Chapter 88: The Strange Professor

Watching Zhao Jie’s movements, Zhou Jie paid no attention at all. Whichever one it was, the outcome would be the same in the end, and he had not noticed the subtle oddity in Zhao Jie’s behavior just now.

“Professor Zhou Jie, are these Upamon all Digimon from the digital secret realm near your institute?”

Zhao Jie’s fingers passed over the Upamon one after another. Aside from one that showed no reaction at all, the others all gave a distinct shudder.

Something was off.

Muttering that inwardly, Zhao Jie picked up the one that had not reacted, set it onto the instrument, and asked casually, “Then which digital gene sequence are you planning to use for it?”

“Yes,” Zhou Jie answered with a yawn, his tone utterly offhand. “What sequence are you planning to use?”

“Let’s use the Jyarimon one.”

Zhao Jie began operating the converter, calling up Jyarimon’s digital gene sequence.

Humanity had already mastered the gene sequences of many Digimon. Some researchers had even proposed a bold conjecture:

Could humans use these digital gene sequences to become Digimon themselves?

Of course, no one openly conducted such experiments. As for whether they were being carried out in secret, that was impossible to say.

After all, the world was far too vast.

Jyarimon was a four-legged In-Training Digimon that emerged after Sunarizamon’s growth.

Its appearance strongly resembled Tokomon’s, and its mouth was likewise lined with neatly arranged, powerful teeth. But unlike Tokomon, which evolved along a mammalian line, Jyarimon evolved into a dragon-type and possessed a far more savage temperament. Though small, it was exceedingly ferocious.

Quite a few large Digimon had been fooled by its appearance and suffered vicious retaliation. Its special move was Heat Bite, in which it clamped down on its opponent. The bite was said to be as hot as Sunarizamon’s body temperature, leaving the wound as though it had been seared.

This kind of Digimon appeared only in desert secret realms, but its digital gene sequence had clearly been thoroughly studied by human scientists long ago.

And that was the sequence Zhao Jie intended to use now.

According to Professor Zhou Jie’s earlier research results, implanting a second gene sequence into an Infant Digimon carried a much lower risk.

“Then I’m starting.”

Looking at the Upamon inside the instrument, Zhao Jie spoke softly, though from the corner of his eye he was watching the listless Zhou Jie standing nearby.

Bzzz...

The Upamon at the center of the instrument wore a numb expression. The moment the machine activated, digital energy poured down from above its head.

Splash!

Like flowing water, the digital energy wrapped the Upamon completely.

This was the first step: synchronization.

Then came the second step, the most crucial one of all: incorporation.

The digital energy containing Jyarimon’s gene sequence was injected into Upamon’s body.

The process was very brief, lasting only a little over ten seconds.

Then Zhao Jie saw the Upamon’s body swell by a whole circle, and the light of evolution rise from within it.

Crack!

Before joy could even appear on Zhao Jie’s face, the Upamon burst apart with a sharp sound, turning into digital particles and scattering before his eyes.

A few of those particles drifted onto Zhao Jie’s body, bringing with them a chill that pierced to the bone.

“What a pity. It failed. Shall we continue?”

Zhou Jie’s voice sounded at just the right moment beside Zhao Jie’s ear, pulling him back from his daze.

“When it fails, the Digimon die?”

Zhao Jie turned toward Zhou Jie and pressed the question seriously.

There had been no mention of this in the earlier materials.

Which meant Professor Zhou Jie had concealed the true results of the experiments.

“Not necessarily. Some Digimon don’t die.”

“Well? Do you still want to continue? You haven’t yet seen a Digimon that successfully fused two gene sequences.”

A look of regret appeared on Zhou Jie’s face, as though he were genuinely disheartened by the failure of this experiment.

But Zhao Jie caught a trace of a smile in his brows.

That regret was only a disguise.

Something was wrong.

Thinking back to what he had seen in the restroom earlier, Zhao Jie became certain that there was something deeply strange about Professor Zhou Jie.

“Forget it. I’m a little hungry. Before I knew it, the whole day had passed. Let’s continue tomorrow. I want to study the theory of conversion evolution a bit more.”

Without betraying anything, Zhao Jie declined the suggestion.

“All right.”

Zhou Jie nodded, though inwardly he felt intense disappointment.

He truly loved this kind of feast of Digimon death.

“By the way, Professor Zhou Jie, who was it that told you about Agumon?”

Over dinner, Zhao Jie chatted idly with Professor Zhou Jie as they ate.

“I watched the final of the rookie cup in Sand City. When I’m not doing experiments, I sometimes follow competitions to pass the time and look for inspiration. You’ve raised your Agumon very well.”

After taking a bite of food, Zhou Jie looked at Zhao Jie with open admiration.

He truly meant it. Seeing a Greymon appear before his eyes, he genuinely admired it.

After all, Greymon’s evolution line had already been officially prohibited. Only Digimon with extraordinary luck could still evolve into it.

Without Greymon, how could he carry out his destruction plan?

What had made him feel even more favored by heaven was that this Agumon had happened to develop a problem, sparing him the need to use any underhanded tricks.

This one had obediently walked right into the trap.

“Thank you, Professor.”

Zhao Jie answered modestly. By now, he was certain that the professor before him had a problem.

Earlier, Director Gao Tianming of the Wuling City Digimon Hospital had originally planned to send Agumon to the Digimon Hospital in Sand City for treatment. But afterward, he had said that a professor specializing in Digimon consciousness and form was willing to treat Agumon personally.

That was why both Agumon and Zhao Jie had been sent here.

Director Gao had even guessed that it was a favor done on behalf of Elder She.

But now it seemed that was probably not the case.

This man had likely set his sights on Zhao Jie and Agumon a long time ago.

As his thoughts raced, Zhao Jie arrived at a string of conclusions.

Of course, whether Professor Zhou Jie truly had a problem still required further proof.

“Professor Zhou Jie, I’m full. I’ll head back to my room and rest first.”

Setting down his bowl and chopsticks, Zhao Jie’s expression remained perfectly normal, without the slightest trace of anything unusual. He greeted the somewhat suspicious professor and then walked toward his room.

“Go on, go on. Get a good rest, and don’t worry too much. Agumon will probably wake up the day after tomorrow.”

Professor Zhou Jie nodded, never realizing that he had already aroused Zhao Jie’s suspicion.

In his view, this was only a child; there was no way he could have noticed anything amiss.

Besides, he was extremely confident in his acting. Had he not become a professor, if he had gone into entertainment instead, he would likely have had the talent of an award-winning actor.

It couldn’t be helped.

He was simply that exceptional.