In the silent, uninhabited depths of the universe, even starlight would one day be exhausted. — Epigraph
At the tranquil edge of the Tianning Star System, above its subsidiary planet Q68, a black dot suddenly appeared, visible to the naked eye.
A few seconds later, the black dot grew larger and larger. Then, a spacecraft capable of carrying several hundred people suddenly emerged from the black hole the dot had expanded into, tearing through the subsidiary planet's originally stagnant, deathly silent sky.
The spacecraft had a silver-white exterior and a smooth, saucer-like shape with an antiquated design. Since there was no emblem on it, it was impossible to tell which star system it belonged to.
The subsidiary planet Q68 was desolate and uninhabited. Starships and warships rarely passed through this place.
The environment here was extremely harsh. The surface was covered in sand and rocks; beyond wilderness and hills, there was only more wilderness and hills. There was not even a single puddle on the planet's surface. It was a dead planet.
It was unsuitable for carbon-based life. No living creatures had settled here, much less were there any famous interstellar sights worth stopping to see.
The spacecraft's sudden appearance on such a dead planet was bound to raise suspicions.
After hovering in the air for several minutes, the spacecraft descended rapidly. Ten minutes later, it came to a steady stop in the empty wilderness of subsidiary planet Q68.
Once the sand and rocks stirred up by the spacecraft's landing blast had settled, the bottom of the spacecraft slowly opened, and a small commercial airship drove out from within.
After the airship left the spacecraft, the vessel that had remained in the wilderness vanished in an instant.
After flying at low altitude over the wilderness for roughly ten minutes, the airship stopped before a hill approximately nine meters tall on subsidiary planet Q68.
When the airship's hatch opened, a tall man stepped out. Through his protective face shield, he appeared to be around thirty years old.
Seven men who looked like bodyguards followed behind him. Judging from their builds, strides, and movements, they were professionally trained guards.
All eight wore light, form-fitting Protective Suits and transparent protective face shields. Every one of them stood over 1.9 meters tall.
Looking inside through the hatch, the airship's interior was spacious enough to hold sixty people with ease. It even had rooms and storage compartments, which were presumably filled with supplies.
After disembarking, the eight of them headed straight toward the hill. "General, shall we open the entrance directly?" the guard officer beside the leading man asked.
"Yes, open it. Send Fang Tianxia the order to unload everything, then transport it down."
"Yes, sir."
The guard officer tapped his wrist, and a holographic screen appeared in the air. After he made several gestures in the void, the hill before them suddenly split apart down the middle.
Once the hill had separated, it revealed the object that had been concealed inside: a black metal elevator.
The eight entered the elevator. The guard officer pressed a button in his hand, and a Protective Shield completely enveloped the elevator. In the blink of an eye, it carried them away from the surface.
One minute later, the eight arrived three hundred meters underground. Rather than the darkness they had expected, the place was brightly lit as though it were daytime.
After walking ten meters along the illuminated passageway, they stopped before a tall slab of cold metal whose color was distinctly different from its surroundings.
The man called General extended his palm and placed it against the sensor metal. Before long, a mechanical voice sounded. "Genetic reading successful. Integrating program. Match confirmed. Please enter."
Beyond the metal door was an expansive space. The metal door and the objects extending around it resembled a wall, completely sealing off this space.
There were houses, residential areas, recreation areas, and cultivation zones inside, all arranged in perfect order. There were even many green plants.
Suspended at the very top of the entire space was an object emitting a faintly warm artificial light. The place looked exactly like a simulated living area, a miniature ecosystem.
After entering the metal wall, the eight did not continue forward. Once the metal door opened, the system would send a notification to those in the living area. They only needed to wait here for someone to come meet them.
While they waited, they removed their protective face shields, revealing their distinct features.
The young man called General was exceptionally handsome, with sword-like brows, starry eyes, and an upright, valiant bearing.
The eight stopped in the open area. Before long, several people approached from ahead, led by a woman. They all wore white, form-fitting Protective Suits: two women and four men in total.
The two women had delicate features, clear and bright eyes, graceful figures, and stood around 1.8 meters tall. The men were all handsome as well, each over 1.9 meters tall.
The fourteen people gathered in this space each had their own distinctive qualities. Not one of them was unattractive.
"General Ye, hello. Please come to my office first. I will give you a detailed report on the situation," the leading woman said politely after stopping before the eight newcomers.
The woman had rare black eyes and appeared to be under thirty.
General Ye gestured to the guards, telling them to wait where they were. He then followed the woman to her office alone.
After entering the office, Ye Yunhan stood by the window and looked out at the flourishing artificial scenery beyond, his expression unreadable.
The light of the Artificial Star was dazzling, and the greenery brimmed with life. No one would have guessed this place lay three hundred meters underground.
"Doctor Wei, I specifically made time to come here because I wanted to know why the experiment has shown no progress. I hope you can give me a definite answer, not the evasive ambiguity you gave me over the video call."
"General Ye, the remaining experimental subjects have not been doing well recently. If the experiment is to continue, we will need to create several new groups of subjects," the woman called Doctor Wei said.
Hearing that answer, Ye Yunhan nearly lost control of himself. Frenzy surged within him.
A full star year had passed since this experiment began—twenty-three star months on Tianning Star—and not only had Wei Lanshan failed to produce results, she now wanted to spend even more time starting over.
At that moment, Ye Yunhan wanted to erase the person before him outright. Since she could not produce results, she was useless alive.
But reason told him he could not. Apart from her, no one in the Alliance's twenty major star systems, nor in the hundreds of star systems under them, possessed such capability.
His daughter, Ye Zhenwei, still needed her. No one could compare to Wei Lanshan in this field.
"Wei Lanshan, aren't you recognized throughout the entire Alliance as the finest biological geneticist and physician? I gave you more than a star year, yet not only have you failed to achieve anything, you have put my daughter in danger again."
"General Ye, it is not an issue with my ability. The experimental subjects themselves have flaws. I have already found the reason for the failures. This time, I wanted to discuss the feasibility of a new plan with you."
Wei Lanshan believed the experiment had failed primarily because of its direction. She had already found a new breakthrough, and this time, it would definitely succeed.
The previous ninety-four groups of experimental subjects had all been directly cultivated from Ye Yunhan's daughter's cells. Once successfully cultivated, they naturally carried her illness.
They had originally believed that as long as the subjects carried the illness, they could directly test drugs and edit genes to obtain results. Who would have thought that this was precisely why every test had failed?
Although the cultivated subjects emerged as adults, shortening the cultivation period and allowing them to enter drug-testing procedures directly, they were all far too weak.
Cultivated subjects did not inherit the host body's Mental Power or physical fitness. They only inherited the illnesses present in the host body's genes.
These cultivated subjects had Mental Power and physical fitness that were far too weak. They could not withstand the various side effects produced when drugs entered their bodies. In the end, they could not even endure until the second round of drug testing before their bodies exploded and they died.
Lian Qirong's new book is out. If you like this genre, please add it to your collection and let it fatten up first. Muah~
Before you continue