Chapter 326 - Two Sides of the Same Coin
Chapter 326: Two Sides of the Same Coin
That was the end of the experiment log.
Beneath it, there was a message from Gao Ye.
[Meng Chao, I told you that this is a consciousness transferring experiment and something that only happens once in a blue moon. It’s a brand new evolutionary path for human civilization.
[I sent you the first experimental log detailing the past half a month, and I will keep sending new experimental logs to you at irregular intervals. I hope that you will send them to the experts in Agricultural University, which, I believe, will provide some help to the research they’re currently conducting.
[Due to the limitations of my experiment, many of the measurements of my data aren’t very accurate. The research methods I can use are also very basic. But at the very least, I can obtain personal experience from it. This is something no high-end research lab will be able to get.
[After trying to adapt to my new body over the past half a month, my soul has now completely integrated into my new body.
[I can clearly sense that my intelligence has increased. I can easily solve many of the problems that I had pondered for years. I solved quite a number of difficult problems of life science and came up with a summary of most algorithms, formulae, and models of magnetic fields.
[I will compress the results into a zip file and send them to you. If you trust me, you can use it to cultivate. I believe that it will help you reach new heights.
[If you don’t trust me, you can send the file to Black Tortoise Zong Yue, the dean of Agricultural University’s martial arts and life science department. You can then train under his guidance.
[Of course there is a price for this intelligence—the phantom pain is getting worse.
[My IQ fluctuates. If I conduct five standard IQ tests at random points of the day in twenty-four hours, the points vary greatly. This means that the fusion between my nervous system and soul is not perfect. My body might separate from my soul at any point in time.
[My memories seem to have become worse as well. Every time I wake up from sleep, for around ten minutes, I do not remember anything of the human world.
[I don’t know whether it’s because my soul is not compatible with my body or whether it’s because I’m far from human society and have been staying too long in the dark.
[I’m afraid that I will turn into a monster, perhaps even fall from grace and end up as a demon.
[But what does it matter? Since the beginning of the experiment, I’ve already predicted this.
[There were a few times when I woke up in the rotting darkness and thought of myself as a wounded member of a guerilla squad who died in a forest.
[Before being killed by the enemy, he left his will to the people who came to find his squad.
[The government will now help you build schools and hospitals, and they will also increase your salary and benefits, but that’s not because of their guilty conscience from letting the squad die. It’s not because they’ve become good people, either. It’s because the squad cleared the path for them to build things.
[Heh. Guardian angels and demons have always been two sides of the same coin. If there were no demons, the guardian angels would never be willing to protect humans.
[Superhumans are the weapons of human civilization, and the blood of the strong flows for the weak. What touching slogans. But the more touching a slogan is, the more obvious it should be that there is no way a dream will come true without reason.
[Normal people will not just wait around for the superhumans’ protection and salvation.
[If normal people do not hold onto my weapon tightly, blades will pierce their chests. They might come from monsters, but might also come from superhumans.
[Normal people must obtain the power to become demons so that they can keep superhumans in check and give them an impetus. Then, the superhumans will turn those two slogans into reality and build a better future together.
[So, I’m willing to become that bullet and saber. I’m willing to become the demon who lurks around in the superhumans’ hearts.
[Of course, I don’t know how long I will be able to maintain my beliefs.
[Perhaps as the phantom pain grows stronger, the problem of my soul not being compatible with my body will continue rising. Before long, I may go completely mad and lose my sense of self.
[But before that can happen, I will send my coordinates and weaknesses to you. Please bring a group of superhumans to destroy me, but also to witness my power.
[Take note: Do not come alone, or else, I might end up killing you.
[Once I die, I hope that you will be in charge of dissecting and harvesting my body. I believe that with your skills, you will be able to unravel all the secrets in my body and help our civilization brave the waves and continue forward.
[Professor of Sandworms, 13 May, New Era Year 56.]
That was the end of the email.
Meng Chao sucked in a deep breath. He got up, turned off the lights, and sat for a long time in the darkness.
He imagined himself as a Giant Sandworm with a human soul. He kept to himself and lurked in the darkness underground while evolving and thinking about things.
“Just what… are Supernatural Entities?”
The next morning, Meng Chao joined Lu Siya in her race car and went to a training camp that the abnormal beast research department had built in the west of the city.
On the way, Lu Siya was very excited.
“Xie Xiaolei still has a few tricks up his sleeve. His guess is correct. The higher-ups don’t want to cause a ruckus about Gao Ye turning into a monster because this will deal a heavy blow to the biochemical modification faction, and it will cause the runic symbol machines faction to become restless again after they just entered a ceasefire.
“They’ve only just suppressed a conflict. If it’s lit again, it will not be beneficial to all the people in Dragon City.
“So, if a company pops up at this moment to take care of the problems left by Spirit Creation Creatures, the higher-ups will definitely do everything they can to support it, even if it’s a small company like Superstar.
“I think that Xie Xiaolei’s suggestions are very tempting and doable. Let’s not talk about the skills he will bring to you. The man himself is a general who has gone through multiple battles in the business world.
“Superstar doesn’t have a lot of people who are skilled in managing a company, right? We can exclude your dad, and Qin Hu doesn’t have enough knowledge in this area either. If we rely on his code of brotherhood to operate, you won’t be able to grow your company.
“If Xie Xiaolei manages the operations of Superstar, I believe that in a few years’ time, it won’t be unlikely for the company to be ten times larger than it is now.
“Of course, an ambitious veteran in the business world might not be someone you, your dad, and Qin Hu can control. If you’re careless, you’ll end up inviting an enemy into your place and will have to face the risk of him taking over your company.
“So, at the end of the day, it still depends on whether you have the confidence. If you’re worried that you can’t control Xie Xiaolei, I don’t mind taking Spirit Creation Creatures.
“Hey, I’ve been talking for a long time, but you just stay with your head propped up on your hand while you look outside with a contemplative look on your face. You look like you’re thinking while being all emo and stuff. Are you listening to me?
“Meng Chao, I noticed that you’re becoming really rude. Even if we no longer share the relationship of an employer and employee, I’m still older than you by a few years, so I can be considered to be your big sister. What’s with that attitude?!”
Meng Chao finally looked at her.
He pointed outside the window and said, “Look over there.”
Lu Siya was slightly stunned.
She looked outside the window. The reflection glass curtainwalls of the skyscrapers beside them had formed huge monitors.
They showed video ads made by the Supernatural Tower.
The screen flashed, and a veteran hunter with a beard showed up. He was fighting fiercely against a monster in the wild.
When he finally ended the monster’s life with one slash, he turned around and grinned at the screen with his pearly white teeth. “I’m a superhuman!”
The screen flashed. Now, it showed a thermal power plant. The flames in the huge furnaces looked like magma. They seemed alive with how fiercely they danced. They originated from highly unstable and violent fire-type crystals that could only be suppressed by the vitality magnetic fields from superhumans. Then, through multiple stages of energy conversion, they were converted to electricity and transferred to thousands of families.
The superhumans, who were working hard, were covered in soot. They, too, faced the cameras and smiled. “We’re superhumans!”
The screen flashed. This time, it was an operating theater.
A doctor had his eyes shut tight while mumbling. Dozens of scalpels, hemostats, suturing devices, and surgical equipment floated around his body. After a while, he suddenly opened his eyes and said calmly, “I’m a superhuman.”
A few other clips showed up after that. They were all about superhumans from various industries working hard.
At the end, the monitor showed two lines.
[Superhumans are the weapons of human civilization.]
[The blood of the strong flows for the weak.]
“Recently, the Supernatural Tower has been showing more advertisements. They’ve been showing these two slogans all the time on every street.” Lu Siya cast Meng Chao a rather puzzled glance. “What’s wrong with them? Are you telling me that this is the first time you saw them?”
“Of course not. The TV and broadcasting platforms constantly show promotions related to these two slogans. The Supernatural Tower even put these two slogans on banners, which are everywhere in the city. It’s impossible for me to not see them.”
Meng Chao paused for a moment and said, “I just want to ask, do you believe them?”
Lu Siya snickered.
Meng Chao frowned. “What’s with that? You don’t believe in the slogans and think that they’re lies?”
“I didn’t say that. Don’t go accusing me of something I didn’t do,” Lu Siya said. “It’s not that I don’t believe in the slogans. It’s just…”
“Just what?”
Lu Siya thought about it and said, “Let me put it this way. You’ve never seen the Supernatural Tower and the Survival Committee putting on advertisements or banners in the streets saying ‘the sun is round’, right?”
Meng Chao frowned further. “Of course not. What’s with the question?”
Lu Siya just continued without answering Meng Chao’s question. “That’s right. The government never put up a slogan like ‘the sun is round’ because this is an obvious fact. When you look up, you know that.
“Then, have you ever seen the Supernatural Tower or the Survival Committee saying anything like ‘passionate youths must look for someone to date’?”
“…” Meng Chao looked at her. “No.”
“That’s right. You’ve never seen something like that, because it’s impossible for them to do it, and there’s no need for it, because what would be the point of that sort of announcement? Once the opportunity arises, the passionate youths will definitely chase after their love. They don’t need to be motivated by a slogan for it,” Lu Siya said.
“Do you understand now? If you don’t need slogans for clear facts like ‘the sun is round’ and things that are normal for humans, like chasing after love, then, do you think I’d believe in the two slogans the government is pushing on us right now?”
Meng Chao sighed. “So, after all that, you’re just saying that you don’t believe them.”
“Nope. I do.” Lu Siya gave a sly smile. “As long as I’m the first to believe in these two slogans, then more superhumans will believe in them, and when most of the superhumans believe in them, it’ll no longer matter whether I believe them or not, get it?”
Meng Chao snorted coldly and turned his face away so that he could hide the fact that he absolutely did not understand what Lu Siya was trying to say.
The race car came to a stop in front of a worn down office building with twenty floors.
Written on the signboard in front of the building was: Monster Research Department, Center of Statistics.
Hidden behind this seemingly normal signboard was the training camp of the abnormal beast research department.v