringed Octopuses herself, devouring them one by one, who knows when she would have reached this progress.
The genetic inventory of this park was even richer than she had imagined.
She glanced at the empty bottle in her hand and tossed it to Leah.
Leah caught it steadily, understanding in her heart that the residue in this bottle might still have research value.
"Continue."
Lilith spoke, her youthful voice calm and rippleless.
The researchers snapped out of their daze and hurriedly continued to present the subsequent containers.
One bottle.
Two bottles.
Five bottles.
Ten bottles.
Lilith refused none.
She poured genetic essences of various colors into her mouth, one bottle after another.
Velociraptor genes, Pterosaur genes, Ankylosaurus genes, Tyrannosaurus Rex genes... System notifications flooded her consciousness like a waterfall.
The fusion progress of most genes stopped at around 5%.
After all, these were just optimal fragments, and the extracted quantity was limited.
To truly complete the genes, she would still need to hunt the original organisms in reality to fill in the remaining parts.
But this was already enough.
Enough to save her several years of time.
Lilith devoured bottle after bottle, her crimson eyes reflecting the gradually decreasing containers.
Her expression remained calm, as if she were just drinking an ordinary glass of fruit juice.
However, the expressions of the researchers around her could no longer be described by shock alone.
Their mouths hung wide open, and some even forgot to breathe.
Those were genetic essences they had spent years of effort, used countless resources, and gone through countless failures to extract!
It was the most precious inventory of this laboratory!
It was a strategic resource that Umbrella Corporation would fight for at any cost!
And this little girl in front of them... was drinking it like a beverage?!
"This, this is impossible..."
A senior geneticist murmured, his voice trembling.
"Those concentrated gene liquids are highly toxic to any organism! How could she, how could she..."
No one answered him.
Because no one knew the answer.