The Mystery of the End Times
A few days later, the documents regarding the nine incense stickss were finally approved by Cao Zhixian.
As soon as they received the incense stickss, everyone gathered in the laboratory.
Zhuang Yao was wearing a white lab coat tailored to his size, which accentuated his fair and tender face, giving him a somewhat extraordinary appearance. He placed a tray on the table, and on the tray lay nine milky-yellow, thick, stick-like objects. Although everyone knew they were incense sticks, they looked quite different from the first time they saw them.
Deng Xiao tilted his head and observed for a while, "They look somewhat different."
Cong Xia nodded, "Yeah, maybe they were left in the underground palace for too long and grew moldy. They look much better now after being cleaned, and they seem quite flexible too."
Zhuang Yao said, "You can try bending them."
Cong Xia picked one up, and indeed, the incense sticks was much softer now, easily bending at any angle. He then tried pulling on both ends with force, but after stretching about three centimeters, it wouldn't budge any further, "Wow, it's quite tight."
"You should let Deng Xiao try."
Deng Xiao also picked one up and pulled on it forcefully. He managed to stretch it about six to seven centimeters, better than Cong Xia, "Hey, it's really tight. Let me try transforming." He seemed eager to transform.
Zhuang Yao snatched the incense sticks from him, giving him a disapproving look, "Don't do something useless." He handed the incense sticks to Tang Yanqiu, "You try it."
Tang Yanqiu took the incense sticks and felt it in his hand. Perhaps it was a psychological effect, but he felt that this rubber-like thing was extraordinary, not just because it was an ancient and immortal incense stick, but... it seemed to be genuinely excellent material for bowstrings. Just holding it gave him a certain sensation, as if there was some affinity between them.
He grasped both ends and pulled with force, stretching it to twice its original length. At this point, the veins on his arms were clearly visible. When he let go, the incense sticks returned to its original shape as if it had never been subjected to violent pulling, which was highly unlikely for such a tightly resilient material, as stretching it twice its length should have caused some damage to its elasticity.
Tang Yanqiu exclaimed in excitement, "It's indeed a treasure."
Zhuang Yao measured it with a ruler, "Yes, just like the ones we experimented with before. Regardless of how much pulling they undergo, they can fully recover. No animal tendons possess such a miraculous property. However, after testing, it's indeed some kind of vertebrae tendon. This material is absolutely perfect for making bowstrings, as it can maintain its elasticity under any level of tension, ensuring Tang Yanqiu's archery skills can be fully displayed." He placed the incense sticks together and pushed them towards Cong Xia, "Now, the problem to solve is how to join them together."
Cong Xia reached out and fiddled with the incense sticks, saying, "I'll give it a try."
"You can't just try; you must succeed. No modern technology can achieve seamless integration. If this bowstring with such incredible strength has nine joints, its performance will be worse than a rubber band. You need to make them completely merge, just like they were inside that creature's body."
Cong Xia infused some energy into the incense sticks and clearly felt its cellular activity. He said, "I'm quite confident; it should work."
Cheng Tianbi asked, "Do you have any ideas about what creature it might be?"
Zhuang Yao replied, "Yes, but it's just a speculation."
"What?"
Zhuang Yao continued, "They extracted Shen Changze's genes for comparison, and they believe it might be the tendon of a 'Sea Dragon.'"
"'Sea Dragon'?"
"You guys probably don't know about it. In simple terms, the Sea Dragon is the ancestor of Dragonblooded humans. In the 1980s, when our country was drilling for offshore oil, they accidentally blasted out a strange fish. It was entirely golden and resembled the dragons in ancient myths. You can imagine Shen Changze turning into a fish. Anyway, that fish was unique in the world, and no other one could be found no matter how they searched in that sea area.
Later, it was discovered that its blood was a treasure. It was not only highly concentrated acid but also an excitant that was a thousand times stronger than heroin at the same dosage. It could instantly turn people into superhumans with immense strength and a bloodthirsty nature, but they would die shortly afterward. However, if the dosage was small, people could survive. Initially, they wanted to use the Sea Dragon's blood to create high-purity excitants for medical research and weapon manufacturing. But as their research progressed, they ended up creating genetically enhanced soldiers, also known as Dragonblooded humans.
Now, the Sea Dragon's body has been nearly depleted, and there might be no pure Sea Dragon blood left. Only the genetic material extracted from its blood is used for genetic enhancements. The process of cultivating Dragonblood warriors is not very successful, and their combat abilities are much inferior to those created using pure Sea Dragon blood. Initially, after searching for more than 20 years, they had given up hope of finding another Sea Dragon, but now times have changed, and all sorts of bizarre creatures have appeared, even superorganisms in the depths of the sea. So, their hope of finding another Sea Dragon has been rekindled. Therefore, as soon as this tendon appeared, they were eager to compare it with the Dragonblood genes."
Cong Xia frowned and asked, "Isn't this line of thinking a bit far-fetched?"
"Not really, it's a reasonable speculation. Dragon legends have been around for a long time, and all legends have some widely disseminated events as their basis. The Sea Dragon perfectly fits the image of a dragon living in the water. Such a powerful deep-sea creature must have undergone billions of years of evolution, while human recorded history is only a few thousand years.
It's entirely possible that the Sea Dragon existed in history, but its appearance might not match what we know. The biggest commonality between the Sea Dragon and these incense sticks is that both are creatures unprecedented in human databases, with no recorded traces to trace back to. There aren't many animals like this, as most of the newly discovered species can be traced back to their ancestors and relatives. Since they all stand alone and have body structures far beyond human imagination, it's not strange to associate them."
Tang Yanqiu asked, "If this is indeed the tendon of a Sea Dragon, can I still use it to make a bowstring?"
Zhuang Yao widened his eyes, "The items are in our possession. If they want to take them, they'll have to come and take them forcefully."
Cong Xia chuckled, "Exactly, unless they want to fight for it, it's ours now. However, I remember Shen Changze's blood concentration was 96% or 97%. Despite being so close in concentration, the results of genetic enhancement using it are vastly different from using pure blood."
"Don't underestimate that 3% difference; it's an insurmountable gap between advanced species and evolvers. The difference between Shen Changze and the Sea Dragon is absolutely massive."
Deng Xiao rolled his eyes, "Little Zhuang Yao, you're so mouthy. If Brother Shen hears this, he'll definitely smack you."
Zhuang Yao gave him a disdainful look, "Hybrid is a neutral term. Instead of sleeping and eating so much, spend more time reading."
Deng Xiao's face drooped, looking at Cong Xia with an expression like a child who had lost a fight, silently asking for help with his eyes, "Cong ge, can you talk to him?"
Cong Xia ignored him; he had more pressing concerns, "I heard that Al Moray is showing atavistic signs. It only started within the last three months. Could he atavistically become a Sea Dragon?"
"He indeed has evident fish-like atavistic traits. According to Tang Tingzhi, his initial blood concentration was 66%, and within three months, it has reached 69%. Don't underestimate this 3%; it is quite significant in determining the abilities of Dragonblooded individuals. He can now breathe freely underwater for up to half an hour. However, you need to be aware that the Sea Dragon is a type of fish, not an independent species. Al Moray's prominent features are more fish-like rather than Sea Dragon-like. It's just that, due to being a Dragonblood human, his atavistic transformation shows increased Dragonblood concentration and the manifestation of Sea Dragon-like characteristics. It takes a long time to fully atavistically revert all the features of a species. Even if he could atavistically express all the traits of a fish, he won't become a Sea Dragon; he will just become a fish. But by that time, his blood concentration would probably be similar to Shen Changze's. So, studying him is still necessary."
Liu Fengyu asked, "I've always wondered why Shen Changze has pure blood? How is the blood concentration of Dragonblood humans determined? Is it related to their physical abilities?"
Zhuang Yao shook his head, "No, the blood concentration of Dragonblood humans is related to their own genes. The better their genes fuse with Dragonblood genes, the higher their Dragonblood concentration and success rate will be. Al Moray is the best fusion with minimal rejection among Dragonblood humans, apart from Shen Changze. As for why Shen Changze can achieve nearly pure blood, it's because he wasn't created through genetic enhancement.
He was born to two Dragonblood parents, and his parents took on the rejection for him. The gene fusion was completed during his embryonic stage. However, female Dragonblood humans are extremely rare, and successful pregnancies are even rarer. So, he is the only 'pure-blood' Dragonblood human, even though his blood concentration is only 97%."
"I see..." Cong Xia picked up one of the incense sticks, "If this is indeed the tendon of a Sea Dragon, it means that Sea Dragons really existed in history, and they can be found."
Liu Fengyu rolled his eyes, "I really hope this isn't some Sea Dragon tendon or whatever. Haven't you thought that if those giant monsters really exist in the sea, we might encounter them one day when we go to the South China Sea? Do you want to meet them? I'm already freaked out just hearing about giant man-eating fish measuring dozens of meters or giant squids hundreds of meters long. I don't want to go there. Do you think our lives are too long?"
Cong Xia smiled bitterly, "I was just speaking casually. I don't want to encounter them either."
Zhuang Yao said, "Whether we want to or not doesn't matter; it's not something we can decide. Cong Xia, you stay in the laboratory today and try to connect them. Tang Yanqiu and Liu Fengyu, you two focus on breaking through to the Second Stage in the next few days. Our enemies are becoming more and more challenging to deal with, and we're still too weak."
Everyone nodded.
Zhuang Yao was right; they were still too weak. Unless they had the power to destroy the heavens and the earth, how could they face those superorganisms that were hundreds or even thousands of meters long? For themselves and their loved ones, each of them had to continuously become stronger.
The Mystery of the End Times
A few days later, the documents regarding the nine incense stickss were finally approved by Cao Zhixian.
As soon as they received the incense stickss, everyone gathered in the laboratory.
Zhuang Yao was wearing a white lab coat tailored to his size, which accentuated his fair and tender face, giving him a somewhat extraordinary appearance. He placed a tray on the table, and on the tray lay nine milky-yellow, thick, stick-like objects. Although everyone knew they were incense sticks, they looked quite different from the first time they saw them.
Deng Xiao tilted his head and observed for a while, "They look somewhat different."
Cong Xia nodded, "Yeah, maybe they were left in the underground palace for too long and grew moldy. They look much better now after being cleaned, and they seem quite flexible too."
Zhuang Yao said, "You can try bending them."
Cong Xia picked one up, and indeed, the incense sticks was much softer now, easily bending at any angle. He then tried pulling on both ends with force, but after stretching about three centimeters, it wouldn't budge any further, "Wow, it's quite tight."
"You should let Deng Xiao try."
Deng Xiao also picked one up and pulled on it forcefully. He managed to stretch it about six to seven centimeters, better than Cong Xia, "Hey, it's really tight. Let me try transforming." He seemed eager to transform.
Zhuang Yao snatched the incense sticks from him, giving him a disapproving look, "Don't do something useless." He handed the incense sticks to Tang Yanqiu, "You try it."
Tang Yanqiu took the incense sticks and felt it in his hand. Perhaps it was a psychological effect, but he felt that this rubber-like thing was extraordinary, not just because it was an ancient and immortal incense stick, but... it seemed to be genuinely excellent material for bowstrings. Just holding it gave him a certain sensation, as if there was some affinity between them.
He grasped both ends and pulled with force, stretching it to twice its original length. At this point, the veins on his arms were clearly visible. When he let go, the incense sticks returned to its original shape as if it had never been subjected to violent pulling, which was highly unlikely for such a tightly resilient material, as stretching it twice its length should have caused some damage to its elasticity.
Tang Yanqiu exclaimed in excitement, "It's indeed a treasure."
Zhuang Yao measured it with a ruler, "Yes, just like the ones we experimented with before. Regardless of how much pulling they undergo, they can fully recover. No animal tendons possess such a miraculous property. However, after testing, it's indeed some kind of vertebrae tendon. This material is absolutely perfect for making bowstrings, as it can maintain its elasticity under any level of tension, ensuring Tang Yanqiu's archery skills can be fully displayed." He placed the incense sticks together and pushed them towards Cong Xia, "Now, the problem to solve is how to join them together."
Cong Xia reached out and fiddled with the incense sticks, saying, "I'll give it a try."
"You can't just try; you must succeed. No modern technology can achieve seamless integration. If this bowstring with such incredible strength has nine joints, its performance will be worse than a rubber band. You need to make them completely merge, just like they were inside that creature's body."
Cong Xia infused some energy into the incense sticks and clearly felt its cellular activity. He said, "I'm quite confident; it should work."
Cheng Tianbi asked, "Do you have any ideas about what creature it might be?"
Zhuang Yao replied, "Yes, but it's just a speculation."
"What?"
Zhuang Yao continued, "They extracted Shen Changze's genes for comparison, and they believe it might be the tendon of a 'Sea Dragon.'"
"'Sea Dragon'?"
"You guys probably don't know about it. In simple terms, the Sea Dragon is the ancestor of Dragonblooded humans. In the 1980s, when our country was drilling for offshore oil, they accidentally blasted out a strange fish. It was entirely golden and resembled the dragons in ancient myths. You can imagine Shen Changze turning into a fish. Anyway, that fish was unique in the world, and no other one could be found no matter how they searched in that sea area.
Later, it was discovered that its blood was a treasure. It was not only highly concentrated acid but also an excitant that was a thousand times stronger than heroin at the same dosage. It could instantly turn people into superhumans with immense strength and a bloodthirsty nature, but they would die shortly afterward. However, if the dosage was small, people could survive. Initially, they wanted to use the Sea Dragon's blood to create high-purity excitants for medical research and weapon manufacturing. But as their research progressed, they ended up creating genetically enhanced soldiers, also known as Dragonblooded humans.
Now, the Sea Dragon's body has been nearly depleted, and there might be no pure Sea Dragon blood left. Only the genetic material extracted from its blood is used for genetic enhancements. The process of cultivating Dragonblood warriors is not very successful, and their combat abilities are much inferior to those created using pure Sea Dragon blood. Initially, after searching for more than 20 years, they had given up hope of finding another Sea Dragon, but now times have changed, and all sorts of bizarre creatures have appeared, even superorganisms in the depths of the sea. So, their hope of finding another Sea Dragon has been rekindled. Therefore, as soon as this tendon appeared, they were eager to compare it with the Dragonblood genes."
Cong Xia frowned and asked, "Isn't this line of thinking a bit far-fetched?"
"Not really, it's a reasonable speculation. Dragon legends have been around for a long time, and all legends have some widely disseminated events as their basis. The Sea Dragon perfectly fits the image of a dragon living in the water. Such a powerful deep-sea creature must have undergone billions of years of evolution, while human recorded history is only a few thousand years.
It's entirely possible that the Sea Dragon existed in history, but its appearance might not match what we know. The biggest commonality between the Sea Dragon and these incense sticks is that both are creatures unprecedented in human databases, with no recorded traces to trace back to. There aren't many animals like this, as most of the newly discovered species can be traced back to their ancestors and relatives. Since they all stand alone and have body structures far beyond human imagination, it's not strange to associate them."
Tang Yanqiu asked, "If this is indeed the tendon of a Sea Dragon, can I still use it to make a bowstring?"
Zhuang Yao widened his eyes, "The items are in our possession. If they want to take them, they'll have to come and take them forcefully."
Cong Xia chuckled, "Exactly, unless they want to fight for it, it's ours now. However, I remember Shen Changze's blood concentration was 96% or 97%. Despite being so close in concentration, the results of genetic enhancement using it are vastly different from using pure blood."
"Don't underestimate that 3% difference; it's an insurmountable gap between advanced species and evolvers. The difference between Shen Changze and the Sea Dragon is absolutely massive."
Deng Xiao rolled his eyes, "Little Zhuang Yao, you're so mouthy. If Brother Shen hears this, he'll definitely smack you."
Zhuang Yao gave him a disdainful look, "Hybrid is a neutral term. Instead of sleeping and eating so much, spend more time reading."
Deng Xiao's face drooped, looking at Cong Xia with an expression like a child who had lost a fight, silently asking for help with his eyes, "Cong ge, can you talk to him?"
Cong Xia ignored him; he had more pressing concerns, "I heard that Al Moray is showing atavistic signs. It only started within the last three months. Could he atavistically become a Sea Dragon?"
"He indeed has evident fish-like atavistic traits. According to Tang Tingzhi, his initial blood concentration was 66%, and within three months, it has reached 69%. Don't underestimate this 3%; it is quite significant in determining the abilities of Dragonblooded individuals. He can now breathe freely underwater for up to half an hour. However, you need to be aware that the Sea Dragon is a type of fish, not an independent species. Al Moray's prominent features are more fish-like rather than Sea Dragon-like. It's just that, due to being a Dragonblood human, his atavistic transformation shows increased Dragonblood concentration and the manifestation of Sea Dragon-like characteristics. It takes a long time to fully atavistically revert all the features of a species. Even if he could atavistically express all the traits of a fish, he won't become a Sea Dragon; he will just become a fish. But by that time, his blood concentration would probably be similar to Shen Changze's. So, studying him is still necessary."
Liu Fengyu asked, "I've always wondered why Shen Changze has pure blood? How is the blood concentration of Dragonblood humans determined? Is it related to their physical abilities?"
Zhuang Yao shook his head, "No, the blood concentration of Dragonblood humans is related to their own genes. The better their genes fuse with Dragonblood genes, the higher their Dragonblood concentration and success rate will be. Al Moray is the best fusion with minimal rejection among Dragonblood humans, apart from Shen Changze. As for why Shen Changze can achieve nearly pure blood, it's because he wasn't created through genetic enhancement.
He was born to two Dragonblood parents, and his parents took on the rejection for him. The gene fusion was completed during his embryonic stage. However, female Dragonblood humans are extremely rare, and successful pregnancies are even rarer. So, he is the only 'pure-blood' Dragonblood human, even though his blood concentration is only 97%."
"I see..." Cong Xia picked up one of the incense sticks, "If this is indeed the tendon of a Sea Dragon, it means that Sea Dragons really existed in history, and they can be found."
Liu Fengyu rolled his eyes, "I really hope this isn't some Sea Dragon tendon or whatever. Haven't you thought that if those giant monsters really exist in the sea, we might encounter them one day when we go to the South China Sea? Do you want to meet them? I'm already freaked out just hearing about giant man-eating fish measuring dozens of meters or giant squids hundreds of meters long. I don't want to go there. Do you think our lives are too long?"
Cong Xia smiled bitterly, "I was just speaking casually. I don't want to encounter them either."
Zhuang Yao said, "Whether we want to or not doesn't matter; it's not something we can decide. Cong Xia, you stay in the laboratory today and try to connect them. Tang Yanqiu and Liu Fengyu, you two focus on breaking through to the Second Stage in the next few days. Our enemies are becoming more and more challenging to deal with, and we're still too weak."
Everyone nodded.
Zhuang Yao was right; they were still too weak. Unless they had the power to destroy the heavens and the earth, how could they face those superorganisms that were hundreds or even thousands of meters long? For themselves and their loved ones, each of them had to continuously become stronger.
