Chen Xu wasn't angry at Gao Xiaojie's question. On the contrary, he admired the girl's independent thinking. She was never an appendage of a man, but a girl with her own ideas. Similarly, Guan Yi was the same. However, Guan Yi's talent in scientific research was clearly insufficient; she was better suited to be a powerful economic talent. In fact, a significant portion of the financial allocation for the construction of Tongchi Island was orchestrated by Guan Yi.
Chen Xu was completely open and honest with them, except for that one last thing he didn't mention. He patiently explained, "It's not that simple. The information I have here shows that before our civilization, there weren't just civilizations from ten thousand years ago. For example, the skull fragment Professor Jefferson revealed dates back three million years. Those civilizations that existed before us had small populations, but every individual, or rather every god, possessed immense power; they were true gods. However, even these gods were destroyed… The legendary, powerful Atlantis also sank to the bottom of the sea. Don't you think anything about these things? Why, if they were so powerful, were they ultimately destroyed?"
"Wasn't it because of the war and their low reproductive rate?"
"Yes, war, but war is only one aspect—what I don't understand is, back then, there were so few people, scattered all over the world. Look, the closest civilization to other civilizations in the Central Plains was the Bashu civilization, yet there are no records of conflict between the Central Plains and Bashu civilizations in legends and historical documents. This is because the Shu Road was notoriously difficult, and precisely because of its treacherous terrain, communication between the two civilizations was greatly hindered. How could war easily break out then? On the contrary, the Yellow Emperor had four wives, one of whom, a woman from Xiling, was known as the 'Snail Ancestor.' Legend has it that she invented and taught the people of Bashu how to raise silkworms and spin yarn. Hmm, I digress. What I mean is, Atlantis was a hundred and eight thousand miles away from us. How did war break out then? And what was the cause of it? Even now, when the world is full of people, two countries need a reason to fight, right? What was the reason for war back then?"
"In my opinion, wars did occur among ancient civilizations, but they didn't necessarily affect the entire world. For example, the civilizations of Norse mythology, Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Atlantis were geographically close, so conflicts were quite possible, which led to the formation of later myths and legends. However, I don't think these wars were the most crucial factor. Atlantis even sank, and according to Plato, this sinking wasn't due to war. I believe the biggest reason for the demise of the previous civilization lay within themselves!"
“That’s right,” Chen Xu said, as if speaking to himself, “The essence of Heaven’s Way is balance. It doesn’t destroy a civilization arbitrarily, unless the development of that civilization seriously threatens the existence of Heaven’s Way, in which case it will be completely destroyed. But what exactly did they do? To cause so many ancient civilizations to perish almost simultaneously, leaving only a few remnants of their bloodline to escape this calamity… And I have a premonition that this century’s greatest deception is our civilization repeating the old path of the previous civilization…”
…………
On the Pacific Ocean, M.
No one expected that the Tarot, which had disappeared without a trace, would now be completely holed up on this island of Mu.
The Emperor, still wearing his golden mask, looked at the countless scientists busily working on the monitors and sighed, "The legendary continent of Mu, huh? If the Rothschild family hadn't suffered a catastrophic calamity and been forced to defy their ancestral precepts and beg for help from our family, we wouldn't even know this place existed... The Rothschild family patriarch of that generation was right. Even if the entire Rothschild family were wiped out, so what? As long as Mu was preserved, the Rothschild family would have a chance to rise again... What a pity, what a pity, this island never belonged to your Rothschild family, and now, it doesn't!"
Beside the emperor was only one woman. If Chen Xu were here, he would definitely scream—this woman looked eight-tenths like Guan Yi! And he had seen this woman before. She was Guan Yi's current stepmother, his own mother-in-law, the second wife of the old man in the Guan family, and the stand-in Guan Yi left in England after coming to China—Miss Huang Xiusha!
However, Huang Xiusha's face lacked the timid, endearing expression she had shown Chen Xu and Guan Yi when they last met. Instead, it was alluring, and she giggled, "The Rothschild family had no choice. During World War II, they were stabbed in the back by both the Germans and the Americans. Most of the family's elites and direct descendants were imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps. Although a high-ranking person must know how to be ruthless and how to rise again, it's a pity that the head of that generation clearly didn't have that kind of personality. But that's better; it benefits us. The energy here, although different from the energy in my bloodline, is essentially the same. However, it needs to be recharged every three months, which is really too troublesome."
The Emperor looked at her and laughed, "Empress, there's no need to be so impatient. Isn't the steward already under your control? Once I crack the secret of this energy, and we both absorb it, we'll be able to rival the ancient gods. At that time, I'll be on the outside, and you'll be on the inside. Dealing with Chen Xu and that girl will be a piece of cake. You won't need to look like this anymore... Although you're pretty, you're still far from your original form!"
"Oh, my Emperor, your words are so sweet!" Huang Xiusha giggled, wiped her face, and instantly transformed into a completely different person, much like Sun Wukong's seventy-two transformations in Journey to the West! She now appeared as a stunningly beautiful Caucasian woman, her figure and face even more alluring than a vixen like Guan Yi. In particular, the aura emanating from her body would instantly conjure up images of sex for any man.
She is the second-in-command of Tarot, and one could even say she is on par with the Emperor—the Queen of Tarot.
The emperor pulled her into his arms, his thickly gloved hands roaming freely over her body. He chuckled, "Truly worthy of being a descendant of the goddess of beauty. Although tens of thousands of years have passed and your goddess bloodline has been tainted by the corrupt human blood, just for this appearance alone, I'd be willing to fight for you for ten years. The Earth's core energy, our research has made a breakthrough... Rest assured, my beauty, soon you will become the most beautiful woman in the world, and you and I will rule this world forever."
Huang Xiusha giggled and nestled in the emperor's arms, saying, "Are you really confident? You know the consequences of failure. Of the first four civilizations, apart from the earliest generation of giants, the other three were all destroyed because they tried to absorb the Earth's core energy." She chuckled, "No one knows more about the secrets of the ancient times than I do. The first generation of giants starved to death; they were too big, like dinosaurs. Such humans were a failure of creation; they didn't have enough food and could only wait to die. The second generation of humans, in their struggle for the Earth's core energy, ultimately ignited a celestial fire. The third generation of ape-men—bah, they..." "Those incompletely evolved beings dare to call themselves human? Hmph, though, these creatures were quite capable, discovering the secrets of the Earth's core. Alas, a massive war erupted among them, and they all perished. As for the fourth generation, my ancestors, hmph, even united they couldn't defeat the Eastern gods, so they set their sights on the Earth's core, causing a planetary imbalance, triggering a great flood that destroyed everything, even sinking large parts of Atlantis and Mu to the bottom of the sea. As for us, we are the fifth generation. The East has risen powerful once more. Are you truly confident?"
"Of course!" The emperor's eyes gleamed beneath his mask. "Those ancient gods, though powerful, lacked intelligence! Forcibly absorbing the Earth's core energy isn't so simple. However, our research has made a breakthrough. The Earth's core energy is no longer violent. This is the most fundamental power of the Earth, capable of restoring your ancient bloodline and allowing me to become a true god. Just wait, that day is not far off!"
Chapter 403 The Emergence of Ancient Civilizations
Professor Jefferson's paper quickly caused a huge stir in the scientific community. And as if Guan Yi's words had come true, with Company S rapidly rising in prominence, especially its virtual reality system which had virtually crushed foreign technology companies, many countries seemed to have reached a tacit agreement. In the past month, national laboratories in thirteen countries around the world have publicly announced the ancient civilization specimens they possess and begun research on previous civilizations.
In an instant, the whole world went crazy.
Ancient civilizations have always existed only in novels and movies; there has never been any official evidence to prove their existence. However, within the past month, several countries, including Greece, Egypt, Sweden, the United States, Italy, and Israel, have announced the existence of previous civilizations. Furthermore, Greece and Sweden have opened the ruins of one such civilization to the public.
This site is not the wasteland pits that archaeologists linger in on TV, but two very well-preserved ancient ruins.
The ruins open to the public in Greece are an ancient architectural complex located 100 meters below the city of Athens. According to archaeologists, these buildings were moved underground using a special method that is impossible to achieve even today. The name of this complex is the Temple of Athena.
It is a temple dedicated to Athena, the goddess of wisdom—a true temple!
Inside the temple, the most astonishing thing is the pure gold statue of Athena, which is ten meters tall and weighs nearly a ton. After the statue was exhibited, it instantly drove the whole world crazy. People who were skeptical at first believed it. Could the Athens city government have built such a huge project and such a big golden statue just to save money?
The world's richest people, especially those who love collecting, flew to Athens immediately. Of course, no one was foolish enough to ask about the value of the Athena statue, because everyone knew that the Greek government would never sell it. This treasure was worth more than all the treasures in the Louvre!
Just imagine how much money a one-ton gold statue would cost? Add to that the unknown methods used in its sculpting and the tens of thousands of years it took to accumulate…
This is priceless!
Moreover, this is a priceless treasure that you absolutely cannot steal!
It weighs a ton! Unless an entire army is sent to storm Athens, no amount of thieves could steal it. At best, they could only pry off some gold nuggets...
However, the Greek government was also very clever... This Athena statue was absolutely not going to be sold, but some unearthed artifacts—even a broken tile—were sold for exorbitant prices by these wealthy people who had come all the way here.
Of course, this matter will not be known to the general public and the media.
According to reliable sources, the proceeds from selling this scrap metal alone have enabled the Greek government to resolve its current financial crisis and live comfortably for several years to come...
However, the ruins open to the public in Sweden are in no way inferior to those in Athens.
This relic in a valley in Sweden has driven biologists and naturalists around the world crazy... because what was unearthed there were animal specimens frozen in a glacier that had existed for thousands of years... and these animals were mythical creatures!
A three-headed dog that's two meters tall just sitting down—Cerberus!
Her hair is like a snake's, and according to legend, Medusa is the one whose eyes will turn to stone!
And... a dragon!
Of course, it's not the mythical dragon of Eastern legends, but the kind of enormous dragon from Western legends that has a pair of wings!
Oh my god...
2010 is destined to be one of the most unforgettable years in human history... These mythical things have appeared one after another before mankind. Does this mean that the end of the world is coming? With the legend of 2012 in mind, many people feel panicked.
However, many more people were incredibly excited!
Even more excited were the biologists! Of course, these were the world's top biologists who were invited by the Swedish government, and they were able to personally conduct various examinations and tests on these legendary creatures... and the results of the tests were even more exciting.
These biological specimens are not only genuine, but also possess extremely high research value! Fortunately, these specimens were frozen in the glacier. Although this is an extremely difficult task for the current excavation work, the glacier has perfectly preserved the remains of these organisms! In fact, inside the Medusa's body, biologists discovered that the reproductive system had not completely died due to being frozen!
In other words, if the conditions are right, it might be possible to recreate the Medusa through cloning!
This is not the first time such a case has occurred. Decades ago, a mountaineering team brought back a frozen male corpse from the Himalayas, and scientists discovered that the sperm in his seminal vesicles were still viable!
In other words, if the methods are appropriate, it is even possible to extract the sperm of this person from who knows how many years ago and use it for in-vitro fertilization in a woman's body!
The news caused an immediate sensation. In the West, where people have very open minds, at least tens of thousands of women applied to receive sperm from a human from who knows how many years ago. However, it seems that the matter was ultimately dropped due to ethical constraints.
But this time, when the news broke that Medusa might be cloned, the world's reaction was immediately different.
The majority of the voices were negative – that was Medusa! That was the legendary Medusa, who could turn people to stone with just one glance!
The appearance of this legendary creature suggests that the legend of petrification may very well be true!
If that's the case, then this creature is definitely not a kind person! This thing is even more terrifying than Godzilla!
The question is how well it reproduces. If it were to be created quickly, it would be like opening Pandora's box!
Many countries have also expressed their opposition—because they don't want to see a neutral country like Sweden suddenly possess a terrifying army of non-human prehistoric creatures.
However, many people also know that the temptation to resurrect Medusa is too great, and the so-called protests are just a formality... Perhaps Sweden has already secretly begun a plan to resurrect this prehistoric creature. The research value of this creature is simply too immense; if cloned, it wouldn't be displayed in a zoo, but would have many other uses.
It all depends on how to restrict it.
However, after this series of news broke, the world film industry, led by Hollywood, was the most excited.
Suddenly, mythological films, spearheaded by *Clash of the Titans*, were on the agenda of major film companies. Unexpectedly, *Clash of the Titans*, with a plot and special effects that were only mediocre, benefited from this momentum just before its theatrical run ended. Theaters extended its run, and sure enough, driven by curiosity about mythology and the current craze, screenings were packed. *Clash of the Titans* even surpassed Cameron's *Avatar* at the box office, becoming the highest-grossing film in the world…
The most frustrated person this year is probably James Cameron, who just created a box office legend. Who can blame him when this year's theme is retro mythology instead of aliens?
However, it's said that Cameron is also adept at leveraging existing connections. Media reports indicate that he's currently working with DreamWorks on a new film titled "Medusa," and the plot... well, it's the American favorite: some unscrupulous scientists resurrect Medusa through cloning. But this Medusa is incredibly terrifying and possesses extraordinary intelligence. Initially, she pretends to be mindless humans, fooling the scientists, and then uses another method to control humanity, beginning a rampant reproduction...
Then, the end of the world came.
This kind of subject matter is a piece of cake for James Cameron, who directed "The Terminator." Moreover, the novel "Avatar" concept, featuring the avatar as the protagonist and dazzling special effects, has generated considerable media anticipation for the film. Even before official announcements, this supposedly real "Medusa" film has already topped the headlines of major North American portals and been voted "most anticipated movie" by netizens…
Even if this news is false, given the high level of anticipation from fans, Cameron probably has no choice but to intervene...
Amidst the discussions about ancient civilizations, China, this ancient civilization, has not lagged behind, also presenting some evidence of ancient civilizations—things from a previous generation of "gods" that predate the Nine Tripods. However, its overall presentation was quite low-key—at least much more so than a certain neighboring country that loves kimchi.
That kimchi country immediately began to promote the idea that their civilization dates back 400 million years, even producing a bunch of bone models made of what appeared to be plastic or something else, saying: "Look, these are our ancestors. They were the giants of the first civilization, and we are the descendants of giants, unlike you, who are all descendants of monkeys," and so on...
Of course, netizens around the world consciously filtered out their words—thankfully, this time they were only talking about ancient civilizations; if we trace it back further, the Earth was probably built by Koreans.
China's low profile, especially within academia, seems rather unusual in this crazy era.
Because, in just six months, many countries have rushed to present their research results on these specimens of ancient civilizations—some of which were results from previous research, and some were recent breakthroughs.
What frustrates the scientists who were among the first to study these ancient civilizations is that with the global surge in archaeology and the influx of new scholars, the research seems to have become much smoother, and some of the bottlenecks that were once the focus have been overcome with ease. Is this really because of the power of collective wisdom and the strength of many people?
…………
Chapter 404 Unicorn
Only Chen Xu knew that this was entirely the result of the will of Heaven driving things from behind the scenes.
Heaven has grown impatient. Behind the scenes, it has accelerated the process of this "great deception of the century"—as the Chinese saying goes, "Whom Heaven wishes to destroy, it first makes mad."
Right now, the academic community around the world has gone crazy!
If we're talking about the hottest discipline right now, it has to be bioengineering. But compared to the global fervor, it seems rather lackluster in mainland China.
The strong media censorship prevented these fervent messages from reaching China. Instead, bioengineering departments in various universities across the country adopted various measures, such as opening up postgraduate quotas, reducing enrollment, or prioritizing domestic companies to absorb these students, thereby reducing the number of students in this major studying abroad.
From this perspective, bioengineering is a highly sought-after major in China, but only a few people know that this is merely a means to prevent many students in China from experiencing future tragedies.
In early 2010, when discussions and research on ancient civilizations were in full swing worldwide, Dr. Li Liangyan, a bioengineering expert from Company S, together with Zhan Jing, published a paper. This paper was not published in any academic reports, but was directly submitted to the Chinese Academy of Sciences and distributed to major biological research institutes and universities across the country in the form of an official document.
The document contains the author's views on the current surge in research on ancient civilizations. Although Dr. Li Liangyan is no longer a Chinese citizen, he is indeed an authority among Chinese scientists in the field of bioengineering. As for Zhan Jing, this girl, putting aside everything else, she demonstrated SMMH's extremely high talent and solid foundation in bioengineering with just a food safety testing instrument—of course, few people know that she herself actually knows nothing about it.
The significance of this joint report by these two individuals is self-evident.
Both of them expressed that the path of studying ancient civilizations' creatures or specimens to discover and modify the human body is not feasible. They both expressed a pessimistic attitude towards this craze and called on the country not to invest funds and manpower in this craze, otherwise it would not only waste time and money, but also harm others and themselves.
This was of course Chen Xu's idea. China must get out of this "century-long deception" this time. However, there are many things that cannot be said directly to enthusiastic netizens, so some information about ancient civilizations should be released to avoid disappointing the public.
At the same time, Company S is also collecting research findings on these ancient civilizations from various scientific research institutions around the world.
For Company S, this was actually a very simple matter. Two years prior, Chen Xu had established a mercenary organization in Africa, backed by Company S's substantial financial resources and technological expertise. This mercenary organization quickly grew into a large and successful entity, now officially registered as a security company called "BLACK FIRE."
Blackfire Security Company is now very famous in Africa because they have the strongest warriors, are qualified to receive training in virtual reality, possess the most advanced individual weapons, and even have dozens of mechs from who-knows-where!
Although many people know that the mastermind behind Blackfire is Tongchi Island, because only Tongchi Island has the manufacturing process and technology for mechs, Blackfire's possession of mechs clearly explains these things.
However, due to Blackfire's formidable combat capabilities and the powerful backing of Company S, coupled with its flawless execution of assassinations and security missions over the past two years, many research institutions are willing to hire Blackfire's mercenaries for security and to use them to maintain contact with Tongchi Island.
What's very strange is that Tongchi Island is barely mentioned in this surge of research into ancient civilizations. Even within China as a whole, the response to this research boom, hailed as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, has been remarkably lukewarm.
Everyone knows that Tongchi Island is currently practically the leader in China's scientific research. Even internationally, Tongchi Island is definitely among the top three. Their strange absence from this research—is it disdain? Or some other reason? Or perhaps, while SMMH is hailed as the god of the internet and has made its own achievements in biotechnology, its greatest strength lies in computer hardware and software? Hmm, that possibility isn't out of the question, because with the release of the virtual reality system, S Company had to conduct three large-scale recruitment interviews in just one year—their manpower was truly insufficient.
However, many laboratories also know that Company S has been conducting research in this area for a long time, and their research level and scientific achievements are far ahead of these laboratories that are just starting out.
While they were still conducting genetic analysis and blood sampling on ancient civilization specimens, S Company heard that they had already begun exploring human potential—Dr. Li Liangyan was internationally renowned, and it was said that the once-famous X organization had developed various products precisely because of the information provided by SMMH... It's just a pity that they later became enemies of Tongchi Island and suffered a complete defeat.
Moreover, rumors circulated that while Sweden was secretly researching how to clone Medusa, in the secret laboratory on Tunneling Island, all sorts of creatures—Medusa, dragons, and Cerberus—were already running rampant. This was because, just six months prior, the Swedish National Laboratory had been robbed, and the thieves couldn't take the complete specimens. They could only cut pieces of flesh from various ancient creature specimens—a painful blow to the scientists, who wished the flesh wasn't their own.
The Swedish government would naturally not reveal such a shameful act, but in this elite circle, it's really hard to keep a secret—especially since the thief was selling the flesh of these ancient creatures on the black market for $2 billion—who would want that? Sweden has so many specimens, and even cloning them is fraught with problems; who knows when they'll succeed—cloning them with just a few pieces of flesh? Do you really think the world's technology has advanced to that level?
The cloning we talk about now all uses stem cells, which is far from the level of science fiction where a single hair can clone a person.
However, these few pieces of meat were eventually sold. Although the buyers and sellers in the underground market kept their identities secret, if you think about it, the only one who was interested in this kind of thing, willing to pay a high price, and most importantly, had the technology to use these rotten pieces of meat was Tongchi Island.