"Disruption of brainwave patterns?"
Looking at the vast amount of research materials from the Langford family, Qin Xuezhong asked.
Her question mirrored the thoughts of everyone else present.
This was an unheard-of term and technology, yet it was in the hands of a group from the New World?
In the Eastern Continent Federation, the term "New World" often represented war and refugees, with no connection to cutting-edge technology at all.
"Yes," Yu Zhezhong scanned the room.
The people around him were all core members of the Ghost organization, waiting for him to continue.
"This is a study from twenty years ago. A psychiatric patient was housed in a research hospital under the Security Department; she had caused brainwave disruptions due to excessive use of virtual dreams."
"Her disruptions were quite regular, creating a peculiar resonance effect in her brain that amplified her neural electrical signals…"
"In other words, it was as if she had some kind of psychic power, able to influence others and devices with her thoughts."
At this point, Yu Zhezhong shrugged.
"At the current stage, this research has essentially hit a dead end because we haven't even clarified the nature of consciousness and memory; we have no way to study the essence behind this phenomenon… unless…"
Xue Zhishi murmured, "Unless large-scale human experiments are conducted."
Yu Zhezhong nodded, and they all fell silent.
They were currently in the core research room of this offshore base.
In the nearby medical pod lay a pale figure—the "young master" who had suffered severe injuries from Qin Xuezhong's counterattack.
He was the only "product" that emerged from the Langford family's experiments.
On the screen behind him were rows of data, each containing a woman's photo.
Each photo bore a bright red stamp marked [Destroyed].
According to the trembling account from a nearby researcher, after the emergence of the "young master," the Langford family began to eliminate and destroy all the women they had previously kidnapped. They also sought new victims based on the "young master's" reproductive data for a new round of experiments.
They had originally planned to adjust Qin Xuezhong and Yu Zhezhong before simultaneously injecting embryos into all victims for a new experiment.
They hadn't expected to directly capture a powerful entity.
"So, all the women who were previously pregnant have already been… destroyed? The ones we rescued just now are all recent kidnappings who haven't suffered substantial harm yet," Zhang Yuan summarized solemnly.
"Is… that it? It's over?" Xie Kedu asked.
His sentiment reflected the feelings of many others in the room.
A mysterious person capable of silently taking the Ghost away lay here, seemingly weak and unguarded.
It felt like hitting a punch into cotton.
"Wait a moment," Qin Xuezhong spoke, pointing to a nearby wall. "What's behind that wall?"
—From the data signals she read, there were no facilities behind that wall; it appeared to be empty.
But at this moment, she realized that there were electronic facilities emitting data signals surrounding the space, as if… they were enclosing a room at that location.
Upon hearing Qin Xuezhong's question, the researchers' faces changed dramatically.
In response, the members of the Ghost organization raised their weapons.
—At this point, what secrets were these people still hiding?
It could either be something that could turn the tide or damning evidence of grave crimes.
"Open it," Kai Si pointed his gun at the leading researcher.
"I can't! It's sealed!" The researcher shook his head vigorously.
Kai Si gave him a skeptical look and asked, "What's inside?"
"Inside…"
"Speak quickly!"
"It's a temporary waste disposal passage for the base…" The researcher seemed to gather immense courage just to say that.
"Open it." Qin Xuezhong's tone was devoid of emotion.
Kai Si directed his men to roughly push the nearby researcher into a corner and quickly clear away the equipment and debris next to the wall.
A team member with a backpack quickly stepped forward, applying a gel-like substance around the wall before turning back to look at Kai Si.
"Everyone put on masks to avoid toxic gas," Kai Si ordered first, then raised a hand. "Detonate!"
The team member pressed a button lightly, and a series of dense explosions rang out against the wall, creating a doorway shape.
Before the smoke dissipated, two other team members moved in, each taking a side to remove the whole section of wall that had just been blown open, leaving a massive cavity.
Then, a foul odor wafted into the room.
Even though the Ghost members were wearing masks, they could still catch a whiff of the odor.
The unprepared researchers nearby retched immediately.
As the lighting illuminated the void, Qin Xuezhong saw that it was filled with dried, viscous blood. The walls were hung with dense fragments of internal organs and biological remains.
Just one glance made her skin crawl.
"Why?" Xue Zhishi gritted his teeth and asked.
---
Xiao Qin didn't understand, but most people present grasped Xue Zhishi's meaning.
—This was a research facility; from the looks of it, although it was evil, the order and management of the entire base were quite systematic.
Even the bodies were taken away for thorough disposal.
However, in the center of the base, there was such a dirty and hazardous waste disposal passage that felt completely out of place.
The researchers exchanged glances, and finally, one of them spoke up:
"This is a tradition of the Langford family. To accomplish something, a life must be sacrificed; this place… is essentially their sacrificial pit."
"There are… some disobedient prisoners, staff trying to escape, and… various animals used for experiments."
At this point, the person started to cry out, "I don't want to be here either! But! You all saw it; these people don't consider us human! Each of us has a monster implanted in our bellies, and if we don't cooperate, we'll end up in there! Spare us!"
No one paid him any mind.
The Ghost organization wasn't a courtroom; whether these people were victims or accomplices was none of their concern.
Ultimately, they would hand these individuals over to the Security Department for investigation or execution.
Xiao Qin stood dazed for a moment, as if she could hear countless souls howling in that deep pit day and night.
She wanted to burn this place down, but perhaps there was some innocent person's last proof of existence inside that needed careful examination.
She finally ordered, "Seal it up. After we leave, let the Security Department investigate."
"Yes!"
Two people immediately stepped forward to prepare to seal the entrance.
Suddenly, a piercing wail echoed from the pit, startling not only the researchers but also Qin Xuezhong.
Could it be that there really were ghosts inside?
Or… were there survivors?
The surrounding team members clearly displayed their reluctance—no one wanted to actually enter the sacrificial pit.
Before Qin Xuezhong had time to think further, Yu Zhezhong smiled slightly.
"I'll go down and take a look; help me with the lights."
Seeing Yu Zhezhong's calm demeanor, the team members at the entrance felt a sense of awe and quickly set up the equipment and lighting at the pit.
Yu Zhezhong didn't say much; he checked his armor to ensure it was completely sealed, scanned the pit, grabbed a high-strength climbing rope, and jumped in directly.
Less than a minute later, he came back up, dragging a small metallic skeleton, its surface still smeared with bits of flesh and blood.
Everyone stared at him.
Yu Zhezhong placed the object on the ground, and just as everyone was left bewildered, waiting for him or the researchers to explain, the metallic skeleton began to move.
—It shook for a moment and then stood up.
Those closest to Yu Zhezhong felt as if he had brought back some hellish creature and instinctively took two steps back.
In the next second, the outer layer of the skeleton started to emit scattered beams of laser light.
These lights seemed to scan layer by layer and ultimately transformed into a holographic pattern that covered the skeleton, constantly changing shape as the skeleton moved.
Everyone could see that it was… a cat.
Or rather, it was a small robot that looked like a cat.
The holographic fur pattern was pure black, completely concealing the metal skeleton inside, and at first glance, it seemed to be a cute little black cat.
Despite the crowd around, the little black cat showed no signs of shyness; it stretched in full view and then rolled around on the ground.
Next, it walked over to Yu Zhezhong's feet, elegantly standing upright and curling its tail around its legs.
This adorable scene was somewhat jarred by the fact that its tail sparked small flashes on the metallic floor of the lab.
"What… is this?" Kai Si asked, stunned.
Yu Zhezhong shrugged, "It's the sound we heard earlier; seems like a robot?"
As he spoke, one of the researchers raised a hand.
"This… was an experimental animal from a while ago. Mr. Langford ordered us to remove this cat's brain and nerves and place them in this mechanical skeleton for easier electrical stimulation and data retrieval…"
"So… this is a real cat?" Qin Xuezhong asked.
The researcher nodded, "In a sense, yes. Its brain and nerves belong to a cat, but the flesh and bones have been replaced with artificial materials… We could say it's a thoroughly modified cyber cat."
Xiao Qin was speechless.
Like many others present, she began to feel that things were becoming increasingly absurd.
Initially aiming to rescue the kidnapped women, they ended up discovering a barely defensible offshore base. In the blink of an eye, she had defeated the greatest weapon here and captured the head of the Langford family.
—There hadn't even been a proper confrontation.
In the end, they found a cat in the horrifying sacrificial pit…
At this moment, Yu Zhezhong spoke up.
"Wait, nerve removal was part of the biochemical weapon program. David Langford wouldn't waste his efforts on this; there must be a connection to his other activities."
He turned to the researcher and asked, "How often do you perform these nerve extractions?"
"A litter every month, about five or six, each delivered to the head of the family; we're not quite clear on the specifics…"
"Hmph," Yu Zhezhong scoffed, his expression sour. "Used to soothe abnormal neural discharges, these animals."
Yu Zhezhong made this vague statement, his expression darkening.
"What do you mean?" Kai Si asked cautiously.
"A rather cruel technique, but I won't go into detail. Basically, people with mental illnesses or those whose brains have undergone modifications will have unstable elements in their consciousness. These harmful elements can be transferred between two people's brains through neural connections… Ultimately, the person receiving the transfer will break down."
He looked at the little black cat with pity.
Everyone understood Yu Zhezhong's implication—this little black cat was likely a vessel for transferring consciousness garbage, probably pushed to its limits, which was why it had been thrown into the sacrificial pit.
Perhaps its strong will to survive allowed it to withstand the lethal situation for just long enough until Yu Zhezhong arrived.
It appeared normal now, but… it could die at any moment.
Before Yu Zhezhong could finish speaking, the little cat let out another pitiful wail and collapsed to the ground.
Yu Zhezhong remained calm, gently controlling the little cat, looking at Qin Xuezhong with hopeful eyes.
Many people present understood Yu Zhezhong's intention.
His neurological issues, Kai Si's virus invasion, and the data seizures of undercover team members, including Zhang Yuan, had all been cured after connecting with Qin Xuezhong.
With Xiao Qin's abilities, handling a little cat was certainly a piece of cake.
Qin Xuezhong eagerly crouched down and entered the little cat's brain.
—Unlike human consciousness, a cat's consciousness space is much smaller and less defined.
Xiao Qin easily removed the burdens from the little cat's mind and brought it back to calmness.
At the same time, she sensed that this little cat was practically a natural puppet.
Perhaps because the little cat had no body aside from its brain and nerves, when Qin Xuezhong connected, she accidentally found she could control its body and even easily see the outside world through the little cat's eyes.
From the little cat's perspective, she and Yu Zhezhong appeared to be two giants.
She instinctively glanced out the window.
A silver moon hung in the night sky.
Just as she was about to pull out, she broke into a cold sweat.
—Because there was only one moon in the sky.
When she first crossed over, she hadn't been used to the fact that this world actually had two moons: a regular silver moon and a black moon that always appeared alongside the silver one.
After getting accustomed to it, she had even checked online; there was detailed information about these two moons, and several space explorations had established mining bases on them.
As long as the weather was clear, the people of Xigu Valley could see both moons hanging in the sky.
Qin Xuezhong had also connected with other puppets, including viewing the sky through Yu Zhezhong's eyes, and both moons were always clear.
But why, from the perspective of this cat, could she only see one moon?