Chapter 111: Offshore Research Station
Above the Mariana Trench, the blades of a private helicopter pierced through the clouds and slowly descended.
Logan leaned against the porthole, watching the steel-structured offshore research station floating in the boundless deep blue below like a piece of floating Lego brick, and couldn't help clicking his tongue.
He had originally planned to finish fishing for this season's bass in Long Island before coming over, but he couldn't handle Carly arranging the itinerary so clearly, saying that Dr. Zhang had already prepared for three days, and if they didn't go anymore, people would think the investors had withdrawn their funds.
Logan thought it made sense; the money had already been poured in, so he couldn't just not hear even a peep, and by the way, he could also take a look at the legendary prehistoric Megalodon, which was still more interesting than watching Tony and Ironhide welding steel plates opposite each other at home every day.
The helicopter landed steadily on the research station's helipad, and as soon as the cabin door was pulled open, the salty and fishy sea breeze rushed into his face.
A group of people had long been standing on the platform. Heading them was a middle-aged man with graying hair and black-framed glasses, who was none other than the project leader, Zhang Wenxuan, followed by a girl in light blue work clothes with sharp eyebrows and eyes—his daughter, Zhang Suyin.
"Mr. Howlett, welcome, welcome."
Zhang Wenxuan took two steps forward, looking a bit reserved when extending his hand, speaking fluent and standard English, "You've had a hard journey, shall I take you to the lounge to rest for a while first?"
Logan shook hands with him, ignoring the English, and opened his mouth with fluent Mandarin, even the tail tone of the Beijing accent revealing authenticity: "No need to be so polite, Dr. Zhang. I'm just here to take a casual look, no need for special treatment, just run things however they are supposed to run."
Zhang Wenxuan was stunned on the spot for half a second, forgetting to retract his hand.
Before setting out, he had deliberately practiced business English for three days and memorized half a book of terminology, never expecting that this world-famous Wolverine could speak Mandarin smoother than the relatives in his hometown.
Zhang Suyin beside him also blinked, the surprise in her eyes couldn't be hidden at all, and then she smiled and replied in Chinese: "Mr. Howlett speaks Chinese so well. We even specially prepared a translator beforehand, looks like it won't come in handy."
"Learned a few sentences when I was bored before."
Logan casually brushed it off, his gaze sweeping over several young employees nearby who were pretending to organize equipment while their eyes were practically glued to him, knowing everything clearly in his heart.
Sure enough, while he was walking towards the main building with Dr. Zhang, two young guys in work clothes behind him were whispering behind the instrument rack.
"Did you film it? Did you film it?"
DJ stuffed his phone into his arms, his voice lowered like a mosquito's buzzing, "My hands were shaking just now! That's Wolverine! The guy who single-handedly wiped out an entire alien fleet!"
"Keep it down!"
Jack pretended to turn the valve, his peripheral vision glancing at Logan's back, "I posted it on AstralNet, with the location set to the Mariana Trench, guaranteed to hit the trending comments. Why do you think he's investing in our marine project? Could it be that he wants to come and catch sharks as pets?"
"Stop talking nonsense, he cares about scientific research!"
DJ retorted verbally, but his hands had already started editing the copy — [Close encounter with Wolverinehimself! Aura is eight feet tall! The boss actually came to our research institute!]
Logan's hearing was sharper than a Beast's, and every single word drifted into his ears without missing a beat.
He pretended not to hear, but the corners of his mouth ticked up slightly.
Catch sharks as pets?
This idea actually coincided with his own; if the Megalodonwas obedient enough, keeping it in his backyard bay didn't seem impossible, and it would just happen to make a land-and-water duo with Ares.
The inside of the research institute was much more spacious than it looked from the outside. Both sides of the corridor were full of transparent observation walls, with various unnameable marine organisms swimming in the water tanks. Deep inside the main control room, a dozen large screens pulsed with real-time undersea data, and the depth marker of the thermocline was marked particularly conspicuously with red lines.
"Our research institute mainly focuses on deep-sea ecology and geological exploration," Zhang Wenxuan pointed at the 3D trench model on the screen, a hint of professional pride in his tone, "Currently, the diving depth has broken through 10,000 meters, making it one of the few research stations in the world capable of reaching the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Recently, we have been conducting biological exploration below the thermocline, and the origin submarine has a diving mission this afternoon."
"The origin?"
Logan raised an eyebrow, his fingertips tapping against the cold glass, "That's the newest deep-submergence vehicle?"
"Yes," Zhang Suyin took over, her fingertips swiping out the yacht parameters on the screen, "Its pressure resistance is three times that of ordinary submersibles, able to withstand the pressure of 12,000 meters underwater. This trip down is mainly to collect bottom water samples and biological samples, with an estimated diving time of six hours."
Logan nodded and asked no more.
He knew very well that this dive was the plot trigger point, and the Megalodon was probably already squatting beneath the thermocline waiting for a feast.
He didn't expose it either, just followed the father and daughter all the way around, from the biological laboratory to the maintenance bay, bumping into several employees along the way who pretended to pass by while secretly taking pictures. Their acting skills were terribly clumsy, comparable to when Tony pretended to be innocent.
By evening, when he casually browsed AstralNet, he indeed saw that the topic 'Wolverine appears at the marine research institute' had jumped into the top twenty of the trending list.
The top-voted post was the back-view photo taken by DJ, and the comment section had gone completely off the rails:
"I bet fifty cents, he definitely went to see the big shark!"
"What does the upstairs know? This is laying out the marine industry, the next step is deep-sea aquaculture!"
"Aquaculture what? Aquaculture great white sharks? Dying of laughter, the guy can punch apart an alien spaceship with one punch, what's wrong with raising a shark!"
"Is it only me who noticed that the entire research institute staff are fanboying/fangirling? If it were me I would take photos too! That's a super big shot!"
Logan smiled, stuffed his phone back into his pocket, and turned to go to the viewing terrace.
He held an unlit cigar in his mouth, leaning against the railing like this, looking towards the dark trench direction in the distance.
The Megalodon...
I wonder if the Beta-class mental illusion works on animals?
He pondered for two seconds, and prepared to try it after the Megalodon came up.
The night passed without incident.
Early the next morning, Logan had just finished breakfast, holding a cup of coffee and leisurely strolling into the main control room, when he heard a burst of urgent alarms coming from inside.
The red warning lights flashed so brightly it made people dizzy. In front of the originally orderly console, everyone stood up, staring tensely at the main screen.
Zhang Wenxuan clenched the walkie-talkie, his brows knitted into knots, and Zhang Suyin's fingers tapped rapidly on the keyboard, the data bars jumping around in a mess.
"What's going on?"
Logan leaned against the door frame, his tone as calm as if he were asking what to eat today.
"Mr. Howlett," Station Chief Mark turned around, his face full of anxiety, "The origin has lost contact. An hour ago, they dived below the thermocline and suddenly encountered an attack by an unknown creature. Communications were instantly cut off, and now the positioning signal is gone too."
"Unknown creature?"
Logan raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise, "Is there anything in the trench that can crash a submersible?"
"We're not sure either," Zhang Wenxuan's voice was deep, "but the submarine's pressure resistance rating is designed for the 10,000-meter class. Ordinary creatures could never cause this much damage. The most troublesome thing now is that the origin's oxygen reserve has less than twelve hours left. If it's any later, the people inside won't hold out."
The control room was heavy with tension. The deep-sea exploration map on the screen was completely blank. The origin had sunk into the sea like a pebble, not even leaving a splash.
"I have a candidate," Mark suddenly spoke up, a hint of hesitation in his tone, "Jonas Taylor, formerly an ace in deep-sea rescue, with 10,000-meter-class rescue experience. He is more familiar with the topography of the Mariana Trench than anyone else. If he's willing to make a move, the probability of survival will be much higher."
"Jonas?"
Zhang Suyin frowned, "The one who claimed to encounter a giant creature in the deep sea five years ago and was discharged due to psychological trauma? His report was treated as a joke by the entire industry back then."
"I know it sounds unreliable, but there's no other way now."
Mark gritted his teeth, "And... Lori is also in the submarine."
As soon as these words came out, the control room became even quieter.
Lori was Jonas's ex-wife and also the co-pilot of the origin. Back then, when the two divorced, half of it was because Jonas insisted that there were deep-sea behemoths, and half was because they spent more time apart than together.
"I'll go with you to Thailand to find him."
Zhang Suyin made a prompt decision, grabbing the jacket hanging nearby, "Let's set off now. The earlier we arrive by a minute, the more hope there is for the people inside."
"I'll go too," Mark nodded, turning to look at Zhang Wenxuan, "Doctor, I'll leave this side to you. We'll report back at the first instance when there's news."
The two walked out in a rush. When passing by Logan, Zhang Suyin deliberately stopped and smiled apologetically: "Mr. Howlett, I'm really sorry. I was supposed to accompany you to continue the tour, but now an accident has happened..."
"It's fine, business matters."
Logan waved his hand, his tone casual, "Saving people is urgent, you guys go ahead, I'll just wander around here."
Watching the two figures leave in a hurry, Logan leisurely sipped his coffee, his gaze falling back onto the dead-silent deep sea on the screen.
Jonas Taylor, the deep-sea savior—sure enough, the one who was supposed to enter the stage had entered.
He knew very well that this trip to Thailand wouldn't go too smoothly. That guy Jonas was hiding in a seaside bar living in a drunken stupor, holding a breath in his heart, refusing to nod until dragging it out to the very end.
By the time he dilly-dallied into the water, the Megalodonwould probably have rammed the submarine another two times.
The staff members nearby were still frantically debugging the signal, and DJ and Jack squatted in the corner, praying softly towards the screen, even forgetting to browse AstralNet.
In the entire control room, Logan was the most idle one, leaning against the door frame like watching a movie, sipping his coffee leisurely.
It's not that he was cold-blooded.
It's mainly that this little matter wasn't worth him stepping in personally.
If the oxygen was really running out and no one could save them, hauling the submarine up was just a matter of minutes for him.
But now the plot was proceeding step by step, and the male protagonist hadn't entered the stage yet, what was he in a hurry for.
Chapter 112 Megalodon
In the evening, the helicopter landed on the helipad.
The cabin door slid open, and the first to step out was a stubble-faced man with messy hair plastered against his temples. He was clutching half a can of unfinished beer, his footsteps unsteady yet firm, his eyes carrying the rough edge of someone who had spent years immersed in the sea—it was Jonas Taylor.
He glanced at the research station before him, then cast a sideways look at Zhang Suyin and Mark, who were walking over to greet him. A mocking curl tugged at the corner of his mouth: "What? You were the ones who said I was crazy and kicked me out of the industry back then, and now you're crying and begging me to save your lives?"
Mark's expression tightened, but he didn't refute, only saying in a deep voice: "origin is trapped beneath the thermocline. There are three people inside, and their oxygen won't last eight hours. Lori is in there too."
Jonas's fingers gripping the beer can suddenly tightened, making the can emit a creaking sound of deformation.
He fell silent for two seconds, threw his head back to gulp down the remaining beer, and tossed the empty can casually into a nearby trash can. The smell of alcohol dispersed with the sea breeze: "Lead the way. Where is the deep-submergence vehicle?"
Zhang Suyin watched his drunken state, her brows furrowing so tightly she could crush a mosquito: "Mr. Taylor, your current state..."
"My state is just fine." Jonas interrupted her, his footsteps not stopping as he walked toward the maintenance bay. "Having a couple of sips is to warm up. Once we reach a depth of ten thousand meters later, the cold will ache your bones much faster than alcohol hits your head. If you're scared, don't follow me down."
"I have to go." Zhang Suyin didn't budge an inch, her tone resolute. "I led the debugging of origin's operating system, and no one knows its structure better than me. You'll be responsible for piloting, and I'll handle the rescue docking—that's the highest efficiency."
The two argued all the way to the maintenance bay. Jonas turned back to look her up and down, seeing that the girl's gaze was as stubborn as a stone. Ultimately, he didn't chase her away again, only letting out a hum: "Suit yourself. Don't hide behind me when you get scared to tears later."
In the Master control room, Logan was leaning back in his chair browsing the Astral Realm. Hearing the commotion, he raised his eyes, happening to meet Jonas's gaze.
The latter clearly recognized him as well, pausing for half a second with a flash of surprise in his eyes—who would have thought that a guy capable of tearing apart an alien fleet with his bare hands was hanging out in a deep-sea research institute?
"Mr. Howlett is here too," Mark hurriedly introduced. "He's the investor for our project."
"Just investing to watch the show." Logan smiled, lifting the coffee cup in his hand. "You guys go on with your business, don't mind me."
Jonas's mouth twitched.
If anyone else had said that, he would have snapped back long ago, but the person before him was a badass who single-handedly wiped out an entire alien fleet. Let alone watching deep-sea monsters, even if he said he was going down to break shark teeth bare-handed, Jonas would have believed he could actually pull it off.
He didn't say much more, nodding to acknowledge the greeting, and turned around to plunge into the pre-inspection work of the deep-submergence vehicle.
In less than half an hour, all preparations were complete.
Two small rescue deep-submergence vehicles slowly slid into the sea surface, dragging tiny bubbles as they plummeted into the pitch-black deep sea.
On the Master control room's large screen, the two points of light grew deeper, quickly passing through the boundary line of the thermocline.
"origin has been located," Zhang Suyin's voice came through the communicator, carrying a bit of static noise. "Eight hundred meters below, the cabin hull is damaged, and the oxygen level is still dropping... No, something is approaching! It's huge!"
As soon as her voice fell, the light point on the screen violently shook, followed by a muffled metallic crashing sound. Zhang Suyin's low gasp and Jonas's curse instantly exploded in the communicator.
"It's Megalodon!" Jonas's voice gritted through his teeth. "Damn it, over twenty meters! It's ramming origin!"
A chorus of sharp gasps filled the Master control room.
Zhang Wenxuan took half a step forward, his fingers tightly clutching the edge of the desk, his face pale.
DJ and Jaks put their heads together, even holding their breath. In the blurred sonar image on the screen, the enormous silhouette of a creature was tightly plastered against origin, its jagged dorsal fin resembling a row of sharp knives.
In the deep sea, Impacts came one after another.
origin's hull was already damaged. Now, being rammed and chewed on continuously by Megalodon, the metallic shell emitted an unbearable groan, cracks spreading along the bulkhead.
"We can't keep going like this, it's going to bite through the submarine!" A-Jun's voice came from inside origin, carrying hurried gasps. "You guys dock the escape pod, I'll go manually lock the rear hatch and lure it away!"
"No!" Lori shouted anxiously. "There's no protection in the rear compartment, you're walking to your death if you go out there!"
"It's better than everyone dying here." A-Jun chuckled, his tone remarkably steady. "Meat Shield, watch the console. Mr. Taylor, prepare for docking. Three minutes, I can only hold out for three minutes."
No more arguments came through the communicator, only heavy footsteps and the clicking sounds of metal latches.
Three minutes were very short, yet it felt like enduring three hours.
When the prompt tone for successful rescue pod docking sounded, a heaven-shaking Impact suddenly came from the direction of origin's rear compartment, accompanied by Megalodon's violent roar. On the sonar image, the light point representing origin flickered violently twice.
"A-Jun..." Meat Shield's voice carried a choke.
"Go!" Jonas gave a low roar, and the rescue pod violently accelerated upward. "Don't waste the time he fought for!"
Just as they rushed hundreds of meters away, a blinding, intense light suddenly erupted behind them.
origin's oxygen system and energy compartment exploded in a chain reaction, the Impact sweeping across the surroundings like a tsunami, even flipping the rescue pod halfway over.
What was even more fatal was that this explosion forcefully blew open a huge gap in the thermocline's energy barrier, instantly mixing the warm upper seawater and the cold deep seawater together.
On the screen, that huge shark silhouette paused, then turned its direction, swimming leisurely toward the shallow sea along the blown-open gap.
"It's coming up..." Jaks's voice trembled. "The thermocline can't stop it anymore!"
Zhang Wenxuan steadied himself and immediately ordered: "Save people first! Prepare the medical bay to welcome the rescue pod back!"
When the two deep-submergence vehicles surfaced, the horizon had completely darkened.
When Lori and Meat Shield were helped out, both were scratched up, but there was no danger to their lives.
When Zhang Suyin crawled out, her face was pale and a large patch of her arm was scraped, but she immediately looked toward the direction of the Master control room, her voice heavy: "Megalodon has escaped to the upper sea area, we need to think of a way..."
"Rest first, we'll talk about the rest tomorrow." Zhang Wenxuan patted her shoulder, his tone exhausted.
Everyone was running around busily tending to the wounded and the rescue data; no one noticed when Loganhad left the Master control room.
The research station in the deep of night was very quiet, with only the muffled sound of seawater beating against the steel frames.
Logan walked down the corridor. At the end was a fully transparent underwater sightseeing passage. The glass was fully half a meter thick, and outside was pitch-black seawater. Only the passage's lights could illuminate a range of a few meters, the shadows of fish flashing past in the light and shadow.
With a lit cigar clenched between his teeth and his hands shoved into his pockets, he sauntered leisurely, calculating in his heart about when that Megalodon might wander over here.
Just as he turned a corner, he saw a small figure clinging to the glass, wearing braided pigtails and staring wide-eyed outside—it was Zhang Suyin's daughter, Mei.
Hearing footsteps, the little girl shivered with fright. Turning back to see it was him, her eyes widened even more.
She had evidently scrolled past this famous Wolverine on the Astral Realm as well. For a moment she was a bit scared yet curious, clutching the hem of her clothes with her small hand and timidly calling out: "Hello, Uncle."
Logan raised an eyebrow and took two steps forward, his voice not high yet carrying unquestionable strength: "What are you doing running over here so late without sleeping? Hurry back to your room, it's not safe down here."
Mei pursed her lips, a bit scared of his cold expression, and obediently nodded. She glanced at him a couple more times secretly before running with small steps toward the passage exit, looking back every two steps like a frightened little rabbit.
Watching the little girl's figure disappear around the corner, Logan withdrew his gaze and looked back into the darkness outside the glass.
Just at this moment, within the distant seawater, a huge black shadow slowly emerged.
At first it was just a blurry outline, but as it swam closer and closer, the sense of oppression also grew stronger.
A body over twenty meters long, grey-black skin like heavy armor, a triangular head almost as wide as the passage, and a pair of cold eyes devoid of a shred of emotion pressed straight over.
"Thud—"
With a muffled sound, Megalodon's snout crashed against the glass.
The entire passage trembled slightly, and fine white cracks instantly spread across the glass surface. It looked like one more hit and it would shatter.
If it were anyone else, they would have collapsed to the ground in fright by now, but Logan didn't budge an inch, even leaning forward a bit to examine the prehistoric predator before him with keen interest.
Its teeth were quite sharp, and its size was big enough, it's just that its brain didn't seem to work very well.
After evaluating it with two sentences in his heart, he instantly activated his ability.
The mental illusion ability quietly spread out. Unlike magnetic fields with their grand momentum, it was instead like a thin stream, following the seawater, passing through the glass, and precisely drilling into Megalodon's mind.
At first Megalodon hadn't noticed. Flicking its tail, it rammed the glass once more, opening its mouth to reveal two rows of dagger-like sharp teeth as if to demonstrate power.
But within two seconds, its movements suddenly froze, its huge body violently spasming, its tail frantically whipping the seawater and stirring the surroundings into a blur. The crashing sounds grew heavier one after another, as if it were fighting something invisible.
The cracks on the glass grew denser and denser, looking like they were about to give out.
Yet Logan was unhurried, steadily increasing pressure with his mental power, carving the thoughts of obeying commands and being close to him into its instinct over and over again.
The Beast's consciousness was simple and crude, yet its resistance was exceptionally fierce. But Logan wasn't anxious either, just like fishing, reeling in and letting out, grinding down its will.
After tossing and turning for a full five or six minutes, the turbulence in the seawater finally gradually subsided.
Megalodon no longer rammed the glass, its huge body slowly hovering in the water. In its originally ferocious and cold eyes, the hostility faded quite a bit, replaced by a bit of blankness, which was then immediately replaced by docility.
It gently shook its caudal fin, edged forward, and lightly rubbed its snout against the glass with cautious movements, acting like a completely different fish from its previous violent self.
Its eyelids blinked twice, returning to clarity, yet there was no longer a shred of intention to attack. It just hung quietly in the water like that, staring at Logan behind the glass like a large dog waiting for instructions.
Logan raised an eyebrow, feeling quite satisfied in his heart.
Done.
His fingertip lightly tapped the glass, and Megalodonactually shook its head along with it, its tail leisurely sweeping the seawater and kicking up fine currents.
"You're quite obedient." Logan muttered in a low voice, a hint of a smile hooking at the corner of his mouth. "I'll call you... Yaya in the future? Forget it, too stupid."
He pondered taking it back to Long Island Sound later, just as a water playmate for Ares. It's just that he didn't know whether these two guys would fight when they met.
After all, one demolishes houses on land and the other demolishes ships in the sea. Put together, they might just flip his own dock over.
If Ares could hear its Master's inner thoughts, it would probably be angry enough to want to bite him. Play with Megalodon? Is this something a human could come up with?
Just as he was pondering, footsteps came from the other end of the passage; it should be the security personnel coming to check after hearing the commotion.
Logan didn't stay long, turning around to walk back leisurely. The Megalodon behind him still reluctantly followed swimming for a stretch, until the wall at the end of the passage blocked the line of sight, and then it slowly sank back into the darkness.
Walking to the corner, Logan took out his phone to browse the Astral Realm.
The homepage had already blown up. DJ secretly posted a status update saying: "Megalodon really exists! origin has met with an accident!"
The comment section was arguing heatedly: some said it was rumors, some said they were waiting for Wolverine to make a move, and others started discussing whether Megalodon or Tyrannosaurus Rex had a stronger bite force, which could be described as abstract as it gets.
Logan smiled and stuffed his phone back into his pocket.
Making a move was out of the question; anyway, the shark was his now.
He really wanted to see what kind of expressions these people would have tomorrow when they found out Megalodon was wandering around the research station without attacking.
Thinking about it was quite interesting.
Chapter 113: Raising a Shark
The next day, the atmosphere in the control room exuded an indescribable sense of weirdness.
Zhang Wenxuan stared at the sonar screen for half the night, his eyes surrounded by dark circles, his finger poking at a lonely spot of light on the screen, his brows knitted into a knot: "That's not right... We clearly blasted the thermocline gap, why is there only one left? What about the other one?"
Mark walked over with a coffee cup in his mouth, his eyes full of confusion: "Last night the sonar still showed two large biological outlines, and by morning there's only one left, and... this one isn't right either. It's just circling around the research station, neither attacking nor swimming away, looking just like it's patrolling."
DJ and Jax were huddled head-to-head nearby, secretly browsing Astral and posting a thread, their fingertips tapping away quickly: 'Family, who gets this! There really are two Megalodons! But one is missing this morning! The remaining one is just hanging out downstairs at our research station, not hitting the glass or causing any damage, it's super creepy!'
The comment section instantly built up hundreds of replies:
"Could it be that Wolverine made a move? That guy twists sharks like he twists soda cans."
"Stop talking nonsense upstairs, he's an investor after all, why would he twist sharks for no reason? Maybe the two sharks had an internal conflict!"
"I bet fifty cents, the big one ate the small one, prehistoric predators, very reasonable."
"Reasonable my ass! Can it be as reasonable as one person wiping out an alien fleet? I don't care, it must be that Wolverine made a move in secret!"
When Logan strolled into the control room, he happened to hear the few of them whispering and arguing, his mouth unable to help curling up quickly.
He hadn't made a move himself, he just sent an order to Poseidon in the middle of the night, telling it to go resolve the other of its kind.
After all, raising one was already expensive enough, raising two was purely a waste of food.
Besides, Poseidon had just been subjugated, so it was a good time to let it practice its skills.
"Still no clues?" Logan pulled over a chair and sat down, casually picking up an energy bar on the table and weighing it in his hand, his tone casual: "Maybe the other one felt this place wasn't fun and swam back to the deep sea."
"How could that be?" Mark shook his head with a bitter smile: "Megalodons are top marine predators; reaching shallow water is equivalent to opening a buffet, how could it be willing to leave. Moreover, the sonar shows that it disappeared extremely fast, without even a trace of struggle, as if it evaporated into thin air."
Zhang Wenxuan sighed and rubbed his temples: "Forget it, let's ignore the other one for now. As long as the remaining one doesn't attack the facilities, we'll observe it first, and discuss how to handle it after Jonas rests well. We can't just let it hang around the coastal waters forever, something will happen sooner or later."
While the few of them were discussing, the phone in Logan's pocket vibrated; it was an email sent by Anna.
He opened it, glanced at it for a couple of seconds, and tapped his fingertips on the screen a few times to reply. His expression didn't change throughout, but in his heart, he had already largely decided on the venue.
Raising a shark couldn't keep hanging around the entrance of someone else's research station, it would blow his cover sooner or later.
Although the bay over at Long Island was large, it was too close to the downtown area. If Poseidon ever got bored and swam out for a stroll, it would definitely shut down all the beaches in New York.
He still needed to find a remote private harbor, fence it up and raise it slowly, and incidentally build a vacation Villa so that he could fish, walk dogs, and watch sharks all in one go in the future.
He replied to Anna with two instructions: First, have the legal team acquire that abandoned private harbor in the Gulf of Mexico as soon as possible, buying it along with the surrounding small islands together, and process the paperwork through the fastest channel; second, have Carlylead the engineering team over to survey, dig a breeding pool according to the standard depth of fifty meters, connect it to the open sea, and then build a circle of Villas and security facilities along the island, without saving on the budget.
Anna's efficiency has always been astonishing; in less than half an hour, she replied with a message saying that the property rights were clear, and as soon as the seller heard that Logan wanted to buy it, they didn't even bargain and could sign the contract the same day.
Carly was already coordinating with the engineering team, and they could enter the site in three days at the fastest.
Logan raised an eyebrow and casually stuffed his phone back into his pocket.
As expected of Anna, this efficiency was much faster than Tony's dawdling temperament.
Over the next three days, the research station side remained shrouded in fog.
That Megalodon revolved around the research station every day, floating on the surface to bask in the Sun during the day, and diving underwater to rub against the glass at night, yet it never attacked nor strayed far, just like clocking in for work at a fixed point.
Jonas and his people tried to expel it several times; sound waves, strong light, and bait were all used, but it ignored them completely, leisurely swinging its tail and swimming in circles, making a group of deep-sea experts doubt their lives.
"Bizarre," Jonas squatted in the observation tunnel, staring at the behemoth outside through the glass, his brows furrowed enough to crush a fly to death: "This thing is a prehistoric predator, not a domesticated dolphin! What's the deal with it hanging around here every day? Is it waiting to be fed?"
Zhang Suyin also had a perplexed look on her face, flipping through the inspection report in her hand over and over: "All vital signs are very normal, and its aggressiveness is also strong. Yesterday it even bit a passing great white shark in half. But it just won't touch our facilities, it's too abnormal."
Passing by, Logan heard these words without even stopping his footsteps, secretly rejoicing in his heart.
Of course it wouldn't touch them, if it broke them he would have to pay to repair them anyway. If Poseidon dared to crash around randomly, he would starve it for three days later.
He hadn't been idle these past three days either, flying to the construction site by helicopter every day.
The abandoned harbor was already deep-water and wide-harbor, and could be used with slight modifications.
After the engineering team entered the site, they first fenced off the outer shark-proof net, then cleared away the inner silt, and dug deep down to fifty meters. The gate connecting to the open sea used the thickest alloy, let alone a Megalodon, even if Ironhide came over to crash into it, it would take some effort.
The workers were whispering privately while working.
"What is the boss trying to raise? Digging the pool this deep, it's more than three times larger than the aquarium's killer whale pool."
"Who knows, rich people have weird hobbies. I saw the alloy gates shipped in the other day, they're thick enough to withstand cannon shells, raising a shark shouldn't need to be this sturdy right?"
"Maybe it's raising some rare deep-sea thing. Look, the boss is Wolverine after all, what's wrong with raising some prehistoric creatures?"
The foreman heard it, came over and tapped the two workers' hard hats: "What are you whispering nonsense for! Do your work properly! Are the boss's affairs something you can guess? Don't you want your wages?"
The two instantly shrank their necks and buried their heads to continue working.
Standing on the high observation platform, Logan listened and almost laughed out loud.
They really guessed right; what was being raised was indeed a prehistoric creature, and the fiercest kind in the sea.
By the time the main construction was almost completed, a week had already passed.
That night, dark and windy, was just right for secretly transporting the shark.
Logan stood on the sea surface near the research station, moved his fingertips slightly, and transmitted an order to Poseidon.
In less than two minutes, huge waves churned in the distant sea water, and a shadow over twenty meters long broke out of the water, then fell heavily, splashing water all over Logan's body.
"Naughty!" Logan wiped the seawater off his face and scolded unhappily, but he wasn't really angry.
He turned around and got into the helicopter, guiding the way at low altitude in front. Poseidon swam behind in the sea, one person and one shark, grandly heading towards the direction of the private harbor.
After guiding Poseidon into the breeding pool and closing the alloy gate, Logan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The pool was big enough and the water depth was sufficient. After entering, Poseidon swam around like it was having fun, flicking its tail to splash water everywhere, looking quite satisfied with its new nest.
"You'll live here from now on," Logan squatted on the platform by the edge of the pool, looking at the behemoth in the water, speaking slowly: "Stay honestly, don't think about crashing through the door to get out. If you break it, I'll starve you for three days."
Whether Poseidon understood or not, it swam to the edge of the pool, its big head gently rubbing against the pool wall like it was acting spoiled, and its mouth opened, revealing two rows of coldly shining teeth.
Logan clicked his tongue and raised his hand to snap his fingers.
The door of the nearby refrigerated warehouse automatically opened, and several slide rails slowly extended out, stacked with whole sides of beef and whole boxes of deep-sea fish, all prepared by people in advance at his request.
He casually picked up a side of beef weighing around a hundred catties and threw it out with a flick of his arm.
The beef drew an arc in the air and accurately fell into the water. Poseidon reacted extremely fast, suddenly turning around and opening its mouth, swallowing it in one gulp without even bothering to chew. After finishing, it still crowded to the edge of the pool, its big head rubbing against the edge of the platform, making it clear it wasn't full.
"Glutton." Logan cursed with a smile, but didn't skimp either, throwing side after side. After throwing nearly half a ton of meat, the big guy in the water slowly sank down, looking like it was full.
He calculated the food intake and raised an eyebrow.
Half a ton a meal, two meals a day, which came to thirty tons of meat a month.
Although this bit of money meant nothing to him, a single day's revenue of Astral was enough to feed it for half a year, but this thing couldn't help growing.
It was only twenty-some meters now, and if it grew to thirty meters in the future, its food intake would have to double. Hopefully this guy didn't have any special genes.
"It eats much more than Ares." Logan muttered in low tones, taking out his phone to send a message to Anna, asking her to contact a few more meat suppliers for long-term supply, shipped directly to the island via cold chain.
After sending the message, he browsed Astral again, and sure enough, the research station side had already blown up.
DJ posted a status update: 'The Megalodon is gone! It vanished first thing in the morning! Sonar searched the surrounding ten nautical miles and couldn't find it! It disappeared into thin air!'
The comment section was already in an uproar; some said it swam back to the deep sea, some said it was secretly captured by authorities, and others swore that it must have been Wolverine who made a move to take it away, with the reason being "except for him, no one can make a twenty-meter shark vanish just like that".
Logan smiled, stuffed his phone back into his pocket, and looked down at Poseidon floating up to the pool water to breathe.
It was taken away, but not by the authorities; it was taken away by this private boss here.
The Villa on the island was still under renovation. Once built, he would bring Ares over to stay for a few days to see if the land home-demolition king and the sea ship-demolition king could coexist peacefully.
If they got along, he would come here often for vacations, fishing, walking dogs, and teasing sharks, a life much more comfortable than staying in New York to handle official business.
Just as he was pondering, his phone rang; it was a call from Tony.
"Logan! Where did you run off to?" Tony's voice carried a bit of bristling fur, "Dr.'s newly made energy amplifier has arrived, and we agreed to test it today, where are you?"
"Some private business, I'm out." Logan said slowly, "You and Ironhide go ahead and test the amplifier first, I'll be back in a couple of days."
"Private business? What private business could you possibly have?" Tony doubted, "You wouldn't be secretly messing with some new gadget again, would you?"
"Alright, I'll tell you when I get back." Logan interrupted him with a smile, "It's not like I have to report to you even when I raise a pet, right?"
"A pet?" Tony instantly perked up, "What pet? A cat or a dog? No wait, you already have Ares at home, and you're raising another? Could it be some rare gadget?"
Logan didn't answer, only leaving the phrase "You'll know when you get back", and hung up the phone.
He could imagine Tony scratching his ears and cheeks on the other end, looking like a curious baby.
When he went back and brought him over to take a look, it was guaranteed this guy's eyes would go straight.
After all, he had seen plenty of Cybertron technology, but a living, breathing prehistoric Megalodon, he might not have seen.
After hanging up the phone, Logan stayed by the pool for a while longer.
Poseidon seemed to know he hadn't left, floating up from time to time to rub against the pool wall, its huge caudal fin gently slapping the water surface, splashing fine ripples of waves.
Moonlight spilled over the water surface, reflecting its massive yet gentle figure, completely failing to look like a predator standing at the top of the marine food chain.
"Alright, go play by yourself." Logan finally threw a big fish down, patted the dust off his hands, "I'll come see you tomorrow."
After finishing, he turned around and walked towards the helipad, and a low call came from the water behind him, like a farewell.
The helicopter slowly rose into the air, and Logan looked down through the porthole.
The private harbor in the night was like a gem embedded by the sea, and the huge figure in the breeding pool occasionally swept across the water surface, stirring up a silver ripple.
He smiled with satisfaction.
Chapter 114: Warm-up
The prehistoric creature craze on the Astral Platform had been burning for over half a month without cooling down.
The mystery of the Megalodon's disappearance out of thin air instead added fuel to this craze.
The Science Channel worked overnight to produce a collection of prehistoric marine life, film companies jumped on the bandwagon to officially announce a remake of "Prehistoric Megalodon", and even seafood brands started prehistoric-flavor marketing; eight out of ten posts on the homepage contained the two words "prehistoric", while the remaining two were still arguing about whether Wolverinehad actually made a move.
In the top-floor conference room of Masrani Global Corporation (a famous international genetics company) in San Francisco, the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the view of the entire bay, and a circle of suited executives sat around the conference table, but the atmosphere revealed a hint of barely suppressed restlessness.
At the head of the table, Simon Masrani was spinning a limited-edition pen in his hand, his gaze falling on the bouncing popularity data on the projection screen, with a hint of an ambiguous smile curving the corner of his mouth.
This president, known for his boldness and ambition, stared at the three characters 'Megalodon' on the screen for half a minute before speaking leisurely: "Everyone, isn't it a bit too much of a pity if we don't catch this wave of traffic?"
The executives below exchanged glances, their expressions varying.
Someone spoke up first, their tone leaning conservative: "Simon, we've been preparing for the Isla Nublar project for nearly twenty years, and the original plan was to steadily make an official announcement next spring. Would it be too hasty to borrow momentum in advance now? What if the public's acceptance of cloned creatures is insufficient, and it instead backfires on the brand..."
"Acceptance?" Simon chuckled, tapping his pen against the table, "Alien wormholes have already opened over New York, hell monsters have run through the streets, and the public is now used to Mutants and Autobots; what are a few dinosaurs? Ten years ago, we were afraid of causing panic and kept things hidden, but now? If we hide them any longer, all the popularity will be stolen by a shark."
His words struck a chord in many people's hearts.
The Jurassic project had consumed nearly twenty years of the company's painstaking efforts; from gene cloning to park construction, the money poured into it could pile up into mountains.
Originally, the board of directors was still debating the timing of opening the park, fearing public backlash, but once the Megalodon made a fuss, the entire internet was swarming with posts saying 'want to see real prehistoric creatures', and the public mood turned faster than turning a book.
"I agree to capitalize on this momentum."
A cold and capable voice sounded from one side of the conference table as Claire Dearing pushed up her glasses, her fingertips swiping across her tablet, and several data charts were simultaneously projected onto the big screen.
As Simon's most trusted operational executive, she always spoke with data and never fought unprepared battles.
"User profiles on the Astral Platform show that among users who have paid attention to prehistoric creatures in the past half month, the 18 to 35 age group accounts for 76%, which happens to be the core customer base of our theme park. After the Megalodon incident, the search volume for the keyword 'prehistoric creatures' surged by 4700%, but there are no corresponding physical products on the market to catch this traffic; this is our window period."
She paused, her fingertip sliding across the second page of the proposal with clear logic: "My suggestion is to pre-heat in three steps. First, buy top advertising slots on the Astral Platform, showing blurry incubation silhouettes and footprint fossils, mentioning only 'prehistoric land creatures' without pointing out dinosaurs, to whet everyone's appetite; second, release park construction clips and popular science on genetic technology, officially announcing the Isla Nublar Jurassic World project; third, officially announce the park opening time and ticket prices, and simultaneously open pre-sales."
"What about the risks?" someone asked.
"The risks are controllable." Claire's tone was resolute, "With the real-life case of the Megalodon preceding us, the public's acceptance of prehistoric creatures has already been raised. We just need to thoroughly drive home the concepts of'safety' and 'controllability', emphasizing that the park has complete protective measures, making it a hundred times safer than a shark running wild in the deep sea. In addition, we can collaborate with popular science accounts to create content, weakening the controversial sense of 'cloning' while strengthening the attributes of'scientific research' and 'popular science'."
Simon's eyes lit up as he listened, his fingers tapping a rhythm lightly on the tabletop.
When he had gone against public opinion and poured money into the Jurassic project back then, what he relied on was precisely this daring drive.
Claire's proposal was steady yet progressive; it both hitched a ride on the current popularity and didn't take steps so wide as to overreach, completely matching his wishes.
"Well said." He clapped with a smile, leaning forward slightly, his eyes full of ambition, "It's been twenty years; we can't let a shark steal all the spotlight of prehistoric creatures. If things swimming in the sea can become this popular, there's no reason why our land-running and sky-flying ones shouldn't be able to surpass it."
Someone below chuckled out loud, and the originally tense atmosphere eased up a lot.
Someone chimed in jokingly: "It would be great if we could invite Wolverine to endorse us; he's a traffic code now, and just posting a casual update would be more effective than us spending one hundred million on ads."
As soon as these words came out, many people nodded. Who didn't know by now that Logan Howlett was a global top-tier traffic magnet? Let alone showing his face, even if he was just photographed going somewhere, that place would catch fire.
Simon, however, waved his hand and shook his head with a smile: "Endorsement isn't necessary; it's too cheapening. Our dinosaurs are top-tier traffic themselves; there's no need to hitch a ride on someone else's popularity. But... we can send an invitation for the park opening ceremony, inviting him to come cut the ribbon and bring his big dog for a stroll. He raises exotic pets himself, so he might just be interested in dinosaurs."
He spoke casually, but he was crystal clear in his heart.
That big shot had a very leisurely temperament; let alone inviting him to endorse, whether he could be invited at all was questionable.
If he really could be invited, let alone the park opening popularity tripling, even if a dinosaur ran out, he could casually press it back down—it would be equivalent to hiring a living security guard, a guaranteed profit without any loss.
"Let's go with Claire's proposal." Simon made the final decision, "Double the advertising budget, and fill up the Astral open-screen ads, top three trending lists, and topic challenge matches for me. Within half a month, I want the entire internet to know that prehistoric creatures are not only in the sea; on our Isla Nublar, there is an entire dinosaur World."
"Understood." Claire nodded, her fingertips already quickly marking execution nodes on her tablet, "I'll connect with the Astral advertising department this afternoon and launch the first wave of pre-heating materials tonight. In addition, I will arrange for the PR team to keep a close eye on public opinion and immediately control comments if there's any negativity."
The meeting dispersed quickly, with executives performing their respective duties, and the entire company operated at full speed like a wound-up machine.
Claire's efficiency was as astonishing as ever, finalizing the Astral advertising partnership by the afternoon.
The prime advertising slots of top-tier platforms were always in high demand, and it was only because Masrani Global added 30% to its budget that they managed to secure the open-screen and top-three trending list placements for three consecutive days.
Late that night, when Astral users refreshed their homepages, they were momentarily dazzled by the open-screen ad.
There were no fancy images, only a huge creature silhouette under dim lighting, with stout hind legs and a drooping long tail, vaguely outlining the profile of some giant reptile, accompanied by a line of text below: "The footsteps of prehistory do not stop at the deep sea."
The topic #What other prehistoric creatures do we not know about# also quietly climbed onto the trending list. At first, marketing accounts set the rhythm by posting guesses, and soon it attracted a large number of netizens to watch.
"Damn! Could there be other prehistoric creatures? The Megalodon is already absurd enough!"
"Looking at the silhouette, it looks like a dinosaur... No way, cloned dinosaurs? Science fiction movies shining into reality?"
"The person upstairs has too wild of an imagination; the Megalodon was hidden in the deep sea all along, but dinosaurs went extinct tens of millions of years ago, how could there be any."
"Don't speak too definitively; Mutants, aliens, and hell monsters already exist, so what are dinosaurs? They might just pop out one day."
"Wait, the subject of this advertising account is Masrani Global... I remember their company seems to have been researching biological genes all along?"
Netizens dug deeper and got more excited; soon someone dug up satellite maps of Isla Nublar, pointing out large-scale construction traces on the island, and some people even photographed large cargo ships transporting equipment to the island.
Guesses grew more numerous, and the topic's popularity soared upward like a Rocket, still hanging in the top ten of the trending list at two in the morning.
Claire stayed up late staring at the data, watching the popularity curve climb all the way up, and a trace of a smile finally appeared at the corner of her mouth.
The first step of pre-heating was a success.
At this moment, Logan was curled up on the Villa terrace of his private island browsing Astral.
When the open-screen ad popped up, he wanted to swipe it away casually, but his gaze swept over the dinosaur silhouette, his movement pausing, and he raised an eyebrow.
Jurassic World?
He chuckled, his finger swiping across the screen, muttering inwardly that this stitched Universe was getting more and more lively; a Megalodon had just been reeled in from the sea, and now land dinosaurs were coming out to join the fun.
Poseidon beside him seemed to sense Master's movement, poking its head out of the Water, resting its big head on the edge of the pool, wagging its tail, and splashing water that wet the floor of the terrace.
"What's the rush? It's not mealtime yet." Logan glanced at it, casually tossing his phone onto the rattan table beside him.
He wasn't very surprised by the appearance of dinosaurs, just a bit looking forward to Tony's reaction after knowing this news.
If that guy knew there were living dinosaurs, his eyes would surely light up, and he would definitely be plotting to catch one back to study its genetics, maybe even wanting to equip the dinosaur with a set of Cybertronarmor.
Just as he was thinking about it, his phone vibrated again; it was a message from Tony, several of them in a row:
"Logan, did you see that ad on Astral?! Masrani Company made it! I bet they definitely cloned dinosaurs!"
"I checked their company's patents, and several gene sequence patents are related to prehistoric reptiles! It's definitely dinosaurs!"
"Once this fact is hammered down, the two of us go take a look at Isla Nublar? I want to see if cloned dinosaurs are reliable and how they compare to my armor technology?"
Logan looked at the machine-gun-like messages on the screen, smiled, shook his head, and replied with two words: "We'll see."
He knew it; this guy's enthusiasm for curious new gadgets was even more proactive than a dog smelling meat.
Chapter 115 Jurassic Theme Park
The heat from the first wave of pre-marketing had not yet cooled when Masrani Corporation's second wave of offensive followed closely behind.
For half a month straight, the Astral Platform seemed to have been reserved by prehistoric creatures.
During the day, it was a carousel of splash screen advertisements showing time-lapse photography of the park's construction: in the dense tropical rainforest, alloy fences rose from the ground, sightseeing cable cars wound back and forth along the ridge line, and inside the glass walls of the massive incubation center, patterned dinosaur eggs trembled slightly in incubators.
At night, there were targeted pushes from popular science accounts, explaining the extraction of prehistoric mosquito blood from amber, gene sequence completion technology, and the cultivation process of cloned embryos, step by step turning cloned dinosaurs from sci-fi conjecture into reality backed by images and data.
"Oh my god... It's actually real?"
"I was still young when the Jurassic Park incident happened twenty years ago, and I thought I'd never get to see live dinosaurs in my lifetime!"
"Masrani is really daring; they haven't even figured out the Megalodon yet, and now they've scheduled dinosaurs?"
"Is anyone worried about safety? Those are carnivorous dinosaurs; they can bite a person in half in one gulp. Can they really be contained?"
"What is there to be afraid of? If they really escape, don't we still have Wolverine? He can crush alien fleets, so dealing with a few dinosaurs is just a matter of minutes."
The comment section was buzzing with fierce debates, with the exclamation faction, the anticipation faction, and the safety faction each occupying their own camp. As they argued, the topic derailed into "Who would win in a fight, a Tyrannosaurus Rex or a Megalodon?" and "Can Hulk throw a T-Rex barehanded?" The topic's popularity remained consistently high, driving Masrani Corporation's stock price up by thirty percent along the way.
Of course, voices of doubt never stopped.
Many biologists spoke out publicly, accusing the cloning of prehistoric creatures of violating the laws of nature, warning that once out of control, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Some security experts even used the Battle of New York as an example, stating that unexpected situations could happen even during an alien invasion, so mere alloy fences could not be considered absolutely safe at all.
Every day, Claire stared at the public opinion reports, arranging for the PR team to respond to doubts point by point while urging the park to accelerate the debugging of its security system. After pulling all-nighters for a week straight, she had emptied three boxes of coffee.
She had always believed in data and rules; on her schedule, every single step was accurate down to the minute.
Public opinion heat, pre-sale conversion rates, and security compliance rates—all indicators had to be kept above the threshold.
After another half a month of burning the midnight oil, the pre-marketing entered its final closing stage.
Masrani Corporation's official website and Astral Platformaccount simultaneously announced: The Jurassic Worldtheme park would officially open in three months, located on Isla Nublar near Costa Rica. Adult single-day tickets were priced at $750, and VIP packages started at $2,000, including exclusive tour vehicles and close-up feeding experiences.
As soon as the news came out, the entire internet exploded.
"$750? That's highway robbery!"
"It's expensive alright, but it doesn't change the fact that they're real dinosaurs! I've got to save up and go at least once!"
"I bet the tickets sell out in seconds on the very first day of opening. Want to bet?"
Reality was even more exaggerated than the netizens guessed. On the day the pre-sale channel opened, the first day's tickets were snatched up within three minutes, and the VIP packages sold out in less than thirty seconds.
When the backend data reached Claire's hands, she had just landed on Isla Nublar. Dragging her suitcase and standing at the port, looking at the lush island in the distance and the vaguely visible park dome, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Claire!"
Someone hurried over—it was the park's operations director, with undisguised excitement on his face. "The pre-sale data is 40% higher than expected. Mr. Simon just called and said he wants to give the team a bonus."
"Don't celebrate too early yet." Claire pushed up her glasses, her steps unceasing as she walked toward the main building. "Has the final round of security system testing been done? Double-check the fence voltage in the carnivorous zone, as well as the emergency plans for the tour vehicles..."
Before she finished speaking, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of four agile figures darting swiftly through the grass in a nearby fenced training ground. Accompanied by a few short whistles, they stopped uniformly at the edge of the fence.
They were four Velociraptors.
Standing outside the fence was a man wearing work boots and camouflage pants, with his back to her. He was raising his hand to throw chunks of meat into the enclosure, his movements as familiar as if he were feeding his own dog.
Claire's steps paused, and her brows furrowed imperceptibly.
Of course she recognized this back.
Owen Grady, her ex-boyfriend, a former Navy veteran, and now the park's Velociraptor behavioral scientist, specifically responsible for studying and training these four Velociraptors.
The two had broken up back then due to conflicting views: she felt Owen was too casual and didn't play by the rules, while Owen complained that her head was full of data and she was as cold as a machine. After parting ways for several years, she never expected to run into him here.
Seeming to sense the gaze from behind, Owen turned his head for a look. Spotting her, he raised an eyebrow, casually tossed the remaining meat to his assistant nearby, wiped his hands, and walked over.
"Director Dearing?" There was a hint of teasing in his tone as he looked her up and down. "I thought you'd be sitting in an office in San Francisco commanding things; I didn't expect you to come to the island in person. What's the matter, can't let go of your data reports?"
"I am here to coordinate all preparations before the park opens." Claire's expression remained unchanged, and her tone was strictly businesslike, but her gaze involuntarily glanced into the enclosure. The four Velociraptors were squatting on the ground tearing apart chunks of meat, making low purring sounds in their throats. "How are... their conditions?"
"They're in great condition." Owen smiled, a hint of pride in his tone. "Blue is the smartest, Charlie is the fiercest, and Delta and Echo are obedient. Don't listen to those people at headquarters talking nonsense about'successful domestication.' I can only communicate with them; it doesn't mean I can control them. Dinosaurs aren't pets; they're predators. You operational folks better keep that clear in your minds."
Claire pursed her lips and did not refute.
She knew Owen was a professional in this regard; otherwise, Simon wouldn't have spent a hefty price to poach him. But the park needed to make a profit and run experiential programs—it couldn't just lock tourists inside a glass dome to catch a glimpse from afar and call it a day.
As the two were at a stalemate, the roar of a helicopter came from the distance.
Simon Masrani's private helicopter slowly landed on the helipad. Wearing a casual suit, he was full of spirit as he stepped down, waving at the two from afar.
"Claire, Owen, you're both here." Simon walked over and patted Owen's arm. "Come on, accompany me to the north side to check out the Indominus Rex exhibit. Headquarters is rushing for a safety assessment report, and your opinion as an expert is the most important."
Claire was slightly stunned: "The Indominus Rex? Is that the... gene-splicing project?"
"Right." Simon's tone was relaxed, carrying a hint of self-satisfaction. "It mixes the genes of a T-Rex, Velociraptor, tree frog, and a few other animals. It's larger in size, higher in intelligence, and has great viewing value. With it as our star attraction, why worry about visitor traffic?"
Owen's expression instantly sank, however. Without replying, he turned and followed them toward the northern exhibit area.
The further north they went, the higher the fences became. The alloy walls were ridiculously thick, and electric grids were strung across the top. The entire exhibit was enclosed tightly, and even the vegetation inside was sparser than elsewhere.
Looking inside through the thick observation glass, not a single dinosaur shadow could be seen in the empty jungle.
"Where is it?" Simon frowned, picked up the walkie-talkie to call the keeper, "Where's the Indominus? Why isn't it in sight?"
"Mr. Simon, it... it's hiding in the woods and refuses to come out." The keeper's voice carried a hint of panic. "It hasn't shown its face all morning, and the infrared thermal imaging can't scan it either. It seems... it seems to know how to avoid the detectors."
Simon's expression looked a bit ugly.
Owen, however, snorted, crossed his arms, and leaned against the glass, his tone piercingly direct: "I told you long ago, you can't raise it like this."
"What do you mean?" Simon turned to look at him.
"I mean, you've locked it up alone here since it was little, without even a peer of its own kind—it's just like being in prison." Owen raised his chin, pointing toward the depths of the exhibit. "Velociraptors are pack animals and still need a group to establish behavioral boundaries. What about it? It was all alone since birth, doesn't know what it is, doesn't know social rules, and has high intelligence. All it thinks about every day is how to escape and how to hunt. You think you've raised a viewing piece, but in reality, you've locked up an unruly top predator."
He paused, his tone growing a bit heavier: "Tree frog genes gave it the ability to regulate body temperature and evade infrared detection, while Velociraptor genes gave it the intelligence to learn and strategize. Now it can avoid detectors; next time it will fake an escape to lure you in, and the time after that it will figure out how to dismantle the fence. When it actually breaks out, those tour vehicles and tourists outside will just look like home-delivered buffets in its eyes."
"It's not as exaggerated as you say." Simon frowned, obviously disliking what he heard. "The fence is made of special alloy, ten meters high, and powered by high voltage; it can't crash through it. There's also a second-layer security zone on the outer perimeter, patrolling twenty-four hours a day..."
"No matter how high the wall is, can it stop a hunter that wants to escape?" Owen interrupted him. "During the Battle of New York, weren't the Chitauri warships strong enough? They still got blown to pieces just like that. Dinosaurs aren't machines; they won't follow your script. If you really want safety, find it peers to establish behavioral constraints, or simply don't create it at all. The way it is now, something is bound to go wrong sooner or later."
The atmosphere became a bit stiff for a moment.
Claire stood to the side without speaking.
She knew in her heart that what Owen said made sense, but from an operational perspective, the Indominus Rex was the park's biggest selling point; it was impossible to withdraw it just like that.
Simon fell silent for a few seconds and waved his hand. "Alright, I get it. I'll send more manpower for security, and reinforce the fence with another layer. We must ensure absolute foolproof safety before the park opens."
So he said, but his tone didn't take it too seriously.
In his view, Owen was just being overly cautious and alarmist.
With so many high-tech security measures, couldn't they keep an eye on a single dinosaur?
Seeing him like this, Owen shook his head and said no more.
He had advised them; whether they listened or not was their business. He just needed to take good care of his four Velociraptors—as for anything else, his word didn't count anyway.
As the three of them walked back, Simon's phone rang.
He answered it, listened for a moment, and his eyes lit up. He turned to Claire and said, "Right, I sent an opening invitation to Logan Howlett, and his assistant replied saying he'll come take a look if he has time."
Claire was a bit surprised: "Wolverine? He agreed?"
"He didn't refuse, said it depends on his schedule." Simonsmiled and said, "It would be best if he can come. He can handle even the Chitauri; if the park really runs into some minor trouble, having him around is more useful than ten security squads."
Owen listened from the side and raised an eyebrow.
Of course he knew Wolverine, a badass who single-handedly wiped out an alien fleet during the Battle of New York.
But even a dinosaur park had to invite him to hold down the fort? These commercial folks really wanted to latch onto anyone's popularity.
Meanwhile, at the private harbor, Logan had just finished feeding Poseidon and was leaning back on the terrace lounge chair basking in the Sun. His phone was flooded with a series of consecutive message bombs from Tony:
"Logan! Jurassic World has officially announced its opening! It opens in three months! I've already booked the tickets! VIP packages!"
"Let's go together when it opens! I'll bring my latest armor, and if the dinosaurs really escape, the two of us can take each side and see who catches more!"
Logan smiled and turned off the screen.
Escape?
Of course they would escape; isn't that how the movies always go? He was actually quite interested in that Indominus Rex—smart, cunning, yet improperly raised.
If it fell into his hands, he'd make sure it was utterly obedient.