Chapter 160: Three Years, Sixteen-Year-Old Su Hao
Su Hao enjoyed the feeling of being alone in a quiet place, allowing his thoughts to wander freely. He didn’t want to be disturbed. He had always been a loner, long accustomed to it. He had no urge to find a partner; having a companion seemed meaningless to him.
He didn’t need to share his troubles with anyone because no matter how difficult a problem was, it would become meaningless as time passed. It was like the messages left in a QQ zone ten years ago, saying, “I will never forget this day!” Today, those words were long forgotten, and even the events of that day had faded away into oblivion, scattered by the wind. Time had a mysterious way of making everything seem meaningless.
Su Hao believed that, from the perspective of life, the present moment was the most important. The past was meaningless, and so was the future. Cherishing the happiness of the present moment was what mattered in life.
Su Hao immersed himself in exploring and researching genes, and he found great joy in it. With closed eyes, deep contemplation, rapid brain activity, flashes of inspiration, and a sense of accomplishment when he made progress, he was deeply engrossed.
This was the charm of being alive!
Anyone who dared to disturb him while he was enjoying solitary contemplation could easily become the target of his fury, as Yashan and Taini living with him had learned. Even the family tutor, Mann, was someone who knew when to respect his boundaries.
The only one who could disrupt Su Hao was Little Round Rat. Every time before it went onto the experimental table, it would become “excited” and emit uncontrollable howls.
…
In no time, three years had passed, and Su Hao was now sixteen years old. Thanks to the powerful Zhu Hua genes, his height had exceeded two meters, soon reaching the average height of Zhu Hua people. The tufts of white fur on his ears had grown completely, indicating that his body had matured and was ready to take on the vital role of reproduction.
With a more handsome and towering appearance, Su Hao occasionally took to the streets. Nearly every girl of appropriate age couldn’t help but blush or drop subtle hints. It seemed that all he had to do was nod, and a multitude of young and charming Zhu Hua girls would compete to warm his bed.
Even someone as unshakable as Su Hao felt his scalp tingle!
Therefore, when young men are out in the world, they must learn to protect themselves.
Su Hao’s experimental base remained mostly the same. He didn’t have high demands for equipment since the world couldn’t provide him with high-precision instruments. Many things were relatively unimportant, whether they were present or not.
Most of the experiments were conducted within the Ballistic Space.
Three years ago, when he had eliminated the Tiansha Gang in Linyuan City, he had demonstrated his well-built physique, which allowed him to focus on genetic research for these three years. There were no major disruptions during this time.
The results of these three years were remarkable.
The genetic modification experiments on Little Round Rat had progressed rapidly, significantly reducing the mortality rate. As a result, the number of Little Round Rats in the breeding facility had not only rebounded but also significantly increased.
However, the Little Round Rats were no longer the same species as before. Through Su Hao’s genetic modification, they had transformed into various strange shapes.
Long-tailed round rats, circle you’re familiar with. Have you ever seen round rats with eight or nine tails? Nine-tailed round rats?
Some evolved into flying squirrels, sprouting meat wings directly. Some grew longer fur, turning into a ball of fluff. Others developed six legs, stood upright, grew gills, generated shell-like bone spikes, produced silk, became muscle rats, increased in size, exhibited various eye colors, changed forms, or even became venomous.
All sorts of round rats, things never seen or heard of before, jumped around in the breeding area of the laboratory as if it were a kingdom of exotic rodents. These mutated round rats were the results of Su Hao’s experiments over the last three years.
He had almost completed the decryption of basic genes and had a more detailed classification of “functional gene” gene fragments, even adjusting the double eyelids and bigger eyes of Cardislan was a piece of cake. As the “Gene Simulated Transcription System” became more refined, the success rate of genetic modification experiments on little round rats increased. At present, almost all modified round rats had a survival rate of over 90%.
For round rats that did die, it was generally due to a lack of energy to support their evolution. To some extent, Su Hao had now grasped the scissors to freely modify genes. He could modify a creature’s genetic information according to his own will, transforming them into various forms. He could create whatever he wanted with enough experimental subjects.
Although it couldn’t guarantee that the legendary creatures he modified would possess corresponding abilities, they would at least have the desired appearance. Su Hao could easily grant abilities by modifying genes, inscribing the designed “rune” patterns into the creatures’ bodies and adjusting the energy content to generate extraordinary strength.
However, in the past three years, although Su Hao had acquired the ability to modify the appearance of living beings, he had not yet mastered the generation of corresponding patterns of genes. According to his research, the patterns on an organism’s body were not determined by the gene sequence but rather by gene expression. Two round rats with the same genes could express different patterns. These genes were controlled by numbered gene markers, such as “1, 2, 3…10”. If the first rat might express the “1” gene marker, receiving corresponding patterns, the second rat might express the “2” gene marker, resulting in different patterns.
Su Hao’s desire to accurately express his “runes” through genes was not that simple. If one link went wrong, it would result in a failure. In the following research, Su Hao found that a certain type of protein played an important role in the pattern expression process. He referred to this protein as “pattern control protein”. Further research on this subject would likely yield significant results.
In addition to this, Su Hao had also successfully deciphered fragments of extraordinary genes and obtained success in the experimental transformation of little round rats. It seemed that these miraculous gene fragments didn’t differ when applied to different species.
For instance, the “spikes” gene from the “Thorned Beast” also showed excellent expression in the round rats, leading to round rats that had spiky shells all over their bodies, capable of launching spikes for attacks.
The key to successfully expressing these extraordinary genes was whether there was sufficient energy to support the round rats’ evolution. At first, almost all experiments ended in failure. However, when Su Hao implanted extraordinary gene fragments, tried to implant genes that enhanced blood gas, the experiments unexpectedly succeeded.
To sum it up, there were two conditions for evolving into extraordinary: implanting fragments of extraordinary genes and implanting fragments of genes that enhanced blood gas. Su Hao now had the confidence that he could turn a strong Zhu Hua person into a level-1 Mutant, pass the adaptation phase, and evolve into a level-2 Mutant and so forth until level 4! If there were complete level-5 Mutant genes, he might even be able to modify genes to become a level-5 Mutant! However, he still lacked sufficient data for the level-5 Mutant genes, so he couldn’t try it easily.
Nevertheless, Su Hao was already extremely satisfied. Who could have imagined that he now possessed the technology to make people evolve without needing to devour their flesh?
Su Hao pushed open the laboratory door and walked out.
“Next, I need to find volunteers for the final step: human experiments.”
(End of this chapter)
