188: Section 188

Jing Yuan prepared to walk toward Flynn, but Jing Nan stopped him.

Jing Nan said, "Dr. Flynn, this is the new Leader of the Light and Shadow Society, Jing Yuan, and this is the new City Lord, Mark!"

Flynn looked at Jing Nan lecherously and said, "I didn't expect that you'd grow up to look exactly like Mevy!"

Flynn tried to turn the workbench but found it wouldn't budge; looking up, he saw Jing Yuan pressing down on the surface.

Jing Yuan looked at Jing Nan with a face full of doubt and asked, "Is this old man really a scientist?"

In Jing Yuan's impression, scientists didn't necessarily have to be mature and prudent, but they at least shouldn't have such a hooligan-like temperament.

Flynn looked at them with a frivolous gaze. "Mark? I saw you when you were a kid; I didn't expect you to grow so big! Morgan actually passed the position of City Lord to you after all!" He then looked at Jing Yuan. "New Leader of the Light and Shadow Society? Then what about Charles?"

"Dead!" Jing Yuan stared at Flynn. He hated frivolous people the most, and he hadn't expected to see such a demeanor in an old man.

Only then did Flynn show some surprise. "Even if Charles died, Morgan wouldn't let anyone else be the Leader. By the way, how did he die?"

"Killed by my blade!"

Flynn froze because he saw a murderous intent in Jing Yuan's eyes.

Jing Yuan had killed so many people and so many Phage Beasts that even if he didn't actively release his killing intent, he couldn't hide it.

Seeing Flynn frozen in place, Jing Nan spoke up, "Dr. Flynn, we came here to ask you about the brain-linking experiments."

"Oh? You want to connect to clotho again?"

"Yes."

Flynn laughed. "Back then, it was because of my research into brain-linking that Morgan locked me up! It seems that old fellow could never figure it out. It took a change of City Lord to realize the value of this research."

"The Lighthouse's ultimate control is in clotho's hands; we need to take it back! And to take back control, we need to enter clotho."

"Take back control? Hmph!" Flynn gave a cold laugh.

"We learned from the records that you once conducted a brain-linking experiment. What were the results of that experiment?"

Facing Jing Yuan's question, Flynn ignored him completely.

Jing Yuan was about to get physical, but he was stopped by Jing Nan again.

"Dr. Flynn, I hope you can help us!"

"Hmph!" Flynn sneered. "You want my help to connect to clotho? Fine! Agree to my three conditions!"

"You still want to negotiate conditions?" Jing Yuan gave a cold laugh.

Mark, on the other hand, was magnanimous. "Go ahead! We'll do our best to satisfy whatever we can!"

"First!" Flynn began stating his conditions. "Morgan locked me up for all these years; make him come here and apologize to me! Second, I want to be the City Lord! As for the third... hehe... you go to the Law Enforcement Office and apply to arrange for me to go to the Hall of Dawn with you!"

The last sentence was directed at Jing Nan.

Jing Yuan could no longer hold back. He strode over, grabbed Flynn by the neck with one hand, and lifted him up, cursing, "Old thing! Tired of living, are you? We didn't come here to beg you today! Get this straight: if you don't cooperate, I'll kill you!"

"Jing Yuan!" Jing Nan hurriedly stepped forward, fearing Jing Yuan would crush Flynn to death with a little force.

Jing Yuan casually threw Flynn onto the ground.

Jing Nan said, "He just has a foul mouth; he's not actually a bad person!" Then, Jing Nan looked at Flynn and said, "Dr. Flynn, I know that completing a direct human-to-clotho brain-link experiment is your lifelong wish. We are giving you this opportunity now; you are in no position to negotiate conditions with us!"

Sitting on the ground, Flynn coughed while saying, "Leave! I won't help you! Even if you kill me, I won't cooperate."

"Leave?" Jing Yuan stared at Flynn. "Today, you either cooperate obediently, or..."

Jing Yuan used his telekinesis to control a nearby cable, making it fly over and wrap around Flynn, lifting him into the air.

"Don't worry, I won't let you die. I'll make you wish you were dead!"

The cable on Flynn's body tightened further, and he hurriedly shouted, "I'll cooperate! I'll cooperate!"

Jing Yuan was stunned; he had given in way too fast!

Jing Yuan loosened the cable but kept Flynn bound in the air.

"Tell me first! What happened with the brain-linking experiment you conducted back then?"

"It failed! The volunteer who underwent the brain-link experiment back then died after connecting to clotho. No useful information was found."

"How can we connect to clotho?"

"Connecting the human brain to clotho has the primary issue of signal mismatch. To solve this mismatch using a Spinal Gu, one also needs to implant a spore virus into the human brain, and all of this is irreversible."

"Spinal Gu? Spores?" Jing Yuan looked at Flynn. "Are you transforming humans into Phage Beasts?"

"You could say that, but it's only a cranial modification to trick clotho!"

"Why do we need to trick clotho?"

"Phage Beasts seem to have their own way of brainwave communication, but we humans lack this ability. So when we use equipment to communicate with clotho, we must disguise ourselves as Phage Beasts."

Jing Yuan released Flynn and said coldly, "Be more specific!"

Flynn looked at Jing Yuan, a hint of fear already appearing in his eyes.

Back in the day, when Morgan killed someone, he at least looked for a suitable reason, but this person in front of him would strike without a second thought!

Flynn didn't know that Jing Yuan used to be easy to talk to, but after the incident with Charles, his mindset had somewhat fractured.

Flynn turned and walked further inside, saying, "Follow me!"

In the inner room, there was a piece of equipment. During all these years that Flynn had been locked up here, he had actually been researching human brain-linking.

Flynn said, "Once the signal problem is solved, the rest is the connection. Connecting the human brain to clotho relies on the exchange of neural signals, so we can only use a direct connection, but the consequences of that are severe!"

Jing Nan asked, "What are the consequences?"

"The consequence of a direct connection is having one's life source essence devoured by clotho. The previous volunteer had his life source essence devoured by clotho!"

Devouring life source essence?

The situation Flynn described gave Jing Yuan a sense of déjà vu.

He remembered that back then, in order to explore the secrets of the mana primordial body, Ash had once directly linked with the giant brain and was then devoured of life source essence by the giant brain.

"You all need to think this through; this process is irreversible. Who will be the volunteer for the surgery?"

Mark looked at Flynn. "Is this the only way to take back control of the Lighthouse from clotho?"

Flynn nodded. "Giving control of the Lighthouse to clotho back then was simple, but taking it back isn't so easy. To take back control, you must first communicate with clotho!"

After hearing Flynn's words, Jing Yuan was lost in thought.

He looked at Mark and Jing Nan. "This old man's research is unreliable! Let's wait for Master Lai to return and ask him first!"

"Whose research did you say is unreliable?" Flynn couldn't help but retort.

Jing Yuan turned his head slightly and stared at Flynn, scaring Flynn into a shiver.

"You've researched for a lifetime, and it still requires someone to die without a guarantee of success. You think your research is reliable?"

Flynn didn't dare speak, nor did he have anything to say.

It was true that he had researched for a lifetime with no results, just like Carrie.

Jing Yuan turned and left the Data Room. "Let's go! It seems Master Lai is back again!"

Chapter 191: Taking Back Control

Master Lai and Bai Yuekui left together on a spaceship and arrived at the core of the shielding system.

This was a secret base, the place where Bai Yuekui's father, Bai Jingyu, had stored the mana primordial body.

Normally, only Bai Yuekui's brother, Bai Yuetian, guarded this place.

Bai Yuetian's body had been taken by Gray, and now only his brain remained, stored inside a robot, living in a half-human, half-machine form.

Seeing Bai Yuekui and Master Lai appear, Bai Yuetian seemed somewhat surprised. "Why has Master Lai come?"

Master Lai was usually elusive and wouldn't appear unless something major happened.

Normally, he and Bai Yuekui only communicated by phone.

"What? Did you catch that kid named Mark from the Lighthouse?" Bai Yuetian's round robot head wabbled as it crawled out.

"Something happened! Phage Beasts have surrounded Dragon Bone Village," Bai Yuekui said simply!

"What?" Bai Yuetian looked at the mana primordial body behind him. "I haven't detected any abnormalities here!"

"No abnormalities?" Bai Yuekui murmured to herself.

"What about the village? The villagers?" Bai Yuetian saw no one else behind her and asked despondently, "Is there not a single person left?"

"No..."

Before Bai Yuekui could finish, Bai Yuetian showed a look of shock and grief.

"What..."

"They're all taking refuge on the Lighthouse!" Bai Yuekui said hurriedly.

"The Lighthouse?"

Bai Yuekui hadn't had time to tell Bai Yuetian about the cooperation between Dragon Bone Village and the Lighthouse.

Bai Yuekui didn't explain in detail either; she said to Bai Yuetian, "Although the village has temporarily fallen, everyone is fine. We came over just to confirm if there are any abnormalities with the primordial body!"