Chapter 83
“These filthy things are their hatred and envy towards you, professor.”
Useless. Brother.
Cameron’s expression suddenly froze. He stared at his brother, and a few seconds later, with a look of deep humiliation and exasperation, he took a deep breath and vehemently clarified:
“I didn’t study for over ten years; I didn’t! The moment I saw that pit full of idiots, I knew they couldn’t succeed. I only participated in the research for a few years! Just a few years!”
“‘Just a few years.'” Shen Zhuo’s eyes revealed undisguised sarcasm.
Then he turned his head and whispered with a hand covering his mouth, “Even Yang Xiaodao only took ‘a few years’ to learn how to solve plane geometry problems.”
Bai Sheng: “…”
Thousands of miles away, Yang Xiaodao did not witness this fraternal conflict but still felt as if he had been harshly kicked from a distance.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone outside cautiously knocked on the door. Probably noticing the silence in the office, they feared Cameron was once again being beaten up by Supervisor Shen: “Mr. Cameron, are you alright?”
“What is it now, gentlemen?” Cameron’s humiliation and anger found an outlet instantly: “Did you just finish trimming your beards and doing your nails, and now you can’t wait to invite me out for a leisurely afternoon tea?”
“…” The official outside immediately ran off: “Sorry for disturbing you; my apologies!”
Cameron grumbled, adjusted his tie, and climbed up from the floor, eyeing his younger brother, who once whimpered under a blanket. After a long while, he finally raised his head and awkwardly asked:
“So, how did you do it?”
Shen Zhuo stood with his hands in his suit pants pockets, staring at him impassively.
“So how did you develop the HRG gene interferon!” Cameron impatiently asked, “I tried every possible approach and couldn’t bypass the human genetic limits. How did your gene interferon enable ordinary people to gain superpowers? How did you do it?”
“A bit of intelligence, a bit of effort, and a less idiotic research team.” Shen Zhuo paused, “Plus, ‘just a few years.'”
Cameron: “…”
“Don’t bother asking, brother. You know I won’t agree to cooperate with the Security Council. I’ve read all your memories, and there’s not a bit of useful information.” Shen Zhuo said flatly, “I thought you might know more about the extraterrestrial entity 001, but apart from witnessing it harass you since childhood, you know nothing. And as for the catalyst that made Mother decide to kill the extraterrestrial entity 001 on the day of the incident, whether it had any conspiracies discovered by the researchers, you weren’t even there; you can only guess…”
He raised his wrist to check his watch and shook his head regretfully:
“It took me forty minutes.”
The reminiscence spanned over twenty years, but only forty minutes passed in reality—the longest duration Shen Zhuo could maintain after taking the A-level serum.
Cameron’s expression was hard to describe, as if he had been forcibly stripped naked and insulted for no reason. After a long while, he coldly said: “At least I know some information. What do you have? This double-S class gentleman with a liberal arts degree and muscular build, who turns into a werewolf every full moon?”
“?” Bai Sheng never expected that he would be dragged into this and metaphorically kicked as well.
Shen Zhuo looked at Cameron. Surprisingly, he didn’t retort but answered calmly:
“I have Quanshan County Health Clinic.”
Cameron stared at him in confusion.
“If I’m not mistaken, when you saw the ‘vessel’ in the incubator disappear, it probably wasn’t because mother ordered the self-destruct program, but because someone took it. I don’t know what it went through over the past twenty years, but I know that twenty years later it appeared in the Quanshan County Health Clinic, where it was burned to ashes in a local fire, and then regenerated a complete body from the ashes—exactly as the extraterrestrial entity 001 said, that the vessel has ‘infinite regeneration’ abilities.”
“Unfortunately, you’ve already seen it.” Shen Zhuo said, “It’s Rong Qi.”
The office fell silent for a few seconds.
Expected yet surprising, Cameron’s gray-green eyes flickered. After a long while, he said softly:
“…The extraterrestrial entity 001 back then, is this Rong Qi?”
“Rong Qi has always been committed to creating his kind, turning Earth into a paradise for extreme evolutionaries, and killing off ordinary people who cannot evolve. Mother must have sensed his ambition back then and desperately tried to burn him with ionizing radiation, but failed.”
Shen Zhuo fell silent for a moment, probably recalling the scene of his parents’ tragic deaths.
Bai Sheng, leaning against the wall with arms crossed, reached out and pressed his shoulder firmly, his slender fingers conveying a calming strength.
Shen Zhuo waved his hand to indicate he was fine and took a deep breath:
“But there are two things I don’t understand. First, where has Rong Qi’s spirit body been for these twenty years, just wandering around Earth? Has he never tried to forcibly possess someone?”
Cameron said: “The radiation detectors in the UN research base have never detected the spiritual entity 001, nor have the global wide-range detectors. He might have returned to the higher-dimensional universe or outer space, only returning to Earth five years ago with the meteor shower.”
Shen Zhuo nodded noncommittally: “Second, why did the artificial vessel appear in a remote county clinic? Who took it out of the lab? Who sent it there? And who gave it the name ‘Rong Qi’?”
Cameron fell into thought, not saying a word.
Bai Sheng looked at him, then at Shen Zhuo. After a moment of hesitation, he finally coughed and cautiously said:
“Well… among the first generation of HRG researchers, could there have been a traitor?”
All the first-generation researchers had died heroically, so this question was offensive and provocative. Bai Sheng was ready for Cameron to become furious and kick him out, but unexpectedly, Cameron just pinched his chin and calmly shook his head.
“I don’t think there was any traitor making deals with the spiritual entity 001 back then,” he said slowly, “but… perhaps someone had hidden motives.”
Bai Sheng asked doubtfully, “Hidden motives?”
“‘The vessel’ is a gene sample edited by an extraterrestrial civilization. At that time, some researchers thought this artificial embryo was extremely precious, comparable to a miracle, and proof that science could replace God. They might have tried to secretly hide it, so that even if the HRG project ended after killing the spiritual entity 001, they could still nominate the artificial embryo for a Nobel Prize or something.”
Cameron paused, thoughtfully saying, “And the spiritual entity 001, upon discovering that ‘the vessel’ was gone, flew into a rage and launched a frenzied counterattack, ultimately causing all researchers to perish…”
Everyone had died, and the experimental logs were destroyed in the accident, leaving no way to verify if Shen Ruzhen had issued a self-destruct command.
The whereabouts of ‘the vessel’ naturally became a mystery, and no one knew it had been hidden in a clinic in a remote county.
“I was hoping to find some clues from you, to see if you saw anything during the time I was away from the lab… but it turns out you can’t remember anything.” Cameron looked his brother up and down with a gaze that said, “What use are you?” and coldly asked, “Can’t you use your mind-reading ability on yourself? Is facing your true self much harder than invading others’ privacy?”
Bai Sheng realized that these two brothers couldn’t stay peaceful for more than two minutes, always on the verge of starting another round of mutual destruction.
Shen Zhuo was simply too lazy to pay attention to his brother. At this moment, there were two more knocks on the door, and outside was Cameron’s secretary, who spoke in a trembling voice:
“Mr. Cameron, the Chairman urgently needs to see you, it’s really urgent this time…”
From the secretary’s quivering tone, it was clear that these people were deeply traumatized. Cameron pressed his temples with restraint and called out to the door, “Tell him to wait!”
The secretary dared not push him, and he quickly slipped away.
“Quanshan County Health Clinic has already been screened, but almost all the staff have died in the fire. When I get back, I will initiate a new round of investigation procedures.” Shen Zhuo didn’t disclose much to his brother, lowered his head, patted his sleeve, and said lightly, “By the way… thank you, brother.”
Cameron was caught off guard.
In that moment, he seemed to remember the sudden and decisive gunshot, and his terrified young brother in a pool of blood. After a moment of silence, the over-forty UN official turned his head, hiding his facial expression:
“…It’s nothing, just a natural reaction in a life-or-death situation.”
“Oh, no.” Shen Zhuo said calmly, “Thank you for giving me a loving hug in the middle of the night on my birthday.”
Cameron: “…………….”
Shen Zhuo, nonchalant under his brother’s deadly glare, reached out and opened the door.
·
Downstairs, the hearing had already adjourned. The corridor outside the office was empty; everyone must be busy with other matters, or even if they weren’t, they wouldn’t dare to come up and touch Cameron’s bad mood.
Shen Zhuo walked out of the small office, with Bai Sheng following him with long strides, reaching out to pat Shen Zhuo’s shoulder. But before his hand could touch, Cameron’s icy “Ahem!” came from behind.
Bai Sheng: “…”
Bai Sheng remembered something, turned politely to Cameron, and said apologetically, “By the way, I haven’t had a chance to apologize for the incident last time. A few months ago, when you visited the Shenhai HRG Laboratory, the gravity abilities in that area…”
The gravity abilities in that area made Cameron’s men kneel down one by one, like a large group crawling scene.
Cameron said coldly, “It doesn’t matter. I never argue with primitive animals who only know how to rampage using their abilities.”
Bai Sheng responded happily, “You truly are a generous gentleman. By the way, I have a question. During the second wave of global evolution, did you hide?”
Cameron thought he was mocking him for not being able to evolve, and sneered openly, “Truly superior human genes don’t need evolution to prove themselves. Besides, high-energy ionizing radiation damages the DNA chain, preventing the possibility of me becoming a primitive animal if I came into contact with meteorites. Why? Are you disappointed?”
Bai Sheng’s mind was slightly moved.
During the disaster 23 years ago, both Shen brothers were exposed to ionizing radiation, damaging their genetic fragments. Perhaps this was why they had no reaction to the meteorites.
——But this only explained their lack of reaction to the meteorites; it didn’t mean there wasn’t an evolutionary switch on their genetic chain.
Perhaps the switch was just broken, and while meteorites couldn’t activate it, the HRG gene interferon could.
“Nothing.” Bai Sheng smiled slightly, “Being a human suits you just fine, brother.”
Cameron was hit in the heart: “Who is your brother?!”
Bai Sheng turned to Shen Zhuo in disbelief and grievance and said, “He’s being mean to me.”
Shen Zhuo: “…”
The three of them walked down the stairs, faintly hearing noisy shouting outside the soundproof old office building, like countless people chanting slogans. Bai Sheng frowned sensitively. At this moment, several officials hurriedly surrounded the EHPBC chairman, rushing over. Cameron stopped and asked, “What’s going on, gentlemen?”
“Protests! The opposition has gathered a massive march of thousands!” The Chairman, who had been dignified at the hearing, had lost all his authority, his silk tie askew, looking both embarrassed and furious, “The news of today’s hearing triggered riots, the public is protesting our persecution of Dr. Shen, and now the demonstrators have broken in and are storming the council building!”
Cameron: “…”
Bai Sheng quickly walked to the window, glanced out, and even he couldn’t help but take a light breath.
Looking down from above, a sea of heads surged like waves. The opposition’s gathered citizens held signs, painted with oils, roaring like a tidal wave to release Dr. Shen. The scene looked like a raging sea, with more continuously pouring in from the distance.
It wasn’t just tens of thousands; at this rate, it would soon be hundreds of thousands.
“Release Dr. Shen!” “Down with the Evolutionists!” “Protest the Evolution Privilege Act!”
…
The increasingly loud slogans drifted in through the window cracks, as the demonstrators, full of fervor, continuously clashed against the building’s perimeter. EHPBC deployed a large number of evolved guards, erecting an ability barrier in front of the building, but this only further ignited the protesters’ fury, and the conflict was about to escalate.
“It’s all the opposition’s instigation, claiming that we’re going to arrest Supervisor Shen, using Fu Chen’s death three years ago to charge him with murder. Now many in the march are armed…” The chairman didn’t dare continue, wiping sweat as he hurriedly made a decision: “Let Supervisor Shen go outside to make a public speech, clear up the misunderstanding with the voters, or the consequences will be unimaginable!”
Bai Sheng scolded, “No way!”
The chairman choked.
“You know many in the marching crowd are armed. What if there’s an outbreak of violence? What if extreme evolutionists in the crowd take the opportunity to harm Supervisor Shen?” Bai Sheng’s usual casual demeanor was gone, and he sternly reprimanded without mercy, “Making a public appearance now, who will take responsibility if something happens? Will you accompany Supervisor Shen out of this building?!”
The chairman’s family background was far nobler than Cameron’s, holding great power and influence, yet he was publicly scolded to the point of losing face, his expression turning various shades of blue and white: “But outside… outside are our voters…”
At this moment, Shen Zhuo’s phone rang. It was Chen Miao, and the noise on the other end was chaotic: “Senior, our car is parked outside the council building, about 500 meters from the main entrance, completely surrounded by demonstrators, we can’t move an inch…”
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Suddenly, there was a burst of gunfire on the other end!
“Someone’s shooting at our car!” Screams erupted, and amidst the chaos, Chen Miao’s hoarse shout could be heard: “Fortify with abilities! Quickly! Order all vehicles not to retaliate, repeat, do not retaliate!”
The call cut off amid the gunfire, with Shen Zhuo’s face turning icy as he put down the phone.
The atmosphere in the council building froze, with everyone looking grim.
Cameron turned to Bai Sheng: “Can you use your ability to escort Supervisor Shen out?”
Bai Sheng looked out at the sea of people outside the building and spat out a single word:
“Yes.”
He truly could. Not to mention these hundreds of thousands of ordinary protesters, even if it were hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers armed with intercontinental missiles aimed at the building, it would be nothing but dust in the wind to Bai Sheng, posing no obstacle at all.
“But what about the council building?” The chairman immediately objected, his face turning even grayer: “The protesters won’t give up easily. If they don’t see Supervisor Shen, they won’t disperse. What if they start shooting and storming the building? Haven’t we learned from the increasingly violent protests recently?!”
“……”
The surrounding silence reminded everyone of the recent global tragedy, a large-scale shooting triggered by an opposition march, resulting in hundreds of deaths and shocking international headlines.
“I can’t leave,” came a calm voice from the window.
All eyes turned to see Shen Zhuo looking out the window, his expression solemn: “Using abilities to force through now would only ignite more hatred and lead to stronger global opposition, which would be uncontrollable.”
Cameron frowned, “Then you…”
“I must make an appearance.” Shen Zhuo turned and walked forward, his face pale and calm as he buttoned up his suit: “Prepare for a public speech, summon the riot police, and in case of extreme situations, try using tear gas to disperse the crowd.”
But Bai Sheng raised his hand to stop him, his actions decisive and resolute: “Absolutely not, it’s too dangerous. I must take you away immediately!”
Shen Zhuo said, “Situations without danger don’t require my presence. It’s always been this way. Notify the media to prepare for satellite broadcasting…”
“—Professor.” A gentle voice came from nearby, cautiously asking, “May I try?”
Bai Sheng and Shen Zhuo both turned to look.
It was Su Jiqiao.
He always had that cautious and polite demeanor, like a delicate white flower. But not long ago, this delicate flower had publicly embarrassed several officials, leaving them with complicated feelings, especially the chairman, whose face had turned various shades of red and purple, finally squeezing out a sentence: “…What do you want to do, Mr. Su?”
Su Jiqiao stepped forward and opened the window.
The old brick and wood building’s sliding window easily opened a crack, and the overwhelming slogans immediately surged in, the sound wave strong enough to make one step back.
“Release Dr. Shen!” “Death to the Evolutionists!” “Bring out Dr. Shen!”
…
A dense sea of people, angry and twisted faces as far as the eye could see. Su Jiqiao sighed lightly with a smile, full of sincere admiration: “Professor, look, so many people are supporting you.”
Shen Zhuo stared at him icily, silent.
“But that’s normal.” Su Jiqiao said with a light smile, glancing nonchalantly at Bai Sheng: “Someone like Professor Shen, it’s no surprise to have so many admirers, we’re used to such large crowds.”
Before Bai Sheng could retort, Su Jiqiao withdrew his gaze and extended his hand outside the window.
Though invisible to the naked eye, many present could feel the unusual flow of energy—it was an S-level ability.
No one knew the extent of Su Jiqiao’s Fatal Strike, because all mental abilities were unpredictable and couldn’t be measured by ability ecological boxes. Previously, he hadn’t even disclosed his A-level ability, Daydream.
Shen Zhuo’s eyebrows tightened slightly.
Su Jiqiao’s ability had an immediate effect. The first few hundred people in the crowd suddenly stopped their actions, no longer frantically pushing forward, instead standing there inexplicably, with hesitancy and confusion on their faces.
At the same time, wisps of light were drawn from their brains, forming a floating halo in mid-air, gently held in Su Jiqiao’s white palm.
The halo was bright red, interspersed with many murky black sediments, reflecting in Shen Zhuo’s eyes.
“This is their strongest emotion towards you. Red represents positive feelings, black represents negative ones. Once the emotions are extracted, they will lose the drive to protest and become completely docile and peaceful, so when we go downstairs later, we can walk straight through the crowd.”
The dark sediment slowly coagulated, staining the entire halo black.
“I was wrong, Professor.” Su Jiqiao looked up at Shen Zhuo, smiling.
“I thought the world passionately admired you, but in reality, they hold so much negative emotion towards you. Do you see? These filthy things are their hatred and envy towards you.”
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