Once Meng Chao was done with the matters in his house, the new semester arrived. He poured his heart and soul into training, but from time to time, he received interviews, had to test Surging Lightning, and accepted an invitation by Yan Organization to participate in the subsequent upgrades of Ripple Force V2. His life was simple and fulfilling.
At some unknown point in time, 70% of his spirit meridians had crystallized, and their strength as well as runoff volume increased at least two times. He also reached Master Level or Perfect Level with all his skills.
The only thing missing was that he still had no clues in regard to his quest to search for the Supernatural Entities.
In the beginning, when Lu Siya invited him to join the abnormal beast research department, Meng Chao hesitated a little. He was a reserved person and would not join any organization just because someone asked him, or else it would make him look like he had no class whatsoever.
Hence, he decided that he had to choose his missions carefully when Lu Siya came to him, talk about how he should carry them out, and seize the chance to talk about the relationship between normal people and superhumans to teach Lu Siya.
But in the next few months, aside from the reconstruction of Blessed Heavenly Street Elementary School, Lu Siya never once looked for him, and it left him anxious.
So, he could only be shameless and search for Lu Siya on his own in hopes of getting some information about abnormal beasts.
Lu Siya seemed to have seen through his thoughts and told him to stay calm and wait. There was internal conflict in the abnormal beast research department right now, and she was just a supporter whose Spike Art was occasionally useful. She was only allowed to join the department because of Lu family’s fame and Sky Pillar Corporation. Even if she obtained a mission, it would be just about recruitment or to help other investigators as an assistant.
The ambitious Lu Siya was definitely not satisfied with her current position. She had to reveal her strength and card through the relationships between the members in the department before she could do whatever she wanted.
Lu Siya did fulfill her promise, though, and gave Meng Chao some information about the abnormal beasts.
But to Meng Chao, these so-called abnormal beasts were just a little smarter. They knew how to hide in dark corners and hide when chased by powerful humans or were pets who knew how to open doors, go to the toilet, and flush it. They were completely different from the Supernatural Entities who smiled savagely in his previous life.
And lately, Dragon City was in a state of calm. Ever since they got rid of the three Apocalyptic Beasts in the northern offense, the remaining monsters seemed to have been terrified by humanity’s ferocity. The monsters in the east, west, and south all announced a ceasefire and did not dare to rush into Dragon City again. And the monsters who were transported to Dragon City by the space-time rifts fled the moment they crawled out of the fog. They did not pose any threat.
The monsters were now really weak so all the superhumans felt as if they had nowhere to use their strength.
Even Meng Chao himself wondered whether the Monster War would end just like that.
But one day, Ning Shewo invited him to join a special harvest.
By then, Meng Chao had become a two-star superhuman, his 1,024 branch meridians had all crystalized, and his harvesting skills had improved dramatically.
Not only had he mastered the Basic Harvesting Skill, he had also activated the Intermediate Harvesting Skill, which was meant specifically for Nightmarish Beasts, and he pushed even it to Master Level. He could now harvest most monsters by himself, and he had helped Ning Shewo harvest a few Nightmarish Beasts. It helped his fame spread out of Agricultural University’s martial arts course, and he began showing his splendor in the harvesting circle.
Hence, when Ning Shewo looked for him to observe the injury examination of biochemical pets, he was very puzzled.
The biochemical pets taken in by normal families were different from the biochemical fighting beasts controlled by monster controllers. There were seldom normal people who would take care of Nightmarish Beasts as pets, because the local government would not allow it!
However, once they were genetically modified and inserted with control chips, even normal harvesters had no problem dissecting them, much less Meng Chao, who was already used to them. Did they need to ask specialists like Ning Shewo and Meng Chao to observe it?
“You don’t understand. This matter itself isn’t hard, but it’s linked to many parties, and we have to look for someone who isn’t too highly ranked but has great skill, and most importantly, someone I trust and can rely on.”
Once they left Agricultural University’s compound, Ning Shewo asked Meng Chao, “Have you heard of Spirit Creation before?”
Meng Chao nodded. “Spirit Creation Living Tech Private Limited. Of course I’ve heard of them. They’re a company that specializes in using biochemicals and electronics to modify monsters. They reduce their ferocity and turn them into biochemical beasts that serve humans. Many of the biochemical beasts they modify are very popular. They can be pets and beasts of labor. I keep a Sword-toothed Hunting Dog at home, and it was made by Spirit Creation.”
“It’s good that you heard of them before.” Ning Shewo cleared his throat. “The creator of Spirit Creation is an alumni of Agricultural University, and back in the day, he started his business in the research labs of Agricultural University’s biochemical course. Later, he received investments from Agricultural University… and I also invested a little in Spirit Creation.”
“Wow, Elder Ning, monster modification technology has been really popular as of late, and many citizens are buying biochemical beasts to help them with their work or lives. Spirit Creation has been growing, and I heard that their shares have increased in value several times their original value. You really have a sharp eye for good investments! You must be rich now!” Meng Chao teased him.
“I don’t have a lot of shares in this, but the two creators of Spirit Creation once listened to my lectures, and we can engage in pretty good conversations. We can be considered to be friends despite the generation gap. When they just started building their company, they had some difficulties in running it, so I helped them a little. Very soon, the company grew, and they completely forgot about this old sack of bones!”
Ning Shewo’s smile faded swiftly. He sighed and said, “But now, Spirit Creation has run into some troubles, and you must keep this matter an absolute secret, understand?”
“Got it, but you still haven’t mentioned just what the matter is!” Meng Chao was curious.
Ever since Ning Shewo leveled up to a pseudo heroic citizen and set up the Fire Relayer Foundation, he gained a high understanding of the value of his life. Even his harvesting skills had seemed to still be improving, despite his achievements. There was seldom anything that troubled him.
“This is what’s going on. Three of the biochemical pets that Spirit Creation modified… became violent overnight and killed their masters,” Ning Shewo said quickly.
“What?!” Meng Chao nearly jumped up.
“Now, you should understand why I asked you out in secret and why I only have the both of us on this trip. I didn’t even take Xueshi,” Ning Shewo said. “No matter how cute, powerful, or good at their work the biochemical beasts Spirit Creation modifies are, to an industry which modifies monsters as their signature, all of the things I mentioned are secondary.
“The most important thing is still safety. If the biochemical beasts that stay with you all the time could lose control at any random moment and turn into violent, normal monsters, no one would be able to stand it.”
“Yeah, this is a very serious flaw in the quality of their products. If we become certain that this is a problem with Spirit Creation, the families of the victims will definitely sue the company until they go bankrupt.” Meng Chao agreed to it.
“But will this just lead to Spirit Creation going bankrupt?” Ning Shewo looked at Meng Chao in a very profound manner. “Meng Chao, what do you think is the greatest difference between Dragon City’s civilization and Earth’s civilization?
Meng Chao was slightly stunned.
His first instinct was to retort by saying that Dragon City was part of Earth, and so Dragon City’s civilization was also part of Earth’s civilization, which meant that there was no difference between them, but when he thought about it, Dragon City had transmigrated to the Other World for more than half a century, and during this period of time, the threats and difficulties Dragon City faced, and the appearance of the new resources, new races, and new ranks had caused them to change.
Meng Chao thought about it for a while before he said, “It’s the superhumans?”
“They’re one of the reasons. There are no superhumans on Earth who can control the weather and move mountains and seas.” Ning Shewo paused for a moment. “But there’s one more thing. Our ability to domesticate and use monsters has largely surpassed the degree to which humans on Earth were able to domesticate and use animals.
“Hence, even though we have been fighting against monsters for the past half a century, when a large number of monsters surges into Dragon City, they aren’t just exterminated. They’re also captured, modified, domesticated, and used for our purposes.
“Now, many of the families are keeping biochemical beasts as pets in their houses. But they aren’t just pets. They can help their masters with a lot of tasks. You must understand, there are plenty of citizens who are disabled because of the war, and they have also contracted all sorts of diseases, so life is pretty difficult for them. The biochemical beasts reduce most their workload and decrease the suffering they have to endure.
“I don’t even have to mention how some of the biochemical beasts have a certain degree of fighting strength, right? When the monsters invade us, they fight alongside their masters without hesitation.
“During the construction of the city and subsequent expansion and development, there will be even more uses for the biochemical beasts.
“In the past, many of the biochemical beasts were used during Dragon City’s Great Construction Era. Many of the hornet-nest underground apartments in Dragon City, dozens of the railroads, and thousands of the underground asylums were dug out by Giant Sandworms.
“Right now, Shattered Starlake and Graveyard Forest are being developed, and if we want to turn the swamps into fertile land as soon as possible, develop the underground mines, build intersecting underground communication lines and sturdy fortresses, we will once again need help from biochemical beasts.
“I believe that as we continue speeding up our process of colonization, the biochemical beasts will definitely become even more useful.
“This is the greatest difference between Dragon City’s civilization and Earth’s civilization.
“On Earth, as industrialization rose, machines gradually became the main force of work, and using animals as our workforce stopped being a necessity. They only used animals as labor in terrible environments where machines were not useful.
“And in the Other World, since the energy contained in crystals is too wild and since spirit energy magnetic field interferences affect everything at the atomic level, materials are heavily affected, so we’re unable to use a lot of the sophisticated machines. Instead, monsters who are incredibly powerful and contain some comprehension and communication abilities became a labor force that is much more effective than the cattle on Earth.
“If we treat Earth’s civilization which is completely mechanized, then the Dragon Citizens who transmigrated to the Other World are a civilization that is only partially mechanized, and the other half is unified with monster civilization. We cannot cast aside the possibility of using monsters to help us build our civilization, yes?”
Meng Chao remembered Lin Chuan and the White Spirit, and he nodded.
“But using monsters as labor is a double-edged sword, and if we want to use them effectively, we must first ensure that they are safe to be used.” Ning Shewo frowned. “Now, biochemical pets killed people, and three masters have died in a row. Do you think that Spirit Creation will be the only ones affected? No, the development of all of Dragon City and even the survival of Agricultural University will also be affected, because it’s known as the Monster University!”
