“Why would you have proof? This has nothing to do with you.” Lu Siya still sounded nonchalant.
Meng Chao fell silent for a while. In the end, he did not mention his involvement in the examination. He only said, “I saw a few bloody pictures of the victims online. Their wounds are quite strange. Two of the casualties have really chaotic wounds; they were practically pierced or ripped apart. Their wounds are similar to those left behind by a creature infected by rabies.
“But one of the victims has slight differences in terms of wounds. At first glance, those wounds are also very chaotic, frenzied, and bloody, but if you look at them closely, you’ll find that they seem… to have been left by a creature that is calm.”
Lu Siya fell silent for a while before she asked in puzzlement, “Calm?”
“Yes. Calm,” Meng Chao said. “Trust me. I’m a harvester. I’ve researched all sorts of wounds before in-depth. The wounds left behind by low-grade lifeforms and high-grade lifeforms are completely different. Monsters who go berserk while they’re heavily injured leave behind different wounds compared to monsters who lie in ambush to attack their prey. And the wounds left behind by monsters can also show whether they possess intelligence.
“I… have a feeling that one of the three biochemical pets is different from the other two. It’s smarter, calmer, and even more fatal.”
“A feeling?” Lu Siya said. “You got this ‘feeling’ by going through a few pictures of the victims’ corpses? Why couldn’t I manage to tell that there’s anything different from the corpses’ wounds?”
Meng Chao scratched his head. He did not know how to explain things.
Of course he had not been able to tell it with just one glance.
Instead, he had his suspicions and assumed that this matter was related to the Supernatural Entities, which was why he had gone back to examine the pictures of the victims’ corpses.
This was practically the same as first firing a bullet before going to the spot where it landed and drawing a bull’s eye around it. Of course it was easier for him to find clues this way.
“Anyway, I think that this case is very suspicious. If we investigate it, we might be able to find monsters with high intelligence. In any case, I intend to fulfill the duties of a good citizen and report the clues to the abnormal beast research department. Whether or not all of you want to continue with your investigation will depend on the organization.”
Meng Chao did not dare to tell her the whole truth.
He hung up and looked at Kindling shining at his peripheral vision.
[Mystery of the Supernatural Entities: Current Progress, 1%.]
He sighed and thought, ‘This is all I can do.’
He continued with the experiments of the Ultimate Style in the morning.
Recently, Gu Jianbo had mastered the style and was focusing on becoming a five-star superhuman. He was becoming increasingly like the Blade Dancer, but it also meant that he had less time to provide guidance to Meng Chao.
So, Meng Chao acted based on the methods taught to him when he was in the secret training camp in Ghost Tribe. He fused Walking Corpse and Bizarre Stab into the Ultimate Style and started going in-depth in his research of methods that would allow him to release explosive power with his 1,024 branch meridians. He trained happily, and time went by quickly.
When it was almost noon, he received news from Lu Siya asking him whether he had lectures in the afternoon and whether it would be convenient for them to talk about the case of pets murdering their owners at Blessed Paradise.
Meng Chao’s eyes lit up. He agreed to it and asked her to meet him at the entrance of Agricultural University.
Right when he reached the gate, he saw a fierce-looking group from the monster controller course. They were all freshmen and were led by Panther Girl Wu Wu as they walked out.
There were also freshmen from the martial arts course, resource course, and biochemical course in the group. They looked like they had become united when faced the same enemy.
“Xie Feng?” Meng Chao saw a few of his coursemates in the group, so he waved his hand to greet them. “Where are you going?”
“We’re going to the University of Technology,” Xie Feng said. “Meng Chao, have you heard about the case at Blessed Paradise? Right now, there is a lot of noise online, and quite a number of people are worried about biochemical modification technology. They think that runic symbols machines are safer and more efficient.
“This morning, the students from the monster controller course and the students from the University of Technology’s machine course argued in the united forum of the alliance of the five universities. The argument was so fierce that the forum nearly collapsed.
“In the end, the students from both sides agreed that they might as well organize a debate to decide which was better, biochemical modification technology or runic symbols machines, and which piece of technology was more suited for the development of Dragon City and our needs to colonize the Other World. Then, our monster controllers and their machine masters will have a friendly spar.
“Even though the martial arts course competes with the monster controller course in the university, this event concerns all the people in Agricultural University. In fact, it concerns the interests of all the people involved in monster production. Hunters, harvesters, monster modifiers, etherealized plants botanists, monster controllers… all of them are involved.
“And since we’re mutually dependent on each other, the martial arts course can’t situate itself outside this matter. We have to cheer for the monster controllers. Are you going?”
“That’s right, Meng Chao. Will you cheer me?”
Panther Girl Wu Wu came forward with sparkling eyes and stared expectantly at Meng Chao.
“Urk…”
Ever since Meng Chao had defeated her, Wu Wu constantly looked for him whenever she was free and insisted that she wanted to learn all his skills.
Meng Chao also hoped for a strong rival to motivate him to continue improving, so he did not hide any of his skills from Wu Wu.
In the freshman tournament between the alliance of the five universities and Dragon City University, Wu Wu had fought one against five during the final moment and created a miracle, while Meng Chao had fought fiercely to get rid of the strongest person on the other camp, Wang Dao, to help her build the foundation for victory.
Hence, their relationship had improved by leaps and bounds… and it upgraded to the point that when Wu Wu was drenched in sweat after training and filled her stomach, she was at ease with revealing her tummy and sleeping beside Meng Chao.
Based on what Wu Wu said, this meant that they were now the closest companions in a Ghost Leopard pack and shared an incredibly tight bond.
Even though Meng Chao felt that this relationship was weird, at the very least, they were friends.
Logically speaking, he should go and cheer for Wu Wu and the other monster controllers.
But he had already invited Lu Siya to investigate the case.
So, he could only cough dryly and say, “That’s unfortunate. I just invited a friend to go out for lunch. How about this? I’ll try to be as quick as possible and go to the University of Technology to look for you once I’m done. In any case, our universities are close to each other, and it’s just a few steps. I won’t be late.”
“Oh…” Wu Wu felt a little disappointed.
At that moment, the students who were walking in front of the group cried out in surprise.
A magma red race car with the roars of a crystal engine that had great horsepower left behind a trail of burning afterimages before it stopped at the gates of Agricultural University, right next to the students.
In this era, even if a person only had two couches with four wheels under them, it was still a status symbol.
Hence, this sort of crystalline, luxurious race car that looked as if it was crafted entirely out of crystals caused a lot of students to widen their eyes so much that it looked as if they were about to pop out of their eye sockets.
Even if the students who had managed to get into university generally came from well-off families, they did not often have the chance to see a luxurious car of such supreme quality.
The doors of the race car moved diagonally upwards, like a falcon-type monster tucking its wings away as it prepared for a dive. It slowly raised up and folded itself together.
A woman who was even more eye-catching than the luxurious race car stepped out. She wore a dress with a split that went straight up to her thighs and accentuated her ridiculously long legs. When she came out, she leaned against the car door.
Half of her face was covered by sunglasses with wide rims and silver light reflecting from the lenses. Aside from fiery-red lips, no one could see any part of the woman’s features.
Even so, it did not stop the students from taking note of her fair skin and long neck. They imagined how beautiful her face had to be. Her earrings were so long that they reached her shoulders, and as they swayed, they gave off a dazzling light, so even the most beautiful girls in the area, including the course princesses, department princesses, and university princesses in the university were overshadowed by her.
In an instant, the entire area became silent.
Cold sweat broke out on Meng Chao’s forehead.
“Get in.” Lu Siya beckoned at him.
In an instant, all the students sucked in sharp breaths and stared at Meng Chao. They were unable to believe their own ears.
This was especially so for the boys. They did not hide their desire to tie Meng Chao to torture him and force him to treat them to a month’s worth of dinner.
“Your friend?” Wu Wu asked softly behind Meng Chao.
“Y-Yeah. We’re not very close to each other. We just met a few times, so we’re just normal friends,” Meng Chao scratched his head.
“Are you certain you can come cheer for us immediately after you eat with a friend like this?” Xie Feng was skeptical.
Meng Chao could say nothing about it, so he went straight to Lu Siya’s car.
Once she started driving, Meng Chao said, “Here’s a suggestion. I know that you’re the young lady of Sky Pillar Corporation, but sometimes, when you decide to walk among the peasants, could you keep a low profile? We’re just discussing the case. There’s no need for you to be so flashy, right?”
“I know. This is me keeping a low profile. I chose the cheapest car from my house to pick you up,” Lu Siya answered faintly,
“…” Meng Chao was silent for a while. “I can now understand why Big Brother Lin felt pressure when he was with you and thought that he’s a Demonic Halberd Pig while you’re a Crystalline Nine-headed Dragon.”
“I still don’t understand it. With Lin Chuan or your strength and potential, as long as you work hard enough and are willing to risk your lives, it’s not difficult for you to get a race car or a mansion. I don’t understand what you’re conflicted about.”
“It might be because even if we reach Heaven Realm or Deity Realm and get a lot of money, we still won’t buy a race car or a mansion.”
“And that’s why I said you’re too naive,” Lu Siya retorted. “Have you heard of the story of Zi Gong paying a ransom for a person? There is a law in the Country of Lu that if a Lu Citizen sees a fellow citizen run into misfortune in a foreign country and end up as a slave, as long as they pay the ransom for those people and help them regain their freedom, they will be able to get rewards and compensation from the nation.
“Confucious’ student, Zi Gong, paid a ransom for Lu Citizens while he was in another country, but he rejected the rewards from the nation.
“And this is Confucious’ remark of his actions. He said, ‘Zi Gong, that’s where you’re wrong. If you take the compensation from the nation, it won’t be a slight to your morals. But if you don’t take the compensation, no one in the Country of Lu will pay a ransom for their fellow citizens if they see them in trouble.
“Later, another student of his called Zi Lu saved a drowning man. That person thanked him by giving him a bull. Zi Lu took it. After Confucious learned about it, he was very happy and said, ‘From now on, the Lu Citizens will definitely be brave enough to save drowning people.’
“Even if Lin Chuan became a Heaven Realm fighter, he continued living a simple and tough life, and he appeared to be friendly. In fact, he donated his income to contribute to society. On the surface, this is good, correct, and very noble.
“But do you think that all superhumans should learn from Lin Chuan and use him as their standard?
“Use me for an example. If I don’t drive a luxurious car, don’t live in a mansion, and don’t use my money every day, I won’t have the motivation to earn money. Then, there will be no need for me to enter the depths of the underground to explore the mines or go into the wild to risk my life fighting against the monsters. Why should I even fight desperately to defend Dragon City?
“I can just become a two-star or three-star superhuman and stop cultivating so that I can enjoy my life. In any case, no matter how much money I earn, I can’t spend it in an upright manner. When I spend my money, I will be criticized by others that I only want to enjoy my life and am a rich young lady who doesn’t understand the pains of the common people. They’ll even say that I’m a Crystalline Nine-headed Dragon who eats the flesh and blood of Demonic Halberd Pigs. Then, why should I cultivate and fight?!”
Meng Chao was instantly rendered speechless.
Lu Siya quickly continued, “Also, did you see your university mates’ gazes just now? They were shocked and longed for this race car. In truth, they were jealous.
“They’re your university mates and they’re freshmen with bright futures ahead of them, right? As long as a few of them are attracted by my race car and are determined to train madly and fight with their lives on the line to earn money, isn’t this a great thing for Dragon City?
“The majority of normal people are still controlled by their desires in this world, and the ascetic monks with great ideals are in the minority. Confucius knew this well, which is why he criticized Zi Gong but praised Zi Lu. Based on this, not only do I bring pleasure to myself when I drive a race car through the city in a flashy manner, but also motivate all the superhumans and ignite the fighting spirit in ambitious youths.
“Even if we look at this subjectively and think that everyone is very selfish and is only cultivating and fighting for luxurious cars and mansions, objectively speaking, we are still getting a lot of resources for Dragon City, and if we use those resources to build new elementary schools, isn’t it more logical that Lin Chuan’s so-called selfless contributions?”
“…” After a moment, Meng Chao said, “Let’s change to another topic. Big Sis Ya, your sunglasses look pretty good.”