Chapter 162: Inspection

The thunderstorm raged for three days and three nights before finally subsiding. However, the black dragon did not wake up immediately; instead, it remained suspended in mid-air, its entire body shrouded in dazzling electric light that obscured its true form.

The intense electromagnetic interference had finally ceased, and the technical personnel of the Chinese Academy of Sciences hurriedly brought out various professional equipment to test the black dragon's bodily data.

The results obtained were astonishing. At this moment, the black dragon was behaving precisely like a violently reacting plasma. The temperature of its body had reached a terrifying one million degrees Celsius, and the surface pressure was extremely high, to the point where the gravity it emitted could be clearly detected!

Had they not simultaneously detected the black dragon's distinct heartbeat, everyone would have inevitably worried whether Mr. Huang had completely chilled through... ah, or rather, thoroughly cooked!

After all, everyone was well aware of what a high temperature of millions of degrees Celsius meant—it meant that all the matter in the black dragon's body was undergoing violent molecular motion, and all proteins could no longer be described as merely denatured, but with their molecular bonds completely shattered!

Combined with the terrifying internal pressure within the black dragon's body, many would likely believe it was undergoing a nuclear fission reaction!

Yes! A nuclear fission reaction!

Over these past three days, the black dragon had absorbed at least fifteen million tons of TNT equivalent in energy and swallowed no less than two hundred thousand tons of rainwater, clearly using hydrogen elements as raw material to carry out a fission reaction!

In other words, this black dragon, Huang Ze, was undoubtedly taking the technological route, and that heart of his was actually some kind of advanced nuclear fission device!

Many researchers present could not help but generate such a conjecture, and then began to passionately discuss it among themselves.

......

The black dragon did not sleep for too long. At dawn on the fifth day, its body suddenly twitched violently, and presumably breaking some kind of equilibrium, it plummeted directly from the sky.

Boom!

The black dragon directly smashed a massive crater into the ground, successfully creating a small earthquake—bearing in mind that its heart at this moment was concentrating no less than two hundred thousand tons of heavy water!

Not long after, Huang Ze's consciousness successfully came back online, and he quickly discovered the abnormalities in his body.

"I merely took a nap... how on earth did I turn into this ghostly appearance?"

Before checking anywhere else, Huang Ze 'looked' at his empty stomach, his brow tightly furrowed.

Most of his internal organs had actually completely vanished!

"What is going on... why did you get rid of them directly without consulting the brain?"

Huang Ze questioned his own heart. "Although their functions in the body have indeed drastically decreased by now, they are still veterans of the body holding primitive equity, how can you just expel them on a whim!"

"You better hurry up and put them back for me! Although a highly streamlined, highly energetic body is indeed a very good evolutionary direction..."

"But as a citizen of the Xia Country, even after turning into a giant dragon, how am I supposed to act like a proper dragon in the future!!"

"..."

The authority of the brain still held sway. Under Huang Ze's severe criticism and strong demands, the heart ultimately chose to yield, indicating that it would slowly reorganize the missing organs back into place.

"That's more like it..."

Only then was Huang Ze satisfied. He slowly climbed up from the ground, shook his head, and flapped his wings—waking up from this nap truly brought a sense of refreshing clarity!

The only slightly unfamiliar thing was that his strength seemed to have surged tremendously all at once. Just now, when he merely kicked his claws against the ground a few times, it felt earth-shattering!

"Thank goodness, Mr. Huang, you're finally awake!"

Academician Ding had not slept the entire night. Upon hearing that the black dragon had regained consciousness, he rushed over in a flurry of anxiety.

"Academician Ding, what has happened? Why have you grown so haggard?"

Noticing that Academician Ding's mental state was clearly far from good, Huang Ze asked with concern.

Hearing the black dragon's words, Academician Ding was greatly startled. "Mr. Huang, you actually don't know? You truly have no recollection at all?"

"Know? Know what? Didn't I just take a nap..."

Huang Ze was somewhat nonchalant at first, before abruptly noticing the massive crater beneath his feet. Only then did he react, and after a few seconds of silence, he said,

"Academician Ding, I didn't end up doing something major while I was asleep, did I?"

"Exactly! And it was a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering major event!"

Academician Ding said with a solemn expression, "Mr. Huang, your nap directly stirred up winds and clouds across tens of thousands of square kilometers, startling goodness knows how many deities in the heavens and creating far-reaching impacts!"

Hearing this, Huang Ze's heart inevitably grew serious and tense as he hurriedly asked, "Academician Ding, tell me quickly, what on earth is going on here? Did this cause any casualties among people?"

Academician Ding was deeply worried that the black dragon's humanity might undergo adverse changes, so he had been secretly observing the changes in its expression. Only when he heard it ask this did he finally let out a long sigh of relief, a smile finally appearing on his face.

"Mr. Huang, no need to be nervous. This matter did not cause any casualties, and it might not necessarily be a bad thing either."

"...... That's good."

Hearing this, Huang Ze also relaxed. He was genuinely worried that he had contracted some bad habit of 'killing people in his dreams.'

Following that, Academician Ding detailed everything the black dragon had stirred up over the past few days, and even took out his phone to play a large number of video recordings, comprehensively showing the black dragon just how massive a spectacle it had created!

After understanding the situation, Huang Ze was inwardly stunned. He never imagined that his own body harbored such a terrifying cheat code!

"Mr. Huang, please be sure to carefully confirm whether you can still control your body as well as before?"

Academician Ding said solemnly to the black dragon.

After confirming that its humanity was fine, his greatest concern now was that the black dragon's power had expanded too much too quickly, leading to incompatibility with its soul and subsequently breeding hidden flaws.

"It's alright..."

The black dragon closed its eyes and sensed for a good while before saying, "I haven't sensed any obvious anomalies. My brain is still able to exercise its leadership role very well, and it even feels... much smoother than before!"

"After all, my current body has been streamlined quite a bit compared to before; many organs have simply vanished, and the performance of the brain has been largely liberated."

"Streamlined?"

Academician Ding keenly captured the keyword.

"Yes, streamlined."

The black dragon nodded and said thoughtfully, "I feel that my heart... meaning the existence behind the scenes, seems to intend to evolve me into an energy-based lifeform, likely thinking that it would be more convenient and powerful."

"However, I already vetoed this route just now, and the heart has been quite obedient, not rebelling against the brain, but indicating that it will gradually reorganize those missing organs back."

"Mr. Huang, your thought process is entirely correct!"

Academician Ding said solemnly, "Pure energy lifeforms are indeed a fairly good evolutionary route, but they also possess a massive drawback: they easily extinguish humanity."

"The bodily structure of pure energy lifeforms is generally relatively simple; apart from the essential energy core, they don't even need any biological organs!"

"The fewer organs the body has, the more monotonous the nervous system becomes, and thinking becomes more rational and rigid... This runs completely counter to us human beings!"

"Because our humanity is a complex aggregate that requires a massive amount of neural activity and constant feedback from bodily hormones to function properly. Once the body lacks certain important organs and cannot receive corresponding pheromones, humanity can easily collapse."

"To give a very simple example, pure energy organisms generally do not have a sense of taste or metabolism. Their perception of life, morality, and even the entire world differs vastly from ours, making it difficult for them to walk the same path as us."

"Therefore, Mr. Huang, if you truly evolve in the direction of a pure energy lifeform, you are bound to drift further and further away from us..."

"Mm-hmm! That's what I thought too!"

The black dragon agreed wholeheartedly. "Academician Ding, rest assured, I will definitely maintain my humanity!"

"..."

Academician Ding opened his mouth, wanting to speak but hesitating. What he originally wanted to say was—

I feel aggrieved for you, Mr. Huang. After all, humanity is not actually a good thing; for dragons and the vast majority of transcendental beings, pursuing individual interests is the natural demand. Humanity not only provides no help to them, but instead makes them weak and lose their competitiveness...

Therefore, Mr. Huang, you are actually making a massive sacrifice for us!

However, reflecting that this would clearly be spreading negative energy to the black dragon, he held it back.

"Mr. Huang, is there any problem with your body right now?"

Academician Ding changed the subject and asked the black dragon, "Do you feel... any rejection or suppression from the world's will?"

"Not at all. I feel super good right now, and the user experience has improved by several tiers compared to before!"

The black dragon replied, "As for suppression from the world's will, it is clearly much lighter than before. Previously, I could at most unleash 40 to 50% of my strength within the borders; now I should be able to unleash around 70%. The laws within the territory seem to recognize me more!"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Academician Ding realized he had asked the wrong question. What he actually wanted to ask was whether the black dragon felt suppression from the material realm.

After all, the black dragon's life level had reached at least level eight or even level nine, clearly exceeding the baseline of the material realm and easily triggering its self-protection mechanism to banish the black dragon.

Yet for now, the native Xia Country within the barrier was clearly not yet a part of the material realm, so the black dragon did not face rejection here, though outside the borders might be a different story.

Hearing Academician Ding's explanation, Huang Ze's heart also grew solemn. At this stage, he certainly did not want to leave the material realm and the Xia Country. If he were truly targeted by the world's will, it would indeed be quite troublesome.

He needed to head outside the borders as soon as possible to confirm this so that he could make plans early!

Both the black dragon and Academician Ding realized this point.

......

Perhaps seeing that the black dragon had woken up safe and sound, Academician Ding finally put down the heavy stone in his heart, and the tense drive he had been maintaining dissipated as well. Not long after chatting with the black dragon, he could not help but yawn.

Curious about this, Huang Ze asked, "Academician Ding, why haven't you taken the golden dragon blood yet?"

"You are already getting up there in age, and given your status and the nature of your work, it should have been your turn long ago, right?"

"It was indeed my turn long ago, but I declined it."

Academician Ding vigorously rubbed his face, forcing himself to stay awake as he replied, "Mr. Huang, the most important thing for us researchers is to remain objective and calm. Golden dragon blood is indeed a fine thing that can greatly improve our physique, but undeniably, it will also cause interference in our psychology and thinking, thereby affecting our research."

"Therefore, many of our frontline researchers, especially those researching you, Mr. Huang, have given up their opportunities to take the golden dragon blood. This is to ensure as much as possible that our research work is not influenced by external factors... which essentially means your influence, Mr. Huang."

"Academician Ding, such a spirit of yours is truly worthy of respect!"

Deeply moved, Huang Ze said sincerely, "Having scientists like you in our Xia Country is truly our honor!"

"No, no, Mr. Huang, you are the one most worthy of respect!"

Academician Ding waved his hands repeatedly and said earnestly, "I merely did what was within my duty, whereas you, Mr. Huang, have shouldered both duties within and outside your scope, always bearing burdens without complaint and making sacrifices. Having you as a compatriot in our country is truly our good fortune!"

"Not at all, not at all. I merely had good luck and did what was within my power. When it comes to contributions to the country and love for the country, frontline workers like you are clearly higher!"

"No, no, in terms of contribution and ideological awareness, no one can surpass you, Mr. Huang..."

......

The two engaged in mutual flattery for a while until Huang Ze finally had the staff forcibly take Academician Ding back to rest; otherwise, he certainly wouldn't have been willing to let go of his work and would have continued pestering the black dragon with questions.

"Brother Liu, hurry and let everyone go back to rest!"

The black dragon scanned the surroundings, noticing that many people's mental states were quite poor, presumably having failed to get much rest over the past few days because of its affairs.

Moreover, it saw something else in everyone's eyes—fanaticism, awe, and evasion...

Not a single person dared to meet the black dragon's gaze for even a single second!

In an instant, understanding dawned in Huang Ze's heart. After witnessing the grand spectacle of it devouring the storm, while awe was present in everyone's hearts, a sense of distance had also been generated, making them no longer dare to treat the black dragon casually, or even speak loudly to it!

This would not do!

The black dragon told itself inwardly, and then decisively made a decision, adding to Liu Weihan, "Brother Liu, just tell everyone to go back and rest up their spirits, and then come tomorrow to help the black dragon with a physical examination."