The interference continued for close to two hours before disappearing. After one of Nanfeng's calls finally came through, Fang Zhao confirmed that he was safe. However, he didn't want Nanfeng and the other two to come over.
Instead of returning to the house, Fang Zhao sat on a beach rock, skimming over the reports about the oceanic magnetic anomaly.
There were currently no casualties or deaths. The earthquake was rather weak, and the center of the magnetic blast was uninhabited. Many people saw the news and didn't give it another thought.
As he browsed through the news, Fang Zhao heard the sound of rushing water.
Fang Zhao wasn't concerned and stood up for a better look.
Splash——
A dog charged onto shore. Perhaps due to speed or excitement, the dog tumbled a few times before coming to a stop.
Curly Hair shook off the water and sand on his body before running over to Fang Zhao. He wagged his tail excitedly.
Fang Zhao saw that Curly Hair didn't have any injuries and patted his head. "Had your fill?"
"Yeah!"
That "yeah" was so full of vigor and delight.
"What happened? You caused quite some ruckus this time." Fang Zhao showed the news articles regarding this incident to Curly Hair.
Curly Hair had a guilty conscience when he saw those news pieces but lightened up after discovering that nothing too serious had happened.
"Can you change form now?" Fang Zhao asked.
"Yes!" Curly Hair said with confidence.
Fang Zhao didn't let Curly Hair transform here. Even though there were no other people on the island, the previous incident with the magnetic anomaly had resulted in tighter satellite surveillance. They needed to be more careful.
"Let's go into the ocean."
Fang Zhao changed into his diving attire. With some equipment in tow, he swam into the ocean.
He wanted to prevent satellite monitoring and the destruction of his electronics on the island. He didn't have enough spares.
After moving some distance away, Fang Zhao dove deep underwater and motioned for Curly Hair to transform.
Sunlight shone through the ocean's surface. Even little bits of floating plankton could be seen.
Fishes of all shapes and sizes were swimming around leisurely.
Suddenly, there was a ripple, and all the fishes scattered.
A huge creature with a cold metallic sheen appeared.
Blue light reflected off the creature.
The uncertain light and shadows from the waves produced an ethereal sight.
The creature still had two ears, four limbs, a tail, sharp teeth… Fang Zhao could still roughly discern a dog's form.
Fang Zhao ran his hand over the legs.
With a mouth of that size, swallowing a human whole was indeed easy.
Fang Zhao stared bewilderedly at this strange form before him. He had never imagined that a small dog-sized organism could become this sort of metallic-looking new life form. The instant when Curly Hair had transformed, Fang Zhao had even heard the high-pitched whirring of machinery.
Fang Zhao waited for the new form to stabilize before turning on his underwater communications device.
"Very magnificent. Can it be smaller?"
"I don't think… so?" Curly Hair tilted his head and thought about it. "Currently no, not sure in the future. I can now control my transformation! But I can't maintain it for long."
He added, "I won't need to eat a lot as long as I don't assume this form!"
In Curly Hair's opinion, he wouldn't become hungry as long as he didn't transform. This way, he could save on dog feed!
Curly Hair quickly reverted to the little dog and paddled happily beside Fang Zhao. He felt that he had finally solved a huge problem. No longer would he have to be so worried anymore!
Fang Zhao still had many questions, but this wasn't an appropriate place to have a proper conversation.
They returned to shore and entered the house before Curly Hair told Fang Zhao about the cause of the recent incident.
"There weren't any cases to eat. After nibbling on the submarine, I searched along that trench and smelled food in the deeper area so I dug it up to eat."
"Food? What did it look like?" Fang Zhao asked.
"Looked like a rock. It was white and round, about the size of a football." Curly Hair didn't remember anything else. At that time, he had simply gobbled it up without paying too much attention because he'd been hungry.
Fang Zhao guessed that it might have been a new type of power ore. Perhaps it even had a higher energy level than A grade power ore. Potentially, that rock had come from outer space.
There had been many falling meteorites during the Period of Destruction. Some of them would have contained power ore.
Fang Zhao was more inclined to believe it was from outer space.
But, it was now difficult to verify the origins of the rock since Curly Hair had swallowed it. It didn't matter though; everything was fine as long as the rock was beneficial to Curly Hair.
"Did you discover other rocks like this?" Fang Zhao asked.
"No! Just one." Curly Hair was a little sad because of this. If there were more of these rocks, he wouldn't need Fang Zhao to spend money on dog food. Also, he'd be able to play around in both forms every day.
Unfortunately, the number of things that could fill him up in one mouthful was very limited.
Fang Zhao wasn't concerned and instead asked about the cause of the magnetic anomaly and earthquake.
Curly Hair carefully glanced at Fang Zhao and slightly lowered his head. "I ate too much and couldn't control myself."
After gnawing on the submarine's power core and swallowing a high grade ore, Curly Hair had become aware of his form change. So, he'd found somewhere to hide while time passed.
"I tried to control my transformation and didn't expect I would completely transform or cause any disturbance. I checked my surroundings though; no one was around, just a few fishes."
Curly Hair's eyes then lit up as he recalled something. "Some time after my transformation, I discovered that there were three diving machines not too far away. There were people inside so I sent them to the nearest naval warships! I secretly dragged the diving machines over and wasn't discovered!"
At that moment, Fang Zhao received a notification. He clicked and opened it.
It was a news report about a Yanzhou Navy patrol detecting three submersibles. The crew was confirmed to be part of the "T" Organization. Furthermore, they had confirmed that the submersibles had been at the center of the earthquake and magnetic blast.
Thus, the "T" Organization became the prime suspects behind the magnetic anomalies.
Fang Zhao had mixed feelings watching Curly Hair scratching himself with his hind leg without a clue. After a while, he said, "Well done this time!"
Curly Hair immediately perked up and wagged his tail. He gazed at Fang Zhao expectantly. "Then can I… I… have a gaming console?"
"Sure."
Actually, Fang Zhao had already made preparations.
Fang Zhao brought out two boxes.
The first box contained a gaming helmet.
Curly Hair's eyes lit up as he watched Fang Zhao bring out the brand new gaming helmet.
An actual gaming helmet! Not a fraudulent learning console!
Fang Zhao then opened the second box. This one was smaller than the first.
Inside was a bracelet shaped personal terminal engraved with little dogs.
Curly Hair's attention shifted away from the gaming console to the brand new personal terminal.
This was the personal terminal he had dreamed about for such a long time!!!
Curly Hair licked his lips, wagging his tail excitedly.
"Which do you want? You can only choose one," Fang Zhao said.
Curly Hair's gaze alternated between the gaming console and the personal terminal. He whimpered in indecision.
"Actually, there is another problem," Fang Zhao said.
Curly Hair's clear and innocent dog eyes widened as he gazed at Fang Zhao pitifully.
"Whichever it is, it wouldn't survive for long," Fang Zhao said.
"Impossible!" Curly Hair guarded his possessions well. The hated learning console was still around.
"Each time you transform, the interference affects all electronics. In serious cases, they're rendered unusable."
Curly Hair no longer said anything and became depressed.
"However," Fang Zhao continued. "I see that you have improved a lot recently. Initially, you had no control over your transformations. Now, you're able to completely control a full body transformation. I believe that you have the capabilities to transform without causing electrical interference."
Curly Hair regained his confidence when he heard what Fang Zhao said.
Fang Zhao gave Curly Hair time to make his choice. During this time, he had to figure out how to control the magnetic interference.
Curly Hair quickly entered a new training phase.
Dogs also needed to have goals. Only with goals would there be motivation and direction.
Otherwise, he would only think about eating, sleeping and gaming.
Fang Zhao rearranged the storage space to be able to fit Curly Hair's transformed form. Even if Curly Hair accidentally transformed, the house wouldn't be destroyed.
Curly Hair practiced swallowing cans of dog food, fruits, bones and other foods everyday. Each time he swallowed, he tried to control and minimize interference.
After his control over transformations had improved, Curly Hair could limit his transformation to only his head. While the electric interference wasn't as strong, it still fried any close-by electronics.
Fang Zhao returned the dressing mirror to the storage space for Curly Hair's use.
Curly Hair would occasionally look in the mirror to see his new form when he transformed. It was his only way to examine his new form.
After settling matters with Curly Hair, Fang Zhao contacted Nanfeng and the others to replenish supplies. Even though there were lots of fish in the ocean and possibly power ore in the depths, there was still a need to keep some supplies ready.
Nanfeng and the other two were rather baffled upon receiving the order. Fang Zhao had really requested too much this time. The cans of dog food were understandable. Those were for Curly Hair.
But, the list also contained so much fruit, meat, and compressed biscuits. Could Fang Zhao even finish them as the only person on the island?
While glancing at the grocery list, Nanfeng said to Yan Biao and Zuo Yu, "I suspect that boss is secretly keeping a shark… or perhaps some other sort of fish? Well, judging by the quantity, maybe he doesn't only have one."
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