428 Forbidden Technology (2/2)

Ye Qingxuan rolled his eyes. ”Can we get to the point?”

”Fine.” Wolf Flute straightened. He sat for a bit as if organizing his thoughts. Then he let it drop, ”Newton disappeared.”

”Huh?!” Ye Qingxuan froze. ”Newton? The one from the Anglo Royal Research Institute?”

”Would I care about any Newtons other than him?” Wolf Flute sighed. ”Even more troublesome, before he disappeared, people reported him for being involved in forbidden research.”

”Forbidden research? He's not a dark musician. Would he be researching on human bodies?”

”…Why do you think that only dark musicians do forbidden research?” Wolf Flute rolled his eyes. ”Have you forgotten about the steam crisis a century ago?”

Ye Qingxuan fell silent. A century ago, when Anglo's queen was still Victoria, the arts had developed rapidly. Technology had made great innovations as well. The steam engine was seen as the technology that represented the future's hope. Because of it, coal had become a hot item.

But when thousands of steam engines operated at the same time, it led to disruptions in the aether and created horrible consequences. That was when humanity realized that it was a dead end.

The losses that resulted could not be calculated. The aether eruptions in the borders due to the steam engines had become a terrifying legend. The machine led to Hell. The Grim Reaper would climb out of the engine along with the steam according to the various myths.

The steam engine was still a painful sore for all mechanics and engineers. As someone who had studied mechanics before, Ye Qingxuan understood this. Forbidden technologies always had temporary benefits but would definitely bring terrible consequences.

For example, decades ago, Choir musicians mutated some bacteria from the Dark World and invented a cure for people to regenerate limbs. However, they did not expect that there would be strong side effects and sudden changes. After it combined with rabies, it became a new mutation. Within a night, the entire city became wild zombies.

The Silent Authority burned the entire city down and killed all those who were infected. More than ten cities were involved, including one-hundred thousand people, and it took half a year. They poured thousands of tons of sulfur onto the land and even now, nothing could grow there.

Another example was when a Modifications scholar created an elemental separation impact channel dozens of kilometers long for superheavy elements. A fortune was spent, but the end result was a giant bomb that destroyed half of the mountain outside the school. After three years, the poisonous dust still hovered above, polluting the water. Six cities were evacuated. Countless people became infected with a strange disease and were tormented to death.

All forbidden technology was dangerous and untouchable. However, from what Ye Qingxuan knew about those fervent researchers, once it was related to their goal, they would not care if it was legal or not. Otherwise, why would there be so many dark musicians?

After pondering, Ye Qingxuan asked, ”Did Mr. Newton study the legendary intelligent machinery that goes against humanity?”

”You're overthinking.” Wolf Flute glanced at him. ”But the thing he did isn't any better. All these years, he scammed Anglo of all this money to secretly research man-made musicians.”

”That's impossible.” Ye Qingxuan shook his head resolutely. ”Anglo's research in the human body is only average and Newton is a grandmaster in mechanics. Crossover research like this is difficult and not worth it.”

Wolf Flute chuckled dryly. He drank half a bottle of beer and sighed. ”Who told you that the musician must be human?”

Ye Qingxuan froze.

”Get it now?” Wolf Flute found a moldy pack of tobacco from under the sofa. He tore it apart and lit it. Inhaling deeply, he rasped out, ”He wanted to create machines that can replace musicians. According to the clues we received, he almost succeeded.

”This is good. There's nothing bad about it. Man-made musicians are musicians too. Machines can become even better… However, this will completely destroy the structure of human society.

”A total shuffling of the cards? With the looming threat of natural catastrophes, no one can bear it. Can you imagine how many wars will happen because of this? How much blood will be shed?

”Newton knew that no one would allow him to continue researching so he did it secretly. When we discovered it, it was already too late. He just suddenly, mysteriously…” Wolf Flute inhaled and blew the smoke away. ”He just disappeared.”

It suddenly dawned on Ye Qingxuan. ”Charles was involved because of this?”

”…You think too lowly of your senior.” Wolf Flute's expression grew strange as if he had just woken up and realized he had f*cked up. ”Ye Qingxuan, he's the main designer.”