Besides Groups 9 and 11, the Security Bureau had another attack force that almost no one knew about: Security Bureau Group 13.
Security Bureau Groups 9 and 11 both focused on Internal Energy and were the Security Bureau's absolute main force. Security Bureau Group 13, which kept a low profile, focused instead on the physical body. Most of its members had successfully taken A1 and A2 Gene Potions. As for the A3 Gene Potion, although it had also been successfully developed, its cost was too high for widespread use.
Although Security Bureau Group 13 had nearly a hundred Level Three Masters with formidable physiques, compared with Security Bureau Groups 9 and 11, the gap was worlds apart. Group 13 had never received much attention, but all that changed with the emergence of the B1 Gene Potion.
Level Four Masters were absolute experts even in the underground world, belonging to the Innate Stage. Though the B1 Gene Potion was extremely dangerous, the state used death-row prisoners for its experiments, then directly erased their memories and reeducated them through brainwashing, turning them into absolutely loyal warriors.
The emergence of Level Four Masters greatly elevated Security Bureau Group 13's status, bringing it almost on par with Group 11. After all, training those Innate Stage experts in Group 11 took far too long.
In just one year, Security Bureau Group 13 had produced over thirty Level Four Masters. But now, its pace in creating Level Four warriors had slowed.
The cost of the B1 Gene Potion was equivalent to that of the A2 Gene Potion, with each dose costing roughly one million U.S. dollars. Selling it domestically in the United States for five million dollars did not earn much, because the profit margin on such things was generally more than tenfold. A fourfold profit was not much at all. The B1 Gene Potion had a ninety percent mortality rate. To produce thirty Level Four Masters, nearly three hundred death-row prisoners had died. The deaths of death-row prisoners did not matter much, since they were meant to be executed anyway, but over three hundred doses of B1 Gene Potion had also been used up, costing around three hundred million U.S. dollars.
The state's annual budget for the Security Bureau was only several billion U.S. dollars, most of it spent on agent and espionage work. Though Security Bureau Group 13 was effective, it was allocated only five hundred million U.S. dollars. Group 13's main internal focus was life sciences research, and such research consumed the most money. Normal operating research costs alone ran to two or three hundred million U.S. dollars a year. As a result, Security Bureau Group 13 could produce at most thirty Level Four Masters each year.
Because these Level Four Masters relied solely on muscular strength, their prime lasted only around ten years. At most, Security Bureau Group 13 could possess three hundred Level Four Masters at the same time.
Yet Security Bureau Group 11 had dozens of Level Five Masters and three to four hundred Level Four Masters. More importantly, practitioners of internal martial arts generally grew stronger with age. Some of the undying old monsters in Security Bureau Group 11 had even reached the level of Level Six Masters. All this forced Security Bureau Group 13 to seek a breakthrough. Otherwise, it could never truly stand shoulder to shoulder with Security Bureau Group 11, much less surpass it.
The chief director of Security Bureau Group 13 was the old dean of the Life Research Institute and also the director of the Life Science Institute. His name was Bai Yang—the white-bearded old man.
Inside the white-bearded old man's office.
"Hmph! I refuse to believe that the Security Bureau Group 13 I created can't measure up to Old Man Zhang's Group 11!" The white-bearded old man blew out his beard and glared, looking furious as he stared at the document in his hand.
The document compared the Security Bureau Groups 11 and 13 in their execution of A-rank and above missions over the past year. Clearly, Security Bureau Group 11's results far surpassed those of Security Bureau Group 13.
What kind of man was the white-bearded old man? He was an old fellow nearly a hundred years old. Born into a cultivation Lineage, he had developed an interest in life sciences when he was young and devoted himself to it wholeheartedly. His passion for research was so intense that he forgot food and sleep. In his youth, he had already reached the Innate Realm. His physical constitution was far superior to that of ordinary people, so sleeping only two or three hours a day was normal. After later reaching the Golden Core Stage, he no longer needed sleep at all. In life sciences research, there truly was no one in the world who could compare with him. After all, the experts who had researched life sciences in Bai Yang's era had died one after another. Even those still alive were in their eighties or nineties, their minds no longer sharp enough. Only cultivators like Bai Yang grew stronger the older they became. By now, he had become so absurdly powerful that he did not need sleep at all, and a cultivator's mind was even sharper than that of a young lad!
With such a monstrous figure conducting research for the state, how could the nation's life sciences fail to stand at the pinnacle of the world?
He was the one who had created the A-series Gene Potions. Later, the United States used special means to obtain a bottle of A1 Gene Potion. After two years of research, they too developed A1.
Having learned his lesson, Bai Yang now kept the B1 Gene Potion entirely under his personal control. Every time an experimental subject took it, he had to personally approve it. Thus, although other countries had learned of B1's existence and dispatched countless agents and spies, they still could not succeed. After all, trying to seize a Gene Potion from a cultivator was beyond those agents' capabilities. Before they could even get close, Old Man Bai Yang's Spiritual Sense would likely discover them.
"Hmm. In the past, an experimental subject with thirty crystals of physical energy reached over seven thousand crystals of physical strength. Then if someone with over a hundred crystals of physical energy took B1, could they possess more than ten thousand crystals of energy?" Bai Yang had always been considering how to create Level Five Masters.
Since the number of experts produced each year was fixed, then he would raise the quality! The value of a Level Five Master naturally far exceeded that of a Level Four Master.
"After a year of training, Li Yang should have nearly reached one hundred crystals!" Bai Yang stroked his white beard, then pressed a button on his desk. A young man immediately entered.
"Teacher, what is it?" the young man asked Bai Yang respectfully.
Bai Yang smiled faintly. "Go bring Li Yang here!"
The young man's eyes immediately lit up. "Teacher has finally decided to bring him in? Wonderful! He's now the strongest in physical energy among us. I wonder whether he can surpass ten thousand crystals after taking the B1 Gene Potion. If he can, it means we can create Level Five Masters!"
Bai Yang looked at his student and nodded with a smile. "This is the moment that will decide Group 13's future. Go quickly!" A faint surge of excitement also rose in Bai Yang's heart.
For decades, Security Bureau Group 11 had kept Group 13 pinned beneath it. With Bai Yang's lofty pride, how could he accept that? Now that hope for Group 13's rise had appeared, how could he not be excited? His expression remained calm only because a cultivator's state of mind was at work.
"Li Yang, get ready. Come with me to the third level of the base for an experiment!"
Li Yang, who had been leaning against the cold metal wall, froze for a moment. Then a smile appeared on his face. One year. After an entire year, I've finally waited for the chance to take the Gene Potion! He tossed away the strong liquor in his hand and slowly rose to his feet...
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