Demon Hunter Volume 5 Chapter 18 part2

Book 5 Chapter 18.2 - History

If everything he received from the word Herkula was true, then who was it that engraved this word here? Just from its outer appearance, the word Herkula looked like a spherical, compact, and complex decorative design, not the abstract language humans assumed it to be. However, for it to be carved on this explanation plate, it definitely wasn't used purely for decorative purposes. 

Herkula, this name was not limited to just three dimensions. Its design, depth, and volume also represented a type of meaning, and what was even more important was that it required many overlaid syllables as well as spiritual fluctuations. With all of these factors, the possible combinations increased drastically, the amount of information that could be contained already beyond what humans could fathom. This meant that this word only accurately completed a three-dimensional engraving, while when Su read it, he voluntarily added overlaying syllables, so only the spiritual fluctuations the word inherently carried were missing. If there were spiritual fluctuations, Su knew that he would have obtained the Herkula's method of preparation as well. 

Hu! Su released a heavy breath, and then slowly stood up. He didn't think any further, instead specially transfering over a few intelligence cores, leaving this matter for them to deal with, processed in the background, similar to intelligence systems. Su himself walked towards the next breeding tank, once again wiping away the dust and observing its contents, reading the explanation plate's procedures. 

Only a small portion of these breeding tanks were empty, with two-thirds of them containing various immature bodies and the remainder all matured, complete bodies. The creatures in the breeding tanks were of all different stranger appearances, with samples of every monsters thinkable found here. Almost all of the mature bodies died while struggling in despair, the endless suffering they experienced before death clearly visible even from their dried up corpses. 

The breeding tanks' key usage information was engraved on the metal wall below the breeding tank. From this, Su understood what kind of process the creatures in the breeding tanks experienced. 

Once the energy supply was cut off, the culture fluid would gradually become turbid, the nutrients become sparse, and what was even more critical was that the oxygen content would quickly decline. What the creatures in these breeding tanks experienced was an extremely prolonged suffocation, as well as a correspondingly shortened starvation process, forcing them to endure a two-fold great suffering. The breeding tanks were extremely sturdy, the reinforced glass able to stop close range fire from an assault rifle. Once the energy supply was cut off, the security measures would automatically lock everything down so as to prevent accidents. That was why when the electrical supply was cut, or when an unexpected situation appeared, these breeding tanks that originally nurtured life now became tombs for burying the living. 

Unexpected situation… a faint bitter smile appeared on Su's lips. 

All nurtured biological weapons were extremely dangerous. For those creatures that had all sorts of abilities mixed together, it could still be said that their true fighting strength hadn't been tested, but inside these breeding tanks, there was a true, mature biological weapon, Herkula. Even though it was just an incredibly lacking version, once it jumped out, for olden era humans, it might become a disaster. Unlike the so-called biological weapons created by humans, the Herkula used in inferior environments obtained superiority through persistent combat ability and numbers. Under harsh environments, it could asexually produce posterity, which was to say, as long as a single one jumped out, several decades later, the human race would be facing thousands to tens of thousands of vicious, abnormal biological beasts. If it was a completed Herkula, after a few years, this celestial body might not have any other species in existence. 

That was why once an unexpected situation arose, human rationality's first choice would be to destroy all nurtured biological species. 

"Is this the type of decision anyone would make?" Su thought. However, if it was him, he wouldn't do it like this. The problem was, however, that Su wasn't human.

Su moved about at a constant pace through the breeding tank. It was as if he was wandering about the historical path of biological evolution, losing track of time and his own objective. The breeding tanks in this breeding hall were arranged in rows of 100 by 100, with ten thousand breeding tanks in total! When needed, this research base could could completely be turned into a large scale biological weapon factory. 

Apart from the dozen or so Herkula, Su only found one other creature labeled with a mysterious word, Leigna. The length of Leigna was a quarter shorter than Herkula, the information much less as well. This was a flying creature that wasn't that large, one that could adapt to all types of environments. It also possessed energy propulsion and anti-gravity organs, allowing it to move about in environments with grade twelve wind intensity and negative one hundred degrees. Its maximum flight speed exceeded 500 kilometers per hour, cruise speed 200 kilometers, and it could maintain flight for 48 hours. A single meal could maintain around a month's time of activity consumption. It had as many as eleven sensory organs, and it could remember all information it sensed within a specialized brain storage area. Even after it died, as long as the brain storage could be obtained, these memories could then be restored. Its offensive methods included a tail that could fire poisonous needles up to twenty meters away, as well as mouthparts that could secrete a neurotoxin. From application standpoint, Leigna's main purpose was to serve as a low level scout, but when facing inferior civilizations, it could also be used as a primary force weapon. 

Both the Herkula and Leigna inside these breeding tanks were incomplete versions. The Leigna in the tank before him didn't have energy propulsion or anti-gravity organs, and its wings were much larger. This was an extremely natural choice, as the Leigna's flight speed mainly relied on the energy propulsion and anti-gravity abilities, the wings only used for directional assistance, its original size not enough to support its meter long body. However, the wings' energy consumption was far greater than the energy propulsion, so both the speed and stamina of the incomplete Leigna declined substantially. The many sensory organs were still present, but the brain storage was nowhere to be found. The core organ of the Leigna that made it a scouting tool was not there, so it went from being a scout to a soldier. Despite this being the case, the results of Su's intelligence cores' analysis stated clearly that this inferior Leigna's combat strength was still higher than most of the other strange biological creatures in this hall. 

After silently remembering the world Leigna, it was equivalent to obtaining all mysteries of this biological weapon. However, this wasn't what Su wanted. Even though grasping these two biological weapons was equivalent to an infinitely replenishing, quickly forming biological army, Su had absolutely no interest in ruling the world, let alone ruling a celestial body completely devoid of life. 

Biological weapons didn't have souls. No matter how many biological weapons he was surrounded by, it would still be lonely and destitute. 

Even though Su still didn't know exactly how the soul existed, he believed that the soul really did exist. 

Chapter end