Watching the surveillance cameras in the laboratory go offline one by one, the young man seemed to see those expensive, precise instruments, computers recording experimental data, and file cabinets consumed by raging flames.

This invasion brought about losses beyond his imagination.

The young man suddenly shouted at the middle-aged man behind him, "Damn it, aren't Professor Gu and Captain Yang done yet?"

"I just asked thirty seconds ago." The middle-aged man's face was also grim as he shook his head, "They said the experiment is at a critical stage and they can't leave."

"Damn it, are we just supposed to watch him act so brazenly?"

The young man slammed his right hand onto the table, "We are the Divine Heart Association! If it weren't for the critical experiment on the fourth floor preventing us from deploying more people, and if Lord He Wu weren't out, how dare a mere Four-Star Spirit Master act so arrogantly?"

Apart from some secret techniques and skills, it's difficult to directly confirm another Spirit Master's level below True Man. One can only sense the other's strength through their aura.

It's not impossible to determine, but confirming a Spirit Master's level is less reliable than determining their threat level—because Spirit Masters often have exceptional Sixth Senses, and most seasoned Spirit Masters will trust the intuition honed between life and death.

This mindset avoids the emergence of techniques that pretend to be High-Star Spirit Masters through deception.

Although Lin Guang is famous, skills akin to the Vishdair Demon-Eating Tiger Shark have never appeared in public view, and aristocratic families wouldn't reveal their weaknesses. Moreover, he easily defeated those Three-Star Spirit Masters on the second floor without unleashing his full power, so everyone assumed he was a Four-Star Spirit Master.

They wouldn't guess he was a Five-Star because if he were, dealing with three squad leaders wouldn't require two Spirit Beasts attacking together.

The middle-aged man took several deep breaths, calming himself down, and pointed at the table with his index finger, "Things have come to this, don't panic, the experiment will be completed soon, and reinforcements will arrive."

"Moreover, when our base was constructed, this kind of intrusion was considered."

"To buy time for transferring the most important data, the third underground level has been deliberately designed like a maze, with numerous intersections and dead ends, in addition to numerous mechanisms. Spirit Rune Arrays were inscribed to release various attacks like poisonous gas, fire, and electricity, enough to rival a Tier Three Spirit Beast's full-force strike."

"Although that person is cunning enough to destroy the surveillance cameras first, preventing us from manually activating the mechanisms, once the alarm sounds and isn't deactivated after ten minutes, the mechanisms enter sensing mode and automatically activate. Based on the timing, it should be activating now. While it may not incapacitate the enemy, it can certainly delay them."

"I see."

The young man showed a glimmer of hope but still had some concerns, "What about the researchers getting injured by mistake?"

"That can't be helped." The middle-aged man snorted coldly, "We've already told them about this in advance. If they're still wandering outside, injuries or death are their own fault."

"True."

The young man exhaled with relief but then glanced at the monitor and suddenly widened his eyes in shock, "Damn, how is he only tens of meters away from the fourth floor?"

"How is that possible?!"

The middle-aged man's expression changed, "The third underground level is an intricate maze, with only one route lacking traps, making it nearly impossible to stumble upon by luck alone. Only we and those above squad leader level know it, could there be a traitor among us?!"

Though shocked, the middle-aged man quickly pressed a nearby button. The surveillance monitor clearly showed the passage between the third and fourth levels slowly being blocked by descending iron gates.

"This should solve it. Even if the intruder uses the same old trick, it'll take considerable time and energy. Captain Yang will deal with him shortly, and if he can't, we can at least hold out until Lord He Wu returns… What?!"

The middle-aged man's eyes widened as he saw that the slowly descending metal gate was stuck mid-air, leaving a gap of nearly two meters below.

"What the hell is the Ox Demon engineering and maintenance department doing, letting this kind of failure happen?!"

If the engineering department were present, they would certainly plead innocence.

The problem wasn't supposed to occur.

But at this moment, almost all spare energy from the small Ethereum Reactor at the base's bottom was siphoned to support the fourth floor's experiment and another crucial Spirit Rune Array.

Both siphoning together, plus maintaining the base's basic functionality and lighting, put a great load on the energy supply lines, and with a bit of unlucky coincidence, a problem occurred.

Unwilling to give up, the middle-aged man frantically pressed the button, but the iron gate wouldn't descend, leaving the two to watch the trio enter the fourth underground floor.

"What are you doing standing around? Hurry and notify Captain Yang!"

...

The three continued down the stairs.

They finally reached the base's bottom floor.

Compared to the third floor, there wasn't much difference, except for a faintly unpleasant smell in the air, filled with some kind of pheromone, making one feel as if they had entered a wild zoo.

Perhaps to hinder Lin Guang's progress, the fourth underground floor wasn't well-lit, with only a few emergency lights providing illumination.

"This is the place…" Lisa mumbled, clasping her magic staff tightly.

At this moment, three burly men wearing Divine Heart Association uniforms slowly emerged from the darkness.

Lin Guang slightly furrowed his brow, noticing that these three seemed off, each with a fierce look on their faces, bulging veins on their arms and necks, as if enduring extreme pain, their bodies wet as if just drenched in rain.

Lin Guang raised an eyebrow slightly, "Careful, something's wrong with them."

As they spoke, the three men simultaneously summoned their Spirit Beasts.

In the next moment, however, they charged along with the Spirit Beasts, their bodies growing as they ran.

Rip—

The black uniforms tore open quickly, exposing crimson hair growing on their arms and faces, wolf ears sprouting on their heads, and sharp fangs showing, transforming into werewolves over two meters tall.

These three, not only terrifying in appearance, seemed to truly become wolf-like Spirit Beasts with formidable physical prowess, their wolf claws gleaming with blood-red glows, easily leaving deep gashes on the walls, assaulting Lin Guang from different directions.

They were unleashing skills with their bodies!

...Then, amid a series of deafening explosions, they were reduced to barely breathing charred bodies by a single punch from Vishdair.

"Scared me for a moment, I thought they were much stronger,"

Vishdair waved his hand, revealing his incredulity with a grimace, "What sort of riff-raff dares to impersonate a Spirit Master?"

Lin Guang glanced at the fallen, still alive but barely conscious three men and their Spirit Beasts, fainted from the impact, without relaxing due to the easy victory.

"They're actually conducting forbidden human experiments…"

He furrowed his brow, falling into deep thought.

This beast transformation… it's neither a talent nor inheritance, nor a Spirit Rune.

Looking at these features, it seems very much like bloodline infusion from the Blue Elite Level Spirit Beast [Blood Wolf of the Breaker].

Is it purely biological technology?

In fact, after the integration of various Otherworld systems and technologies, the Spirit Master profession isn't rigid and not solely a summoner.

Among various techniques, there are indeed many methods using beastification to compensate for the inherent frailty of Spirit Masters.

Indeed, globally, there are numerous techniques to transform into Spirit Beasts and Magical Beasts, such as in Europe, where the families possessing werewolf and blood race talents often have matching secrets, or in Fusang, where Beast Transformation Techniques exist, along with many minor countries' secrets that can achieve this effect.

However, Great Xia rarely sees such practices, and they're not prevalent because, before Six-Star, without special talents, these inherited techniques generally pose risks to one's Sea of Spirit, potentially affecting one's future path.

For example, Great Yue Country's "Human-Beast Burial Technique" requires the Spirit Master to devour their Contracted Spirit Beast at the end, even dismantling the bones to consume, to gain transformation abilities. Yet, the Sea of Spirit becomes influenced by the Spirit Beast's resentment, making contracting new Spirit Beasts considerably more difficult and forever capping their Star Level—unless assisted by a Human-Desirable Divine Object.

Nonetheless, for Spirit Masters facing insurmountable prospects, needing power and security, these methods are still considered valuable strategies.

After all, Spirit Beasts can be found; death is final.

Yet, these individuals before him differed from the secret techniques Lin Guang had encountered in games and online.

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