Chapter Forty-Eight: The Strangers from the Land of the Lighthouse

The components of their bodies had transformed into all manner of bizarre shapes; one of them even had a hand that had become five blades made of iron, resembling some grotesque, unnatural creature…

Wait! A grotesque creature!

Everyone suddenly realized something, turning incredulous eyes toward Banbesai, awaiting his explanation.

Banbesai seemed thoroughly pleased with their reaction, continuing with a smile, “Exactly! I have mastered the technology to merge humans with grotesque creatures! And I can make them fight for us! This is far more interesting than the Spirit Tamers of Huaxia!”

Shock! None of them could believe it. They turned to look at their president, only to see him bowing his head, as though trying to hide from something.

Clearly, the president had already given tacit approval.

Silence. They all chose to remain silent. This was simply too much to accept.

At last, someone could no longer restrain himself.

A burly man with a thick beard slammed the table in fury. “Banbesai! This tramples the very bottom line of humanity! If humans are merged with grotesque creatures, are they still human? No—they’re grotesque creatures!”

No one voiced agreement or opposition; all eyes were fixed on Banbesai.

Banbesai had anticipated this reaction. He smiled at the bearded man. “Sir, please control your emotions. I will offer a reasonable explanation for my research.”

The bearded man, chastened, realized his loss of composure. He slowly sat down, glaring at Banbesai, waiting for further explanation.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are facing the gravest crisis since the outbreak of individual warfare: the grotesque creature threat. There is no doubt that their very existence is to wipe out humanity.

Now, grotesque resurgence has begun in full. Huaxia not only has Spirit Tamers, but also martial artists and Taoists. Even the Sunset Nation, besides Spirit Tamers, has Oracles. But what do we have? Nothing but Spirit Tamers.

Huaxia and the Sunset Nation have long histories. Their records are filled with accounts of their ancestors battling grotesque creatures. History, however, is our nation’s most fatal weakness.

The history of this continent was erased when our ancestors landed on this island and drove out both the native Tabettans and their own past. Do you really think we can survive this human catastrophe relying solely on Spirit Tamers and those low-grade grotesque technologies?”

Everyone lowered their heads, rendered speechless by his words.

This was exactly the reaction he wanted to see. So Banbesai began to formally expound on his research results.

“As you can see, grotesque creatures and humans can be made compatible with certain special methods—particularly some humanoid grotesque creatures, whom I call ‘Variants.’

These Variants are much stronger than traditional Spirit Tamers. Admittedly, they lose cognitive ability in this transformation, but we can use our existing mental control devices to make them fight for us.

In the future, these Variants will be our nation’s ultimate weapon for self-preservation!”

“Then who will become these Variants? Who would volunteer?” the bearded man demanded through clenched teeth.

“Sir, that’s simple—just use the sick as Variants. We have no shortage of patients in our nation,” Banbesai replied, fingers interlaced, smiling at the bearded man.

“Patients? What patients? All the world’s terminal illnesses were eradicated years ago!” the bearded man said, utterly baffled.

“Oh, sir, you must understand—there is truly only one disease in this world, and it will never disappear,” Banbesai answered with the same smile, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“What disease?” The bearded man was even more confused. There are so many diseases in the world—how could there possibly be only one?

Banbesai walked over to him, bent down, and whispered in his ear, “Poverty.”

Then he straightened up, hands folded before him, watching the bearded man’s reaction.

When he heard the word “poverty,” the bearded man’s eyes contracted sharply, then quickly returned to calm.

Yes, there is only one true disease in this world—poverty. Even if terminal ailments have all been conquered, that does not mean no one will die from illness, for treatment costs money. The poor still die, not from incurable conditions, but from lack of means.

This was even more painful than when his own illness had yet to be cured; now, even with available treatments, he could never afford them. That sense of despair was even greater.

He understood Banbesai’s meaning well enough—he intended to use the poor as Variants!

But would he speak up for the poor? No, of course not.

Humans are inherently selfish. If one’s own safety can be bought at the cost of others’ sacrifice, who would refuse?

No one raised a voice in protest. Their silence was tacit consent. Seeing this, the president finally stood.

“So be it. From now on, all research priorities will be handed to Dr. Banbesai. Any powerful grotesque creatures will be sent to him first. That’s all.”

With that, he left, escorted by several Spirit Tamer bodyguards. The others also departed in turn, leaving only the bearded man, Banbesai, and his two Variant test subjects.

The hall was now empty. The bearded man finally stood, walked to the door, and turned to glare fiercely at Banbesai. “I hope you can still uphold the bottom line of being human.”

With these words, he left without looking back.

Banbesai showed no reaction, remaining where he stood with a polite smile—had it not been for his deeds, he would have seemed the perfect gentleman.

Who knows how long passed before the two Variants came up behind him and spoke in low voices, “We played our parts well enough, haven’t we? Don’t forget our demand—we want more, many more humans!”

Banbesai nodded vigorously, a bead of sweat trickling down his chin, which he wiped away quickly. “I understand. I understand.”

Indeed, these two were not so-called Variants at all, but real, genuine grotesque creatures.

Banbesai’s true intention had been to merge grotesque creatures with humans, and after much experimentation, he found it was indeed possible—except that all subjects became grotesque creatures in the end.

He did not give up, persisting with his research, which ultimately led to these two immensely powerful grotesque creatures taking control of him. Originally, they had been a single grotesque entity—an S-class grotesque creature.

But thanks to Banbesai’s meddling, it split into two S-class grotesque creatures, both now possessed of even sharper intelligence.

Thus, they devised this plan: to secretly cultivate a great number of grotesque creatures merged with humans, eventually to rule the entire nation!

Yet, they could hardly have imagined that humans would be foolish enough to believe such absurd tales of human-grotesque fusion. Now, taking over the nation would be as easy as clipping their nails.

At this thought, the two grotesque creatures burst out laughing—laughter indistinguishable from that of any human.

As their arrogant laughter echoed behind him, Banbesai’s lips curled into a contemptuous smile—a smile that concealed many things, hinting at a grander scheme yet to unfold.

Meanwhile, in the Sunset Nation…