Chapter 144: Anti-aging Drug Release
Blue Sea’s decision to spend nearly half a year disguising itself as a [Company] had truly been worth it.
Cheng Qisheng put away the dumbbell plates, feeling thoroughly pleased.
They had only recruited two researchers so far.
One had solved the problem of energy storage.
The other was even more impressive, directly extending the human lifespan to between 250 and 270 years. And throughout such a long life, people could maintain their bodies in peak condition for an extended period of time.
They had struck it rich!
And these were only the benefits they could see. There were benefits they couldn’t see yet, too.
Coleen could not only reproduce the portable energy modules; she was an energy research expert in her own right. Given enough time, she would undoubtedly produce even more breakthroughs.
As for Jin Yin, there was even less to say. She had managed to develop a targeted sustained-release drug that dissolved the mechanisms of aging at just ninety years old.
She still had at least another hundred years to live. Who knew whether she might achieve even more breakthroughs in her research over those next hundred-plus years?
Yes, Cheng Qisheng had already made up her mind.
No matter how far Blue Sea managed to develop on Moon Silk, and regardless of whether they could complete the world mission, when it was time to leave this planet, Coleen and Jin Yin were coming with them. No exceptions.
Blue Sea was still operating under its disguise, so to ensure there were no mishaps, they had no intention of preaching their faith to the local researchers.
But that was fine!
They didn’t have to be believers.
Take them with us. Take them all!
Just based on the contributions the two had made to Blue Sea at this point, even if they never developed another useful thing for the rest of their lives, Blue Sea would be more than happy to support them for the rest of their lives.
Compared with the benefits they had brought Blue Sea, what did the small amount of resources needed to support them matter?
Coleen and Jin Yin had no idea that, in Blue Sea, they had already earned the privilege of being taken care of for the rest of their lives.
But one thing was certain: after Jin Yin demonstrated her true abilities, both women’s lives underwent earth-shaking changes.
“This is for me?”
Jin Yin had recited the underlying data of the targeted sustained-release anti-aging drug from memory, effectively verifying that what she had said was true.
At this moment, she was standing in front of a villa situated in a pure white space, completely stunned by this quintessential Moon Silk-style luxury mansion.
To be honest, even when she had seen the densely packed soldiers in Tu’ao earlier, she hadn’t been nearly as shocked as she was now.
“Yes. You have been promoted to Black Researcher and will receive the highest level of researcher benefits.”
Jin Yin had heard about the benefits afforded to Black Researchers. Two or three hundred years ago, the highest-ranking researchers could indeed live in luxurious high-rise apartments, but a large, private villa like this was still quite rare.
Rationally speaking, Jin Yin knew perfectly well that Moon Silk had been severely overpopulated back then. Vast amounts of land had also been monopolized and divided up among various interests, making residential space extremely cramped. Now, judging by everything she’d seen, Moon Silk’s population had undoubtedly fallen considerably, and land probably wasn’t nearly as expensive as it had been before.
But still!
This was a huge villa!
Jin Yin had lived through an era of overpopulation when housing was so expensive that even a White Researcher had to take out a hundred-year mortgage just to afford a 100-square-meter apartment. There was simply no way she could resist the temptation of a massive villa.
There was even a lawn in front of the villa, along with trees—all of them real, natural plants.
The interior had even been fully furnished.
Coleen was just as dumbfounded as Jin Yin, staring with wide eyes.
“The one next door is for me? But I haven’t accomplished anything particularly outstanding.”
Blue Sea’s staff member replied, “It’s because you recommended Specialist Jin Yin to join [Ota]. Specialist Jin Yin’s achievements have been exceptionally impressive, so as her recommender, you have been rewarded with lifetime usage rights to this residence.”
Coleen was both surprised and delighted. “You can get a reward like this just for that?”
“Yes. That’s an [Ota] regulation.”
Coleen murmured, “I thought the raise you gave us was already generous enough.”
After her portable energy project yielded results, her salary had immediately skyrocketed.
And Jin Yin’s salary had jumped even more dramatically, reaching seven times Coleen’s salary in one stroke.
Even though [Ota] no longer paid salaries in the Star Coins used 150 years ago, but in points, both women had been living in [Ota] and naturally understood just how valuable their salaries were given the local cost of living.
To put it this way: in Coleen’s family, they used to buy meat only when she was home or when there was some special occasion worth celebrating.
Now, judging by [Ota]’s meat prices, her entire family could eat their fill of meat every single day and still save up a considerable number of points each month.
Compared to Coleen, who had been living in [Ota] for more than half a month and had gradually integrated into life there—at this very moment, she was completely immersed in the joy of I have a huge villa!—Jin Yin had only been living in [Ota] for a few days, so she was still relatively clear-headed.
She touched her perfectly intact head, which was still firmly attached to her neck, and couldn’t help looking longingly at the villa ahead while desperately trying to remain calm.
“Basic land-use fees, luxury residence tax, survival surcharge, recycled-water allocation, waste disposal fees, housing maintenance fees, monthly parking fees, climate-control fees, public signal access fees, scarce-landscape fees…”
Like someone reciting a list of vegetables, she rattled off more than thirty different housing-related surcharges without stopping for breath:
“…How many points do all of these cost?”
Coleen, who was standing nearby, also came back to her senses. With a hint of nervousness and a hint of anticipation, she looked toward the staff member as well.
Her standard employee dormitory was free, but a massive luxury villa like this was another matter entirely. They definitely needed to get the additional fees straight.
If all the additional fees combined exceeded half her salary, then no matter how much Coleen loved the house, she could only regretfully give it up. After all, she still had a family to support.
Jin Yin lived alone, so she had no such concerns. As long as she had enough to feed herself, she didn’t have to worry about anyone else. Consequently, her psychological threshold was considerably higher than Coleen’s.
As long as those additional fees didn’t exceed seventy percent of her salary, she was moving in, and she was going to enjoy every second of it.
The Blue Sea staff member, whose mind had been thoroughly scrambled by the barrage of fees and taxes, could only stare blankly.
“…”
Hadn’t he just said that they had lifetime usage rights to the houses?
The staff member repeated himself, deliberately emphasizing the key words this time:
“These are rewards from [Ota] for the two of you, and you have lifetime usage rights.”
“In other words, these two houses belong completely to the two of you. The deed tax and stamp duty have already been waived, and there are no other additional fees. As long as you live here, you only need to pay the monthly water and electricity bills.”
Coleen and Jin Yin immediately put on a spectacular display of trembling pupils.
These two researchers, whom the staff member assumed must have exceptionally high intelligence, were now like parrots repeating what they’d just heard:
“No other additional fees?”
They even said it in unison, showing just how perfectly synchronized their shock was.
The staff member:
“……”
What kind of life had these two specialists been living on Moon Silk before this?
According to the various records from 150 years ago, Moon Silk had indeed experienced a population explosion, but Moon Silk itself was enormous.
On top of that, their technology was highly advanced. Building thousand-story skyscrapers wasn’t exactly difficult for them, and their energy technology had also reached a fairly advanced level. Surely their living conditions couldn’t have been that miserable?
Blue Sea had so little land that it would go out of its way to give villas to residents who made major contributions to the city.
Even Cheng Qisheng, who was watching from the sidelines, was once again taken aback by Moon Silk’s living conditions.
Seriously, if she or any of the Old Eighths had been forced to live in conditions like that, they would have revolted long ago.
But after her initial shock, Cheng Qisheng had to admit that Moon Silk’s practice of squeezing its people to the absolute limit was extremely helpful when it came to recruiting researchers.
The worse Moon Silk’s living conditions were, the better [Ota]’s employee benefits appeared by comparison.
At this moment, Jin Yin genuinely approved of [Ota]’s employee benefits.
She was simultaneously happy and shocked, while also maintaining a trace of the wariness that came from thinking, ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch. The things that come free are usually the most expensive.’
She carefully observed everything around her.
Jin Yin acknowledged that the targeted sustained-release anti-aging drug was an extraordinarily impressive research achievement, but she hadn’t equated that achievement with her own value.
Cheng Qisheng figured this was probably related to the long-term suppression researchers endured while working for the [Company].
They had underestimated their own abilities far too much.
To the point that they actually felt their achievements weren’t enough to earn them a villa.
Cheng Qisheng could easily imagine what would have happened if the targeted sustained-release anti-aging drug had been invented by one of the Old Eighths.
First, the researcher would probably show it off around the workplace, then rush straight to the temple to proudly present the results to her, eagerly awaiting a divine blessing.
—And they would 100% actually receive the blessing.
If the researcher didn’t have wings, they would probably confidently apply for a special talent reward as well.
While applying, it wouldn’t even occur to an Old Eighth that they might fail to receive the reward. They would absolutely wait for the results while pulling out their phone and booking a place to practice flying.
And then there were Jin Yin and Coleen…
The [Company] really had done every possible bad thing. It had such talented people and yet didn’t know how to treasure them.
Even if someone were an unparalleled genius, in such a high-pressure environment, coupled with the subconscious habit of belittling themselves, ten parts of their natural talent would end up being reduced to seven.
Through the perspective of her believers, Cheng Qisheng watched the two Moon Silk researchers, whose bodies were tense every moment of every day, completely unaware that they were living under constant pressure.
“Let’s slowly take care of them and let them recover.”
The Old Eighths were actually pretty good at taking care of people.
Just look at Coleen. She had only spent half a month longer in Blue Sea than Jin Yin, yet her condition was visibly better than Jin Yin’s by a huge margin.
While Jin Yin was still having an intense internal debate over whether “no additional fees whatsoever” might somehow be a linguistic trap, Coleen had already excitedly gone into her own villa to explore.
The next day, she voluntarily took a rare day off and moved into the new home with her family.
“There are six large bedrooms in total. You and I will share one, Mom and Dad get one, Seraphine gets one, one will be the study, one will be your workshop, and there’s one room left. I want to turn it into a gym.”
Moon Silk people didn’t have the habit of setting aside guest rooms.
For one thing, they already lived in cramped conditions themselves. Where would they find the extra space for guests?
And besides, if a non-family member stayed overnight in your home, you’d have to pay a hefty fine.
Her partner, Regg, was also beaming with delight. He had never imagined that he would be able to live in such a large house, let alone have a separate workshop of his own.
“Darling, you decide. This big house is something you earned for us, after all.”
Coleen had already planned everything out in her head while viewing the house the previous day, and now she rattled it all off in one go:
“We’re all going to use the gym. Seraphine can gradually start exercising too.”
“I noticed that all my other colleagues at the laboratory are very fit. They often don’t work overtime, instead using their free time after work to train. Sometimes they even arrange sparring sessions with each other. I think it would be better if we followed their example.”
Coleen figured that her colleagues probably trained because they had taken into account the current crisis-ridden state of Moon Silk.
And [Ota] not only allowed its employees to spend time training on their own, it could even be said to encourage it.
It was hard to imagine that a research institute would actually have an entire floor dedicated to a gym.
The first time Coleen saw it, she had watched her colleagues exercising on all sorts of old-fashioned equipment inside and nearly thought she’d walked into a military barracks.
She didn’t know why researchers, who were generally assumed to be physically frail, needed to exercise.
But she knew she liked it here.
She wanted herself and her family to completely integrate into [Ota] as quickly as possible. Mimicking the behavior of the other employees was the fastest—and safest—way to do that.
Regg nodded. “Okay. You’re busy with work, so leave the shopping for the exercise equipment to me.”
He eagerly suggested, “Darling, do you know what an electric grill is?”
Coleen thought for a moment. “Is it one of those really old-fashioned cooking stoves that uses flames?”
“That’s the one. I heard meat grilled that way tastes really fresh. [Ota]’s online store sells them. I want to buy one and put it in our backyard. When you have a day off, we can grill meat together as a family.”
Coleen imagined the scene and felt that it sounded wonderful.
“Darling, that’s a great idea. Seraphine will definitely love grilled meat.”
The moment she mentioned their daughter Seraphine, the sound of rapid footsteps came from the staircase.
Thump, thump, thump.
Seraphine came running downstairs, her eyes sparkling, and threw herself into her mother’s arms.
“Mom! I love my room so much! I even have my own walk-in closet! I can put all the clothes Dad makes for me in there!”
At the staircase, Coleen’s parents also came down together, their faces filled with irrepressible smiles.
This house was even larger than the one the two of them had bought back when they were still employed. Every room had a balcony, and the front and back gardens were both planted with real natural vegetation.
The two elderly people were incredibly excited. They had never imagined that their daughter, not even ninety years old yet, could achieve such incredible success.
“Oh my goodness, Coleen. We don’t even know what to say. Sweetheart, we’re so proud of you.”
Coleen’s parents hugged her one after another.
She looked at the uncontainable smiles on her parents’ faces, then at this spacious house and the beautiful gardens outside. Finally, she looked at her partner standing beside her, smiling as he picked up their daughter.
Her heart was completely filled with a warm, comfortable feeling.
She was so happy.
So incredibly happy.
She wanted nothing more than to get back to work immediately.
Right now, all she wanted was to repay [Ota] for everything it had given her through her own hard work.
Coleen suppressed her urge to immediately go back to work overtime and instead prepared dinner with her family.
They ate this meal in the backyard.
Taking advantage of the fact that there were only two houses in this entire area, Coleen stood in the backyard and called toward Jin Yin’s house at the top of her voice, using the most primitive method possible:
“Jin Yin!”
A minute later, Jin Yin opened a window on the second floor and stuck her head out.
“What is it?”
Coleen invited her, “Come over for dinner!”
Jin Yin looked at Coleen’s backyard. A table and chairs had already been set up, while Seraphine was taking advantage of the time before dinner to examine the bark of a tree.
Coleen’s parents were trying out the newly purchased lounge chairs, while Regg was measuring the size of the garden, apparently planning to put something there.
The scene was simply too perfect.
As Jin Yin watched, the corners of her lips couldn’t help curling up slightly.
“No, thanks. I just ate a piece of bread, and now I’m going to work overtime.”
Today, she had walked around her new house again and again, then enjoyed a wonderfully relaxing soak in the bathtub. She felt comfortable all over, and just like Coleen, all she wanted now was to get back to work as quickly as possible.
The moment Coleen heard that, she hurriedly said, “Then wait for me! I’ll go with you.”
Jin Yin replied, “I’m not waiting. I’m in a hurry.”
“Don’t go yet! I’ll bring you some meat! You can eat it while you walk!”
Regg had already washed his hands and packed up a bag of meat. He handed it to Coleen, who ran outside and stuffed it into Jin Yin’s hands.
“Eat up. You’re doing work that requires a lot of brainpower. You can’t neglect your nutrition!”
Jin Yin took the meat. As she ate, she suddenly laughed.
Coleen asked, “What are you laughing about?”
“I just remembered that you used to help me out like this, too.”
At that, Coleen couldn’t help laughing as well.
“Now it’s my turn to benefit from you.”
“But I won’t fall behind, either. Just wait. I’ll prove to [Ota] that I’m worthy of this villa.”
Jin Yin nodded.
“Okay. I’ll be waiting.”
Compared with Coleen, however, Jin Yin was well prepared and was clearly able to produce results much sooner.
…
A month and a half later, the first batch of targeted sustained-release anti-aging drugs rolled off the production line.
Blue Sea decided to prioritize the elderly when distributing this first batch of life-extending drugs. The plan was to stabilize their lifespans first.
Zhang Xiongyuan, being both a researcher and an elderly man whose age had already put him at risk of death, was among the first group to receive it.
He had heard that this drug could restore a person’s youth.
At his age, his physical condition should be able to return to roughly that of a forty-year-old. Just thinking about it was enough to make Zhang Xiongyuan excited.
Finally, he took the drug.
After three days of adjustment, he could genuinely feel that his body was different from before.
White hairs had begun growing at his roots, the wrinkles on his face had noticeably diminished, and his hunched posture could now straighten.
Zhang Xiongyuan was overjoyed.
What made him happiest of all was that he was no longer an old man with a combat rating of 3!
He, Zhang Xiongyuan, could finally possess greater combat strength and contribute to Blue Sea in that regard!
With excitement in his heart, Zhang Xiongyuan opened his combat rating.
Sure enough, it had changed.
Displayed prominently on the screen were the words:
Combat Rating: 5
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