by <unknown>
They were a pair of piercing eyes with a strange glow underneath them. Despite the man's young appearance, his pair of distinctive eyes seemed to render his very age a mystery.
If not for this pair of eyes, it would be sensible to gauge the man at approximately twenty-years-old. However, upon meeting those eyes, one may think that he was in his thirties, perhaps even in his forties.
Those were eyes that penetrated everything. They were sharp and familiar with the way of the world.
"Darwin's 'Theory of Evolution' tells us that we evolved from ancient forest apes."
The man suddenly began his narration without giving any form of introduction or attempts at warming up the crowd.
"But what exactly is evolution?"
The man raised his hand and gestured with his thumb and index finger. "Modern science has taught us that evolution is the transformation of genes.
"Many believe that evolution is a state of transformation from the simple to the complex, an 'evolution' from a lower-level to a higher-level. These are all misconceptions, it's true meaning – the genetics that's suitable for its surroundings are preserved while the ones which are unfit are eliminated. There's no such thing as level classification in genetics."
The speaker smiled. "In the Mainland, the Theory of Evolution was once also interpreted as the Theory of Progression. It was not a false claim at the time as the only distinctive difference between the two phrases is that the former discusses unordered evolution while the latter revolves around ordered evolution. In the modern mainstream scientific field, the former was more widely recognized.
"Just like how our ancestors have always lived in Africa but our relatives have left Africa two million years ago. Under different circumstances and environments, the accumulated mutation of genes caused prehistoric humans to embark on separate evolutionary paths.
"Our relatives who left Africa would go on to become Denisovans, Neanderthals, and such species. Their brains were bigger than us and they were physically stronger. They once ruled the world.
"It wasn't until seventy-thousand years ago when our ancestors – the homo sapiens finally stepped out of Africa. Around fifty-thousand years ago, the homo sapiens began establishing contact with the Denisovans and Neanderthals.
"What happened after that?"
The man spread his arms open with a boastful attitude. "We ate them. We killed all the pre-homo sapiens and we can see from the fossil remains that the other pre-homo sapiens were once our food as well.
"Not only that, in just thirty-thousand years, we drove seventy-percent of the Earth's large species to extinction. Before humans, the timeline for a species extinction usually ranged around millions to tens of millions of years. We essentially sped this process up by a thousandfold!"
A change of expression could be seen in many members of the audience and many began whispering among themselves.
"The question I'd like to raise here is does this suggest that the extinct species don't fit the theory of evolution?"
The man's voice slowly grew louder. "Does this mean that the Denisovans that are smarter and stronger don't have genetics as adapted to the environment as we do?
"No, that's not it!"
The man raised the corner of his lips in a wry smile. "They only failed to adapt to us."
When he said this, the audience below burst into bouts of murmurs again.
The man disregarded his audience's reaction as he went on. "Some of you may feel that my use of Theory of Evolution is counterproductive against the nature of science as it's a theory that's not clearly defined and may be debunked. In that case, rest easy, as the validity of the Theory of Evolution has nothing to do with my subject today, because today I'm proposing a new theory…
"Does everyone remember the first sign of the development of human civilization?"
When the man raised the question, countless people began to shout their answers, "Fire!"
"Correct, it's fire."
The man suddenly reached into his pocket where he took out a box of matches and drew one out of it. As he brushed it against the box, the match produced gentle flames…
After that, the man used another hand to pinch out the flame with the tip of his fingers. The kindle of flame was instantly put out.
The huge screen above the man's head provided a close-up of his actions for the audience. The tossed the match away before raising his head and said indifferently:
"Lawrence of Arabia enjoyed pinching out the flame on a match with his fingers. When his colleague William Porter asked him what sort of trick he used to put out the fire without hurting himself, Lawrence answered with a smile: The trick… Is to pay no mind to the pain."
The audience below chuckled.
The man continued. "Fire is the sign of humans advancing toward civilization and was what differentiated humans from other species, cementing their spot on Earth. After that, we invented the wheel in 4,000 B.C.; in 800 B.C., we founded the sundial; ninth century, gunpowder; nineteenth century, steam engines, railroads, electricity and light, the theory of relativity; twentieth century, automobiles, televisions, nuclear missiles, internet, quantum mechanics; twenty-first century, biotechnology, nanotechnology, nuclear fusion, and M theory!"
The man unloaded these words like a barrage of bullets as he paced across the podium. "The genetics of us humans have remained almost completely unchanged over the last thirty-thousand years, but we've turned the world upside-down. How did we do it? Was it those supposed Gods?"
Upon hearing this statement, some of the religious members of the audience had a change of expression.
"That might be plausible."
The man answered his question the very next second, switching his tone, "How was the Neanderthal driven to extinction? In the North American Sci-fi show Westworld, Professor Ford had said to the robot Bernard that the 'Neanderthals were eaten by us.'. The author of Sapiens, Harari, believed that 'imagination' was the primary force behind our ancestors' survival…
"Over the last several ten-thousand years, the homo sapiens from Africa continuously evolved and slowly became more 'imaginative'. This development allowed our ancestors to best the harshest environments as well as further driving ethnic cohesion and cultural transmission. They created 'fictional beliefs' for them to mount their spirits on such as 'God', 'witches', 'totems', and such.
"This is to say that religion has its place after all."
The man gestured with his hands before hammering the point again. "But at the end of the day, we still have to rely on science, on technology! Science allows us to make sense of this world while technology allows us to change the world!
"Technology even allows us to progress…"
A brief pause. The man continued again. "No, in terms of science, it's no longer progression, it has become true 'evolution'. Since we have control over the trajectory of our progression, we can perfect our evolution! To reinstate my point, we want to attain extended lifespan. This is the true value of evolution!
"As you all may know, our Blacklight company has developed the 'Age-reversal Treatment' project which utilizes stem cells to ease the aging process. We've also developed three targeted drugs for cancer. In essence, this is a form of evolution, an evolution driven by technology. And this press conference is our attempt at another path of human evolution...
"This is my newly-formed theory – Technology-driven Evolution Theory, that we humans can pave our own evolutionary paths which surpass the laws of nature by our own device because…"
The man paused briefly as he inspected the audience below before announcing glowingly:
"We're Gods!"
Chapter 282: End of Speech |
The venue fell into a thunderous uproar in response to the man's final statement as countless spotlights blared fiercely across the hall.
It was a tenacious speech, one which may have defiled God and undoubtedly insulted many Americans and Europeans present at the venue. However, the man on stage seemed to not hear
any noise from below as he kept up his usual monotone expression.
A better way to put it was that for someone like him in such a position, there was no need to be fazed by the mindless squabbling of others.
At this moment, many religious Westerners could no longer tolerate the insolence. Enraged, they shot up from their seats and stomped off the venue.
Still, a large number of people remained. There was thunderous applause from the audience mixed with the sounds of booing and ridicule.
Who in the world was this man?
At this present moment, it was the only question most of them had. For someone of his young age, he should still be fighting to make a name for himself. It was difficult to imagine that he was one of those people in positions of power.
However, the speech had yet to commence despite the group of people leaving, it went on unhindered.
"There may be many people who doubt my words, for God is eternal and omnipotent."
The man swept across the crowd with his gaze, looking more standoffish. "But we humans as well can —"
Before a new round of uproar could successfully break out below, the man continued to speak, pointing a finger at the sky, then at the earth, "In order not to be deprived of his position, Uranus, the God of the sky and the heavens imprisoned his children underground. In the end, Cronus rode the wind and soared above where he castrated his father with a sickle and took his place as the God of the sky and the heavens.
"After that, Cronus decided to eat all of his children as a means of protecting his position. Under the protection of his mother, Zeus managed to escape this fate. In the end, Zeus defeated Cronus and became the God of all things.
"From this, we can notice a rule…"
The man raised his voice again. "And that is – even Gods needed to grow. So, would you not say that our developing civilization is an upward journey toward attaining immortality and omnipotence?"
This inspired another round of debate in the audience below.
"Gods have godly strength of their own while we humans boasted our strength in our technology prowess!"
Decisively speaking over the rampant audience, the man continued. "The ordinary person stubbornly believes that life is accompanied by death, that this is a natural law that cannot be overturned, but this mentality is incorrect!
"Feynman, the founder of nanotechnology had once said that we have yet to find any proof that death was inevitable in all of biology. Since the phenomenon of aging is a law, then the principle of this phenomenon must be something we can research into. Therefore, we have reasons to believe that once we understand the essence of this law, we can, in turn, discover how we can reverse the process of aging and attain immortality!
"And that's how the commonly known Rapamycin came to be, along with stem cells treatment technology and the age-reversal treatment project…"
Another brief pause. The man surveyed the audience briefly before clenching his first fist and said, "Overcoming aging and achieving eternal youth doesn't object to the law of nature in any way. The aging process of humans can be overcome, it's merely just the body's parts aging. It's like how vehicles experience wear and tear, but does it necessarily mean that the car ages?
"If the parts of a vehicle have worsened with age, we can swap it out directly. Strictly speaking, we can continue driving the car that way. The human body operates on a similar principle as vehicles, the only difference is that we're more complex.
"With that said, in the modern technological age, is it possible to invent a form of 'engine parts' for us to swap with the parts in our body, thus extending our lifespan, taking us a step closer to Godhood?"
At this point, the man suddenly unveiled a thin smile. The once tense and suffocating atmosphere in the venue had eased down considerably. Many people were baffled by this stark contrast even. Such stage presence was nearly equivalent to that of the devil in World War 2…
At this part, the man answered his own question contentedly, "Fortunately, it's possible. It's the latest project Blacklight Biotechnology is tackling and also a shortcut for humans to reach Godhood, I call it —
"Bionic Prosthetic Project!"
The audience became rowdy again upon hearing this mention. Many people made the connection with the bionic prosthetic systems seen in movies such as Alita and Ghost in the Shell.
"Wrapping up this presentation, allow me to make a formal self-introduction."
After the audience settled down, the man prepared his closing statement:
"My name is Chen Chen and my goal is to build an empire founded by technology – Kingdom of Demigod!"
After revealing the theme of this conference, the speech finally came to an end. The man on the stage bowed slightly as if he had only done something insignificant, then the platform which he stood on automatically withdrew underground. The man disappeared from the stage.
It was only after the man was nowhere to be seen when the audience below came to their senses. When someone in the crowd made a lone clap, it began to spread through the audience and soon everyone was clapping in unison.
Within just two seconds, the venue was filled with deafening applause. It was also mixed with people cheering and roaring. This went on for some time…
Without the presenter on stage, the screen above the pulpit automatically faded out and turned into a black screen. Shortly after that, the image of a human silhouette was cast on the screen.
The only difference was that unlike an ordinary silhouette, this silhouette was without its head.
This was the promotional picture of the Blacklight Biotechnology official website.
The audience was reenergized upon seeing this. They were aware that the purpose of the speech just now was not just to explain the position and values of Blacklight Biotechnology, but also to extend to the theme of this conference.
The man had already clarified that the headless silhouette was a type of bionic prosthetic. Similar to the previous "Age-reversal Treatment" project, it was a technology purposed for extending the human lifespan.
While the audience was speculating among themselves, the platform that had descended into the ground appeared again. Only this time, it was not the young man they saw just now, but a famous talk show host in North America. According to the organizer's planning, Qian Wenhuan would host the rest of the conference along with this host.
…
Meanwhile, backstage at the Blacklight Dome, Chen Chen took the wet wipes from a Black Knight to wipe his face. At the same time, he craned his head and turned to a woman standing in the shadows. "What is it?"
"Do you have any idea what you just said?"
Xia Yin slowly stepped out of the shadows. She was wearing a slim evening gown which put her beautiful figure on full display. Her long silky hair was dyed chestnut brown which produced a fine sheen under the dim lighting.
"You were getting too ahead of yourself with your speech. In a Westerner-dominated environment, if someone were to create controversy from your speech, it will certainly be a great hit to Blacklight Biotechnology's reputation…"
"I'm only saying what I think."
Chen Chen twisted his neck and answered indifferently, "Also, no one will make an issue out of it. Trust me."
Xia Yin immediately fell speechless, she hesitated briefly before speaking again, "We haven't met in quite some time now, have we?"
"It's not that long, it's barely two years."
Chen Chen nodded. "But it seems like you've done a lot of growing up over this period."
"The same applies to you, I can hardly recognize you by your personality anymore." Xia Yin sighed and produced a faint smile.
While Xia Yin was still pondering her next sentence, a Black Knight suddenly stepped forward and handed a phone to Chen Chen.
Chen Chen inspected it briefly and quickly turned into a frown. Finally, he turned to Xia Yin. "My mission here is complete, the rest is in the hands of you and Old Qian."
Before Xia Yin had t
ime to respond, Chen Chen hurriedly took his leave.
Watching Chen Chen's quickly leaving figure, Xia Yin found herself with a smile filled with bitterness that was all too slow to subside…
Chapter 283: Gain Factor Value Q |
Naturally, the next segment of the conference concerning Project Xingtian did not need to be hosted by Chen Chen. After Chen Chen's brief exchange with Xia Yin, he suddenly received a message from Little X.
The contents of Little X's message on the phone were that just several minutes ago, while running the usual experiment with the inertial confinement nuclear reactor, there seemed to be an atmospheric pressure leak detected.
Chen Chen had no time to deal with Xia Yin as he hurriedly took his leave.
When Chen Chen stepped out of the Blacklight Dome, he immediately entered Cheng Cao's car and belted the order, "Cao, get me to the Spire as fast as you can, hurry!"
Before he had time to finish his sentence, Little X's voice took over the car's auditory system, "Sir Godfather, it was a numerical error, the inertial confinement nuclear fusion reactor is operating as usual…"
Chen Chen, "…"
Cheng Cao curiously shot a look at Chen Chen using the rearview mirror. "Boss, still headed for the Spire?"
"Let's go, I'll just take a look around there."
Chen Chen shrugged with his hands and instructed.
The engine started soon and they left the Blacklight Dome after that.
The inertial confinement nuclear fusion reactor which Little X spoke of was the nuclear fusion device that Chen Chen built based on his study of the technology in the world of Elysium. Since the end of last year, each major financial group had provided Chen Chen with a large number of high precision laser components based on his specifications.
Chen Chen even discovered that some of these laser components turned out to be spare parts for official NIF facilities in North America. It was largely unknown what sort of methods these families employed that they could even get their hands on the laser components from the NIF project.
