Chapter 2

Chen Ang spent a few minutes flipping through the research report in his hand.

"This is truly a miracle in the history of human evolution! Further development of the brain will make us a different kind of existence!" Chen Ang looked at the purple liquid in front of him and sincerely exclaimed.

"Unlike 'Eddie,' 'Lucy' has a permanent effect on brain development, but it also causes fatal side effects. However, the second catalyst you brought back can have a decisive impact on 'Lucy.' From this, we extracted a weakened version of 'Lucy,' reducing the side effects to a level the human body can tolerate! This is a gift from God!..." The old man rambled on, expressing his excitement.

The second catalyst was the stem cells of Lucy that Chen Ang brought back, while 'Eddie' referred to the NZT drug, and 'Lucy' referred to the CPH4 virus. These codes were only known to Chen Ang.

"How effective is it?" Chen Ang had to interrupt the old man, who was too excited to control himself.

The old doctor took a deep breath, entering a deeper state of overclocking, and his eyes regained their calmness. "The effect is astonishing, Doctor! The test subject remained in an overclocked state and could easily enter the first degree of overclocking. As long as he concentrated, he could activate the first degree of overclocking without any assistance. According to our examination, his brain development has exceeded 20%, and this part is permanently activated!"

Permanent state, self-activation!

This was far more powerful than the enhanced version of 'Eddie.' If the overclocking state brought by the NZT drug was still considered an auxiliary drug, then the permanent overclocking state was almost a 'superpower,' and it was the most heaven-defying kind of superpower. With 20% of his brain overclocked, Chen Ang could easily hear distant sounds, judge distances by sound, automatically absorb a large amount of knowledge, feel no pain, have no fear, and have extremely strong judgment.

He could easily perform actions and exert strength at the limits of human muscle capacity, his vision could capture the speed of a bullet, and he could sense infrared and ultraviolet light, even electromagnetic waves. He would be the strongest hacker, martial artist, gun god, and scientist, but the cost would be a gradually collapsing body and increasingly thin emotions.

Chen Ang, who had been taking NZT for a long time, was already somewhat too cold in his mental state. He could not accept the gradual loss of his self.

"Great power must be supported by a great heart; the body of a superman must contain the soul of a superman. Ancient Chinese cultivation texts record: 'Cultivating nature without cultivating life is the first disease of cultivation since ancient times. Cultivating life without cultivating nature, the spirits of ten thousand calamities cannot enter the holy.' I must find a way to strengthen both my soul and body to continue moving forward."

Chen Ang made up his mind, "I must enter other worlds as soon as possible to find a path of balanced development of spirit and body. According to the 'Huangdi Neijing,' my problem is a typical imbalance of essence, energy, and spirit. In this case, the internal skills of the martial arts world might be very helpful to me."

"Is the drug already perfected?" Chen Ang asked the old doctor.

The old doctor lifted his head and pointed to the needle mark on his neck, "It's very perfect. I've never felt better! Ordinary overclocking no longer puts pressure on the body, but the first degree of overclocking is still a bit strenuous. It's best not to exceed five minutes in daily use, and you should rest for ten minutes between consecutive activations to avoid side effects."

Chen Ang looked at his emotionless eyes and smiled bitterly, "Isn't this a side effect?"

"Of course not, this is a manifestation of the drug's perfection!" The old doctor pushed up his glasses and said seriously, "Absolute rationality, excluding emotional influence, is the perfect human! Of course, we can't achieve that state now. I'm just a bit more clear-headed and still affected by those annoying emotions."

"Thank goodness! Fortunately, this is just your personal special reaction, not a side effect. Inject me with the drug to enhance me!" Chen Ang walked to the experimental table and lay down. The soft straps on the side extended and gently wrapped him.

Twelve pricks of pain came simultaneously from his arms and body. Chen Ang watched the violet liquid drip into his body. The conversations of the researchers around him were stretched out, and the sounds and images flickered past his eyes. Soon, that familiar feeling filled his brain.

Soon, the feeling subsided. Chen Ang gently shook his arm, and the muscles rippled, easily breaking free from the ropes that could bind an elephant. His skin wrinkled and rippled, collecting sweat and dust to clean the surface.

Soon, visible dirt seeped out from the pores of Chen Ang's skin. He shook it off, and it fell clean. His skin was as smooth as a newborn baby, and all the parasitic mites and pimples were eliminated.

The old doctor watched in shock, dropping his experimental notebook to the ground. "What's going on? Did the drug enhancement fail?" He nervously approached to check. If his major investor and important research partner had any problems at the moment of his dream coming true, it would be a nightmare.

"It's fine!" Chen Ang waved at him, "The enhancement was successful!"

"But the enhancement time hasn't passed yet. The drug needs at least three hours to take effect, and you just injected it! Moreover, there has never been a record of controlling micro-end muscles and nerve endings, which requires at least 30% brain development." The old doctor emphasized, even his overclocked state couldn't control his emotions.

Suddenly, two streams of blood flowed from Chen Ang's nose. He clutched his head and groaned, scaring the doctors in the lab to run over and check. "No need, I can feel any state of my body. Just now, I was running my brain at full overclock, and my body couldn't bear it."

"This is at least a 25% overclock state, but the drug can only develop to the first degree of overclocking, which is 20%!" The old doctor was puzzled.

"My brain is more developed than others. It was just 20% just now!" Chen Ang muffled his nose and said.

"You should maintain a 10% all-around state, which is the best state the body can bear long-term. The 15% ordinary overclock state is the limit, and the 20% first degree of overclocking can only be activated for a limited time." The old doctor advised.

Under Chen Ang's control, his nasal cavity quickly returned to normal. He raised his head confidently and said, "Even if I'm just in an all-around state, I'm still more powerful than your overclock state!" Chen Ang raised his hand and flexibly moved it a few times, feeling his muscles and endocrine system adjusted to the best state.

"Of course, you are the most amazing genius I've ever seen. Chen, you are the person I admire the most!" The old doctor looked at him sincerely and sighed, "The development of the brain, the secret of God's forbidden zone, will be the greatest discovery in human history. The combined contributions of all the scientists in human history can't match yours, Chen."

"I can see further because I stand on the shoulders of giants!" Chen Ang raised his head and looked at the old doctor seriously.

"Name it!" The old doctor pointed to the violet liquid, "You are its creator, its father, you have this honor!"

"Let's call it the Foundation Pill!" Chen Ang smiled mischievously, "In the future, when developing other drugs, we can call them the Core Pill, the Embryo Pill, and so on, making it a series."

"Perfect foundation forging drug! A very suitable name." The old doctor, unable to understand the Chinese reference, nodded in agreement, "However, the series of drugs you hope for may not be possible. 20% overclocking is already the limit for humans. It has consumed millions of years of human evolution. To go further, we have to wait for the next human evolution or for a few geniuses to bear it."

"Undoubtedly, I am that kind of genius!" Chen Ang smiled confidently.

"I look forward to it!" The old doctor nodded and smiled.

A month later, in the training ground of the underground base, Chen Ang shot at a target 500 meters away, one shot after another, holding a special pistol and emptying one clip after another.

Soon, several targets began to move quickly, and a small crane imitated the movement of a bird, sliding through the air. Chen Ang fired almost without hesitation, often not even moving his eyes, aiming at the targets. His left hand quickly changed the clips, and the gunshots were steady and continuous.

After a box of ammunition was used up, someone quickly ran to the targets, and soon a voice came, "All bullseyes!"

A muscular man in camouflage personally checked and ran over to praise, "With just your pistol skills, you could handle five fully equipped special forces soldiers!"

Chen Ang put on a small silver box and tied it to his arm, waving his arm to test the feel. He responded, "But no special forces team would just send an action group. With logistics, intelligence, and tactical support, they can turn a marksman into a sieve."

"But you're not just a marksman. Behind you, there's not just your own shadow! The power of the syndicate will let you act without hesitation!" The man hinted.

Chen Ang's current abilities could only directly confront a special forces squad. If he encountered more people, he would have to risk entering the first degree of overclocking or use his superpowers to escape, and even some tactical teams could give him enough trouble.

Of course, this was on the condition that Chen Ang had no sufficient resources and support. Otherwise, as a mad scientist, his destructive power would increase exponentially with the abundance of resources and information. A massive army of tactical robots, tactical nuclear weapons, genetic weapons, and biochemical weapons would be enough to make superpowers headache.

Chen Ang put on several darts and stood in the testing room. Soon, a coin-sized red dot flashed in a corner not far away. Chen Ang kicked the wall, his body quickly dodging several infrared beams. A dart shot out like lightning and nailed the red dot.

Two more red dots quickly moved from behind. Without turning his head, Chen Ang nailed them with two darts. The red dots appeared faster and faster, but Chen Ang raised his hands, and a few silver flashes scattered, not missing a single red dot.

In the next moment, dozens of red dots flashed in different places, some close, some far, some in dead angles and cover. Chen Ang's body lightly turned, and the silver box on his arm silently opened. As he rotated, it scattered a shower of fireworks, a thousand cold stars.

The man's face showed obvious surprise. He pinched his chin and muttered, "This killing power is no less than a small-caliber automatic rifle. In the hands of a master, cold weapons can be as powerful as firearms!"

But he quickly came to his senses and sighed, "But it's still not as convenient as a gun. You should focus on customizing two good guns instead of practicing these!"

"But some places are not suitable for guns. This would scare the people there. On the contrary, these are much more useful!" Chen Ang picked up a small crossbow from a small box and demonstrated, "This crossbow has a longer range than a regular rifle and is much more powerful. Most importantly, it's not conspicuous."

The man curiously looked at the strange things in the box and reached out to touch them.

"Don't touch! There's a drop of poison that can kill a small town, and a tube that can instantly shoot 30,000 silver needles. Most importantly, the poison is on the silver needles!" Chen Ang warned.

"Damn!" The man nervously pulled back his hand, "Are you planning to assassinate the president? No, if you need it, just tell me. Why use such things? Damn, how are these things made?"

"I call it the Heaven-Destroying, Earth-Shattering, Heart-Piercing Nail!" Chen Ang put away the box and said seriously, "My laboratory can do anything!"

Chen Ang wore an ancient Taoist robe, with a full set of hidden weapons under it. He carried the small wooden box on his back, like a barefoot doctor. He locked the door from the inside and disappeared without a trace in this airtight safety room.

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