by <unknown>
"What a mindless observation, isn't it?"
Chen Chen made a gesture and expressed helplessness. "It's precisely because everyone dies that we claim death is inevitable. We see aging the same way we see the concept of time itself, it only presses onward and there's nothing we can do to stop it…
"With that said…"
Chen Chen suddenly altered his tone. "This assumption is invalid. Feynman, the founder of nanoscience had once said that in all of the study of biology, we have yet to find any substantial proof that death is completely inevitable. One day, biologists will be able to pinpoint the exact cause of death and rid us of this horrible 'disease'. From there on, the human body will cease to be just a temporary instrument…
"In truth, there's no reason to put aging and time in the same sentence. Time will press on one way or another, but aging isn't a constant."
Chen Chen pointed at his head. "Think about this carefully, Sir Adrian. The observation of aging is merely due to the components of the body expiring, just like how cars wear out the longer you drive them, but does this necessarily mean that cars age? If you have mastery of restoration techniques, could you not simply swap out the worn-out parts with new parts, thus making it so that the vehicle can be operated forever?
"The human body is more complex than that, but in its essence, it's the same as a vehicle."
Adrian fell silent upon hearing Chen Chen's remark, appearing to be pondering the legibility of what Chen Chen had told him.
"To attain immortality, we united the financial groups of North America and Europe and launched the 'Mankind Anti-aging Project'. The goal is to extend the human lifespan.
"Of course, these are just empty words. Without proper evidence, I doubt you'd easily believe what I just told you."
Chen Chen made an inviting gesture. "But that won't be an issue. You may revisit any document on this website anytime you'd like, feel free to take a look at what's in them."
Adrian nodded and closed the file on the AD-001 drug and proceeded to open another file with details concerning the cancer targeted drug. A mix of surprise and shock appeared on his face. "This is completely different from the anti-cancer drug your group announced, this is a fourth variant of the anti-cancer drug!"
"That's right."
Chen Chen nodded. "Although Blacklight only publicly announced three anti-cancer drugs, we have six variants of anti-cancer drugs that can completely cure cancer. There are also over ten such anti-cancer drugs currently under development. The reason we haven't announced them to the public is that these are currently restricted to the members of God's Forbidden Zone only."
"Members restricted?"
"It means that due to some of the techniques employed being too unconventional, we've decided to restrict it to a small group for the time being to avoid inciting a large societal shift."
Chen Chen further explained, "By small group, I'm referring to the participating members of God's Forbidden Zone. We develop new drugs with the help of the investment of each financial group. After commencing development, they'll be made available for these members at first notice. This is the methodology of God's Forbidden Zone."
There was finally a mild look of intrigue on Adrian's face upon hearing Chen Chen's remark. "So what exactly prompted you to approach me?"
"There are two reasons why I've come here."
Chen Chen narrated, "One. To invite Sir Adrian to join God's Forbidden Zone. And two, I'd like to purchase all of the Osmond shares from your hands."
"If I were to join, will I have access to all of the non-publicly available drugs listed on the website including AD-001?" Adrian's eyes lit up.
"Yes. Only with your current status, you don't have the privilege to be a part of the 'Disciple's Council' in God's Forbidden Zone, you will soon be though. However, if it pleases you, you may choose to be enlisted as an Alpha member, which is the highest-ranking member next to the Disciple Council. The only difference is that you will not have as much authority as the Disciple Council and don't have access to free medical treatment."
"Money won't be a problem, I just want to get my hands on this AD-001."
Adrian quickly responded by shaking his head.
"That won't be a problem," Chen Chen answered, "as long as you're willing to transfer the shares of Osmond Biotech to us."
"Are you worried about the off chance of Osmond developing another variant of a targeted drug for Alzheimer's disease?" Adrian finally had an epiphany when he heard this. "Which is to say that Osmond's research trajectory is correct after all!"
"Correct."
Chen Chen nodded. "So, Sir Adrian, have you come to a decision yet?"
Adrian appeared visibly conflicted at this point. "I'm willing to join God's Forbidden Zone but… what if I refuse to give away my shares in Osmond?"
Chen Chen smiled and turned to look at the cold corpse lying on the rug without a word.
Adrian immediately understood what Chen Chen was suggesting with this gesture. He let out a brief sigh and nodded. "I understand, I'll have to consider this for a while…"
"No problem." Chen Chen gave him a nod and got up politely. "Please give me an answer as soon as possible."
With that, Chen Chen opened the door leading out of the study and left the room, disappearing at the end of the long and winding corridor.
Watching Chen Chen's slowly vanishing figure, there was a look of uncertainty on Adrian's face, he slowly descended into the crevices of his mind.
Chapter 257: Success |
In the end, Chen Chen purchased all of the shares from Munster for a fair sum of 1.2 billion.
Munster previously bought the shares at the price of 1 billion. A net profit of 200 million was considered rather generous already.
Although he was slightly upset, Adrian was well aware that this was the best possible outcome.
Though there was the possibility of Osmond developing a cure for Alzheimer's disease in the future, it was all but speculation. Even if it were to succeed, it may be a matter of years or even decades.
If he wanted to cure his father's disease as soon as possible, God's Forbidden Zone was his best bet.
Besides, there was no end to the mysteriousness of the young man who came to him, one who even seemed to possess supernatural powers. If he was unwilling to hand out his shares, it may very well be an invitation to a great disaster.
The poker card which seemed to kill using an invisible force left a heavy impression on Adrian.
To date, Blacklight Biotechnology officially held 50% of Osmond's shares. This piece of information quickly went viral, causing many people to speculate all sorts of likely scenarios that could come out of it.
Chen Chen also made an official announcement regarding Alzheimer's disease targeted drug AD-001 in the inner circle of God's Forbidden Zone.
Originally, Chen Chen was going to announce this in 2025 after experiencing the events as told in the movie. However, the situation was developing faster than he had expected. With Osmond slowly gaining momentum, he had to do something before it was too late.
Besides, this announcement was not exactly breaking news in the inner circle of God's Forbidden Zone. Chen Chen had already made offhand mentions about it to the members of the Disciple Council as early as September last year.
At the time, the information Chen Chen revealed to them was: "In three years at most, a new line of targeted drugs will be produced to terminate the disease of the century.". Although it had only been one year since, they should at least be mentally prepared for it.
Following the announcement, some of the financial groups who believed that Chen Chen was just all bark no bite this entire time began to properly reevaluate the technological prowess of God's Forbidden Zone. Meanwhile, the ones who had been cautiously optimistic had become entirely convinced.
At the current moment, specialized drugs had been developed to alleviate the two major diseases targeted at the elderly, which were cancer and Alzheimer's disease. The "Mank
ind Anti-aging Project" was gaining proper traction. The 30 years of lifespan granted by the age reversal treatment was also well insured.
Chen Chen quickly returned to Namibia without lingering for too long in North America. He still had another research project on his hands and could not afford to waste too much time.
Returning to the Spire Experimental Base, Chen Chen headed toward his secret laboratory while listening to Little X's reports.
"So, you're saying that during this period, you've decoded the entire genetic map of the tyrant clone?"
After getting sterilized and opening the door to the laboratory, Chen Chen was immediately greeted with the sight of a group of Black Knights, each occupied with a task.
"Yes, after making thorough comparisons, I've found that the genetic similarity between your tyrant clone and your ontology is 99.9%. Only 30 strands of genes showed signs of mutations."
Little X explained, "What we'll need to do now is to rewrite the genetics of the T-virus until we can produce a variant of T-virus that can transcribe the 30 genes in your body to a genetic structure similar to that of the tyrant clone. At that point, you'll be able to safely inject yourself with the T-virus without any side effects, consequently attaining physical qualities like that of Alice in the movie."
"You've done a great job."
Chen Chen nodded with satisfaction. He had to admit that Little X was starting to become more independent. There may not be much by way of innovation but so long as Little X had data for reference from real life, she could transform them into something else of her own.
Lu Xun once said that the world did not come with paved roads, the roads were formed as a consequence of people treading its grounds.
Though Little X may not know to pave roads of her own, she knew how to use the roads paved by others. She could then tread the same grounds far better than the first ones who did it.
The next task of rewriting the genetic sequence of the T-virus was truly a work of endurance as Little X would have to try each path one by one. Chen Chen had found out the answer to the question and now had to work his way backward to acquire the formula to generate the answer.
When it came to dealing with genetics, an enormous amount of manpower and time would be needed to find the correct formula.
Naturally, Chen Chen did not need to burden himself with these tasks. He had Little X manning the operation and the Black Knights putting in the hard work without complaints. All he needed to do was to sit and wait patiently for the results.
After taking a lap around the laboratory, Chen Chen decided to take his leave.
"Sir Godfather, we currently have a good number of normal-temperature superconductors in production, would this be a good time to start working on building particle accelerators?"
Little X asked again.
"Let's see how things go first."
Chen Chen hesitated for a moment and responded, "As it is, we haven't met the research requirements for particle physics. This is a sizable project on par with the Spire Experimental Base project. There's a small chance of us hiding it from the Namibian government whether we're talking about the materials required or the construction itself."
"But if we don't have a particle accelerator, we won't be able to build isotopes or expert materials like high-offset metals," Little X informed regretfully.
"There's nothing we can do about it."
Chen Chen nodded. "We've been gaining too much capital momentum lately, any more and we might find ourselves labeled a public enemy. For the moment, it's best to lay low and wait for a year or two to allow our influence to spread across the Earth Federation. At that point, we can switch gears into development to properly accomplish our goals."
"Understood," Little X answered.
"Right, are the unmanned drones on the industrial zone's end completed yet?"
Chen Chen asked, "I sent the spy drone from UAV to them as well as plenty of ultra-high precision machine tools, have they not produced any prototypes yet?"
"Concerning the drones, there are still some technological barriers yet to be overcome."
Little X answered, "But the weapons expert Professor Charles yielded some results in just two days. They have designed the first batch of electromagnetic weapons by referring to the blueprints from Elysium."
Chen Chen lit up at this revelation at last. "In that case, have Charles send me several prototypes."
Following Chen Chen's orders, several weapons closely resembling the "Cousar Crowe Rifle" from the movie were promptly delivered to him.
At the same time, Chen Chen had arrived at the shooting range in the Spire Experimental Base.
"These are the first batch of mid-range weapons manufactured according to the blueprints you provided."
Little X's voice came from the Bluetooth earphones. "Due to technological and time limitations, the heavy-range weapons are still under development. They are forecasted to be completed within a year."
This did not elicit a response from Chen Chen. He silently picked up the weapon from the metal crate.
Based on appearance alone, the rifle was extremely peculiar. An ink-black and heavy body, no protruding stock or barrel structure, on a whole, it appeared like an enlarged version of AUG.
Chapter 258: Pulse Rifle |
Inside the movie, the Cousar Crowe Pulse Rifle was a portable weapon specifically designed for targeting humans and large vehicles.
This was an easy to control and lightly-built gun. Its relatively short range was compensated with immense power. The rifle also came with a set of anti-propulsion piston muzzle system, greatly reducing its recoil.
It was coated with a layer of pure black nitrate oxide paint, a single-point burst with a fully-automatic switch rifle that was not much larger than the common rifle. The sleeve of the gun was built extremely thick, giving it a powerful and sturdy feel.
There were two barrels at the front of its body. One of them was a gun barrel while the other barrel served as a pipeline to host a fuel cell. A hydrogen fuel cell with a diameter of 3 centimeters and a length of 20 centimeters was slotted inside it. Its instantaneous discharge voltage could reach up to 400V.
The barrel was inlaid with a ring layer of superconducting material. There was no need for any form of rifling installation as the bullets were propelled using electromagnetic force in accordance with the principle of Lorentz force, which spun the bullet at extreme speed using electric pressure.
Additionally, the bullets were crafted using magnetic metal. Based on the diamagnetic principle of superconducting materials, the propelled bullets should not make any form of contact with the gun barrel itself, thus essentially improving the lifespan of the firearm.
This form of electromagnetic rifle used the same gunpowder as the weapons which Chen Chen previously had Professor Charles design, which were powered by the Galaxy pendant. The traditional method of cartridge cased gunpowder was substituted with a modern solution, which allowed the magazine to be loaded with more bullets.
The electromagnetic rifle in discussion used a 5 x 20-millimeter shuttle-shaped hollow bullet. A regular magazine the size of a palm could hold up to 200 rounds.
Apart from the hollow rounds, there were also several other ammunition such as the spiral-shaped armor-piercing rounds and explosive rounds to choose from.
Apart from several core components such as the barrel, most of the gun was manufactured using engineered plastic, greatly reducing the weight of the gun. The gun was 54 centimeters long and 23 centimeters tall, weighing only 4.5 kilograms.
There was also a built-in biometric authentication system which prevented opponents from effectively using them.
Beholding the midnight-black, sturdy weapon designed for killing, Chen Chen switched it to single-burst mode. With his right hand, he set the butt of the gun on his right shoulder and supported the front of the gun with his left hand. He aimed at a target a hundred meters out with a three-point single-line motion aiming method.
Aft
er that, he gently held down the trigger.
Following a swift "swoosh", a large hole of 3 centimeters in diameter was punctured into the steel plank a hundred meters away!
"This sound…"
A spark surfaced in Chen Chen's eyes. As opposed to the usual popping sounds similar to that of a firecracker emitted by traditional gunpowder weaponry, this sound was closer to a short whistle caused by the friction produced in the air by an extremely fast-moving object, only mixed with a hint of the spark of electric current.
The decibel of a traditional firearm firing was extremely significant. Even when firing in a bustling city, the sound of gunshots could still be heard half a kilometer away. However, the noise produced by this weaponry barely reached 50 decibels. This was drastically lower than the usual decibel frequency produced by traditional gunpowder firearms which bordered around 145 to 160 decibels.
On top of that, thanks to the "anti-propulsion piston muzzle system" installation, Chen Chen only felt a tiny amount of recoil which was just like the recoil of a pistol.
"The reason that regular firearms are loud is caused by the difference of air pressure on its inside and the surroundings. The moment the bullet exits the barrel, it causes a sudden decrease of chamber pressure which produces a thunderous noise."
Little X explained, "Since the new variant of the rifle doesn't require chamber pressure, there's only the sound of bullets slicing through the air."
Chen Chen nodded, his eyes flashing with amusement. In his time in Namibia, he had tried his hands with a good amount of firearms, but this was the first time he had such a comfortable experience with a gun.
This was the legendary sci-fi gun as they called it. Perfect, perfect…
After that, Chen Chen experimented with the shooting speed. The Cousar Crowe Pulse Rifle could be shifted into either semi-automatic or fully-automatic modes. After switching into the fully-automatic mode, Chen Chen pulled the trigger. He instantly felt the gun coming to life in his hands.
