Conceptions of Longevity

"How can a person's lifespan be extended? How can one achieve immortality?"

Lu Zhiyu sat in the courtyard basking in the sun, feeling that no matter how heaven-defying he became, he still couldn't withstand the erosion of time. Once his lifespan reached its end, he would die just the same. Although he could load talent abilities onto his genes, he couldn't extend the shackles and limits imposed on his lifespan. Or rather, it wasn't just a genetic limit; the most common cause of human death was organ failure.

If one wanted to overcome the limitations of lifespan, organ failure was the first hurdle, followed by the issues of cellular longevity and metabolism. To achieve true immortality, there were still countless paths to tread.

Although Lu Zhiyu possessed the Wisdom Sub-Brain, it was only geared toward computational power. Lu Zhiyu had to provide the direction and the plan for it to perform targeted calculations and expansions to provide assistance. When Lu Zhiyu himself was completely at a loss, the Wisdom Sub-Brain was equally powerless.

Lu Zhiyu had researched that within human DNA, there was a gene called FOXO3A that could regulate human lifespan. This mutated gene could influence and extend human life, and it was known as the longevity gene. However, it only extended human life to a reasonable limit, perhaps reaching over a hundred years, but it still had its bounds. Every species had genes within its DNA that governed its lifespan.

Beyond that, through observing human genes, Lu Zhiyu knew there were dozens of gene segments that could regulate human lifespan. Each controlled a different aspect, but all had limits, only capable of maintaining human life within a normal range. Such longevity might be the dream of an ordinary person, but to Lu Zhiyu, it was completely meaningless.

"Wait? How did that Insect Queen live for hundreds or thousands of years without dying?"

Lu Zhiyu began to recall how the Insect Queen had extended her own life, stretching a lifespan that would have originally been only about twenty years to a length Lu Zhiyu couldn't even fathom. Lu Zhiyu had seen the deceased Insect Queens, and their lifespans had all reached over seven hundred years. Had they not died due to the failure of war, they likely wouldn't have even reached their limit.

This was extending the original lifespan limit by dozens, even hundreds of times. This was no longer just longevity or within the range of a normal lifespan; it was a qualitative change, a true method of immortality. Thinking about a lifeform like the Zerg Race, it was truly terrifying. Their research into genetics far exceeded Lu Zhiyu's imagination.

"How did they do it? Think, think! Wisdom Sub-Brain, pull up all observation records regarding the Insect Queen!"

"Data retrieved!"

"The genetic composition of the Insect Queen is like this... it seems there are no gene segments governing lifespan inside!"

In the depths of Lu Zhiyu's mind, the Wisdom Sub-Brain immediately pulled up all the memories he had observed regarding the Insect Queen. Afterward, he opened his eyes: "The important thing isn't extending the lifespan, but repairing and maintaining, as well as altering the very essence of the genes!"

Lu Zhiyu's memory slowly recovered. The Wisdom Sub-Brain in his mind flipped through all the data repeatedly, carefully auditing and searching. Finally, from the vast ocean of information, Lu Zhiyu found what he was looking for.

"That's right. No matter how you try to extend it, the lifespan of a gene has a limit. Only by constantly repairing and maintaining it, keeping the genes in a permanently active state, can one remain forever young and keep the machine of the body running for a long time. Otherwise, even if the genes had a long lifespan, the body's organs would gradually succumb to failure, and death would still be inevitable. Only by constantly repairing and maintaining the genes can youth and life be fixed!"

This was the first step taken by the Zerg civilization, extending the lifespan of the Insect Queen. However, the Insect Queen still understood that this immortality was merely an illusion. A machine, no matter how carefully you repaired and maintained it, would eventually reach its limit of use. Therefore, the Insect Queen's solution to this problem was to change the essence of the genes.

Exactly. If you compare the body to a machine, and the original material used to build this machine was wood that easily rots, then you find a way to replace it with iron, replace it with steel, replace it with alloy materials. You change it at its essence so that no matter how much time passes or how harsh the environment, it cannot decay.

However, these Zerg had only just begun their initial attempts. Although Lu Zhiyu found traces of this in their genes, he knew they hadn't taken the crucial step, and he himself was still a long way off from that point.

What Lu Zhiyu could currently access—merely repairing and maintaining the state of genes—was enough to extend the lifespan limit to over a thousand years. This was already quite sufficient. Although Lu Zhiyu currently only had this idea, realizing the goal would likely take a long time. But with a direction and a goal, time, in Lu Zhiyu's hands, was like a toy.

Lu Zhiyu and Li Wei had recently been in a phase of being inseparable; the two had entered a fiery stage. Recently, Li Wei had been intending to move into Lu Zhiyu's house to live together. It must be said, this suited Lu Zhiyu's appetite perfectly. Lu Zhiyu's little secrets were basically all hidden in the Space Castle, so there was no way Li Wei could discover anything.

As the saying goes, a full belly leads to carnal desires. Lu Zhiyu had been in a good mood lately, eating and drinking his fill, wishing Li Wei would move in with him. However, this wasn't something that could happen overnight. If Li Wei were to move over, there was the moving process, her belongings, and other such troublesome matters. Furthermore, where Lu Zhiyu lived was quite far from the hospital, and Li Wei didn't have a driver's license. If she moved over, there would be issues like Lu Zhiyu having to pick her up and drop her off every day.

That day, Lu Zhiyu was busy in the shop, fiddling with the cats and dogs in the pet store, bathing the dogs and grooming their fur. Lu Zhiyu quite liked these little animals, or rather, he liked the aura of life they possessed. Seeing every living thing, Lu Zhiyu always felt a sense of the miracle of life. The deeper his research into genetics and biological science went, the more profound this feeling became in his heart.

However, recently, the little witch Xia Fan had been coming to Lu Zhiyu's shop to harass him. Every time she came, it was a scene of chaos. The cats and dogs in Lu Zhiyu's shop had suffered plenty from Xia Fan's wandering hands. This little girl often acted inappropriately toward Lu Zhiyu in front of Xiao Le, leaving Lu Zhiyu at a loss. But as for feeling resistant or angry, Lu Zhiyu didn't feel that at all; instead, he felt he was enjoying it. This made Lu Zhiyu feel as if he were born with the attributes of a scumbag!

At noon, a car pulled up in front of Lu Zhiyu's shop. A man wearing glasses and a suit stepped out. As soon as he entered the shop, he looked around and found Lu Zhiyu: "Old Lu, Old Lu, hurry up, get in the car!"

"Wang Yi? Why did you come over today?" The person who arrived was none other than Wang Yi, his elementary school classmate whom Lu Zhiyu had asked for help before—the one who worked at the research institute and whom he had entrusted to buy equipment!