Chapter 289 - The Giant Sandworm’s Wisdom
Chapter 289: The Giant Sandworm’s Wisdom
It was not that Meng Chao did not believe in Spirit Creation Creatures.
After all, he could not figure out any reason for Spirit Creation Creatures to inject a virus into the biochemical pets they modified, then let the pets become violent and turn into monsters.
However, the Supernatural Entity he remembered from his previous life looked like a Giant Sandworm, and it still bothered him.
It was not possible for wild sandworms to evolve to the point where they gained intelligence that could rival a human’s.
The White Spirit had signs of being modified by humans as well.
Could it be that the Giant Sandworm, who was at the level of a Supernatural Entity, was actually a creation from some human biochemical lab?
Spirit Creation Creatures had the best Giant Sandworm modification technology in Dragon City.
One of the company’s creators was Gao Ye, who was the technical director. He was also an expert when it came to the research of Giant Sandworms.
Otherwise, they would not have the right to handle the trash in one of the four waste treatment centers in Dragon City or be able to join the construction bidding for Subway No.20.
Meng Chao wished that he could get some clues from Gao Ye, the technical director of Spirit Creation Creatures.
At the very least, he would like to ask him whether it was possible for Giant Sandworms to gain intelligence.
So, using this super Giant Sandworm’s carcass as a stepping stone was his best chance.
Lu Siya thought about it for a while before she agreed to it. “Alright. I’ll bring some of the materials back for an examination, and I’ll also check Jin Yongqiang’s tracks over the past half a month, along with his cash flow. Mutated rabies is a very dangerous object. It’s impossible for Jin Yongqiang to have created it in his own apartment. He must have obtained the virus and the special needle from someone.
“You can bring the remaining materials for an examination to Agricultural University and Spirit Creation Creatures. We’ll meet up later.”
They quietly left Trash Site 4 without anyone noticing them.
Meng Chao and Lu Siya parted ways, and he returned to Agricultural University. It was only then that he called Ning Shewo.
It was noisy in the harvester’s surroundings. Meng Chao could also hear some slogans. Ning Shewo seemed to be participating in some kind of major gathering.
“Elder Ning, I found one of the Giant Sandworms that went missing from Spirit Creation Creatures.” Meng Chao went straight to the point once the call went through.
“What?” Ning Shewo was clearly stunned for a moment. He quickly went to a slightly quieter place. “Meng Chao, what are you saying? What happened?!”
“The case of the pets murdering their owners at Blessed Paradise is causing a ruckus online, right? Many of the students feel indignant, and they ran off to debate and spar against the students from the University of Technology,” Meng Chao said. “I thought that debating and sparring won’t solve the problem. It’s only by discovering the truth that we’ll be able to protect the people in the monster industry and the interests of Agricultural University.
“Coincidentally, we heard from President Xie yesterday that half a month ago, a few Giant Sandworms went out of control at Trash Site 4, and they fled without a trace, right? Since I was free, I went over to take a look.
“Lo and behold, I found traces of Giant Sandworms crawling into a drainage pipe at the entrance of one of the drainage pipes. I crawled down the drainage pipe for some time, and I saw a crack—”
“Did you go inside? That’s very dangerous!” Ning Shewo said nervously.
“Well… when I was at the northern offense, I stayed for a few days underground as well, you know? From then on, when I see pipes and cracks, I can’t control the urge to just crawl inside and explore the place,” Meng Chao said. “But that’s not the point. I was attacked by a Giant Sandworm underground. That thing seemed to have been infected by some kind of virus, and it was much more aggressive than normal Giant Sandworms. Of course, in the end, I killed it.
“By the way, there are a lot of normal rats in Trash Site 4 who seem to have been infected by mutated rabies after eating a Giant Sandworm’s carcass. I brought quite a few materials back, so we should be able to learn quite a few things.”
“You… You’re too reckless!” Ning Shewo did not know what to say. He took a moment to cal himself and said, “Where are you now? Trash Site 4?”
“I’m back at Nine Sands University City. The Giant Sandworm’s carcass is still in the drainage pipe under the biochemical treatment factory at the waste treatment center. But I’ve harvested the organs that will rot away easily and brought them back as quickly as I could. These things will give us more information the sooner we examine them,” Meng Chao said.
“Elder Ning, I want to send some of the materials I brought back to the related labs in Agricultural University for an examination and the rest of it to Spirit Creation Creatures for them to conduct an examination on it as well. Do you think this is okay?”
“Of course. I’ll help you contact the resource course’s lab now,” Ning Shewo said. “Coincidentally, Xie Xiaolei is with me now. The news that appeared yesterday put Spirit Creation Creatures in a very passive position. Xie Xiaolei organized a pretty large scale press conference today to share the truth. He stated that he’s using all his resources to find the person pulling the strings and criticized online violence and dishonest reports.
“Soon after that was a large gathering of all the people working in the monster industry. Many of the harvesters, etherealized plants bonatists, modifiers, and monster controllers gathered together to show the citizens that biochemical modification technology will decide Dragon City’s future.
“Xie Xiaolei is currently speaking on the podium, so he won’t be free for the time being. But Gao Ye is still in Spirit Creation Creatures. He’s the technical director, so you can go to him straightaway.”
“Alright,” Meng Chao said readily. Then, a thought popped up, and he said, “But Director Gao seems to be quite eccentric…”
“Don’t worry. You’re helping Spirit Creation Creatures a lot by locating a missing Giant Sandworm. Gao Ye is just a little eccentric. He’s not someone who does not know what is good for him. I’ll give him a call and ask him to make preparations.
“As for Xie Xiaolei, I’ll have him go back the moment the gathering is over,” Ning Shewo said. “Besides, Gao Ye has a pretty good impression of you. He’s also the one who asked you to come and observe the autopsy of the three biochemical pets.”
Meng Chao was slightly stunned. “He was?”
“Two days ago, Xie Xiaolei and I had a video meeting at night. Gao Ye was there as well. When they asked me to go and observe the autopsy of the biochemical pets, I didn’t actually think of bringing you along,” Ning Shewo said. “Then, while we were chatting with each other, Gao Ye asked me whether I had a disciple by the name of Meng Chao. He said that he watched a few of your harvesting videos, and he found your methods interesting.
“When he gave me this reminder, I started wondering whether I should bring you along to broaden your horizons and expand your connections. It’d be good for your future development.
“I didn’t expect that this casual act of bringing you along would lead to you guessing that there is something wrong in the ear canal of two of the biochemical pets. Yesterday night, Sun Yufeng actually kept on trying to get more information about you from me.”
Ning Shewo was very happy for this young friend of his.
Meng Chao trusted Ning Shewo as well. After all, he was a pseudo heroic citizen.
Spirit Creation Creatures were close to Agricultural University. They were both in Nine Sands University City.
With Meng Chao’s speed of a two-star superhuman, he reached the Giant Sandworms’ hatching pond ten minutes later.
Perhaps it was because Xie Xiaolei had brought a lot of the company’s workers to the press conference, but Spirit Creation Creatures was incredibly quiet.
Even so, Gao Ye was already waiting at the entrance of the company in his wheelchair.
“Meng Chao, thank you. You’ve helped Spirit Creation Creatures— No, you are a great help to the entire monster industry production line and the biochemical modification technology.”
After he obtained the materials Meng Chao had placed in the ziplock bag, Gao Ye put on a smile on his twisted, ugly face.
They quickly went to the lab.
On a huge screen, they saw the situation at Trash Site 4.
The employees were digging at the earth near the drainage pipe to widen the crack. They wanted to use a soft cloth made with high-molecular material to wrap up the super Giant Sandworm’s carcass and bring it out bit by bit.
The researchers in the lab carefully took the materials Meng Chao had harvested to conduct a pathology test.
Gao Ye asked Meng Chao how he discovered the super Giant Sandworm and how their fight had proceeded.
Meng Chao removed Lu Siya from his narrative, but told him every other detail.
“You think that someone injected a virus into the Giant Sandworms from our company, which is why they went out of control?” Gao Ye’s expression was stern.
“In any case, after normal rats ate the carcass of another Giant Sandworm, they showed the symptoms similar to those of mutated rabies,” Meng Chao said. “But I have to ask you whether it’s possible for Giant Sandworms to be infected by mutated rabies.”
“Theoretically speaking, it’s impossible for wild Giant Sandworms to be infected by mutated rabies.” Gao Ye shook his head slowly. “The most prominent pathological change for rabies is acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. The hippocampus in the cerebrum, cerebellum, medulla oblongata, and pons change, and it affects the central nervous system, which is why it looks like the creature has gone mad. But the brains of wild Giant Sandworms and the brains of mammals are different. The transmission of their neural information is completely different, so it’s impossible for them to be infected by mutated rabies.
“But if the virus did not go through a natural mutation and someone actually came up with it to intentionally target the creations of my company, it’s hard to tell.
“After all, to increase the intellect and improve the digestive system and motor ability of Giant Sandworms, we implanted quite a lot of other monsters’ genetic sequences into their genetic chains. They aren’t pure annelids. Their central nervous systems have an essential difference from other wild sandworms and worm-type monsters.”
“Increase… the intelligence of Giant Sandworms?” A thought appeared in Meng Chao’s head.
“It’s a must with what we do,” Gao Ye explained. “Annelids are rather primitive creatures. They don’t even feel pain. They only react to certain stimuli around them. You can’t use normal methods to intimidate or domesticate them.
“If we didn’t come up with a way to increase their intelligence, it’d be impossible for us to make them obey our orders and eat the trash in certain areas or dig out straight tunnels instead of creating severe damage to the earth and rock stratum.”
“Makes sense.” Meng Chao nodded. He put on a curious expression. “Director Gao, this is just a random question, but if it doesn’t concern any commercial secret, could you tell me how you increase the Giant Sandworms’ intelligence?”
Gao Ye thought about it for a while.
He was clearly not a patient person, but Meng Chao had just discovered a missing Giant Sandworm, and he was an alumni of Agricultural University. He had a close connection with Ning Shewo as well, so it would not be convenient for Gao Ye to push him away.
“There are naturally all sorts of definitions for intelligence,” Gao Ye said. “But no matter what definition you use, the foundation for intelligence is the speed at which neural information is transmitted. The faster neural information is transferred, the more intelligent a creature is, and it’s also more likely that they will gain intelligence.”