Chapter 54 Select
“Aren’t you being chased by the police? How did you end up here?” Tony Parker could only raise his hands when he saw Zhou Qingfeng slowly approaching him with a gun in his hand. Zhou Qingfeng now was totally different from the one he met three days ago.
Three days ago, Zhou Qingfeng had arrived in 2030, New York. He was unfamiliar with the people and the places, and he only knew the Lawrence family. In fact, he was only able to survive because of his bravery, as well as his meagre foresight about the world from watching “Wasteland”.
However, for the past three days, what Zhou Qingfeng had gone through was enough for him to brag about for the rest of his life. He was experiencing the end of the world in advance. In these days, he had been confused, crazy, brave, and had struggled in despair. Through a baptism of blood and fire, he had completed his gorgeous change, and turned from an ordinary nerd into a predator.
The Zhou Qingfeng right then was wearing a uniform filled with rips and bloodstains. He was equipped with all sorts of combat equipment, including firearms, grenades, and first aid materials. His eyes were cold and filled with fierce, murderous presence that would terrify mentally weak people with just a look.
Tony Parker was not a brave man. He was frightened when he saw Zhou Qingfeng walking toward him. He took a few steps backward and pushed Katrina, who was sitting on the floor, in front of him.
Zhou Qingfeng could not use his right hand at the moment. Therefore, he could only use his left hand to hold the gun. After a few minutes of rest, he gritted his teeth and walked toward the corridor. Albeit Katrina was looking at him angrily, her eyes were filled more with confusion and questions.
“Victor, think before you act. Just take DogMeat if you want.” At this crucial moment, Angie stood in front of Katrina, trembling with fear.
Zhou Qingfeng heaved a sigh of relief when he saw how Katrina could not even hold her gun properly due to her injury. The cataclysm had just started, and the future will be tough. He did not want to fight against these two ladies; he did not want to affect the events that were supposed to happen in the future. “Put your gun down. I don’t want to kill anyone.”
Katrina put the gun back in her holster, raised her head, and proudly said, “I could give up fighting, but there’s no way I would give up my weapon, unless you kill me.”
Grumpy crazy woman, she’s so stubborn.
Zhou Qingfeng frowned, as he could only acquiesce, “Okay, you can keep your weapon with you. But I hope you think before you act. As a trade, I hope Angie could get that dog out for me.”
“Sure, as long as you don’t hurt us,” Angie quickly accepted. At that instance, she thought that Zhou Qingfeng was very unfamiliar. The young man in front of her no longer had the optimistic and naive characteristics he used to have. Instead, he was now drenched with the unbearable smell of blood.
Angie held Katrina up and the four of them walked toward the core area of the laboratory. Finally, they walked into a large biochemical control room. There was another sealed, sterilized control room that could only be accessed and modified with mechanical arms. It was the assembly room for DogMeat.
DogMeat was not a dog, but an experimental product. The product included a power source, a skeleton, a driving system, and so on. The most important part was its artificial intelligence.
The workers in Babylon’s Smartlab creatively used living brains to develop DogMeat’s control system. These included brains from volunteers who died due to sickness.
“Babylon’s Smartlab spent more than ten years on this research, and more than a thousand brains were tested. Those brains were all stored in the sterilized control room. Based on my predictions, there were recent successes in four of the samples with serial numbers.”
As per Angie’s information, Zhou Qingfeng really saw more than a thousand sealed boxes on a cabinet in the sterilized control room. However, what Angie was only sure of was that the best living control brain was in one of the four boxes.
“Take out all the four brains and test them. I want the best,” Zhou Qingfeng said. Four of the sealed boxes looked similar except for their serial numbers.
“But I’m not able to completely hack the main computer and the ownership of DogMeat can only be set to a person once.” Angie pointed at a brainwave analyzer. “This analyzer will reject those who were already registered; there’s only one chance to claim ownership over DogMeat.”
“Only one chance for each person?” Zhou Qingfeng had encountered a situation that depended on luck; he could not help his glare aimed at Tony Parker. It would be hard for him to get it as there was a lucky man beside him. “Nobody knows which serial number is going to work?”
Angie shrugged as she looked at Katrina, who was currently weakened. “The lab supervisor was hit and had a severe concussion. He wouldn’t be awake for at least three to five days.”
Three to five days? A lot of thugs from Brooklyn will be rushing into Manhattan and making trouble by then. How would I have the time to wait?
Katrina did not care. She shrugged her shoulders as if to say, ‘Yes, I did that.’
“You pick first.” Zhou Qingfeng was not confident with his luck. He thought twice and decided to let Angie give it a go first. He would rather give DogMeat to Angie than to Tony Parker.
Angie sat in front of the brainwave analyzer and put the brainwave controlling electrode pad on her head. After a few moments, her brain analysis was completed, and the mechanical arms in the sterilized control room began to move. The main computer in the laboratory started to select a living brain for her.
The selected brain was verified by the computer; it was a human brain from a volunteer. The computer then asked, Proceed to install the brain into DogMeat? Angie instantly declined and got down from the brainwave analyzer.
Zhou Qingfeng, confused, asked, “What’s wrong with human brain?”
Angie replied, “Human brains are too complicated and wouldn’t match with DogMeat’s body.”
“Which one is the best then?”
“A biochemical brain. It was from a police dog that died in an accident. Its intelligence would achieve the level of an eight-year-old child’s with a smart computer. Even though it wouldn’t be able to talk, it would be capable of understanding and obeying complicated orders.”
After Angie finished talking, Tony Parker went forward and said, “I’d like to try next.”
“I’m the one who decides who’s next, not you.” Zhou Qingfeng rejected Tony Parker immediately, turned around, and spoke to the Katrina who was still recovering, “You’re next.”
Katrina glared at Zhou Qingfeng, stood up weakly, then sat on the brainwave analyzer. After a few minutes, she walked down without saying anything.
“What brain did you get?” Zhou Qingfeng asked.
“I didn’t pay attention.” Katrina did not care at all.
Angie walked forward, took a glance at the screen, and said, “Based on the description of from the computer, it was an abnormal brain.”
“Well, it’s indeed perfect for you,” Zhou Qingfeng taunted Katrina.
“Humph!” Katrina glared at Zhou Qingfeng.
There were two living brains left. Zhou Qingfeng looked at Tony Parker, and the latter looked at him too. They stared at each other for awhile, before Zhou Qingfeng straightened his face and sat on the brain analyzer. “My turn.”