Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 714 - 75: The 9th Laboratory_1

Chapter 714: Chapter 75: The 9th Laboratory_1

"What is this?" Following Ava, they stepped through the gate into a large room over four hundred square meters in size. The room was partitioned into several areas by wooden screens, which turned into a pile of ash as soon as the doors opened, scattering on the ground due to the air movement. The girls didn’t find this phenomenon surprising. Metal mined by goblins could withstand millennia, but ordinary wood couldn’t. Even though the outdoor temperature was very low, once they entered the lab, the environment was restored to a normal winter temperature, causing everyone to remove several coats to avoid sweating. In such an environment, it would be normal for wooden structures to naturally weather, and everyone had gotten used to them in various ruins. What made Lina, who was obviously curious, ask a question was something else: several upright cabinets placed in the corner. The surface of the cabinets was transparent, revealing rows and rows of metal cans inside. To the right of the transparent part, there were several buttons that appeared to correspond to the numbering of the metal cans. There was also a thin slot, like for an identity card to be inserted, on the same side.

"This seems to be a slot for an identity card," after brief deliberation, Catherine pulled out a goblin identity card which they had found in the City of Innocence sewer. Because of the need to enter goblin-related structures, each of them carried an identity card. Albeit of uncertain utility, as they say, better safe than sorry. The knight girl inserted the metal card into the slot; its size and thickness were a perfect fit. Astoundingly, the machine, silent for millennia, started working normally, and the buttons on the right illuminated.

"This is interesting." Lina, driven by curiosity, edged forward and pressed one of the lit buttons in front of Catherine. However, the machine showed no signs of activity. It was only after a few seconds that some text appeared on the crystal plate above the button, trailed by a sequence of rapidly-changing numbers. Lina paused for a moment and then asked in confusion, "Ava, what’s going on?"

"This is an automatic vending machine, part of the free benefits package for researchers. If a researcher’s identity card is used, access is free. If it’s a non-researcher, such as other scholars who are visiting for academic discussions, the machine converts the gold coins stored on that person’s identity card into credit points used in the research institution." Ava explained, "See, the conversion has already been completed. You can press it again to confirm."

"Gold coins? These cards can store gold coins?" Catherine raised both of her elegant eyebrows in surprise, "So, if the gold coins in the identity card aren’t converted, is there a place to get them out?"

"If the Goblin United Government were still in existence, that would be the case." Due to Ava’s unemotional voice, anyone listening could sense her deep helplessness, "But the Goblin United Government no longer exists. It’s associated financial institutions have all lost their functions, so nothing can be withdrawn. However, if the location of the United Government’s treasury could be found, a large amount of gold could be obtained."

"Really?" Catherine’s eyes sparkled immediately, and she asked expectantly, "Do you know where their treasury is?"

"Of course not. That’s one of the United Government’s top secrets, and there would be no physical record of it." Ava vigorously shook her head, "Even if I knew, it would be useless. The treasury is said to be buried deep underground. After so many years, the entrance has likely been buried. You should give up."

"Clang!" As Lina confirmed her selection by pressing the button, a metallic clashing sound emerged, and a metal can, identical to the one indicated on the machine, fell out from the outlet at the bottom. Lina took out the metal can and asked, "This room seems to be a lounge, so theoretically, the stuff sold here should be food or drinks, right?"

Indeed, this room seemed to be a lounge. Each of the spaces separated by the screens housed several long chairs with metallic shells. Made of metal on one side, they were likely quite soft on the other; sitting or lying on them would undoubtedly be comfortable. However, aside from the metal shells, all other materials in the room have turned into ash and were hardly recognizable now. In some partitions, huge crystal plates over two meters wide stood directly opposite the seating; in others’ experiences, images could be displayed on such plates, perhaps to serve as some sort of entertainment. Other partitions contained compact bookshelves, but only ashes remained there.

"It’s a drink; the food is on the other side." Ava answered, "The lounges in the research center all offer high-end drinks for goblins. Many researchers were very fond of them."

"How do I open it?" Unable to curb her curiosity, Lina fiddled with the metal can, finally finding a smart way to open it. With a pop, the sealed container opened but was met with a deep sigh. Inside the sealed container, there was no trace of any liquid remaining, only a layer of blackened substance solidified at the bottom of the can, which looked quite disgusting. With a face full of regret, the priest girl commented, "What a pity, it seems that even with goblin technology, the preservation isn’t perfect and the liquid evaporated."

"Please, don’t say such scary things with such a serious face," Freya, who was pretty picky about food and drink, frowned and took several steps back, crossed her arms, and said, "If it didn’t evaporate, would you try a sip? That stuff has been sitting there for ten thousand years."

"I suppose smelling it wouldn’t hurt." Lina shrugged, set the metal can aside, beckoned Ava, and asked, "Do any records say what these beverages tasted like?"

"Sweet." Ava strangely shut up for a moment, her voice even held a hint of melancholy, "With a hint of spiciness."

Lina blinked her eyes, wisely choosing not to continue the questioning, and quickly changed the subject, "So if we go through this lounge and into that door up ahead, we’ll see the Automatic Treatment Device?"

"No, we still need to walk a bit more." Ava, her voice regaining its usual coldness, replied expressionlessly: "This place is actually quite large, we need to take quite a few detours."

"Then stop dilly-dallying." Lina nudged Vivian, who was holed up with Freya, investigating a vending machine, "Let’s hurry up. My biggest hope right now is to get you healed quickly so I can give you a good beating. Let’s move."

They crossed through another door and into another long corridor and on both sides hung portraits of members from the Medical Hall of Fame. Catherine had previously examined a portrait, which looked like an ordinary painting, but was actually completely made of metal, thus maintaining its integrity after thousands of years.

Around them, many closed metal doors led to various laboratories. Upon demand from two scholars and a priest who was just tagging along, Ava opened several doors, each leading to rooms filled with intriguing objects.

"Hey, Pannis, isn’t that the metal bed you asked me to make?" asked Freya, pointing at a metal bed in the center of a room. What she was referring to was the intricately-designed metal bed that Pannis had instructed her to assemble a few days earlier in Mina’s lair when they performed surgery on Vivian. The complex bed structure was perfect for surgery with its movable angles and a drainage system.

"I once saw this kind of bed in some goblin ruins," Pannis answered, "I thought the design was really interesting, so I recorded its structure. It’s well-suited for surgery. Shall we name it a surgical bed?"

"Sounds fitting," agreed Freya, nodding as she jotted it down in her notebook of mechanical creations, "Actually, with some modifications, it could be good for looking after patients with mobility issues. I’ll seriously look into it when I get back."

Most of the items in the rooms were unknown to the team. With Ava drawing from her stored memory, the girls listened as she explained the function of each item. Some were familiar, such as skeletal specimens and half-dissected bodies immersed in special solutions. Most of these specimens and bodies were goblins, their skin, muscles, bones, and internal organs displayed in layers. Despite the girls’ high tolerance for corpses, the sight of these specimens was deeply unsettling, especially with the corpses’ eyes remaining wide open, giving the eerie illusion as if the bodies were staring back at them.

"Isn’t this a kind of desecration to the deceased?" Catherine asked, frowning in discomfort, "I understand that in order to study medical science one needs to study the human body, but does it need to be done so gruesomely? Wouldn’t their souls be angry and restless?"

"No, these specimen came here voluntarily," Ava explained, "Many bodies belonged to researchers from this lab who had willingly donated their bodies for research after their death. For scholars, this is seen as an honor."

"These medical scholars are too fanatical. For the sake of their research, they don’t even spare themselves?" Catherine was finding this attitude hard to accept, but it wasn’t her place to criticize what the goblins had volunteered to do. She sighed and left the room hurriedly, unable to stand the sight of dissected bodies any longer.

"Don’t think too much, in their era the goblins only trusted themselves and focused on the present," Pannis followed Catherine out of the room and patted her shoulders, "They doubted deities and souls, and only believed in the tangible existence of their bodies. They wouldn’t have cared if their souls could rest."

"I understand." Catherine nodded, changing the subject to ask Ava, "Are we there yet? I feel like we’ve been walking for quite some time."

"The Core Laboratory Area is just ahead," Ava replied, "The Automatic Treatment Device is within that area." (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote and recommend it on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)