Order and Disorder

"Go to Singapore? It's an ungoverned zone. I wouldn't even dare go there alone.

Changing maps in a novel brought both danger and opportunity, but I only had one life. Wouldn't rashly going to Singapore be courting death?

According to Samad, Kuala Lumpur was clearly a city of very low importance in Alpha's global governance system. There was no way this godforsaken place had technology related to gene editing.

The question was, did I have to research this technology in the future?

Why couldn't I research gene-editing technology in the modern era, then sell it in the future?

Since future theory had already advanced to such profound heights, I could take the lead in putting those theories into practice in the modern era. Whether it was enhancing abilities or extending lifespan, the technology could be monetized in both the modern era and the future.

It just might not be so easy to profit from it in the future, considering Alpha. In the modern era, it would be much easier.

With the title of a top scientist and sufficient Clinical Trials, I could keep pushing this technology into practical use."

The richest doctor in the modern era was Chen Songxiong, who had developed cancer drugs. If cancer drugs could make someone that wealthy, gene editing capable of extending lifespan would be even more valuable.

"There's another problem: this technology is too valuable. I might not be able to protect it.

I don't necessarily need to keep it all to myself. I can share the benefits with others, as long as I retain control over most of the resources I trade for. Then I can continue advancing this technology and apply it to myself.

That would accomplish my goal as well.

Considering that I hadn't physically traveled through time, I also needed to quickly gain control of resources in the future. At the very least, I needed a Biology Laboratory fully under my own control.

For a Biology Laboratory like that, to work on gene editing, I'd still have to go to Singapore. In other words, there was no getting around going to Singapore no matter what." Chen Yuanguang felt a headache coming on.

No matter what, he would ultimately have to go to Singapore to transform himself into one of the Super Humans.

"Still, this isn't so urgent. I have time to plan it out slowly."

"Yuanguang, are you still taking that history of literature class?" As usual, Shi Huilan came to find him in the evening so they could have dinner together.

The cafeteria was inside the dormitory building. Every floor had its own dining area. You placed an order, and when the time came, it would be delivered to you.

The meals Chen Yuanguang and Shi Huilan ordered were clearly different from the free meals provided by the school.

The free school meals were similar to nutrient paste, and they tasted even worse than the nutrient paste distributed by the government.

The Chinese food Chen Yuanguang and Shi Huilan ordered was comparable to the work of a three-Michelin-star chef from his previous life. The only thing that disappointed Chen Yuanguang was that the same dish tasted exactly the same every single time.

The chef was obviously a machine rather than a real person. It had none of the fluctuations in performance that a human chef did.

A real three-Michelin-star chef's performance fluctuated between ninety-five and one hundred five points, while a machine's performance was always one hundred five.

That was good, but Chen Yuanguang felt that his old-era way of thinking had yet to change. To him, it had lost its soul.

Like printed type from a printer, some people felt it was inferior to handwriting.

Chen Yuanguang nodded as he ate. Quite a few people had come to the cafeteria, but very few sat two to a table like they did.

Whenever Chen Yuanguang came here, he thought that the atomization of society was far stronger here than in the modern era. People had atomized themselves of their own accord.

"Yeah, I find it pretty interesting. Professor Samad is interesting too."

Shi Huilan first frowned, then relaxed her brow. "Looks like you really are interested in literary history. Taking Samad's class won't help you become a professor, and he's a little unhinged.

"The world as he sees it is reality after being filtered through his own interpretation. Alpha isn't as sinister as he claims. At the most fundamental level, Alpha has brought order to the entire world and security to ordinary people.

"Of course, every form of society has its shortcomings. The pre-Three Wars order that Samad praises had far more shortcomings than the current one.

"You only need to play Age of War to understand that.

"For most individuals before the Three Wars, modern society is practically paradise.

"And if the pre-Three Wars order was really so good, why didn't Samad go to Singapore? Singapore is still in a relatively primitive state."

Shi Huilan's stance was the complete opposite of Samad's, and her disdain was plain to see.

Chen Yuanguang did not care who was right or wrong between the two of them. He merely found the puff-cheeked little girl in front of him somewhat adorable. If Lin Jia had not come to mind, he might even have reached out and wiped the grain of rice from Shi Huilan's cheek.

If the setting were changed to Tokyo, Shi Huilan could absolutely be the heroine of one of his novels.

The thought flashed through his mind, and Chen Yuanguang quickly caught the key point. "Singapore? I heard Samad mention Singapore today too.

"Isn't Singapore an ungoverned zone? It's so close to us, so why is Singapore barely mentioned in our general education classes?"

Shi Huilan's eyelashes fluttered. "What else could it be? Singapore is dangerous, so they mention it as little as possible to keep everyone from becoming curious about it.

"You've studied literary history, so you should have heard of Cyberpunk, right? That hellhole Singapore is now a Cyberpunk world. The branches of the megacorporations there indulge in extravagance and decadence, while the people at the bottom barely scrape by. If they want to survive, they either become test subjects for the megacorporations or prey on one another.

"So much so that the birth rate is low, and babies born naturally can scarcely grow into adults unless they are sent to welfare institutions. The populations of these enclaves, including Singapore, are entirely maintained by the megacorporations' artificial-womb technology."

After saying that, anger shone from Shi Huilan's beautiful eyes.

Chen Yuanguang asked curiously, "Then why doesn't Alpha take them over?"

Shi Huilan said, "It's a tragic story. It would take too long to tell from the beginning, but I can give you the short version.

"Alpha's takeover requires a referendum of the entire population. The first referendum on the matter failed without question.

"Why did it fail? Because Alpha-controlled Thailand opened up the Kra Canal, and a huge amount of shipping began passing through the Kra Canal rather than the Strait of Malacca. Combined with the dimensional blow Alpha, a super AI, dealt to the financial industry, Singapore fell from a developed country to an underdeveloped region overnight. Its regional advantages vanished completely.

"Singaporeans' hatred of Alpha stemmed from self-interest. After the first few referendums failed, the megacorporations gradually infiltrated Singapore, and it slowly became what it is today.

"The next referendum will be ten years from now. I doubt it will turn out any better. The megacorporations control that place too thoroughly.

"In other places, the megacorporations have to listen to Alpha. In Singapore, they can do whatever they want. Naturally, they don't want the status quo to change."

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