(TL: woohoo Chapter 1000)
(ED: !!!!!!!!!)
“There's no doubt that Nicholas' secret lies in his body.”
Sheyan placed his hands on the table and swept his gaze across everyone's face as he said so confidently.
“Regardless of whether Nicholas is dead or alive , as long as his body is still there, we can uncover the secret from it.”
Reef earnestly asked, “Do you mean the scars on his body? The marks left by surgery?”
“There's probably more than that, my friend. I feel that finding the person who operated on Nicholas is one clue, and it's the obvious clue given by the mission, but Nicholas' corpse may very well be another important clue in itself. Besides that, the stuff Nicholas had with him before he went to prison also has great research value,” answered Sheyan.
“Nicholas' corpse is an important clue?” asked Mogensha in bewilderment, “How so?”
Sheyan smiled. “Corpses can speak too – when they're in the hands of certain professionals. Professionals such as forensic doctors, who have a lot of experience looking for evidence on dead bodies.”
The bait which Sanzi habitually placed at the stern of the boat had surprisingly caught a tuna. There were only some simple ingredients on the boat, so Sheyan and his brother showed off their skills with a knife and treated everyone to some tuna sas.h.i.+mi.
With Sheyan keeping watch, everyone else relaxed and had a good rest. Eight hours of sleep pretty much restored everyone to their optimum condition. After that, Sheyan steered the boat back to Los Angeles. Although they did meet with coast patrol along the way, they were superior both in terms of boat and skill,so they managed to escape from their pursuers without any danger.
It was evident that the aftermath of their fine work in Los Angeles had yet to die down, but the tension among the citizens of Los Angeles were not as high as one would expect. The terror in Hollywood had only affected the safety of the rich. As for the prison riot, as long as the prisoners did not escaped, everything was fine.
On the contrary, the threat of invasion by a large number of cold-blooded Terminators was more worrying, because although these steel monsters did not actively hunt humans, they harbored no goodwill towards humans either. They would kill all the humans they met along the way. (Of course, if a human was too far away, a Terminator would not bother chasing the person down.)
Therefore, although there were strict inspections being performed all over the city, most of them were to catch robots. In truth, Sheyan had overestimated the consequence of his previous reckless act.
Sheyan and Sanzi had to undergo inspection when they infiltrated the prison previously, so they had had to use their real appearances, unlike the others who had altered their appearances during the operation. Now, the two of them needed to put on some simple disguises
After returning to Los Angeles, the team once again split up for the sake of efficiency.
Sheyan and Sanzi would investigate the clues regarding to the scars on Nicholas' body, while Zi and Mogensha would “invite” a forensic doctor over to dissect the body. Of course, the best way to do that was to tempt the doctor with cash. The money would make sure the client remained tight-lipped afterwards.
After some investigation, Zi and Mogensha chose a forensic doctor named Dr. Smith who had been in practice for twenty years. He was about 40 years old and was in a bad financial state. A person who had 20 years of experience in a field surely could not be that bad.
The task was done without much difficulty. Dr. Smith was easily tempted by a hundred thousand dollars to violate the loosely-enforced rules. He agreed to all the conditions, then brought over all his tools and started the examination.
The whole forensic examination process was quite gory and unpleasant, so Zi naturally did not stay to watch. She left Mogensha there to watch over Dr. Smith. Mogensha just smoked his cigar without any expression.
Compared to how smooth-sailing the operation was on Zi's side, Sheyan's side met with a rather huge problem.
They first contacted Mr. Dursley, whom they had worked with before. Apparently, the bribe given to the workshop supervisor was still in effect as he was very cooperative in answering Sheyan's questions.
Nicholas had always had some problems with his health. He had a bout of illness five years ago, which was apparently quite serious. The hospital had even issued a notice of critical illness, but after a surgery, not only did he miraculously recover, he recovered very thoroughly. Since then, Nicholas started to drink and smoke heavily.
Sheyan immediately pointed out the crux of the problem.
“Since you're his direct superior, Mr. Dursley, surely you must know what kind of illness he suffered from.”
Dursley replied in a confident tone, “Of course. He has a very serious case of congenital heart disease. It's precisely because of his condition that he was transferred to our workshop's quality control department, since it's the only job that's suitable for him.”
Sheyan's spidey sense tingled as soon as he heard that. Not only was severe congenital heart disease difficult to cure, but more importantly, the best time for treatment is when the patient is younger than 10 years old. Beyond this age, the increase in height will cause more burden on the heart, leading to more and more heart damage! And yet, the scars on Nicholas' body could confirm that his heart was indeed operated on.
According to Dursley, Nicholas was completely cured after the operation and started drinking, smoking and eating wantonly like a healthy man. That was nothing short of a medical miracle!
Something smelled fishy!
With some excitement, Sheyan enquired from Mr. Dursley the place where Nicholas had the operation done.
Mr. Dursley simply answered, “It was District 8 Community Hospital, and I remember it very well, because Nicholas didn't have the money to choose the hospital when his condition worsened, so the entire treatment was done in the community hospital.”
And District 8 Community Hospital was exactly where Sheyan and his party members were stuck.
The quality of the hospital was comparable to the district level hospitals in China in the real world. Be it the facilities, the equipments or the personnel, they were far inferior to higher grade hospitals. What were the chances for a doctor from this kind of place to completely cure Nicholas' severe congenital heart disease?
Armed with the power of money, Sheyan had no trouble finding out the ident.i.ty of the main doctor responsible for the operation, but the doctor had retired and emigrated to Canada. A bit of snooping around revealed that the doctor did not have the reputation nor the history to suggest that he was capable of performing a miracle like that. He had had 11 infringements of differing severity throughout his career – even his retirement was due to a serious medical accident. But, the doctor had a rich son, who hired the best lawyer for him. He was able to retire and move to Canada after paying a hefty amount in compensation.
All the signs showed that the secret lay in that miraculous surgery. How did the magic happen?! How did a mediocre doctor suddenly become a miracle worker, conquering the fatal illness that had baffled all the doctors around the world?
At a corridor in the hospital, Sanzi kept dialing the phone, but every call he made failed to connect. Sheyan lit a cigarette, took a deep puff, and spewed out the smoke.
He pondered carefully and said,”A heart surgery is absolutely not as simple as a circ.u.mcision operation.(ED: Wow) There must be a first a.s.sistant and a second a.s.sistant, and the third a.s.sistant as well as the anesthesiologist must be present as well. If we really can't find the doctor, there are still four others who had witnessed the operation. Maybe they wouldn't know the details, but if we can combine all four of the testimonies, we might be able to somewhat restore the scene.”
Sanzi's eyes lit up when he heard that. “That's right! I'll go take care of it right away!”
Sanzi's ability in carrying out orders was as strong as always. After a busy period of time, he succeeded in getting the list of people who took part in Nicholas' surgery. The first a.s.sistant and anesthesiologist back then were still working in the community hospital right now, so Sanzi went to talk to them.
“The surgery? Oh, I remember! That surgery was messier than our general election this year! Doctor Didi made at least a dozen mistakes during the operation! And I'll tell you what, the most unfortunate person was not the guy lying on the operating table, but me! I was the one who had to correct all those mistakes!”
“Unusual incidents? I don't recall any. The only thing unusual was that the patient was really lucky not to die on the operating table. In fact, with that severe a heart defect, the pacemaker and the restoration we did wouldn't have helped much. He would live for two more years at most.”
“Oh, before the operation, Dr. Didi spoke with the patient for a really long time. They had a most agreeable chat from 2pm all the way until the time the doctor got off work, but that's no big deal. Doctors are obliged to relieve the psychological depression of patients. In this respect, Dr. Didi is actually pretty outstanding. I always thought he should be a lawyer or a politician instead with his eloquence.
As Sanzi was telling Sheyan all this, the public phone next to Sheyan rang. This was the temporary mode of communication he and Zi agreed upon.
“h.e.l.lo?” Sheyan waited calmly for a moment before he picked up the receiver. He could hear from the voice transmitted over that the mood of the caller must be agitated and urgent.
“Seaman, come back quickly!” The one speaking was Zi. She usually had a calm demeanor, but right now, she sounded short of breath, and there was a trace of surprise and shock in her voice!
“We discovered something amazing during the autopsy! You'd better come back and see it for yourself!”
Chapter 1001: Slime-like Killer WeaponAfter receiving the call from Zi, Sheyan immediately had a premonition that something big was about to go down.
He rushed back to the bas.e.m.e.nt where the autopsy took place without another word. From a distance away, he could already smell the terrible odor of blood in the air. Sheyan initially thought it was the normal smell of an autopsy, but when he opened the door, he was immediately rooted to the spot.
Dr. Smith, who came under the temptation of $100,000, was down on the ground covering his throat with helpless hands. Blood trickled out from a neat wound on his throat. It slowly acc.u.mulated and solidified on the ground, forming a bright red pool.
It could be seen from Dr. Smith's expression that he did not suffer much before his death. Rather than pain, he looked to be more in shock and dismay. However, no matter how dismayed he was, the shadow of death had quickly enshrouded his body, and life had trickled out of him rapidly.
“What happened?” asked Sheyan solemnly, but before he got an answer, he already saw a very strange thing.
In Zi's hand was a transparent test tube, in which there was a small drop of something weird. That something was crawling slowly in the test tube.
It looked like a drop of dew, but it had a mercury-like texture. It was silver in colour and gave off a futuristic, science fiction feel as it reflected the faint incandescent light.
No matter how Sheyan looked at it, it did not fall into any category of living things, but right now it was creeping slowly in the test tube without any external force acting on it, like a snail trying to crawl to the top of the test tube. That was a gravity-defying act.
“This is the murderer,” Zi gave the thing a strange look.
“When Dr. Smith cut open Mr. Nicholas' chest, he was surprised to find that Mr. Nicholas' heart was on the verge of becoming completely useless. So when Dr. Smith learned that Mr. Nicholas had died from poisonous gas, Dr. Smith was very surprised. He began to study Mr. Nicholas' heart intently.”
Sheyan gazed at the thing in the test tube. “What's the result of his study?”
“He found an obsolete pacemaker in Mr. Nicholas' heart. In fact, Dr. Smith firmly believed that the pacemaker had already exceeded its life span before it was even implanted into Mr. Nicholas. The proof was the date of production inscribed on the pacemaker. The pacemaker was over twenty years old. It's probably older than Sanzi,” answered Mogensha while he puffed on his cigar.
Sheyan said heavily, “A obsolete cardiac pacemaker has given Mr. Nicholas a new lease of life. Doesn't sound very believable.”
“Dr. Smith thought so too, so he tried to unravel the mystery. After he took the pacemaker out, he cut open the outer layer with a scalpel – and what happened next was a blur. The whole room was basked in a bright light for a moment, as if lightning had descended into the room.”
“Dr. Smith was shocked, too. He stayed still for a moment. After he confirmed that there were no other problems, he proceeded with the dissection – and then the tragedy occurred.”
Mogensha sighed and said, “I saw something suddenly rush out from the pacemaker. I don't know how to describe it. It was something viscous, like creamy mushroom soup. Like water turning into ice, it solidified into a silver knife in the air and stuck into Dr. Smith's throat!!!”
“Then, the knife melted down into the liquid drop that you see now, wriggling on the table like a snail, trying to escape. Zi quickly covered it with a test tube. That was the whole cause, process and result of the incident.”
Sheyan looked again at the wriggling thing in the test tube, then looked at the bloodstained cardiac pacemaker.
“We need to do three things right now.”
“First, before the news of Dr. Smith's death spread, invite another forensic doctor to examine Mr. Nicholas.”
“Second, find an expert on pacemakers to see what's unusual about this device.”
“Third, make sure the vicious little fellow inside the test tube doesn't escape. We must also be careful of our own safety while doing so. I propose to let Reef hang on to the test tube.”
Not long after, Sheyan's demands were met. Another forensic doctor was tempted to make a little extra money.
At the same time, in a company called Imeo Advanced Medical Devices, a technical director named Tom received Sheyan. He took the pacemaker and asked with some doubt, “This is an old model made a long time ago. I still remember that it was only suitable for a very limited number of people, mainly patients with severe coronary heart disease…. Wait, what's this? ”
Mr. Tom's fingers pried open the part that was cut and showed a look of surprise.
“See here, such a dense coil, and this strange parallel structure, as well as the closed cavity. These are all really peculiar modification techniques and ideas.”
“You mean this pacemaker has been modified?” asked Sheyan in obvious concern.
Tom answered affirmatively. “Definitely. I can guarantee it with my forty years of experience. But I can't see any positive aspect of these modifications besides adding extra weight to the pacemaker.”
Of course, Sheyan could not tell Tom that there was a strange drop of silvery…monster in the pacemaker before this. Based on the data they have collected, the thing that the monster resembled most was a slime.
Sheyan thanked Tom politely and took his leave. He had also received news from the latest autopsy – they did not discover any new clues.
So far, Sheyan had not found anything suspicious from the pack of clothes Nicholas brought with him into prison either.
That was to say, two of the three trails of clues had led to dead ends.
Their only gain was the “slime” in the test tube.
When Sheyan returned, he received another unfortunate news. The “slime” in the test tube had stopped crawling and had began to roll under the effect gravity. It looked like it was dead and had completely turned mercury-like.
At that moment, the phone rang.
Normally, contestants would not use native communication tools in nightmare worlds. Even satellites were often hijacked by other contestants; monitoring phones was just a piece of cake. However, Sheyan's phone was not used to contact his team, but rather to contact Mr. Dursley, the workshop supervisor. He had planned to throw it away after using it, so he was not too concerned about it.
“h.e.l.lo?” Sheyan picked up the phone. The voice transmitted over was the shrill voice of a woman he was not familiar with.
“I heard you're enquiring about a certain surgery a few years ago, and you're someone very generous? ”
Sheyan was instantly intrigued.
“Who are you?”
The shrill voice at the other end of the phone said, “Although that old man, Didi, had gone to Canada and had pa.s.sed away, not every one who knows the details of that operation has died. Besides the lucky guy in the prison, the only one who knows is me.”
Sheyan was secretly moved, but he merely repeated his question with a calm voice.
“Who are you?”
“I was the nurse who was next to Dr. Didi at the time. To be more precise, that old man took advantage of me and then helped me get the job in the hospital. During that period of time, he was totally infatuated with me, so I even know private things about him like his atm card pin number – unfortunately, that atm card was always with his wife. Well, let's not waste each other's time. I heard that you're quite generous. You asked that s.l.u.t, Katrina a few questions and gave her three thousand dollars? If I tell you everything, how much will you pay me?”
Sheyan could, of course, hear the naked greed in the woman's words, as well as her intent to demand an exorbitant price. If he agreed right away, the woman may very well name a price high enough to tempt Lebron James to play in the China.
Fortunately, Sheyan had a lot of experience in dealing with this kind of people. He put a smile on his lips, and his tone became business-like and plain.
“Ma'am, it's a pity that our investigation is over. We've obtained five thorough and accurate testimonies from witnesses that can be verified at any time. Our superior can't find any faults at all.”
The owner of the shrill voice on the other end of the phone apparently did not expect such an answer. Her mind that was blinded by greed felt like it had been doused by a bucket of cold water.
She could not help yelling, “That's not possible… Do you know what you're missing out on? A possible miracle in the history of medicine!”
Sheyan's reply was firm.
“Well, ma'am, so far, my heart has been very healthy. More importantly, the only miracle I need is to get promoted tomorrow. But…it's not a bad thing to make the report more informative. We still have nine thousand dollars left in the budget for this case. If we don't spend it, we have to turn it in anyway, so if you're willing to give me a thousand dollars out of those nine thousand…. let's have some coffee in the cafe at the entrance of District 8 Community Hospital in fifteen minutes. The latte there is pretty good. To show my sincerity, it's my treat.”
“You're a sly and cheap devil! I want their signature Welsh milk tea, roasted grape and apple pie, natural strawberry dried cream, chicken salad sandwich, Welsh apple pie…..”
“Excuse me, ma'am, are you reciting the cafe menu?”
Chapter 1002: The Last Piece of the Puzzle“Eight thousand dollars is better than not getting any at all.”
Sheyan made such a speech to begin the conversation.
The woman sitting in front of him seemed to be of Russian descent. She was called Josina and was very thin.
The woman had thin lips, pale cheeks, and a black hat with a translucent veil which tactfully covered most of her face. If you looked past the dense wrinkles in the corner of her eyes and the pale, flabby skin, she was actually quite the beauty. Sheyan had to admit that if this woman were 10 years younger, she indeed had the qualification to rely on her body to get a job.
On the whole, she gave Sheyan the vibe of a widow – a widow who, despite her financial difficulties, was still struggling to keep up appearances.
But the woman's response to his sentence was very strange. She did not immediately answer him, but had started to eat instead. She looked like she had not eaten in days.
It was not until she ate the food of two people that she sigh comfortably and say, “Surprised? You've guessed right, I am in a terrible financial state. I've skipped two meals. And the reason is — ”
Josina raised her arm and pulled up the sleeve to reveal the needle marks.
” — drugs. And the reason I'm taking drugs is to resist the pain from terminal cancer.”
Sheyan raised his eyebrows. He did not know what to say to that. But Josina flashed a smile that showed that she was unconcerned.
“So you can rest a.s.sured. A dying person will have no qualms about revealing the whole truth to you.”
Sheyan smiled.
“So what's your price?”
“The doctor said I have six months left. I hope I can eat enough in these six months, and have enough money to buy the medicine to alleviate the severe pain. That will definitely take way more than $9,000, but don't worry, it's not an outrageous figure. $100,000 – that's my bottom line. If you refuse me, I'll just end my life and be done with it. I no longer want to be tortured by this d.a.m.n world,” said Josina.
Sheyan had booked a private room for this meeting (TL: in a cafe?). He simply fished out $50,000 from a suitcase beside him and threw it in front of her.
“This is the advance payment. After I confirm that you're telling me the truth, I'll give you the rest.”
Josina looked at the money that had been thrown onto the table indifferently. Instead of eagerly reaching for it, she asked Sheyan for a cigarette, took a deep puff, and began her story.
It was a rainy day, cold enough for the chills to creep into the bones. That old pervert, Didi still asked to f*ck me in that kind of weather. We had just finished our business when someone knocked on the door of the diagnosis room.
The person who knocked was a middle-aged man with a hooked nose. He looked very sinister. As soon as he entered, he made me leave, then shut the door. It was the typical behaviour of a salesman. I was way too familiar with it.
Normally, Didi would receive an envelope with some cash inside, and the envelope usually had to go through me before he handed it to his old lady back home. So even though I appeared to have gone out and have closed the door as I was told to do, I was in fact closely monitoring the process in the adjacent diagnosis room.
The middle-aged man sat across from Didi at the desk, then reached into his briefcase and took out a stack of money.
A HUGE stack of money!
At first, I thought that the guy would request for an important transaction, but what he said overturned my a.s.sumption.
“Dr. Didi, I wish to see the list of patients who need cardiac surgery in this hospital. The more serious the condition, the better.”
For the sake of the cash, Didi was very cooperative. He immediately provided the list. I'm sure you can guess the ident.i.ty of the patient chosen by the middle-aged man. That's right, it's Nicholas.
The only reason Nicholas was chosen was that his condition is truly severe. But, he had a really strong desire to live. Even though he knew that the surgery had only a 30% chance of prolonging his life, he still insisted on doing it.
Because of this, even Nicholas himself believed that it would not be surprising to die on the operating table. Thus, the man convinced Didi to experiment on Nicholas – something about testing a new pacemaker developed by his company – so that even if something happened to Nicholas, others would not suspect anything.
For this, the guy paid a lot of money to Didi.
I'm sure you know what happened after that. A miracle was born. Nicholas recovered and Didi's reputation soared, but an occasional miracle could not cover up his bad medical skills, and he eventually retired early.
The middle-aged man with a hooked nose never appeared again.
Josina's story came to an abrupt end. She finally provided a large piece of the jigsaw puzzle which made the whole incident much clearer.
Sheyan stared at Josina coldly.
“You left out something important.”
Josina was very calm.
“I only got half the money.”
Sheyan broke into a smile and threw the rest of the sum on the table.
Josina held out her fingers that were so thin they looked like bamboos and deftly counted the money. Finally, she told Sheyan, “The hook-nosed guy introduced himself as Dolittle. He had a pale face, probably due to a coronary heart disease. His right foot was disabled so he walked with a limp, probably due to polio.”
The facial symptoms of coronary heart disease were very obvious, so it was not unusual for Josina to recognise them at a glance. As for the second point, anyone would be able to tell.
Sheyan stared into his palm and asked, “Anything else?”
A trace of fear flashed across Josina's eyes, but she was someone who was about to die, so it did not matter to her anymore. She gritted her teeth and told Sheyan, “The man called Dolittle had a terrifying power.”
“Tell me about it,” Sheyan was intrigued.
Josina asked for another cigarette. She took a few slow puffs and, after a while, finally said, “I a.s.sumed Dolittle was a very rich man, so I wanted to wait for him at the entrance of the hospital.”
At this point, Josina laughed bitterly at herself. Sheyan knew that this ambitious woman must have wanted to half-threaten and half-seduce her way to the rich Dolittle. It was nothing special. Everyone has their own way of life. Was it wrong for Josina to try to climb up?
“It was raining that day. I was stopped for a while when I was going downstairs, so I didn't catch up to him when he left the hospital. I watched the guy get on a taxi. Another taxi happened to pa.s.s by soon afterwards… I'm a very stubborn person. What I wanted to say to Dolittle couldn't be said in public anyway, so I got on the second taxi and followed him.”
“After travelling through half of Los Angeles, Dolittle finally got down from the taxi on a small street. He was 50 or 60 metres away from me, so I didn't call out to him right away because he probably couldn't hear me from that distance anyway. After he turned into an alley, I saw him being surrounded by a group of people. They were the FBI….and those FBI agents died in only a few seconds! I saw some weird rays of light criss-crossing, weaving themselves into a scary-looking net. When the net sweep past, all the FBI agents were cut apart like they had been dissected by a bunch of knives!”
When he heard Josina's words, Sheyan sprang to his feet despite himself. Cutting apart a group of FBI elites in a few seconds was absolutely beyond the capability of a Terminator. The only people who could do this were contestants.
A really powerful contestant!
How could Sheyan not feel surprised when he found out that this incident was related to a contestant? More importantly, if this mysterious, weird, but rewarding mission involved other contestants, it would be a HUGE problem!
But when Sheyan thought about it again, he realised that the incident Josina saw happened years ago. Obviously, the contestant by Dolittle's side at that time would not be in this world anymore, so there was zero chance of a head-on conflict.
After thinking about it for a while, Sheyan took out another $50,000 and threw it in front of Josina, at the same time speaking to her slowly, “Where did Dolittle go? Answer this question, and the money is yours.
Third Avenue, Long Beach, Los Angeles.
That was the location provided by Josina.
At this moment, Sheyan was on a car heading to that location. He lost himself in the scenery outside the window. Mogensha drove the car fast but steadily; the pa.s.sengers could not feel any shaking.
So far, the secret on Nicholas had pretty much been unraveled.
Since the mysterious Dolittle decided to experiment with Nicholas, and since Nicholas turned out to be a successful experiment, it was impossible for Dolittle not to contact Nicholas afterwards.
Dolittle had long been eyed by the FBI, which must have caused Nicholas trouble.
Nicholas was a timid guy, but the secret lay right inside his heart. If he did not say anything, the FBI were at most suspicious of him, but if he spilled the secret, he would die for sure. Under the strong desire to live, Nicholas naturally kept his mouth shut.
The metal nut engraved with the SOS distress signal was probably Nicholas' last resort to ask Dolittle for help, which showed that Nicholas knew a little of Dolittle's power.
The death of Nicholas showed that Dolittle likely possessed an earth-shaking secret. The secret was so important that anyone who were remotely related to it would be killed as soon as they escaped from the government's control. The government would rather kill 10 innocents than let 1 guilty person slip away!
Chapter 1003: Shaking on Top….“Was it here?” asked Sheyan as he walked out from the back seat of the car.
It was a place with complex terrain where multiple streets and alleys intersected with each other. The shops on both sides were mostly deserted. The pedestrians were hurrying around in their large coats, and drug addicts with pale, thin faces were everywhere. One could imagine the desolate, mysterious and gloomy atmosphere when it was nighttime. It was no wonder that Josina could hide behind an electric pole when she saw the killing and not get discovered.
Sheyan came here for the hook-nosed man, Dolittle, of course.
When Josina was following Dolittle, the latter should have been unaware of her. At that time, it was raining, so the surroundings were cold and wet, and Dolittle had just obtained some very important research material. For both work and personal reasons, Dolittle should be heading home.
This place was full of small streets and alleys, and the police coverage in this run-down area was relatively spa.r.s.e. It was a good place to hide.
The FBI had probably grasped Dolittle's whereabouts at that time, so they lay here in ambush, but the power supporting Dolittle was out of the FBI's expectation. They were completely wiped out as a result.
A key point identified by Sheyan was the place where Dolittle was ambushed.
On a street.
For the police, if they had a choice, this was definitely not a good location for an ambush. Whether it be the social impact, the escape routes for the criminal, or other factors like finding evidence.
If the police had found Dolittle's lair, the location of the ambush would have been in his hiding place, beyond a doubt.
That could only mean one thing.
The FBI agents that ambushed Dolittle back then probably didn't find the man's lair. He was probably detected by surveillance, or they had received report from informants that Dolittle had appeared around here, after which the FBI hurried over to lie in ambush.
According to Sheyan's guess, the FBI must have carried out a furious cleaning-up operation in this area after the bizarre death of their men. If Dolittle's lair was still not found during the cleanup, there was no doubt that Dolittle will continue to use the place even after the contestant backing him had left the world. This was obvious.
Therefore, Sheyan thought that if he was somewhat lucky, he could find the lair that Dolittle had used and various many clues from there. If he was really lucky, he might be able to find the man himself in the lair.
Mogensha looked around while puffing on his cigar and asked, “There's a bar over there. Maybe we should go for a drink?”
Sheyan s.h.i.+fted his attention to the bar with a signboard that showed the outline of a naked woman, sketched with neon lights. The place was probably filled with the dregs of society, but they could probably get some good information there. He nodded and walked in with Mogensha.
There was a musty smell in the bar. It was, of course, masked by the strong smell of liquor, but the musty smell was still uncomfortable. There was still quite some time before peak hours, so the inside of the bar was brightly lit, to better help the waitresses clean the place.
Like most bars in this era, there were two billiard tables. The colour of the flannel on them had faded, and the surface was covered with scratches. The cue sticks had cracks on them and were covered with black dust.
Around the billiard tables were several men with tattoos and unkempt hair. Their biceps and chest were bare, as if they were showing off, and looked over with provoking and vigilant eyes. A queer looking fellow even showed them a lewd look. He blew a smoke ring in Sheyan's direction before finis.h.i.+ng his drink in one gulp and placing the gla.s.s upside down on the table.
When Mogensha was called a “black la.s.s” previously, he had really taken it to heart. Now that he saw this situation, he immediately turned to Sheyan and exclaimed in glee, “Boss, looks like someone has fallen for your beauty.”
Sheyan glared at Mogensha. Just as he was about to retort, a prost.i.tute who imitated Britney Spears' silver hairstyle came up to them with a cigarette in her mouth and asked, “h.e.l.lo, gentlemen, are you here to drink or to have some fun?”
Sheyan smiled and sat down on the nearest table. He noticed that the table was a clean, round wooden table. A jack-o-lantern hung beside it.
“I'm here to give out money.”
Sheyan once again launched a financial attack, which was undoubtedly a very simple but effective method. Of course, he could not rule out the possibility that some would weave out lies for the sake of profit, but Sheyan believed that it would not be difficult for his sharp eyes to identify these lies.
And so, when two men who had lied for the sake of money held their broken hands and screamed beside the table, no one else dared to risk it.
After gaining nothing, Sheyan and Mogensha left the bar and went to another bar. They were like hardworking bees rus.h.i.+ng in between flowers. Several bars later, finally, the owner of the bar called out to Sheyan.
“Hey, you, stranger. Come here.”
Sheyan walked over and leaned against the simple bar. Next to him was a rolled-up poster and a coin-operated telephone. The boss was a bearded man. As he wiped a gla.s.s with a towel, he casually said, “I heard you're enquiring the whereabouts of a man who walks with a limp, has a hook nose and has problems with his heart?”
“That's right,” answered Sheyan.
The bar owner said slowly, “I know a fella with a hook nose who only drinks soda when he comes here for women. I've seen him take heart medicine before too. But both his legs are healthy, he doesn't have a limp.”
That caught Sheyan's attention. He threw out a stack of bills.
“I'm interested.”
The bar owner who got his cash smiled in satisfaction.
“This fella is famous among the girls working under me, first because he's generous, and second, because he's lazy in bed.”
Mogensha immediately asked with keen interest, “Lazy in bed? What do you mean by that?”
The bar owner showed them a lewd look.
“His l.u.s.t is strong, but because he has heart problems, he has to avoid strenuous exercises as much as possible. That's why, every time he takes a girl out, he always lies down on the bed and lets the girl do all the work on top. Every girl who goes with him complains about an aching back and sore legs, but the next time he comes to pick someone, all the girls will still scramble for the chance because he's generous in tipping.”
Mogensha lifted his eyebrows a few times as he said, “He sure knows how to enjoy life. I might just try that out myself….”
Sheyan asked the bar owner, “Do you know where he lives?”
The bar owner shrugged his shoulders.
“Heck, I only sell cigarettes and alcohol, I don't do registrations. Why don't you ask the girls. They should know something about that.”
“Where are your girls?”
“Why don't you order a brandy and have a seat. By the time you finish the brandy, it should be about time for the girls to come to work.”
There was naught to do next but wait. Waiting sure was annoying.
But this time, Sheyan's patience was rewarded by Lady Luck! Although the guy in question would always bring the prost.i.tutes to motels, one of the prost.i.tutes actually saw him buy medicine at a pharmacy, then walk into an alley!
Sheyan, who had received this information, was about to follow the clue and find the alley when the door of the bar was suddenly pushed open and a man came in. The man had a hooked nose and dark eyes, with faint signs of cyanosis on his lips and skin.
As soon as he appeared, both the bar owner and the prost.i.tutes gave him a strange look, then s.h.i.+fted their gazes to Sheyan's group.
No doubt, the man they were looking for had come to patronise the prost.i.tutes again today.
Sheyan could not help but feel that his luck was truly amazing today. He gave Mogensha a look to warn him to be careful. Then, he stood up with a laugh and went up to the guy.
Under the gaze of the man that was filled with suspicion, Sheyan smiled and asked, “Mr. Dolittle?”
The man visibly trembled all over, but he tried to ask back in a casual tone.
“What did you say?”
Then, something unexpected happened. The very next second, Dolittle suddenly pulled out a large caliber M500 gun and shot Sheyan! The shot hit Sheyan's chest with a loud bang!
Sheyan staggered back a few steps while looking at the M500 gun with a little melancholy. When he had first entered the Terminator world, he had also relied on this powerful weapon to carve a path for himself. He did not expect to see the same weapon again today, but it had basically become useless against him.
After Dolittle fired the shot and saw Sheyan standing there as if nothing had happened, his pupils shrank. He immediately wanted to make the next move. But at that instant, Sheyan stepped in front of him and flashed him a smile.
“My patience has a limit, Mr. Dolittle.”
Unexpectedly, Dolittle's action after that was even more surprising. When he saw the look on Sheyan's face, he suddenly showed an expression of ecstasy.
“You're….smiling? The d.a.m.n Terminators don't have any facial expression programs, which means you're either a new model, or you're not a Terminator at all. And since you can withstand a direct shot from the M500 and still talk to me normally, you're not those fools from the FBI either. Are you one of those outsiders with superhuman abilities?”
Dolittle's reaction was undoubtedly beyond Sheyan's expectation, but what mattered to him was that despite all the twists and turns and all the suffering, he finally found the hidden man. That was definitely good news.
Chapter 1004: Dolittle….is him!The lights were bright, and all was quiet.
In the s.p.a.cious living room, Sheyan and his allies crowded around Dolittle like stars surrounding the moon.
Although Dolittle knew very well that any one of the people in front of him had enough power to kill him with a single finger without a care for the law, he still appeared very calm. He had obviously dealt with contestants many times before and had learned a lot of things about them.
Facing Dolittle, Sheyan received a series of notifications:
[ Congratulations on finding the key person in the storyline, Dolittle. ]
[ Warning: The conversation you are about to have with Dolittle will be affected by the completion rate of the previous prerequisite tasks in the mission. Please respond with caution. ]
Since the nightmare imprint reminded Sheyan to “respond with caution”, he certainly would not take the reminder lightly. Clearly, now was the time to check whether he had done his preparation work thoroughly in the early stages.
Dolittle stared at Sheyan and his group with a strange gleam in his eyes. He was suspicious and delighted at the same time, but more than that, he was wary.
“Are you outsiders? Those people who possess immense power, traveling here from another dimension to perform the tasks given by their G.o.ds?”
“We are,” Sheyan was unwilling to say too much right now. He knew that the more he spoke, the higher his chances of saying something wrong. He hoped to discover as much of Dolittle's secret as he could from this conversation .
Dolittle simply asked, “I wish to know one thing. How did you find me?”
Instead of answering Dolittle, Sheyan narrowed his eyes and asked in return, “What do you think?”
Dolittle just shrugged and replied, “Probably through the FBI. As far as I know, those idiots have been looking for me for five years. They've been trudging forward relentlessly like they're Terminators.”
Sheyan stared at Dolittle, various thoughts running through his mind. In the end, he decided to tell Dolittle the truth.
“No, that's not it.”
While he said that, he took out a metal nut.
“We obtained this nut by chance and unexpectedly found the letters SOS on it after thousands of times of magnification. Out of curiosity, we followed the trail of clues left on the nut and finally tracked them to you.”
“With only this nut to go on?” asked Dolittle in disbelief.
“That's right,” answered Sheyan seriously.
Next, Sheyan told him all the steps they had gone through. When Sheyan took out the clothes Nicholas were wearing before he went to prison, Dolittle immediately showed his interest. He took the clothes and inspected the collar carefully.
Sheyan was secretly relieved. He now knew that the package of clothes did contain some information, but the information was not meant for contestants; it was for Dolittle!
When Dolittle put down the clothes, he finally nodded and said, “Seems like you really did break into the prison.”
At that moment, Sheyan received another notification:
[ You submitted the relevant important item and have gained a little of Dolittle's trust. The completion rate of prerequisite tasks increased by 20%.]
After receiving this prompt, Sheyan silently screamed in joy. If he had lied to Dolittle in order to gain more information and said that he obtained Dolittle's details from the FBI, it would have been tragic. He would not get the chance to present this important storyline item. He may very well increase Dolittle's enmity instead of Dolittle's trust.
Next, Dolittle inspected the metal nut and confirmed the letters SOS on it. He could not help but sigh.
“I knew making contact with Nicholas would drag this friend of mine into my troubles, so I gave him an address. Nicholas said that if he ran into any problems, he'll ask for help in a way I wouldn't expect. Well, he's right, it was a way I didn't expect. Unfortunately, the nut did not reach me in time.”
The metal nut increased Dolittle's trust by a further 30%.
Sheyan saved the best for the last. First, he took out the damaged pacemaker and asked, “Do you recognise this?”
When Dolittle saw the pacemaker, his expression instantly changed.
“Where did you get this from?”
“You should know very well where I got it from,” answered Sheyan calmly.
Dolittle eyes bulged. “You killed him?”
Sheyan smiled and replied, “We're not executioners, brother. When we found him, he was already a corpse.”
Dolittle shook his head fiercely.
“That's impossible! Based on my calculation….the remaining energy can keep him alive for at least 30 years! Since he didn't die on the operating table, he's bound to live for another 30 years!”
To that, Sheyan could only sigh and say, “Mr. Dolittle, being able to live for 30 years in theory is completely different from being able to live for 30 years in reality. Take John F. Kennedy for example. He's only 46, but he's dead too.”
“You mean Nicholas committed suicide?” asked Dolittle with some suspicion.
Sheyan shook his head.
“No, he didn't. The government probably thought that his secret was too shocking, so once he showed the slightest possibility of being out of their control, a nerve gas was released in his prison cell. We did our best, but unfortunately we were a step late.”
Dolittle was silent for a moment, but for some reason, Sheyan did not feel much sadness from him. Dolittle then raised his head and asked, “Did you find anything else?”
“We did find something which piqued our interest. And that was why we came here looking for you.”
Sheyan turned to look at Zi, who took the hint and held out the test tube.
“This drop of liquid was hidden inside the pacemaker. As soon as it was exposed, it immediately turned into a silver needle and killed the forensic doctor who was performing the autopsy, but it no longer displayed such ability afterwards. Now, it has become mercury-like. It appears to be dead.”
Dolittle took the test tube from Zi. His eyes when he looked at the drop of liquid were filled with a complex emotion. There were both expectation and fear. He could not stop his hand from shaking.
After a long time, he slowly said, “Its energy is very limited to begin with, and after being released, its instinct was awakened and it transformed to kill. The energy in the liquid particle battery is completely spent, so of course it would fall into a dormant state.”
After Dolittle said all these, the nightmare imprint prompted Sheyan again. Dolittle's trust has increased by 50% further! Together with the previous increments, that made 100%! At that instant, a series of notifications emerged on Sheyan's retina.
[ Respected Lieutenant Colonel No. 1018. ]
[ You have obtained the highest level of evaluation (Max) for the prerequisite tasks of this mission. ]
[ You have triggered the relevant subsequent task. ]
[ Calculating…. ]
[ Programming…. ]
[ Performing relevant checks…. ]
[ You have obtained the first chapter of a silver series mission, “Dolittle's Wish”! ]
[ Hint: Silver Series Side Missions are the mission series of the highest difficulty level. These kind of missions are often very long, spanning across multiple nightmare worlds. They are divided into numerous steps, labelled A, B, C, D and so on. After the completion of each step, you can either choose to receive the reward or acc.u.mulate it until the next step. Of course, if you manage to complete the final step, you will receive the ultimate reward. ]
Sheyan heaved a long breath. No wonder Drubal could not get the perfect reward. This mission was crazy hard. Merely triggering the mission was already a monumental task. Not only must they discover all the clues, they must also have the key item! They were lucky that the mastermind behind the scenes was gone, otherwise Sheyan probably would not have been able to get the maximum level of evaluation if he had to deal with the mastermind at the same time.
They had now gained Dolittle's complete trust. Dolittle looked around at the people surrounding him and quietly said, “The name Dolittle is actually just an alias. My real name is…..”
“WHAT!!!”
In this instant, be it Sheyan, Mogensha, Zi or Reef, they were all shocked out of their wits. The name Dolittle had just uttered possessed astonis.h.i.+ng prestige even in the world they came from. The person who possessed that name was hailed as the most famous thinker and theoretician since Einstein, and the greatest scientist in the world!
Zi was the first to recover from the shock. She instantly exclaimed, “That's impossible! If you're him, there's no way you can sit here and talk to us like this. That man has already lost his ability to speak!”
“Indeed. That would've been the case if you outsiders didn't appear in this world,” Dolittle calmly replied.
Sheyan suddenly thought of a shocking possibility. Although the probability was very minute, it was undoubtedly the most logical. He couldn't help exclaiming, “Did….did an outsider like us cure your disease?”
Dolittle looked at him with a hint of admiration.
“Bingo! You people possess very advanced medical technology. An outsider brought me a kind of medicine; the level of technology contained in that medicine was thousands of years ahead of the current era! The medicine enabled brain transplantation! It enabled me to shed my previous damaged body like I was taking off a ragged s.h.i.+rt, and take a new body!”
“But your current body doesn't look that healthy either,” said Sheyan with a frown.
Dolittle could only sigh to that.
“A brain transplant isn't as simple as chopping open another person's skull and then stuffing my brain inside. The key requirement is the resonance of brainwaves. Only a recipient body that resonates with my brainwaves can accept the transplant of my brain. The problem is, there are simply too few recipients that fit the requirement. This body, despite all its faults, is the best one I could find.”
Chapter 1005: The Whole StoryIn response to Dolittle's explanation, Sheyan asked a little tentatively, “If I remember correctly, there's still a really long time before you'll die from your illness, so you should have enough time to choose a healthier body, right?”
Dolittle – or more precisely, the great scientist – let out a wry smile.
“Yes, I do have enough time to wait, but…the medicine has a shelf life. My friends, you should know the condition of my previous body. That's why, although this current body of mine suffers from an excessive s.e.x drive, a rheumatic heart disease, polio, elevated blood viscosity, vitiligo and beriberi, it was still an irresistible temptation to me. I couldn't wait….”
“You're right,” replied Reef earnestly, “To be able to escape from that body is a supreme temptation for anyone, sir. That body was simply a G.o.d-given cage!”
Dolittle nodded gratefully.
“Thank you for your understanding. In my opinion, I'm a new person and has a new life now, so you should just call me Dolittle.”
Everyone in Party Ace was simply awed by his previous status and ident.i.ty. They nodded respectfully. Meanwhile, Dolittle started to tell them the subsequent story.
“At that time, news of the Terminator's invasion had began to appear in the confidential files of certain countries. Due to the special ident.i.ty of my previous body, and because I had a little achievement in the subject of s.p.a.ce-time wormhole theory, I was able to get an all-around access to these materials.”
“Therefore, when an outsider appeared before me and told me that the Terminators we were facing back then were just the small fries, I wasn't surprised at all. Next, he provided me with a slew of information which opened up a whole new horizon for me. If the knowledge I acquired in the first half of my life could only let me wander before the Door of Truth, the information he provided me not only opened the door for me, but also let me step into it and walk to the second floor!”
Dolittle waved his hands around excitedly as he told his story.
“This knowledge made me realise that the productivity and technological capabilities of humans are actually adequate; what's lacking is the knowledge of how to use them! The technologies now are full of chaos, waste, and disorder! Like a giant who can't use his strength properly, our left leg takes a step forward, but our right leg wants to take two steps back! The information the outsider provided me with was new ways of thought and application of skills that were not so far apart from the technology possessed by humans, but they were so clever that they must have been derived from the devil's mind!”
Sheyan interrupted him at that moment.
“With all due respect, Mr. Dolittle, there's definitely no free lunch in this world. The outsider must have his own reason for helping you, right?”
Dolittle nodded in agreement.
“You're right. After I've absorbed all that knowledge, he handed me another stack of information, the name of which was the 'Research Report on The TERMINATOR-1000 Machine'.”
“The TERMINATOR-1000 Machine?” Sanzi was puzzled. “What's that?”
Unlike Sanzi, the mention of Terminator-1000 cause Sheyan and Zi to look at each other in surprise. Their hearts were beating violently. They immediately understood that this mission was actually related to that “thing”!
“The TERMINATOR-1000 machine”, abbreviated as T-1000, could be said to be the representative model of the Terminators. It was a terrifying liquid metal a.s.sa.s.sin, an almost indestructible monster!
Dolittle sighed when he saw their response.
“It seems like you already know what that is. When I first saw its detailed parameters and information, the first thought in my brain was: It's impossible! Skynet is only 20 years ahead of human technology. How can such a bizarre killing machine that has such a high IQ come into being?”
“But after some careful research and deduction, I realised that my first impression was wrong. Yes, that outsider has done so much for me. The only requirement he made was for me to try to control, a.n.a.lyse and modify the T-1000.”
“He's someone with great vision. He felt that using the liquid metal technology of the T-1000 to manufacture robots is a waste of technology! It's possible, in theory, to make it a self-evolving metal that has the power to swallow other powerful metals and completely recreate weapons suitable for combat in various environments!”
Sheyan involuntarily drew in a sharp breath. By now, he had almost completely understood what the contestant wanted. That man was truly an amazing guy. If one thought about it carefully, his train of thought would lead to something very powerful indeed.
The most amazing aspect of T-1000 lay not in its endurance and indestructibility, but in the fact that every drop of liquid metal in the T-1000 was its own CPU. A CPU had no independent thoughts, but it had the ability to self-a.s.semble and to cooperate with other CPUs. Be it the shapes.h.i.+fting or the movement of the T-1000, it was the result of the CPU's processing.
More importantly, it could a.s.sume the appearance of most objects or living things it came into contact with, as long as they were somewhat similar in volume!
Which means that it could shapes.h.i.+ft into any type of cold weapons it came into contact with!
For the Terminators, not being able to shapes.h.i.+ft into firearms was a huge weakness, which was why the improved T-X model was introduced later on. The T-X model was a more advanced model which had built-in particle weapons enclosed by a liquid metal exterior.
But the shapes.h.i.+fting-into-weapon function which Skynet had almost completely abandoned was a treasure for contestants! Moreover, Dolittle seemed to be able to give this liquid alloy the ability to devour and evolve!
Sheyan was positive that if Dolittle's mission was done well, he may be able to glimpse the deepest secrets of the Terminator world.
He immediately asked, “So how far have you gone in your research?”
“I'm very close to success. And yes, as you've probably guessed, the mysterious sticky liquid injected into Nicholas' pacemaker is a drop of liquid alloy taken from a T-1000 Terminator. I set up a high-energy interference source in the pacemaker, and by utilising the properties of helium…(a thousand words of explanation omitted)…I managed to suppress the ability of that drop of liquid alloy to the limit, just enough to fill in for Nicholas' heart defects, and provide it with regular twitching. Nicholas proved to be my most successful experiment,” answered Dolittle.
“Then why do you still have a heart disease?” Mogensha asked in doubt.
To that, Dolittle could only sigh. “Because an accident happened. You should know that this new body of mine was a cripple before this due to polio. After Nicholas' experiment was successful, I used the rest of the material on my legs to treat them because the FBI were chasing after me. I had to recover my mobility first.”
“And then… And then, just as I was preparing for the next experiment, Gore died. ”
“Before I talk about Gore's death, you must know something – presently, it's impossible for human technology to produce liquid alloys. Even Skynet, who's decades ahead in technology and has gathered the knowledge of the entire world, can't ma.s.s produce liquid alloys. That's why a T-1000 isn't that easy to find.”
“In addition, T-1000s are highly intelligent Terminators. As soon as they realise that they're in danger, they will immediately flee. Skynet will also spare no effort in saving them. We only managed to get our first research material, a T-1000 finger, after painstaking effort from Gore.”
Gore was naturally the contestant with great vision who cooperated with Dolittle.
It was evident from Dolittle's recounting that Gore must have gone through very thorough planning and arrangement to carry out this plan by himself. Such a grand plan was definitely not something that could be completed in one nightmare world visit.
This was enough to show that not only was Gore meticulous and powerful, he also had a certain amount of influence. It was surprising that such an amazing man would die so abruptly.
Dolittle seemed to have kept the matter in his heart for far too long. Without waiting for Sheyan to ask, he blurted everything out.
“I saw Gore die with my own eyes. So many things happened on that day, strange things….”
“That morning, Gore received news of a T-1000 sighting. He hurried over at once. At first, everything was going smoothly. Gore successfully cleared the Terminators around the T-1000 and then fought it head-on.
“According to the data we've collected, a T-1000 does not have the energy to last for decades like other terminators do. Its energy consumption is astonis.h.i.+ng, so it has to be recharged after every mission. Shapes.h.i.+fting is especially energy-consuming. That said, even in a constant battle state, it can still last for over a week, so it's still more durable than you'd expect.”
“Gore tried his best to exhaust the T-1000's energy. According to my research, the energy of a T-1000 must be reduced to less than 40%, otherwise, even if we successfully obtain the severed part of the Terminator, it will explode!”
Chapter 1006: The Appearance of the Mission“Just as Gore's fierce battle with the T-1000 entered its most critical stage, Skynet sent its reinforcement. Gore chose to grit his teeth and weather through it because no one knows when a T-1000 will appear again.”
Dolittle was suddenly furious.
“Who would've thought that at such a critical moment, the weather would suddenly turn bad. A storm swept across the area. There was a high-voltage electric tower nearby which suspiciously collapsed. The intense electrical current severely limited Gore's range of activities. Using the high-intensity current, Skynet detonated the energy storage of the Terminators who were sent over to help, causing them to explode. Gore immediately fell into a very dangerous situation. He suffered considerable injuries from that wave of explosion.”
“But even so, Gore still managed to bring the energy level of the T-1000 to below 40% before cutting off its left hand and bringing it back in a hurry. I still remember the situation back then like it was yesterday. Gore had just stepped through the door with his body completely covered in wounds, but he was smiling. He was just about to say something but the next second, he suddenly exploded with a loud bang! The sight of his body exploding into pieces was so gory that I still have nightmares of it!”
Sheyan frowned and asked, “Did the arm of the T-1000 explode? The power of the explosion was so strong that it immediately killed him? Mr. Dolittle, you should know that we outsiders have some strange power.”
To that, Dolittle let out a wry smile in response. He said, “That kind of explosion was not an ordinary explosion. It's called a local fission explosion. Its principle – forget it, you won't understand even if I explain it (Sheyan: d.a.m.n you, how would I understand if you don't explain it?). A simple a.n.a.logy is to confine the power of an atomic bomb to a s.p.a.ce the size of a soda can. The energy will not leak out of this s.p.a.ce, but the destruction inside the s.p.a.ce will increase to a terrifying level!”
“Wait a minute!” interrupted Zi, “Gore should have been a very cautious man; he would never joke with his life. That is to say, he must've made sure that he'd brought the energy reserve of the T-1000 to below 40%. Why would the arm still explode?”
Dolittle sighed. “The only explanation is that the T-1000 had received a sudden injection of energy, but the problem is, Skynet has not mastered such technology yet. After all, it exists 30 years in the future, so there's an insurmountable barrier of s.p.a.ce and time!”
What Dolittle implied with his words was obvious. Even now, Skynet has yet to master this technology, let alone a few years ago. That means the culprit was not Skynet. But who could it be?
Sheyan couldn't help thinking about the “strange” collapse of the high-voltage pylon. He suddenly he had a familiar feeling.
Dolittle remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly said something that seemed to have nothing to do with the current topic.
“Gentlemen, and ladies, do you believe in fate? Do you believe in the fact that the path of a person's life is already pre-arranged beforehand?”
Sheyan pondered about it and answered, “I do not deny such a possibility.”
Dolittle took two deep breaths before he said, “Gore's death gave me the feeling that someone had changed his fate! This change may not be fatal, but at the same time, the person has also changed the fate of the T-1000. The combination of the two was like a harmless fuse encountering a harmless cigarette b.u.t.t; it immediately resulted in horrible consequences!”
Party Ace exchanged glances. They could feel chills creeping down their backs. The one they thought of was undoubtedly the “mastermind behind the scenes”. If Sheyan had not forcefully led them out of his entrapment, they would have shaven off piece by piece until they die a horrible death.
Dolittle obviously was not expecting a response from Party Ace. He continued, “It's precisely the strange traces left by the local fission explosion that aroused the strong concern of the Ministry of Defense and caused me to be listed by the FBI as an extremely dangerous, red-level terrorist. Because although there's no such technology on earth yet, the relevant theory has already been proposed.”
“When this technology matures, it can easily avoid radar and other surveillance methods, and flatten the White House or any important infrastructure with just an object the size of a chewing gum – without the destruction spilling over to
