Reborn in 2014: A One-Man Tycoon

Meng Chuan stood in the monitoring room of the underground headquarters of Fuxing University, in front of a supercomputer.

The screen displays a live feed of the transfer station.

A colossal structure made up of 200 starships hovers in near-Earth orbit.

The silvery-white hull reflected the sunlight, making it increasingly resemble a floating steel city.

At the time, Meng Chuan was only suitable for planning a transit station consisting of one hundred starships.

However, technological advancements and improvements in the production chain are also factors.

Modern rocket companies can produce a Starship almost every day.

Therefore, Meng Chuan currently has a very generous number of starships at his disposal.

The transit station has been expanded to twice its original size, but half of it is not open to the public.

"Master, the transport ship has arrived at the secret landing point of the transit station."

Shadow Butterfly's voice came through the communicator:

"We've confirmed with Zhan San that no one has been alerted. All the animals have been unloaded into the designated compartments and are just waiting for the observers to pick them up."

The Shadow Butterfly is still at the transit station.

Therefore, she only gave a routine report and did not elaborate further.

Meng Chuan hummed in agreement, his gaze falling on the small window in the corner of the screen.

That's the view of the cabin transmitted from Zhan San:

Several bison were pawing the floor restlessly with their hooves.

The lioness huddled in the corner, looking somewhat flustered.

Meanwhile, the rhinoceros with the implanted chip was rubbing its head against the bulkhead.

The chip behind the ear was covered by hair and could not be seen unless you looked closely.

"What about the fifty death row inmates?"

Meng Chuan asked.

During this period, Meng Chuan was preoccupied with the "animal infiltrator" issue and ignored everything else.

“It was sent over five days ago.”

Shadow Butterfly replied:

"The observers didn't say anything, they just kept urging us to send the animals."

Meng Chuan nodded and said nothing more.

He knew it was useless to say anything now.

The arrow is already on the bowstring, and no matter how many uncertainties he has—can the quantum chip transmit messages? Will the observer detect it? Or even, could this be a trap set by the other side?—he must continue.

This is not just his problem.

From the day he decided to collaborate with the observer, he became the one standing on the edge of a cliff.

Behind them lies the weight of all human civilization.

This is also why Meng Chuan has been under so much psychological pressure lately, and has lost his appetite.

For the next five days, Meng Chuan practically moved his home to the underground headquarters.

His room contained a cot, with the control panel placed beside it.

He placed the laptop he had "snatched back" from Africa on his bedside table.

He was on duty almost 24 hours a day.

After Yingdie returned from the transit station, she would come to report to Meng Chuan every day.

For example, everything was normal at the transit station, and wealthy tourists were still taking photos and checking in at the open areas.

On Earth, Liu Qian has already returned to China with her team and is wondering when they can get their computers back.

On the African savanna, local police are still "working hard" to investigate the robbery, but of course, they haven't found anything.

Meng Chuan listened but rarely spoke.

He spent most of his time staring at the laptop, its screen black, like a silent stone.

"Master, why don't you go and take a rest?"

On the evening of the fifth day, Yingdie, seeing the dark circles under Meng Chuan's eyes, couldn't help but advise:

"You've barely slept these past few days."

Liu Qian has also returned and has called Meng Chuan several times, hoping to see him, but to no avail.

"fine."

Meng Chuan shook his head, his fingers brushing across the computer case:

"hold on."

He was waiting for a signal that the rhinoceros had died.

According to Liu Qian, the chip will only activate when the organism dies.

But this rhinoceros has been gone for five days, so why is it still alive?

Are the observers feeding them?

Or... the chip simply wasn't working?

Meng Chuan felt increasingly uneasy.

On the afternoon of the sixth day, Meng Chuan was dozing off in his chair.

I was suddenly awakened by a soft "beep" sound.

He sat bolt upright and looked at the control panel—the laptop screen was lit up!

A jumble of static flashed across the screen first, then the image gradually became clear:

It was a huge, silvery-white cabin, with walls covered in luminous patterns that resembled the veins of some kind of creature.

In the center of the chamber were several transparent culture chambers filled with a pale blue liquid.

Several bison and the rhinoceros were soaking in it, their bodies covered with tiny metal probes.

The image shook slightly, seemingly showing a rhinoceros struggling in the liquid.

Then, a blurry shadow appeared outside the incubation chamber—it was a creature that was almost transparent.

Its body is as soft as a jellyfish, and its head has several glowing compound eyes.

They were "looking" at the rhinoceros inside through the bulkhead.

Suddenly, the liquid in the culture chamber began to bubble, and the rhinoceros's body convulsed violently, its limbs flailing wildly.

It was clearly a state of suffocation and imminent death.

The transparent creature seemed unconcerned, simply raising its hand to press a button on the bulkhead.

The next second, the rhinoceros suddenly stopped moving, its body floated limply in the liquid, its eyes wide open, and it was completely still.

The image on the screen began to distort and blur, finally freezing on the back of the transparent creature as it turned and left.

Immediately afterwards, the screen in front of Meng Chuan went black again.

Only one line of small text remained on the computer screen:

"Signal interrupted, transmission terminated."

Meng Chuan's hand holding the mouse was trembling.

He played the video over and over again until every detail was etched into his mind.

Transparent organism...culture chamber...metal probe...

Meng Chuan couldn't understand it.

Meng Chuan's plan was to find out the observer's intentions.

The brief footage that was transmitted back looked more like a laboratory.

Meng Chuan had never seen many of the things inside before.

It's impossible to fathom what the observer's intention was in doing this.

In other words, this "animal infiltration" operation came to nothing.

Based on the available footage, it is impossible to determine whether it is research or genetic modification.

Or something else!

"Shadow Butterfly".

Meng Chuan pressed the communicator, his voice hoarse with excitement.

Upon receiving Meng Chuan's message, Ying Die arrived at the scene as quickly as possible.

"Look, what can you find?"

Meng Chuan was not good at scientific research after all.

However, the shadow butterfly still moves somewhat.

The only person Meng Chuan could share with was Ying Die.

Therefore, Meng Chuan could only hope that Ying Die would make some discoveries.

However, Yingdie watched it several times.

I was completely baffled.

All that can be confirmed now is that these animals, and even death row inmates, were immersed in a large vat of blue liquid by observers.

It also had a lot of metal tubes inserted into it.

It's impossible to tell exactly what they're doing.

"Husband, you should rest for a while."

Yingdie looked at Meng Chuan with a touch of heartache:

"How about I take the video and go find He Jiankui? He's an expert in genetics; maybe he can make a discovery?"

He Jiankui, a scientific fanatic.

The four egg cells of Shadow Butterfly were created through his gene-editing technology.

Now, all four of Yingdie's children have shown signs of genius.

"Isn't that a bad idea? The footage shows the observer's view. If this gets exposed, I'm afraid..."