Chapter 419: Choice (1/2)

Chapter 419: Choice

Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Back at the lab, Luo Yuan gave Huang Jiahui a call to update her on the recent happenings, where he spent most of his days there.

Time went by; bad news had befallen every day. The embryos were neither deformed nor dead. The first batch found faulty were those that were implanted with more than ten types of ability genes.

Perhaps there were too many ability genes present, hence the DNA chain was not able to handle them. Besides, the abilities had clashed with each other too, which caused the gene to mutate before the embryos started to split.

Next were those that were implanted with more than five ability genes – many issues had arisen from there. It then happened to those with four, three and even those with only one ability gene.

As the clone pods were cleared one by one, there were less of them every day.

On day 10, the initial 1,500,000 clone pods were decreased to less than 300,000.

On day 15, there were only 100,000 of them.

By the time day 18 came about, there were only 10,000 left.

The alarming rate had made Luo Yuan nervous. He spent more and more time in the cultivation room. Sometimes, he would even take a look in the middle of the night, so that he could sleep in peace.

Since the apocalypse, there were more than 100,000 evolved humans in the Reconstruction Area. However, most of them had similar powers, while the outstanding ones could only be counted with one's bare hands. Luo Yuan attempted to look for a breakthrough in the experiment, so failures were expected.

Fortunately, not all of the embryos were faulty. In many of the clones, there was bound to be a miracle.

The remaining 10,000 embryos were not lumps of flesh anymore. They were already in human form, as their internal organs and brains developed.

At this stage, they had already passed a high attrition rate, where the probability of success was high. As long as there were no major accidents, at least one-third of the embryos would survive and grow into a perfect human.

From the initial 1,500,000 embryos to only 3,000 now, the success rate from the data was pathetically low. From the production itself, the project was a total failure. If the pods were meant to clone an ordinary person, it was enough to clone more than ten million of a population in the Reconstruction Area. However, if the clones were meant to be cultivated into a better version of Luo Yuan, its value would be priceless.

The Reconstruction Area needed plenty of ordinary people. At the same time, it needed super evolved humans. Most of the 3,000 super evolved human possessed the ability of a level seven mutated beast. Results-wise, it was comparable with a large-scale military squad. Moreover, through brainwashing, these clones would not be rebellious like the other evolved humans – they would be loyal to the Reconstruction Area.

As Luo Yuan walked down the aisle to check on the fetus floating in the fluid, he felt a sense of connection with them. It was not an exaggeration or a prejudicial illusion, but a true connection. The fetus had his blood; they were from a part of his body.

Though they were not fully formed, he could feel an indistinct emotion that was sent to him whenever he was close to the fetus. To be exact, the emotions felt were reverence and respect!

The growth of the fetus was different; some were fast and some were slow. Usually, the stronger the fetus was, the slower the growth and the higher the concentration of the nutrients were. However, there were exceptions, where some of the cells could provide energy especially those that were implanted with genes that could cause a cold fusion in the mitochondria. When most of the fetus had grown to the size of a fist, the other batch of fetuses was almost formed.

The exceptional batch did not even need the nutrients anymore.

…

On Day 20, the first batch of babies was out of the pods. It was not because they were fully formed, but they were forced to be taken out as they were destroying the pods with their incessant, subconscious kicking.

The first batch that was out was those that were implanted with cold fusion genes. The babies’ skin was soft yet tough; their bones were as strong as a level five mutated beast. All of them were as tough as an evolved human with moderate powers.

Despite that, they were just babies where their bones were still not fully formed and their muscles were still weak. Once they were fully formed, even Luo Yuan could not imagine how powerful they would grow up to be.

As compared to common babies, these super babies were hyperactive. To top their liveliness, regular beds could not contain them. Before their eyes even opened, a slight flip could toss them out of bed. The half a meter fall did not hurt them at all; they were crawling everywhere like nothing happened. What was more frustrating was all the crying heard from the cultivation area which was converted into a nursery. There was no peace in the lab at all when it was filled with babies’ cries. Apart from being stunned, the researchers were irritated by the racket.

There were nurses that were sent from hospitals from the Reconstruction Area to take care of the babies. But after attempts of getting close to the babies and ending up getting hurt in return, they gave up on controlling them. They were crawling freely in the nursery. Apart from sending food, nobody would step inside.

They did not need much food, as they could survive even without feeding for a couple of days. It was not always chaotic, for as soon as Luo Yuan walked into the nursery, the babies would quiet down miraculously.