—May 1987.
Two more people were thrown into the lab.
—June 1987.
This time, it was five people.
—July 1987.
All fourteen of them ended up as nothing but scraps on the floor.
Adam Zade grew more irritable; nobody knew why he was so anxious.
—Buzz. The static faded, and normal memories came flooding back.
In August 1987, the Tiberia Research Group led by Susan Soo made a major breakthrough.
It was a gorilla—a black-haired, silver-backed giant. Tall, powerful, and imposing, just looking at it from afar was enough to send shivers down your spine, like staring at a rampaging King Kong.
"Look, Adam, it's only two months old, but it's already stronger than a fully grown adult." Through the glass, Susan Soo watched the gorilla pounding its chest and roaring, looking thoroughly pleased. "It can survive for at least eighteen months, which proves the Superhuman Key can be preliminarily applied to large primate systems."
"Great! That's amazing!" Adam Zade was practically jumping out of his skin with excitement, staring at the gorilla like he'd just glimpsed the future. He blurted out, "So that means next, we can study the Superhuman Key's effects on humans, right?"
"No, not yet. We're still missing something." Susan Soo shook her head.
Adam pressed, anxious: "Missing something? How much longer?"
"Five years." Susan Soo gave a precise answer: "In five years, I'm confident I can crack the secret of the Superhuman Key and develop a stable, human-usable superhuman serum."
"What? Five years?!" Adam blurted out. "That's forever!"
"Forever?" Susan Soo's eyes widened. "Adam, we're researching how to turn people into gods, how to rewrite the fate of all humankind. We're standing at the crossroads of destiny, and if we find the way in just five years—that's basically myth-level speed!"
"Myth-level speed... Five years..." Adam muttered, his anxiety only growing deeper.
—Buzz. The psychic energy supplied by Jill Young fluctuated and dried up. In the blink of an eye, Susan Morrow's consciousness snapped back to the physical world. On the ancient star road, the Overlord Golem was still choking Jonathan Black, the last syllable of its previous sentence hanging in the air.
Jonathan's face turned bright red, but instead of answering, he suddenly swung his left leg and kicked the Overlord Golem in the chest. Crack! Another fracture appeared on the Golem's battered body, not too deep, not too shallow—nothing game-changing. Jonathan's left leg, though, was toast, twisted up like a noodle.
September 1987. Adam Zade personally reached out to Susan Soo.
The Overlord Golem hauled Jonathan Black right up to its eye.
"This eye's scan isn't strong enough to get a good look. What a shame. Normally, I'd never waste a specimen as valuable as you—I'd treasure you. But today, I'm just going to burn through you." The Overlord Golem glanced at Susan Morrow, close enough to touch but not making a move, instead wasting time with words: "Heh, so focused. But I wonder, when he dies right in front of you, will you still be so zen?"
"Adam, you..." An incredulous feeling bubbled up from the depths of Susan Soo's memory. For the first time, she looked at Adam Zade with real intensity. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
"No... don't listen to him!" Jonathan Black struggled to speak, words coming out in broken gasps. "Rockhead... you're such a coward... Even now... you're still worried we've got a trump card?"
"Shut up!" Susan Soo finally realized something, her eyes flashing as she activated her hyperspace ability to scan the world. The Unknown Beacon lit up in her mind, a chaos-searching artifact that could scan Earth—easier, faster than ever.
The next moment, Susan Soo slowly stood up, staring blankly at the man across from her, a wave of absurdity rising in her chest. "You're using live humans for experiments?"
Her expression was more severe than ever, and for the first time, truly furious. "You asked me to give it my all, and I agreed—I didn't care about anything else, didn't look anywhere else! I trusted you completely, and while I was busy, you went behind my back and used humans for live experiments?"
The man opposite her panicked, explaining rapidly, "Susan Soo, calm down, they were all vile criminals! Murderers, pimps, organ traffickers, all exploiting legal loopholes to walk free—they all deserved it!"
"Heh—" Susan Soo let out a short, cold laugh. "So you're saying you're some kind of vigilante hero? How do I know you're telling the truth?"
September 1987. Adam Zade personally reached out to Sophia.
Susan Soo clenched her fists and shouted, "Don't you get it? This isn't about good guys or bad guys!"
"I get it, I do! International law says no human biochemical experiments, right? But look, there's a new rule!" Adam Zade whipped out a document. "This is a new file signed by the Governor of Wisconsin, updating state law. The rules about human experiments have changed. Susan Soo, our base is in Wisconsin, so we can totally use Wisconsin law!"
"Adam, you..." An incredulous feeling bubbled up from the depths of Sophia's memory. For the first time, she looked at Adam Zade with real intensity. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
"Yeah, law!" Adam stared hard at Susan Soo, his face twisted. "The law says I'm good, I've got all the permits, I'm totally legit! You're always harping on the law, right? If I'm not breaking the law, then there's nothing wrong! Susan Soo, I'm right! Come on, help me out, I can't wait—I need to crack the Superhuman Key!"
"Shut up!" Sophia finally realized something, her eyes flashing as she activated her hyperspace ability to scan the world. The Unknown Beacon lit up in her mind, a chaos-searching artifact that could scan Earth—easier, faster than ever.
The next moment, Sophia slowly stood up, staring blankly at the man across from her, a wave of absurdity rising in her chest. "You're using live humans for experiments?"
Her expression was more severe than ever, and for the first time, truly furious. "You asked me to give it my all, and I agreed—I didn't care about anything else, didn't look anywhere else! I trusted you completely, and while I was busy, you went behind my back and used humans for live experiments?"
The man opposite her panicked, explaining rapidly, "Sophia, calm down, they were all vile criminals! Murderers, pimps, organ traffickers, all exploiting legal loopholes to walk free—they all deserved it!"
"Heh—" Sophia let out a short, cold laugh. "So you're saying you're some kind of vigilante hero? How do I know you're telling the truth?"
"I've got proof..."
Sophia clenched her fists and shouted, "Don't you get it? This isn't about good guys or bad guys!"
"I get it, I do! International law says no human biochemical experiments, right? But look, there's a new rule!" Adam Zade whipped out a document. "This is a new file signed by the Governor of Wisconsin, updating state law. The rules about human experiments have changed. Sophia, our base is in Wisconsin, so we can totally use Wisconsin law!"
"Law?"
"Yeah, law!" Adam stared hard at Sophia, his face twisted. "The law says I'm good, I've got all the permits, I'm totally legit! You're always harping on the law, right? If I'm not breaking the law, then there's nothing wrong! Sophia, I'm right! Come on, help me out, I can't wait—I need to crack the Superhuman Key!"