Five days later.
Somewhere on the high seas off the Atlantic Ocean, a huge black cruise ship that had already gone thousands of kilometers off course slowly wandered around in the endless ocean.
The faint silhouette of an island slowly came into view in front of the cruise ship. It was the destination of the cruise ship — Gantz Island.
However, when there was still approximately thirty kilometers between the cruise ship and its destination, a metallic black helicopter slowly took off from its platform on the cruise ship. While it flew ahead to Gantz Island, it hoisted with a long metal strip shaped like a spire that was strapped to its bottom.
Compared to the cruise, this helicopter might as well be a tiny little ant. However, its impressive size was immediately realized when compared to the spire-shaped metal structure it was carrying.
The spire was none other than the Gantz server machine. It was a colossal metallic structure standing more than ten meters tall and weighing up to ten tons. However, when suspended below the helicopter, it only appeared like a measly little structure.
The helicopter transporting the Gantz server machine was a property of the company owned by Blacklight Biotechnology — Tara Strategic Resource’s only Mil Mi-26 transport helicopter.
It was the ultimate helicopter spanning more than thirty-five meters long, capable of carrying loads comparable to two CH-47 helicopters. It was nearly as large as a Boeing 737 and could transport a maximum of 80 fully-fitted combat troops at a time. In this present moment inside the helicopter, Samuel, along with twenty other researchers dressed in large white lab coats, looked out at the lush island through the cabin windows. A mixture of many emotions was painted on their faces.
Among these researchers, there were only three professors, Samuel included. The rest of them were the assistant personnel of the research team.
This crew consisted of Blacklight Biotechnology’s newly-recruited researchers from all over the world. For this experiment, Blacklight Biotechnology made a point to offer them extremely lucrative salaries and had them sign a non-disclosure agreement. If the experiment was a success, all of them would make a major leap and be put in a central role in the organization. There was even a chance of them given entry to God’s Forbidden Zone.
Needless to be said, if the experiment turned out to be a failure, Blacklight Biotechnology would provide a large sum in pension to their respective families.
Samuel had been restless over the last few days. Although Chen Chen’s extremely efficient arrest of the several hundred members of the “White Embers” organization and news of the rescue of his daughter provided him great relief, it was what followed after that rooted the seed of terror in him.
In just a few years since their last meeting, the development of God’s Forbidden Zone’s technology had taken such massive strides. It was to such a point where Samuel felt like they could almost take over the world. However, even with all the power they had gained in this period, they still held so many reservations about today’s experiment.
Their approach to this experiment was so cautious that they would not even let their best scientists get involved but instead let other second-rate scientists pave the way for them.
That alone was a testament to how dangerous this experiment was going to be…
“Now that we’re here already, you’d figure we should be told of the general details of the experiment already.”
While Samuel swam in his troubled thoughts, a German sociology professor and also in charge of this experiment suddenly broke the silence. “What are the higher-ups at Blacklight Biotechnology thinking? Not just the bunch of kids behind us, even the three of us who are put in charge are not told of the details of the experiment. I just find that a little ridiculous.”
The other supervisor chipped in. “Adenauer is right, I get that we’re not the core researchers of Blacklight Biotechnology, but you’d think they’d at least tell us something by now. Just what sort of experiment is supposed to require a biologist, a sociologist, and me, a psychologist?”
Samuel looked at the British psychology professor called Erickson. This professor along with himself and Adenauer sitting beside were the three professors coming along for this experiment and also the ones in charge of the overall procedures.
“Everyone, please calm down.”
While they were beginning to get agitated, a young man sitting in the middle of the group suddenly got up. He fidgeted in front of everyone and announced using slightly shaky English, “I’ll be explaining the details of this experiment to everyone.”
The young man was only around fifteen to sixteen years old. His appearance was rather feminine but attractive nonetheless. He continued. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Yoru Kamidera. I’ll be assuming the position of a consultant in this experiment. If you have any questions, you can ask me…”
“You?”
When they saw it was a young man who stood up, their first reaction was to project a frown. The psychologist Erickson had an especially perplexed look in his eyes. “Are you Chinese? You don’t even look like an adult to me?”
“I suppose it’s because I have some experience regarding this experiment…”
Yoru Kamidera blew out a sigh, his cheeks turned pale as he seemed to have recalled something. “That place is a desolate world even further below the depths of hell, grimmer than death itself. If I had a say in it, I’d rather not be involved for the rest of my life. However, due to my previous experience, my conscience leaves me no other choice…”
“Kiddo, just what are you talking about?”
The German professor Adenauer asked with a tightly knit frown, “That isn’t a place for your little games. You say that you’re the consultant of this experiment. Where’s your proof?”
“Does this count as proof?”
Faced with this remark, Yoru Kamidera decided to just take out a Rubik’s Cube. When he pressed one of the buttons and put it in front of the professors, several rays of light shot out from the cube and intersected together to form an image of Chen Chen.
“Mr. Chen!”
“Boss!”
“Boss!”
The three of them nodded like pendulums and greeted Chen Chen nervously.
“Professor Samuel, Professor Adenauer, Professor Erickson, and the other assistants participating in this experiment. What you’re seeing now is a pre-recorded footage that I’ve recorded.”
Chen Chen’s expression as shown in the footage was mild. “I want to remind all of you that this young man in front of you called Yoru Kamidera is extremely vital to this experiment. If you’re dealing with something you don’t fully understand, it’s best to ask him for his input. If you guys choose to act rashly and do it by yourselves, I’d like to remind you that the mortality rate of this experiment is 50 percent. With the help of Yoru Kamidera, that percentage may drop to near 30 percent.”
“What, the mortality rate is 50 percent?”
The color went out of their faces when they heard this. 30 percent more or less meant one in every three. Dangerous would be an understatement for this experiment. Even in modern warfare, the mortality rate rather exceeded 5 percent for the losing side.
However, since Chen Chen was just a recorded footage, there was no chance of him seeing and responding to their reaction. He only went on with his dialogue. “But you won’t have to worry about that. Each of you here is the elite of Blacklight Biotechnology and has also signed the non-disclosure agreement. If something unfortunate does occur in this experiment, your families will receive a 7-digit pension. On the contrary, if the experiment proved successful, it will pave a great, respectable future for each one of you here. Also, you may get the opportunity to become a part of the central ring of our company…”
“What!”
The follow-up remark astounded each and every one of them. Some of them even shot out of their seats.
News of an organization like God’s Forbidden Zone established on the basis of financial groups helping each other had long since piqued the curiosity of the public. Although not as widely known as the Freemasonry, the phrase God’s Forbidden Zone was no longer taboo in the inner ring of Blacklight Biotechnology but looked up to almost like a religion.
That was because everyone knew that only the richest among the rich of each country and the most influential people got to join this organization. The list of benefits that came with joining this organization could go on for days, lifespan, power, wealth… Everything!