Chapter 394: Revolt of the Bio-Control

“Do you plan on revoking these people’s permissions and then taking control again?”

Under the Dream Technology system, everyone has their own identity chip. Whether at home or at work, every person must undergo various verifications with their chip to gain the necessary permissions.

For instance, a warship captain who wants to operate his vessel not only needs a complete crew to cover every post,

but also must secure the proper authorization and earn the Warship AI Core’s approval, so the ship can sail and engage in battle under his command.

“Let’s move out. Once we capture Watanabe Minghui, we’ll see just how many people she’s controlling,” he stated.

“Du Qiu, wait a minute,” Ning Shuangshuang urgently called out.

“What’s wrong?”

“You shouldn’t capture Watanabe Minghui just yet. Keep her in a state of uncertainty so she believes she hasn’t been exposed and that you truly executed Hao Ren.”

Du Qiu asked in surprise, “Why?”

Ning Shuangshuang explained, “I suspect Watanabe Minghui implanted bio-control chips into many people. She might use them as hostages to blackmail you.”

Du Qiu paused for a moment. Ning Shuangshuang’s theory wasn’t without merit. Bio-control chips were invented even before gene modulation, but because they were considered inhumane, Du Qiu had shelved the technology.

He had even imposed strict limits on their production, which made him confident that Watanabe Minghui didn’t possess a large number of them.

Even if the numbers were limited, she likely had tens of thousands.

After all, Du Qiu once thought they were quite useful; the first batch produced numbered in the millions.

They were never used, and all were stored at the Biological Research Institute. Star Ocean had tracked Watanabe Minghui by monitoring who accessed that storage.

Star Ocean informed Du Qiu that Watanabe Minghui had deployed a total of 50,000 bio-control chips.

In other words, if she activated all of them, she could control 50,000 people.

Holding 50,000 lives hostage is no small matter.

Du Qiu’s brow furrowed—50,000 lives were at stake.

“Shuangshuang, Star Ocean has confirmed Watanabe Minghui has around 50,000 bio-control chips. We must capture her immediately to prevent her from triggering a self-destruct signal on them.”

“Fifty thousand people?” Ning Shuangshuang exclaimed in surprise before adding, “You’re right. Then immediately order Star Ocean to mobilize the robots to capture her.”

Almost then, new information came from Star Ocean.

“Sir, one of the flagships in the fleet is exhibiting anomalies. On that warship, 2,681 people have been subjected to gene modulation under Watanabe Minghui’s command.”

“What kind of anomaly?”

“The warship was previously on second-tier alert, but it suddenly slowed down and reversed course. According to instructions from the Warship AI Core, it is now heading toward the prison spaceship where you are!”

Furious, Ning Shuangshuang declared, “This is a rebellion!”

Du Qiu coldly ordered, “Star Ocean, capture Watanabe Minghui and disable her ability to send signals. Also, impose special restrictions on the ten million personnel under her control by initiating local signal jamming!”

“Take over the Warship AI Core immediately and initiate ship-wide signal jamming! Deploy onboard robots to detain those 2,681 individuals! All rebels are to be executed without mercy!”

Du Qiu knew that those coerced by Watanabe Minghui might, in a desperate bid for survival, resort to harming others.

Now, with everyone aboard warships or spaceships, any tampering with their life-support systems could lead to catastrophic losses.

Du Qiu wasn’t willing to bet on the extent of Watanabe Minghui’s madness.

“Damn it, that flagship has actually opened fire manually!”

Star Ocean suddenly cried out, and both Du Qiu and Ning Shuangshuang felt a violent tremor.

Clearly, the prison spaceship’s shield had blocked the attack—but it caused the entire ship to shudder.

Although the prison spaceship has its own shield, it won’t hold up long against the flagship’s assault.

“Star Ocean, if you can’t take control of that warship, immediately mobilize nearby vessels to bring it down!” Du Qiu ordered bluntly.

“Yes, sir. Rest assured, I’ve already coordinated with the warship to block its attack route. Some crew are already battling the rebels on board. Just give me a few more minutes, and I’ll have the Warship AI Core take over all weapon systems.”

At that moment, amid the heart of the fleet and within a cluster of Heaven Realm-class spaceships shielded three layers in and out, one vessel housed the Biological Research Institute.

Watanabe Minghui’s record made no mention of her ever studying under a biologist from the Takehara family. This omission allowed her to reinvent herself and, under the guise of a biologist, be recruited by Dream Technology’s Biological Research Institute during a global hiring drive.

However, Watanabe Minghui was exceptionally patient. For a long time, she kept a low profile, refraining from any activities—even avoiding contact with Hao Ren, whom she once threatened with biological toxins.

That was until one day when a researcher pursuing her mentioned bio-control chips, sparking a glimmer of revenge in her eyes.

Using this admirer, Watanabe Minghui managed to acquire 50,000 bio-control chips, which she carefully observed and tested.

After mastering their operation, she turned her attention to Hao Ren, who was studying biology at the institute, and once again brought him under her control.

With the help of Hao Ren, a board member, she gradually elevated key personnel—those implanted with her chips via gene modulation—into critical positions.

Since Hao Ren rarely meddled in company affairs, even under her coercion, he couldn’t facilitate the repositioning of certain individuals.

After several years, Watanabe Minghui finally managed to control someone who became a captain, and with his help, steadily transferred more personnel under her influence.

At last, she managed to control over half the crew on a flagship.

Though it was only one flagship, in her eyes, if the timing was right, she could take down Du Qiu in one stroke to avenge her grievances.

She had waited over a decade for this moment and was almost impatient to unleash her power.

Thus, she coerced Hao Ren into using the dormancy chamber in Du Qiu’s laboratory to secure a successful assassination.

Although she hadn’t known that Hao Ren had brazenly replaced the poison gas in the small canister behind her back, she understood that with Du Qiu under the watch of artificial intelligence, this method might not succeed.

Therefore, the second wave—her controlled flagship—would deliver a decisive blow the moment Du Qiu left the mother ship!

After all, having reached a new Solar System, Du Qiu would inevitably leave the mother ship to visit the fourth planet.

That opportunity was bound to arise.

However, she hadn’t anticipated that after Hao Ren’s capture, Du Qiu would visit the prison spaceship and immediately issue an execution order.

It took her a while to process that, then she realized that since Du Qiu was on the prison spaceship, its shield probably couldn’t withstand three waves of attacks from the flagship.

So she immediately alerted the captain under her control and decisively initiated a rebellion.

The greatest strength of the bio-control chip is that its controller can extract information from the victim’s field of view through the chip.

Therefore, when Watanabe Minghui realized that the flagship had only fired one round and could no longer use its weapon systems,

it meant that she still couldn’t kill Du Qiu.

Frustrated, Watanabe Minghui paced in her residence, pondering her next move.

Would two consecutive assassination attempts on Du Qiu alert him to her presence?

With Hao Ren already executed by Du Qiu, she believed she was safe—no one knew she was Watanabe Minghui.

Once calm, she sank into the sofa with a hint of relief, realizing that her overconcern had only brought chaos.

But then, she abruptly stood up again.

“No, they all know who I am on that flagship!”

Watanabe Minghui immediately transmitted a message, ordering the captain to perform a suicidal ramming attack on the prison spaceship, or even to maneuver the warship close enough to detonate it.

However, once the message was sent, there was no response.