Chapter 254: Three Small Holes
“That’s right!” Qin Hu’s eyes lit up, and he said, “Even though we’re the ones who discovered the Red Radiance Jade mine first, we were pressed for time and couldn’t complete the exploration, so we didn’t set up landmarks. Even if we did, everything, including all the living would have been engulfed by the spirit energy tsunami, which would have reduced them to ashes.
“This matter concerns the competition between Sky Pillar Corporation and Universe Corporation. Other mining companies might want to profit from this too. If we end up with an internal conflict, it’ll be very difficult to ensure that we’ll get the first mining rights.
“Also, the White Spirit’s carcass has a lot of research value. It is a monster who evolved on its own and learned to speak to humans. It’s a rare creature, and if we sell it to the monster research center, one of the universities, or some rich mega corporation, we will definitely be able to earn a lot of money.
“These two things are our greatest sources of profit. As for the other secrets, it’s fine even if we don’t figure them out. I’m an adult, and I do know the logic behind ‘the more you know, the sooner you die.’”
Meng Chao agreed with her words.
If they researched the White Spirit’s carcass in depth, it would help them uncover the secret behind the Supernatural Entities.
It was the most important thing.
Once he thought of this, his expression changed, and he cried out, “No! The White Spirit’s carcass!”
While fleeing, they had to climb through a winding crack, and naturally, they could not care about the White Spirit’s carcass knocking against the walls.
Once they rushed into the Blue Origin Crystal cave, the three of them could only push against the crystal wall arduously while fending off the resonance from two waves of spirit energy and the impact. They did not have time to care about keeping the White Spirit’s carcass in good condition.
And monster carcasses were things that rotted and went bad really easily.
Under the impact of the spirit energy tsunami, it was hard to say what it was like anymore and whether it still had any research value.
Meng Chao quickly headed to a corner where they kept their items.
The White Spirit’s carcass had yet to rot away, but it had been torn apart and was already starting to become soft. A faint stench came from it.
It was unlikely that it would last through a difficult trek that would take from six to twelve hours, then survive the journey on the surface.
Meng Chao did not have any stabilizing solution or liquified condenser which he could use to slow down its decay either.
“There’s no other choice. I have to dissect it and categorize all of its organs. I’ll have to save as much of it as possible.” Meng Chao looked to Lu Siya for approval.
She was the recruiter and sponsor of the mine exploration team.
And he was one of the mine explorers she hired.
Based on the rules in the field, since Lu Siya had hired him with a lot of money, the right to make the decision was always in her hands for everything that they obtained in the mission.
Besides, if they did not consider when the Blood Flower had turned the White Spirit into an undead, while the Blood Spirit was still a White Spirit, it was killed by Lu Siya’s Spike Art.
Since she killed it, the game was hers.
If they had worked together to hunt a creature, the person with the higher cultivation real, the one who put more effort into the fight, and the one who landed the final hit would naturally get the larger share.
This was the rule that had been adhered to over decades in the field, and it was very fair.
Meng Chao might not like Lu Siya’s ambitious and domineering nature, but he did not want to break the rules.
Besides, he could not win against Lu Siya. For the time being, at least.
“Alright, I believe in your skills,” Lu Siya agreed to it readily.
If he did not look at her nature of using every method at her disposal to achieve her goal, she was actually not very difficult to get along with.
After the accident underground and how Lin Chuan had sacrificed himself like a true hero, whenever she looked into the eyes of the junior who often chatted away into the night with Lin Chuan, she would find that there was another spark in Meng Chao’s eyes.
Meng Chao asked Qin Hu for two Shooting Star Blades.
The throwing knives were as thin as a cicada’s wings. They were made of a material which was both tough and soft, which was one of the reasons they were considered to be top-quality lancet knives. When Meng Chao cut into the monster’s carcass, he felt pleasure all over his body. It was as if he was swinging his brush.
In truth, there was not much of the White Spirit’s carcass left.
Its upper body had been blasted to bits by the self-destruct gun, and its organs had spilled out when the spike pierced its abdomen. Aside from the Blood Flower bacterial flora, it only had half a thorax, its hind legs, and its three bald tails.
Meng Chao thought about the dozens of diagrams of canine-type monsters in his head, especially those of the Illusion Wolves.
With smooth motions, he harvested the legs and tails before he went to handle the remaining half of the spine.
The swollen bump of nerves that the White Spirit used to control minds was located at the coccyx, and it was the most important part.
The moment Meng Chao cut into it with the Shooting Star Blades, he heard a plop, and a foul, bloody stench flowed into the air.
No matter how gentle and precise Meng Chao’s movements were, the swollen bundle of nerves at the White Spirit’s coccyx still turned into sticky pus.
“Damn it!” Meng Chao could not help but curse. “It has been too long, and its second brain has already rotted away.”
“Ah…” Qin Hu was incredibly disappointed. “Then, we won’t be able to sell this for a lot of money, right?”
“There’s nothing we can do about it. After all, we’ve been pressing on for a day and night here,” Lu Siya said. “The brain has always been the monster organ that rots and goes bad the easiest. It’s already all thanks to the Life Stone that it still looks like this.”
Meng Chao shook his head.
Lu Siya and Qin Hu would never know just how valuable this future Supernatural Entity was.
But now that things had progressed to this state, it was impossible for him to bring it back from the dead. He could only continue with his task and scrape away the rotted pieces of flesh and extract the parts that could still be brought out.
Suddenly, he froze up like a statue.
He narrowed his eyes, and his fingers trembled. A Shooting Star Blade cut his finger, and a drop of blood fell out.
“Meng Chao?” Lu Siya and Qin Hu were a little taken aback.
They knew about Meng Chao’s skills. Even though he was new in the field, his harvesting skills were definitely as great as his fighting skills.
Unless he had gone through some kind of great shock, it was impossible for him to make this sort of beginner-level mistake.
Both of them observed him and saw that he was extracting the White Spirit’s broken spine.
After Meng Chao processed it, a small dot of different color compared to the rest of the bone around it appeared. It was located three vertebrae above the tail.
“What is this?” Qin Hu asked curiously. “Is it a pattern on its bone?”
“… It’s a hole.” Meng Chao shut his eyes and used his fingertips to rub it for a long time. Then, he mumbled, “It’s three holes, actually. They should have been made when the White Spirit was a cub. A long, narrow thing that is like a needle was planted in it and only taken out after a long time had passed. So, even though the bone grew well, it’s slightly different from the ones around it.”
Lu Siya and Qin Hu required half a minute to understand what Meng Chao said.
“Why are there three holes on the White Spirit’s spine?” Qin Hu asked in disbelief. “Was it born this way?”
“Based on what I know, it’s impossible for natural holes to form on the spines of the Illusion Wolves, or rather, on all animals with vertebrates. No monster is able to form such fine holes on their spines either. Whoever did it didn’t harm nor cripple it,” Meng Chao said. “You need advanced technology and equipment for this.”
Qin Hu thought about it for a long time. “Are you saying that someone made these holes? Why?”
“In the monster controller and biochemical courses in Agricultural University, if we want to make unique biochemical beasts, we might implant chips into their spinal nerves or inject medicine into them,” Meng Chao said. “If we inject medicine into a biochemical beast’s spine for a long period of time, we can stimulate their spinal nerves to grow faster.
“Since it’s impossible for us to inject it once every day, we drill a hole into the spine and use special equipment to drip the concoction inside. Once the modification is complete, the equipment is taken out, and bone cell growth serum is injected inside so that the wound will recover. This is something very common.”
“What?!” Qin Hu was shocked. “The White Spirit was modified by Lin Chuan?”
After giving it some thought, Meng Chao said, “Not possible. Big Brother Lin might have come from Agricultural University, but he’s from the martial arts course. He should not have come into contact with such technology and equipment. Besides, when he got to know the White Spirit, he had already graduated, so it’d have been impossible for him to bring the White Spirit back to Agricultural University.
“The equipment in Agricultural University isn’t advanced enough to make monsters gain wisdom, anyway. Besides, Big Brother Lin told us basically everything, so I don’t think he would have hidden something like this.
“If the White Spirit was really modified before, it was before it met Big Brother Lin. It didn’t use its mental channels to tell Big Brother Lin about this, either; otherwise, Big Brother Lin would have said it.
“Once I combine all that I’ve said with my analysis of its spine, I can conclude that it was modified when it was very young. It’s likely that the White Spirit itself didn’t even know or remember it.”
Qin Hu scratched his head. “Then, someone did it?”
“Take note, I didn’t say that a ‘person’ did it. I only said that based on the current information about monsters that we have, even Apocalyptic Beasts don’t have such precise surgical abilities.”
Qin Hu frowned and said, “Isn’t that the same? Aside from Earthlings, monsters are the only living creatures in the Other World. Oh, I heard that there are humanoid creatures who eat raw flesh and drink blood. I think they’re mutated ape-shaped monsters, not ‘humans’. Who else could have done it?”
“I don’t know.” Meng Chao shook his head slowly. “The only thing I am certain of is that there are three small holes on the White Spirit’s coccyx, and its wisdom might not have come about naturally. It didn’t get it by eating other monsters’ brains either. When you think about it, it gained wisdom like this actually makes more sense.”
“Oh well, it’s not important.” Qin Hu punched the ground and said excitedly, “What’s important is that now, it can sell for a lot of money, right?”
Meng Chao found himself absolutely speechless.
Lu Siya said, “It might sell for a lot of money, but there’s also a possibility that we will be dragged into an even bigger storm. Looks like regardless of whether we like each other or not, we’re going to be bound together.”
Meng Chao fell silent.
He knew that the White Spirit was a future Supernatural Entity and was much more clear about just how mysterious and dangerous the storm they were about to get dragged into was.
It was one of the Nine Great Supernatural Entities, who were peerless existences that did not make any scientific sense. Just how did they come to be?
“Thank goodness all three of us survived. Looks like Meng Chao is right. When the three of us are together, we are indeed ridiculously lucky.” Lu Siya stared at Meng Chao with an intense gaze.
“Let’s go. Since this dangerous situation has not killed us, I believe that no matter what sort of storm or typhoon we face, it won’t stop us from advancing forward. Now, it’s time for us to return to the surface and face a brand new future!”