Chapter 157: Slumber

Huang Ze pushed himself to find the relevant person in charge, briefly explained the situation, and then found a nearby charging pile and fell soundly asleep.

Recently, his body had indeed ingested a significant amount of gold and radioactive elements. It was likely these substances that pushed his body to a certain critical threshold, forcing his brain to shut down and fall into a deep slumber in order to complete a deeper level of evolution.

Normally, this wouldn't be a bad thing. After all, the more powerful the Black Dragon became, the greater its assistance to the Xia Country would be. Everyone wished the Black Dragon would upgrade every single day and break through every single night, becoming the strongest being in the world so that the nation's security and future could be guaranteed.

The only problem was that the timing could not have been worse.

At present, the Black Dragon's official schedule was extremely busy. Many major projects required its participation to proceed; otherwise, they would simply have to be put on hold.

For instance, the military's life-form transformation program could not possibly be carried out without the Black Dragon supplying golden dragon blood.

Furthermore, the state had just built up momentum for the Black Dragon, announcing that it would hold meet-and-greets in several major domestic cities—an event eagerly anticipated and welcomed by the general public. If it were to sleep for several months straight now, wouldn't it be breaking its promise to everyone?

Not only would this deal a blow to the Black Dragon's credibility and cause it to lose points in the hearts of the Xia people, but it would also severely impact a series of the nation's promotional campaigns and strategic plans!

Therefore, the Black Dragon was currently entirely unsuited for falling into a prolonged slumber, as it would delay a great deal of crucial business.

Deep down, Huang Ze was also anxious about this and had proactively suggested to the person in charge—if he did not wake up after three days, they should consider taking unconventional measures to forcibly wake him up...

As for what kind of unconventional methods could awaken a deeply slumbering giant dragon, that would require everyone to use their ingenuity and wisdom...

...

The Black Dragon suddenly falling into a deep sleep had indeed caused massive trouble for everyone's work. Because of this, Academician Ding had to put his current work on hold, leading his research team to rush over overnight to see if they could provide some technical services to the Black Dragon.

...

"Academician Ding... the biological magnetic field around the Black Dragon keeps strengthening. Its consciousness might be plunging into some kind of special dormant state, and it can no longer voluntarily control the dragon might emanating from its body!"

A technician quickly reported to Academician Ding.

"Quickly notify all departments to enter a state of emergency. Instruct all staff members to take protective measures, and no one is allowed to approach within 500 meters of the Black Dragon without permission!"

Realizing that the Black Dragon's situation was likely far from simple, Academician Ding immediately issued orders, demanding that everyone carry out their work strictly in accordance with safety and confidentiality regulations.

"Academician Ding... the Black Dragon's body temperature keeps rising and has currently broken through one thousand degrees Celsius!"

Not long after, another technician came forward to report.

"How is that possible!"

Academician Ding was greatly shocked and said, "The scales on the Black Dragon's body are superb thermal insulation materials. No matter how high the internal temperature is, the surface temperature should still remain around twenty or thirty degrees. How could it soar to over a thousand? Did you guys make a mistake?"

"There is absolutely no mistake!"

The technician stated with certainty, "This is the exact result we measured with infrared rays. In fact, the Black Dragon's current body is indeed a very obvious heat source!"

"From the data we detected, the temperature in the area within dozens of meters around it is at least sixty or seventy degrees higher than ours!"

"..."

"Academician Ding, the Black Dragon is radiating a massive amount of unknown rays, causing severe interference to our communication equipment!!"

"..."

"Academician Ding, the high-voltage charging pile for the Black Dragon has exploded. The power team states that under the current circumstances, they cannot carry out repairs!"

"..."

"Academician Ding, the meteorological department has issued a warning, stating that the air humidity nearby is skyrocketing and a large number of cumulonimbus clouds are forming. There is a high probability of severe thunderstorms in the next few hours, and they suggest we make preventive preparations!"

"..."

Various reports came in one after another, leaving Academician Ding somewhat overwhelmed. He never expected that the Black Dragon merely taking a nap could cause such a massive commotion!

"We can no longer stay in this place. Issue the notice, everyone evacuate to the safe zone!"

Academician Ding wiped the sweat from his forehead and made a resolute decision.

The situation was indeed far from optimistic.

The Black Dragon's body continued to generate heat, and the intensity was escalating, making the surrounding air so muggy and humid it felt as though water could drip from it.

Just a moment ago, the sun was shining brightly, but now the sky was covered with dark clouds, and the cloud layer was pressing down extremely low, making one's heart shudder with fear.

"Could Mr. Huang possibly be undergoing a heavenly tribulation?"

Looking at the motionless Black Dragon sprawled on the ground, this thought couldn't help but flash through Academician Ding's mind.

After all, everything happening was obviously caused by the Black Dragon, making it hard not to associate it with reaching a certain critical stage of life, where it had to undergo the baptism of a heavenly tribulation to complete its metamorphosis.

"However, shouldn't things like undergoing a heavenly tribulation be done while awake? Since Mr. Huang is still asleep, wouldn't this be a bit too overconfident and dangerous?"

Suddenly thinking of this, Academician Ding felt somewhat anxious and quickly discussed with everyone to see if there was any way to give the Black Dragon a reminder so it could wake up in time.

Unfortunately, by this time all communication equipment had failed, and everyone had already evacuated to a shelter several kilometers away, making it very difficult to contact the Black Dragon in the short term.