Chapter 183: Life Bracelet
Slavery was one of humanity’s oldest trade, and the underground slave trade did not disappear in the technologically advanced Pan-Human Alliance territory. On the contrary, it was becoming a growing trend.
In the insectoid territory, which was in fair proximity to the Pan-Human Alliance, plenty of insectoid aristocrats or plutocrats would take pride in keeping human females in captivity. The Na’vi people also had a similar custom, except that they were a matriarchal race, so they preferred human males.
Driven by the profits to be had, many slave traders took the risk and expanded their business all across the universe, exchanging for minerals and creations needed by the Pan-Human Alliance from all the other territories.
Humans would instinctively pursue their own freedom, and plenty of human slaves would attempt to escape from their sad lot in life time and again. Such actions drew great dissatisfaction from slave owners, which was why a product called the Life Bracelet was born.
Xia Fei sat across Harris, his hand holding onto a s.h.i.+ny silver bracelet. Harris could feel cold sweat trickling down his back. As a scientist, he was of course aware of just how terrifying and evil this life bracelet was.
The corner of his mouth curled as Xia Fei waved the life bracelet in his hand, softly saying, “This is my condition: Wear this and you will be born anew. I’ll do everything I can to support your scientific research, providing you with all the conveniences you need. Even if you wish to begin human experiments, I will satisfy it, too.”
Xia Fei’s smile was sinister, like that of a venomous snake, while offering the forbidden fruit.
Phantom was helplessly shaking his head from the sidelines. As a killer, Phantom was of course not some man of honor, yet even he felt that Xia Fei was being far too immoral.
The life bracelet was invented to be used on slaves by the Na’vi. They were a fairly different race, completely unfettered by human technology and could even be considered more advanced in many areas than the humans.
However, it was precisely them being an advanced sentient race that their continued primitive practice of slavery was such a baffling thing, and given how the Na’vi were a matriarchal society, with the oldest female holding the highest position in the household while the males being no more than tools used for reproduction to them.
Diametrically opposite of the Pan-Human Alliance, all Na’vi warriors were females and would head out for wars while their males did the farming, sewing, and raising of offspring back home.
The Na’vi lived debauched lives. Plenty of good-looking men had been sold to the Na’vi, but few were able to live for long. Their insatiable appet.i.te would often drain these pretty boys of their energy quickly, so when they became weak and could no longer engage in intercourse, the heartless Na’vi would slaughter them like livestock, throwing their dead bodies down valleys to let the jackals and wild dogs feast upon them.
Few were able to withstand their ardor, so many of the human slaves would choose to commit suicide or escape. The Na’vi simply could not imagine anyone showing such defiance, for the men in their race had never once resisted and would only silently endure it all.
Perhaps it was an instinctual response of the females; the more the human males struggled and sought to attain freedom, the more the Na’vi females enjoyed having human slaves. As a result, male slaves became hot commodities in the Na’vi territory, the price climbing every year as more and more Na’vi females felt proud of owning human slaves.
The life bracelet came to exist in such an environment, so no matter who ended up wearing it, their life would never ever belong to them. Even suicide was made impossible, for the mental instructions stored in the bracelet would prevent them from doing so.
If a slave wearing a life bracelet so much as thought to stab themselves with a knife, they would find their arm uncooperative to the command of their own brain, while slaves attempting to ingest poison would merely find it impossible to pour the liquid into their mouths.
It was said that there were over a million mental commands stored in a life bracelet, which would prevent human slaves from executing any self-destructive actions, and any attempt to go against these commands would result in their brain momentarily short-circuiting, unable to proceed with their plans.
The moment they wore these inconspicuous metal bracelets, their lives would completely be in their owners’ hands, and a single thought from the latter’s mind was the only message needed to determine the fate of any slaves. There was not even any room for resistance.
If a slave tried using brute force, chopping off their arm and such, to get rid of the life bracelet’s control over them, they would come to the unfortunate realization that such an action was not permitted in the least; if a shrapnel happened to slice off a slave’s arm during battle, severing it from the body, the life bracelet would self-destruct, taking the slave’s life with it.
A slave might feel immensely aggrieved that an external force outside of their control could cause such a tragic outcome, but that was just how things worked. Any attempts to escape the life bracelet’s control would result in death, and there were no exceptions.
There were plenty of aspects that made the life bracelet a miraculous piece of technology, but everything had been created all to let someone have total control of another person. The moment a person wore it, it was akin to losing themselves, becoming no more than a living zombie.
The Death Trio Star Region was an area of relative chaos, which was also what made it a stronghold for the slave traders. That was why Xia Fei had very easily obtained a life bracelet from Yawei, and now it was up to Harris to make his decision.
Harris’s eyes s.h.i.+fted to the left and right. It was evident that he had not thought that Xia Fei would make him wear a life bracelet as the young man’s condition; he knew very well that he would become Xia Fei’s slave once he put it on, losing a human’s mental bottomline as a result.
“What’s going to happen if I refuse?” Harris frowned and asked.
“You die,” Xia Fei answered concisely.
Harris nodded slightly, his expression calm. The madman that he was had never found death to be something painful. He was always more concerned with his own research, and everything could be ignored in the face of that.
“Will you really fulfill your end of the bargain if I wear this?” Harris asked again.
Xia Fei smiled. “That will depend on if you dare to take this gamble. It’ll be great if you believe me, but I have no way of promising anything if you don’t.”
Xia Fei was telling the truth. The moment Harris wore the life bracelet, he would come under his complete control. This mad scientist would be helpless even if the young man were to go back on his word, since his life was already forfeit.
“Aside from those conditions that you’ve just mentioned, I’d also like to study why you’re able to survive the medicinal potency of Amethyst,” Harris said after some thought.
“Sure, if I have the time,” agreed Xia Fei readily.
Shutting his eyes, Harris quietly nodded. “Then, I have no problems with it. Nothing will stop me as long as I can continue my research.”
Xia Fei was impressed with Harris’s dogged perseverance. Though the world beyond had determined his science to be immoral, Xia Fei did not care about it. What of it being vile? None of that mattered as long as it could be useful.
Xia Fei gave the life bracelet a light tap; a sharp silver needle suddenly extended and p.r.i.c.ked his finger. His DNA information and mental signal were rapidly imprinted to the bracelet, and when the needle retracted, he was recognized as its owner, and that could not be changed.
Handing the bracelet to Harris, Xia Fei softly stated, “Your turn.”
Harris gritted his teeth and clasped the life bracelet on his left hand. Almost instantly, that originally loose bracelet shrank and became one with his arm. The silver needle had also penetrated Harris’s skin and collected the relevant information.
Soon, the bracelet gave off a light glow, and Harris officially became Xia Fei’s property. From this day onward, regardless of the place and time, he could only listen to Xia Fei’s orders until the day he died.
…
Early the next morning, the retrofitting of the Tomahawk began in earnest.
Xia Fei was brought to the logistics department of Scarlet Volcano Military Base, where all the equipment and manpower he needed had all been delivered to him.
Xia Fei was disappointed for quite some time when he took that spa.r.s.e list of goods. The equipment on the list was old and worn from use. Xia Fei had been too used to getting quality products that he was momentarily stunned on what he should do. He originally thought that no matter how scarce the supplies in this military base was, they should at least still have two new battlecruiser-tier warp engines.
He did not expect for the list to only have four battlecruiser engines, and all of them only had fifty years or less of service life left, with the oldest having been in use for 133 years. Just the number of major repairs it had undergone was in the dozens; going into the supergravity zone with such an engine was essentially courting death.
The one in charge of the logistics was a chubby man by the name of Piker. His face made him look very reprehensible, but after Xia Fei handed out his little gifts of cash, tea leaves, fruits, and candies, that chubby cheeks of his finally cracked a smile. Anyone would be tempted when benefits were dangled before them, not to mention that they were in the impoverished Death Trio Star Region, where there were plenty of goods that even money could not buy.
After searching on the computer for a long time, Piker spoke in a low voice. “We have two recently decommissioned battlecruisers that have yet to be dismantled. Why don’t you take a look and see if there’s anything you may need?”
Xia Fei stared at the screen for some time but was still quite dissatisfied. “I want the two Gaian engines, those reactors, and this combat-grade, gravity-control system.”
Yawei had already informed Piker that Xia Fei’s every request was to be fulfilled, and the only reason he had been giving Xia Fei such a hard look was that he wanted to line his pockets a bit. Since Xia Fei had very readily done just that, Piker did not s.h.i.+lly-shally. With a quick swipe, the two engines were soon in Xia Fei’s hands.
Actually, this could not be helped. It was already rare to find a wars.h.i.+p that had two engines installed, so Xia Fei was nuts to try and install three engines to the Tomahawk.
He needed sufficient propulsion power when flying in the supergravity zone, but he also had to avoid taxing the engine to the point it overheated and became damaged. The engines provided by the Scarlet Volcano Military Base were simply too old, unable to guarantee that they would become problematic during the journey. This was why Xia Fei could only go for a triple-engine system to split the load.
A triple-engine system also meant that there would be an increased load to the power system. The gravity-control system was also necessary, since the gravitational pull in the supergravity zone was shockingly powerful. Wars.h.i.+ps needed to have even more powerful gravity-control systems to ensure that the internal gravity of the s.h.i.+p could be maintained. This was why Xia Fei had opted to fit the Tomahawk with a combat-grade gravity-control system.
Xia Fei very generously paid the mechanics who were helping him with the work, pulling out a thousand White Dews for them to restore their energy and ensure that they could complete the tasks at hand in time.
*Whoos.h.!.+*
The Tomahawk took to s.p.a.ce once more with the triple-engine system, dual reactors, and the combat-grade gravity-control system.
His destination was Black Abyss’s supergravity zone.