NOVEL WEB Chapter 309: Crisis Descends
The Sapphire Princess Cruise sailed on the Andaman Sea, gradually sinking below the horizon, vanishing amidst the sea sparkling with stars.
On an island of the Andaman Sea, the four members of Lu Heng's team stood on the shore, watching the disappearing cruise ship.
Lin Zeyu asked in bewilderment, "Why not just kill this guy?"
After Lu Heng finished his business with Gordon Jacob, he got off the cruise ship and regrouped with his team.
Hearing Lin Zeyu's question, Xie Shi'en chuckled and said, "Killing this person is easy, but it's useless to kill him.
"Kill one Gordon Jacob, and another will stand up to take his place.
"The Ilemar Life Sciences Pharmaceutical Group operates over 260 companies and laboratories in more than 60 countries and regions around the world, with a total workforce exceeding 130,000 people.
"Killing a controlling shareholder of such a pharmaceutical consortium is useless.
"The Creator Organization can appoint someone else to take control of the consortium the next day.
"By then, we wouldn't even know who controlled by the Creator Organization.
"Right now, at least we know Gordon Jacob is a member of the Creator Organization. We can infer the movements of the Creator Organization through him."
Lu Heng nodded in agreement, "Indeed, keeping him alive, we can better grasp the situation."
Lin Zeyu frowned in thought, asking, "Then what about the Superpower Potion? Some friends I know have become dependent on it."
Before he joined the team, he had always mingled in the circle of second generations from big Coastal families, and his friends were mostly scions of wealthy conglomerates and power families.
Currently, the price of SPA Superpower Potion was often over ten million per dose, affordable only by these people.
Of course, this was the price within Da Xia; the price abroad was much cheaper.
Thus, this group sometimes looked for proxies to purchase it, but the Superpower Potion had been listed as a prohibited drug, and getting caught meant heavy penalties.
Now, these people had started to popularize overseas tourism, injecting Superpower Potion in countries where it wasn't illegal.
In conclusion, many people Lin Zeyu knew from his old circle had become dependent on Superpower Potion.
Previously, someone had even recommended that he inject it together with them, but he remembered Lu Heng's words: inject Superpower Potion and you're out of the team.
Having been teammates for so long, he understood Lu Heng's character too well—he was unyielding in serious matters.
Therefore, he didn't dare touch the Superpower Potion, and after seeing Superpower Users who had injected it going mad and consuming human blood, he became even more apprehensive.
Su Muyu had seriously studied the principle behind the development of dependence on Superpower Potion and its mechanism of action was of the same type as endorphins.
That's why she knew from a scientific standpoint why Superpower Potion should not be touched.
Upon hearing Lin Zeyu's query, she sighed, "This Superpower Potion, once used, basically ruins a person's life, there's practically no salvation."
Lin Zeyu felt a bit sentimental and asked, "Really, is there no way out at all?"
"Actually... it's not that there isn't any way at all." Lu Heng did know a few methods to solve the side effects of the Superpower Potion.
"What methods?" Lin Zeyu instantly became curious.
Lu Heng held up two fingers and said, "Based on my understanding, there are two methods to solve the side effects of the Superpower Potion."
"What are they? Tell us!"
"The first method, mechanical transformation, like the Sikes Civilization did, transform the body into a machine to completely free oneself from the shackles of flesh, and thereby no longer be affected by the Superpower Potion." Lu Heng spread his hands as he presented this most straightforward method.
After all, the effects of Superpower Potion still work on human cells, and the side effects are also present in cells.
If one removed all bodily cells, naturally, they would no longer be affected by the side effects.
Mechanical transformation could meet this requirement.
Not only can mechanical transformation resolve the side effects of Superpower Potion, but it also makes one immune to all drugs and viruses after the transformation—computer viruses not included.
"This..."
Lin Zeyu understood that this method indeed could solve the side effects of the Superpower Potion, but by doing so, it was tantamount to abandoning one's body, and it was debatable whether one could still be considered human.
He pressed on, "What about the second method?"
Xie Shi'en spoke with a smile, "The second method is more difficult, but definitely can resolve the side effects of the Superpower Potion."
Lin Zeyu raised an eyebrow and gestured with his hand, "Okay, no need to say more, I know what it is."
From the moment Xie Shi'en opened his mouth, he knew what the method was.
This method was indeed very direct and effective: transform into a Witch Demon.
Becoming a Witch Demon meant giving up life, placing one's soul into a Life Protection Box, and naturally freeing the body from the constraints of cellular life.
The effect was similar to mechanical transformation, making one directly immune to all drugs and viruses, with the added vulnerability to Holy Light Magic.
To summarize, in order to escape the side effects of Superpower Potion, one would have to give up their body, either die and become an Undead or turn into a robot.
Comparatively, mechanical transformation was easier to achieve; converting into a Witch Demon was far too difficult and hard to accomplish.
In fact.
In the past life, the proliferation of Superpower Potion caused many of the top Superpower Users great harm. As the peak of these Superpower Users passed, the side effects became more and more apparent.
These Superpower Users began searching for ways to counter the side effects of Superpower Potion, and every possible method was tried.
Of all, the most effective and most achievable method was mechanical transformation.
In the third year after the Abyss Descent, many high Combat Power Superpower Users who had injected Superpower Potion transformed their bodies into mechanical ones to reduce the impact of the side effects.
Undergoing mechanical transformation indeed freed these Superpower Users from their dependence on Superpower Potion, but it also stripped them of the original characteristics of life.
To enhance their Combat Power within a mechanical body, they could only improve by replacing with more powerful machinery, losing the ability to continually upgrade with life and thus reaching a standstill in Combat Power.
...
"Let's go. It's time for us to head back."
Lu Heng mounted the Mechanical Tiger and flew into the sky, returning to Da Xia.
The other three also showcased their abilities and flew back together.
On the way.
Lu Heng remembered something and said, "Right, 013 asked me about the Life Protection Box appearing in the Elf World, they suspect you... well, to be precise, they suspect that 027 has been summoned into the Elf World.
"I'm afraid your identity won't stay hidden much longer. The Black Iron Dwarf world and the Elf World have both seen 027. Using summoners from both worlds for cross-referencing, you will certainly become suspect."
Xie Shi'en pondered for a moment and nodded, "I understand. My identity being exposed is only a matter of time, I hope that before it is blown, I can obtain as high a combat power as possible."
Regarding this matter, Lu Heng had considered many remedial measures over the past few days:
"The Creator Organization only knows that Augustus used a Life Protection Box, but they are not sure whether the one he used is the same one you took.
"So, 027 being summoned to the Elf World is just a guess by the Creator Organization, without solid evidence.
"I was thinking the other day whether I should create the illusion that the Life Protection Box is still in 027's possession.
"If the Life Protection Box is still with 027, that would mean the Life Protection Box used by Augustus isn't the one you took.
"But then, after thinking it over carefully, such an action would seem too deliberate and might arouse their suspicion even more."
Xie Shi'en nodded in agreement, "You're right to consider that we can't deliberately release this information. Let me think of a way to have the Creator Organization work harder to trace the clues to the Life Protection Box, so it won't seem too contrived."
...
After returning to Coastal, Lu Heng trained the skill Thunderous Heavenly Prison for half a day to max its training level (3000/3000).
This skill had already been upgraded to B level a while ago and wasn't used frequently, so he hadn't specifically trained it before, which is why the training level is only being maxed now.
Upgrading a B-level skill requires 1500 points of Divine Energy.
After returning from the Elf World last time, he received a reward of 3600 points of Divine Energy, and with the remaining points, he had a total of 3700 points, which was enough for the upgrade.
Lu Heng opened the Skill Lock for Thunderous Heavenly Prison, channeled 1500 points of Divine Energy, and merged it with the Energy Ball in the Skill Slot.
About ten minutes later, the two energies completely fused together, solidifying into a new Energy Ball.
Lu Heng closed the Skill Lock and then checked the skill information.
The skill "Thunderous Heavenly Prison" has been upgraded to "Thunder Force Field."
"Thunder Force Field"
[Skill Level: A-level]
[Skill Consumption: 120 Source Energy points]
[Skill Range: 20 meters in diameter]
[Duration: 20 seconds]
[Skill Effect 1: Summon the Power of thunder and lightning to weave a field made of thunderous flashes within the targeted area, pulling all targets within the 20-meter range into the center of the Thunder Force Field. The Thunder Force Field constantly chops down thunder to strike targets within it, causing X Thunder Damage and carrying a Paralysis Effect. Thunder Damage = 3×spiritual power/second.]
[Skill Effect 2: The Spellcaster deals additional Thunder Damage when attacking within the Thunder Force Field. Thunder Damage = 3×spiritual power.]
Seeing the effects of the skill, Lu Heng's eyes lit up.
The skill had actually upgraded to a field-type skill.
The power of "Thunder Force Field" was much stronger than "Thunderous Heavenly Prison."
Not because of the first effect, but because of the second one.
The Spellcaster can deal additional Thunder Damage in the Thunder Force Field, and the damage numbers are somewhat terrifying.
This also means that he could unleash a series of Fast Sword Stabs within the Thunder Force Field, instantly slash-slash-slash over a dozen times, inflicting Thunder Damage each time, capable of instantly taking down an opponent of the same level.
...
The next day, Lu Heng received a message from Xie Shi'en to meet up.
After meeting, Xie Shi'en disclosed an important piece of intelligence.
"This is quite urgent, I came over as soon as I got the message..."
Xie Shi'en hadn't even caught his breath when he first asked a question, "The biological technology data you gave to the Creator Organization, is there a problem with it?"
Regarding the secret of this piece of biological technology data, only three people knew: Lu Heng, Su Muyu, and one was the Xavier Matrix.
Lin Zeyu and Xie Shi'en were already teammates, but they didn't need to be informed of everything.
The biological technology data given to the Creator Organization, the fewer people who know the secret, the smaller the risk of a leak.
Xie Shi'en indeed didn't know what was hidden in this biological technology data, but he knew Lu Heng's character well.
At that time, Xie Shi'en, also known as 027, was tasked with handing over the biological technology data.
Lu Heng clearly did not want to give away this data, but later he delivered it to the Creator Organization.
Xie Shi'en didn't need to ask to guess that there was definitely something off about the data.
When Lu Heng heard his question, he nodded, "Indeed, there is something wrong with it."
Xie Shi'en continued, "Will the secret be discovered?"
After some thought, Lu Heng replied, "Theoretically, no. Human technology levels won't detect the trap laid within the data."
Xie Shi'en frowned and asked, "Could the Sikes Civilization discover the trap in it?"
Lu Heng raised an eyebrow, "That... yes, provided it is the biological technology research unit within the Sikes Civilization."
Taking a deep breath, Xie Shi'en said, "Then this could be troublesome, someone from the Creator Organization has been summoned to the Sikes Civilization."