Chapter 26
Meng Chao had a pretty good time negotiating with Thunderbolt.
Thunderbolt was currently building a youth training camp, and it specialized in training new blood. They killed a large number of monsters, and they needed normal harvesters with a lot of experience. These harvesters were expected to work perfectly with the youths immediately after they were deployed.
Meng Yishan and his team were veteran harvesters who had been in the field for almost twenty years. While they could not take care of superbeasts, they had no problem in dealing with common monsters.
They quickly became partners. Now, forget about two harvester teams, even if all the harvester teams from Prosperous came over, they would not have a problem.
While everyone was delighted, Meng Chao asked Ning Shewo to handle the crystalized neurosphere so that he could buy himself some cultivation resources.
“Coincidentally, there will be a rare materials trading fair three days later, and the standard is pretty high. You might be able to sell the crystalized neurosphere for a high price there. My young friend, will you be interested in taking a looksee?” Ning Shewo asked with a smile.
Meng Chao agreed with delight.
The change in the situation and the delightful surprise during the night caused the harvesters to be incredibly excited. While they were on their way back to the main city, they talked about it while they dreamed about their bright future.
Meng Chao lay in the deepest part of the compartment with his father’s coat over his body. He closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep, but he was really thinking.
Too many things had happened, and he needed to comb through everything carefully.
First was the way for him to earn contribution points.
Meng Chao had noticed something. When he taught normal citizen Chu Feixiong Reckless Bull Technique, he only managed to teach ten percent of it, and he only gained ten contribution points from it.
But when he guided elite citizen Ning Shewo in executing the Three Consecutive Diagonal Plucks from Seven Dissection Methods Performed in Reverse, he also earned only a dozen points.
Logically speaking, the difference between a normal citizen and an elite citizen should not be this small.
As he thought about it, he found that there were only two possibilities for it.
One, when it came to the Seven Dissection Methods Performed in Reverse, he did not cause too much of a change in the future. Even without him, there was a possibility that Ning Shewo would understand a brand new Three Consecutive Diagonal Plucks soon enough.
In fact, in his memory fragments, the future Seven Dissection Methods Performed in Reverse might have actually been perfected and upgraded by Ning Shewo.
This was highly likely. Since Ning Shewo’s hands and sight had been damaged and he could not be treated, he had to retire from the frontlines. This meant that he had to put all his attention into theories and research, which meant that perfecting the Seven Dissection Methods Performed in Reverse would happen naturally.
The second was simply because Ning Shewo was old. His future was basically set in stone.
Chu Feixiong, however, was still young and in his prime. He had endless possibilities in his future.
After Meng Chao returned from the apocalypse, he refused to believe that he could not change the future. The countless ways he could explore it might be the key to how many contribution points he could earn.
‘This means that I should search for the young and ignorant youths who have bright futures and trick them—I mean, guide them, right?’
2
This posed an entirely new problem.
If he guided them one by one to harvest their contribution points, the efficiency would be too low.
What then if he posted Reckless Bull Technique and the future version of Ripple Force online so that everyone could download it for free?
Or what if he looked for the Survival Committee and the Supernatural Tower to tell them part of the secret? Could he get a large amount of resources and support from the officials? And would his contribution points instantly jump up to exorbitant figures?
After Dragon City transmigrated, many of the citizens awakened to supernatural abilities. In the beginning, quite a number of people chose to hide their abilities and refused to say anything no matter what. They were afraid that if they said something, the officials would capture them and cut them up for research.
Meng Chao could understand their thoughts, and he partially supported their cautious attitude.
But the problem he faced was different.
On one hand, Dragon City was about to face danger. He could not change the tides with his power alone.
Besides, all Dragon Citizens were transmigrators. Many of the citizens had unique supernatural abilities. If they were really captured for research, that meant that tens of millions of citizens would end up on the dissection table and come out as sashimi.
After decades of development, the officials and the normal citizens’ attitude toward supernatural abilities was pretty mature now, and by that, he meant that they were very calm about it.
Many of the citizens took the initiative to report to the officials after they awakened their abilities. They would then be praised by the local authorities and surrounded by flowers and passionate citizens.
However, being “reborn” or “being able to predict certain shattered scenes from the future” was rather unique. Meng Chao could not treat them at the same level as common supernatural abilities like “molding fireballs”.
Also, how much should he tell his dad, mom, and younger sister, and through what sort of way should he tell them?
Even if he would not be mentioning his rebirth, he should at least let them know that he had recovered to how he was before, and he would be getting stronger as well. Then, he would ask them to not be worried about his future.
Besides, the danger was around the corner. Their family had to prepare itself beforehand.
This was an important matter. Meng Chao thought about the pros and cons about it calmly, and he paid special attention to the hidden dangers.
By the looks of it, if he worked together with the officials, the efficiency of him contributing to society would increase by a hundred fold, and he would even become a hero who was the center of everyone’s attention. His family would naturally enjoy the best possible treatment as well.
He could give his dad and mom treatment only given to public servants, have his younger sister enter a key middle school, and his family could move to apartments available only to high-level talents. He would not be going overboard with that, right?
But why was the center of his eyebrows aching, and why was he feeling so uneasy?
‘There’s something wrong. There’s a hidden danger I haven’t thought about yet, and it’s very dangerous. It’s highly likely that it will threaten my family’s lives. In fact, we might even end in a state worse than death!’
Meng Chao shuddered. Suddenly a blotchy picture appeared in his mind.
He saw a street bustling with people and a normal citizen suddenly scream in a strange manner. His brain split apart like a man-eating flower, and several tentacles covered in spikes came out from his cranial cavity. In an instant, those tentacles wrapped themselves around the head of the citizen.
Screams and chaos rose. When the police and superhumans arrived to kill the monster, the citizen who was bound by it had long since stopped breathing.
‘Brain Maggots, a unique monster that appeared at the later stage of the war. It can stick itself to a human’s brain as a parasite and control the central nervous system and the reactions of the muscles. They can turn humans into monsters in human skin!
‘This is the common tactic the monsters used during the later stage of the war. They use Brain Maggots to assassinate important people in Dragon City with the intention to destroy Dragon City from the inside!’
Then, bits of red appeared in Meng Chao’s mind. His eyes filled with wisdom and looked incredibly profound.
‘That’s right. Even now, there are plenty of monsters who are skilled in attacks on the mind. Once the war becomes more violent overall, a lot of superbeasts who can control the mind will pop up.
‘The laws in the Other World might be strange, but there is a certain pattern to them at the end of the day. As long as math, physics, and chemistry laws still work, monsters that are incredibly large but agile and invincible will not appear.
‘After Dragon City completes the upgrade of its heavy industry and a large number of soldiers appear, we will no longer be lacking in heavy firepower and ammunition. It will be difficult for monsters to fight against humans head on.
‘But during the long period of war against humans, monsters will also become increasingly smarter. Many of the superbeasts will learn how to communicate, work together, and form groups. Gradually, they will form something that is similar to a civilization.
‘Monster civilization is the thing that will threaten the civilization of Dragon City!
‘If I reveal my secret, there’s a high chance that I will end up as a target of assassination. In fact, there’s an even worse outcome. I’ll get captured by monsters and sent to the high-grade superbeasts who are really smart and have secret mind-related techniques. It will open up my head and eat my brains!
4
‘My brain is still too weak. I can’t obtain all of the memory fragments hidden in the deep parts of my soul, but if a king of superbeast who has a brain that weighs several tons ate my brain, could it digest it and instantly predict the future?
‘Even if I’m provided with tight protection by the Supernatural Tower, could the monsters attack my family instead? If I tell my family all of my secrets, would their brains then turn into the monsters’ targets as well?
4
‘Even if we end up destroying all monsters, in the period of time where we fight to conquer the Other World, there will be plenty of people who will betray Dragon City like Zuo Haoran, and there will also be people who will have their minds controlled by the creatures of the Other World. How would I know who deserves my absolute trust aside from my family?”
Meng Chao’s thoughts raced.
He was not a saint.
Saving Dragon City was one thing, but if he had to “sacrifice himself and even his family for Dragon City”, then it would be an entirely new matter.
5
‘I can’t say it. Before I have the strength to suppress all of the Other World and find a suitable method, I absolutely can’t say it.
‘But I’ll need to spread a lot of future technology and martial arts to be able to contribute and increase my strength so that I can become the teacher of countless youths who are lost. I’ll also have to be known as a monstrous genius by all the elites in the field. I’ll have to perform outstanding feats time and time again.
‘Sooner rather than later, I’ll end up showing my might, and I won’t be able to hide my skills. Then, I’ll need to come up with a suitable explanation, one that will help me cover everything…’
While he was thinking, his father came over to tuck him firmly under the coat.
A thought appeared in Meng Chao’s head, and he opened his eyes to look at his father.
“Dad, you don’t have to worry about what happened today,” he said as he deliberated his words. “Half a year ago, I got to know of an amazing person in the deep web, and he taught me many strange and rare abilities. I’m already mostly recovered from my injuries, and I might still be able to get into college. At that time, you and mom can just wait to live a blessed life.”
Meng Yishan was shocked. “Why are you still going to those harmful websites?”
“Dad, I told you multiple times that the life science forum in the deep web isn’t a harmful place. Many of the martial arts maniacs and mad scientists spread their profound insights there. It’s a place filled with risks and fortuitous chances. Don’t worry, I’ve already suffered once last year. I know my boundaries this time,” Meng Chao said in a firm voice.
Meng Yishan did not quite trust his son’s words, but when he thought about it, he found that he was old now. If his son had not shown his might, the day would have been very different.
He sighed and did not say anything. He was just worried about whether Qin Hu would take revenge.
“Dad, you need skills for everything you do. If we’re not skilled, everyone can just walk all over us. But as long as my fist is strong enough… Heheh… Even if Qin Hu pretends to be Hello Kitty and comes up to me, he’ll still be unable to do anything but pretend to be cute!”
Meng Chao’s words were crude, but he was incredibly logical. “As long as I can get into college, I’ll have the college as my backup. Will he dare to hurt an undergraduate?”