"Explain yourself! What do you mean by that?" Feng Lin stopped in his tracks and asked in a deep voice.
As if certain Feng Lin would stop, the robed man wore a faint smile, feeling the situation was entirely under his control.
"Giant Pharmaceutical is backed by the Solar System United Government. It's a monopoly on gene potions within the solar system, reaping exorbitant profits and harming us Martians. Our Mars Revolutionary Army fights for freedom and fairness, and we are irreconcilable mortal enemies with Giant Pharmaceutical. Our understanding of them far surpasses yours. Do you really think they're just a gene potion company? How naive!" The robed man's face grew solemn, hatred burning in his eyes. "The solar system is a chaotic domain where laws are virtually nonexistent. A behemoth like Giant Pharmaceutical—do you honestly believe they'd play by the rules as a mere corporation? If they didn't have hidden power, they'd have long been seen as prey and carved up by others."
Feng Lin's heart stirred, recalling the horrific, bloody human experiments he'd witnessed in the R&D department—the cold, indifferent expressions of those seemingly frail researchers, treating life as nothing. A vague unease rose within him.
Yet his face remained unchanged, and he said flatly, "So what if they are? So what if they aren't? What does any of this have to do with me?"
Even if Giant Pharmaceutical harbored a massive conspiracy, as long as it didn't involve him, Feng Lin had no intention of meddling.
Handle only what your abilities allow!
Feng Lin wouldn't lose his reason just because he'd become an interstellar cultivator.
He had no plans to delve deeper into the purpose of the human experiments.
Perhaps, upon first seeing those lab rats—human beings—Feng Lin, as a person, felt sympathy and anger from his humanity. But rationally, he wanted nothing to do with it.
That was why, after his initial fury, he'd stopped concerning himself with the experiments.
Without enough strength to protect himself, sticking his nose into trouble—wasn't that just asking for death?
Facing Feng Lin's response, the robed man was taken aback. He hadn't expected Feng Lin to be so cold and impervious, leaving him with a belly full of words he couldn't utter, stifling and frustrating.
But he wasn't willing to give up so easily.
It seemed he'd have to drop a bombshell to move this man!
The robed man gritted his teeth and spoke mysteriously, "I know you've been specially recruited by Giant Pharmaceutical's R&D department. But do you know what major project they're currently tackling? The subject is developing a gene potion that ordinary people can take!"
Feng Lin's expression shifted, a change flickering across his face.
This man was indeed well-informed. It seemed the mole inside Giant Pharmaceutical held no ordinary position, able to access such confidential secrets.
Seeing Feng Lin's reaction, the robed man decided to stoke the fire.
"According to my sources, this research project isn't just about benefiting the masses. Do you really think Giant Pharmaceutical is running a charity? Their goal is only one thing..." He paused, drawing out his words with an air of profundity.
"And what's that?" Feng Lin asked, unperturbed.
"To build an army!" the robed man said gravely.
"An army?" Feng Lin was startled, unable to grasp how this research project related to an army. Could an army even be built?
"Exactly! A gene army composed entirely of gene cultivators!" the robed man declared firmly, his face utterly serious.
"How is that possible?" Feng Lin instinctively retorted, finding it impossible at first glance.
How difficult was it to become a gene cultivator?
Every step of genetic evolution demanded immense effort. Feng Lin, with his knowledge of mythological lore and the aid of gene equations, had still stumbled along the way, even fleeing his family at great cost just to become an interstellar cultivator and seize control of his own destiny.
Once you became an interstellar cultivator, you were an elite anywhere in the interstellar human world!
Now someone was claiming Giant Pharmaceutical wanted to form an army of gene cultivators.
And since when could gene cultivators be manufactured?
It sounded like tools churned out by a factory, as many as you wanted.
Feng Lin immediately thought it impossible, utterly absurd, but somehow a thought struck him.
What was the purpose of a gene potion for ordinary people?
Could it unlock human potential, granting abilities akin to a gene cultivator?
Was it really, as the Giant Pharmaceutical people said, for the good of all? Would they offer a 1 billion star coin prize for a single research project?
Wasn't that cost a bit too high?
...
Feng Lin's brows knitted tightly as he sank into thought.
"It seems you've already sensed something!" the robed man said with a smile. "No wonder you're a genius gene scholar specially recruited by Giant Pharmaceutical!"
What he said next only confirmed Feng Lin's suspicions.
"Why develop a gene potion for ordinary people? Because once it succeeds, they can continuously stimulate ordinary people's mythological genes with the potion, rapidly awakening and evolving their primal genes, turning them into pseudo-cultivators! This way, gene cultivators can be mass-produced. Once they form an army, no one in Mars or the entire solar system can stop them. Giant Pharmaceutical will have the overwhelming power to sweep through the whole solar system! Remember, gene troops are the elite forces even in interstellar superpowers. Such an army, though inferior, would be invincible in the backward, chaotic solar system! It would ignite a war engulfing the entire system!" The robed man's face was as heavy as water, utterly grim.
Feng Lin was shocked. If what he said was true, Giant Pharmaceutical's plan was maddeningly terrifying.
A war spanning the entire solar system—he himself might well be dragged into it.
Though shaken inside, Feng Lin kept his composure, not fully believing it. The truth of this matter remained to be verified.
He voiced his doubt, "Gene potions contain immense energy. Giving them to weak ordinary people is incredibly difficult. This project has a high chance of failure, and then there'd be no gene army. Why worry so much?"
"No, they will definitely succeed!" the robed man insisted, far from optimistic.
"Why? As their enemy, shouldn't you hope they fail?" Feng Lin found it odd.
The robed man shook his head. "We are enemies with Giant Pharmaceutical, and yes, we hope they fail. But we must respect the facts. According to our internal sources, Giant Pharmaceutical has unearthed a mythological relic containing records of a miraculous potion technique—one that can brew gene potions for ordinary people. There's even a physical sample, still effective after millennia. When given to ordinary people, it truly awakened their mythological genes, granting them supernatural powers. So they're not creating anything new; they're merely replicating this ancient technology!"
Feng Lin was deeply shaken.
Earth's ancient era held so many mysteries. He never imagined such advanced pharmaceutical technology existed, leaving him in awe.
"Since Giant Pharmaceutical threatens all of humanity in the solar system, why don't you tell the Solar System United Government?" Feng Lin asked.
"No! We don't trust that puppet government. It's nothing but a tool of the various interstellar nations and superpowers. Telling them would only leak secrets! Our Mars Revolutionary Army fights for the rights and freedom of the Martian people. Not only is Giant Pharmaceutical our enemy, but we also aim to overthrow this puppet government! We'll establish an independent Martian government, and even a United Nations representing all of solar system humanity..."
The robed man shed his earlier calm, his expression growing fervent, his tone rising with passion.
Beside him, the snake-man, having caught his breath, also wore a resolute look, his eyes burning with zeal.
Such expressions...
Feng Lin was taken aback. These two felt different to him now, driven by some supreme spiritual pursuit that transcended life and death.
Then the robed man's tone shifted, and he solemnly extended an invitation to Feng Lin.
"Feng Lin, I know you've also suffered under family oppression. Join us, the Mars Revolutionary Army! Our slogan is: The fire of Mars shall burn the blazing sun! After we overthrow Giant Pharmaceutical, we will liberate all of humanity in the solar system, where everyone will be free and equal, no longer oppressed or exploited..."