But before the creature could land on the piece of raw meat, it looked as if it was whipped by an invisible whip, and it fell down mid-pounce. It was in so much pain that it started rolling on the ground and whining.
The violent spark in its eyes had yet to fade away and it staggered to its feet, but its head was shuddering, and it could not walk in a straight line. It was in too much pain.
In the end, blood started oozing out of its orifices, and it started foaming in pink bubbles. Clearly, it had suffered pretty significant organic damage to its brain.
“Look, if our creations wanted to harm their masters, they would end up like this,” Xie Xiaolei said. “Of course, under most circumstances, our biochemical beasts won’t end up in such a frenzy. At most, with just one or two shocks, they will become obedient again.
“Besides, the chips are connected wirelessly to the masters’ handphones or watches. The masters can control the frequency of the electric shocks and the intensity. Usually, with just a wave of the hand, the biochemical pets will become obedient, because it’s impossible for them to withstand the great pain to their brains and tear their masters to shreds.”
Meng Chao looked at the biochemical beast that was still struggling on its deathbed. “I seem to recall that it’s very easy to interfere with the various types of control chips using spirit energy magnetic fields.”
“There are situations where the chips will face interference, but think about it,” Xie Xiaolei said. “On the same night, the control chips of three biochemical pets created by Spirit Creations were tampered with in a residential area, and it’s at this moment that they went violent to the point that they couldn’t even recognize their owners. But all the biochemical pets created by other companies in the same residential area all remained harmless. Can such a coincidence exist?”
Meng Chao fell into deep contemplation.
“It’s indeed a little strange,” Ning Shewo said.
“But because of it, the possibility of someone intentionally controlling these pets isn’t that high,” Meng Chao said. “If this was done via human means, they would have had to inject something similar to violence-inducing drugs into the originally docile biochemical pets and tamper with their control chips, but somehow leave no trace of it. Is this possible?”
“Of course it is. Heavenly Works Machines’ control chip technology is far above that of Spirit Creation Creatures. Their experts would definitely have a way to seize and even take control of the control chips that we implanted into our biochemical pets, which would allow them to turn the pets we modified into killing machines!”
The piercing voice that reminded of metal scratching against glass came from behind the trio.
Meng Chao turned his head around and was shocked.
The person who spoke… was really ugly.
It looked as if he had been ripped to shreds by a monster and sewn back. His organs were not where they should be, his spine was bent to the shape of a lobster, and he was curled up into a ball.
His left leg was deformed, and his right leg was crooked. He had to use his arms, which were as thin as reed stems, to push his wheelchair forward.
His left eye was gone, but he did not wear an eyepatch or use an electronic prosthetic eye. Instead, he stubbornly exposed his black eye socket to the world and only looked with his large right eye. It shone with an even more brilliant spark than most people’s two eyes.
He was dressed in a clean and smooth white coat, but compared to the researchers in the labs, he looked like a scientific monstrosity that had been created in a lab.
When Xie Xiaolei saw who had arrived, he forced himself to smile and say, “Gao Ye, why are you here? I told you that I’ll handle this matter…”
“Mr. Ning is here, so why can’t I come over to meet him?”
The ugly monster was known as Gao Ye. He pushed his wheelchair forward arduously and arrived in front of Ning Shewo. He squeezed out a smile on his gloomy face while he extended his hand, which looked like a chicken claw. “Mr. Ning, it’s been a long while.”
Ning Shewo extended his hand. “Gao Ye, it’s been a long while. How are you?”
“Not good. Not good at all.”
Gao Ye and Ning Shewo shook hands, and he said in a straightforward manner, “This is something I produced with my blood, sweat, and tears for decades, and it’s trampled on like this. Anyone in my place wouldn’t feel good.
“The biochemical beasts I modified are definitely the safest. Even if someone was cut into pieces and thrown into the biochemical pets’ mouths, without their owners’ permission, they wouldn’t even chew on them!”
Xie Xiaolei looked a little troubled. “Gao Ye…”
Ning Shewo was used to the way Gao Ye spoke. He did not mind it and introduced him to Meng Chao. “Gao Ye and Xiaolei were Agricultural University students. They were really talented and stood out. After graduation, they created Spirit Creation Creatures together.
“They split their tasks. Xiaolei is in charge of dealing with the public, managing the overall operations of the company, and promotions. Gao Ye is in charge of internal affairs. He’s tasked with biochemical modifications and the research and development of new creations. Since they both made best use of their talents and their teamwork was great, their company has only continued growing.
“Gao Ye must be facing even greater pressure compared to Xiaolei because of this accident. After all, he’s the person-in-charge of the research. It’s only normal that he’s not in a good mood.”
Meng Chao nodded.
He observed Gao Ye’s wheelchair with mild curiosity.
He found it rather puzzling. The runic symbol technology and mechanical prosthetic technology in Dragon City was pretty well developed. The creator of Spirit Creation Creatures did not seem to be lacking money to go through treatment either, so why didn’t he get himself a set of prosthetic limbs that could be controlled by brainwaves and insisted on using such an ancient wheelchair?
Xu Sheng was a good example of the opposite. This specially recruited fighting course student from the University of Technology had a distinct lack of limbs and could not move at all, but with the mechanical prosthetics he created, he could even fight on the battlefield.
Gao Ye, however, chose to be curled up in a ball in his wheelchair. Aside from not being able to move as he wished, he also had to feel uncomfortable. So why then?
“I don’t like prosthetic limbs.” Perhaps because Meng Chao’s gaze had stayed on the wheelchair for too long, Gao Ye seemed to have understood the questions in his heart. “When I put on those cold metal prosthetics, I feel like I’m about to be devoured by machines, and I’m no longer a human with flesh and blood. Instead, I’ve become a slave to machines, and I’ll forever be a criminal trapped in a metal coffin.
“My body might be incomplete and ugly, and it constantly gives me great pain, but this pain lets me experience the meaning of life and makes me believe that I am still of flesh and blood, and am a real human, understand?”
Meng Chao’s face turned red. He felt that he was a little too rude by staring at someone else’s disabilities.
But he also thought that Gao Ye’s personality was a little strange. It was no wonder why Xie Xiaolei was the only one who would show up even when people talked about the two creators of Spirit Creation Creators. As time went by, few people even remembered Gao Ye’s name.
“Mr. Ning, I can’t move about as I like, so you must help me figure out the truth,” Gao Ye said stiffly. “This matter doesn’t just concern the future of Spirit Creation Creatures, but also the future of the entire Dragon City!
“Everyone knows that the substances and energy in the Other World are more unstable than on Earth, and it’s impossible for us to replicate the use of machines in our civilization. Even if we use runic symbol technology to create those crude and clumsy steel monsters, if we consider things in terms of capital, pollution, and work efficiency, they can’t compare to beasts of flesh and blood.
“There is no future for machine technology, while biochemical technology is the future of Dragon City. We’re bound to walk down a completely different path from Earth civilization and blend our city with nature. We need to use all sorts of creatures to replace machines since it’s the only way we can conquer all of the Other World and push our reborn civilization to its limits!
“But now, once those despicable machine masters found that they can’t win against us, they’re using all sorts of lowly methods to attack us. Last time, they targeted our sandworms, and this time, they targeted our pets…”
Xie Xiaolei coughed by the side.
“What do you mean by sandworms?” Meng Chao asked curiously.
“More than half a month ago, the breed of Giant Sandworms we created for getting rid of trash also ran into… a small accident,” Xie Xiaolei said with a rather stiff expression. “But the accident happened at the trash treatment center, so no one was injured. The Giant Sandworms didn’t become violent, but some of them ran away, so it’s not a huge problem.”
Meng Chao was slightly stunned. “They ran away?”
“Yes. Giant Sandworms are used to living in rather shady and quiet places underground. They’re very sensitive to temperature and sound,” Xie Xiaolei explained. “It’s inevitable that there will be methane gathering in trash treatment centers, and its temperature is slightly higher than the outside world. When trash is poured inside and squashed, it also creates noise and tremors. It’s not the sort of environment that Giant Sandworms like the most. But after we modified them, these beasts of labor can stay there for long periods of time.
“But around half a month ago, for some unknown reason, three of the Giant Sandworms who had been working in our company suddenly went out of control and gave up on eating trash. Instead, they dug underground and disappeared.”
“You haven’t managed to find them?” Meng Chao asked.
“No. They might be large, but Giant Sandworms have great flexibility, and they are experts at digging holes and crawling into cracks,” Xie Xiaolei said. “They can crawl into holes that are one-third of their diameter. Besides, underground cracks are very complicated, and even when Giant Sandworms regain their wild nature, they aren’t aggressive, so we gave up on chasing after them.
“This was just a small matter. After all, there are a lot of crystal mines beneath Dragon City, and the spirit energy magnetic field interference is usually ten times stronger than on the surface. Giant Sandworms going out of control is the same as runic symbol machines experiencing errors. It’s unavoidable.
“But Gao Ye is bothered by it. He believes that Heavenly Works Machines and the other competitors have done something to them. Their goal is to show our target client that biochemical beasts are not safe.”
“I’m not bothered by it; I’m very certain of it. There’s no way the biochemical beasts I modified would ever go out of control.”
Gao Ye’s voice was as sharp and harsh as an ice pillar. “The people from Heavenly Works definitely did it! I swear on my life!”
“We’re all on the same side here. No one wants your life.” Xie Xiaolei did not know whether he should laugh or cry. He cast a glance at his very expensive watch and said, “It’s late now. Gao Ye, stay here and take charge of the situation. I’ll go to the monster research center with Elder Ning and Meng Chao to monitor the examination of the carcasses of the three biochemical beasts that went out of control. Don’t worry. If anyone has really done something, we’ll definitely find them!”