Chapter 78

The young girl stretched lazily like a cat, then washed up quickly and put on a slightly oversized white lab coat. She pushed open the door and walked out of her private room.

Ailu Anlita Phoenix, whose Chinese name is Chen Xian, is a mixed-blood girl. Compared to four years ago, at the age of sixteen, she has inherited the best qualities of her mother, Chen Xin, and her father, Gar Phoenix (Ditian Xia). Although she still has a baby face, the stunning beauty that was like a flower bud in her childhood has now blossomed into a remarkably exquisite and charming young woman.

She is even more beautiful than her mother. If she lived in ancient times, she might have been a beauty like Helen, Cleopatra, or Daji, capable of toppling nations. In modern times, with her appearance and temperament, she would be a world-renowned beauty, meeting the aesthetic standards of both the East and the West.

However, at this moment, she is wearing a standard white lab coat, hiding in a biological research institute on the Greenland ice sheet. She tied her hair up simply with a hair tie, went without makeup, and walked down the underground corridor, which resembles a nuclear bomb shelter, in warm bear slippers, yawning.

She has been here for two quarters. After her father learned of her interest in biology, he thought for a while and recommended her to study with a "mad scientist" who is recognized even within the "Serpent of Wisdom."

Her mother, Chen Xin, has now put aside her twelve years of ordinary life and returned to the "world" she originally belonged to. However, she visits her every one to two weeks.

To her mother, besides her father, the person named "Lian Tianhao" is also a very important and precious memory—just like Li Pu and me. The girl has long understood this.

About a month ago, she watched her childhood best friend's performance through the satellite network controlled by the "Serpent of Wisdom."

She recorded all of Li Pu's performances, including the one before the competition, on her private computer, made them into MP3s, and listened to them hundreds of times.

So—her mood has been very good lately!

"Meat Pie~" She walked into the biological laboratory, and many of the experimental animals in the cages immediately started chattering. Only one furry animal had the privilege of freedom, curled up in a ball in its nest.

Hearing Chen Xian call it, its ears perked up, and it raised its head dazedly, then hopped over to the girl's legs, nibbling on her pants affectionately.

Rabbits don't like to bite things. Arctic hares are the same. So "Meat Pie" is not a pure rabbit.

It is a genetically engineered organism, a fusion of the DNA of an Arctic bear and a rabbit. It has the strong hind legs and long ears of a rabbit, and the thick front paws and sharp teeth and claws of an Arctic bear. Although it is small, its muscles are very strong. Even animals of the same size, such as dogs and cats, can't beat it.

This is the result of technology, a twisted creature created casually by the mad scientist.

On her first day here, the mad scientist, who is a professor of materials science and genetic biology, gave her a task that seemed like a primary school extracurricular observation: to take care of this "bear-rabbit" or "rabbit-bear" and record its genetic stability and changes.

So this strange animal naturally became her pet.

In addition to the basic experiments on these genetically engineered animals, the fundamental research direction of this laboratory is the "Superhuman Adjustment Plan." The few hoodie-wearing men that her father brought to China a few years ago were early experimental subjects.

In front of her is a draft and research data of the institute's "Superhuman Adjustment Plan" experimental records.

Thyroid catalyst implantation surgery: Implanting an alloy bionic organ containing human growth hormone catalysts into the thyroid (currently using high-precision alloy products, but hoping to use more biologically active, self-growing organic materials in the future). Some experimental subjects experienced dry and hard skin and chaotic internal organ lesions due to hormonal imbalances.

Strengthening muscles and tendons with artificial injections: Injecting protein complexes into tendon tissues to significantly increase muscle and tendon density and elasticity, and reduce the recovery speed of lactic acid decomposition. Side effects: About 13.7% of experimental subjects developed fatal heart swelling, and even if successful, their body temperature would double. Most experimental subjects had extremely unstable mental states after surgery and required hypnosis or brainwashing to stabilize their minds.

Strengthening bones with reinforced ceramics: Transplanting high-molecular materials into the bone structure to change its brittleness. After multiple experiments, the dosage for standard experimental subjects should not exceed 3.5% of the total bone weight to avoid cell death. Explosive bone growth can cause irreversible deformities, comminuted fractures, and even bone cancer. The success rate of experimental subjects is about 25%...

In the future, it is hoped that, with the help of genetic engineering, bone-strengthening organs can be implanted to monitor and secrete hormones that affect the healing of growth plates and bone ossification. At the same time, special synthetic hormones can promote the ceramic compounds within the implanted bone tissue. After several years, this will significantly strengthen the bones and cause extreme ossification of the chest cavity, with the ribs growing into bone plates that overlap and interlock, greatly enhancing the bone strength of the subjects.

Modifying the suboccipital capillaries: This can enhance the activity of the rod and cone cells in the experimental subjects' retinas, significantly improving their visual abilities. There is a certain risk of retinal rejection or detachment, leading to permanent blindness...

One by one, the human enhancement and modification experiments, and even localized genetic mutation technologies, such as giving humans the electric organs of electric eels (genetically engineered animals are the basic preliminary experiments for this). When Chen Xian first saw them, she really felt a chill run down her spine.

But she soon realized that these are the costs of scientific progress—cold and ruthless, like demons, but real and existing stage technologies.

Since she cannot stop the "Serpent of Wisdom's" research, she has only two choices: 1, turn a blind eye and leave, 2, continue to learn.

She chose to continue learning and even indirectly participated in the research. Her focus is on the study of "localized genetic mutations."

Perhaps, she really is a little witch... the girl thought to herself with a bit of self-mockery. At least she can try to increase the survival chances of the experimental subjects. After all, she is much more careful and gentle, unlike her mad scientist mentor, who only cares about data and doesn't care about the life or death of the experimental subjects.

"Compared to these, Li Pu's 'alien fitness machine' is a much more ideal system for enhancing the physical body. It doesn't change the genetic essence but optimizes and enhances the original species' physical template, making it safe and stable... but this technology is too advanced, and Earth's technology cannot replicate it."

Thinking of her childhood best friend, Chen Xian has many questions she wants to discuss with him, not just her favorite alien technology and art, but also his life, his experiences, and everything about him.

But she cannot violate her father's rules too much. Otherwise, the terrifying scene in her dreams might become a reality—something she absolutely does not want to see.

In recent years, Chen Xian has increasingly understood how dangerous her father is, both in terms of the power he wields and himself. With just an "alien fitness machine for sports," Li Pu's chances of surviving a direct confrontation are very low.

If it were a "military-grade" version that allows changes to the genetic essence, it might make Li Pu progress faster and even eliminate the need to worry about her father. But Chen Xian doesn't want her most important friend to turn into a monster.

So, she can only look forward to her 20th birthday...

Chen Xian, as usual, brought a cup of hot fruit juice and analyzed and calculated the genetic engineering data on her computer. In this institute, besides Xiao Moriarty, only she and a few core assistants can read these materials. There are about thirty people in the institute, excluding the experimental subjects.

Around ten o'clock, a familiar person rushed into the laboratory.

The familiar person is Di Tianxia's trusted subordinate, "Skinflayer" Brad, who is currently her bodyguard.

"Princess, your study abroad is temporarily over. We need to leave here for a while," Brad grinned, revealing several sharp wolf-like teeth. Every time Chen Xian sees them, she suspects that this Navajo man has undergone localized genetic mutation surgery, such as having wolf DNA.

"What happened?" Chen Xian asked calmly.

"Your father, my boss, has encountered a very troublesome matter," Brad said, spreading his hands.

"The old monster, Duke Helman, who has lived since the late 18th century, finally couldn't hold on. At last month's meeting at the Nakht City headquarters, he nominated your father as the next chairman of the 'Hydra Council.' After a vote by the organization's members above the rank of count, he received more than 70% of the votes."

He paused and then continued more specifically, "As the only blood relative of the Phoenix family, according to tradition, you will be under the protection and guidance of the 'Raven King' in the coming years."