Akhenaten

Over the next few days, Lu Zhiyu took Akhenaten to visit several of the other newly established Beastmen cities. There were cities belonging to the Tiger Race and Leopard Race, built mainly as military fortresses; a Fox Race city, the largest trade city in the north; and the early tribal settlements of the Dog Race and Cat Race, which had yet to fully develop into cities.

Lu Zhiyu showed Akhenaten the Beastmen's farms and pastures, explaining that they could grow crops and domesticate wild animals. Humans did the same, but the south was so fertile that they had never pursued these practices very thoroughly, nor understood why they should.

After several days, Akhenaten finally understood just how powerful the Beastmen were—and how weak humans were by comparison. The Beastmen were an army armed with weapons and civilization, while humans were still nothing more than a troop of wild monkeys in the jungle.

"Do you understand now?"

Several days later, Lu Zhiyu led Akhenaten back to the plain where his homeland lay. The sun was setting, and the day was drawing to a close.

Akhenaten nodded. "I understand. I'll bring light to humanity. May Maria, the Goddess of Light, watch over us!"

Lu Zhiyu nodded. "Before we part, I have one more gift for you."

Akhenaten looked at Lu Zhiyu in surprise. Lu Zhiyu held out both hands. In his left was a bag of seeds, and in his right was a longsword. It was a custom-made sword he had ordered online, forged from alloy steel. It was strong, tough, resistant to wear and corrosion, and imposing in appearance, with special patterns and a blood groove along the blade.

To Akhenaten, who had yet to enter even the Bronze Age, the sword seemed like a divine artifact. He took it, overcome with excitement. "You're really giving me this divine weapon?"

Akhenaten stared at the snow-white sword, its surface reflecting light like a mirror. It was sharp and sturdy, something only a god could have made. He dropped to his knees. "Thank you! Thank you, Goddess Maria!"

"And one last thing!"

As he spoke, Lu Zhiyu pressed a finger against Akhenaten's hand. Over the past few days, Lu Zhiyu had tricked him into swallowing a pill, claiming it was a divine medicine. In truth, it was only a piece of candy. He had then secretly used his psychic power to strengthen Akhenaten's body, preparing to unlock his genetic talent before leaving.

Lu Zhiyu released the brain's restrictions on Akhenaten's body and activated two inherited abilities in his genes: the Golden Eye and Swordplay Inheritance. The Golden Eye was actually a combination of several visual talents, including dynamic vision, eagle vision, and night vision.

Lu Zhiyu believed that with these two abilities, Akhenaten could easily take on a hundred ordinary people. He would have extraordinary swordsmanship, the sword Lu Zhiyu had given him, and eyes capable of tracking any attack his enemies made.

With these abilities, becoming the leader of a tribe would be easy. And with the knowledge Lu Zhiyu had imparted on their journey, establishing a human city-state civilization would be no challenge either. As for resisting a Beastmen invasion, once civilization was established and the two sides reached a basic balance of power, there should be no problem. The Beastmen were powerful, but they were not united.

If this still doesn't work, I'll count this attempt as a failure and just choose someone else.

Lu Zhiyu watched Akhenaten collapse. Hormones surged through his body, and his pupils gradually turned golden. Lu Zhiyu laid him on a pile of hay, then turned and disappeared into the sunset.

When Akhenaten woke, he was ravenous and thirsty. Night had fallen, yet the world seemed bright to him. It was nowhere near as bright as daylight, but he could still make out every object's outline with remarkable clarity.

Akhenaten picked up the longsword Lu Zhiyu had given him, tucked the bag of seeds into his clothes, and headed into the forest. He quickly found a stream. As he bent down to drink, a dark shape suddenly sprang out beside him.

Akhenaten reacted at once, drawing his sword in a flash. His attacker was a black panther. His pupils contracted, and his golden eyes seemed to glow. The panther's lightning-fast killing strike slowed rapidly in his vision.

The sword in Akhenaten's hand moved as if he had practiced the maneuver a thousand times. He bent, turned, and thrust the blade into the panther's neck with the smooth precision of a master swordsman.

Panting, Akhenaten stared at the black panther in shock. Even his father would have faced a fierce fight against a predator like this. Yet he had killed it with such ease. How was that possible?

Akhenaten gripped the sword as if it were his closest companion. It felt as though he had practiced swordsmanship for decades; using it had become second nature.

The black panther lay beside him, breathing its last. Akhenaten looked down into the stream. Moonlight fell across the earth, and he could see his reflection in the water: red hair, a resolute face, and—golden eyes.

"My eyes?"

—

Back in the Space Castle, Lu Zhiyu immediately took off his mask. He had not enjoyed getting personally involved. He had to admit that deceiving people was a skill. Although he had Mind Reading and the added advantage of controlling the Maria World, he was still only an ordinary human.

Besides, his Gene Template project for longevity had reached a critical stage. The direction of the Maria World affected only the development of civilization in that world, as well as Lu Zhiyu's world-shaping plans and how much Source Substance he could harvest.

The Gene Template project for longevity, on the other hand, would determine how long Lu Zhiyu lived. If he could solve the problem of his limited lifespan, he could remain in the Space Castle and accelerate his research and other projects without worrying that he might lose track of time and return to the outside world only to find himself old and frail.

He had learned some of the secrets behind longevity genes from the Zerg, starting with repair and maintenance. He had come up with a few preliminary ideas and achieved some results, and was still testing them. However, several of his experimental approaches had hit dead ends, with the results proving them impossible. It left Lu Zhiyu feeling somewhat dejected.

"Where should I start? Strong regenerative and life-sustaining abilities, without needing a huge amount of energy, while still allowing the body to maintain itself!"

Lu Zhiyu slumped in his spacious laboratory. Then he stood up, crossed to one side, and opened a door. He had built a cold-storage room there, its interior plastered with labels. It contained Gene Templates from all kinds of plants and animals, and its temperature was close to that of outer space, completely isolated from the outside.

Lu Zhiyu sealed away several failed templates. Then, from the corner of his eye, he noticed a small plant growing inside a bottle. "Huh? What if I implanted a plant's gene fragments into an animal's genes?"