If nothing else works, she can let Nelson check it out. And if there really is no other choice, then she'll have to kill the panda. Soon, Alger came back with a group of people. But they were all nervous and didn't dare walk too close to the cage. Caroline took out another boiled bamboo shoot to catch the panda's attention, and only then did the others creep forward. She coaxed the mutant panda toward the gate, guiding its huge body to lean against the metal bars. That's when she handed the boiled bamboo shoot into its paws. A few scientists in white lab coats hurried over. One drew some blood, another trimmed some fur, and someone even lifted the panda's tail to check it. But the grumpy panda now acted like a puppet, letting everyone handle it. Just as she finished the bamboo shoot, Caroline had already pulled out a shiny red apple, because pandas eat apples too. Her cyan eyes stayed fixed on her the whole time. When the scientists were done taking all their samples, the panda had already eaten two apples and three bamboo shoots. She kept staring at Caroline, clearly showing that she still wanted more. Alger was thrilled. He said the mission was finally complete, and he could go report to Nathaniel and Francis. He would have someone deliver the research samples that belonged to Caroline to her room later. Caroline glanced at the poor mother panda and sighed quietly to herself. She thought to herself. Hopefully, there's another way. Otherwise, to get that rare cyan energy, I might have to go after the panda myself. After they were done with the mutant panda, it was already getting late. Francis and Nathaniel had been super busy that day—nobody even saw them. Caroline and the rest went to bed early. Around midnight, Tyler's door quietly opened.He stepped out wearing exercise clothes, and his strong muscles showed clearly under the fabric. He closed the door gently and disappeared into the dark base, which was already under curfew. Caroline wasn't resting either. She stored the mutant panda's samples in her storage space. Some went to Nelson, some she tried planting in Farm One, and she even put a few strands of fur into the JunkEater. Then she made her wishes to both Farm One and the JunkEater. After that, she checked on Nelson to see what he had found. Turns out, he was still focused on the golden python. "Goldy is cute. We've already connected on a deep level," Nelson said, pointing at the huge snake. The golden python lifted its massive head and flicked its tongue toward Caroline. She had no idea how he managed to "connect" with such a giant snake, but noticed the food she had put in the pen yesterday was all gone. In just a few days, the fat snake seemed to have gotten even bigger, which was frustrating—mostly because it still hadn't produced anything useful. But Nelson insisted that Goldy was a sensitive snake and asked Caroline to be patient. He had already collected some venom and scales for experiments. These could be used to make poisons for certain mutant insects. He seemed sure that this fat snake was important. Watching him, Caroline thought he could stay in that storage space for eight or ten years and be completely happy. "Start with these," Caroline said, giving him the mutant panda's samples and explaining exactly what she needed. His eyes brightened. He quickly packed up his things, left Goldy's pen, and got to work on the panda research. For some reason, Caroline thought the fat snake looked annoyed at him as soon as he left. Somehow, the words popped into Caroline's mind—used then dumped. After that, Caroline went to sleep at the base. Her room was only 200 square feet, but it had its own bathroom and a small kitchen. For the base, it was probably one of the best rooms. The next morning, she was woken by a knock. It was Denton."Caroline, is Tyler in your room?" Denton rubbed his eyes, clearly just waking up. Caroline shook her head. "Tyler didn't come to me." It was only after she answered that she noticed how strange the question was—why would Denton be asking about Tyler in her room so early? Her lips twitched, but she didn't scold him. She knew Denton was just a kid with a simple mind.