Chapter 1: Strange Metal Ball

Genetics is forbidden knowledge to humans. It is the domain of gods. To master the mystery of genes would be tantamount to mastering the power of gods!

—Mendelstedt

…

In the library of Central Sea University, a slightly pale-looking Lin Feng was perusing a book on genetics biology in his arms. Almost every book on genetics biology had this famous quote at the beginning. It was the quote of Professor Mendelstedt, distinguished scholar and the founder of genetics biology. This was the famous “Genetic Martial Theory”.

According to Professor Mendelstedt’s “Genetic Martial Theory”, the human body was an infinite treasure that contained infinite power. However, for some reason, these powers were all confined. There were invisible “locks” in human genes that confined all the power in the genes. Only by breaking the genetic lock could humans possess superhuman strength.

“Genes can mutate. Martial arts experts can even break the genetic lock and restructure their genes to become inhumanly powerful. But is all of it built upon the premise of powerful ‘basic genes’?”

Lin Feng frowned. He flipped through the pages quickly, as if he’s searching for something.

However, after flipping through many books on genetics, he closed the book in disappointment. He shook his head and muttered softly, “As expected, there’s still no solution. The Genetic Martial Theory emphasizes on strong basic genes. Only then can one practice martial arts to break the genetic lock to restructure the genes. Is there really no way to break the genetic lock in a short period of time? Cough…”

Lin Feng started coughing violently. If anyone heard his words, they would definitely think that Lin Feng was being too impetuous. Experts who could break the genetic lock were incredibly rare. Every expert who broke the genetic lock had a status of high esteem. They were the mainstay of human society. Being able to break the genetic lock in a lifetime was already worth celebrating, let alone breaking it in a short period of time.

However, Lin Feng’s anxiety did not stem from impetuousness. There was a reason behind it. Lin Feng had been suffering from a strange disease since he was young, called Atypical Organ Failure.

This was no ordinary organ failure. It could even be considered an extremely rare and bizarre illness. This strange illness did not have an immediate onset, but would flare up over time, causing all the organs in the body to slowly fail, and eventually result in death. According to the doctor’s prognosis, Lin Feng could only live to the age of 23 at most.

Lin Feng was 20 this year, which meant that he only had three years left to live.

This strange disease was congenital. Lin Feng’s genes had undergone some sort of mutation, resulting in this strange disease. Hence, ordinary medical treatment was useless. Only through fundamental genetic restructuring could Lin Feng’s strange illness be cured.

Although genetic restructuring could cure Lin Feng’s strange illness, with the current level of technology, it was impossible to achieve genetic restructuring, let alone treatment. There was only one way, and that was to practice martial arts and break the genetic lock. As long as one could break the genetic lock, their genes could be restructured. Then, Lin Feng would recover from his strange illness without treatment, and he could even obtain great power.

Although this world was technologically advanced, humans knew very little about the entire world. The domain of humans only occupied about ten percent of the entire world.

As for the other ninety percent, that was the domain of the dire beasts in the Outland. Humans could only enjoy a peaceful life by relying on technology and powerful martial artists.

Therefore, martial artists had a very high status in society, especially those who broke the genetic lock and became inhuman martial experts. They were the guardians of the entire human society. Their were exalted and revered by countless people.

However, those who were able to break the genetic lock and become inhuman experts were truly one in thousands. In fact, an inhuman expert who could break the genetic lock might emerge out of a hundred thousand, or even a million people.

Lin Feng had been suffering from the strange disease since he was young. His innate genes were already very weak. Forget breaking the genetic lock, he was even weaker than an ordinary person. How could he possibly break the genetic lock by practicing martial arts?

Every once in a while, Lin Feng would come to the library of Central Sea University in an attempt to find a “shortcut” that could break the gene lock from the books. However, in this world, what shortcut could break the genetic lock apart from being extremely talented in martial arts?

Although Lin Feng was very disappointed, he continued searching through any books on genetics in the library. He would not give up even if there was only a theoretical glimmer of hope.

Lin Feng found another thick book. It looked more like a popular science book on genetics. There must be at least dozens of such books in the library, if not a hundred.

Moreover, there were some whimsical views in it that even Lin Feng could not help but shake his head at. How could this be a popular science book? It wasn’t any different from unreliable works by cranks. He did not know why such a book would appear in the library of Central Sea University.

Lin Feng flipped through a few more pages, but he did not find any useful clues. He closed the book and was about to place it on the bookshelf when he saw a metal ball the size of a baby’s fist behind the bookshelf.

Lin Feng took the metal ball off the bookshelf. The metal ball seemed to be hollow and was not heavy. It felt slightly cold to the touch.

“Who placed a metal ball on the bookshelf?”

Lin Feng looked at it. He had never seen this kind of metal ball before, and it did not look like a child’s toy. There’s no knowing who had placed the metal ball on the bookshelf. A long time must have passed, since it was covered in dust.

The exterior of the metal ball was very smooth, with only a fissure in a ring in the middle, as if it could be pried open. Lin Feng used both hands to gently pry it open.

Snap.

There was a strange sound. Incredibly, the metal ball emitted a trace of white light. Subsequently, the metal ball underwent a shocking transformation, gradually turning into a pool of silvery-white liquid metal. Moreover, the liquid metal that the metal ball had turned into covered Lin Feng’s palm in an instant. Shocked, he hurriedly flung his hand outwards, but he could not shake it off no matter what.

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An intense pain shot up in Lin Feng’s palm. Then, the liquid metal actually burrowed into a wound on his palm. Lin Feng felt a burning pain all over his body and broke out in a cold sweat. He was leaning against the bookshelf with his entire body.

The round-faced girl who was selecting books on the bookshelf noticed Lin Feng was behaving abnormally. She hurried over to support Lin Feng and asked softly, “Are you all right?”

Lin Feng’s consciousness seemed to have gone blank. He did not know how much time had passed. His entire body was burning with pain, and he felt weak and sore. It took him a while to recover.

“I’m fine. Thank you.”

Lin Feng felt a little better. After thanking the round-faced girl, he hurriedly left the library. Although he did not know what the metal ball was, the metal ball entering his body in such a strange way wasn’t necessarily a good thing. He had to figure it out as soon as possible.

…

Lin Feng did not live in the school dormitory. Instead, he rented an apartment outside the school, where he lived alone. He hurriedly returned to the apartment and extended his palm. There was a very small wound in the center of his palm.

Although there was no more intense pain in his body, Lin Feng could vaguely sense that there was something else in his body. Thus, he whispered, almost instinctively, “Come out.”

A miraculous scene appeared. As soon as Lin Feng finished speaking, the metal ball that Lin Feng had seen earlier appeared in his palm.

Lin Feng felt very strange. When the metal ball appeared in his palm, it felt as if he was connected to the metal ball by blood. Then, with a thought from Lin Feng, the metal ball started to change shape. It turned into a phone, then into a watch that was worn on Lin Feng’s wrist.

This metal ball could change shape according to Lin Feng’s will.

However, this was not the true use of the metal ball. Lin Feng took a deep breath, looked at his “wristwatch”, and said in a low voice, “Activate.”

“Genetic fusion device activated.”

Buzz.

As Lin Feng’s wristwatch vibrated, a beam of white light appeared in front of him, quickly forming a hologram in the air.

Physique: 0.92

Strength: 0.81

Agility: 0.78

Skill: Basic Fist Technique (Proficient, can be improved to adept through continuous practice)

Genetic Fusion: None

Genetic Capacity: None

Such a strange set of data appeared on the hologram. Strangely enough, Lin Feng only needed to focus to “understand” every single data.

For example, physique, strength, and agility referred to Lin Feng’s current physical condition. However, to intuit from the data, the value for a normal adult was 1.

Hence, based on the data alone, Lin Feng’s current physical condition could hardly be considered healthy. This was consistent with reality. After all, Lin Feng’s organs had been failing all along, and his physical condition was naturally far worse than that of an ordinary person.

As for skills, this seemed to only include some martial arts techniques. Currently, Lin Feng only grasped basic fist techniques, which he had practiced when he was young in hopes of breaking the genetic lock as a cure to his strange illnesses.

The most crucial things were genetic fusion and genetic capacity. These two were the critical points. Genetic fusion meant that genes could be fused. This was also the function of the metal ball. It could actually fuse the genes of other organisms. Genetic capacity was also very simple. It referred to the number of genes that Lin Feng’s body could currently accommodate.

Such “common knowledge” appeared naturally in Lin Feng’s mind through the genetic fusion device, as if he had known it all along.

Lin Feng took a deep breath. He kept calming his emotions. This was too sudden, but he could still maintain his composure.

The most important function of the genetic fusion device was to fuse the genes of any other organism into one’s body, and allow one to possess those fused genetic abilities. This seemed like something that would only appear in some fanciful and unrealistic science fiction novels, but it actually appeared in front of Lin Feng.

Currently, the scientific and technological research on genes was very limited. For example, fusing and restructuring genes were possible, but none of the experiments were successful. They only existed in theory. This genetic fusion device must be a “divine artifact” that exceeded the current world’s scope of technology.

Fusing the genes of other organisms was the dream of modern technology. It also allowed Lin Feng to see a glimmer of hope. If his genes became stronger, would he have a chance to break the genetic lock and cure his strange illness?