The Sample Collection Area was an independent semi-circular building, constructed entirely from a translucent pale green material. Light shone through from the interior, making the entire structure glow like a giant lantern.
Ethan pushed the door and entered.
The space inside was not large, roughly a hundred square meters.
Tall transparent cabinets stood against three of the walls, filled with neatly arranged biological samples. There were organs preserved in jars of liquid, complete corpses sealed in crystal, and live creatures locked in specialized transparent cages, emitting faint, high-pitched hisses.
Directly across from the entrance was a wide stone counter. Behind it sat a middle-aged woman wearing a dark green short robe.
Her features were ordinary and her expression indifferent. She held a quill, scribbling into a thick ledger.
Hearing footsteps, she looked up, her gaze sweeping over Ethan.
“Collecting a sample?”
“Yes,” Ethan replied as he walked to the counter. “An Amons mortal, live.”
The woman set down her quill and reached under the counter for a palm-sized black stone tablet, sliding it toward Ethan.
“Input your information.”
Ethan injected his mental power, entering his details.
A few breaths later, lines of fine text appeared on the surface of the tablet.
【Sample Collection Record】
【Recipient: Ethan Leo】
【Affiliated Academy: Blood Bone Tower】
【Sample Collected: Amons mortal (Live)】
【Sample Grade: Non-supernatural】
【Sample Quantity: 1】
【Purpose: Research】
【Note: Sample survival time is limited. It is recommended to complete research within 72 hours. To extend survival time, please visit the Supply Exchange to purchase a life-support device.】
The woman took back the tablet, stood up, and turned to walk into the room behind her.
About two minutes later, she walked out carrying a half-meter-tall transparent cage.
The cage was made of a pale blue transparent material, its surface covered in intricate runic patterns.
The internal space of the cage was small, about one cubic meter.
A creature was curled up inside.
It was humanoid in form.
It stood about three meters tall with a slender build.
Its skin was a pale green, smooth and devoid of any obvious hair.
Its ears were long and pointed, extending diagonally upward from the sides of its head with slightly upturned tips.
Its face was similar to a human’s, though much thinner.
Both eyes were tightly shut, the eyelids a pale green with fine lines at the corners.
It huddled in the corner of the cage, its hands locked behind its back by dark silver metal rings, with similar rings around its ankles.
It wore tattered, dark brown clothing made of what looked like coarse plant fibers.
Its breathing was very faint, its chest barely showing any movement.
“So this is an Amons?” Ethan’s gaze circled the creature.
“Yes.”
...
Ethan pushed open the door to his living tree house.
He placed the cage in the center of the living room and turned to close the door.
The treehouse’s conscious ripple washed over him.
“You’re back, you’re back! Hmm? What is this?”
“A sample,” Ethan replied casually, his eyes fixed on the Amons in the cage.
It remained in that curled position, eyes closed and breathing shallow.
Its pale green skin glinted slightly under the treehouse’s soft green light. Its long, pointed ears twitched occasionally as if sensing its surroundings.
Ethan crouched down, his gaze scanning the Amons inch by inch, starting from the head.
At three meters tall, it was more than a full meter taller than a human.
Its limbs were long; its arms could reach its knees when hanging down. Its fingers were slender with distinct joints, and each hand had six fingers.
The soles of its feet were wide, and its toes were equally long with webbed membranes between them.
These were traits adapted for a marsh or wetland environment.
It was likely a specialized subspecies of the Amons.
Ethan opened his right hand, and a pale green light surged from his palm.
The Amons in the cage seemed to sense something. Its long ears twitched violently, and its eyeballs began to roll rapidly beneath its closed lids.
But it didn't have time to react.
Over a dozen vines, each as thick as a thumb, simultaneously burst from the treehouse’s wooden walls, floor, and ceiling.
The vines threaded through the gaps in the cage, winding around the Amons’s limbs, torso, and neck.
The creature’s eyes snapped open, its amber pupils constricting violently. It opened its mouth to scream, but the vine around its neck suddenly tightened, crushing the sound in its throat.
Ethan curled his fingers.
The vines dragged the Amons out of the cage, suspended it in the air, and then steadily lowered it onto the wide wooden platform in the corner of the treehouse.
The platform was a built-in feature of the treehouse, originally intended for storage.
Now, it served perfectly as a dissection table.
The vines pulled the Amons’s limbs apart, pinning them to the four corners of the platform.
Its wrists, ankles, waist, and neck were all firmly bound by vines, tightened just enough to prevent movement without immediately crushing its bones.
The Amons began to struggle violently.
Its fingers opened and clenched, the webbed membranes between its toes turned white from the strain, its chest heaved, and a raspy, wheezing sound came from its throat.
Ethan pulled a silver-white short knife from his storage ring.
He had bought it specifically for dissections; the blade was thin and sharp, the tip curved, and the edge honed to a razor-thin finish.
He placed the knife on the edge of the platform and took several more items from his ring: a pair of tweezers, a small hammer, several metal probes of varying thickness, a spool of specialized surgical silk, a blank parchment ledger, and a quill.
He arranged these items neatly beside the platform.
The Amons’s eyes were locked onto the knife.
Its pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks, the silver-white blade reflected in its amber irises.
Its chest heaved even more violently, and the raspy wheezing in its throat grew more frantic.
Ethan picked up the knife.
“Well, I haven't done much of this since my dissection classes a few years ago. I hope my hand is still steady.”
The blade sliced through the pale green skin.
That layer of skin was thicker than a human's and far more resilient.
Ethan felt a distinct resistance as the tip moved, like cutting through oil-soaked leather.
He applied a bit more pressure with his wrist, and the blade broke through the epidermis, cutting into the dermis below.
The pale green skin peeled back to either side, revealing the light yellow subcutaneous tissue beneath.
The Amons’s body arched violently.
Its mouth fell wide open as a roar erupted from its throat.
The sound was sharp and piercing, with a nearly shattered quality, bouncing back and forth in the enclosed space of the treehouse.
Ethan ignored it.
The blade continued downward.
From the center of the collarbone, it sliced straight down to just above the pubic symphysis.
A long incision completely opened the chest and abdominal cavities.
The skin was pulled to the sides, and the subcutaneous tissue was sliced open, revealing the thin layer of muscle underneath.
The Amons’s muscles were a pale yellowish-brown. The fiber orientation was similar to a human's, but they were more slender and densely packed.
Each muscle bundle was tightly encased in a layer of translucent fascia, which was far tougher than that of a human.
Ethan paused, picked up the quill, and wrote several lines in the parchment ledger.
“Skin thickness: approximately three millimeters, high resilience, similar to oil-soaked leather.”
“Subcutaneous tissue: light yellow, low fat content, dense vascular distribution.”
“Muscle: pale yellowish-brown, slender and dense fibers, complete fascia encapsulation, extremely high resilience.”
He put down the pen and continued with the knife.
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