Akhenaten

Over the next few days, Lu Zhiyu took Akhenaten to visit several other newly established cities of the Beastmen Race. There were the cities of the Tiger Race and Leopard Race, which were essentially planned as military fortresses; the city of the Fox Race, which served as the largest trading hub in the north; and the embryonic tribal settlements of the Dog Race, the Cat Race, and others that had not yet fully formed into cities.

Lu Zhiyu brought Akhenaten to observe the Beastmen Race's farms and pastures, explaining to him that they could cultivate crops and domesticate wild beasts. Humans were doing these things too, but because the south was so bountiful, they were not doing it thoroughly, nor did they understand the underlying reasons for such practices.

After a few days, Akhenaten finally understood just how powerful the Beastmen Race were and how weak humanity truly was. The Beastmen Race were an army armed with weapons and civilization, while humanity was currently nothing more than a group of wild monkeys in the jungle.

"Do you understand now?"

Days passed, and Lu Zhiyu brought Akhenaten back to the plains of his homeland. It was sunset, and the day was drawing to a close.

Akhenaten nodded. "I understand. I will bring light to humanity. May the Goddess Maria be praised!"

Lu Zhiyu nodded. "Before we part, I have a few gifts for you."

Akhenaten looked at Lu Zhiyu in surprise. Lu Zhiyu extended both hands; in his left was a bag of seeds, and in his right was a longsword. This was a sword Lu Zhiyu had custom-ordered online—forged from alloy steel, it possessed high strength, high toughness, and was wear- and corrosion-resistant. Its design was incredibly imposing, featuring special grooves and blood gutters.

In the eyes of Akhenaten, who had not even entered the Bronze Age, such an object was nothing short of a divine artifact. Akhenaten took the sword with trembling excitement. "Are you truly giving this divine artifact to me?"

Akhenaten stared at the snow-white blade, which reflected light like a mirror. It was sharp, sturdy, and seemed as if it could only have been crafted by a god. He knelt on the ground. "Thank you, thank you, Goddess Maria!"

"There is one last thing."

As he spoke, Lu Zhiyu pressed his finger against Akhenaten's hand. Over the past few days, Lu Zhiyu had tricked Akhenaten into taking a pill, telling him it was a divine medicine, though it was actually just a sugar pill. He had secretly used his mental power to stimulate Akhenaten's body, strengthening it so that he could unlock Akhenaten's genetic talents before leaving.

Lu Zhiyu removed the limitations Akhenaten's brain had placed on his body, activating two inherited genetic traits: the Golden Eye and the Swordplay Inheritance. The so-called Golden Eye was actually a fusion of talents including dynamic vision, eagle-eyed focus, and night vision.

Lu Zhiyu believed that with these two abilities, combined with his extraordinary swordsmanship, the sword he had gifted him, and eyes capable of tracking any enemy's attack trajectory, Akhenaten would have no trouble facing a hundred foes at once.

With these abilities, becoming the leader of a tribe would be effortless. With the knowledge Lu Zhiyu had imparted while traveling with him, building a human city-state civilization would also be well within his reach. As for resisting the invasion of the Beastmen Race, once a civilization was established and a basic balance of power was formed, it should not be a problem; after all, while the Beastmen Race were powerful, they were not a monolithic entity.

"If this still fails, then I shall consider this attempt a loss and simply choose someone else."

Lu Zhiyu watched as Akhenaten collapsed to the ground, his body undergoing hormonal changes as his pupils gradually turned a golden hue. Lu Zhiyu placed him on a haystack, turned, and walked away, disappearing into the sunset.

When Akhenaten awoke, he felt hungry and thirsty. It was already night, yet to his surprise, he found the world remarkably bright. While it was not as clear as daylight, he could still discern the outlines of every object with startling clarity.

Akhenaten picked up the sword Lu Zhiyu had given him, tucked the bag of seeds into his tunic, and headed toward the forest. He soon found a small stream, but as he lowered his head to drink, a dark shadow lunged at him.

Akhenaten reacted instantly, drawing his sword with lightning speed. He realized his attacker was a black leopard. His pupils constricted, and his golden eyes seemed to radiate a faint light; the leopard's lethal, lightning-fast strike suddenly appeared to slow down in his vision.

With the fluidity of someone who had practiced a thousand times, Akhenaten ducked, spun, and thrust his sword into the leopard's neck, moving as gracefully as a master swordsman.

Akhenaten gasped for air, staring in shock at the black leopard. This was a jungle predator that even his father would have struggled to defeat in a bloody battle, yet he had killed it with such ease. What was happening?

He gripped the sword, feeling as if it were his closest companion, as if he had practiced swordsmanship for decades; using it had become an instinct.

Looking at the leopard lying dead on the ground, Akhenaten looked down into the stream. The moonlight shone upon the earth, revealing his reflection in the water: red hair, a resolute face, and—golden pupils.

"My eyes?"

Back in the Space Castle, Lu Zhiyu immediately removed the mask from his face. Playing the role himself was not a pleasant experience; one had to admit that hoodwinking people was a technical skill. Even with his mind-reading abilities and the control bonus over Maria World, he was, after all, only a mortal.

Furthermore, his longevity gene-editing project had reached a critical stage. Compared to the trajectory of Maria World, which only concerned the development of a civilization, his world-modification plan also involved the harvesting of Source Substance.

The longevity gene-editing project, however, was directly related to the length of his own life. If he could solve the problem of lifespan, he could stay in the Space Castle for longer periods to accelerate his research and various modification plans, without worrying that he might lose track of time and return to the outside world only to find himself an old man.

He had gleaned some secrets of longevity genes from the Zerg Race, starting from the aspects of repair and maintenance. He already had some preliminary ideas and results, though the work was still ongoing. However, several experimental directions had hit dead ends, proving to be completely unfeasible, which left Lu Zhiyu feeling somewhat dejected.

"Where should I start? Powerful regenerative abilities, vitality, and the ability to maintain the body's functions without requiring massive amounts of energy!"

Lu Zhiyu slumped in his spacious laboratory. He stood up, walked to the side, and pushed open a door. He had specifically built a cold storage room here, labeled with various genetic templates of plants and animals. The temperature inside was akin to outer space, completely isolated from the outside world.

Lu Zhiyu sealed away the failed templates, when his eyes suddenly caught sight of a small plant growing in a bottle. "Eh? What if I were to graft plant gene fragments into animal genes?"