"The submarine had been sabotaged from the outside, the belly joint had been severed, and the Light Imprint Structure had been altered!"

"No wonder it was so coincidental... that I had strongly opposed and requested a re-audit. Then my submarine suddenly went out of control. I couldn't use the emergency contact function, nor could I get in touch with the expedition ship."

Bi Qi was livid, his entire body flushing with anger.

"Before boarding, there should have been a safety inspection of the ship. At that time, the craftsmen could board the expedition ship. Those bastards must have tampered with my ship then!"

"Aha! Those vermin! So despicable and shameless! I'm going to sue them!"

It cursed aloud, fuming with indignation.

Zhou Yi soothed in a low voice, "Do you have solid evidence?"

"Yes, my submarine was clearly tampered with maliciously. When it entered the pressure zone at the bottom of the Dead Sea, this modification made the Light Imprint Structure completely inoperative."

"Then can you prove it was the Light Imprint School that you mentioned?"

"..."

It was at a loss for words for a moment.

Bi Qi calmed himself down by submerging in the water of the barrel.

When he emerged again, his skin had returned to its usual green.

"You're right, I can't prove it. But I won't let this go; it's murder!"

Zhou Yi reminded the other, "Don't rush this, you need to protect yourself first. What is this Light Imprint School?"

"They started as a social group, worshiping and studying Death Light, pursuing ultimate power, and proficient in making various dangerous devices, which is why they're favored by all parties."

"The Light Imprint School believes that prehistoric humans were but slaves to the gods, and that the legends of prehistoric humans moving mountains and soaring through the skies are pure fiction. The records and history of the Dead Sea Documents are just prehistoric human fantasy and self-aggrandizement."

After cooling down, Bi Qi returned to reason: "In opposition to the Light Imprint School is the Light Restoration Society."

"The Light Restoration Society firmly believes that prehistoric humans indeed created a civilization far superior to ours today. The evidence lies in some neutral ancient mechanical beings that have retained some data records from the Divine Era."

"Whether it's the Light Imprint School or the Light Restoration Society, both are academic groups formed by supporters of specific theories, wielding significant influence. It's just that the Light Imprint School is much larger in scale because the Light Restoration Society's applied fields are weaker and they create less economic value."

Zhou Yi couldn't help but be curious, "It seems that most members of the Light Imprint School should be Guangna Scholars, while the Light Restoration Society is mostly made up of humans."

"No, you got that wrong."

Octopus Brother corrected, "Both the Light Imprint School and the Light Restoration Society are comprised of Guangna Scholars; they do not accept humans."

"Are humans not involved at all? But I remember there being human alchemists in the Alchemist Association?"

Zhou Yi found this odd.

It was like two people arguing whether a white horse is not a horse, while the horse next to them can't participate in its own defense.

Kind of tragic.

"Humans are involved in another domain."

Bi Qi explained, "They have the Night Church."

"The Night Church venerates the night and the unknown, delves into arcane studies, and worships a deity called the Night God, said to have existed since the Divine Era. However, most cities do not recognize this Church, nor do they allow the public promotion of the Night God, so their worship is usually done in secret."

Ah?

Guangna Scholars were researching Death Light Technology and archeological history revision, while the new human scholars were now engaging in worship.

Zhou Yi clenched his fists.

These unimpressive descendants of the Wasteland!

With actions like these, how can humans ever be revitalized!

Don't get angry, don't get angry...

He calmed himself down.

Bi Qi continued, "After the submarine lost control, I tried various ways to save myself. Since I had already entered the underwater seabed, it was impossible to forcibly open the hatch."

"We Water Octopuses are not known for physical strength, so being exposed at the bottom of the Dead Sea would be extremely dangerous, even if I encountered a samurai crab. That's why I contracted into a Dehydrated State and went into hibernation, waiting for rescue."

"Looking back, if I had tried to force my way out and ascend to the surface of the Dead Sea, I would have indeed been on a path to certain death. Those people would never have allowed me to live and return."

It pondered for a moment: "The rapids could have caused a degree of movement in the underwater sea floor mud, which is why the submarine was pushed so far away."

Zhou Yi roughly understood the situation: "What do you plan to do now?"

"Originally, I wanted to go to the headquarters of the Alchemist Association in the Heavenly Kingdom..."

Bi Qi sighed, "But that might not be a good choice. According to the procedures, if a Silver Seal Alchemist from any city of the Alchemist Association doesn't report for a year, funding is suspended. After three years without a report, qualifications are completely revoked."

"My research area is hard to generate direct profits and has always been subject to funding cuts. That's why I often dived beneath the sediment layer at the bottom of the Dead Sea, hoping to find some new results to stabilize my funding."

"Now, if I go to the headquarters without sufficient evidence, I'd also have to explain my situation, and the Light Imprint School could easily suppress it... I'd definitely become a thorn in their side. Sigh, it's hard just wanting to do some research."

Zhou Yi asked, "Do you specialize in Divine Era civilization?"

If it was archaeology, then indeed, funding would be easy to cut.

Mainly because it cannot directly generate profit.

Production capacity is already low in the Wasteland Era, as land is scarce, making resource allocation to archaeologists even more difficult.

According to Octopus Brother, the reason the Light Imprint School has the right to speak is actually because it controls higher productivity, which can bring considerable benefits.

Bi Qi corrected, "To be precise, it is based on bone fossils to study the social forms of prehistoric human society in the Divine Era. This is actually a very broad direction, and my main focus at the moment is to use bone fossils as a starting point to compare the differences between ancient humans and contemporary humans."

Zhou Yi immediately seized on the key point, "You also know a lot about bones?"

"Yes. Although I don't have bones myself, skeletons are the basic framework of many flesh-and-blood creatures, and that has always been my main sample for observation."

Zhou Yi looked at him, "Are you sure what you saw before were prehistoric human skeletons?"

He had never seen a complete human skeleton in his own experience. Buildings were all empty, and although bones could occasionally be seen, their origins were uncertain.

"There's no doubt about it. Complete skeletons are very rare."

Bi Qi asserted decisively, "The earliest Bone Fish were born from the skeletal remains left behind after prehistoric humans decomposed. So if a Divine Era Relic spawns a Bone Fish, then all bones will be taken away by it. It's very hard to find a burial site for prehistoric humans that has remained intact after such a long time since the Divine Era."

"I finally found one, but unfortunately, I don't know where it is anymore..."

Zhou Yi thought to himself, so that's how it is.

Bone Fish could always be seen searching for bones on the sea floor; some of them might even be relics from the old era.

Bi Qi gestured with his eight tentacles, speaking non-stop, "Bone Fish are natural collectors of bones. They absorb Death Light to grow bones and also install and fuse the skeletons of other creatures onto themselves. Bone Fish near Divine Era Relics are my main research target; maybe traces of ancient beings remain on them."

"Unfortunately, after Bone Fish merge with the bones, they undergo reorganization, making it very difficult to find well-preserved traces."

Zhou Yi immediately made a decision.

"Bi Qi, would you be willing to continue your bone research with us?"

"Do you mean the Wasteland Development Company?"

Bi Qi seemed hesitant, "But I don't know about you, and even though you saved my life, if my skills can't be utilized in a specific direction..."

Red Kestrel flew to its side, projecting on the crab's back, displaying the company's credit rating and various industries, introducing the Wasteland Development Company to it through images.

Octopus Brother's eyes widened, "So it turns out it's a B-level organization. It seems I'm ignorant. But for an Alchemist like me who can't create direct value, do you really want to recruit me? I was just born with a Multi-Brain structure, which allows me to use multiple brains better than other creatures, but in other aspects, I'm even weaker than E-level life forms."

Zhou Yi also had a request, "We need you to study Bone Fish growth through their bones."

"To be honest, I haven't really gone deep into this... but I will try my best."

At the same time, Zhou Yi also got market pricing data from Red Kestrel.

"The average salary for a Silver Seal Alchemist is currently 120 Light Seeds per year. I'll hire you at this standard and also give you 100 Light Seeds as startup research funding. Can you accept that?"

Octopus Brother was stunned, then hastily said, "Yes, yes, I can accept!!"

It then hesitantly added, "But apart from Bone Fish... I still want to continue my research on Divine Era civilization."

Zhou Yi agreed.

"As long as it doesn't affect our progress here, you can conduct that research concurrently, and I'll also provide the necessary resources. But please remember, the Bone Fish project is more important and studying the Divine Era civilization is not something that can be achieved overnight, right?"

Octopus Brother appeared relieved.

Now that the delivery center was gradually expanding, training Bone Fish deliverymen was definitely a long-term strategy.

But at the moment, it was a matter of knowing what was happening without understanding why.

Bone Fish raised from fry, fed on a specific diet, grow up inside Zhanjiang Bay No.1 becoming docile and easy to tame.

But as for the changes and development of their bones, even the Mechanical Doctor Da Vinci could not explain.

The Mechanical Doctor said, "I have never treated a Bone Fish, nor have I had any Bone Fish patients."

In the public perception, such bottom-level Dead Sea creatures were considered part of the backdrop in various scenarios. They were either food for mid-to-high level Guangna Species or a reference for observing the environment at the bottom of the Dead Sea, comparable in status to sand rats on land.

Having Octopus Brother research the growth of Bone Fish bones was also considered a research support for the delivery center.

...

Bi Qi's identity was quickly confirmed.

As a Silver Seal Alchemist, it already had a registered identity in Mechanical City, where it was a regular.

To Zhou Yi's surprise, Octopus Brother wasn't that old; it was only 27 years old, qualifying it as a young scientist of this era.

Bi Qi said, "My talent is quite average since a water octopus from my clan could become a Copper Chapter Alchemist once all nine brains are normally developed—something that typically happens by the age of 5. All our growth is in the brain; our bodies are just flexible with not very high strength."

"Then, continuing to develop, you can become a Silver Seal Alchemist by 12 years old, but it took me until I was 14 to pass. However, getting a Golden Seal is very difficult, as that requires pioneering achievements."

This is the race talent of the water octopus clan, naturally equipped with a 9-core CPU.

Five days later, the Wasteland Development Company's first research department, the "Bone Laboratory," was officially established, and Jade City specially constructed a two-story building for it.

Lab Director Bi Qi was temporarily the only member of the laboratory.

As soon as it received funding, it spent everything and even advanced half its salary to purchase a series of devices, including voice synthesizers, through Recursive City. Its spend-it-all-immediately style was somewhat surprisingly consistent with Red Kestrel's.

The residents of Jade City had two impressions of this strange department.

One was the regular delivery of various bones there, and the other was the imposing mechanical crab standing at the entrance.

Many samurai crabs passing by would come and admire it—in their unenlightened minds, they considered it a sleeping giant of an elder.

As the delivery center's array of facilities began to take shape, the company's delivery business entered a period of rapid development.

Finally, Zhou Yi could set his mind at ease and return to the Dead Sea to open new resource areas.

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