The Great Worm Lich

Although Zhang Lisheng was still trying to mystify things up by comparing the sand monster to a human and predicted the death of the spiritual monster, he would never imagine the Gold Core as a human heart.

After all, every native Chinese who was born and grew up in China knew that the mystical creatures had a complete set of organs, so it was impossible for the Gold Core to be their hearts.

However, if one looked at it from another perspective, the demon in the mythical legend would transform back to their original state if they lost the Gold Core. In other words, the animal demon would transform back into an animal beast while the tree demon would transform back into a tree.

However, the spiritual monsters were a completely different form of life from animals or plants. Since the transformation into a demon from an inanimate object was considered as a kind of rebirth, how could the transformation of the demon back to its original state not be called as a kind of death?

“Oh, Professor Effiny, your words are very inspiring to me. When I rely on the innate Chinese culture to self-righteously explain the concept of this spiritual monster in a simplified manner, the inherent culture unknowingly constrained me as well. Yes, a Gold Core could be understood as the organ of a demon, but it should not only be equivalent to the heart but all of the internal organs needed to sustain life.” Inspired by Effiny, Zhang Lisheng thought about it carefully before saying, “From my understanding, after a creature turns into a demon, all of the organs inside its body would degrade and become something unnecessary like the pancreas in a human’s body. They can live by just relying on the Gold Core alone. If they die after suffering from a great injury, the Gold Core could still maintain a period of vitality since it still contains a huge amount of energy, just like how the heart will still continue to beat when a person is pronounced brain dead.”

“Oh, this is really a bold inference. Such a tiny bean-organ can actually maintain a strong and lasting power output for a big monster with a height of nearly 20 meters. Then, what do you think would happen if we seize this chance that it’s still fresh and perform a transplant on other animals?”

Zhang Lisheng went dumbstruck for a moment. His eyes unknowingly lit up, but he said instead, “You mean a man-made demon? Oh, Professor Effiny, this idea is very dangerous. By doing so, even though there’s a 99.9% probability that the experimental animals will die, there’s still a 0.1% of turning an experimental monkey into the Monkey King Sun Wukong! I’m sure you must know about the most famous powerful deity in China, right? Think about it, how would it treat us if we place it on the operating table and cut it open. In short, if we don’t have the protection from an integrated army division, I don’t recommend anyone to carry out such a dangerous experiment. ”

“Then, what if we make an external organ system that can be cut off at any time, Lisheng?” Steven, who was sitting on the round chair in the lab while pondering for a long time, chimed in. “It’s something similar to artificial organs, but we’ll replace the core heart using this Gold Core instead.”

“This idea sounds feasible, Professor, but I’m afraid it’ll take a long time for the preparatory work. By that time, I’m worried that this Gold Core would lose its vitality already.”

“Don’t worry, Lisheng. I’ll soak it in the most top-class nutrient solution. If you’re willing, let you and I work together for this experiment. I’ll prepare all the preparatory work…” Effiny rushed in to say.

“Hey, Effiny! You’re talking to my student! This child is a member of my lab!”

“Hey, Steven! Lisheng knows some knowledge that is worthless on Earth but is somehow useful in this strange supernatural realm so far. This is why I chose him as my experimental collaborator. You should be honored that your student has such an opportunity to work with a bioengineer like me who is prestigious in the academic world. What else are you not satisfied with…? Oh right! I understand now! Is it because you’re unwilling to let him go because you’re watching this great experiment that may leave a remarkable color in the history of science slipping away from your eyes? Don’t worry, you can become our lab assistant…”

“Professor Effiny, if ridiculing my supervisor makes you happy, you can continue to do so. However, if you really want to carry out this very dangerous experiment, then I think the person who is the most suitable to select an appropriate experimental animal according to the biological characteristics of the sand monster that produced the Gold Core and then come up with a method of emergency response according to the circumstances of the experimental animal in the experimental process would be none other than Professor Steven.”

Zhang Lisheng’s words left Effiny at a loss for words as she became silent for a moment. This Cornell University female professor frowned and said, “Steven, it looks like you’ve found a student who is good at catching human weaknesses. Alright then. Are you willing to join in this experiment?”

“I was the first one to voice out the concept of this experiment so I should be the one leading it instead!” Steven said angrily.

“Concept? The concept is not important! The most important thing is the experimental material!” Effiny shook the glass tray with the green ball in her hand and had an expression of pride on her face.

“Hey, pay attention to it, Professor Effiny. Legend has it that the Gold Core has an important feature of producing a powerful explosion. According to the descriptions of some classic stories, once it explodes, half of this gathering place might blow up in an instant.”

“You’re joking, right, Lisheng?” Effiny turned stiff as her eyes went wide.

“How can I possibly joke about such a thing? You also saw how careful I was when I was holding it just now.”

“Oh, since it has such a dangerous characteristic, I’ll immediately immerse it in the nutrient solution to prevent friction and collision. It’s a deal then, Steven! I’ll settle the other preparatory work of the experiments and you’ll be in charge of finding an experimental animal.” Effiny carefully carried the glass plate and left the lab with her student.

“Hurry up and leave, Effiny. Go settle your preparations! You don’t have to tell me what to do.” After watching his sister’s back disappear behind the door while sitting on the round chair, even though Steven did not say it in a nice tone, his expression appeared to be slightly dejected and absent-minded.

As though not noticing anything at all, Zhang Lisheng, who was by the side, regrettably opened the high-resolution picture of the green ball that had been taken just now while muttering to himself, “What a pity! Who would have ever thought that this spiritual monster’s body structure would actually grow completely in accordance with the descriptions of the Chinese myths? And to think that it can actually produce the Gold Core on top of that… haaaa…”

As he was zooming into the photo and observing the lines on the ball carefully, Steven suddenly said, “Do you know, Lisheng? Effiny and I were very close when we were young. Until now, I can clearly recall in my mind the scene of how I took her and Ruby to play frisbee on that grassy lawn. However, later when my parents divorced when I was eleven, I followed my father to continue to live in San Francisco while Effiny followed my mother and moved to New Mexico when she was nine years old. We’ve been separated for twelve years without seeing each other and when we finally met again, it was during my father’s funeral… Oh sh*t! Why am I telling you all of this?” When Steven was halfway into speaking his mind, he gradually returned to reality and chuckled mockingly. “And you’re still a child who wants to stay by your mother’s side during Christmas.”

“Professor, no matter what you say, I must go home as soon as possible. I also believe that more and more scientists will leave Shrimp B1 Island before Christmas. By the way, you’re very welcome to come spend Christmas at my house.” Zhang Lisheng stared at the tablet in his hand with a fixed gaze and said without raising his head.

He looked at it for more than ten hours. After printing the photos of the green ball and placed them in various angles around him, the young man twisted his head and spent a whole night like this.

During that night, the soldiers who were on full vigilance guarding the Shrimp B1 Island’s human gathering place suddenly realized that a strange phenomenon appearing from the jungle suddenly came to an abrupt end.

Other than the faint subtle strange rustling sound resonating from time to time if one paid close attention, there was no longer any wild herds running in the jungle, let alone a soft gentle light that shone down from the sky that gave birth to terrible monsters. Even when the first sunlight had finally hit the sky, everything seemed to be safe and calm.

Such a night had completely confirmed the prediction Zhang Lisheng made, who asserted yesterday that the supernatural realm island would return to its calm state and that all of these would only happen again several decades later.

This also made his strange theory that was combined with oriental mythology to become more credible.

Therefore, just after morning time, several scientists rushed to the biological laboratory hosted by Steven to visit Zhang Lisheng, wanting to explore in-depth if there were any more mysterious relations between the oriental legends and this supernatural realm.

Unfortunately, they only saw Steven’s cold face who just gave them a simple explanation. “He left already. He stayed in the lab the entire night last night and when I arrived around 7 in the morning, he has already gone. He must have gone back to New York for Christmas.”

“Oh, that’s a shame. Goodbye then, Professor Steven!” The visitors opened the door and left the lab with a depressed expression, not knowing that Zhang Lisheng had actually not left this supernatural realm’s island.

The first cruise arriving from New York Harbor to Shrimp B1 Island reached the gathering place’s port at 8:30 in the morning. Due to the reason that a lot of temporary cruises were sent here today, almost all of the new cowboys who wanted to leave the island had all been shipped away. For this reason, Zhang Lisheng, who originally just wanted to try his luck, found it very simple to get a boarding pass.

After several months of operation, the ferry crossing on Shrimp B1 Island no longer needed many men for their management. However, the few soldiers wearing civilian army uniforms patrolling around continued to announce with their loudspeakers, “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome aboard to… Over here, I’d like to remind everybody that all of the living organisms on Shrimp B1 Island are prohibited from being taken out… There will be strict security checks in New York Harbor… If you’re found to have smuggled some, it’ll be constituted as a federal crime…”

Such an announcement made this port become different from other ordinary ports.

Amidst this constant and annoying warning, Zhang Lisheng, who bought a few strange-tasting burritos for breakfast, stood with a group of new cowboys who were waiting for a return trip, bathing under the rising sun as they waited for the ferry to arrive.