[Experiment Log No. 122]
[Target of this experiment: Bryophyta, order Sphagnales]
[Experiment failed. All Sphagnales plants mutated into semi-fleshy special species. This species can rapidly proliferate and expand with unlimited nutrition supply, and does not follow normal cellular self-arrangement, producing tumor-like masses with a maximum diameter of 3.2 meters. The tumor withered and lost all biological activity after surviving for 33 hours, 46 minutes, and 8 seconds.]
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[Experiment Log No. 464]
[Target of this experiment: Cnidaria, class Anthozoa]
[Experiment failed. Coral polyps over-proliferated, rapidly forming a massive mutated reef. The reef completely petrified within 4 minutes and 2 seconds of formation, ultimately losing all biological activity. The composition and strength of the reef require further assessment.]
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[Experiment Log No. 2739]
[This experiment begins. Target: Phylum Vertebrata, species: South American caecilian.]
[Experiment failed. The South American caecilian exhibited abnormal growth, reaching a final length of over 20 meters and a maximum diameter of more than 1 meter. The subject displayed extreme aggression, with a strength value exceeding 300. After 101 hours and 6 minutes of rampage, the subject died. Its body lost all biological activity within 3 minutes and 27 seconds and automatically disintegrated into tiny particles.]
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[Experiment Log No. 7700]
[This experiment begins. Target: Mammalia, subject: mouse.]
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[Experiment Log No. 13,600]
[Experiment failed... Perhaps our experimental approach is wrong. We need to start from a more subtle, more fundamental level and reconstruct the organism model.]
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[Experiment Log No. 28,843]
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[Experiment Log……]
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[Experiment……]
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[Experiment Log, Round Three, Forty-fourth Attempt, Section Eight]
[The salamander specimen finally achieved preliminary success. This salamander exhibited gigantism, color variation, and other traits, confirming that the Superhuman Key contains human components. The specimen's eyes shifted from lateral to frontal placement, and its intelligence increased dramatically. It could partially understand the researchers' intentions, with intelligence surpassing that of dogs and displaying various human-like features. Everyone cheered, but I believe it's still not enough—there are unresolved issues.]
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[Experiment Log, Round Three, Eighty-eighth Attempt, Section Six]
[The cost of experiments keeps rising, cycles are getting longer, and progress has stalled. Although the research team developed various types of slightly more stable specimens, and although the Regent is ecstatic every day and promises generous rewards to the team, I feel we are no closer to our goal. Analysis of the Superhuman Key has stalled. I believe the Superhuman Key can't be that simple—there are secrets I haven't figured out yet.]
[On a side note, I dislike that Regent. I always feel like he's scheming something shady. I think I should keep my opinions on the specimens to myself, just in case those money-grubbing businessmen try to use them for something nasty.]
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[Total defeat! After three months of observation, the earliest batch of salamander specimens began dying one after another! Their demise wasn't due to natural lifespan. Calculations show that once their strength exceeded a certain threshold, they rapidly collapsed. Collapse usually completed within three to five minutes, leaving only indecipherable residue and fragments.]
[But seeing the Regent's livid face, I genuinely felt relieved. I don't want my experiments to give birth to evil. I must find a way to curb this trend.]
[Also, although further measurement hasn't been done, I think this special collapse phenomenon is the real secret behind the Superhuman Key. I know unraveling this secret will be extremely difficult—technical issues are minor, but political obstacles may be greater. But isn't breaking boundaries and leading humanity to a better future the true meaning of being a scientist? I want to understand the cause of this collapse. I want to create a truly lasting, self-replicating, brand new species!]
[This is trespassing into the realm of gods.]
[But so what?]
[I've already entered the kingdom of gods.]
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Inside the cell, Donald Zade was demonstrating his value.
"The classified archives in Tiberius Laboratory record that, in the era when we were created, the lab obtained a 'Superhuman Key' and conducted many rounds of genetic modification based on it. The results were bizarre, but even the most advanced genetic creations—the bioweapon known as 'The Slaughterer'—couldn't avoid a fatal problem: spontaneous collapse."
"This problem was basically unsolvable and unavoidable at the time."
"Every modified organism would spontaneously evolve towards greater strength. This process couldn't be stopped or reversed. For a bioweapon, that's great news. But the terrifying part is, once they hit a mysterious 'red line,' every single one of them would drop dead!"
"You know what's the most messed up part?" Donald Zade patted his chest and laughed sarcastically. "Us, the Zade Scions, the reason we're born superior is because we used the same tech as those 'Slaughterer' rejects! We're beneficiaries of 'genetic enhancement serum'—but also the ones cursed by it!"
"I don't know what kind of deal or scheme that old geezer made with the Witch, or if he even knew about any of this, but it's obvious we've been cursed by the Witch."
"We can't get stronger—no matter if we're male or female, buff or scrawny, no matter how hard we train, our strength is locked at a fixed value. Worst of all, we can't have kids! I could sleep with every heiress or party my way through every nightclub, and still never have a damn kid to inherit my legacy!"
"I'm not the first to figure out this curse. The old man's got a ton of kids, some of them are geniuses. A few tried to break the curse and get stronger. I don't know how they did it, but some actually succeeded."
"They crossed the Witch's red line and entered some unbelievable territory. When I finally dug up that record in Tiberius Laboratory after jumping through endless hoops, you know how jealous I was? I wanted to be the perfect one!"
"But, too bad, that curse isn't so easy to break. You know what happened to those Zade Scions? Heh, you can probably guess—they ended up just like the old Slaughterers, crumbling into a pile of scraps." Donald Zade laughed, mocking his siblings and maybe himself. "When I snuck a peek at the files, the scraps were right there with the records. Honestly, I almost dropped those boxes all over the floor."
At this, Donald Zade paused, savoring the bitterness of fate. Then he looked up at Jill Young, his mockery even sharper: "That bastard thinks he controls my fate. But he can't even control his own life. Has he started having sudden shock and random blackouts?"
Jill Young said nothing, but sometimes silence is an answer too.
"Hahaha, I knew it! Just like the archives said! The moment I saw him stronger than me, I knew this day would come! I've waited so long, and finally, it's here!" Donald Zade laughed wildly, then suddenly stopped. "Guess what—do you think I know the cure?"
Jill Young snorted, "If you knew the cure, would you really be lying here like a dead dog?"
"I just don't know how to break the curse, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to treat it." Donald Zade was certain, staring at Jill Young like a hungry wild dog, licking his lips. "Guess what terms I'm about to propose?"
"I don't have to guess anything." Jill Young grabbed him by the collar, hoisting him straight up from the pile of scraps like a chicken about to be slaughtered. "You should guess what I'll do to you if you don't spill everything you know right now."
"Are you threatening me? Hahaha!" Donald Zade was a mess, totally unhinged. "Back when I had everything, I feared everything. Now I've got nothing—what's left to be scared of?"
"You've still got one thing—your worthless life." Jill Young's eyes flashed with a fierce, dark golden light, making it hard to breathe. "Trust me, I've got plenty of ways to show you that 'having nothing' isn't the worst thing that can happen."
"So what? Who cares! Torture me, humiliate me, skin me alive, grind my bones to dust—I'd still call it a win!" Donald Zade was truly losing it, his eyes wild with hysteria. "Even a thousand cuts can't compare to gene collapse! You have no idea—the pain of gene collapse is way beyond anything you can imagine! No torture in this world comes close to it. Compared to that bastard, I—ugh—!!"