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Chapter 7: The Laws of Survival
When the Peryton"s tail rapidly swept over, as if it was going to skewer through his eyeb.a.l.l.s, the female doctor cried out in fear, while Li Qian and the engineer in black-framed gla.s.ses had their mouths half-open, unable to say anything. Words could not describe what they were seeing on the screen; they felt as if they themselves had been killed on the spot.
"This… this has to be the result of CGI…" Li Qian stuttered.
"I can send you the video and you can study it frame by frame to find out if it really is CGI. After all, you"re an expert in this field." Wu Yun replied, smiling.
There were all kinds of blood-curdling screams coming from the video. It lasted for a few seconds until only death remained in their view.
When the screen changed into static, they had not yet managed to recover their spirits.
Wu Yun knocked on the table and time started to move forward once again.
"The First Law of Survival in Nibelungen, never show fear," Wu Yun extended a finger, "Does anyone know why so many animals in that world use fear to hunt for their prey?"
No one answered. Regardless of whether it was Li Qian or the other two, they were still immersed in fear; they were not yet able to disengage from their state of mind.
"Because when you"re afraid of something, it implies that you"re not as strong as it. Since you"re not as strong as it, then by the law of the jungle, you can only become the prey," explained Wu Yun.
"Bulls.h.i.t! How is that possible… whatever that monster was… who wouldn"t be afraid of it rushing at them?" The engineer yelled, his tightly clenched fists were still shaking.
"Oh, really?" Wu Yun"s gaze once again landed on Zhou Yu, but he quickly moved onto the next step, "The Second Law of Survival in Nibelungen——do not be tempted by anything beautiful. The more beautiful they are, the more dangerous."
Another video started to play.
It looked like it was in a cave. There were insects attached to the cave walls emitting a light blue glow, and the entire scene looked like a beautiful cave of light blue fireflies. Only, these fireflies were even more striking, they had a certain kind of leisurely and graceful sense of beauty as if they were the ancient light of stars.
A researcher entering the cave looked up and revealed an enchanted expression, he slowly reached out his hand, as if he wanted to touch the fireflies. A few of the small bugs satisfied his expectations; they lazily fell down, like snowflakes.
The moment they made contact with his skin, the little bugs suddenly bored into it. The researcher frantically started to scratch at his palms, wanting to catch the bugs, but they had already entered his veins, and in that short time, they already managed to reproduce inside his entire body.
He fell to the floor. All the veins and arteries in his body appeared blue, he was twisted painfully, and the sound of his hoa.r.s.e screams had the film"s audience frozen in terror.
All of a sudden, countless blue fireflies burst from inside his body in a dense swarm and flew out, like a supernova.
They slowly rose up, and once more attached themselves to the cave wall.
That researcher"s remains were still scattered on the floor.
All was peaceful again as if nothing had happened.
The engineer in black gla.s.ses frames suddenly lowered his head and started to vomit. In the instant his gla.s.ses fell, Zhou Yu scooped them up with his finger.
Li Qian"s shoulders were also trembling and there was dread deep in his eyes.
As for that female doctor, she raised a hand to cover her mouth, her eyes were opened wide.
"I…I don"t plan to enter into whatever research project this is anymore! Let me go back! Let me go!" The engineer had finished vomiting and started to beat the table hysterically.
They had already been told that the other world was dangerous.
But the level of danger exceeded their expectations.
"There"s no going back. Juli Corp won"t give its own p.a.w.ns an escape route." Wu Yun came to stand behind the engineer and pressed down on his shoulder, he seemed to be helping him relax, "Mr. Li SiZhe, as long as you remember my words, and do what I tell you to do, you will live until your contract with Juli Corp expires. Juli Corp never abandons their benefactors, as long as you don"t leak any of their secrets, your life after this will be pretty good. Practically all your wishes can come true."
The engineer Li SiZhe retrieved his gla.s.ses from Zhou Yu.
"Finally, I"ll talk about the Third Law, it"s a rather important one. It may seem like it"s easier to do than the previous two, but this one is exactly what most people can"t resist." Wu Yun put away his languid att.i.tude, Zhou Yu was unable to decipher his cold gaze. "Remember, they don"t have love. If they make you feel enchanted, or touched, or perfectly willing to put everything at stake for them, then you"re really finished. They only need to reproduce, and the composition of our human bodies are perfect in proportions, whether it be the protein content or anything else, we"re the most well-suited for the next generations to grow in, not as a mate, but as nutrients."
"You"re speaking to us about love? There"s no way we could find those monsters charming!" The female doctor thought that Wu Yun"s words were unreasonable.
"The evolution of the organisms in Nibelungen are very special. Here, the highest level of life is humankind, because we are better at intelligent thought than the other animals. But in there, when an organism has progressed to a certain degree, they will develop abilities that you would think come from a sci-fi movie. We divide the organisms there into five ranks. The highest S rank organisms have a common characteristic: mimicry. Their mimicry is different from ours, their cells can regenerate and recombine, for example, changing into the appearance of a human… a very charming human. They want to tempt you so they will change themselves into an appearance that will captivate you the most.
Not only did Li Qian and the others show astonished expressions, even Zhou Yu was staring.
Could an organism really change themselves into something entirely different?
At this time, the video showed a certain pregnant female researcher. She was enclosed in a sealed research chamber, her face showed fear and horror, she continued to shout "Save me, please save me". She was beating at her abdomen, and under her stream of tears was despair.
"I recognize her… She"s a well-known pathologist… what happened to her?"
"Dr. Han Li, isn"t it obvious? She"s pregnant," Wu Yun replied.
"I"m saying… what"s with the child in her womb! Why would she act like this? If she"s pregnant then why would you treat her like this?"
"Because inside her womb is an S rank organism from Nibelungen," Wu Yun spoke with regret, "I reminded her countless times, but this woman still wasn"t able to handle it. What"s more, women are the most emotional, thinking that they will be the "exception". During an outdoor expedition, she had a chance encounter with a graceful and s.e.xy man, then she was with child."
A few minutes later, that pathologist died. Han Li covered her eyes, not daring to look at the scene as the pathologist"s screams echoed unendingly in their ears.
Li Qian buried his head between his arms. Li SiZhe wanted to vomit again but there was nothing left in his stomach.
Only Zhou Yu watched it from beginning to end without the slightest hint of wrinkles between his brows.
When the video finished playing, the entire room was silent. No one had any desire to speak.
Wu Yun indifferently said, "Don"t be so nervous, as long as you keep the three laws of survival in mind, there isn"t a likely chance that you"ll die. Li Qian, you"re the youngest of everyone here. Do you still remember what those three laws are?"
Li Qian opened his mouth, but his mind was a complete blank. It was as if everything he heard before had been poured out of his head and he couldn"t remember any of it.
"No way, you"re the youngest, I"d have thought that your memory would be the best too." Wu Yun sighed, "Listen up, I"ll say it for the last time. Number one, fear is the sign of the hunted, so never show fear. Number two, the more beautiful an organism is, the more dangerous they are, do not approach them. Number three, do not be tempted by the mimicry of an S rank organism, they don"t have human emotions like love, and no humans are an exception to them."
These three laws, even if they were remembered, were sometimes impossible to uphold.
Because they went against human instinct.
After cla.s.s, Li Qian and the others went elsewhere. They were all specialized and skilled professionals; when met with a truly dangerous situation, they were still far inferior to Zhou Yu.
In the next half of the year, Zhou Yu went under a series of rigorous training sessions. They included some lessons on the uses of special weapons, identifying the organisms of Nibelungen, team coordination, etc.
Zhou Yu knew that training in there for a lifetime still would not be as useful as staying in Nibelungen for a minute. This news did not have a big effect on Zhou Yu"s mood, but he knew that this group would also include Zhou Qing when it was dispatched.
A very precise magnetic shuttle installation connected the two worlds. When Zhou Yu entered the control room, countless numbers flickered by on the ubiquitous computer screens. The technical staff and researchers were bustling about, and it resembled the s.p.a.ce agency"s preparations for a rocket launch.
"All party members to be dispatched, please enter the shuttle hold," announced an ice-cold voice from above their heads.
In front of Zhou Yu was a ring-shaped metal door. In front of the door, a thing that looked like a cable car was parked, and it looked a little like a shuttle exploring the universe, severe and cold.
Just as he was about to go up, someone called out to him.
"Hey, Zhou Yu."
Wahoo! So fast! This chapter would not have been possible without a great editor.