Absolute Secret

Today, the Moon and Mars have become places that Humanity can truly venture into. Major Space Powers have even established Bases on them, either independently or through cooperation.

For example, there are two Bases on the Moon: one is Guanghan Palace, led by Zhonghua Family, and the other is the Artemis Moon Base, led by the United States. These two have a relationship of cooperation and competition, serving as the only two cooperative Bases for scientific research among various countries.

Although Yue Yuan's final destination is Callisto, his first stop is the Moon. A Biology and Genetic Engineering Double Doctor is waiting for him at Guanghan Palace.

This was a spot allocated by the higher-ups to Callisto Base. As the Base Chief, Yue Yuan naturally wouldn't miss the opportunity to recruit talent.

Knock, knock, knock.

The sound of knocking from outside the door made Yue Yuan, who had been resting with his eyes closed, open them.

"Enter!" he said concisely, as if he knew who was coming.

The person who opened the door was a tall man, 1.83 meters, with a straight upper body clad in a white shirt. He looked about thirty years old, but a receding hairline made him appear a few years older.

The man walked up to Yue Yuan, who was already sitting upright on the sofa, and handed him the documents he had prepared. He said, "Chief, here is the information you requested."

Yue Yuan took the documents but didn't look at them immediately. Instead, he looked up at the man. "Pete, you're so late. Did you go investigate that young lady just now?"

He asked a question in a declarative statement. Before the man in front of him could answer, Yue Yuan continued, "She's just an ordinary tourist on a cruise ship. There's no need to be so nervous."

"It's my duty."

The man, called Pete, was interrupted by Yue Yuan waving his hand as soon as he started to speak. "Alright, alright, I know. My choice to take a cruise ship has increased your workload. Go back and rest. This ship docks tomorrow at noon. Go and inform the Orbital Mass Accelerator Staff first, so you don't have trouble getting a flight slot."

"Yes!" The man saluted, turned, and walked out of the room, gently closing the door behind him.

The man's surname was Zhu, and his given name was Pete. He was Yue Yuan's Deputy and Assistant. He was quite young and good-looking, but he suffered from hair loss, which led him to wear a hat on all but special occasions. It was said that his greatest wish was to have his receding hairline regrow thick hair, so he often enjoyed following news related to medical genetics.

As for why he had investigated Xu Yanshi, Yue Yuan could understand. After all, his current situation was quite unusual.

It wasn't about his position; he was already a Base Chief, so having protection wasn't strange, but the level of caution was excessive. What made Zhu Pete so careful and vigilant was actually another reason: Yue Yuan's experience on Callisto.

Yue Yuan's memory of that moment was still vivid.

A total of seven people inhaled that spreading Red Gas. Besides Yue Yuan, the other six included a Payload Expert and a Doctor of Genetic Engineering.

They were all members of Callisto Base. However, these two were now in Jingcheng assisting with research, which was one of the reasons Yue Yuan was able to secure the spot for a Doctor of Genetic Engineering from Guanghan Palace.

And that Red Gas was quite extraordinary.

This goes back to Callisto Base.

Callisto Base was built within a deep canyon. This choice of location went against common sense, as Bases are usually constructed on relatively flat terrain. Guanghan Palace was like that, and so was Yinghuo Base on Mars.

The reason for Callisto Base's unusual location involved a secret buried deep beneath the canyon. There lay a damaged Alien Spaceship.

Regarding the unconventional choice of Base location, Zhonghua Family reportedly claimed externally that it was to challenge and test greater Engineering Difficulty, preparing Humanity for future expansion into harsher Interstellar environments.

Once the media reports were released, netizens everywhere eagerly commented, hailing it as the Light of Humanity.

Given Zhonghua Family's global reputation as an Infrastructure Demon, there were few Conspiracy Theorists stirring up trouble. Of course, the fact that Callisto only housed a single Base from Zhonghua Family also played a role.

If it were on the Moon, it probably wouldn't have been so easy to keep secret.

Although the spaceship, kept under wraps, was damaged, it was still possible to determine that the technology level of the Alien who owned it far surpassed that of current Humanity. It took them a full five years to successfully enter the interior of the spaceship through a breach.

That Red Gas had emerged from an unknown Cabin within a section of this damaged spaceship. To be precise, it didn't "emerge"; rather, a Cabinet-like Container, which had been stubbornly sealed and whose purpose was unknown, suddenly opened automatically for some reason.

Strictly speaking, during exploration, it would be impossible for people to inhale gas because they would be wearing spacesuits in such environments. However, the problem was that the exploration of that section of the Cabin had already been completed, and it had been connected to Callisto Base long before Yue Yuan became Base Chief.

This resulted in the group of seven, including Yue Yuan, passing through that section of the Cabin without wearing spacesuits, just like the situation at Callisto Base. Consequently, they inhaled the gas completely.

Fortunately, this gas was not a poison. Otherwise, Yue Yuan and the other six would have long since perished. On the contrary, apart from temporary discomfort such as dizziness after inhaling it, the seven individuals experienced no other negative effects.

Of course, after such an accident, Yue Yuan and the other seven would undergo a series of physical examinations, but nothing abnormal was found. It wasn't until deep-level genetic testing was conducted that it was discovered that the Aging Gene in the seven individuals had been effectively suppressed, while related factors like Telomerase and other genes with similar functions were abnormally active.

After multiple tests and research, the Expert Group concluded that the lifespan of the seven individuals could reach four to six times that of ordinary people, essentially borrowing five hundred years from heaven.

Furthermore, the P53 Tumor Suppressor Gene had changed from the original one pair to five pairs, reaching one quarter of that of an Elephant. Tests also revealed that the LIF6 Gene on Chromosome 20 had been activated.

Possessing 20 pairs of P53 genes gives an Elephant extremely strong resistance to cancer. This means that the seven individuals not only had longer lifespans but also an anti-cancer tolerance rate equivalent to one quarter of an Elephant's. Considering the vast difference in size between humans and elephants, having one quarter of an Elephant's P53 genes for humans would mean an almost zero chance of developing cancer.

Additionally, calcium loss was greatly reduced in the microgravity environment. Other than that, no other discoveries were made.

At the time, such results made the staff involved in the testing and research extremely excited. A lifespan of four to six times? Based on the current average human lifespan of ninety years, the minimum would be over three hundred years. Coupled with enhanced anti-cancer capabilities, this would be enough to ensure they wouldn't die prematurely.

Excitement, madness.

Faced with such a significant discovery, Yue Yuan immediately ordered the news to be sealed and had all informed personnel involved in the testing sign strict Non-Disclosure Agreements. He then unhesitatingly used Quantum Secure Communication to report this news to the Capital.

When the news traveled through various relay stations and quantum satellites across 700 million kilometers to Earth, and after multiple confirmations, one can imagine how exhilarating it was.

Although Humanity can currently establish Bases on planets and satellites relatively close within the Solar System, the time required for travel is still considerable. With current mature Fission Rocket propulsion, it would still take a very long time to travel to planets like Uranus or Neptune, or even further to the Kuiper Belt.

After all, space travel time cannot simply be calculated by dividing distance by speed; one must also account for various orbital paths and the time for spacecraft acceleration and deceleration.

Moreover, Humanity will not be content with developing the Solar System. Extending lifespan is crucial for future deep space exploration. Coupled with the hibernation pods already in use, the true Sea of Stars is within reach.

However, the bad news was that no other similar substances were found in the spaceship. The spreading Red Gas was likely the result of the last bit of Unknown Substance escaping.

Under these circumstances, Yue Yuan began his journey back to Earth.

However, after accepting a military rank, he was reassigned to lead the exploration project of the Alien Spaceship at Callisto Base. As for the other six individuals, five remained on Earth to assist with research, while one stayed on Callisto.

Obviously, the research naturally focused on the lifespan genes and related mechanisms of the six individuals. However, they were not treated like White Mice. As far as Yue Yuan knew, that project was personally led by another Geneticist among them.