Darkside Species (Part 2)

The cabin fell briefly silent, then someone laughed.

"Ghosts? You mean spirits of the dead?"

"Interpret it however you like. As far as I'm concerned, these so-called Darkside Creatures are things you can't see or touch, yet they drift back and forth right beside you... Ghosts are a fairly fitting description."

"Eek, Tao Zi, you're disgusting! That's creepy!" Beautiful Vase took the chance to act coquettish.

Actually, when Liu Tao first brought it up, no one had thought much of it. But after Beautiful Vase's cutesy embellishment, quite a few people got goosebumps.

Someone turned to look at the swirling mist all around them and genuinely began to feel uneasy.

Liu Tao, on the other hand, loved this sort of atmosphere. He adjusted his glasses and put on a deliberately composed expression. "That's simply the fact of it. The relevant concepts surrounding Darkside Creatures have only been proposed in the industry for a year or two. Hardly any papers have even been published. Aside from the major high-end laboratories, the military is probably the only group familiar with them.

"Judging by this warship's response procedures, they've dealt with Darkside Creatures plenty of times. That's a good thing."

This bunch of drinking buddies thoroughly despised Liu Tao's habit of keeping them in suspense. Someone was already growing impatient.

"If you can't see or touch them, what the hell are you researching? Are you just trying to scam research funding because people are stupid and rich?"

"Fuck off!"

Liu Tao laughed and cursed at him, finally getting to the point. "The reason I brought up the military is that they classify Darkside Creatures as a special form of Aberrant Species. But the vast majority of research institutes disagree. They believe the two aren't even remotely the same thing. The closest theory is merely a guess that these things might be the 'Primordial Virus' responsible for aberrations..."

"Ah!"

It was Beautiful Vase again, but this time she was truly frightened. Nor did anyone else look particularly good.

The shadow of Aberrant Species always hung over everyone's heads, rich second-generation heirs included.

Already-formed Aberrant Species might still spark their interest in research and discussion, but aberration itself—the process that made life worse than death and twisted people into monsters—was something they desperately wanted to avoid.

Liu Tao spread his hands. "Stop scaring yourselves, okay? What I mentioned is only one of the most absurd guesses. These things have almost nothing in common with viruses. Compared to them, even those so-called 'dark matter lifeforms' sound more plausible..."

Beautiful Vase gave him a coquettish slap and automatically slipped into flirting mode, while curses erupted all around them.

Liu Tao felt rather wronged. He simply stopped playing up the mystery and gave them a straightforward explanation. "In short, these Darkside Creatures are like ghosts. They truly exist, but you can't see or touch them.

"Based on properties measured by laboratories, we can confirm that they almost never come into contact with common particles, do not react to electromagnetic waves, and do not actively emit radiation. This means that in most natural environments, they cannot be directly observed through any conventional method. Under normal circumstances, they also don't interact with any matter in this world."

Someone laughed. "If they don't interact with anything, what threat could they pose? Why's everyone on this ship so damn nervous? Just trying to scare us?"

"I said under normal circumstances... Have you ever considered why they're called 'creatures'? It's because, under certain circumstances, they possess the ability to interfere with the material layer, and they have a certain degree of purposefulness."

"What purpose?"

"Countless possibilities. But according to statistics, in cases where they interfere, nearly forty percent involve disruption—stimulating biological emotions, making people unfocused, irritable, easily angered, oversensitive, and so on..."

Ronan, who had been listening from the side, was finally stirred. He looked at Burning Demon Shadow again. The thing was still playing dead, but everything that had happened earlier perfectly confirmed Liu Tao's description.

"Darkside Creatures are highly dangerous. Remember this: the parts we cannot observe have no meaning to us, because they do not intersect with us at all. But anything we can discover must be threatening, because it is attempting to influence and interfere with our layer.

"How do they interfere? It's simple. There's an old saying: 'Know yourself and know your enemy.' Under normal circumstances, Darkside Creatures have no intersection with us. But once they have intentions, they must first understand us, make contact with us, and gather information about us.

"It's like active radar. When radar is switched off, no one can detect its existence. But if it searches with a particular purpose, it must emit a beam and expose its own location."

Ronan, who had been observing Burning Demon Shadow, suddenly froze. His attention focused as never before.

"Of course, Darkside Creatures are ten thousand times more concealed than radar. They don't even need to emit detection beams. They merely need to absorb the various bands in the air, then analyze and process them in ways we cannot comprehend. And that is our only chance to detect them."

Liu Tao was getting fired up. He swept an arm around at the mist surrounding them. "See this Shadow Mist? This fog releases a special kind of particle. They are extremely sensitive to the various bands in the air. Once they detect a concentrated change in the properties of a band in a particular direction, sensors everywhere can transmit the relevant data to the central Smart Brain for analysis, determining the probability of a Darkside Creature's presence..."

Lian Yu, who had barely spoken until now, became interested as well. Communications happened to be her field of expertise. "Tao Zi, you know quite a lot."

This was exactly what Liu Tao had been waiting for. He immediately put on a deliberately calm expression. "This Shadow Mist tactic was developed by a Wilderness Laboratory funded by my family..."

At a time like this, there was naturally no shortage of people willing to play along. "Damn, Tao Zi, you've hidden it well. Your family must've made a fortune off this technology, huh?"

"Not bad, not bad." Liu Tao smiled contentedly, feeling immensely pleased with himself.

But Ronan, floating beside him, was in an entirely different mood. He looked around at the surrounding mist and was momentarily dumbstruck.

Lian Yu, who had not spoken much, asked at this point, "If Darkside Creatures are so hard even to detect, how do you deal with them?"

"At present, only Burners can... In fact, Darkside Creatures were only discovered after Quantum Corporation introduced Burners and the Deep Blue Platform. Combat experience has shown that Burners have a high degree of sensitivity toward Darkside Creatures. And only Deep Blue Walkers controlled by Burners can establish a Prototype Format and burn Format Fire to directly harm Darkside Creatures.

"Then—"

Lian Yu was about to ask another question when a long beep sounded. The cabin's outer door opened, and before the sliding metal door had fully moved aside, a sturdy, agile figure burst in through the mist.

A heavy firearm was raised. Tiny red dots darted wildly around the cabin, sweeping across the bewildered faces of the rich heirs.

"Get down! Everyone, get down!"

Amplified through a loudspeaker, the sharp, forceful voice pierced their eardrums. "All personnel, crawl forward one at a time! Get outside immediately! Someone is waiting to receive you outside!"

The man who rushed into the cabin was undoubtedly brave and capable. But after spending so long in the military, he had inevitably overlooked one thing: this group of rich second-generation heirs were truly not battle-hardened soldiers.

Faced with the sudden situation, they had been completely scared witless.

Half a second later, someone shrieked. The piercing cry filled the entire cabin, and driven by it, restless terror swept through every heart like a storm.