"No, no, no. Spirit Creations has basically given up on drilling holes in the spine, injecting drugs, or implanting chips. This technology is too outdated. It's basically a product from around twenty years ago. Now, we mainly use molecular infiltration to accurately deliver drugs into the target organs."
Xie Xiaolei regained some of his gentlemanly demeanor and said with a smile, "Please. I'll bring you around our modification lab."
On the surface, Spirit Creations was just an inconspicuous seven-story building with an attached building.
However, there was a large-scale laboratory underground.
Aside from modifying canine-type and feline-type biochemical pets, there were also Giant Sandworms that were more than thirty meters long.
There were also Giant Sandworms that were more than thirty meters long. They were modified and implanted with artificial hormone sacs and all sorts of control chips.
"Don't worry, Giant Sandworms are very tame."
When Xie Xiaolei saw that Meng Chao was staring at the modification table and the Giant Sandworm's rows of sharp teeth, he smiled and explained, "In truth, the lower the level of a monster, no matter how monstrous and terrifying they look, the less dangerous they are, because they don't know how to think and have no consciousness. They don't know what they're doing." In fact, it's hard for them to tell the difference between humans, other monsters, etherealized plants, rocks, and fortresses. They just keep eating, eating, and eating under their instincts.
"So, as long as we can release unique bioelectricity or hormones to stimulate their nerve clusters, we can control their instincts and make them serve humans.
"It's a machine with flesh and blood. It won't hurt its master."
Meng Chao nodded.
He remembered now.
President Xie was a genius when it came to advertising.
During the initial stages of Spirit Creations, to verify the safety of biochemical beasts, he had personally acted in a very famous advertisement.
In the advertisement, he stood in the gaping mouth of a Giant Sandworm with a smile. He held a glass of wine elegantly and talked about the advantages of gene modification technology. He even used a stun baton to stimulate the Giant Sandworm's mouth.
The Giant Sandworm just kept its mouth open and did not eat him in one bite.
This advertisement stirred up a lot of discussion, and it also opened up a path for Spirit Creations.
However, Meng Chao's focus was not on the Giant Sandworms, but the small and medium-sized biochemical pets that his family reared.
"This way, please. The three biochemical pets that had an accident this time are our third generation products. They have a certain amount of fighting power and high intelligence. That's why we pay a lot of attention to their safety."
Xie Xiaolei said, "There are three main steps to modulating this generation of products. First, we use a genetically modified nuclease, or 'molecular scissors', to produce a site-specific double-strand break at a specific location in the genome. We then induce the organism to repair the double-strand break through non-homologous end connections or homologous recombination.
"This repair process is prone to errors, leading to targeted mutations — this type of targeted mutation is gene editing.
"Through gene editing, we can fuse the characteristics of dozens of dog-type monsters together and get rid of the gene fragments that control their desire to hunt and kill. Then, we can implant in the genes of tame herbivores. After repeated experiments, we can create biochemical beasts that are like pet dogs and are loyal to their masters. They can also adapt to human society."
"Hmm …"
Meng Chao fell into deep thought. "It sounds very complicated. Isn't it very unstable?"
"Of course not. This is a very mature technology. On Earth, even elementary school students can carry out experiments related to gene knockout, and we're in a new world that's filled with spirit energy and is constantly changing. In just a short half a century, we're five hundred years ahead of Earth when it comes to exploring the secrets of genes!"
Xie Xiaolei said. "Besides, the genes of the Other World monsters … How should I put it? We've found a lot of traces of cutting, elimination, and sealing in many of the wild monsters' gene chains. They don't seem like pure beasts. They seem like the products of a lab. Of course, that's a lab from a long time ago. It might even be a lab from millions of years ago."
"What?" Meng Chao asked.
Xie Xiaolei shrugged and said, "It's not a secret that a very advanced ancient civilization once existed in the Other World. Since humans have thought about using genetic technology to bring out the greatest potential of animals and plants, there's no way that the ancient civilization of the Other World has not thought about it.
"We'll leave the truth behind for the historians and archaeologists to slowly investigate. I just want to tell you that monsters have always been creatures that are very easy to modify. Otherwise, how do you think Agricultural University's monster controller course came to have so many fierce fighting-type biochemical beasts?
"Of course, gene editing is just our first step. Next, when the biochemical beast is still in its mother's womb, we inject all sorts of hormones and medicine into it beforehand to ensure that its brain grows faster. Brain size isn't the problem, but the sulci.
"Scientific research has proven that brain size isn't the key to determining intelligence. The number of sulci and circuits in the brain is the most important thing. The canine-type biochemical beasts we modify have 300% more brain circuits than those of wild canine-type monsters. It's enough for them to have the intelligence of a seven-year-old child and understand some of their masters' simple orders. Of course, they also know how to choose so that they can live more comfortably in human society.
"We don't just inject the medicine once. Instead, we inject it nineteen times during the entire modification cycle. Aside from promoting brain growth, we also have a suppressive hormone that can control the ferocious nature that no longer exists. Right now, biochemical beasts are even more harmless than pet dogs."
When Xie Xiaolei said this, he stopped talking for a moment.
It was clear that he had been badly battered by the things that happened over the past two days, and his mood was not as good as his expression.
When he saw that someone from Agricultural University was "one of us", he could not help but make a sarcastic remark. "I'll say something that I shouldn't say with my status, but even pet dogs on Earth hurt people. I've never heard of anyone killing all pet dogs just because they went out of control once, right?" Meng Chao narrowed his eyes.
"President Xie, are you saying that there's a possibility that the product modified by Spirit Creations went out of control?"
Xie Xiaolei's face turned red, and he quickly defended himself. "No, no, no. I'm just saying that we can't stop eating for fear of choking. Biochemical technology is the key for us to colonize the Other World. After all, the failure rate of machines in this world is too high. Spirit energy is the main source of energy, and it's too unstable. If we cut off our hopes of modifying monsters because of one accident, wouldn't that be too arbitrary?
"It's just like how runic symbol machines have had accidents before. When we were building Subway No.6, there was an explosion that resulted in a landslide. It caused a building on the ground to collapse, and hundreds of people died." In the end, we found out that the manufacturer of the construction machines didn't understand the true power contained in an ancient runic symbol, and it caused two different spirit energy magnetic fields to clash against each other. That's why the tragedy happened. We didn't use the chance to cause trouble and say that runic symbol technology is a dangerous item that will threaten the entire civilization!
"I'm sorry, but I went off topic. Meng Chao, please look. This is our third modification procedure, and it's also the final safety measure. We implanted a chip in the central nervous system of all biochemical pets to monitor their hormone levels at all times.
"When the chip detects that a biochemical pet's hormone levels have increased abnormally and it has entered a frenzied state, it will automatically release a very powerful bioelectric current to deliver a painful electric shock to the biochemical pet.
"If it can't calm down, the electric shock will continue increasing, and in the end, it might even burn its central nervous system.
"Please come to the lab over there. We can personally witness the power of the control chip."
As Xie Xiaolei spoke, he invited Meng Chao and Ning Shewo to a floor-to-ceiling window.
Behind the window was a kennel. There was a biochemical pet that was the same as the one who had suffered the accident.
This biochemical pet was codenamed Contest Tiger, and it did indeed have the beautiful appearance of a tiger cub. It also had an awe-inspiring presence.
Its body was slender and streamlined. Its golden fur shone with an oily sheen, but it could not hide the explosive power brought by its bulging muscles. Usually, it kept its fangs and claws hidden, but when it fought, it would bring them out like daggers. When it faced normal monsters, it could hold them back for a while, and when its owner was crushed under ruins, it could still dig forward like a drill.
Back on Earth, when people chose a pet dog, they tended to prefer small dogs that were petite and adorable.
But Dragon City was a lone army in a foreign land. It was a land of hundreds of battles, and all the citizens had fought their way through bullets. In the future, they would have to go through endless battles.
In this ruthless society where martial arts were respected, people preferred large dogs that were mighty, domineering, and had a certain amount of fighting power when they reared pets.
In fact, some people did not like fighting dogs. Instead, they kept fiercer, carnivorous lizard-type monsters, and it gradually became a trend.
Contest Tiger was a hot product from Spirit Creations. Meng Chao had seen a lot of them on the streets in the past. All of them looked dumb and stupid, and they gave off a sense of security.
But the Contest Tiger in front of him had bloodshot eyes, and saliva dripped down its lips. Its head twitched like a madman, and its fangs and claws shrank and extended. It looked fierce.
Xie Xiaolei told Meng Chao that to test how dangerous Contest Tiger was, they had conducted a lot of experiments over the past two days. The biochemical pet in front of him had already inhaled a lot of irritating gas and was injected with drugs that could make it go berserk. It was about to regain its monster's fierce nature.
"Injecting drugs that can make a docile biochemical beast regain its fierce nature?" Meng Chao fell into deep thought.
"Of course. No matter what, it's a beast," Xie Xiaolei said.
"Forget about biochemical pets, even humans who are injected with drugs that carry the zombie virus will turn into zombies. They'll bare their fangs and claws, and they won't even recognize their friends. This has nothing to do with the safety of the product."
As they spoke, a bloody piece of raw meat fell from the lab.
The biochemical pet's eyes shone with a fierce light, and it immediately pounced on it.
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