98: Chapter 98 Deep Sequence! Artificial Beast Soul!

Shen Hongyuan sat in his office, brewing himself a pot of tea. The rising aroma of the tea finally allowed his blood pressure to drop. He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and dialed Commander Qin Luo's encrypted communication line.

"Hello, Old Qin."

On the other end of the line, Commander Qin Luo's respectful voice immediately came through: "Ah, Old Shen, what are your orders?"

"Nothing major." Shen Hongyuan blew away the tea leaves floating on top, his tone still tinged with lingering irritation. "I'm calling to talk about that brat, Su Ming."

"You mean the one... who killed the Iron-Spine Rhinoceros?"

"Yeah. His combat power is just average, but his ability to piss people off is top-tier."

"Huh?" Commander Qin Luo was completely baffled. Average? You call someone who punched a quasi-fifth-tier beast's head into a pulp 'average'? And furthermore, for this man to be angered by him, just how capable must that little brother be?

Commander Qin Luo didn't dare to respond, only managing a dry laugh on the other end.

Shen Hongyuan didn't expect him to say anything anyway and continued on his own: "Extract Su Ming's personal file from the Jiangcheng No. 1 High School education database and hang it directly in the Southern Military Region's encrypted database. Set the clearance... to S-class for now."

Upon hearing this, Commander Qin Luo straightened his posture instantly. S-class encrypted clearance! In the Southern Military Region, this was treatment reserved for at least the rank of Major General! This meant that, apart from commanders at the theater level or above and special authorization from the Federal Security Department, no one could access it. A high school student's file, pulled directly to this level?

"Also, that video of him killing the Source Beast. Have the Information Security Department perform a full-network physical purge. Take down what needs to be taken down, delete the posts that need to be deleted, ban the accounts that need to be banned, and destroy all source files. Don't let it continue to ferment."

Commander Qin Luo's heart skipped a beat. A full-network physical purge was not just a matter of deleting a few posts. It was using military information warfare tactics to rip the data out by the roots from the server's underlying layer. The last time this move was used was when a certain general's private life was posted on the Federal Forum.

Then, Shen Hongyuan's voice deepened. "Old Wang touched base with me two days ago, saying that the [Source Alliance] has started scouting for Genius Awakenings again."

"We can use this kid to fish after the college entrance exam, but for now, don't let him stick his head out to be a living target."

The Source Alliance. When these three words were spoken, a chill ran down Commander Qin Luo's back. They were a group of Source Beasts wearing human skin.

They poisoned city water supplies, turning civilians into mindless beast-like monsters; they implanted Source Beast crystal cores into living humans to create suicide bombers for indiscriminate attacks; and even more heinous, they manufactured large quantities of Source Beast Bloodline serums through Source Beast genetic samples.

Newly awakened Geniuses who were lured in had to undergo Source Beast Bloodline transplantation, after which they were no longer human, leaving only the shell of a beast and bloodthirsty desires!

Commander Qin Luo agreed solemnly. "I will arrange it immediately." He paused, his tone becoming grave as well. "Old Shen, speaking of which... the analysis results for the sixth-tier beast soul of that Iron-Spine Rhinoceros from the research institute are out."

Shen Hongyuan put down his teacup. "Ouyang Jin performed the analysis personally," Commander Qin Luo's voice dropped very low. "That wasn't a beast soul possession at all. It was an artificial replication of Source Soul fragments and the Source Blood sequence."

The office was silent for three seconds. Commander Qin Luo continued his report. "Ouyang Jin compared the basic genetic sequence and discovered that its structure was almost identical to the archives of the 'Dragon Turtle Project' in the Federal [Deep Sequence] laboratory, with a similarity reaching 95.3%."

"The catalyst ingredients were also detected; it's a variant of the military-grade S-7, and the source... is identical to the Federal military pharmaceutical factory."

Shen Hongyuan tapped his fingers on the desk twice, then stopped. "So, it wasn't the Beast King's doing?" His voice was unreadable. "It's a 'technological achievement' of humanity itself?"

"Yes." Commander Qin Luo's voice grew even heavier. "Ouyang Jin... asked me to ask one thing: back in the day, besides you, who else handled the [Deep Sequence] technical archives?"

Shen Hongyuan did not answer this question. Both sides remained silent like this. For a long time, so long that Commander Qin Luo thought the communication had been cut off.

"Imperial Capital Federal Military Industry..." Shen Hongyuan finally spoke, his voice devoid of anger, containing only an indescribable weariness. "We haven't been at peace for long, and some people have already started to forget their roots."

Commander Qin Luo listened quietly on the other end, not daring to interrupt.

"Encrypt the report. Tell Ouyang Jin not to..." He stopped halfway. The face of the young female researcher appeared in his mind. Twenty-seven years old, the youngest researcher in the Federation, with a fiery temper and a hatred for evil. Tell her not to investigate? If she could hold back, the sun would rise from the Source Abyss.

Shen Hongyuan sighed. "If she wants to investigate, let her. Just don't make too much of a stir; alerting certain old fogies will cause nothing but trouble."

"Understood."

"Oh, right," Shen Hongyuan seemed to remember something. "The college entrance exam is tomorrow. Keep a close eye on the security in Jiangcheng."

Commander Qin Luo reacted quickly: "Are you worried that someone might make a move on that kid? Do you need to send someone to protect him?"

"Protect him, my ass!" Shen Hongyuan cursed irritably. "It's to prevent someone from looking for death, otherwise, we'll have to pay out pensions later!"

After saying this, he hung up the phone directly.

——————

The night in Jiangcheng wasn't exactly bustling. It was a D-class satellite city, after all, not comparable to nightless cities like the Imperial Capital or Demon Capital. Once it passed seven o'clock, the people on the streets grew sparse. Half of the streetlights were broken, and the remaining half were also on their last legs.

Da Huang had defected and stayed at the Shen family's Scrap Yard. Su Ming grabbed a bowl of noodles at a roadside stall and walked toward his low-rent housing.

This world was different from the Blue Star. On the Blue Star, you traded money with the government for peace of mind. Here, his monthly rent of five hundred yuan was paid to a "contractor" he had never met.

The land in Jiangcheng had been jointly contracted by several financial conglomerates a hundred years ago. With layers of subcontracting and skimming off the top, what actually reached the government's account might be less than one hundred yuan.

Su Ming was long used to it. Exploited by capitalists before his Transmigration, and after Transmigration, a different group of people continued to exploit him. Changing worlds, yet the fate of the leeks remained the same.

Su Ming climbed to the third floor, stabbing the key in for a long time before he managed to twist the lock open. Pushing the door open, there was a new bed inside. The hole in the floor he had stepped through previously had also been patched, though the color didn't quite match the surroundings, at least he wouldn't step through it again.

This was thanks to Zhao Kuo. To be precise, it was the "condolence money" left behind when Zhao Kuo sent people to kill him. The assassins failed to kill him, but their wallets had truly fallen into his pocket.

Su Ming gladly transferred three hundred in big money to the landlord for floor repairs and added this bed. He locked the door, kicked off his shoes, and sat cross-legged on the bed. His mood began to stir with excitement. The main event was just starting!

With a thought, the System space opened. That broken bone appeared in his hand. It was the length of a forearm, pitch-black, and the surface was covered with dense, tiny holes as if something had burned through it from the inside. It looked unremarkable, just like a piece of firewood.

A dark golden prompt box hovered in the center of his vision, and six glaring question marks were still there. [Estimated convertible mass points: ???????]

Su Ming licked his lips. "Top-tier foodie, who cares about the craftsmanship and price tag when the food is already in their mouth?!"

"Devour!" He whispered. His left palm pressed against the surface of the broken bone. The microscopic black hole activated.

And then—nothing happened. It didn't move an inch, and the System coldly popped up a line of red text: [Devour failed. The target material density is too high, exceeding the current upper limit of the devouring ability. Suggest the host improve their life form.]

Su Ming froze completely. It actually... couldn't be eaten? What the hell is this thing?!