In Night City, inside a top-floor technology laboratory of the Yunxiao Technology Group, Li Chang’an slowly opened his eyes within a massive metal incubator.
In truth, he had been awake for several days.
However, when he first woke up, he had no idea what was happening in the outside world.
All he knew was that what felt like the blink of an eye seemed to have been a very long time.
It was only in the last few days that he had fully awakened from the daze of birth, finally able to barely control his body and perceive the world around him.
At this very moment, a middle-aged man in a suit with meticulously combed hair stood outside the blurry incubator.
"How are the child’s vital signs?"
Gazing at the infant rising and falling in the incubator, the middle-aged man had a look of fascination. He turned his head to ask the researchers in white lab coats behind him.
Hearing his question,
several of the researchers in white coats hurriedly glanced down at their computer screens and replied, "Chairman Charles, all data is normal. This infant’s genes are all perfect. Its performance in terms of physical strength, intelligence, and even compatibility with Extraordinary Superpowers is the best in this batch!"
The middle-aged man nodded at their answer.
A mocking smile touched the corners of his lips. "Very good. Upload all the experimental data and genetic backups. You have all made tremendous contributions to Project ’Sharp Blade’... You are great heroes!"
Receiving such high praise from their direct superior, the staff members couldn’t help but reveal looks of pleasant surprise. But before they could even offer a few humble words,
dozens of dark gun barrels suddenly emerged in the laboratory!
"RAT-TAT-TAT..."
Muzzle flashes flared as bullets precisely struck the center of each researcher’s head. Gushing blood was especially glaring in the pure white laboratory.
The middle-aged man walked to the front of the incubator and pressed a button, his expression one of inexplicable excitement. "Welcome to Night City, my child!"
The incubator opened completely.
Watching his ’father’ in this life smile at him while standing amidst a pool of blood, Li Chang’an couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
’What an unconventional opening ceremony.’
’It would’ve been even better if one more person was lying in that pool of blood.’
...
...0...
Although Yunxiao Technology Group was called a technology group,
it actually controlled massive resources in various sectors, including energy, machinery, arms, real estate, food, and medicine, making it the undisputed ruler of all of Night City.
Because of this, as the chairman of Yunxiao Biotechnology Group, Li Chang’an’s ’father’ in this life, Charles John, also held another title in Night City: the Night City Emperor!
However, in recent years, life hadn’t been easy for Charles, this so-called emperor.
Twenty years ago, Advanced Biotechnology Group developed a potion that could awaken Extraordinary Abilities in humans. Since then, the center of the world order has shifted dramatically toward an Extraordinary society.
Transcendent beings were deployed to the battlefield in large numbers, and often, a single one could battle elite units like traditional Genetic Warriors and Mechanical Guards.
The more highly evolved among them could even pierce through Mechas with ease, while traditional, clumsy, and ineffective Genetic Warriors were treated as mere toys.
This undoubtedly dealt a head-on blow to many traditional technology corporations that had built their fortunes on arms and Mechas.
Although Yunxiao Technology Group was also trying hard to keep up with the times, and had developed several genetic potions over the years,
its market value continued to shrink relentlessly because it had yet to develop a true Extraordinary Potion.
...
But no matter how much its market value shrank, as long as its home base of Night City remained, Yunxiao Company was still one of the world’s top titans.
Born into such a conglomerate,
Li Chang’an’s life was ten, even a hundred times more extravagant than his past life in the Imperial Palace.
Due to his young age, Li Chang’an needed to drink milk.
So, Charles found dozens of Extraordinary women to nurse him in shifts. Looking at the vast, pale mountain range, Li Chang’an had a million retorts he wanted to spit out.
But in order to grow up as quickly as possible, Li Chang’an could only accept all comers.
His appetite was enormous. While he couldn’t drink dry the milk of dozens of Extraordinary women every day, he could finish most of it.
Seeing him eat so much at such a young age, Charles was very pleased.
After all, Li Chang’an was not only his first child but also his most prized research result. The more his performance deviated from the norm, the more excited Charles naturally became.
He was nursed until he was two years old.
Charles announced to the world that Li Chang’an was his heir. Then, he hired tutors to teach him, each one a top professor and expert in their respective field from around the world.
And Li Chang’an’s performance did not disappoint Charles.
Not only did he have a photographic memory, but he could also extrapolate from a single example. Even at his young age, he repeatedly stumped academic experts with questions they didn’t know how to answer.
By the time he was three, Charles already regarded Li Chang’an as a priceless treasure.
Li Chang’an could also clearly feel that Charles’s feelings for him weren’t those of a father for a son, but rather those of a researcher for a test subject.
Li Chang’an was a Sharp Blade that Charles was preparing for himself, one that, in time, could help him deal with everything he needed to handle.
This naturally made Li Chang’an feel very uncomfortable.
However, since he was currently eating Charles’s food and drinking his drink, Li Chang’an decided to endure it for the time being.
When he was three, Charles summoned Li Chang’an to the laboratory. Looking at Li Chang’an, who was already nearly as tall as his thigh, Charles took out a potion and said, "Get on."
He pointed to a nearby experimental platform.
Li Chang’an frowned, thought for a moment, and chose to walk onto it.
According to the information from his Rebirth Mark, this was the point in time when Charles was supposed to inject him with the Extraordinary Potion.
Li Chang’an didn’t know the specific effects of this world’s Extraordinary Potion.
But as long as it didn’t endanger his life, he didn’t mind giving it a try.
Charles carefully operated the equipment to secure Li Chang’an on the experimental platform, then took a deep breath, picked up a syringe, and injected the potion into Li Chang’an’s body.
After finishing, Charles asked with some impatience, "How is it? Do you feel a tearing sensation in your body?"
Li Chang’an closed his eyes to feel it.
He discovered that the potion just injected into him seemed to be desperately trying to squeeze into his cells.
But because Li Chang’an had been secretly practicing the Nine Revolutions Chaos Technique for years, the potion was completely unable to break through his body’s defense system.
Seeing Charles staring at him intently,
Li Chang’an thought for a moment and then tried opening a gap in his body’s defense system, allowing the potion to pass through his cells and enter his body.
Instantly, a tearing pain shot through him. Li Chang’an was stunned to find that the potion was continuously flooding his cells, trying to tear them apart, rewrite them, and make his body structurally stronger.
’This stuff is actually a treasure!’
’It can actually make my body more adapted to combat.’
’And it seems it can also provide a huge amount of Energy for cultivation!’
This discovery brought a pleasant surprise to Li Chang’an’s heart. He instantly activated the Nine Revolutions Chaos Technique and absorbed all of the potion into his body.
He looked up at Charles and replied, "I feel a little tingly!"
Charles was clearly surprised that he only felt a tingle.
He glanced down at the potion in his hand, then back at Li Chang’an, and his expression suddenly turned cold. "Besides the tingling, don’t you feel your body tearing, something awakening inside you?"
Hearing this, Li Chang’an closed his eyes and pretended to feel it for a moment, then asked with a confused look, "I think I feel a little something... Father, what is this potion?"
Charles put the syringe down and remained silent for a long time before speaking. "This is an Extraordinary Potion. A single dose can rewrite genes and awaken special abilities in ordinary humans!"
"And the one I injected you with is an Extraordinary Potion purified a hundred times over, worth billions. Yet you feel nothing. This means you have absolutely no talent for awakening Extraordinary Power!"
As he spoke, he seemed to be questioning his own reality, muttering, "No, that can’t be right. Your genes are clearly perfect. In theory, you should absolutely be able to awaken Extraordinary Power..."
Seeing his stunned and uncertain expression, Li Chang’an licked his lips and said enticingly, "Perhaps it’s not that it had no effect, but that the dosage wasn’t large enough. Father, maybe a few more tries will yield results!"
Staring at Li Chang’an, Charles was silent for a long time before finally making up his mind. "Tomorrow and the day after, I will give you two more injections. If you still can’t awaken your talent, then it proves you don’t have it..."
"Useless trash has no place to survive in the Yunxiao Group!"
"You will either become the sharpest blade in the world and tear to death all those bastards who try to touch the Yunxiao Group’s interests, or..."
At this, he snorted coldly and didn’t finish his sentence, but the meaning in his expression was self-evident.
To be able to control such a massive corporate Empire, Charles’s way of thinking was obviously completely different from an ordinary person’s.
In order to maintain his own supreme authority,
never mind that Li Chang’an was just a test subject mass-produced in a lab using his genes.
Even if he were his real, biological child, he could be sacrificed at any time if necessary.
After taking another needle to draw some blood from Li Chang’an’s body, Charles left without lingering.
Watching his departing figure,
Li Chang’an showed no significant emotional fluctuation.
He got up, picked up the syringe that had been set aside, and looked at the residual liquid in the needle, murmuring, "If this world’s technology is all focused on this stuff, then this is another gluttonous feast for me!"
In the Main World, one of the Martial Dao Evolution Paths was the genetic Evolution Path.
However, anything related to it was a rather taboo topic in the Main World because it could potentially trigger uncontrollable changes in a Martial Artist.
Under normal circumstances, Genetic Warriors were not permitted to exist in the Main World.
There had been incidents in the past where a Genetic Warrior went berserk and slaughtered civilians. An entire city of people had not died in an Exotic Beast Tide, but at the hands of that single crazed Genetic Warrior.
It was precisely because of that incident that many people’s faces would pale at the mere mention of the term ’Genetic Warrior’.
But now, this world not only had potions that could provide controllable changes, but also the supporting facilities to go along with them.
For Li Chang’an, who possessed the talent of Heaven-defying Comprehension, this was undoubtedly another great, untapped treasure trove waiting to be plundered!
...