Just as Qin Xue Zhong was wreaking havoc in the virtual dream, not far below where the two were physically located, a person submerged in a nutrient tank suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood.
This was just the beginning; the person began to convulse uncontrollably, followed by several more episodes of vomiting blood. Blood started seeping from their eyes and nose, and soon, it became impossible to tell—likely the entire nutrient tank had been stained crimson.
They had been quietly floating in some blue liquid, connected to numerous tubes. Now, the blood mixed with the blue liquid, first turning a murky purple, then quickly solidifying into irregular brown clumps, making the whole nutrient tank appear quite frightening.
In an instant, alarms blared throughout the underground facility.
The doctors in white coats, who had been operating the equipment quietly, all stood up and hurried toward the nutrient tank.
"Get the rescue tank ready! Prepare the freezing tank! Notify Mr. Langfu to control the person dreaming! Don't panic!"
One of the leaders shouted loudly, trying to maintain order.
At that moment, the main door of the laboratory swung open.
A middle-aged man in a white suit, with blonde hair and blue eyes, entered, flanked by armed bodyguards.
"Calm down! What's happening?" he asked, frowning and raising his voice.
A white-coated doctor hurried over, breathless. "Sir, the young master suddenly vomited blood. There might be data disruption in the virtual dream. We're attempting rescue."
The middle-aged man quickly glanced at the rescue area without asking further, instead pressing, "What about the dream? How is it?"
"It's all collapsed! Some subjects are in chaos, while others nearly woke up. We've already administered tranquilizers to stabilize the situation temporarily!"
Hearing this, the middle-aged man let out a slight sigh of relief.
"What exactly happened?"
"We're still unclear. The young master's operational power had been below 30%, with each subject occupying no more than 0.015%. But just now, his operational power suddenly surged past 100%, peaking at 500%, and then his brainwaves went haywire, leading to unconsciousness."
"500%?" The middle-aged man's voice rose a notch. "Can our instruments measure that high?"
The doctor lowered his head and replied softly, "Our instruments max out at 500%. We don't know how much higher it actually goes."
With a loud bang, the middle-aged man slammed his fist on a nearby cabinet, gritting his teeth. "The experiment was entering an unprecedented stable phase!"
He pointed toward the person being rescued in the tank.
"Soon, we will be able to produce at least ten stable brain controllers! We can control the entire Valley City in an instant! And now you're telling me there's an accident?!"
In anger, he kicked at the white-coated doctor in front of him.
"Find the cause immediately! Review all the dream data from the subjects!"
"Yes!"
After saying this, the middle-aged man walked over to the "young master" being rescued.
The "young master" was pallid, possibly due to being soaked in blue nutrient liquid for years, and his skin had a faint bluish hue. His limbs were emaciated, looking quite unhealthy.
If anything stood out, it was his resemblance to the middle-aged man.
The man's gaze was devoid of emotion, even tinged with disgust.
Impatiently, he glanced a few times before waving his hand and leaving with his entourage.
Above the young master's nutrient tank, numerous data cables merged into one, passing through the ceiling and walls, leading into the corridor.
The man walked along the path those data cables extended.
The corridor wasn't long; they soon arrived at an expansive room.
The data cables from the ceiling began to descend here, branching out into thousands of smaller lines, each connecting to numerous virtual dream tanks within the room.
While referred to as virtual dream tanks, they were essentially high-end multifunctional hibernation pods.
Those lying inside could remain completely motionless while being automatically fed, infused, massaged, have their organs activated, joints mobilized… even receiving simulated sunlight.
This was standard for the intensive care unit in Valley City Hospital.
However, the people lying here weren't critically ill patients, but rather a group of women.
All of them were unconscious, their eyes closed.
Many had furrowed brows, indicating distress.
The scene unsettled the man.
He gritted his teeth and asked the person in charge, "How bad is the situation?!"
The person in charge cautiously replied, "It depends on how quickly the young master can recover the virtual dream construction. Fortunately, this batch of subjects hasn't yet become pregnant. Prolonged sedation won't cause too much harm to their bodies."
Upon hearing this, the man seemed even angrier.
"Prolonged sedation?! What the hell are you thinking? Can't you input the virtual dream yourselves?! I want these women to conceive my children immediately! I'm about to rule the world!!!"
The man grew increasingly agitated, veins bulging on his forehead.
The others dared not speak, merely listening.
The man continued to shout, "Do you have any idea what the Langfu family is doing here?! We will use natural reproduction to create superhumans who are completely under my control, capable of influencing all devices with their minds, even the mainframe!"
"Those superhumans! They will all be my children!"
"We will bring a new order and hope to this world!"
"Now, are you telling me to wait?!"
The person in charge lowered their head even more, "I'm sorry, sir! Some subjects are still adjusting their compatibility. Once adjustments are complete, we will input the virtual dream immediately!"
The middle-aged man continued to yell, "Adjustments?! Just discard the ones that don't work!"
"But…"
"There's no 'but'! This is a critical moment; I want to see results immediately!"
"Yes!"
Soon, a large number of automated transports rushed into the entire space, roughly taking away some of the women.
Then, a small door on the other side of the room opened.
Waiting there was a waste transport ship.
This was how Mu Ting Deng planned to escape.
Over the years, everyone here had become accustomed to disposing of women and fetuses that died or suffered irreversible harm from abnormal production, directly tossing them out to be secretly transported to various disposal sites.
Such horrifying things had long been routine for those present, and when the door opened, they simply averted their gaze.
But this time, the middle-aged man noticed something different in his peripheral vision.
— A row of dark silhouettes, glinting with cold weapons.
---
Kai Si and Xue Zhi Shi also hadn't anticipated that their pursuit of leads would go so smoothly.
What they didn't know was that Qin Xue Zhong's complete destruction of the mysterious "young master" had caused the doomsday castle, previously concealed under perfect data cover, to be fully exposed.
This "young master" of the Langfu family was a monster created through genetic adjustment and natural reproduction.
He possessed almost no physical functions to survive in the outside world and could only float in the nutrient liquid.
However, the researchers of the Langfu family discovered that this young master had an extraordinary brain.
He could easily control all devices within several kilometers through exaggerated brainwaves and even modify data at will.
The Langfu family had planned to use this capability to easily kidnap and control the experimental subjects they needed.
This time, they intended to create multiple such children based on the "young master's" parameters.
They envisioned that they could easily control the entire Valley City, and even the world!
But all of this was disrupted at the most critical moment by Qin Xue Zhong.
They were completely unaware of what was happening.
After receiving leads from Mu Ting Deng, Kai Si and Xue Zhi Shi contacted all trustworthy partners in the black space, directly uncovering the Langfu family's unguarded clues due to their over-reliance on the young master's abilities.
Kai Si ordered his mercenaries to stealthily hijack a transport ship heading toward the Langfu family's location, bringing all the elite personnel and the best weaponry to launch an attack.
As they made their way, they discovered that the Langfu family's base was actually at sea.
There were no base stations in the vicinity, and it was covered by electromagnetic shielding, making it nearly impossible to locate without coordinates.
No wonder the Ghost organization had been cut off upon arriving here.
Because there was simply no signal!
The Langfu family's maritime base was large, likely having undergone multiple expansions. When the transport ship docked, they were still analyzing how to split their forces and strategize their attack and exploration.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the door opened, they found themselves in the most critical area!
Both sides were stunned for a second.
Xue Zhi Shi reacted the quickest, immediately raising his gun to incapacitate the two leading white coats, paralyzing all automated transports in front of him.
His gunshot was the clearest signal of action.
Everyone present was elite from the Ghost organization, battle-hardened, able to understand each other's intentions with just a glance.
They swiftly used the most suitable weapons to eliminate any obstacles in their way.
Though the Langfu family had engaged in such extensive activities, they were essentially new nobles of the New World, having initially fled here. Their subordinates had not faced much real combat; after just a few exchanges, they were subdued.
The middle-aged man above, seeing that things were going awry, turned to flee.
As he ran, he frantically ordered, "Quick! Request emergency maintenance from the Fifth family! Use energy bursts to control these people!"
His subordinates understood immediately and made a call.
— Most of the virtual dream devices here had been purchased through the Fifth family.
It must be said that
the Fifth family provided excellent service for large clients. They had an emergency engineering maintenance team capable of shutting down or releasing energy from the virtual dream tanks to terminate dangerous situations or protect users in case of emergencies.
The Langfu family risked full exposure of their danger by activating the signal generator in the base, contacting the maintenance team, and entering a complex security confirmation code.
"In case of danger, immediate energy burst is required!"
Though the middle-aged man felt a bit confused, he still felt a flicker of smug satisfaction.
As long as there was an energy burst, no matter how powerful these people were, they would all faint, and he could deal with them one by one later!
He waited expectantly for a response from the other side.
For a maintenance team of this level, a response would come within seconds.
However, after a long wait, there was no reply at all.
A bad premonition began to form in his heart.
"Hello! Is anyone there! We need an emergency energy burst!"
After shouting for a while, a lazy voice finally came from the other side.
"Sorry, the Fifth family has implemented a two-hour work system. The maintenance team has all gone off duty."
Two-hour work system? What the hell?
The middle-aged man silently roared in his heart.
Before he could say anything further, the voice continued, "Sir, we're about to clock out. If there's nothing else, I can help you contact the nearest police station based on your address."
With that, the other side hung up the phone!
He watched as the intruders rapidly took control of the entire room, his vision darkening.
— What the hell is this two-hour work system? What kind of person can come up with such absurdity?!
---