446 - 450

Chapter 446: Hadron Collider

Chen Chen stepped into Xia Yin's office and took a look around.

It was a very simple office without much by way of decorations. The only notable aspect was the sheer size of it.

This office was nearly the size of Chen Chen's office in Eco Science City.

Xia Yin seemed to have sensed what Chen Chen was taking in so she stated meekly, "There's no other way around this, the dimension of this building turned out to be far larger than what we needed. Since there are only several hundred staff stationed here, we have to make the offices larger to not make the place seem too vacant."

"Vacant is good, makes the place feel quieter."

Chen Chen made himself comfortable in the seat opposite the general manager's desk. He looked at Xia Yin who had become very comfortable in her role and asked, "Everything going well in the company?"

"Yeah."

Xia Yin pouted a little. "Headquarters is only an honorary title we have over here because not much goes on here, we're pretty much a decorative vase at this point. All we do is manage the websites and make the occasional announcement. There's not much else apart from that. How are things supposed to be not going well?"

"This place is very important, you only feel this way because the decisive time isn't here just yet."

Chen Chen took the coffee from a secretary and offered a quick thank you before continuing. "Besides, working in headquarters is like being the Minister of Palace Affairs, isn't that nice?"

"Ministers are usually eunuchs."

Xia Yin joked suddenly before sighing. "But the good thing is your loyal secretary Aixen usually keeps in touch with us. I heard that Aixen is an underage girl?"

"?"

Chen Chen tilted his head, puzzled by this question.

"I've been wondering why you're not interested in me, turns out you're into lolitas!"

Xia Yin twisted her expression in horror. "Sicko!"

Chen Chen noticed that they were getting sidetracked and immediately reverted to the topic at hand. "Forget about that. There's another reason that I came today apart from taking a look at the headquarters. I'm going to email you a document later, it's the registration form for a certain project. I'm going to need you to prepare for it because you'll be representing Blacklight Biotechnology to meet the high-ranking officials all over the world sometime in the future."

"What project?"

Xia Yin asked, looking puzzled at Chen Chen.

"An investment project involving tens of billions of dollars and the entire Earth Federation, which is why I need you to go in person."

Chen Chen answered, "Simply put, I plan to establish branches in the Central, East, South, and North Sea Continents. This includes all continents ranging from Indian, Middle East, Northern America, Southern America, Europe, Oceanic, and the Antarctic. On top of establishing branch companies, we'll also be establishing local research institutes and sanatoriums to expand the international scope of Eco Science City."

Xia Yin wondered if her ears were failing her so she looked at Chen Chen in sheer astonishment. "Are you sure? Where are we getting all these funds from?"

Xia Yin's bewilderment was completely justified. It was one thing to establish branch companies and administrative departments internationally since most major corporations had done something similar as well. However, to establish an equivalent Eco Science City all over the world was something nowhere near as easy to accomplish.

Blacklight Biotechnology ranked among the best of them in terms of net worth. However, most of the corporation's net worth came from the estimated value of its city.

Although Blacklight Biotechnology never listed itself on the market, most of its revenue was invested into the expansion of Eco Science City. It was not an easy task to upkeep a city.

"Well, we'll be borrowing the money from banks, just as you'd expect."

Chen Chen smirked and answered, "These days, you won't find any businesses willing to operate out of their pocket, what if their investment turns out to be unsuccessful?"

"..."

"I'll leave the negotiations of the rates and conditions in your capable hands by then."

Chen Chen expressed sincerely. "Xia Yin, don't let me down."

"Yes!"

Though caught off guard by this sudden revelation initially, Xia Yin immediately regained her composure. After all these years, she was no longer the innocent and naive girl she used to be, but a hardened and extremely qualified woman.

"I still have one more task for you."

Chen Chen continued. "Which is to order the engine parts for a Hadron Collider. You'll have to secretly order this from the European officials. I'll have the financial groups from Europe get in touch and cooperate with you."

"What!"

Xia Yin was yet again baffled by Chen Chen's request. "Hadron Collider? Chen Chen, what are you planning to do?"

Chen Chen did not bother with offering an explanation. "These are your tasks. After all these years, why don't you show me if you can meet my standards?"

With that, Chen Chen saw that his errand here was done and he promptly got up, and left Xia Yin's office.

After exiting the main lobby, Chen Chen darted a final glance at the office building before reactivating the communication device with Little X.

"X, tell Cheng Cao to arrange my transport. I'm heading back to Namibia."

Chen Chen whispered.

"Hmmph!"

There was a slightly upset grunt coming from the earpiece, followed up by Little X speaking in a dull tone, "I've informed Cheng Cao, he's on the way here!"

"Perfect."

Chen Chen paid no mind to Little X. He sat down on a seat surrounded by an arrangement of flowers and looked at the busy streets of Shangdu. His gaze was as stoic as the surface of still water.

Chen Chen wanted to purchase the engine parts for a Hadron Collider because this was the perfect timing for it.

It was just like how his decision to establish branch companies all over the world stemmed from the fact that Blacklight Biotechnology was rapidly gaining international recognition and starting to dominate foreign markets.

Chen Chen had already planned to build a Hadron Collider as early as two years ago.

With the development of science and technology, mankind's understanding of the structure of matter was rapidly evolving with every passing day. From the beginning, the observation of substances was done by observing what was visible to the naked eye. Gradually, magnifying glasses and microscopes were applied, which later progressed to the usage of high-energy physics research equipment. The scale of observation was expanded time and time again, spanning into the underlying structure of cells, molecules, atoms, and nuclei.

Each discovery brought forth a monumental societal revolution and technological improvement.

The discovery of atomic nuclei and extranuclear electrons led to the invention of the radio, semiconductors, television, radar, lasers, and X-rays.

The Hadron Collider was one of the equipment used to observe substances on a microscope level.

At its core, the Hadron Collider was a particle accelerator. Its prowess lay in its ability to accelerate particles to such a point that when two particles of equal speed collided, they may fuse with one another to generate a new form of particle.

Moreover, even if the high-speed particles did not collide, researchers could still observe the pattern of changes that occurred to the microcosm during the movement of the particles. This helped with laying the foundation for further research and development of the microcosm.

At the same time, gaining a better understanding of the microscopic world helped mankind gain a better understanding of the construct of the macro world.

Generally speaking, the larger the Hadron Collider, the more proficient it was. This was attributed to the fact that as the size increased, the internal space for operation increased as well, which in turn allowed the machine to generate more energy for the associated particles to accelerate faster. All these factors combined allowed researchers to obtain more precise research results.

Currently, the European Large Hadron Collider was the world's largest and most powerful Hadron Collider, with its tunnel circumference reaching up to 27 kilometers. The European research team had spent more than ten years and 80 billion dollars to construct the engineering marvel.

It should be clear by now that it was not a piece of cheap scientific research equipment, but what would be regarded as a luxury in the realms of science and technology. Only a country with strong economic strength could construct and put it to use. It was a far more momentous task for a mere private company to put together such equipment.

As early as 2014, the Central Continent launched a certain project. The details of the project were to construct a tunnel with a circumference reaching up to 100 kilometers, which was nearly four times longer than the largest known Hadron Collider. This plan was ultimately objected to by Professor Yang Zhenning in 2018. Since then, it had been aborted and never been truly implemented by anyone else since.

The reasoning for Professor Yang Zhenning's objection was simple. First of all, it was simply too expensive. Second, the success rate was not optimistic. Third, it offered zero substantial application over the next five decades.

There was another important reason for his objection, being that it would be hogged by foreigners after its completion. This was because at the time, high-energy physicists in the Central Continent were far and few in between.

Some people may not understand the reasoning for Yang Zhenning's objection. In truth, one of the greatest potential contributions of this Hadron Collider would be to accurately measure the Higgs Boson to determine if this particle truly surpassed the current physics framework. This particular particle known as the Higgs Boson was also dubbed — God Particle.

The physics community had been looking forward to it for more than four decades as it was the particle that was most likely to surpass the current standard model. If it was verified, then what was known as "Superstring Theory" would be elevated to the likes of "Quantum Mechanic". The phrase "Theory" would hence be replaced and thus referred simply as "Superstring Mechanic."

This "Superstring Mechanic" would be a culmination of the theory of all things — the unified form of the four basic forces.

All existing particles in the world, from the smallest primal atom to the largest astronomical bodies, even including the essence of a black hole or the very origin of the universe, would have to succumb to the laws of superstring...

This was a dream of mankind. Once the interaction of matter and its subsequent principles and movement were standardized, mankind would achieve the omnipotence that rivaled God.

Unfortunately, this vision was never achieved.

As early as the period during the Northern America-Soviet hegemony, Northern America had already planned to build a Hadron Collider with a measured circumference of 100 kilometers. The nation spent more than two billion U.S. dollars over several years, but even the tunnel was not even properly carved out by the end of it. The project ultimately came to an end when the Soviet Union had disbanded at the time.

Naturally, this was terrible news for the pack of supporters of the "Superstring Theory" in the high-energy physics community.

Later on, the European Hadron Collider was debuted with its maximum operation power reached up to 13TeV. Though it was inferior to what the Northern America version could have been, it was at least a completed project. However, after the much-anticipated collision experiment, the journey to discovering signs of supersymmetric particles was to no avail even after several years. With that, 99.999% of the foundation for supersymmetric theory went up in smoke.

Today, the combined thesis for "Superstring Theory" was essentially a pile of scrap paper. However, there were still countless people who believed in its possibility. This group of people believed that the only reason why they could not achieve collision supersymmetric particles was primarily due to power insufficiency, which was why they came to lobby for the construction of the Hadron Collider in the Central Continent. All this was also linked to the opposition of Professor Yang Zhenning.

Simply put, the primary reason that the Central Continent's plans for constructing the Hadron Collider ultimately amounted to nothing was due to the lack of ITS scientific value.

Things were different in Chen Chen's case, for he had two reasons for constructing the Hadron Collider.

The first and primary reason was that Chen Chen wanted to use it to manufacture a piece of technology acquired from Elysium — the high-offset armor.

This variant of isotope metal armor was branded the sturdiest and most stable substance in the solar system. It could be used as the plating for spacecraft due to its ability to resist surface radiation from the sun which allowed it to freely travel across the solar system.

So far, Chen Chen had not discovered any substance that was more resilient than it apart from the water drop from The Three-Body Problem.

The second incentive for Chen Chen to construct the Hadron Collider was that unlike the Central Continent, he did not need to invest tens of billions into this creation. He had something special up his sleeve.

The normal-temperature superconductor.

When it came to the tunneling system of a regular Hadron Collider, it was the maintenance of the low-temperature superconductor that cut into a sizable portion of the budget. However, the unique qualities of the normal-temperature superconductor allowed Chen Chen to only expend one-tenth of the usual cost for its upkeep. This also allowed him to create a far shorter, but vastly superior Hadron Collider.

This was the exclusive advantage Chen Chen had.

Another aspect to factor in was that Chen Chen wanted to follow along with the theory of great unification to determine the validity of the so-called "Superstring Theory", which could unify the four fundamental forces. This theory was also dubbed as the theory of everything.

There were several examples of such an ambitious venture. Following Galileo's standardization of the laws of motion and inertia in accordance with "Newton's Laws of Motion" and "Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation", the road to the mechanical industrial revolution was paved.

Maxwell also trailed after that path when he standardized the composition of electricity, magnetism, and light with a set of equations, heralding mankind's electrical age from thereon.

After that came Einstein. He first used the "Theory of Relativity" to combine Maxwell's equations and Newtonian mechanics to create a standardization of the measure of low and high velocity. This was subsequently used to standardize the equation of matter and energy, giving birth to what was now known as nuclear weapons.

After that came quantum mechanics, which was where Yang Zhenning came into the picture.

With a crumpled piece of paper he found in his pocket and a set of mathematical framework theory, he unified electromagnetic force, low-velocity force, and high-velocity force. This mathematical framework was the aforementioned Yang-Mills gauge field theory.

Yang Zhenning's gauge field theory was comparable to the likes of Newton's gravitational theory, Maxwell's electromagnetism theory, and Einstein's theory of relativity.

Many people regarded Hawking as the most successful physicist of modern times, the only one that could hold up to Einstein. What many of them did not know was that Yang Zhenning's accomplishment triumphed over Hawking's.

There was a popular saying among physicists that Yang Zhenning was two-thirds Einstein combined with twenty Hawkings.

Chapter 447: Return

Two hours later, Chen Chen stepped out of the teleportation room on the top floor of the Spire laboratory.

In just two hours, Chen Chen had traversed across thousands of kilometers from the Central Continent to Africa without drawing any attention. Most of these two hours were spent traveling to and from the teleportation rooms.

The teleportation itself took no longer than ten seconds.

"The only drawback of using teleportation to move around is the sheer power usage."

Chen Chen ruminated. Despite its quiet appearance, the Gantz sphere consumed a sizable amount of power, even exceeding the initially determined quota. The only reason it could be barely kept functional was largely attributed to the two nuclear fusion reactors in the Spire Experimental Base.

Another significant advantage that came with Gantz technology was that even energy could be transported freely.

This meant that even if Gantz spheres were set up in different corners of the world, there was no need to worry about the local governments detecting any abnormalities with power usage. All Chen Chen had to do was ensure that the headquarters had ample power.

"Looks like it's time to build a third nuclear fusion reactor."

With this in mind, Chen Chen looked at the monitor and noted. "X, for the third nuclear fusion reactor, I hope to achieve power generation up to ten million kilowatts per hour and Q value surpassing a thousand."

"Alright, I'll notify the high-energy physics department."

The nuclear fusion reactor did not take up much space and its fuel source was largely extracted from the ocean. The port granted easy, nearly unlimited access to seawater. It was only the extraction that proved slightly troublesome. With that said, the returns vastly out-scaled the labor required.

This was the highlight of nuclear fusion technology. If this technology were to be publicized, countries all over the world would no longer need to contend with one another and their GDP would easily increase by more than ten folds.

It would take less than a decade for humans to land on the moon, another decade to colonize Mars and begin populating the planet. Within five decades, there was a good chance of traveling beyond the solar system with unlimited energy and resources...

At the current stage, nuclear fusion technology was not mature yet as its Q value barely reached a thousand. Theoretically, the maximum achievable Q value should border close to ten thousand.

Chen Chen stepped out of the teleportation room during his exchange with Little X as he asked again, "What about the iron bed we brought back with us?"

"Due to the bizarre and unpredictable nature of the iron bed, I've kept it locked up in a 'Faraday cage' for now."

Little X answered, "Do you want me to bring it back here?"

"That's alright, I'll head there myself."

Chen Chen waved off the suggestion. He proceeded to leave the Spire and head for the exit to the surface.

The so-called Faraday cage was a cage-like implementation that could be nested in one layer at a time, similar to a Russian doll. Chen Chen used this Faraday cage design to protect himself from being killed by the memetic effects while at the same time, preventing them from spilling into reality.

When Chen Chen arrived at a secret factory sealed off from any unauthorized personnel inside the industrial park, he saw the enormous iron lump measuring more than twenty-five meters wide.

At the present, there were two industrial cranes on both ends of the iron lump slowly lifting it into the air.

Chen Chen saw the layers of the Faraday cage opening one after another upon his arrival until the innermost room was revealed. Without needing Chen Chen to issue a command, one of the Black Knights stepped forward and opened the door for him.

What was inside the room was an extremely familiar sight — it was a tiny room barely fifteen square meters large with two single beds, a desk, a chair, and a toilet at the corner of the room.

Of the two single beds, one was made of wood with a slightly damp mattress laying on top of it. The other bed was made of wire mesh. The arrangement of wires was covered in rust and the bed appeared very dirty.

Apart from the accumulated volumes of rust on the metal bed, there was a large patch of dark brown grease in its middle that seemed to be a product of someone sleeping on it over a significant period.

Tiny strands of dirty pieces of bandages could be spotted mixed into the patch of grease. These tiny fragments were caught between the cracks of the bed which further added to the ominous impression it gave.

Chen Chen could not help but shudder a little when he spotted this metal bed.

He recalled back to the day when he was almost caught in a trap when he returned to his school in Shangdu to investigate. This iron bed appeared to be the source of the trap.

The events experienced by Chen Chen on that fateful day was almost a mirror of the events which occurred in the movie, Silent Hill. When he saw the bed, he was almost ninety percent certain that this bed was the bed seen in the movie, Silent Hill.

"Have you had someone inspect it yet?"

Before getting closer to the metal bed, Chen Chen took the cautious approach and checked with Little X beforehand.

"Not yet, since it wasn't what you instructed. I had it sealed up inside here right after Cheng Cao delivered it."

Little X answered before raising a question, "Do you think it has something to do with the disappearance of Professor Wang Xi?"

"I can't say if it has something to do with that, but I have a hunch that this is the carrier of a meme."

Chen Chen squinted his eyes suspiciously. "If my suspicions are proven correct, then this will be the first item apart from the Gantz server machine that we've dealt with that possesses memetic qualities."

At this point, Chen Chen figured that any amount of speculation would not do him any good. When he gave a signal, two Black Knights immediately stepped forward, holding tools such as pliers and hammers as they entered the room.

After that, the Faraday cage was shut completely again. The two Black Knights attempted to dismantle the bed according to the previously arranged procedures.

Ten minutes later, the two Black Knights stepped out again with some pieces they extracted from the metal bed, thus verifying that the metal bed was destructible.

"The metal bed is destructible. Turns out it's just like any regular bed. We didn't find any abnormalities about it apart from how worn out it is."

Little X reported.

"Extract the pieces of bandages and grease, see if you can find any traces of human tissue."

Chen Chen continued. "If this came from the movie, then we may be able to find the human tissue samples of the core character, Alessa, from these bandages."

The Black Knights did as Chen Chen instructed. After they had performed the tasks instructed of them, Chen Chen issued one last order.

"Lie down."

One of the Black Knights immediately set aside his tools and lay down on the bed immediately.

Chen Chen who was standing a safe distance away held his breath instinctively upon witnessing this.

After about half a minute passed, no visible changes were occurring to either the metal bed or the Black Knight.

"Black Knight T00823 didn't exhibit any abnormalities in his vitals."

Little X noted. "There are zero discrepancies detected within the metal bed as well. The Black Knight lying on top is completely unaffected."

Chen Chen pondered over this observation.

The fact that no observable changes were occurring to the Black Knight did not come off as surprising to Chen Chen.

The Black Knights were essentially human shells in a vegetative state, only allowed to function due to the God chip implanted inside them. They were an empty shell without thoughts, conscience or a soul to speak of.

If the Black Knights was not a viable option, then Chen Chen had no clue what other options he had available to him.

Usually, when dealing with such experiments, Chen Chen would resort to the Delta-level research staff. These were the members he purchased from federal prisons that were usually locked in the basement of the Spire laboratory.

All things considered, the Spire laboratory basement offered decent conditions, far more preferable to federal prisons. To ensure the mental and physical health stability of these individuals, they were often made to participate in minimal military training and had access to therapists. These people were well fed as well.

The only use Chen Chen had for them was to use them as live subjects for clinical trials. It did not matter whether the trials turned out to be successful or not.

However, there was another factor that made the current situation trickier than usual.

There was a chance that a live person lying on top of the metal bed may acquire some form of mysterious power. If he resorted to using the Delta-level subjects, what would he do if they attempted to escape with the acquired power?

Chen Chen did not have a guarantee in this situation. Even with the God chip serving as a fallback, there was still a certain degree of risk involved.

An idea suddenly sparked in Chen Chen's mind and he immediately instructed, "Strap ten kilograms of explosives under the metal bed and have a Delta-level research member lie on top of it to observe what happens. If somehow the God chip was unable to detonate, just blow up the metal bed. We can give this a shot."

"Alright, I'll send someone right away."

Little X responded, "The Delta-level research member will take roughly an hour to arrive."

"Right, get Yoru Kamidera to come as well."

Chen Chen suddenly thought of this and added. "I want to see if his powers allow him to detect the memetic effect inside the metal bed."

Chen Chen left the factory after that to take a last walk around the area.

The industrial park took up a sizable portion of land. There was also the military-industrial park and the aerospace base located nearby that further expanded the territory.

At a glance, there were huge factories and paved asphalt roads lined across the horizon. These structures were laid out across the plains of Namibia, completely filling the landscape.

"Now that even the military proceedings are set on the right track, the next step is to develop independent aerospace and aviation technology."

Chen Chen reflected thoughtfully when he looked at the landscape that he had forged over the years. He found himself wondering, did he ever imagine himself achieving all these four years ago?

Additionally, he was still gaining momentum in terms of expansion and development. Now that he had a foothold in the military sector, he was able to protect himself against exterior threats such as an invasion from Northern America. Fighting back was now a viable option.

Unlike previously when he had to suffer the sanctions imposed on him because he knew that resisting them would mean triggering a deadly chain effect that involved the Earth Federation itself.

With all that said, this was no time to feel content with his position. Climbing to the top of the ladder in the Earth Federation was still a pipe dream. With how things were now, even if Blacklight Biotechnology were to be elevated to a position of equal standing with the Earth Federation, Chen Chen still had to keep his guard up at all times.

That was because up till now, Chen Chen was still uncertain if the previous owner of the USB drive was dead or alive. Also, who was the previous owner of the USB drive and what was it that caused this person's disappearance?

The USB drive was doused in secrets to a point where it was impossible to make sense of it. A single misstep would easily lead to him falling into a trap laid by the predecessors, just like what happened when he was previously hypnotized.

Chen Chen took the time to appreciate the gentle wind of the Namibian plains and took in the sight of the sky that stretched on endlessly. After what seemed like forever, he suddenly heard Little X's voice. "Sir Godfather, the explosives are ready. Also, two Delta-level subjects have arrived along with the B2-level researcher, Yoru Kamidera. They are ready to participate in the experiment any time."

"I'll head back right away."

Chen Chen said as he quickly returned to the factory.

Meanwhile, Yoru Kamidera had just arrived at the factory. He was wearing his casual attire. He inspected the Faraday cage positioned in the empty field ahead of him with great curiosity while keeping his eye on the experiment subjects that wore prison uniforms. It was then when he heard an icy, hoarse voice from behind him.

"Yoru-kun, it's been a while."

Yoru Kamidera turned around and saw Chen Chen approaching him. He promptly snapped to attention and performed a sincere bow. "Your Excellency Chen Chen, it sure has been a while!"

"I heard that you've been furthering your biology research recently?"

Chen Chen came to Yoru Kamidera's side and asked in a relaxed manner, "How's it going?"

"It's going well, I've been making tremendous progress ever since you employed professional tutors for me. I've already covered the range of junior high school and high school and they tell me that I'm now approaching master's level."

Yoru Kamidera announced respectfully and with great pride.

"You don't have to study biology if you don't want to."

Chen Chen reminded. "Just study whatever you'd like."

"Don't the company need talents in the biology sector urgently?"

The confused Yoru Kamidera looked at Chen Chen with a dazed expression.

Chen Chen could not help but crack a smile at this mention. He shook his head and answered, "Despite what the name 'Blacklight Biotechnology' suggests, the sectors we deal with go beyond biology. We're involved in the medical, electronics, Internet, military, and aerospace sectors... Point is, we're involved in whatever brings revenue, understand?"

"Yes."

Yoru Kamidera responded with a firm nod, "But I still think I'm going to focus on biology. After that, I'll move on to psychology since it's a subject I have an interest in."

"Do as you please."

Chen Chen did not add any further comments so he moved on to another subject. "Do you know why I called you here?"

"I've looked at the information, it's about the bed isn't it."

Yoru Kamidera answered quickly, "I heard the bed seems to contain memetic effects."

"That's right, you'll be in charge of conducting this experiment. Show me the progress you've made over this period."

Chen Chen turned to the main entrance of the factory as he said this.

Yoru Kamidera followed Chen Chen's gaze and saw two Black Knights armed with pulse rifles stepping into the factory. Trailing closely behind them were two Delta-level research members put in prisoner uniform and had their hands bound with chains.

The two of them darted their eyes frantically all over the place, full of fear and agitation.

Chen Chen went through their documents a moment ago. These two were local tribesmen that were arrested and sentenced into prison for the crimes they committed. They came to be acquired by Blacklight Biotechnology and were housed in the Spire laboratory to be kept well fed and taken care of all this time.

At the time of their arrival, both of them were skin and bones, but they had now gained a considerable amount of weight.

Upon receiving Chen Chen's mission, Yoru Kamidera accepted it promptly and without any complaints. He turned to Chen Chen to give a brief nod before picking up the sheet of documents to go through it again. After that, he took a deep breath before addressing the two subjects.

"Mr. Comozer, Mr. Monar, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Yoru Kamidera. The reason you two have been chosen from the prison is that..."

Chapter 448: Otherworld Reappears

Yoru Kamidera said with an unchanging expression, "The terms of this god-given opportunity are very simple. Back when you guys were enlisted into our operations, you've already signed an agreement which proclaims that you'll cooperate with us to complete certain experimentations in exchange for a reduced sentence and increased welfare benefits during your stay here."

"Really?"

There was a beam of joy in one of their eyes upon hearing this. "You guys can offer us a reduced sentence? What will we have to do?"

"Do whatever I ask of you."

Yoru Kamidera turned to the other subject. Although the official language of Namibia was English, most of the tribesmen who lived in the Northern region led isolated lives and did not speak English. He noted. "Mr. Comozer, please relay my message to Mr. Monar over here."

"Yes."

The man named Comozer nodded before turning to his countryman beside him and unloaded a string of incomprehensible sentences. What he said turned out to infuriate the other man, which caused him to raise his voice irritably. In the end, even Comozer turned to Yoru Kamidera, clearly looking irritated as well.

"What did he say?"

Yoru Kamidera asked, frowning.

"Monar said that you people are liars, there's no chance of you granting us freedom..."

There was a hint of hesitation in Comozer's voice. "We've had so much of our comrades taken away and none of them returned. Monar is asking about the whereabouts of these people, he suspects that you killed them."

"Of course not!"

Yoru Kamidera darted a glance at Chen Chen as he said this. When he saw that Chen Chen was not planning to get involved, he started to explain patiently, "Gentlemen, have you heard of the saying that you have to pay for what you get? Most of you are criminals sentenced to at least two decades, ranging up to life sentences. Barring any external circumstances, there's no chance of any of you ever making it out.

"And now, all you have to do is to participate in our experiments to receive a reduced sentence, isn't that as simple as it gets? Do you feel like you have to 'pay' too much to 'get' too little in return?"

Yoru Kamidera continued. "At the end of the day, there's a definite degree of risk involved in our experiments, we wouldn't have offered reduced sentences for your participation otherwise. What's stopping us from looking for volunteers out there? After all, there will be people lining up to participate in our experiments so long as it meant they could put food on the table for another day."

Comozer displayed a thoughtful look, seemingly convinced with this argument. However, Monar continued expressing his dissatisfaction by yelling a stream of babble and the two started to argue again.

Yoru Kamidera waited patiently for them to finish at first, but when he saw that they were not going to stop any time soon, he gave a signal to have the Black Knights drag them away. The man called Monar was piping red by then as he glared viciously at Yoru Kamidera with eyes like poison.

"Monar says that all of you are liars, that there's no such thing as a reduced sentence."

Comozer wailed pitifully, "He says you people will never let us go."

"Do you believe us?"

The perceptive Yoru Kamidera spotted Comozer's weakness and exploited it. "If you don't believe us, then so be it. We'll immediately send you back there and find more suitable participants. You may never see these participants again because they might be enjoying their newly-found freedom very soon!"

"I believe you!"

Comozer stated immediately, afraid of being sent back by Yoru Kamidera, "I've had enough of this place for some time now. If you people were going to kill me, you'd have done it a long time ago instead of waiting until today. I believe you!"

"Excellent!"

Yoru Kamidera heaved a sigh of relief. He glanced at Monar who seemed to realize that his comrade had submitted to the organization. Monar immediately saw red and tried to charge at Yoru Kamidera. As soon as he did that, the collar strapped to his neck emitted a powerful electric current.

Before Monar could step an inch forward, he clapped against the ground with his body twitching uncontrollably and his excrement staining the floor below him.

Yoru Kamidera only glanced at the lifeless Monar briefly before turning back to Monar. "There's still a chance for you if you cooperate with us. Your mission is very simple. All you have to do is enter the room you see over there and lie on top of the bed. Continue to follow our orders regardless of what happens. That's all you need to do."

"Bed?"

Monar stared blankly at the Faraday combination cage in front of him and the dirty metal bed inside it. "That metal bed? Or the wooden bed?"

"The metal bed, of course."

Yoru Kamidera stated.

"Alright, I'll head there right away..."

Monar hesitated for a brief moment before he slowly stumbled to the Faraday combination cage.

Monar stopped suddenly when he reached the entrance and turned around. "Researcher Yoru, will this... Will it be dangerous?"

"There is a certain degree of risk, but it's nothing to be concerned about. There's even a chance that nothing will happen at all."

Yoru Kamidera was losing his patience. "Mr. Comozer, do you want to earn a reduced sentence or not? The length of the reduced sentence is up to us to decide. This means that the more satisfied I'm with your overall performance, the greater the chances of you receiving a better deal are."

"Alright, I'll go right now..."

Comozer finally stepped inside, fearful of upsetting Yoru Kamidera.

"Alright, now follow my orders. When I tell you to lie on the bed, I want you to lie down immediately."

Yoru Kamidera slowly stepped backward as he said this. Based on the information they had gathered from the analysis, there was a chance the bed may create an alternate dimension with a diameter of more than fifty meters. Anyone who was inside its range may be dragged into its effects.

Meanwhile, Chen Chen put some distance between himself and the bed as well to prevent a repeat of what had happened previously in the underground laboratory.

"Hold on, why are you guys retreating backward?"

Comozer started to panic when he saw what Yoru Kamidera was doing. He looked at the bed again and started to cry. "Please don't abandon me, alright?"

Yoru Kamidera only stopped when he reached the entrance of the factory. He looked at Chen Chen who only responded with a nonchalant shrug, implying that Yoru Kamidera should proceed.

Left with no choice, Yoru Kamidera had to go with the strong-armed approach. "Mr. Comozer, please respect your profession, your duty is to lie down on the bed, I guarantee that it's not dangerous! If you're unwilling to do so, I'll have you replaced!"

"I understand, I'll lie down now..."

After being repeatedly threatened by Yoru Kamidera, Comozer finally lay down on the bed against his will. The moment he lay down on the bed, he could feel the indescribable, greasy texture seeping into his back. He also caught the scent of an awful mixture of rot and sourness.

However, he knew that he had no right to complain in this situation. He remained on the bed, still trembling while waiting for his next orders.

Meanwhile, Chen Chen and Yoru Kamidera who were outside the factory at this point were baffled.

"Nothing's happening?"

Chen Chen took two steps forward and looked at Comozer and the Black Knights who remained inside the factory. All of them did not seem to exhibit any strange symptoms nor did any horrific sequences similar to the events in Silent Hill occur.

Was there something missing? Perhaps some form of unique trigger condition?

Or could this suggest that this bed was nothing more than an ordinary bed, perhaps he was overthinking it?

Chen Chen considered for a moment. His eyes caught the sight of Monar who was still lying on the ground. He saw the hateful glare swelling inside Monar's eyes. An idea suddenly occurred to him.

Chen Chen had a bold idea out of nowhere.

"Replace him."

Chen Chen noted suddenly, catching Yoru Kamidera by surprise. "This Comozer isn't going to trigger the memetic effect of the bed anytime soon, let Monar do it."

"Alright."

Yoru Kamidera replied and shouted inside the factory while giving a signal, "Unfortunately, Mr. Comozer, the experiment is a failure. I'm afraid you've lost your chances at a reduced sentence."

"No, this isn't fair!"

Comozer felt like he was going to break down at any given moment. He participated in this ominous experiment with eager hopes of a reduced sentence. It turned out that just moments after he was forced to lie down on the old and worn down bed, he was informed that he failed the experiment. He could not handle this any longer.

"Don't worry Mr. Comozer, there's always next time."

Yoru Kamidera was not going to waste time with any more explanations. He had the Black Knights drag him out and had another Black Knight drag Monar into the Faraday combination cage.

Monar started to struggle as soon as he realized what was happening. He howled at the top of his voice like he was livestock about to be taken to the slaughterhouse.

Unfortunately, the Black Knight boasted incredible strength that made him look like a harmless little rabbit. He could not free himself no matter how much he strained.

The Black Knight dragged it into the room and forcefully shoved him into the bed within seconds.

"Humm..."

There was the sound of metallic surfaces rubbing against each other that echoed across the factory. It was extremely dragged out and unnatural. It sounded like aged machines slowly coming to life.

Chen Chen felt himself getting goosebumps the moment he heard this voice. He could not place into words this sensation he was feeling. It was as if something primitive inside him was warning him of the looming danger coming his way...

Yoru Kamidera had the same sensation as well — he felt as if he had returned to his childhood, to the treacherous and nightmarish world he had spent his younger days in. He took a deep breath and turned to Chen Chen. "Sir Godfather, it looks like... It was triggered..."

"That's right. It has to be 'hatred'."

Chen Chen squinted as he said this and peered into the factory. He could see light slowly being drained away from inside the factory. Although it was daytime outside and there were skylights installed around the roof of the factory, the skylight still dimmed out without any reasonable explanation. It was as if there was a time-space ripple between the factory and the outside world which shaped into a separate space inside.

The darkness was continuously expanding.

"Is the memetic effect only triggered by anger-oriented emotions?"

Yoru Kamidera drew the connection instantly. It was true, even the movie Silent Hill went into this detail as well. The author was consumed with bitter hatred which metamorphosed into countless monsters that existed to avenge her.

Upon witnessing the slowly darkening factory, Yoru Kamidera's first response was to retreat further backward but he stopped when he saw Chen Chen remaining in place. He felt like he had to ask, "Your Excellency Chen Chen, should we abort now? Something terrible might happen next if we don't take action immediately."

"No need."

Chen Chen shook his head and answered with determination, "I can sense that the space affected by the metal bed will not expand beyond the factory range. That means we'll be safe out here."

Chen Chen suddenly turned to Yoru Kamidera and revealed a bold smirk. "Besides, I'm curious to see what happens next..."

Yoru Kamidera had no choice but to suppress his nerves and wait with Chen Chen.

During their conversation, light continued to be drained away from the factory until it became so dark that one could not even make out the outline of one's fingers when standing in that darkness. It formed an extremely bizarre contrast. Although it was high noon, the entrance to the factory was drowned in darkness. It was as if there was a thick cloud of black mist swallowing all sources of light and obstructing sunlight from entering the factory.

"Sir Godfather, we've lost contact with the Black Knights."

Little X suddenly informed, "The God chip signal inside the factory is muffled."

"That's not surprising considering the space inside has become an alternate space."

Chen Chen did not find that surprising since that was the same thing that occurred when he was stuck underground previously. The only question he had was whether the two Black Knights would survive in the world conjured by the hatred-filled Monar.

Chen Chen turned to the other two Black Knights standing beside him and instructed, "You guys head in there as well and then find a way to make it out."

The two Black Knights nodded briefly before immediately stepping into the entrance of the factory.

Chen Chen and Yoru Kamidera watched as the two Black Knights stepped through the dark mist. They looked like they were swallowed by the pull of the darkness and vanished without a trace.

After that, well, there was no after that...

The two of them waited for half an hour and yet there were no signs of any emerging Black Knight.

"Looks like we have a confirmation."

Yoru Kamidera checked how much time had passed and announced gravely, "This created space can be accessed, but it's extremely difficult to make it out. Even superhuman-caliber combat troops like the Black Knights cannot manage to do so. There's no telling whether they could hold their ground against the monsters conjured by Monar's inner hatred..."

"Very unlikely. The creator reigns supreme inside the space in which he has created, especially considering that it's the central strength that stems from the essence of his being..."

Chen Chen shook his head, clearly not optimistic about the Black Knight's chances. "Let's keep them locked in here for now. Wait until either Monar comes out himself or if something happens to the factory, whichever happens first."

Chen Chen did not appear too bothered about losing four Black Knights. The only thing on his mind now was just how long could Monar last inside there without any food or water?

From what he could recall, the passage of time flowed differently inside the Otherworld. Previously, he had spent half an hour inside the Otherworld when only four minutes had passed in the real world. As it may appear, time flowed at an excruciating ten to one ratio.

Assuming that Monar did not have control over the rate of time flow, he should have spent more than six hours inside the Otherworld by now.

Chen Chen was not in any rush. The only one who was racing against the clock was Monar.

By this point, a large number of Black Knights had arrived at the scene. They proceeded to seal up all other passages leading to the factory, leaving only the main entrance accessible. After that, they set up layers of barricades around the main entrance.

All that was left now was a duel of patience.

Chapter 449: Seal and Intuition

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

'Who am I...'

'Where am I...'

Monar slowly opened his eyes in the darkness. Inside the darkness, he saw the outline of a giant hand pressing against him, holding him down in place.

Monar frowned. His first response was to stretch his hand outward and gently graze it against the face of the figure in front of him!

What happened next turned out to be even more perplexing. The moment he reached out to touch the figure, it turned into a blinding warp of light. What seemed like a whirlpool formed out of nowhere in the air had pulled the figure into it.

Within seconds, that figure had completely vanished from Monar's sight.

Monar made himself get up from the stained old metal bed. At this moment, he could feel countless thoughts swirling inside his mind to a point where it suffocated him to think.

After what seemed like forever, Monar seemed to have finally recalled something.

He took a look at his palm. Despite the surrounding darkness, Monar's eyes granted him clear vision over everything inside it.

It was the hand of a black man.

"I see, he finally attained the 'Fissure'?"

Monar muttered to himself. He proceeded to inspect his surroundings before reverting his gaze to the bed he was seated on top of.

Anyone present at the scene should instantly note that drastic shift of Monar's aura. From what was once what could only be described as a primitive barbarian, he had transformed into a nobleman with a heavy, majestic air around him.

"How child-like, to use such primitive methods to examine the memetic effect. Still, it's a good thing he took caution enough to not lie on the bed himself... Otherwise, I could..."

Monar slurred his sentences but stopped after the "I could..." part. There was a tinge of delight in his eyes that was also mixed with what seemed to be hungry desire.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps approached from somewhere faraway inside the darkness. Monar did not spare so much of a glance at the direction where the sound came from. He continued immersing himself in deep thought as if there was some question he could not solve.

"The neutrino field won't be stable for much longer. I have to do something as soon as possible..."

Monar grumbled in a low voice. He proceeded to get on his knees and bit through his fingertips with his teeth and started to draw something on the wall.

Something outlandish happened as he traced his fingers along the walls. The tips of his fingers began to melt away as he drew. Instead of blood and flesh melting away at the ends, they diffused into atoms and particles which blended into its surroundings.

Monar did not appear surprised by this strange occurrence and continued to focus on his drawing. When one finger had expired, he would proceed to use the next finger. As he sped up the pace of his drawing, even small bits of his body started to give away.

The sound of two approaching footsteps was ringing in his ears at this point.

The footsteps of the two approaching persons were heavy and pounded in Monar's chest as they came toward him at a steady pace. From what Monar could hear, he could sense that their pace was incredibly in sync. There was hardly a millisecond differential between their footsteps.

Something like this could never be achieved by regular humans.

With all that said, details such as this were completely irrelevant to Monar at this moment. When he looked up and saw two men in black holding rifles approaching him and started to grab him, he reacted accordingly.

A blinding flash appeared again when he made a faint snap. In an instant, a whirlpool appeared out of thin air. Both of the men in black were immediately dragged into the whirlpool in a similar fashion as the previous person who was holding Monar down.

Monar hardly raised his head to acknowledge what he had just done. He continued charting something with his right hand, switching from finger to finger as they disappeared one after another. When his right hand had disappeared entirely, he switched to using his left hand.

One hour, two hours, three hours...

After more than ten hours had passed, an image began to take shape on the wall.

This image was composed of tens of thousands of dots, each one of a different size. These dots were connected to each other and upon closer inspection, the outline of a portrait of a woman could be made out.

Inside the portrait, the woman had her hands over her eyes and her body curled up slightly as if she was crying silently. What stood out was what seemed like a pair of feathered wings coming out of her back...

Monar's body was crumbling away rapidly. Moments before he gave out, he drew a circular base under the woman's feet with the final ounce of his strength.

In an instant, the life-like woman depicted in the image suddenly became frozen like an erected statue. There was a lifeless gloom about the stature that made her appear immensely stoic...

After completing this final task, Monar let out a sigh like he had a weight lifted off his chest. Just as he was about to say something to himself, his head broke off from his neck that was already crumbling away as well.

"Thump!"

With that, Monar's entire body started to crumble away at breakneck speed.

Until in the end, his body had completely diffused into countless invisible particles that blended into the surroundings. The only proof of what was once his existence was the image painted on the wall using his blood...

The darkness that loomed over every corner of the room began to dissipate as well. Faint beams of sunlight tore through the darkness and shone onto the image.

It appeared as if nothing had changed, but also at the same time, that something deep underneath had fundamentally shifted.

However, nobody would ever discover the truth.

...

"Sir Godfather, the Otherworld inside the factory had disappeared."

It was evening. Chen Chen was seated inside his top-floor office in the Blacklight Biotechnology building when Little X entered and delivered him the news.

"Disappeared?"

"Yes, the darkness in the factory has completely dispersed. Yoru Kamidera hasn't dispatched any Black Knights to investigate just yet, he figured he should inform you first."

Little X answered.

"How about the four Black Knights?" Chen Chen asked, "Are they still alive?"

"I can't detect their signals anymore."

Little X shook her head regretfully. "It seems like they have fallen."

Just as Little X said this, Chen Chen received a phone call. He took a look at the caller and just as expected, it was Yoru Kamidera.

Chen Chen picked up the phone and said as soon as the call was connected, "I'll be right there. You can dispatch someone to investigate now. I advise you to refrain from entering yourself unless you're certain that the source of danger has completely dispersed."

"Understood."

Yoru Kamidera answered swiftly. Chen Chen proceeded to end the call right there.

"I'll go take a look."

Chen Chen said to Little X. Little X responded with a subtle nod before exiting the office.

After that, Chen Chen got up from his seat. A metallic ball the size of longan appeared in his hands seemingly out of nowhere.

When Chen Chen gently flicked the metal ball, it sent a sudden flash of electricity from within which caused his figure to vanish from the office.

The window positioned behind Chen Chen suddenly opened on its own, sending in a strong gust of wind that rattled the stacks of documents and paperwork lying on top of the desk. Moments after that, the window was shut abruptly.

The office that was already quaint in the first place was now completely vacant.

...

"You guys head in there with a recorder and try to find signs of any living person or at the very least, their corpse."

Outside the factory, Yoru Kamidera began to relay instructions to the Black Knights. He had temporary command over them since Chen Chen had given him authorization for this experiment.

As one of the core members directly nurtured by Chen Chen, Yoru Kamidera was well-informed of the physiological structure of these Black Knights. Therefore, he knew that there was no reason to be concerned about their safety since the Black Knights could not be harmed unless the God chip was destroyed.

What gave Yoru Kamidera a headache was that even after the Black Knights took several laps inside the factory and emerged from it, they could not find anything worthwhile.

No dead bodies nor the living for that matter.

Despite this observation, Yoru Kamidera did not act rashly and head inside himself since he remembered Chen Chen's advice. He began to go through the recorded footage collected by the Black Knights.

What captured his attention was a bizarre image inside the Faraday cage.

The image was drawn with some kind of dark-brown liquid substance. It was the picture of a...

The moment Yoru Kamidera's eyes landed on that image, he felt a terrifying sensation invading every crevice of his body. He wanted to shut his eyes and avert his gaze from it, but he felt as if his body was frozen in place. There was a mystifying power that came with the image that was calling out to him:

"Look at it! Look at it! Don't look away!"

It was a memetic pattern!

Yoru Kamidera felt cold sweat trickling down his forehead like unending rain. Just as he thought that it was over for him, the footage was suddenly turned off without any warning.

"It's not a good idea to look at these things."

Chen Chen's voice came from behind Yoru Kamidera.

"Phew!"

Yoru Kamidera felt a wave of relief washing over him as he turned to Chen Chen. He asked in between heavy gasps, still frightened by the experience, "Your Excellency Chen Chen, did you see it too?"

"I did."

Chen Chen nodded. "But not completely."

"Me too."

Yoru Kamidera quickly added. "Fortunately, otherwise, I'd have been infected by the memetic effect."

Chen Chen did not bother with giving too much elaboration. In truth, Little X should have been monitoring the Black Knights and would have been the first to detect the memetic image. However, since the memetic pattern was not fully captured due to the odd camera angle, Little X figured it was not necessary to alert Yoru Kamidera since an impartial memetic pattern should not trigger its effects.

Chen Chen did not expect an impartial memetic pattern to have such a powerful effect on its own. What would happen if the entire memetic pattern was on display?

"Seal the pattern up."

Chen Chen instructed a Black Knight next to him.

"What about the metal bed?"

Little X asked from Chen Chen's earpiece.

"Keep it sealed up inside there for now as well. I think at this moment, we can't manifest its powers yet."

The Black Knights immediately stepped forward to lock down the Faraday cage completely.

After everything was concluded, Yoru Kamidera felt a mild sense of relief. He looked in the direction of the factory and expressed his concerns. "Monar and the four Black Knights that were inside had disappeared."

"Which is not surprising."

Chen Chen said, "Back when I was trapped inside there, I already knew that the people who die inside the Otherworld completely disappear as well. It's clear to me now that the Black Knights are dead, it's just that..."

Chen Chen frowned. "The disappearance of Monar is what caught me off guard."

"Could it be that the Black Knights had taken Monar down with them?"

Yoru Kamidera hypothesized. "At the end of the day, the Black Knights are a supreme combat force. I wouldn't say it's impossible that three Black Knights joined together cannot overcome Monar. After all, I doubt he has complete mastery over his powers inside that dimension just yet."

"That's a very likely possibility."

Chen Chen glanced at Yoru Kamidera. "But that's the optimistic scenario. What I'm concerned about is that there may be some additional underlying factors, after all, there's always more to memetic effects that may defy common logic."

"That's true..."

Yoru Kamidera was impressed. It was true, people like Chen Chen who anticipated the worst outcome possible tend to be the ones who lived longest.

After that, the strange metal bed along with the memetic pattern was sealed up inside the Faraday cage.

However, Chen Chen was not the slightest bit satisfied when he looked at the sealed Faraday cage.

All of the work they had put into this project was essentially voided along with the disappearance of Monar, the Spire laboratory experiment subject. He had braced himself for losing the Black Knights, but he expected to use Monar to further inspect the qualities of the metal bed and obtain further clues.

However, the reality was often disappointing. Even the chance to rerun the experiment was gone now.

If the next experiment was going to end the same way as the current one, then there was no point in conducting any further experiments at all. There were simply no approachable steps to examining how the metal bed functioned.

The disappearance of the experiment subject was not the only thing to be concerned about. There was also the appearance of the memetic pattern to consider, which made things even more confusing.

Chen Chen had no guarantee whether a new memetic pattern would emerge again if he conducted the same experiment. What sort of memetic pattern would emerge if he gave it another run?

There was no question about it. Memetic science was the most unpredictable and dangerous subject Chen Chen had dealt with so far. It was also the most mysterious and appalling subject of them all.

All the current discovered laws of physics and chemistry, including the conservation of mass and energy, were rendered almost meaningless in the face of memetic science.

Upon considering these factors, Chen Chen suddenly turned to the Black Knights and noted. "Take care of the bodies of these Black Knights, just preserve the chips inside them."

"You're concerned with them coming in contact with the memetic pattern?"

Little X asked.

"That's right, especially considering it's one that we've never dealt with before. I don't have a guarantee as to what their effects may be. It can turn out to be very problematic."

Chen Chen nodded and affirmed his decision. "Destroy them."

"Understood."

Little X responded. Shortly after that, the Black Knights that entered the factory and saw the memetic pattern filed into a car and were driven to somewhere else.

Their destination was a steelmaking plant, where their bodies would be thrown into extreme temperature liquid metal.

One thing that escaped the notice of everyone, even including Little X, was that something was lurking inside their pupils.

Chapter 450: Combat Footage

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Niger, Africa, in a certain inhabited region in the Azawag River Valley.

Niger was located in the Sahel region of Africa. The Azawag River Valley took on a canyon topography that started from the Azhar Gan River further upstream. The entire region was positioned 300 meters above sea level and spanned across ??the Nima border. It was one of the regions in the world with the most rampant terrorist activities.

It was midnight. The moon illuminated the starry night sky above. Due to the absence of any environmental pollution, the region was largely preserved in its natural state. Mixed into the starry night sky above were hundreds of faint black spots slowly swerving among them.

These tiny black spots navigated the sky as silent as death itself, like a collection of quaint fireflies. They swarmed in from all directions, all of them were headed toward a small temporary base set up in one section of the canyon.

As the camera panned closer, it could be finally made out that the numerous black spots painted across the sky and illuminated by moonlight were a large assortment of unmanned drones, each one spanning an average of two to three meters in diameter!

The drones flew several hundred meters above the sky, each one of them looked like a tiny UFO from a distance. The largest among them was no longer than five meters wide while the smallest measured as short as one meter.

While coursing through the air, these drones were able to put their excellent sound muffling technology on full display. Under the protection of the night sky, they silently crept toward the temporary base like hounds stalking their prey.

There seemed to be something hidden beneath the butterfly-shaped drones.

It was a robot fitted with proper limbs. They came in all kinds of models, each of them curled into a ball like a Transformer. They took up minimal space while being carried underneath the belly of the larger drones.

As they inched closer to their destination, it soon became evident that the base was no ordinary base either. Watchtowers were erected in close proximity everywhere. There were fortresses with built-in battling guns as well. There was the red flag of a certain faction with intelligible phrases on top. This was the base of operations of a certain informal military organization.

When the drones each arrived at their respective designated positions, the larger drone models carrying the largest robots with reinforced platings were the first ones to descend from several hundred meters above the ground. They sunk into the dense mud on the surface, making a dull thump as they landed.

As soon as the robots landed, they appeared to have activated some sort of installed mechanism. There was a short, mechanical screech followed by two intervals of red lights blinking on their armor plate. Immediately after that, four gigantic joint hydraulic legs emerged from their bodies.

It took no more than a second for the robots to find their balance as they immediately positioned themselves upright after that. Meanwhile, two slender and nimble arms unfolded from their sides, revealing arms that were not reminiscent of regular humanoid arms, but a mighty display of multi-barrel weapons instead!

The arms of these robots were fully-fitted Gatlings!

The robots revealed themselves in all their glory. They were absolute monstrosities fitted with sophisticated armor that stood two meters tall and measured more than four meters wide. On the sides of their body was a label written with gray-colored font —

BW-XTN-002-1.

Approximately twenty of these models were deployed on the ground. Instead of being deployed together in one central position, they were split into six separate groups. They were positioned to cut off all the vital channels leading in and out of the base.

This was merely the beginning. While the larger drones deployed the monstrous machines on the ground, more drones had stealthily arrived at the airspace above the temporary base.

The smaller drone models began to disperse into multiple locations while the larger drones deployed tiny machines onto the base.

The violent thumps of machines crashing against the roof started to echo across the base. These devices impaled into the roof, some of them even pierced straight through the roof, forming a large gaping hole through the ceiling!

"Ah, what's that!"

"What's going on! Something fell from the sky!"

"D*mn, my leg! My leg!"

"It's an invasion! Sound the alarm!"

In an instant, frantic screams and the hectic beating of tents being torn open sounded across the base. These people were either at a loss for words or were caught in a daze looking at the "shooting stars" falling from the sky. Some of them were still dreaming away soundly when they had their dreams cut short by a giant block of metal crushing them to death!

The village was thrown into chaos!

This was merely the beginning.

A young man who was woken up by the sudden uproar quickly snapped to attention and grabbed his AKM as he looked at the object in front of him cautiously.

Without even realizing it, a queer-looking metal block had punched through his tent and landed almost right next to his feet.

The metal block was painted with a fine layer of non-reflective matte black texture. The block-shaped structure was around forty centimeters wide and could not be any more than twenty centimeters thick. What made it stand out from the other devices was that it was composed of countless hydraulic pipes among its complex structure.

A string of labels that read BW-XTN-004-8 was written on top of its surface.

As soon as it landed, several red dots on it started to flicker briefly. It was immediately followed by a faint "beep", which prompted the sophisticated mechanism to flap open suddenly.

In an instant, a robotic spider with eight fine, iron-tipped legs emerged from the metal block. It stumbled for two paces before finding its balance.

"What in the world are you..."

There was a flash of confusion in the young man's eyes as he attempted to poke at this bizarre creation with the barrel of his gun. Within a second, the robotic spider launched itself forward using six hind legs and threw itself into the young man's face!

"Ah–!"

"Clack clack clack clack clack..."

The sound of screams and the frantic rattling of rifles sounded like a warhorse. In an instant, the deployed robots were released from their cages and went on a terrible massacre!

Yes, a massacre!

"Report!"

A messenger stumbled to the center of the barracks. At this time, a middle-aged man with a gray beard and skin so dark they reflected light was chewing on a cigar as he rushed out of the only bunker with his soldiers.

"Report, general!"

The messenger was drenched in blood, his face and stomach had been cut by some kind of weapon as fresh blood seeped out of the gap in between his torn flesh. Despite all that, he was determined to report to his superior, "We're besieged by unknown forces. They are robots! The entire camp is covered by spider-like robots!"

"You mean ones like these?"

The general bit down on his cigar and unveiled a golden Magnum which he pointed at the direction of the messenger's head!

"Bang!"

The deafening ring of a gunshot. The messenger shrieked with his hands over his head and curled himself into a bell. Right behind him, a robot spider was blasted away by the enormous impact generated by the firearm!

"Squeak!"

To their amusement, the robot spider sent flying away by the bullet was still alive and kicking. The region around its stomach started to zap uncontrollably. It would appear its circuitry was damaged. Despite all that, it squirmed on the ground like a real insect and screeched horrifically as it attempted to get back on its feet.

This time, without being prompted, the general's subordinates took aim with their AKM and unloaded on the enemy!

"Brr, brr, brr...."

After a barrage of gunshots, four of the robot spider's limbs were demolished. The remaining two limbs could no longer sustain their weight or allow any further movements.

With that, the middle-aged man finally scoffed as he knelt to pick up one of its severed legs. The leg reflected an icy gleam of light when he picked it up. They were immensely sharp fine-tipped blades!

"Report, general!"

Yet another messenger charged to the general. The messenger was relieved upon seeing the general and exclaimed in between fervent gasps, "General, we can't hold our ground any longer!"

"Relay my message to all our comrades in our organization. There aren't many enemies, we can overcome and defeat them!"

The middle-aged man roared ferociously as he headed outside.

However, the outlook on the battlefield was far worse than he had ever expected.

It was largely due to it being an unexpected ambush. The majority of the soldiers barely had time to react before they had murderous robot spiders coming right at them.

These robot spiders could even scale the walls on their own!

Facing such frontal assault, although there were no more than fifty of these spiders, they still caused a severe amount of casualties in the military base.

However, just as the middle-aged man was about to take command over the battlefield, the ground quaked violently again!

This time, the sound of objects crashing against the ground was more volatile!

"Watch out! General!"

One of the general's guards caught the glimpse of something in his peripheral which caused his pupil to shrink into a ball. He immediately leaped forward and pushed the middle-aged man to the ground some distance away. The other guards were not as lucky. They had reacted just a split instant slower and ended up obliterated by a metallic object crashing on them from above!

A baffling amount of blood and guts poured out and splattered all over the general. However, the general was hardly disturbed by this. He immediately calmly helped his nearby guards to his feet and made them retreat with him.

At this moment, all the guards formed a half-circle with the metal block that just fell from above at the center of the circle.

The general inspected the sky above intently but could not identify anything notable.

After that, he proceeded to direct his attention to the metal block.

This metal block was several times larger than the robot spiders that they had seen so far. Within moments, several beams of light started to flicker along its surface. It appeared as if it was going to activate any second!

"Fire!"

As the general barked an order, his subordinates immediately unleashed havoc on the iron block. In an instant, deafening gunshots and the strong scent of gunpowder filled the space around them. The gunpowder brought up a cloud of smoke that surrounded the iron block!

After expanding the first round of ammo, the well-trained and disciplined guards began swapping out their magazines. The general man chewed his cigar and stared intently at the object hidden underneath the cloud of smoke.

Before the smoke could fully disperse, a beam of red light suddenly shot through the cloud of ashes. It flickered endlessly and turned green abruptly with a swift click, immediately followed by the distinctive sneeze of hydraulic gas pumping out!

Everyone gazed at the metal block as it slowly assembled itself into a figure that looked like a regular human. First, it was a metallic head that popped out of its top and emerged through the smoke, its eyes flashing red. After that, its limbs emerged, then it constructed its torso...

"What in the hell is this supposed to be..."

The general bit down hard on his cigar as he beheld the indestructible monster. Within a second, with an instantaneous "bang", the general's body became contorted into a cylindrical shape before he exploded and splattered his blood, guts, and other remains in a ring around him! There was hardly any time for him to react!

Everyone watched in horror as the general was shredded into pieces by an immutable force!

At last, the robot skeleton emerged from the cloud of smoke, carrying a mighty weapon. It fired its first shot that signaled the start of another round of massacre...

"Thump thump thump!"

There was the dull thump of bullets punching into human flesh. There was hardly any window for these guards to try to escape their fated deaths. Before they could react, specially crafted shuttle-shaped hollow bullets punched through their bodies. The bullets twisted the moment they entered the human body, which created a whirlpool-like effect that spun their flesh in a ring!

Horrific screams emerged from the crowd. The ones who were hit first did not even have time to utter so much as a whimper before their flesh was blended into pieces. It only took one swift round before the guards all lay dead on the ground, covered in puddles of blood...

The arrival of the humanoid robots made the robot spiders seem like the warm-up round. The situation was quickly spiraling out of control. The military base that was supposed to be well equipped for resistance was immediately decommissioned...

"Target: Any humanoid subjects carrying weapons. Total identifiable targets: Less than 300. Threat assessment: Low..."

A sequence of data appeared on the top left corner of the robot's vision field. The camera zoomed outward to reveal several men dressed in military uniforms seated around a roundtable in a conference room. The lowest rank among them was at least a Colonel, they focused their attention on the giant display in front of them.

"This is the footage of the suppression of armed forces in the Azawag River Valley of Niger on 20 February that was commissioned by the local authorities."