Part 2 

Jiang Ying said angrily, “Stop going in circles with me!” As he spoke, he reached out to grab Cong Xia’s neck.

Shan Ming quickly grabbed his wrist and preemptively grabbed his neck.

The large lynx stood up and roared at Shan Ming.

Jiang Ying smiled coldly at Shan Ming, and suddenly his eyes flashed. Shan Ming’s eyes widened, his pupils contracted rapidly, and an extremely painful expression appeared on his face. He fell to his knees with a thud, clutching his head tightly.

Professor Sun shouted, “Jiang Ying, stop it!”

Jiang Ying snorted contemptuously and withdrew his electromagnetic interference. Shan Ming collapsed sideways, his expression twisted and covered in cold sweat. He bit his lips hard but didn’t make a sound. Cong Xia helped him up. “Brother Shan? Are you okay?”

Shan Ming shook his head and glared viciously at Jiang Ying.

Jiang Ying grabbed the ancient jade and stepped back several paces, patting the lynx’s head. “If you won’t talk, it doesn’t matter. We have plenty of time. I can extract all your memories.” He wanted to return to that chair. Obviously, when he walked, his head gave him a great burden. But before he reached the chair, he was suddenly pulled back by a strange force. Startled, he looked back but found nothing around him. He suddenly looked down at the jade in his hand.

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Usdt Dky pyke, “Nkjl R vsze usw, kv yde R nyd’v cl plryayvle. Rq usw nyd’v twyaydvll swa rlapsdyz pyqlvu, usw nyd dlkvbla tlv kv dsa wpl kv. Zswa sdzu oyu swv kp vs nssrlayvl okvb wp.”

Kkydt Zkdt zssjle yv bkx ellrzu qsa y zsdt obkzl, vbld oyzjle shla yde alvwadle vbl fyel vs bkx. “Rdvlalpvkdt. Tso eke usw tlv kv? Ebu yal usw cswde vstlvbla?”

“Mbl qkapv vkxl R pyo vbkp fyel, R ynnkeldvyzzu eakrrle czsse sd kv, yde vbld R qsaxle y ‘nsdvaynv’ okvb kv.”

“Jzsse?”

Usdt Dky pyke xsnjkdtzu, “Eydv vs vau kv uswaplzq?”

Kkydt Zkdt ktdsale bkp rashsnyvksd yde fwpv zssjle yv bkx vbswtbvqwzzu. Gqvla y zsdt obkzl, bl pyke, “Ebu usw? Ebu eke vbl qkhl-nszsale pvsdl nbsspl usw? Ebu eke Yypvla Hbydt nbsspl usw?”

“Tso oswze R jdso?”

Hbwydt Zys prsjl wr. “Uswze kv cl ‘tldlp’?”

Jiang Ying’s eyes lit up, and he said somewhat impatiently, “Genes, yes! What ancient genes did you inherit exactly?”

Zhuang Yao said, “Since our genes determine our mutation direction, it’s also possible that Cong Xia’s genes determined that he would get the five-colored stone and obtain those abilities.”

Jiang Ying looked at Cong Xia with an eager gaze that was unsettling. “What ancient genes did you inherit that are different from ours?”

Zhuang Yao sneered. “If genes determine everything, then even if you get the five-colored stone, it won’t be useful.”

Jiang Ying snorted. “The five-colored stone has been missing for two thousand years, and there are still many secrets unsolved. Don’t speak too soon.”

Shan Ming shouted, “You big-headed freak really talk too much fucking nonsense. Bring some food.”

Jiang Ying ignored him and nodded at the large lynx. The lynx went around to the back of an experimental table, picked up a bloody, gray-furred large rat, and threw it in front of them, then dragged over a simple barbecue rack. The rat was big enough—ten people couldn’t finish it—it was just a bit disgusting. But the several people didn’t mind. They had eaten plenty of disgusting things and were already used to it.

Shan Ming pulled out his dagger and began skinning and cutting the meat. Cong Xia put the rat meat on the barbecue rack. They had been hungry all day, so recovering their strength was obviously very important.

While they were grilling meat, Jiang Ying called to Professor Sun and Zhuang Yao, “Teacher, little one, come here.”

The two exchanged glances and walked over. Jiang Ying led them to tour his laboratory. “This is the new genetic map I’ve established. I’ve already collected genes from over three hundred mutant animals. Through long-term comparative analysis, I’ve currently extracted 13 types of ancient genes. If I had a more massive gene bank, I could definitely extract more. Some of these genes can make organisms physically strong, and some can directly determine an organism’s intelligence. These genes work much like cancer cells. An organism might have countless ancient genes lurking within it. When the apocalypse came and Cambrian energy began filling the entire Earth, many ancient genes awakened under the stimulation of Cambrian energy. If a certain type of ancient gene has a relatively large proportion in an organism, it will mutate in that direction.” Jiang Ying pointed at the lynx. “It originally hadn’t mutated. I performed gene transplantation on it, artificially increasing the proportion of a certain gene and making it mutate. It’s currently the most perfect example.”

Zhuang Yao said, “When we were in Beijing, we also did genetic modification experiments. Although we didn’t know about ancient divine genes at the time, the principle was similar. Those multiple-mutation creatures outside—you didn’t create them too, did you?”

Jiang Ying said, “If only I had that ability. They mutate multiple times because the Cambrian energy concentration here is too high, constantly stimulating the ancient genes lurking in their bodies. Ordinary mutant creatures are lucky if one type of gene awakens—they can usually awaken two to three types. Two organisms undergo alien transformation because they carry similar ancient genes in their bodies. When they devour each other, their genes fuse and they merge into one entity. This is an extremely low-probability event because two organisms must happen to be able to awaken the same type of genes and also happen to eat each other. But here, organisms generally can awaken two to three types of genes, so their probability of alien transformation is many times higher than species in other places. That’s why so many multiple-mutation creatures have appeared here. These monsters all know this can make them stronger, so they keep ‘tasting’ things. If they eat the right thing someday, they can gain another ability. However, multiple-mutation creatures also have a major flaw—because they’ve undergone alien transformation with too many creatures, their self-consciousness becomes confused. They don’t know what they’re doing and only know how to eat.”

“What about this lynx? What did it undergo alien transformation with?”

Jiang Ying looked at the lynx. “I didn’t let it undergo alien transformation with any other species. Those monsters that lose self-consciousness are just ugly, strong waste. They’ll eventually kill each other because they can’t control their behavior. Being powerful is only temporary—they won’t live long. It doesn’t need to undergo alien transformation with other things. It’s already very powerful.”

Zhuang Yao glanced at him. “Then how did you become like this?”

A flash of ferocity crossed Jiang Ying’s face. “This is the price of successfully fighting for self-consciousness.”

“What do you mean?”

Jiang Ying didn’t speak, obviously not wanting to tell him.

Zhuang Yao’s eyes flashed, revealing a cold smile.

Professor Sun said, “Why are you telling us all this?”

Jiang Ying said, “As you can see, if I continue researching, I can solve many mysteries of ancient genes. If we can complete this ancient genetic map, we can make any person or animal mutate at will, and even build an army of our own to protect us forever.”

“‘Us’?”

“That’s right. Since I can’t use the five-colored stone myself, and you happen to have knowledge I don’t know, why not cooperate? What this ancient genetic map lacks most is the genes of natural force evolved humans. Although I really want to obtain the genes of natural force evolved humans, Chu Xingzhou and Rong Lan are too powerful—I can’t get them. What ancient genes did natural force evolved humans inherit to possess such divine power? How are their genes different? Aren’t you curious at all? If we can perfect the entire ancient genetic map, maybe we can create natural force evolved humans! If we possess even the power to transform nature, what can the Cambrian consciousness do to us?”

Professor Sun’s face turned pale. “Jiang Ying, you’ve really gone mad. You want to create natural force evolved humans? Have you forgotten that it was because too many god-level natural force evolved humans appeared in ancient times that so many great disasters occurred? Now those natural force evolved humans have only slightly gained the power to control nature, and the Cambrian consciousness already wants to exterminate us. What more do you want this planet to suffer?”

“When power is absolutely strong, there’s no need to fear any threat. Those ancient divine beings were just a bunch of fools. What’s all this about heaven collapsing and earth cracking? That can only kill ordinary people. Natural force evolved humans have absolute self-preservation abilities. If they wanted to survive, it would be easy. What was the point of their suicide? Even if they were crushed to pieces, they couldn’t stop the Cambrian consciousness. The Cambrian consciousness and Earth are one entity. Unless they destroyed the entire planet, the Cambrian consciousness would never die! Suicide to lower the Cambrian consciousness’s assessment value only delays things a bit—it’s completely meaningless. Better to live freely and happily in their own era. What’s the meaning of racial continuation? Even if races continue for thousands of generations, who can see it?”

Professor Sun couldn’t even get angry anymore. He seemed to age several years in an instant. He sighed, “Jiang Ying, I can’t refute what you’re saying because you’re not wrong about anything. But the ancient divine beings were even smarter than us—couldn’t they think of this? I started reading at six, and I’ve been obsessed with science since childhood. All my life I’ve been doing work I consider noble and proud—contributing to humanity’s reproduction and development. Yes, racial continuation really has nothing to do with us. When we die, it’s all over. But as a human being, as a scientific worker, don’t you have even a trace of compassion for humanity? Don’t you have even a bit of sense of mission? If humanity really goes extinct, even if you can’t see or hear it, just thinking about it—don’t you feel sad? The knowledge and civilization our ancestors accumulated generation after generation will all be erased from this planet. That’s the result of millions of years of effort by the human race! Can you just watch it disappear and do nothing?”

Jiang Ying’s mouth twitched, and his expression became somewhat ferocious. “Teacher, don’t pressure me with these grand principles anymore. My relatives, my children—they’re all long dead. As long as I close my eyes, there’s nothing behind me worth my attachment. Whether humanity dies out has nothing to do with me. If you want to be a great man, a hero, go ahead. I just need to live in this era.”

Professor Sun let his shoulders drop powerlessly, shaking his head in disappointment.

Jiang Ying said, “I’ll give you half a day to consider. If you agree to cooperate, I’ll let one of you go out to negotiate with those people outside. It would be best to get them all to submit to me. I think once they know that all this desperate fighting is useless and they’ll all die in the end, they probably won’t need my persuasion—they’ll make choices similar to mine.”

Professor Sun said coldly, “Not everyone is as afraid of death as you are.”

Jiang Ying laughed. “Afraid of death? Teacher, you underestimate me. I’m not afraid of death—I’m just afraid of dying meaninglessly. I’m afraid of dying in vain for a bunch of waste I don’t even know. If you don’t believe me, go ask those people outside. Tell them the truth and see if any of them don’t regret coming here to die!”

Cong Xia’s heart was sinking. Jiang Ying was right. If they knew the truth, many people would lose their morale. Even he had wavered just now. The reason he hadn’t given up hope was because he still had the ancient jade, and he was unwilling to let all their long efforts go to waste. No matter what, he had come this far—he wanted to collect all the puppet jades and give it one last try. But what about the others? Could the others be as determined as them? There was no guarantee that some wouldn’t develop the same thoughts as Jiang Ying.

This secret couldn’t be known by more people…

Author’s Note: Everyone misses the people outside, right~~ They’ll appear in the next chapter!