“The human lifespan has its limits. Everyone dies of old age or diseases eventually. This is a part of natural law that humans cannot escape from, but does anyone know why humans experience this phenomenon of aging and dying of diseases?”
On the podium, the youthful-looking Professor Wang Xi spoke persuasively, his voice echoing in the empty large classroom.
Below the stage, Chen Chen suddenly jolted back to his senses. He realized that he may have accidentally dozed off.
It was an extremely long nap that seemed to have lasted ages.
Only, he could no longer recall the dream he had during the nap.
“As we all know, the measuring unit in life is a cell. All of us here are the product of the fission of a tiny zygote. This effect splits it into two, then four, then eight…”
Professor Wang Xi endlessly went on with his presentation on the podium. Meanwhile, the disinterested Chen Chen simply held his chin with one hand and spun a gel pen on the other, all while gazing at the projection screen with his mind wandering.
“Clack!”
It was then when Chen Chen’s finger must have suddenly slipped and sent the gel pen in his darting outward.
Seeing this, Chen Chen naturally bent down and reached for the ground.
“Hm?”
When he craned his head below the table, he suddenly noticed that there was nothing but a sheet of pitch-black darkness under the table.
All of the light had been drained from this darkness. There was not even the slightest hint of reflection nor was there the presence of any other substance. It was something darker than the night itself.
An unplaceable feeling quickly came to Chen Chen, he somehow felt that this picture was both familiar and a stranger to him all at the same time.
As Chen Chen looked at the darkness beneath the table, his mind began wandering to places.
Just as Chen Chen was stuck in this trance-like state of confusion, a bloody eyeball suddenly floated to the surface of the darkness, immediately making eye contact with Chen Chen.
This startled Chen Chen. He subconsciously stretched his arms out to do something but stopped as soon as he extended his arms outward.
What was he trying to do again,
He simply could not recall…
Chen Chen stared back into the thick mist of darkness. It was then when he realized there was no such thing as a bloody eye in the first place. There was nothing at all under the table, nothing but emptiness…
The cloud of confusion inside Chen Chen’s mind was growing thicker. If there was nothing at all under the table, why did he bend down?
Oh, right. To pick up his pen.
Just as Chen Chen made to get down to pick up his pen, the clear voice of Professor Wang Xi suddenly came from the direction of the podium. “That student over there digging under the table, why don’t you answer…”
“Pfft!”
Chen Chen’s dorm buddy beside him produced a loud snicker.
Chen Chen jumped and immediately shot up from under the table. When he looked to the podium, he saw a pair of bloodshot eyes growing out of Professor Wang Xi’s face, staring right at him…
Those eyes were both cold and hollow, the sort of expression that simply could not be produced by any living person. With just a momentary glance, a strange sort of numbness akin to an electric shock surged through Chen Chen’s body. He felt as if all the blood flowing through his body had frozen.
Just as Chen Chen felt this sharp pang in his heart and tried to focus on what was in front of him again, he saw Professor Wang Xi and his always kind expression. It seemed like what he saw just a moment ago was all in his head.
“This student over here, can you tell me what is the complete name of this theory?”
Professor Wang Xi asked again with the patience of a saint.
“It’s… That…”
Chen Chen could not control his stutter as he spoke.
“Lil Chen, Lil Chen, over here!”
Right then, his buddy beside him whispered to him in a low voice. He sneakily shifted his book to Chen Chen’s table and tapped on one of the sentences printed in the book.
Chen Chen silently heaved a sigh of relief when he saw this and shot a gratuitous look at his friend. When he turned his attention to the book, he saw the text on the book packed together densely and squirmed altogether like a pack of ants moving around ever so slowly.
[The American microbiologist Leonardo Hayflick published the Hayflick limit theory in 1965. This theory states that after 56 divisions, cells in the human body will break down and die due to self-produced toxins. “In essence, this ’56 times’ interval is the limit of human cell division and of the body’s metabolic cycle…]
“H hay… flick…”
Chen Chen instinctively craned his neck lower to try to get a better look at the book. He was surprised to see that when he had done that, the passage seemed to have a few more strange words mixed into it…
[The American microbiologist Leonardo Hayflick published the Hayflick I Saw You in 1965. This theory states that after 56 divisions, cells in the human body will break down and die due to self-produced toxins. “In essence, this ’56 times’ interval is the limit I Saw You and of the body’s metabolic cycle…]
“What the hell?”
Chen Chen frowned. He began to think there was something wrong with his eyes and squinted as hard as he could to read the text properly. That was when the text started to become stranger.
[The American micro I Saw You Hayflick published the Hayflick I Saw You in 1965. This theory states that after 56 divisions, I Saw You human body will I Saw You and die due to self-produced toxins. “In essence, this ’56 I Saw You I Saw You I Saw You, I Saw You I Saw You I Saw You…]
Before he knew it, the entire textbook had the five words pasted all over the pages —
[I Saw You I Saw You I Saw You I Saw You I Saw You…]
Chen Chen felt an indescribable ominous feeling rapidly crawling up from the bottom of his spine. It made its quick, continuous ascend along every inch of his spine until it seeped into his head at last. That was when Chen Chen felt as if his head was going to burst open!
I saw you?
Who, who saw me?
Chen Chen wanted to howl but when he opened his mouth. He found that his voice could not come out as if something was caught in his throat. When he slowly raised his head, he saw everyone in the class including his friend and Professor Wang Xi were staring right at him.
They all wore a pair of blood-red eyes…
[I Saw You!]
“Pfft!”
Chen Chen snapped his eyes open without warning. He immediately spat out the respirator in his mouth. As soon as he did that, large volumes of salty amniotic fluid poured into his mouth!
Chen Chen let out a muffled scream as if he was trying to unleash all of the pent-up rage boiling inside him. He raised his right hand and viciously hammered the tempered glass separating himself from the world outside the life incubator!
“Crack!”
It produced a sharp and harsh cracking sound. In an instant, the five-centimeters-thick tempered glass exploded into countless pieces and scattered into every direction, immediately accompanied by the amniotic fluid inside the incubator bursting out like a flash flood!
An immeasurable amount of amniotic fluid and broken glass shards scattered in all directions. Chen Chen emerged out of it and collapsed on the floor in a half-kneeling position. He coughed violently, pumping out a large amount of amniotic fluid from his lungs and stomach with each repeated cough.
“Sir Godfather!”
Little X’s voice full of concern immediately took over the speaker system. All of the lights inside the laboratory were immediately flashed open as several Black Knights charged into the laboratory and wrapped a blanket around Chen Chen.
“Scram!”
The look in Chen Chen’s eyes called for blood, even if just for a split instant. He violently shoved the Black Knight closest to him and in an instant, the 180 centimeters tall, stockily built Black Knight weighing more than 90 kilograms practically flew off!
“Bang!”
After slamming into a life incubator, the Black Knight slid down along its surface. Behind him, several visible radial cracks were left on the incubator,
“Chen Chen, calm down. It’s me, X.”
Little X’s voice came again, this time there was an anxious tone in her voice.
Chen Chen finally stopped when he heard this. As the red in his eyes slowly faded away, he knelt on the ground and looked around with haze in his eyes, seemingly trying to recall something.
Chen Chen remained that way until Little X called out to him several more times. That was when clarity finally returned to his eyes. He raised his head and scanned the laboratory, then he lifted his right palm and looked into it.
It was only then when Chen Chen noticed that the texture of his skin had turned into a fine layer of what seemed like gelatin. There was not a single pore to be seen.
On top of that, he felt as if his body was floating as he moved. There seemed to be an explosive force lurking inside him. The physique of his body had also improved from his previous frail and bony state to being well-proportioned. His firm abdominal muscles and biceps became accentuated without him needing to exert any effort.
“It seems like the experiment was a success.”
Chen Chen had finally completely recollected himself. As he spoke, a smile slowly surfaced on his lips, “Sorry, X, I acted a little too rash just now.”
“Sir Godfather, don’t ever give me a scare like this again!”
Little X expressed her concern. “I even thought that the experiment was a failure and you were going to turn into a zombie!”
“That won’t happen.”
Chen Chen made a waving gesture, his expression turning pensive as he did this. “I think the reason I acted that way was due to a dream I had, inside the dream…”
Arriving at this note, Chen Chen could not help but frown. “I forgot what the dream was about.”
“No need to dwell on it since you already forgot it!”
Little X commented nonchalantly, “Oh, would you like a mirror? What you see may come off as a pleasant surprise for you!”
“Mirror?”
Chen Chen was slightly taken aback by the comment. A Black Knight quickly approached with a large standing mirror and set it in front of Chen Chen.
Chen Chen’s appearance in the mirror did not seem to have taken on a stark transformation from his previous self. However, perhaps as a result of having his genes modified, the general outline of his face became more defined and textured. Complemented by a pair of perfectly dark pupils, there was now an unplaceable aura surrounding Chen Chen who used to have an otherwise average appearance.
On top of that, Chen Chen noticed that he had grown significantly taller. Before this, his measured height was the standard 1.75 meters, but now he had suddenly grown to 1.8 meters.
If something had to be said to appraise the aura the new Chen Chen gave off, it would be — the stone-cold temperament of a powerful president.
Emm…
Upon witnessing himself, Chen Chen could not hold himself back from nodding and commending himself, “I never thought the day would come when the good old loser Chen Chen would become tall, rich, and handsome.”
“What sort of nonsense are you spouting!”
Upon hearing this, Little X suddenly puffed angrily. “After undergoing the genetic modification of the T-virus, you’re no longer purely human. I’d even say there’s now a component of reproduction isolation separating you from common humans now!”
Chen Chen’s expression turned stiff upon hearing this as he asked with shock in his tone, “Are you trying to scare me now? Although I did receive the modification of the T-virus, the difference between my DNA and original human DNA shouldn’t exceed one percent, right? I doubt reproduction isolation would occur from such an inconsequential difference.”
“The same could be said for tigers and lions, orcas and dolphins or horses and donkeys. The genetic difference between these species is less than one percent as well.”
Little X explained, “The results? Reproduction between lions and tigers can only result in abominations like ligers. Orcas and dolphins mating together produce wholphins while donkeys and horses mating together produce mules. It’s widely acknowledged in the scientific field that creatures like ligers, wholphins, and mules are non-fertile. This is due to the chromosomal differences between the two parent species which results in the offspring not being able to form normal gametes. Therefore, their offspring cannot reproduce.”
After saying this, Little X let out a long sigh and expressed regretfully. “Under these circumstances, despite both of the parent genes mutually appearing in their offspring, the lineage cannot be continued from that point on and will simply end there. Nothing good will come out of you reproducing with another human!”
Chen Chen did not feel like prolonging this debate with Little X. It was not an everyday occurrence that Little X would be so stubborn. He decided to leave it at that and switched the topic. “Let’s do a blood test. I want to see how my DNA has transformed and if it’s the same as the Black Knights. This is the only thing that matters now.”
“Understood.”
Following Chen Chen’s orders, a Black Knight approached with a change of clothes for Chen Chen while another Black Knight came with a disposable syringe. Ten millimeters of blood was promptly drawn from Chen Chen’s wrist.
The needle head of the syringe was a reinforced variant. This was done because the skin of someone who had undergone genetic modification of the T-virus tended to be tougher than that of ordinary humans. Normal needles would easily twist or break upon injection.
After having his blood drawn, Chen Chen paid close attention to his wrist. He could see the mark left behind by the needle closing in on itself at a rate that could be easily observed with the naked eye. Soon, all that was left was a tiny red dot.
“This recovery speed is very similar to the ones displayed in the Black Knights.”
Chen Chen nodded contentedly. This blood test was just a safety precaution, after all. In the less than one percent chance event that something went wrong with the fusing process with the T-virus, the potency of the T-virus would have turned him into a zombie.
The fact that Chen Chen was standing here in one piece was a testament to the success of the experiment.
After that, Chen Chen began evaluating his strength, speed, and overall physique.
The process was the same as when they conducted similar tests on the Black Knights. The results were surprisingly identical to the results yielded from the Black Knights as well.
In terms of speed, Chen Chen’s sprinting speed shot up from 30 kilometers per hour to 38 kilometers per hour, which was 9.55 seconds per 100 meters. This had exceeded the current human world record of 9.58 seconds.
It should be noted that this was before Chen Chen had undergone the appropriate training.
Upon undergoing several months of physical training, Chen Chen should be able to further improve his speed to forty kilometers per hour.
Endurance-wise, Chen Chen could sprint up to 500 meters without any notable decrease in speed. This may not be an astounding amount, but it was still three times the endurance of an average person. Furthermore, this attribute could be further improved with training.
Half a day later, Chen Chen’s DNA profile was complete. Chen Chen’s chromosome number remained unchanged at 23 pairs while the differential between Chen Chen’s DNA and ordinary human DNA has dropped to 99.1%.
This meant that Chen Chen was still considered a human, albeit a genetically mutated human.
Alternatively, a better way to put it would be that Chen Chen belonged to a new subspecies of human beings…