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Chapter 2602: 2602

Chapter 2602: Brain Dissection

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Creepy howls came over from the end of the tunnel .

It sounded like a ferocious beast on a rampage that had been skinned alive .

Very soon, a daunting shadow rushed into Li Yao and his companions’ sight after a few leaps .

It was also an officer of the Imperial Guards . Judging from his epaulet, he was of a rather high military rank .

His face, however, couldn’t have been more appalling . His head had expanded to twice the normal size . Quite a few lumps were rising high on his forehead and his temples, fluctuating like beating hearts .

His eyes were so red that they were almost purple, so purple that they were almost black . From the festering eyes, tremendous colorful, suspicious fluids were flowing out, as if his brain had entirely been turned into mucus that was being squeezed out .

Even so, he still boasted unparalleled strength . After a wave of his hands, he already tore two Imperial Guards who went forward to stop him into two pieces, their guts flowing all over the ground .

If the vitality field of the other Imperial Guards was like a lifeless river that was running at a fixed speed, the vitality field of this mad officer would be as violent as a colorful, surging vortex .

After killing a couple of soldiers in a row, he threw his head at a heavy tractor . He even tried to lift the heavy tractor that weighed hundreds of tons . His arms were squeaking, his legs deeply sank into the ground, and even his arm bones were protruding out of his elbows, but he couldn’t care less about it .

The officer had completely gone mad .

The “normal” Imperial Guards around were utterly fearless . They took the opportunity to charge forward . After paying a price of more than ten victims, they finally dealt a fatal blow at the mad officer .

The mad officer, however, was unbelievably tough . His internal organs were almost burnt up by the heating guns and the crystal guns . A devastating hole appeared on his torso . However, his wails did not die down until more than half a minute later .

At this moment, his head had expanded to three times the normal size . The few lumps on his temples and the center of his eyebrows were as swollen as grapes that might explode at any moment .

A team of soldiers wearing special helmets that looked like anti-epidemic personnel immediately went forward and dragged the corpses of the officers and the dead soldiers away into an inconspicuous branch next to the tunnel .

The rest of the Imperial Guards seemed to be too familiar with such a scene to be surprised . It took them only half a minute to restore their order and continue shipping the crystals mechanically .

Li Yao and Long Yangjun looked at each other and said at the same time, “Follow them!”

Li Yao split a few crystal cameras and followed the team of “anti-epidemic soldiers” from not far behind them .

In the meantime, he scanned the tunnel and the branch and simulated the structure in his crystal processor . When another quake took place, he powered the drill of mystic rays and crawled toward the branch .

In the end, together with Long Yangjun and Li Jialing, he put on his crystal suit and turned on the stealth mode . The three of them were melted into the environment like chameleons .

The branch was zigzagging and now high, now low . It took the anti-epidemic soldiers more than twenty minutes to finish a thousand meters and reach their destination while carrying a massive amount of bodies with floating discs .

At the end of the branch was a hole from which fire and smoke were jetting out nonstop . There seemed to be a magma pool somewhere deep down .

Huala!

The anti-epidemic soldiers threw the corpses of a few soldiers in first . The dead bodies were immediately taken away by the fire and disappeared into the smoke . Melted by the magma, they did not have a single cell left .

“Let’s do it!”

The anti-epidemic soldiers were about to throw the mad officer’s body into the magma when Li Yao and Long Yangjun dashed down . Flashing into almost ten clones, they controlled the four anti-epidemic soldiers instantly and made them fall to the ground without any sound .

For safety, Li Yao set up an alarm rune array and a sound-blocking rune array on the branch, in case the sounds here might spread out .

“Do you want me to do it, or do you want to do it yourself?”

Li Yao asked Long Yangjun .

“Let me . I have a more profound understanding of the so-called ‘brainwashing’ than you . ”

Long Yangjun took out a few scalpels that were as thin as paper from her Cosmos Ring . They danced among her fingertips agilely .

Li Yao and Li Jialing helped her move the rest of the bodies, and they only kept that of the mad officer on the floating disc . Then, adjusting the anti-gravity rune array, Li Yao set the altitude of the floating disc to Long Yangjun’s chest, turning it into a simple operation stable .

Long Yangjun’s fingers turned into ten streaks of brilliance and operated on the officer’s uneven head accurately . Very soon, the shattered skull was removed, and all the broken bones were picked out, but the brain tissues inside were not damaged at all .

However, although Long Yangjun did not injure the brain tissues of the mad officer, they were already as messy as churned tofu . If Long Yangjun had not covered and supported it with spiritual energy, they would’ve spurted all over the ground .

Thankfully, Li Yao and Li Jialing were both ruthless men, or they would’ve thrown up .

Focusing her attention, Long Yangjun separated the muddled brain tissues . Three minutes later, she found what she wanted .

“Do you see it? The brain tissues here went out of control . The brain cells proliferated crazily thousands of times faster than the speed of normal metabolism, unleashing abundant heat and causing severe internal bleeding . ”

Pointing at the abnormally swollen brain tissues with forceps, Long Yangjun said, “That’s the reason why his head expanded twice and why he went mad . ”

Li Yao nodded to show that he understood it .

The symptom of the officer was not rare among the trainers . Many classic diseases in mental derangement would cause simple problems .

The cells inside a human body, both the body cells and the brain cells, died and grew every day . After every seven to ten days, the cells all over the body would be renewed . This process was known as “metabolism” .

Metabolism was an indispensable function to ensure the vitality and vigor of human beings .

One of the most important training methods for both the Cultivators and the Immortal Cultivators was to absorb abundant spiritual energy and accelerate the speed of metabolism of a certain region or their entire bodies through special techniques .

The renewal of all the cells in the body was known as “one cycle” . On the premise of enough resources, an expert of training could have dozens of cycles when they mediated for hours, renewing their cells dozens of times . That was why they boasted abilities far exceeded what the ordinary people were capable of .

However, it was not necessarily a good thing that the speed of metabolism was too fast .

That was because the renewal of cells would consume abundant resources and spiritual energy and also generate and discharge tremendous wastes, including the dead cells, the blood that covered the deal cells, the mucus, and even additional heat .

Such wastes had to be absorbed by the capillary vessels and shipped to the skin, where they were discharged through the pores .

That was why one would be spurting out hot steam and secreting stinky, black fluids when they were training hard .

If the speed of discharging could not keep up with the speed at which the wastes were produced, the poisonous wastes would be gathered inside the body, blocking the veins and nerves and disrupting the normal circulation of spiritual energy and body fluids . Tremendous damage would be caused, even including severe consequences such as mental derangement .

It was exactly the case for the officer .

His brain had too many “cycles” too quickly . The brain cells in a region were updated countless times, but the dead brain cells and blood were not discharged in time . Also, the heat released during the metabolism pressed and tore apart the regular brain tissues and cerebral vessels . Even the skull was blown up by the force . As a result, he was mentally deranged and went mad .

“How did it happen?”

Li Jialing couldn’t help but touch his own head . “Such abnormal expansion of the head usually happens only when one is practicing powerful techniques or advancing into a new level, right? This officer was carrying out a mission . How on earth was he mentally deranged for no good reason?”

“It’s not exactly ‘for no good reason’ . Look, it was this cluster of brain tissues that had abnormalities . Many brain specialists and Meditation Healers believe that this is the area responsible for memories . They are known as ‘memory cells’ . ”

Long Yangjun opened the abnormal brain cells with the forceps softly and said, “Focus your spiritual energy on your eyes and set the resolution of your eyes to the highest . What can you see from here?”

Li Yao took out a pair of hazel glasses from his Cosmos Ring and handed it to Li Jialing . With the glasses, Li Jialing narrowed his eyes and observed carefully for a long time before he remarked in surprise, “Bleeding points! So many bleeding points!”

“Yes . Those bleeding points were not formed recently . They were formed because somebody repetitively stimulated the area of memory cells over the past few days, if not months . ”

Long Yangjun said, “The memory cells of this officer had already been ravaged and riddled with holes . They were essentially a mess, even more vulnerable than the memory cells of the ordinary people . When something went wrong, it was possible that the repair genes of the memory cells would be triggered, leading to abnormal expansion and internal bleeding . Eventually, they caused mental derangement . ”

“Human beings boast a rather powerful self-recovery system . The recovery functions of the trainers are even more impressive . ”

Li Yao explained, “The memory cells of the officer have been repetitively stimulated and traumatized . So, his brain sent a special order to the cells, asking them to ‘repair the damaged cells and proliferate more cells’ . However, when the order was carried too many times, things went out of control, and the crazy repair and proliferation became unrestrained, making him end up like this .

“In fact, the proliferation of body tissues is commonly seen on ordinary people too, as could be seen by the scars after wounds heal . However, for the Immortal Cultivators, their speed of metabolism and cell recovery are dozens of times higher than that of the ordinary people . Once the cells lose control, the consequences will be much more severe .

“Not just the memory cells, there’s also this spot . ”

Long Yangjun began to dissect the brain tissues on the other side . “Similar phenomena of swelling and proliferation can be found here too . Some of the brain cells have been expanded more than ten times its normal size . How can he not go mad?”

Chapter 2603: A Full Purge

“I know that.”

Li Jialing said, “This is the right hemisphere of the human brain that controls feelings. The left hemisphere and the right hemisphere of the human brain have different functions. The left hemisphere is responsible for memories, logical thinking, and analysis, while the right hemisphere is responsible for feelings, music, painting, and other functions. Since the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere both have abundant bleeding points and abnormal swelling, it means that the man’s memories and feelings are controlled, or at least under the effect of high-intensity stimulation.”

“It’s basically correct, but I need to slightly rectify something.”

Long Yangjun nodded her head and said, “I know that many brain experts and Meditation Healers have proposed the asymmetric functionality of the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere in their masterpieces, and they have divided the brain into many different modules such as ‘memory zone’ and ’emotion zone’, but as a matter of fact, human beings’ memories, feelings, and self-awareness are all very mysterious and unpredictable. ‘Control’ does not even begin to describe their purpose.”

“It must be noted that even if the brain is completely destroyed and the human turns into a ghost, as long as more than 50% of the soul is retained and accommodated by an anti-radiation shell and a high-precision crystal processor, most of the memories and feelings before their death will be kept. Therefore, the theory that the brain tissues have complete control over the soul is not necessarily true.

“In my opinion, the brain is to the soul what the soil is to a tree or even to the fruits on the tree.

“The quality of the soil will certainly decide the quality of the tree and whether the fruits are sweet or sour. However, once the tree grows up and yields abundant fruits, even if the soil is removed, it will be possible to transplant the tree to a certain ‘soilless’ environment or to pick the fruits and preserve them in a vacuum environment with cooling rune arrays. They will not go bad in decades.

“That is to say, the brain is the soil to gather the soul as well as the consciousness. However, once the soul and the consciousness take shape, their demands on the brain tissues will not be as strong.

“We can only say that stimulating this area on the left hemisphere can interfere with the memories to some extent, and stimulating that area on the right hemisphere can briefly alter one’s personality.

“If the two areas are completely wiped out through surgeries, human beings will lose their memories and feelings, turning into numb, emptyheaded machines.”

Li Jialing thought for a moment and asked, “Like the people of the Covenant Alliance?”

“Judging from the density of the bleeding points and the qualitative changes of the brain, he hadn’t reached the point where his feelings were entirely excised. The two areas in the brains of the people of the Covenant Alliance are shrunk but not swollen. This officer must’ve rather intense feelings. However, about to whom his feelings are aimed at, I have no idea.”

Long Yangjun thought for a moment and said, “The changes are similar to the Nepenthe believers who practiced Serenity Arts. The degree is more or less the same although the directions are different.”

Li Jialing was stunned. “Will the Serenity Arts cause qualitative changes to the brains?”

“Even if they hadn’t practiced the Serenity Arts, their brains would still go through qualitative changes given the fact that they lived in extreme fear every second!”

Long Yangjun glanced at Li Jialing and said, “Respect the brain, but don’t imagine the brain to be too enigmatic. Getting to the bottom of it, the brain is just a regular organ on one’s body.

“Consider such an example. If a person grows up in famines and feeds on grasses and rinds eight out of ten days, will his body suffer qualitative changes? Will he be emaciated, skinny, and have all kinds of diseases?”

Li Jialing blurted out, “Of course!”

“Therefore, if it is perfectly normal that your stomach shrinks when there is not enough food, is it something to be surprised at that some areas inside the brain also shrink and mutate?”

Long Yangjun said, “The so-called Serenity Arts merely guided and helped them to adapt to the changes peacefully and safely.”

“Alright, you are both the god and the devil. You have left nothing for me to say.”

Li Yao said, “There’s no need to embroider yourself. We’ll talk about your problem later. Let’s focus on Wuying Qi for now. The cause of this officer’s madness has been found. It seems that he was brainwashed, and he went mad because of the side effects and the sequela of the brainwashing. I wonder what’s the situation with other people. Let’s take a look at the healthy soldiers.”

Li Jialing was rather shocked. “Brother Yao, you are not cutting the heads of the four living soldiers, are you?”

“What are you thinking about?”

Li Yao flicked Li Jialing’s forehead. “Aren’t there quite a few bodies? Here, this body’s skull has been broken in the first place. Not much extra work is needed!”

The two of them carried the second body to the floating disc. Long Yangjun dissected him again and found the target areas accurately.

“He’s the same. There are dense bleeding points on both sides of the brain. Also, the brain tissues had slightly expanded, like the proliferation of body tissues when the same spot is wounded a hundred times.”

Li Jialing observed carefully and drew the conclusion. “However, it seems that the soldier’s conditions were not as serious as the mad officer’s. He was still controllable.”

“It means that all of the officers and soldiers in Wuying Qi’s secret weapon base have been brainwashed by him to different degrees.”

Li Yao summarized, “The damaged areas in the soldiers’ brains are exactly the same areas that Wuying Qi attacked me back in the Seven Seas Grand Market. It is exactly the technology of the Covenant Alliance.

“The short-time, high-intensity ‘hard brainwashing’ causes huge damage to the brain. However, whether or not one is mentally deranged depends on his body quality, his level, and his luck. This officer must’ve had a lot of injuries in his brain during the high-intensity training beforehand. He had been suppressing the injuries by force, but after he was repetitively brainwashed, his cerebral vessels exploded, and his brain cells proliferated, resulting in his death.”

“Such a terrifying brainwashing method!”

Li Jialing was rather shocked. “This is rather unbelievable.”

“Nothing is unbelievable here. Brainwashing is not anything bizarre or mysterious. It is a real thing that can be studied, analyzed, and duplicated.”

Li Yao pointed at Li Jialing’s head and said, “Since Wuying Qi’s ultimate weapon base is more and more related to ‘brainwashing technologies’, we must figure out what the so-called ‘brainwashing’ is first.

“In my opinion, there are two kinds of brainwashing, namely ‘soft brainwashing’ and ‘hard brainwashing’.

“What is ‘soft brainwashing’? Let me give you the simplest example. The two of us have been in each other’s company for a long time. During the time, I preach to you every day and hum like a fly, trying to imprint the beliefs of the Cultivators into your head, and I set up a role model for you by saving the people from disasters often. The mighty and glorious image of the Cultivators is deeply stamped in your heart. As a result, a couple of years later, you are really transformed into a Cultivator. Then, can I say that I performed certain brainwashing on you?

“In my opinion, that is certainly true. However, this is a kind of soft brainwashing whose influence is very insignificant. It’s like the ads you see every once in a while on the Spiritual Nexus, telling you how interesting an item is or how intriguing a game is. They are all the softest brainwashing methods.”

“I understand it now if you put it that way, Brother Yao!”

Li Jialing clapped his hands. “The soft brainwashing is the gentlest and worst brainwashing method that is like the bite of a mosquito. Brother Yao has brainwashed me for such a long time but still cannot set up a glorious image in my head. You can say whatever you want, but I often find you hilarious!”

Li Yao: “… Okay, let’s forget the details. Another example is when children learn the mainstream values and worldviews of the society in school. They are taught with the beliefs of the Cultivators or the Immortal Cultivators over a period of decades. Is that a kind of brainwashing, too?

“I think it is, if we are being strict. It all depends on whether or not everything is told truthfully and nothing is hidden during the education, and whether or not the children are forbidden from accessing different opinions through other channels.

“If the advantages and disadvantages of all beliefs, as well as their serious mistakes and glorious achievements in the past, are all told to the children with an open mind, such brainwashing will be soft. If the facts are twisted or hidden, and the education comes with physical abuse or material stimulation, then such brainwashing will be harder and more violent.

“Think about it. It has been inculcated into the heads of multiple generations of the Imperium that Wuying Qi is supreme and invincible during the past hundreds of years. That definitely counts as brainwashing too. However, we are not very concerned about that, are we?

“The brainwashing methods above have two things in common. First of all, the time cost is too huge. It sometimes takes decades before someone is completely fooled.

“Secondly, those brainwashing methods will not result in qualitative changes in the brain. Or rather, the changes are slow and gradual. During the prolonged brainwashing process, even if the brains had been damaged, they would’ve recovered by themselves.

“Therefore, the ways of brainwashing that I have listed above can all be categorized into ‘soft brainwashing’. In many cases, it is even barely possible to distinguish ‘soft brainwashing’ from ‘education’.

“The Imperial Guards who have been killed miserably before us, on the other hand, are clearly not the victims of ‘soft brainwashing’, but have received high-intensity ‘hard brainwashing’. Some of the areas inside their brains received excessive radiations or were exposed to powerful magnetic fields in only a couple of days or weeks at most, which resulted in serious qualitative changes inside the areas inside their brains. Their memories and feelings were affected, and their self-awareness was twisted. This is the brainwashing of the most narrow sense, and it could even be called the real brainwashing!”