Laboratory

The new research team is truly professional, with top-notch equipment supporting them, and their research and development progress is much faster than that of Bart' team.

It's not that Bart is incapable; the problem is that he's a biologist, and asking him to isolate harmful substances from plants is really asking too much of him.

In less than a year, the new team overcame numerous difficulties and produced a finished product.

This is a truly effective Life-Extending Serum. Although it has not yet undergone clinical human trials, it has been verified on animals and has completely eliminated all radiation hazards. It can extend the theoretical lifespan of the Riken Race by about 60 years.

However, due to material shortages, less than half a ton of the original 2 tons of materials remains, and only a few dozen of the most effective fruits are left, making the Life-Extending Serum extremely precious.

Although the matter of the Life-Extending Serum was not made public, the return of more than two million Expedition Fleet crew members meant that the news was no secret; those who needed to know already knew, and those who didn't, didn't know.

Therefore, the progress of the Life-Extending Serum research and development has attracted much attention from many people. In particular, the elderly members of the Riken Race with influence and power are eagerly anticipating it.

However, the limited quantity of Life-Extending Serum simply cannot meet the needs of everyone.

"Dr. Simoni, Dr. Hartman, Dr. Natal, thank you for your hard work." Upon learning the news, Speaker Antonio personally inspected the laboratory and expressed his gratitude to the three leaders who had taken charge of the overall situation.

The appearance of the Life-Extending Serum gives him more leverage, and he should be able to tackle many tough challenges with the lure of extended lifespan.

Perhaps he could use this opportunity to change the Federal Council of the Riken Race into a monarchy, and then he would ascend to the throne.

Envisioning a bright future, a smile unconsciously appeared on his face; at that moment, the threat of aliens seemed to fade away.

Or perhaps, it was intentionally ignored.

"Three doctors, with the remaining materials, what is the maximum number of doses of the potion that can be produced?" Antonio interrupted the three people in charge who were explaining the principles to him, their words revealing just how difficult the task was.

He didn't care about any of that; he only cared about the number of chips he had.

The three officials exchanged glances, and one of them said, "Your Excellency Speaker, there is actually another piece of good news."

"Oh?"

"We discovered that this plant is actually not difficult to grow once its growing environment is found."

"What do you mean?" The Speaker asked, somewhat agitated.

"Yes, we artificially replicated the composition of the air and seawater from planet T853 according to the expedition's records, but the plants did not grow again. Subsequently, we carefully reviewed the Special Operations Team's combat records from that time and discovered that the radiation level at the location where the plants were situated was very high."

"Is this why you requested to retrieve the documents in the first place?"

"That's right! Building on our previous work, we added many radioactive substances to the simulated environment, and then these plants miraculously came back to life and began to grow again."

How difficult are they to grow?

"This is precisely what amazes us. As our research continues, we've discovered that these plants don't have high requirements for the rest of the environment, as long as they have radioactive material." The person in charge thought for a moment and gave an analogy, "For example, we don't even need to simulate the environment of T853. As long as we provide enough radioactive material, they can adjust themselves."

"What about production volume?"

"To be honest, I've never seen this kind of plant before. They only need radiation, and it doesn't even matter what kind of radiation it is. As long as they have this, well, they grow very fast."

"Radiation? Does the doctor have any suggestions?"

"If you want, they should be able to solve our headache of nuclear waste." Due to the extensive use of fusion and fission technologies, the Riken Race produce a large amount of nuclear waste every year. They don't have a good way to deal with these things, so they can only pack them up and launch them into the sun.

If Life-Extending Plant can absorb their growth, that would be truly wonderful.

"What are the medicinal effects of these Life-Extending Plant?" Solving nuclear waste is just icing on the cake; their most important function is to make Life-Extending Serum. If they lose this function due to environmental changes, it would be a complete loss.

"It's not a big problem; the newly bred strains have basically the same efficacy. But to confirm this, we need to breed more and conduct a few more experiments, but I don't think there will be any major issues."

"So, is it possible that Life-Extending Serum will be mass-produced?"

"Yes."

"Excellent, very good. Keep this information confidential for now." This is truly the best news we've received today, but to maximize our profits, this information cannot be made public yet; after all, the rarer it is, the more valuable it is.

Next, His Excellency the Speaker praised and encouraged the research team, made some promises, and then left the experimental center with some finished reagents.

The experimental center carried out His Excellency the Speaker's instructions very thoroughly and successfully, and the news that the Life-Extending Plant could be propagated was restricted to a small circle.

Two days later, the lab was blown up.

Unidentified armed personnel launched an air raid on the laboratory from Gunboat, engaging in a brief but intense firefight with the laboratory's garrison. Unfortunately for them, the Speaker never expected anyone to be so audacious, and the garrison was only equipped with conventional light weapons.

The battle ended quickly under the Gunboat's bombardment. The attackers, familiar with the place, easily stole the finished medicine, some Life-Extending Plant, and research data from the laboratory before fleeing.

The entire process took less than ten minutes. By the time the support troops arrived, the laboratory had already been reduced to a sea of fire.

Fortunately, apart from some casualties among the defending troops, the research team escaped unscathed thanks to their cooperation and the fact that the enemy didn't seem to intend to eliminate them.

Upon learning the news, the Speaker was furious and ordered a joint investigation by the military and police. However, the expected quick resolution did not occur. Investigators encountered numerous obstacles in their work, and there seemed to be internal problems as well. As a result, a week later, the case remained unsolved.

This is practically impossible among the Riken Race.

Because even setting aside Gunboat, ordinary weapons and equipment are not things that can be acquired casually, and their origin should be easily traceable. In addition, the Riken Race have advanced technology and surveillance cameras all over their Mother Planet. Such a large armed force, after brazenly attacking important facilities, simply disappeared without a trace. Riken Race movies wouldn't dare to portray something like that.

But reality can be so surreal.

A week later, the investigation was canceled, and Antonio realized that this might be a backlash against some of his recent actions.

This attack wasn't just about stealing the Life-Extending Serum; more importantly, it was a way to showcase one's muscles.

This brought the Speaker, who had been increasingly bloated and intoxicated by his dream of ascending the throne over the years, to a slight sobering up. It seemed that those old powers were still hiding a lot, and his self-righteous belief that he had control over everything was merely a facade.

It seems that many plans still need to be implemented gradually.

Regardless of the internal situation within the Riken Race, no one noticed that during the attack on the laboratory, the explosions during the firefight and the hasty removal of the plants had caused some of the originally well-protected Life-Extending Plant to spill out.

Several Creep Seed finally found an opportunity, broke free from their confinement, sank into the ground, and disappeared.

Thank you to Eternal Insect Mother and reader 20200916000710406 for the 100 Qidian Coins reward.