Life Code

The final scene of the werewolf experiment froze on the screen, blood analysis charts flickering like a storm.

Ian Alvin leaned back in his chair, his brows tightly furrowed.

After a Muggle became a werewolf, genetic mutations did indeed occur within their body, yet there was still no measurable magical response.

He could feel that he was only one step away from the truth, yet he always fell short because of some invisible barrier.

He pondered in silence for a long while, then suddenly rose to his feet and headed for another storage room.

It was the potion room. Hundreds of bottles and jars were neatly arranged, their labels bearing the names of various potions—some held half a bottle of residue, while others had long since been emptied.

He searched carefully and finally found a transparent white vial on the top shelf, filled with a liquid that flowed like molten gold.

The name beneath the label glimmered faintly—Felix Felicis.

It was the "liquid luck" he had brewed himself.

Ian smiled with pursed lips. Without hesitation, he tipped back his head and drained the potion in one gulp.

Warm golden radiance flowed down his throat, then spread throughout his body.

An indescribable sense of confidence surged over him like a tide.

He knew that he was now on fate's "optimal path."

He returned to the laboratory and raised his wand again.

A flash of light appeared, and a dark wizard was teleported onto the experiment table—

This time, it was not a Muggle, but a captured wizard.

Ian had the werewolf bite him, then swiftly separated the two and sent the dark wizard into the analysis chamber.

He pulled up the data and watched intently.

On the screen, a double-helix structure slowly rotated.

Suddenly, a faint energy wave flickered across the image—it was an extraordinarily subtle magical fluctuation, almost impossible to detect.

"Found it."

Ian's heart suddenly tightened.

He magnified the focal point, trying to capture the shape of that energy.

But the instrument could not identify it. All the data was blank.

He narrowed his eyes, suddenly recalling something.

"Dementors are invisible to Muggles... Perhaps machines cannot see magic either."

Though the instrument had been modified with magic, it was still fundamentally a product of technology.

If that energy belonged to a "spiritual" level, it naturally could not be observed.

Ian drew a deep breath and lowered his wand.

"Looks like I need a different approach."

He cast every spell related to "vision" that he knew:

From the most basic heightened perception spell to the Spiritual Vision he had developed himself. The latter was a new technique he had derived after dissecting the eyeballs of countless magical creatures.

Runes flickered before his eyes, and his pupils turned silver.

When his gaze fell upon that spot again—

He saw a completely different world.

It was a strange space woven from symbols, light, and totems.

Countless symbols and lines floated through the air, like an endless stream of text.

Those symbols sometimes shimmered like flowing water and sometimes fell like stars.

He focused and examined them closely, finally recognizing familiar shapes—

They were Ancient Runes.

While at Hogwarts, he had studied Ancient Runes under Professor Babbling. He had also corresponded with many researchers for years and had long since mastered the subject.

He immediately took out a notebook and swiftly recorded and deciphered those "words."

Several hours later, the result nearly left him unable to breathe.

This was not an ordinary language, but a structural code that existed deep within life itself.

He called it—the Life Code.

It was the foundation of all life, composed of three parts:

The body, the soul, and the bloodline.

The body corresponded to DNA and determined a person's form and physiological traits;

The soul determined consciousness and mental capacity;

And the bloodline was the core of magic.

Ian's eyes gleamed with excitement.

"Finally... I found it."

He discovered that Muggles also possessed a Life Code, except their "bloodline segment" was completely blank, while their soul portion was exceptionally weak.

This meant that the difference between them and wizards lay not in their organs or intelligence, but in whether they possessed a bloodline.

His mind raced.

If he could alter the "bloodline segment," could he give Muggles magic?

Or—could he make a wizard's bloodline stronger?

He could not help recalling several examples.

Voldemort's gift for Parseltongue came from Salazar Slytherin's bloodline;

And after Harry Potter had been invaded by a fragment of the Dark Lord's soul, he had gained the same ability.

This proved that there was a transferable connection between bloodlines and souls.

"Bloodlines... are not merely inherited. They are an extension of the soul."

As if struck by realization, Ian immediately turned back to the experiment table and continued his deductions.

The question soon arose:

If the Life Code truly existed, how was he supposed to alter it?

Countless possibilities flashed through his mind.

Alchemy? Too crude.

Potions? They could not penetrate to the genetic level.

Runes? They could record, but not alter.

Then a thought struck him—

Transfiguration.

Transfiguration could directly alter the structure of matter, while human Transfiguration could reversibly reorganize the form of life.

In theory, it was entirely possible for it to reach the Life Code.

He moved swiftly, securing the dark wizard to the dissection table.

The experiment began.

Ian took a deep breath, focused his mind, and used Transfiguration to try to touch that strand of bloodline code.

He felt a strange connection, as though his soul had resonated with that wizard's "life structure."

He tried to gently alter one of the symbols.

The next second—

The wizard's body convulsed violently, blood spraying from his ears, nose, and mouth.

A few seconds later, he collapsed, utterly lifeless.

Ian stepped forward to examine him and found that the man's DNA had completely collapsed, while his Life Code had been torn apart.

His brows knitted tightly. After a long silence, he gave his wand a light flick.

The corpse was sent to the incineration area, and fresh experimental material was teleported in.

"Looks like Transfiguration is too brutal an intervention.

I need to find a more precise method."

He placed another werewolf onto the experiment table and began a new attempt.

Again and again, failure followed failure.

Yet his gaze only grew more resolute.

"No matter how many times... I will uncover the truth of life."

He murmured softly, his fingertips gliding across the silver light screen.

The chain composed of Ancient Runes flickered before him,

As though it awaited a future in which it would be deciphered.