Professor Linton patted his chest and took a few deep breaths before squeezing out a few words through gritted teeth, his face flushed red: "Are you helping me or setting me up?"

Gerald lowered his eyes, looking at his clasped hands resting on his knees, his words devoid of any tone or emotion: "I am a neutral party to begin with, entrusted to handle matters. Judging right or wrong is not within the scope of my duties."

"Oh? Neutral?" Professor Linton glanced at him sideways, his expression half wary, half suspicious. "Then why didn't you directly transmit the information back, but instead came to ask me and reminded me to think it through clearly?"

"Because these five minutes do not count as work time." Gerald's clasped fingers moved, replacing a shrug.

"Hey," Shen Lan had never liked Gerald to begin with, and every extra second in the same room made his annoyance deepen. Hearing the two of them go back and forth, he couldn't help but say, "Don't talk among yourselves there, no one can understand."

"There are three obviously uninformed companions here waiting to hear an explanation." Dennis chimed in after Shen Lan, deliberately emphasizing the words "obviously uninformed" and "companions," showing a strong sense of sarcasm and anger.

Gerald looked up at him, but did not take the initiative to start, instead pushing back the cuff of his white coat to reveal the watch face on his wrist. This seemed to be the first time Xia Chuan and the others had seen anything related to time since arriving on this ship.

"Unfortunately, there's only a minute and a half left, you need to hurry." After checking his watch, Gerald tapped the coffee table to remind Professor Linton.

"My goodness, why is it so slow usually, but now it's like riding a rocket." Professor Linton hurriedly muttered, then said to Xia Chuan and the others, "There's no time to say much. Just ask the questions you most want to know, and I'll say as much as I can. For the rest, I'll come find you in twelve hours."

Hearing this, Xia Chuan and the others only felt more questions arising. Why the rush? What does a minute and a half left mean? Why find them again in twelve hours? But these didn't seem to be the most pressing matters.

"What does the code on Shen Lan's shoulder mean?" Dennis was the first to speak, asking what Xia Chuan and Shen Lan most wanted to know.

The two of them were stunned for a moment, then simultaneously turned their gazes to Gerald and Professor Linton, waiting for their answer.

Professor Linton had probably made up his mind to make things clear to them. With time so tight now, he didn't beat around the bush any longer and stated decisively, "That is the code for experimental subjects, originating from a deep-sea experiment the company has been conducting since the 1980s. The one on his back is shenlan02, representing experimental subject No. 2."

Dennis frowned upon hearing this. "Company? Which company? You don't mean the company we're currently working for, do you?"

"Yes." Professor Linton nodded. "Wes Company."

Actually, when they saw Professor Linton and Gerald huddled together secretly discussing something, Xia Chuan and the others already had a vague premonition in their hearts. But hearing Professor Linton confirm it in person still felt somewhat... unbelievable.

"Isn't this just an energy company?" Dennis looked incredulous. "Have your brains been waterlogged to conduct human experiments? What's the point of doing that? Don't tell me it's to kidnap world leaders and bomb the White House or something? Are you filming a movie? Aren't there enough to watch in Hollywood?"

"Of course not." Hearing his increasingly contemptuous tone, Professor Linton repeatedly denied it. "The company is conducting this experiment for its original line of business. But the reasons behind it are a bit complicated and can't be explained in a sentence or two. At least not with the current time available. And even within a minute and a half, Gerald and I still need to avoid certain keywords, otherwise the information will still be captured. So..."

"Thirty seconds left." Gerald abruptly spoke up to remind them.

Professor Linton immediately stopped talking and stared at Xia Chuan and the others, indicating for them to ask quickly if they had questions.

But in this kind of countdown environment, it becomes even harder for people to make choices, especially since Xia Chuan and the others had accumulated too many questions and didn't know where to start. With Gerald's prompting, Dennis simply asked, "What do you mean by counting down like this?"

"Information devices have been implanted in us. Everything we do and say at all times is captured by the terminal, especially those containing keywords. These information devices automatically restart every twelve hours, with a five-minute gap in between."

"To be precise, four minutes and forty-seven seconds." Gerald added, "Thanks to a little oversight by your friend."

"My friend?" Dennis looked puzzled again.

"The oscilloscope." Professor Linton concisely reminded him.

"Huh?" Only then did Dennis remember the friend who had given him the completed oscilloscope, asking him to bring it out and help test it. "So you're saying everyone in the company knows the whole story, and I'm the only one kept in the dark?"

"Of course not. At most, only one or two departments are currently involved in this experiment. Your department is not involved." After explaining, Professor Linton added, "Besides, what's so good about being involved? Once you're on the ship, you can't get off."

"Ten seconds left." Gerald looked down at his watch and reminded them again.

"Shut up!" Dennis was extremely irritated at this point. Hearing him count down the time made him even more anxious and unable to suppress his temper.

Gerald: "..."

He lifted his eyelids and glanced at Dennis. Only then did Dennis react, sheepishly rubbing his nose.

"Twelve hours from now, I'll come find you. There will be nearly five minutes of time then, enough for me to give you a thorough explanation." Professor Linton quickened his speech. "It's precisely because I have an information device on me that I separated from you after exiting the semi-Cretaceous E17. Otherwise, it wouldn't be good for you. Can my explanation make you believe I mean no harm? I don't want to regret it again, so I'm on your side."

As he finished his last word, Gerald raised his hand and tapped his watch face. This time he didn't speak, but Xia Chuan and the others all understood his meaning - time was up.

He stood up abruptly when no one had time to react, walked up to Dennis, grabbed his chin to tilt his head up, and pretentiously pulled open his eyelids to take a look. He then lifted Dennis' chin and said, "Open your mouth."

Dennis looked a bit dazed but reflexively opened his mouth, allowing Gerald to grab his chin and examine it from side to side.

"Hmm, your tonsils have also gone down. No need to stay in the infirmary anymore. I'll arrange a single room for you." Gerald seamlessly switched to the role of a doctor, maintaining a serious expression throughout, not revealing at all what he had done in the past five minutes.

Shen Lan, still very averse to seeing Gerald, directly grabbed Xia Chuan's wrist the moment time was up and walked out the door without a word.

"Hey, wait for me!" Dennis hurriedly stood up and followed behind them. Just as he was about to exit, he seemed to remember something and paused. "By the way..."

Gerald looked up, signaling him to spit it out.

"Do you have any extra clothes? I can't just wander around in a hospital gown, right? The girls will laugh if they see me." Dennis asked, tugging at his collar with some disdain.

After hearing this, Gerald stared at him expressionlessly and firmly said, "No, just wear that. We'll deal with it when it stinks."

Dennis: "..." He so badly wanted to flip him off, but didn't quite dare to.

The three of them had to settle for this incomplete explanation, with most of their questions still shrouded in fog, clueless. But a minute and a half was too short, and there was really nothing more to say. They could only wait until twelve hours later.

Disrupted by this unexpected turn of events, the three of them lost most of their appetite and felt a bit lazy even seeing the dining hall. Their minds were occupied with what Professor Linton had said and the questions they didn't get a chance to ask. There was simply no extra space for anything else. Even Shen Lan felt there was nothing he wanted to eat in this situation, with the desire for food being pushed aside.

They hastily stuffed some things into their stomachs at the dining hall, not daring to eat too much to avoid torturing their intestines after prolonged hunger.

When they returned to their rooms, the hallway on their floor remained relatively quiet. Most of the rooms with nameplates had their doors tightly closed, and it was unknown if anyone had come out. Occasionally, one or two doors were left ajar, with murmuring voices inside, not too noisy.

Someone was playing a CD in one of the half-open rooms. Xia Chuan rarely had time for entertainment and naturally wasn't familiar with the song playing on the CD. He only felt that the singer's voice was hoarse and the style of the song was a bit old-fashioned.

They glanced over instinctively and saw a very young girl flash by through the crack in the door.

"Someone this young actually likes listening to GNR songs? It's been almost a dozen or twenty years." Dennis immediately recognized it and casually remarked, "I quite like them too."

But this was obviously not the time to discuss hobbies. After the remark, it was thrown into the sea along with the waves outside the ship.

For most of the day after that, they didn't see any sign of Nurse Bonnie. Dennis, having nowhere to go and not wanting to hole up in the infirmary, shamelessly crashed in Xia Chuan and Shen Lan's room.

They had no mind to deal with other matters and just kept discussing what Professor Linton had said, while keeping an eye on the wall clock, waiting for Professor Linton to come find them.

Who would have thought, when it was just getting dark, two hours shy of twelve hours, there was a knock on Xia Chuan and the others' door.