Shen Lan: "..."

Xia Chuan: "..."

Dennis: "..."

The three were silent for a long time. Then, Shen Lan let out a cold laugh and said, "Who are you trying to fool? Who would believe that?"

Xia Chuan also found it unbelievable. He frowned and said, "How could you possibly be the person in charge? If you were, how would you end up in your current situation?"

He Liang remained calm, his face showing no signs of any issues. He said evenly, "What situation? It's just that the experimental process doesn't look good and it's inconvenient to let friends or family know, so I'm hiding in your room. What does that have to do with my 'situation'? What, when you have problems, do you stand out like a monkey for everyone to admire and appreciate?"

Dennis muttered to the side, "Who would dare treat you guys like monkeys..."

Xia Chuan also spoke calmly, "You are clearly hiding from someone. From what I can see, you wouldn't pay any attention to ordinary people. The ones worthy of your concern are obviously those who can grasp your lifeline. Besides those involved in the experiment who know your physical condition and have the ability to deal with you, I really can't think of any other possibilities. Do you think what I'm saying makes sense?"

He Liang looked at him quietly without saying a word, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

These two men looked similar and had matching auras. When they got serious, even their mannerisms allowed people to catch glimpses of each other in them.

When they confronted each other, they formed a natural atmosphere that no one could penetrate. It didn't seem like hostile arguments, but more like there was an unspeakable bond between them.

Shen Lan and Dennis looked at the two of them, their expressions becoming a bit strange, not knowing what they were thinking. But the two involved were unaware.

Xia Chuan paused for a moment and continued, "I guess there were some deviations in the experimental content, or some changes in your thinking. This led to irreconcilable differences between you and the others working with you, and even with that company. So you appeared on this inconspicuous passenger ship to avoid those people who annoy you. If this experiment was completely under your control, even if Shen Lan showed evidence, you wouldn't believe him at all, let alone half of it."

He Liang raised his eyebrows slightly and gestured with his hand, as if very interested in what Xia Chuan said. "What else did you think of? Go on."

He didn't look like someone who was temporarily at a disadvantage, but more like someone who was used to big scenes or extremely confident in his own abilities, remaining very composed even when at a disadvantage.

Dennis muttered in a low voice, "So calm..."

Shen Lan glared at him. "Heh, of course. As the person in charge, being able to get yourself into this kind of abnormal experiment and become a test subject, you probably can't do it without some perverted mentality."

Xia Chuan: "..." With this volume, you're treating others as if they're deaf?

In contrast, He Liang didn't even move his eyebrows, obviously not minding.

"When normal people are avoiding something life-threatening, they either do it alone to avoid being discovered, or they bring along those in the know. Your friend called Gardner seems a bit unrestrained and obviously doesn't know about these things. And from your previous behavior, you didn't intend to tell him more in-depth things... In this situation, either he's a brother you'd give your life for, or he's also involved but unaware." Xia Chuan simply said everything he could think of.

This was probably the longest speech Dennis and Shen Lan had heard Xia Chuan make.

Xia Chuan himself also found it strange. To be honest, even though they had just fought and He Liang had even elbowed him against the wall, causing considerable pain, he didn't really put He Liang in an adversarial position in his heart. Amidst the wariness, there was always an inexplicable emotion mixed in. In any case, he couldn't bring himself to dislike him.

After hearing his words, He Liang was silent for a while, then nodded and said, "Indeed, you guessed about 70-80% right."

There was no anger in his expression at having his hidden story exposed. On the contrary, he even showed a hint of appreciation towards Xia Chuan.

However, that expression didn't linger on his face for long. After a moment, he resumed a solemn appearance and said, "I don't know why, but you guys inexplicably make me feel at ease."

The corner of Dennis' mouth twitched. "..." Was the fight just now fake?

"Since we're in the same situation, there's no harm in explaining it to you," He Liang continued. "After all, my original intention in leaving was to avoid getting more people involved in this experiment."

"What exactly is our... uh, Wes Company trying to do with this thing? Unify the world?" Dennis suddenly felt that the place he had been at for several years instantly became very unfamiliar. The usual opening of "our company" suddenly became unspeakable.

"You even know the company name? Looks like you know quite a lot." He Liang looked at them with renewed respect.

"Nonsense, of course I know the name of the company I've been working for since graduation," Dennis blurted out without thinking.

Only after he said it did he realize that the person in front of him, like Shen Lan, was someone not to be messed with. He immediately stopped talking and shut his mouth in embarrassment.

"You're a company employee?" He Liang was a little surprised. "How come I've never seen you before?"

Dennis shrugged. "It's normal not to see each other in such a large company. After all, the work you do is very special, and I don't have access to it."

He Liang thought that made sense and didn't ask further. He continued from where he left off, "Actually, the company's original purpose in doing this experiment was very simple. As an energy company, everything we do is naturally in service of energy development. As we all know, the deep sea is the largest energy repository, but the areas that can currently be developed are very limited. Instrument exploration has its pros and cons, and sometimes it's not as good as people with rich experience and knowledge. If we could send people and instruments together to the sea areas to be explored, there might be unexpected effects and gains. But instruments have limitations, and people have even more, especially physiologically. So..."

He spread his hands, indicating "With what I've said, you should understand."

"So you guys just went ahead with this kind of experiment that can only be hidden underground at first glance? Making people more powerful, able to break through some physiological limits, freely active in the deep sea... Are you trying to turn the world upside down?" As an innocent person who was implicated, Shen Lan expressed his sarcasm briefly at the end of his words.

"Currently, the most advanced biological technology on the surface is in the UK, so the company dug up some of the most cutting-edge people in the UK, and then went to China and Germany to find a few top talents, forming the experimental team that followed. Led by the most respected old professor, they worked day and night for three years, coming up with the core technology combination most likely to succeed, and then tried it on various experimental animals for two years, before truly implementing it on humans starting from last year..." He Liang paused here, tapping his interlocked fingers a few times, his face looking a bit cold.

Hearing this, Xia Chuan and the other two couldn't help but frown, and Dennis even opened his mouth to say something, but after looking at the still silent Xia Chuan and Shen Lan, he silently swallowed his words back, letting He Liang finish telling the story first.

He Liang seemed to be quietly immersed in some unpleasant memories, not noticing their expressions. After a moment of contemplation, he spoke, "Their conditions for selecting test subjects were extremely harsh. Under the guise of physical examinations, they conducted a screening throughout the entire company. Except for the experimental team, other company employees were unaware of the inside story. They mainly selected young and middle-aged people, because with a good physical foundation, they could withstand the ordeal and recover quickly...

"To put it bluntly, the survival rate was supposed to be high. However, this was not the case. Of the first batch of ten people, not a single one survived. In order to cover up the experiment, naturally there was another round of trouble. In the end, the final result was that not long after, the second experiment was put on the agenda again."

Dennis directly gasped, and even the calm Xia Chuan and Shen Lan's expressions turned very unpleasant.

"I won't go into the process, but the result was that in nearly a year's time, the number of people in the experimental group itself also became less and less."

"Why didn't they run away if you did, are they stupid?" Shen Lan couldn't help but say, "It's simply a criminal organization."

"The decreasing number of people was not because they ran away, but because at the very beginning when the experiment was launched, the first batch of injected people included half of the experimental team members who passed the physical examination, and many did not survive the year." He Liang explained.

"Did the company feed you guys some kind of drug? So willing to dedicate yourselves?" Xia Chuan said coldly.

"Some were probably truly willing to dedicate themselves, while others likely had their weaknesses exploited..." He Liang shook his head. "That's when I took over as the person in charge. The old professor who originally led the team was a true academic fanatic. His physical examination did not qualify, but he still conducted some experiments on himself. You can probably guess the result..."

Either crippled or dead, the three thought to themselves.

"The reason the position of the person in charge fell to me was because the experiment on me seemed to be successful. All of my bodily functions underwent changes, and in a positive direction. This likely made the company see hope, so their previous large-scale screening was launched again, of course still under the guise of physical examinations. However, this time the screening did not proceed smoothly and was stopped by me."

"Why?" Dennis asked.

"Because my body exhibited some changes that were not within the expected range." He Liang furrowed his brows tightly. "I don't know if it was due to some accident during the experiment or other unnoticed factors, but one day, my body underwent completely uncontrollable changes."

He raised his head and looked at Shen Lan, the only one who could understand him, "A human being able to transform into a marine creature, this is something that would only appear in fantasy novels and movies. I almost thought I was dreaming, but after experiencing it a few times, I had no choice but to accept this absurd reality and find ways to control it, even reverse it."

"During that period, perhaps my brain was also affected and became much more foolish. I did the thing I regret most." He Liang's lips carried a hint of self-mockery. "I actually told the company about this, hoping they would recognize the severity and uncontrollability of such changes and thus stop the experiment."

Xia Chuan and the others could guess what happened next without him saying it, "The company's opinion was the opposite of yours. You felt it was uncontrollable, but they instead felt it was a pleasant surprise. You had a huge disagreement. Given your changes, the company didn't want to be too forceful, so they adopted a roundabout policy and launched the screening again behind your back?"

"Exactly." He Liang nodded. He glanced in the direction of the door and said, "As you guessed earlier, Gardner is both my close friend and a member of the company, but he does not belong to the experimental team."

"He was selected in the screening, and you also didn't want to be entangled with the company anymore, so you took him and left?" Dennis asked.

"It's a bit worse than that." He Liang said coldly, "The company's greed is simply incurable. The physical examination notice they released not only included employees, but also their family members."

Xia Chuan thought for a moment and understood, "You mean they not only targeted young and middle-aged people, but even expanded their targets to children?"

"At that time, my body was abnormal and I didn't have more energy to take care of those things. By the time I discovered it, Gardner and his son Little Amos, as well as my son, were all on the list. There was also a fellow experimental team member, a mutual friend of Gardner and I. He didn't pass the physical examination the first two times, but passed this time. It's clear how crazy the company is about this experiment, even lowering the most basic standards and disregarding human lives."

"Is it the one called Buddy?" Xia Chuan recalled that when they met in the corridor earlier, He Liang and Gardner mentioned a companion who helped look after the two children in their conversation. It seemed that was the unlucky experimental team member he was referring to.

"Mm." He Liang nodded and finally revealed the reason they appeared on this passenger ship, "We intercepted some necessary data for conducting the experiment, destroyed some of the equipment, making it impossible to continue the experiment and harm more people. Then through some channels, we boarded this ship under false identities, planning to jump ship and leave at an opportune time."

"Opportune time?" Xia Chuan asked.

He Liang casually pointed upwards, "The right time, place and people. It's best if we can leave quietly without a trace."

Since he could transform into marine creatures just like Shen Lan, jumping into the sea was not a problem for him. With him around, it wasn't an issue for the others either.

However...

Although Xia Chuan and the others did not interrupt He Liang's explanation, it didn't mean they accepted everything without question. The biggest, most glaring issue that couldn't be ignored... was the timeline.

The timeline He Liang described simply did not align with Shen Lan's side of the story.

He was about to bring up this point when Dennis, looking dazed, spoke up: "Wait, what did you say the name of that researcher who came with you was?"

Shen Lan glanced at him and answered on He Liang's behalf: "Buddy."

"Are you sure?" Upon hearing this answer, Dennis still appeared dazed. He followed up with another question: "What's his last name? I just thought of something... I feel like I'm not doing too well."