Calamity of Tomorrow-Chapter 286 - 285 to go or not to go

Zhou Bai followed the soldier who had come to notify him all the way to the outskirts of Donghua City, at a distance of 1,800 meters. After passing through layers of security, he arrived outside a vast ecological zone.

Simply looking from afar, he could see the area was brimming with trees and artificial sunlight, resembling a forest.

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Zhou Bai could even spot birds, squirrels, foxes, and other small animals in the woods.

Zhou Bai truly hadn’t expected that within the steel and concrete-built Donghua City, there would be such a garden-like ecological zone.

The soldier beside him said, "This area is a natural simulation zone specially constructed by Donghua City to study the distortions and mutations caused by Heavenly Dao. Some places here are even directly connected to the polluted spiritual mechanisms outside, with levels of distortion similar to that of the wilderness."

As the two conversed, they had already reached the entrance of the simulation zone, and after their identities were checked, they entered.

The young soldier said, "Oh, by the way, my name is Yan Hui, the military representative for this Origin Artifact Retrieval Project. I’m in charge of the entire recovery operation of the Origin Artifacts."

For this project related to the Origin Artifacts, Jiaojiao had dispatched a powerful force from the Dao School, research institutes from the Donghua City government, and three batches of military personnel. Following the major purge in Donghua City, the Three Pure Dao Sect had taken firm control, which allowed them the freedom to assign personnel across different fields.

When Zhou Bai heard Yan Hui’s words, he quickly nodded, "This time you guys have really worked hard. Was it dangerous? Was there a distortion incident? No one got hurt, right?"

Yan Hui felt a bit embarrassed looking at Zhou Bai’s concerned expression and said, "Actually, we didn’t encounter any danger this time, but we also failed to successfully retrieve Origin Artifact 03."

"What? An unsuccessful retrieval?" Zhou Bai’s expression changed immediately.

’This kid changes his face so quickly.’ Yan Hui said helplessly, "It’s not something I can just explain now; let’s talk about it once we’re inside."

As Zhou Bai and Yan Hui delved deeper into the simulation zone, Zhou Bai noticed that along the way, little sparrows, rats, even kittens and puppies were following them, as if observing them secretly with a gleam of curiosity in their eyes.

Zhou Bai looked at the small animals and commented, "The animals here seem quite human-like."

Yan Hui slightly paused, then looked to a little sparrow cocking its head at them and said, "They have all transformed from humans."

"What?" Zhou Bai exclaimed, looking at the small animals, "Could it be… transformation into demons?"

Yan Hui nodded, "Even the Celestial Star Formation, along with Primordial Spirit adjustments and the rune vaccine, can’t completely defend against demonic transformation and mutations.

You at Donghua Dao School probably have people going insane every year, right? It’s the same in the military.

And as for the civilians who haven’t entered the Dao… Donghua City has a whole population of three hundred million."

Hearing this, Zhou Bai felt a weight in his heart and looking at the small animals, he asked, "Do they still have intelligence now?"

Yan Hui: "Most lose their intelligence after transforming, but s very few with some intelligence are being treated. There are also some successful cases of treatment."

While they were talking, they arrived at a clean, bright laboratory, where they saw Zhao Shouyi discussing something with a silvery-haired elder. Standing beside them was a peculiar female.

Zhou Bai stared, his eyes wide as he took in the sight of the girl in the white lab coat. She was about one and a half meters tall and looked quite young, but what surprised Zhou Bai the most were the pair of fox ears and the long, thick fox tail extending from her back.

Zhou Bai could even see whiskers on her cheeks that moved with her expressions.

Seeing Zhou Bai’s arrival, Zhao Shouyi waved his hand and said to the elder beside him, "Professor Yin, this is Zhou Bai. Zhou Bai, this is Professor Yin, the head of this natural simulation zone’s team. They specialize in researching the phenomena of demonic transformation and mutation. They’re also in charge of the research concerning the Origin Artifacts this time."

Zhou Bai nodded to the silvery-haired elder, "Good to meet you, Professor Yin."

Zhao Shouyi then introduced the fox girl beside him, "This is Shang Beibei, Professor Yin’s assistant."

Seeing Zhou Bai’s somewhat surprised gaze, Zhao Shouyi said, "Zhou Bai, don’t stare at others, it’s impolite."

"It’s okay, it’s no wonder you’re curious since it’s your first time seeing someone like me," said Shang Beibei indifferently. "Before I entered the Dao, I had already transformed into a demon. Fortunately, Professor Yin’s treatment helped me maintain some intelligence, and ultimately through cultivating the Dao, I was able to return to human form."

"Alright, let’s leave it at that for self-introductions," Professor Yin nodded and got straight to the point, "Zhou Bai, you might not know about this, but there was a little problem during the recovery of the ’Primitive Dao Treasury 03’. The recovery team found the coordinates you provided but encountered resistance there."

Yan Hui added, "We discovered that humans were settling at that set of coordinates. They were not using any protective measures and were directly exposed to the wilderness, yet from their appearance, they hadn’t undergone demonization or suffered any distortions."

Zhou Bai exclaimed, "Is that so? Could it be that they have cultivated from the ’Primitive Dao Treasury’?"

Yan Hui replied, "We tried to communicate with them and found that they hadn’t cultivated anything and didn’t even know about the existence of the ’Primitive Dao Treasury’."

Zhou Bai expressed surprise, "They don’t know of the ’Primitive Dao Treasury’? Could it be... a distortion? That there has been some kind of distortion phenomenon happening there?"

"We also suspect some kind of distortion phenomenon that prevents people there from mutating, but such an incident has never occurred before. After searching in secret, we found nothing, nor any clues to the ’Primitive Dao Treasury’. However, we did find..."

"Zhuang Yan."

Zhou Bai was astonished, "You found Dr. Zhuang? He’s still alive?"

"He communicated with us for a while, then drove us out," Yan Hui said with a wry smile, "and even hid that area from us. He left a message, telling us to bring the person who gave us the coordinates, otherwise, he wouldn’t meet with us."

Zhou Bai nodded; he only knew these coordinates after cultivating ’Primitive Dao Treasury 01’ and ’02’. Did Dr. Zhuang want someone who had cultivated ’Primitive Dao Treasury 01’ and ’02’ to go there?

Zhao Shouyi spoke up, "Zhou Bai, I’m against you going there. The situation is unclear, and it’s quite possible that it’s caught in some kind of distortion phenomenon. Even if you’re powerful, unknown rules could put you at a disadvantage, or even make you a pawn."

Professor Yin spoke, "Do you know how many people are turning into demons or mutating each year in Donghua City now, Zhao Shouyi? Things have changed; the distortion of Heavenly Dao is worsening. Heavenly Demons, deities—none of them mean much in the face of these changes in Heavenly Dao. They are just minor irritations. Studying Heavenly Dao and understanding what exactly causes distortion, mutation, and demonization—this is what’s most important for humanity now!"

Professor Yin represented a school of thought currently among humanity, which held that whether it’s Heavenly Demons or deities, compared to the catastrophe of distortion by Heavenly Dao, they were inconsequential. To preserve humanity, the most crucial task was to solve the problem of Heavenly Dao’s distortion.

Zhao Shouyi disagreed, "I know that the distortion of Heavenly Dao is becoming increasingly severe, and I understand that this is a crisis affecting the entire world. But the threat of Heavenly Demons is imminent. Even if Heavenly Dao distortion could destroy humanity, that’s centuries, or even a thousand years off. If the Heavenly Demons really spare no expense, they could destroy humanity in a decade, two decades at most. We need talents like Zhou Bai to safely grow into a powerful force. Moreover, an area potentially affected by distortion doesn’t necessarily mean that Zhuang Yan has truly solved the problem of Heavenly Dao’s distortion. Letting Zhou Bai go to such a place is too risky."

Professor Yin shook his head, "If we don’t study that ’Primitive Dao Treasury’ from Zhuang Yan, I can’t be certain I can cure the problems in Zhou Bai’s body, let alone allow him to continue improving his Dao transformation. Moreover, is preserving the entirety of Donghua City from any more distortions and demonizations not worth more than one Zhou Bai? Do you not realize what it would mean if we could truly resolve the issue of Heavenly Dao distortion?"

Zhao Shouyi fell silent; that was also the reason he hadn’t outright rejected the idea of Zhou Bai going there.

Zhao Shouyi looked at Zhou Bai, wanting to understand his will—this was also the purpose of calling Zhou Bai here, "Zhou Bai, what do you think?"