Chapter 14.3 – Intercept
“That is not possible. Most of the chosen are still laying dormant. They need rest and time to nurture power.” Pandora coldly rejected Diaster’s suggestion, putting the marshal once again at the brink of insanity.
Diaster coldly laughed and slowly said, “Nurture power? If they aren’t even going to move out now, I really don’t know what those pigs sleeping in thick water need power for! Either they are being soaked until they smell and rot, or their containers will be directly smashed apart by the enemy and cut up like mushy meat. Is this the conclusion those chosen are heading for? I really have to say that the apostle really isn’t just a normal type of wise and great!”
“Please watch your words, Marshal Diaster.” After Pandora gave another routine warning, she became silent. Only after almost ten seconds had passed did she say, “The apostle has already noticed the battlefield situation with the forward operating base and will propose a plan of resolution first. Please wait patiently.”
Diaster’s face fell. “No matter what type of plan it is, as long as I don’t have to use this trash to wipe out the other side’s high level dragonriders, then it’s fine.”
At the center of a deep and quiet space floated something that emitted a weak light, and suspended within was Pandora whose body and appearance maintained its ten-year-old form. She was just like a doll as she hovered there, a pair of small hands slowly tapping on the optical screens that continuously came in and went out of existence around her, sometimes changing screens and sometimes giving orders. The color of her pupils fluctuated irregularly. If they were magnified many times, one would see that there were countless optical screens that were currently emerging and disappearing within.
This was an extremely quiet place without any sound. Apart from this light, there was only endless darkness. It was completely impossible to tell where the end of this space laid.
Beside Pandora floated a small screen. It remained fixed there, unlike the other light screens packed with information that came in and out of existence. On the screen was a photograph that was already turning a bit yellow, displaying a heroic and powerful male whose smiling face seemed to release dazzling brilliance. His marshal uniform that was full of ribbons also proved his status as well. Beside him was a quiet and beautiful woman. Even though it was just a static photograph, one could still see at what could only be described as happiness at the corners of her eyes.
Between the two individuals was an infant that had just been born. She was extremely pretty, but she didn’t cry or smile, instead, coldly looking into the camera lens and giving off a rather terrifying appearance.
“Pandora…”
A loud and forceful voice suddenly rang through this quiet place, calling out Pandora’s name.
Pandora stood up from her half reclining posture and dispersed all of the light screens, the first one that disappeared precisely that small screen that only displayed that photograph. She half kneeled on a completely nonexistent floor, and with an ice-cold yet pleasant sounding voice, she said, “Great apostle, have your distinguished self fully regained consciousness? What orders does your distinguished self have? Pandora will definitely complete them.”
The great and resounding voice sounded again. “During my long slumber, I felt a sheep releasing a weak light, and thus I awakened. This sheep took a large step in evolution, already reaching 1% similarity with the experimental body.”
“Great apostle, may I ask which of the sixteen lambs you are referring to?” Pandora asked.
“… The one from the Black Dragonriders.”
“Su? Then, do you need me to bring him to your distinguished self?”
This time, the apostle remained silent for an extremely long time, as if this was an extremely difficult decision. In the end, the voice of apostle that was hiding in the darkness voice sounded again. “Bring him over then. 1% resemblance is already valuable enough.”
Pandora had her head lowered this entire time, her dark hair completely covering her face as it hung down. Even though one couldn’t see her expression, it didn’t matter, because her face never had any expressions. The only change was a smile, a smile that would never be the slightest bit different.
“I will wake up the chosen right now. I understand Su’s abilities and will select the suitable chosen to deal with him. I believe that it won’t be long before I bring him in front of your distinguished self.”
“No, chosen alone are far from enough.” The apostle refused Pandora’s suggestion. His resounding voice seemed to fill up this entire space. “The complete experimental body has power similar to my own. Even if it is only a 1% similarity, the amount of power he possesses is not something an ordinary chosen can contend against.”
Pandora continued to ask calmly, “Then what is your distinguished self’s desire?”
“You, Pandora, bring him to me.” The apostle said.
“As your distinguished self wishes.” Pandora replied.
A beam of light emerged in the void, lighting up the distance. A translucent cylindrical container appeared in the light, one that contained green culture fluid. A young lady’s body was floating inside. Due to the culture fluid surrounding her body, it was a bit hard to see her appearance clearly, but the black hair that flew about was particularly eye-catching.
The moment she saw the cultivation container, Pandora finally raised her head. Her face that never showed any expression unexpectedly revealed a trace of shock. “Blackflame fragments? Your distinguished self wants me to use her to fight?”
“Correct. As such, do not disappoint me, Pandora.”
“As your distinguished self wishes!”
In the northwestern battlefield, everyone who was still fighting brutally still hadn’t discovered that the battlefield situation was currently silently changing. Meanwhile, in the expansive southern forest, O’Brien had already fought together with Poseidon’s Trident here for an entire month. A month of time allowed their troop to penetrate close to a hundred kilometers into this dark primitive forest without daylight. During their journey, countless vicious strange beasts, crafty snipe birds, and fierce carnivorous plants became sacrificial victims. Of course, their greatest sacrificial victim were still the indigenous natives here, or Hebilu, as the Arthur family’s laboratory personnel referred to them as.
The Hebilu had the primitive shaping of a society, as well as highly developed wisdom. Their level of intelligence was even 30% higher than that of an ordinary human. They possessed outstanding physical strength and stamina, as well as shockingly great equilibrium senses. This could explain why they were able to jump about several tens of meters above in the sky as if they were flying. In addition, their internal organs were vastly different from that of humans’. There was a honeycomb shaped organ within their chest that was especially sensitive towards magnetic fields, and this organ was capable of resonating with most magnetic forces currently known to man. The research personnel speculated that this organ’s existence was why the relatively primitive Hebilu were able to produce electromagnetic weapons purely through manual means. Apart from this, there were more than sixty small organs within the Hebilu’s bodies that had unknown uses.
As mammals, these bluish-gray skinned Hebilu had similar reproductive organs as humans, and from a human’s esthetic point of view, they weren’t all that ugly, at best looking a bit offbeat. Due to the human race’s love for novelty, once the Hebilu were publicly announced and it was proved that it wouldn’t bring about any dangers to them, some great figures with heavier appetites would definitely find a way to get their hands on a few Hebilu to raise them themselves, treating them like an unconventional type of slave.
From a genetic perspective, the similarity between the Hebilu and standard human genome did not even reach 50%. No matter what type of angle one looked at it from, it couldn’t be considered a similar species as a human. In addition, with the currently used classification system, it was hard to say exactly what kind of species they were. In this current era, species currently known would experience substantial changes after just a few years. All olden era classification systems were already completely outdated, but in this new era where most humans were still struggling for survival, biologists were concentrating all of their attention on discovering new abilities, perfecting known ability systems, or manufacturing genetic weapons. There was no one with the time or resources to revise and complete the classification of organisms. Moreover, in the era of turmoil, even if they completed a new classification system, in just a few years, it would be outdated again.
